Check it out here.

Over the weekend, I stopped by Green Valley Christian Center for the first time.  I didn’t even make it to the door before I was greeted by Vic Kundargi, who I would later find out was the associate pastor of the church.  Upon hearing that I was a newcomer to the church, Kundargi brought me inside to introduce me to associate pastor Steve Withey.

It’s one thing to be greeted by a volunteer, but it’s another to be greeted by someone who has a vested interest in the church (ie: a paycheck).  Nice work guys.  I think I’ll visit again next Sunday.

LOVE YOUR CHURCH? Let me know.  Because we’re new to the area, we’re looking for a church.  I’d love to know about where you go to church and why.

What if I like it but she doesn’t?  Even worse– what if she loves the church and I hate it?

Combine these questions along with the emotions that come along when the two of you visit a church and mutually decide that it’s not for you … you’ve got a recipe for frustration.

Let’s be frank-  we love and value our weekends.  The last thing we want to do on a Sunday morning is rush out the door to grab a seat in the pew only to realize that the church we worked so hard to get to wasn’t for us.  A big part of me would rather just sleep in than fight the fight.

Healthy Pursuit of a New Church

A “glass is half empty” frame of mind like the one that I described is no doubt going to turn your search for a church into a miserable process.  That’s exactly how it started out for us.

After service last Sunday, my wife and I drew a line in the sand.  We can’t let past experiences and the fear of unrealized expectations steal our joy.

If you step back from the situation for a moment, you’ll see that visiting churches doesn’t have to be a negative.  With the right expectations and a open heart, the entire process can actually be quite rewarding (and hey,  maybe even entertaining).

Don’t judge a church by it’s cover

My charge to you church hunter you, just because a church has a lame website doesn’t mean that it’s a lame church.   However church, why do you bury service times on your website?  Your address and weekend service times should be located in an easy-to-find location.

Hope Baptist Church does a great job of this.  The Church at South Las Vegas, not so much.

(If someone from The Church at South Las Vegas ever stumbles onto this… Not hating on you…we loved your church and are considering becoming a part of your fellowship.  Please consider moving your service time information to the top of your home page and including a link to this page onto every individual page of your website)

And more than likely, no…if I can’t find the information your website church, I’m not going to bother to pick up the phone to call you.  But I digress…

I ended up finding the service times for The Church at South Las Vegas and we found our way to their facility.  We very much enjoyed the service and ended up going back the following week.

Be Reasonable

Sarah and I were a part of a fantastic church back home.  At one time, the senior pastor was our youth pastor, so the relationships that we had there were deep.  I think for us, that’s why it has been so tough to connect with a church here in the valley.  We’re looking for something that closely resembles what we had back home.

But in your pursuit of a new church home, you need to be reasonable and flexible.  Those relationships will come in time.  You certainly can’t force it.   But before you venture out to any church on a Sunday morning, make a quick list of things that are important to you and your family (i.e.:  Engaging pastor, vibrant youth ministries,  proactive community outreach, etc etc).  But keep your list reasonable.   Splitting hairs over the type of chairs, color of the walls, and the size of the jumbo screen probably isn’t going to get you anywhere.

More on this next week…(after we visit another church, of course)…

Last weekend, Taylor Swift pulled a fast one over tour mate Keith Urban.  When Keith started playing his song, “Kiss a Girl,” Taylor and her band rushed the stage in full Kiss makeup and garb.  Backup dancers even hit the stage wearing Hershey Kisses costumes.  It was a riot.

Check out the video by clicking here!

Man, look at what I got myself into! For five days, you can find me living @ the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Riverside Blvd and Owens Center Road. I’m taking over the store in an effort to raise $5,000 for Habitat for Humanity…

Mary Gallagher is a 25-year-old single mother is raising three children, one of whom is disabled, and her 16-year-old sister.

Gallagher works her shift job putting together circuit boards and lived in a cramped home that didn’t adequately house her and her four family members. To afford rent, she had taken on three roommates, and roaches also occupied the home. All eight people shared a two-bedroom apartment.

Now Mary and her family live in a new Habitat house in a Habitat community that college students helped build.

“Habitat has truly healed my family, as it has so many others,” says Gallagher. “Not only has Habitat helped me gain a beautiful new home, but also a brighter, healthier future for my children. Thank you so much for your kind and loving hearts. Without people like you, my family would still be lost in the crowd.”

Mary Gallagher isn’t much older than I am. I can’t imagine living the lif e that she lived. Each night, I come home to a warm, inviting home. I plop on the couch, turn on my satellite, and relax. Whenever I want, I can walk down the hall and do some laundry or clean the dishes in the dish washer. The only bugs that invade my home are the occasional tiny spiders.

Habitat for Humanity is improving lives. They’re giving young children a better upbringing. If you’re close to me, you know that I’m a strong opponent to public housing and government social welfare projects. In some ways, Habitat for Humanity is in agreement with me. It’s their desire to abolish the whole “housing projects” system in our nation.

Will you support families right here in the Rock River Valley? There’s great need here in Rockford. Work with 101QFL and support Habitat for Humanity. 5 Days for $5,000. December 15th – 20th @ the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Owens Center Road and Riverside. I’ll be there. Will you?

*Mondays*: Surface, Las Vegas, Medium
*Tuesdays*: Fear Factor, Scrubs, Scrubs, L&O: SVU
*Wednesdays*: E-Ring, Biggest Loser: Special Edition (new title), L&O
*Thursdays*: Will & Grace, /Four Kings/, My Name is Earl, The
Office, ER
*Fridays*: /Most Outrageous TV Moments/, Dateline NBC,
/Book of Daniel/
*Saturdays*: Movies and stuff
*Sundays*: Dateline NBC, West Wing, L&O: CI, Crossing Jordan

Note that “Three Wishes” is not on the schedule, and “Book of Daniel”
(which is about a drug-addicted priest played by Aidan Quinn) is. “Fear Factor” also returns. I’m afraid NBC is determined to be done with Amy…no matter how many fans the show has.

We are sorry to tell you that, as reported in today’s issue of Variety, NBC has rescinded its earlier order for six more episodes of THREE WISHES. Cited, as the main reason, was a tightening budget at NBC that could not justify the large cost of producing this show to the standard that was acceptable to all involved.

The last two remaining shows of the 2005 season are scheduled to air on December 2nd and 9th 9/8c. We would, of course, ask for your support of these final two shows and would love, with a high rating, to remind NBC that there are many people out there who support this type of programming that is safe for the whole family.

We have great respect and appreciation for our many friends at NBC and at Glassman Media who made it possible for Amy to be a part of something very rare – a network television show that literally changed the lives of some very deserving people. For that we will always be grateful.

If you are disappointed in this news and believe that a quality show like Three Wishes belongs on the air, please write or email NBC and voice your support for the show.

The email address is: threewishes@nbcuni.com

The mailing address is: NBC 3000 West Alameda Ave. Burbank, CA 91523 attn: THREE WISHES

Baptisms are such a common ordinance of the church, right? I’d imagine that it’s become routine for many pastors that they don’t even think twice about the dangers of holding a baptism service.

I recently took a class over at North Central University about the Assemblies of God doctrine. I must say, I laughed pretty hard when I read through the materials pertaining to my churches views on the audiences of Baptism and Communion.

Now, it’s not the churches views on baptism and communion that made me laugh. It was the explicit advice that they gave me about holding a baptism ceremony that made me laugh. My study guide advised me in bold letters to hold on to someone if I’m baptizing them in a river. I mean, we don’t want to loose someone to the currents of the water, right?

*serious tone*

However, here’s where my blog gets serious. I came in this morning and saw the following news article about a death at the church that David Crowder from the David Crowder Band attends:

The Rev. Kyle Lake, 33, was stepping into the baptistery as he reached out for the microphone, which produced an electric shock, said University Baptist Church community pastor Ben Dudley.

Lake was pronounced dead at Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, nursing supervisor Pat Mahl said. The woman being baptized apparently had not stepped into the water and was not seriously injured.

“He was grabbing the microphone so everyone could hear,” she said. “It’s the only way you can be loud enough.”

About 800 people attended the morning service, which was larger than normal because it was homecoming weekend at nearby Baylor University, Dudley said.

Lake had been at the church for nine years, the last seven as pastor. He had a wife, Jennifer, a 5-year-old daughter and two 3-year-old sons.

Isn’t that so sad. That story totally brought me back to when I was baptized. I’m so thankful that nothing happened to Pastor Joel! Gesh! (or as becca would say, Jesh!)

Now, I’m sure churches across the country are going to be thinking twice about their baptism procedures. I’m sure this all would have been avoided if the pastor and was wearing some sort of wireless microphone. If anything fell into the water, it would have been the battery that would have caused a shock. I’m sure all of us know how much pain a 9-volt battery can cause.

Terrible news…

The Gospel According to 50 Cent
By 50 Cent

I am truly blessed. And I remind myself every day that if I’m in a good space now, it’s because I been in a bad space for so long before. I don’t consider myself a role model, because I think a role model should be speaking and saying something positive all the time. That ain’t me. But my story has to be an inspiration to people that’s from the bottom, people that’s from the same walks of life I’m from. I’m proof that success is possible. They can look at me and say, “I know I could do this, because he did that.”

Everything good that could happen to me, happened all at once. Here I am the same dude from Jamaica, Queens, I was a few years back, except now everybody knows me and I have all this cash. I have the means to do just about anything I’ve ever wanted to do and some things I never thought of. It’s pretty fly, but it’s dangerous, too. I see why so many cats just lose it and get real caught up, ’cause nothing is off limits to you. Without discipline, that’s a pretty dangerous place to be.

That’s exactly why I’m trying to give back. Deep down I do know it’s not all about 50. That’s why I formed the G-Unity Foundation. That’s my heart right there. Its whole purpose is to give real financial support to groups who are doing something in the community. Most nonprofits in the ‘hood don’t usually get the cash they need to make an impact ’cause nobody is checking for them. G-Unity Foundation wants to change that. We want to make sure that we get money to the people who need it the most, the ones who are really doing the work, the ones who are really going to use it to help the community.

I just got in the rap game and I don’t want to turn my blessings into something negative that I can’t come back from. I believe in a higher power. I believe in right and wrong. I believe in God. I believe everything about the church is cool, but everybody’s not there in the right spirit. If I was in the church and said the things that I say on my records, I wouldn’t be okay to be there. The odds of Yolanda Adams doing a record with 50 Cent are very slim.

rick: Come on 50! I’d buy that record!

Even if the lyrical content on that record was good, what is going to be said before and after that on my other records? My outlook on the church is that it’s a positive thing. I think it’s a place where you go to be reminded of your morals and realign yourself with how you’re supposed to live. Then you got Monday through Saturday to put it into effect, until you make it to the next Sunday where you can reestablish it in your head again. It’s the same thing when you’re on the street. A lot of times, you watch the same films over and over again to remind you of your code. You watch Scarface, you watch Casino, you watch gangster films a lot in the ‘hood. I think that inspires you to bust a head or to pull your pistol out when the time comes. You condition yourself to that s–t through the visuals and what you listen to and everything else.

I wouldn’t have anything to write about if I didn’t use my own experiences. You’re being unfair if you tell me to come up with rhymes and not use what I came from, to put no part of me or anything that I’ve been through in the music. If I don’t write about what’s going on with me or what’s taking place in the ‘hood, I ain’t got nothing to say. The day 50 can’t be real, that’s the day I say, “Thank you for all your support, it’s been a pleasure”-and I leave.

The thing is this: all of the money, all of the success-none of it is going to keep me alive longer than I’m meant to be. But the ICU is finished with 50 Cent. They’re through seeing me under any circumstances. The way I see it, even a nigga like me ain’t no accident. Like I said before, I believe in God. I didn’t survive being shot nine times for nothing. I didn’t claw my way out of the ‘hood just ’cause it was something to do. I know I’ve got a purpose-a reason for being on this planet. I don’t think I’ve done everything I’m supposed to do yet. But I do know this: I ain’t going nowhere ’til I’ve done it all.

Click here to see the whole length article.