Monday, April 23, 2007

Our new building has been found!

A friend sent me these pictures. It seems that we can get the building of our dreams for a lot less than we thought! Check it out:




Who knew it could be so easy?

:-)

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Defining success

Just got back from North Park, where we handed out free bottled water. This was intended as a marketing thing- the bottles had custom labels with info about The River, and the idea was to get the word about the ministry. Well, based on that criteria, if people show up at The River then it was a success.

But we gave out 1,300 bottles of water today, and now that I've done I think it was a success even if no one comes, because what we did today touched people. It was hot, and they appreciated free water. There was no pitch, no asterisk. It was just free water, and folks appreciated it. 1,300 of them. That's why it was a success- because we made the lives of 1,300 people a little bit better.

1,300 is a lot. Wanna know how many? Here's 1,300 ones:
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111


If no one came, that couldn't take away from what happened for all those people. We did a good thing, something God wanted us to do and something people appreciated, and that's good enough to count as a succes to me.

Monday, April 16, 2007

We're gonna make it...but it may be like Spinal Tap

Yesterday, when I got home and had a chance for Sunday to sink in, was the first time that I thought "We're gonna make it." And I believe that. For the first time, I do not doubt that The River is going to make it. 34 people came, several of whom were new. The offering was strong enough that we broke even. We also tried lunch for the first time, which I thought was a nice time of getting to know each other. Plenty of work still ahead, but I'm no longer afraid. I truly believe this is going to happen.

I just think it's going to happen like This is Spinal Tap.

If you saw that movie, you remember that the band had trouble keeping a drummer. They kept bizarrely losing them. Well, that's what it's been like with us and musicians. Weird stuff keeps happening. I've spoken with about 8, had 2 interviews that didn't materialize for absurd reasons, and while we were able to borrow a band for the first worship, the first week we were on our own the musician up and quit. After only one Sunday.

Fortunately, it hasn't been as drastic as the drummers in Spinal Tap. No one has spontaneously combusted or choked to death on vomit (in the movie, it was someone else's vomit, which is even worse). But it's still kinda weird, enough so that I think I'm barking up the wrong tree. I have been looking for someone to hire, but I think what we need are unpaid people who play to serve God. I think that's the kind of person God is pointing us to. They don't have to be the best musician, but they need to be doing it to love and serve God joyfully, out of their own heart. That is who we need to be looking for.

So, I'm off to go looking...and if you know anyone like that, let me know!

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

75 ducks

Saturday- the day before The River's first worship- I went to an actual river, the Chattahoochee. I went to pray, to meditate, and to spend time with God before the big day. What I ended up doing for more of my time at the river was freezing my behind off, because it was about 45 degrees and windier than Chicago.

But at one point, I was thinking about how many people were going to come, and talking to God about my fears and worries that the crowd would be too small, when from the shore just next to me a duck swam out. It wasn't more than 15 feet away. You would think I would have known it was there, but I didn't until it swam out. I saw that duck, and what popped into my head was "If just one person finds it meaningful, it was worth it."

Turns out there were 75 people on Sunday. I don't know if all of them were ducks- my guess is that some found it meaningful, some did not. But if there was even one, then it was worth it. Worth it God, and worth it to me. And I think there were some who found it meaningful. While time will tell where we go from here, it was a good start, and that was all I could have asked. A good start.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

3 days, 23 hours and counting....

The River's first worship is getting close, and I figured I'd be nervous by now. But I'm not. Well, not exactly. The closest comparison is how I felt before some of the other big events in my life. I remember before I got married that I wasn't nervous, but I was anxious to do it. Not to be married, but to be at the wedding. That is how I feel about starting worship: I just want to be there. I want to be at that first worship. At my wedding, I knew we were prepared. I knew it would all go well. Same thing with this Sunday- I know we are prepared, I know it will all go well.

So maybe it's a feeling of excitement without an outlet. Before a big lacrosse game, I could always go out and throw a ball around to get rid of some of that nervous energy. Unfortunately, preaching to my dog doesn't have the same feeling as preaching to a room full of people. So there is no outlet for my energy and excitement. I just have to wait. Longer. Because I haven't been waiting for this long enough (sarcasm).

Three days isn't that long to wait.
That's how long Jesus was dead.
It's not that long.
At least, that's what I keep telling myself...and if I tell myself that enough, it'll be here, and that's what I want. I just want it to be here. Not to be over, just to be here.

Come on, Sunday!