Ramblings-n-Writings

Archive for November 8th, 2007

Emotional, powerful song by Kellie Coffey. I can’t say anymore because the song says it all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqfGqOx2iDQ

I came across this video link (http://revealnow.com/story.asp?storyid=48) on a friend’s Facebook page. While I’m sure I don’t agree with everything Willow Creek church stands for, I found the contents of the video quite intriguing.

I was particularly struck by the 5 kinds of people in the local church – those who are exploring (not sure about the personal relationship idea), those who are growing (still learning the ropes), call their relationship close to Christ, call their relationship centered on Christ, and those who are stalled. According to Willow Creek’s research, most local churches are geared towards the first two groups: exploring and growing. The ones most likely to drop out of church are those who are centered.

The idea that those who are centered on Christ are likely to drop out seems almost bizarre. Wouldn’t those be the ones that are most active, most engaged in church? However, I very clearly understand their position. If a church is focused on the exploring and growing categories, where / how does the centered category get fed? Sure, they are actively engaged in all of the church activities, but it becomes socialization instead of a church.

For instance, I see the reality of the research in churches around here. I’ve mentioned to some before that it is difficult to grow as a person in the local church. How much can one learn from hearing a salvation message every Sunday? Not that there’s anything wrong with a salvation message, but does it have to be every week? And I understand completely the idea of emphasizing salvation especially when there are visitors in the congregation. But, what about the average week when there are no visitors? What about teaching the regulars how to become centered? What about teaching on marriage or child rearing or finances? In a church geared towards the growing and exploring, those topics are non-existent!

So, what does that do for someone who is beyond growing? Well, the person becomes stalled or like the research shows, drops out. Having grown up in church that knew the value of going beyond the growing and exploring categories, I find it incredibly difficult as time goes on to be content in the local church here. I want to be taught, to learn. However, I find that those things happen best outside of the local church now.

I’m a huge fan of cooking with a Crockpot, but I always have difficulty finding recipes for what I want to cook. Until now.

Today, while searching for a recipe for BBQ chicken legs, I stumbled on an awesome collection of Crockpot recipes (http://www.scribd.com/doc/1310/470-Crockpot-Recipes). Yep, 470 of them. They include everything from the usual roasts to desserts to soups. There’s an option on the left side to download the collection in PDF too.

On the same site, I also found some delicious-sounding, simple recipes for bread. And, when you have a husband that consumes as much bread as mine does, bread recipes are a good thing. And, these are the kind of recipes that don’t require kneading and rising and all the other complicated stuff that keeps me from making bread regularly.

Looking for ways to save a few pennies? Have you heard of CVS’ card deals? Check it out an explanation here at Money Saving Mom’s blog.

I’m off to go start my BBQ chicken legs….

By the way, I’m also going to start participating in Menu Plan Mondays – you can find out ahead of time what we’ll be eating for the week and decide which night you want to come for dinner!