March 30, 2010

Norm Tumlinson 2.0

Please bear with me as I am trying out a few different outfits for my blog. I thought I'd give it a little facelift, but there is heaps of stuff that i do not know about html.

I don't even want to think about if I had to code all this jank myself. It is so hard to get good templets for Blogger too! It's like all the dope ones are on Wordpress. But alas I will stick with the free Blogger until I cannot handle it no more! So in the meantime I will tweak and groan.

If you don't like the new skin, just grin and say "it looks greeeeaat," like you used to do with your grandma when she asked you how you liked your crocheted Christmas sweater. Yeah that's right. Lie to me.

After all this work trying to make this blog look halfway presentable I am tempted to go back to writing blogs on spiral bound tablets. Not sure how you'd read it though ;).

I am not a superstar.

I am not a superstar...

I have faults, flaws, pet sins and the like. I am sometimes selfish and self-centered (and redundant). I sometimes forget to pray for kids. I sometimes see a parent coming and quickly duck around a corner to avoid chit-chat because I think they might hold me up from something "more important".

Many times I rant more than I bless. Most days I can't stand Kirk Cameron. I sometimes cheat when I'm playing Uno. I don't replace the toilet paper when it runs out. I get impatient and angry... often. So, if you are looking for a super-star student pastor. I'm not it.

But what I can give is Christ. Despite my best efforts to be an idiot, God has saved me from a life of sin. I am changed and know he can change even the "worst" cases. I know I rolled off a lot of bad attributes about myself earlier, but God really has given me fruits of His spirit and I try to live in those every day. But it is only because of HIS grace and HIS mercy that I do any of this. Because, I am not at all a super-star.

But I believe with a zealot's intensity that Jesus of Nazareth is who He says He is. I believe that He is present and active in your student, in their schools and in Youth cultural in general. I believe we are His people and He has called us (together) to reach students with His good news. I am willing to die upon this hill. But I am not a super-star. I just want to be the "Norm" God created me to be. God is the object of ultimate glory. God's light shines into the deepest of darkness. This is the solid rock I will stand upon. Will you join me?

March 29, 2010

remember...

This is just kind-of an off-the-cuff blog. I try my hardest not to spend too much time editing blogs after I write them because I end up deleting 95% of them. I sometimes get too worried about grammar, punctuation, all that MLA Handbook stuff that I never (er.. I mean.. *blush*) really mastered in freshman 101/102. Or I will worry that the blog is too long or too redundant or too redundant.

Anyways, so here I ramble. The point I am trying to make is that somethings are too important to worry about edit, self-edit. This is one of those things.

Today I was challenged to "remember"...

One of those things to remember in particular is that God blessed me with the most awesome spouse in the world. It is so easy for me to breeze by this sometimes because after almost 9 years of marriage, our life together has become normative. What I mean is it's like always having food in the fridge, or always having a roof over my head. If I'm not careful I start to think those things as normal...

and to some extent I begin to think I even deserve these things.

But then God tells me to "remember"... I am blessed beyond measure! My wife is courageous yet humble, strong yet gentle, meticulous, devoted, passionate, thoughtful, generous, joyful, beautiful, but the most striking thing about her is she loves Jesus.

I used to tell her that I was the "luckiest" guy in the world. She always would reply, "not lucky... blessed." I think that was/is so adorable. But then I started thinking about right she was. I am blessed. Kim is a virtuous woman, who puts her faith in God first. She challenges me to be a better leader, husband, friend and Christian.

I hear the word again "remember..."

See God cares for us deeply. God cares for me and he cares for Kim. God remembers His promise. God sacrificed HIS son, so we might live. I hope and pray that we don't soon forget the magnitude of God-with-us. This holy week I pray very hard that you will remember...

March 24, 2010

ways 2 serve!


Hey my peeps. Easter is right around the corner and since we are not having student services on that day we encourage you to SERVE!!!

There are heaps of spots available from helping out in FarmHouse (GraceKids), helping with the Easter Egg hunts in-between services, helping reset the sanctuary and other spots as well. We have spots available in all services (8:30, 9:15, and 11:00)! You can email me, jason@gogracefellowship or mindi@gogracefellowship for more info!

This is a great opportunity to "influence your world" thru service, ya heard!!!

March 4, 2010

Lights, Camera, ACTION!

Seriously stoked about our new series called, "On the Lot". We are going to be discussing one of my most cherished things in the faith. The Bible.

Wait. I know what you're thinking. The Bible, at church...? Wow you dug deep for that one! But I would venture to say many of us would agree that this is a difficult area to discipline ourselves in. Whether this is your 50th year as a Christ servant or first 5 minutes or even if you don't believe in God, we can all agree that the Bible has been an important book throughout history. But in this series, we will challenge you to go beyond just words, sentences, ink and binding.

We are going to discuss what it means for the scriptures to COME ALIVE in your life.
We want to help your student understand what the heck it means to take the Scriptures in and live them out in 2010.

This week we are starting off in the Psalms and are going to take a fresh look at the "Mt. Everest of Psalms" Psalm 119. So you won't wanna miss it :).>