Why study?

There was an old Glee Club song on a record album of my parents that I listened to as a girl.  It was called "Why Study?" The words went like this:

Why Study?

"The more you study

 The more you learn.

 The more you learn

 The more you know.

 The more you know

 The more you remember.

 The more you remember

 The more you forget.

 The more you forget

 The less you remember.

 The less you remember

 The less you know.

 The less you know

 The more you study.

 So whyyyyy study!?"

And that's the question I asked the youth group last night when we talked about the discipline of Bible study. Why study?  Is it just a way to fill time that could be occupied with video games, entertainment or friends?

The answer from our very astute students was:

"It keeps you in touch (with God)."  That's from sophomore Kelly Gresham.  Like all relationships, our relationship with God stays active and healthy with regular communication.  And that Bible study time is one way we "keep in touch" with our Heavenly Father.

"It refreshes you." That's from sophomore Jackson Hamm.  We encounter many alien concepts out in the world on a daily basis: unforgiveness, greed, materialism, insensitivity, crudeness, foul language, hurt feelings, death and loss.  If we don't keep in regular contact with God, we can let these things drag down our attitudes, our way of looking at the world, at ourselves at other people and at God.  We can become bitter or cynical or greedy or entitled or manipulative...  So, we need to study God's Word in order to refresh, to recalibrate our spirits to the proper settings, the right attitudes, the knowledge of how deeply God loves us and how much we need to love ourselves and other people around us, made in God's image.

So, according to our insightful youth, that is why we should study!

To keep in touch

To be refreshed

"The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the Lord are true;

they are righteous altogether.

They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb."

Psalm 19:7-10 (NASV)

Tower of Freedom

Jericho helps his dad with the Sunday sermon object lesson--a Lego tower

Our preacher, Jason Locke, used a Lego tower, designed by his son Jericho, an aspiring engineer, to demonstrate the work of grace in our lives during his Sunday sermon.  He invited three young students to come up front and recreate Jericho's masterpiece in a very short time period.  Of course, the task was overwhelming and the three little good sports had to leave the task undone when Dr. J declared "Time is up!"

Thanks, Dr. J, for taking a somewhat awkward passage in Galatians, addressing the issue of circumcision,  and teaching us how it relates to our lives today. The new Christians in Galatia were confused about what it took to please God.  They had accepted Christ's gift of forgiveness and salvation, but then, they had been told that they needed to observe the Jewish tradition of circumcision in order to find favor with God.  The Apostle Paul was passionate in his plea to the new Christians to remain confident in Christ's all-sufficient blood to save them and not return to the traditions practiced under the Law, before Christ came to fulfill the Law.

Dr. J challenged us to walk in the freedom of God's grace, remembering that no measurement or "keeping score" can help us reach God's standard of perfection. It is only God's grace that can help us please God.  It's really that simple.

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1 (NASV)

--Posted by Mama O.

Movie Night at the Cowger's

Cole Cowger demonstrates trampoline technique

A pickup game of football on the Cowger's back lawn

The movie screen

Stacy Sholes, Ethan, Leah and D'Andra Buchanan

This one speaks for itself!

I am reading a book called The Outliers right now.  It's about what makes people extraordinary.  It tells the story of a small town in Pennsylvania that exhibited a significantly lower rate of heart disease than the national average for no obviously explainable reason like a low-fat diet or a lower rate of smoking than the general population.  Finally, the researchers concluded that it was the lifestyle of this small town, its neighborly ways, its functioning like a large, extended family for its residents.  The people's health sprang from connectedness with one another.  Wow! 

 I want to be the church equivalent of that town!  A place where people are physically healthier because they are connected to one another spiritually and emotionally. I love our gatherings, for that reason.  The conversations, the silliness, the laughter, the emotional bonding that occurs.  It happened again on Friday night out at Kenny and Tami Cowger's place in the Madera Ranchos.  We all ate and laughed and played and watched a really funny movie under the stars (lots of stars!).  It was beautiful.

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35 (NASV)

--Posted by Mama O.

A Taste of Heaven

Lee Smith, our chef

Folks, it just doesn't get any better than this!  Family dinners with some of the best chefs on the planet!  Y'all come out on Wednesday nights, 'cuz we're having a feast and we need you here to share our joy!  Tonight, we had an absolutely fabulous bbq pork loin, green beans, rice pilaf, green salad and fresh, hot rolls with butter, plus three kinds of home-style dessert--lemon, pistachio and cheesecake.  It's all you can eat for $4 per adult, $2 per student.  And, the way my teen-age sons eat, there is NO PLACE IN TOWN where we could feed them for $2 apiece!!  But, lest I make it all about the food (which is AMAZING!), it's not.  It's about the family time, the conversations we have, the things we learn about one another, the help and prayers we offer to one another.  It's really, truly, a little bit of heaven right here on earth.  Come feel the love, eat the food, drink the lemonade, and leave with your tummy and your heart full!
--Posted by Mama O. 

Putting up with our dirt

Our Tuesday morning Ladies Bible class home-baked cookies for our neighbors

We hand-delivered the cookies to neighbors

Ladies in our Tuesday morning Bible class home-baked cookies to share with our neighbors in the houses bordering our parking lot.  With all the dirt and mess from construction going on, Ruth Hutchison suggested it would be nice to do something for our neighbors.  We packaged a dozen home-baked cookies in a spring flower pot, attached a flower seed packet, packaged it up all pretty and included a note that said, "Thanks for putting up with our dirt"!  The ladies visited with neighbors who were home on Tuesday morning and left the cookie gifts on the front porches of those neighbors who were not home.  Ruth prayed over our cookies before we walked the neighborhood and we hope a neighborly blessing goes out to all those who live near us!
--Posted by Mama O.

Set Apart For God's Work

4/14/13, 10:11 AM Those in our congregation who serve the homeless in our city monthly! We send them with the Spirit! #ccofc pic.twitter.com/YBHnD1FKG9 Photo courtesy of Aaron Scott's Twitter account Our elders prayed yesterday over the group of people who minister to the homeless each month, as Dr. Jason Locke challenged us with a message called "Set Apart for God's Work", focusing on what it takes to be a church that sends out missionaries. He asked the question, "Why was Antioch the 'sending church' for the missionaries to the Gentiles and not the Jerusalem church?"  He suggested that it could have to do with Antioch's ethnically diverse church leadership (a lot like the current leadership at College Church of Christ) that had a more embracing view of "outsiders" than did the Jerusalem church. As he challenged our thinking on evangelism, Dr. J encouraged us to be a church that welcomes "outsiders", those who have never been Christians, and not simply to attract those who are already attending other churches.  This will mean less "advertising campaign"-style evangelism with celebrities and give-aways to lure church attenders, and more personal and loving attention to the people around us day in and day out.   During our class discussion time, we considered the question of how open we are, as a group, to receiving direction from the Holy Spirit, as the early church did. Cathi Ferri said she senses the Spirit moving among our group when we surround people and pray over them, holding hands or hugging one another. Stephanie Spencer-Norby asked if we practice waiting collectively for the Holy Spirit to speak to us. Phillip Ocheltree drew on his experiences of  attending a charismatic church's college.  "Charismatics believe in miracles, expect and are not surprised by miracles, but, when they try to manufacture the gifts of the Spirit, they look manufactured," he observed.   Do people need to see the power of God demonstrated before they accept Him, such as the miracles performed by the apostles in the early church? Rachel Hamm suggested that the "love we give out" as Christians is the most powerful demonstration of God's power to unbelievers. Thanks, Kyle Mason, for leading a great discussion in Shepherding Group on Acts 13:1-12 and 14:1-28. --Posted by Mama O.

The Zen of Yard Saling

Rae and Gene load furniture into Gene's truck for transport back to Fresno

Peter and Rae pose with a carload of yard sale treasure

Yard Sales as a metaphor for life:
  The Zen of Yard Saling.
 1. Learning to enjoy the adventure, to be thankful for who and what you encounter along the way.
 2. Discovering that you often want what you don't find along the way, and discovering that the things you find along the way, that you didn't think you wanted or needed are just fine, and learning to be content with the treasures you find, not the ones you couldn't find.
3.  Learning that the story behind your possessions is what makes them precious, not the dollar value.
4. Learning that you sometimes get the item that everyone wants at rock bottom price, and sometimes someone else gets it.  And it's all good.  You can let other people be happy for you when you get the coveted item and you can be happy for other people when they get the sought-after item.
5.  Learning to look forward to the unknown, to anticipate how a yard sale may change your life, but you don't know how.
6. Learning how to negotiate with other people.
7.  Learning your own limits.
8. Learning the true value of an item.

Gene and Linda Sue served as our "guides" this past weekend at the annual Morro Bay City-Wide Yard Sale.  We had never attended before, but we have agreed that we will never miss it again!  As we drove back on Sunday afternoon, we talked about our experiences and what we learned. "The Zen of Yard Saling" is what came from that conversation.
--Posted by Mama O.