At the beginning of our church plant I told the congregation which Sunday it was for the first 15 weeks. Then I told them I wouldn't say it again until the 100th service. It was fun for me to end my message early and invite all the Ekids, Impact teens and their teachers to join us in the service. There were three congratulation videos shown: one from each of our missionaries, Matt Storer of VisionTrust International and Ryan Janosko of Campus Crusade for Christ and also one from Pastor Rick Nuzum, lead pastor of our mother church, Grace Church. I had also asked our 1st Impressions Coach, Jen Hill, to order a few cakes for the celebration and her hubby Phil to take the picture below as a memory of the day.
life. At ou
r Christmas party someho
w the topic of eating burgers came up while talking to a bunch of guys and my new friend Chad Pierce said he'd have to take me to The Thurman Cafe. Well who am I to turn down an offer like that. Apparently this little burger joint was highlighted on the show Man vs. Food.
Well it's been in our garage taking up room ever since. That is until this morning when Melissa said, "Why don't you take that thing and put it in Mark Artrip's office". So after dropping off Zach to school I headed on up to Grace Church and snuck it into Mark's office 30 minutes ago. 
I won't tell who took the picture:-)
past Sunday was uniqu
e. We had a request for a family dedic 
Sunday's service has a few special elements to it. Besides the normal well led worship we will also be celebrating the communion of the Bread and Cup. What a g
reat thing for us to remember: the past act of Christ dying on the cross for us as the total payment for all the wrong thoughts, actions and even inactions we've done. Also, one mother is dedicating herself and her children to the Lord. Keara, the birth mother of Kayveion (and Kay-ana), the foster child Kyle & Kristi Mielke spent 11 months caring for, has asked to go public with her faith and parenting. Right after the service we will be having a potluck to further celebrate. Bring a main dish and dessert or salad to share.
aring from Dave & Jon Ferguson the founders of the NewThing movement and also meeting Kim Hammond, an Australian who has recently joined their staff has been inspiring. Kim is helping the NewThing guys and Community Christian Church in Naperville, Ill. and their 13 campuses see the mission of Christ be something for everyone. Not simply the "leaders". Moms, mechanics and mail carriers. He is also the national director for Forge America, a ministry in partnership with Alan Hirsch who wrote, "The Forgotten Ways" 
Here are the weeks in order:
Kary has written his fourth book titled, "Your Secret Name", and he will be speaking about it along with various Bible passages. I think our people at Encounter will really find him to be an interesting speaker and I look forward to listening to the message online. CLICK HERE if you would like to listen to it.
Here is the video he'll be showing in the church service:
This first one is a skit Saturday Night Live did back in 2006.
This next one is the comedian Tim Clue. He makes debt sound like it's a good thing. He's attitude towards debt is really funny...wrong...but really funny.
This Sunday is also Orphan Sunday. Our people have a heart to see the forgotten, lost and neglected be cared for. God's Word speaks clearly about His heart for the orphan and this Sunday we will remind our people about the commitments we've made to love our sponsor children in Cruz Blanca, Guatemala and those here in our own communities.
ter took down hundreds and hundreds of cookies and other treats to the Campus Crusade for Christ, Real Life gathering held at OSU. We also passed out about 100 Encounter water bottles and hundreds of contact cards. I made rice krispie squares for the occasion and shared some with the host who introduced me to the crowd. I ended up being a little silly, throwing water bottles into the balcony and handing 
out my treats to those who had a number under their chair. I made Ryan Janosko help me as my lovely assistant. He has served faithfully at Encounter for well over a year and Encounter supports him monthly so he is able to be on CCC staff.
ing during the testimony time of the service. 
d Daniel Wallace, director of Gull Lake Ministries, will be guest speaking. He's funny, dynamic and speaks with great passion and conviction. We also have the pleasure of being lead in worship by a band that guest lead back in early September. Their named Azalia and they are four young adults sold out to 
Christ with a desire to lead God's people in authentic worship of the King of Kings.
Christian Crusaders. It was slated as a "B" games so I was hoping to see Zach get a bunch of play time. However, I think WCS gave Davis a run for their money. Our "A" team was on the field virtually the entire game. In the third quarter the Crusaders were ahead but when it was all done, Davis kept their no-lose record. The final score was 27-22. That's the best any team has done against us this season.
e's a shot of Zach and his buddy Ben Betulius. His dad Steve is one of the coaches and a good friend of mine that attends Grace Church.
attend Campus Crusade for Christ's first Real Life gathering of the year. Wow, was it ever powerful. When we walked up to Independence Hall around 7:45pm there were already a few hundred students hanging out in front of the building. Once 8:00pm rolled around though they all headed into the auditorium. The place was packed! I think it holds 700. Josh Howard, who has guest led worship at Encounter, started the evening off with the Real Life band. We sang two o
r three songs. Then a funny guy who is their MC/host came up and had people fill out info. cards and then handed out some prizes by drawing peoples names. After that a gal named Holly told her "real life" story, basically a testimony about how God had helped her through her first few years at school. Then my friend and the director of OSU's CCC ministry spoke to the group. His name is Bacho Bordjadze. The evening ended with three more worship songs. It was a packed two hours. We also got to see a number of young adults connected to Encounter and our m
other church Grace Church in Powell.
Pinney Elementary playground with five oth
er community organizations. We each had a table with promotional materials and were given a free pizza. I took my kids and they loved it. There were inflatables, a dunk tank and the Dublin Jerome HS band played some tunes. Even Dublin's Mayor, Tim Lecklider, showed up and I introduced myself to him. It was fun to meet some community people and see a number of Encounter-ites there too:-)
at Leadership Community we had the pleasure of being led in worship by a guest band named, "Azalia". It's a fun story about how they ended being with us. Ask me about it sometime.
headed up to Hamilton/Burlington, Ontario for my mom and Henk's 24th wedding anniversary and Henk's 75th birthday. My mom asked if we could be part of this speci
al family time together 
over six months ago. 
Friday night a bunch of us had 
a BBQ at my sister Sara and brother-in-law Trevor's house. They have six kids so there was lots of crazy cousin time for our four kids:-) Henk's youngest brother Harvey and his wife Ria came from the Netherlands. Seven years ago Zach and I visited them and had a great time. Henk's daughter Jennifer came from British Columbia (that's western Canada for those who don't know Canadian geography) as did my mom's youngest brother Henry and his wife Linda. I hadn't seen Jennifer in over 25 years and it was great to catch up with her. I also really enjoyed talking with Henry & Linda. They also have six children. Most are in their teens and twenties. 
On Saturday night a group of about 30 of us went on a boat cruise which included a full course meal. We talked around our tables and a few of us ga
ve speeches about 
what Henk means to us. Below is my mom Heidi and her brothers Jerry and Henry. You can also see Henk with his
three bro
thers Cor, Jerry, and Harvey.
