COSMcGarry's Xanga

Please don't laugh...

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 19:26:19 GMT

...but I've started a new website, www.ClaytonBellOnline.com. This is just an upgrade from my current blog on The Launch website, and I will move all of my blogging to this new site. Please stop by and leave a little hello comment, subscribe via RSS or email and forward it to anyone you think would appreciate it.

Have a wonderful day.

PLEASE!!

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:37:27 GMT

...be in prayer for the students, faculty and families of those attending Virgina Tech. May the God who gives a peace that passes all understanding be with them now and forever...

Share you thoughts...

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:53:33 GMT

Share your thoughts from the HOPE for Easter project yesterday HERE

Good Friday service

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:18:37 GMT

Here’s a quick update on the Good Friday service: The church will be open from 7-9 p.m., but the service will actually run twice, from 7-8 and 8-9. We’ll start with a brief intro to the night, I’ll talk about communion for five minutes, there’ll be a time of worship, then a time where music is played with no singing and finally some singing to end the night. No flash, just a time to contemplate, meditate on, and draw closer to Christ.

If you have a blog and you are in Tallahassee, please repost this today to get the word out since we missed getting it into the bulletin.

HOPE for Easter project

Brief and Amazing Return

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:18:32 GMT

This is well worth your time. Don't forget to check out the video!

HOPE for Easter

An end of an era...

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 20:44:42 GMT

Well, I'm back, but it's with some blogging news: I'm leaving XANGA.

Xanga has been good to me: I first started blogging on here almost two years ago. It got me into the blogging world and has been the source of a lot of great conversations with all of you.

WHY I'M LEAVING:
I'm not leaving the blogging world, I'm just moving. As most of you know, Kelly and I started a ministry for 20 and 30somethings for our church called The Launch. We've recently completed a new website for The Launch and I'm going to be focusing all of my writing efforts on blogging on that site.

WHY NOT STAY AND POST HERE TOO?
One of my favorite parts of blogging is getting into conversations via comments, and while Xanga has provided some good experiences in this department, it is limited to those in the Xanga world. Same thing with MySpace. My new blog on The Launch website is open to everyone, allowing those lurkers out there (APRIL LUPO, to name one!) to comment on the blog. This was a big issue for me, and I'm excited about everyone being able to talk in the same place.

HOW WILL I KNOW WHEN YOU POST?
While you can't check your Xanga subscriptions to see my latest post, you can use a blog reader to subscribe to the blog, allowing you to be updated any time I post anything new. A few blog readers out there are Google Reader and NewsGator. Those of you with a gmail address already have an ability to subscribe to blogs.

Well, I hope that some of you will follow me over to the new blog and continue in the conversation with me. On the site you'll also find another blog that will help you take small steps to change the world, and a podcast that features messages from our bi-weekly meetings. Thanks again for all of your support into my venture into the world of blogging.

Direct Link to my new blog

The Launch website

Pause

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:49:41 GMT

I'm taking a little break from blogging. I'll be back with some good stuff...

...well, I hope I will be!

It's here!

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:38:39 GMT

www.TheLaunchCommunity.com

Get Excited!

Sat, 24 Feb 2007 14:49:19 GMT

Unless you're not on the email list, not reading your church bulletin, or missed the last meeting of THE LAUNCH, you know that THIS SUNDAY is our next large group meeting!

I can't tell you how excited I am for this meeting. First, I'm not speaking, so there's a very good chance that the meeting will improve! Secondly, the reason I'm not speaking is because we're doing a whole night of worship!

This night of worship, called "stripped", is so-named because in a society that works to pile so many un-godly things on our lives, we're going to strip it all away and passionately seek an intimate moment with God.

With just a small worship band, (I think two guitars, one jimbe player, maybe two singers) we're going to rely on your voices, not the sound system, to fill the room with praise. As the whole theme of the night is intimacy, we're also going to take communion together tomorrow in a different fashion than we have on Sunday mornings.

I don't want to give too much away, but YOU NEED TO BE THERE! I CAN'T WAIT!

Final Evangelism Thoughts...

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 18:54:52 GMT

My appologies for this taking so long. We'll have some blog updates along with our big web announcement this Sunday at The Launch.

Anyways, I wanted to thank you all for participating in this conversation. Hopefully, we can keep them up in the future.

I did want to post a few wrap up thoughts. I think Sam Febres' extended comments on the post below were great, and summed up a lot of my feels. I think it's important for us to remember that Jesus uses a ton of botanical references in the New Testament when talking about people and the Kingdom of God. And if you've ever done a 4th grade science project where you plant a seed and watch it grow, you know that its a process, not an event. I believe evangelism is the same way.

We need to make sure that first and foremost, we recognize our responsibility as believers to be ministers of reconciliation in every aspect of our live, for our whole lives. It's also important to know that our ministry may not look like someone else's, and that's OK.

Those of us who are prone to take the friendship approach need to be sure that we don't settle so far into it that we miss open doors and clear opportunities to speak up. Yes, people will ask you questions and come to you, but there are also times to be aware of when God wants you to innate the conversation about Him. Jesus build relationships with many of the people around him, and they asked him things constantly, but He wasn't afraid to make the first move (John 4).

Those who might be leading with the name of Jesus need to remember that there are 6000 messages flashing at every individual every day, and if all you're offering is a momentary conversation you won't stand out as much it might if you followed those words with love and relationship. One of the greatest needs of this generation is love and community. As Francis Shaffer said, true Christian community is the greatest demonstration of the truth of Christ we can give. Jesus spoke to many crowds, ran into countless individuals, but he also invited many people to come and be with him.

We also need to know that some people will bear more number fruit in evangelism, but that doesn't mean they're "better" than others. Some people will be more fruitful at serving, some at discipling, some at funding the kingdom, some and loving and crying with people, some at empowering others, some at communicating. The point is to recognizes that while God has called us to each do a little of all of those things, we each have a gifting from God that will bring about greater life for others and ourselves when we can find a peace in it and not beat ourselves up over the one thing we can't do as well as we want.

Much longer than I wanted it to be, but lunch break is over and I gotta edit a PowerPoint. Talk to you soon. You all are awesome!