Small Post

Isaac's first day of school went really well. He came home super excited about everything. Riley missed him all day, but has been sick most of yesterday and today. He's got one of those nasty summer colds I think.

Really not much to say today. Trying to get my sermon done for Sunday. September is A Month of Desperately Seeking God. Hopefully an opportunity for our church folk to reach out to their friends. Hopefully.

Sorry for the short post, but that's all I got today.

First Day of School

Still trying to finish Uprising by Erwin McManus. Very deep book. Very challenging book. I have to put it down for a while to mull over what I have read. It was the same with his other book, An Unstoppable Force.

Sermon went well on Sunday. I didn't finish preaching until 11:20. Which means that I preached for at least 35-40 minutes. That very rarely happens. I think that I felt so strongly about this message that I definitely let it show. I was very much emotionally involved in the topic. Jonah was such a prejudiced guy. The whole story of Jonah is not about the salvation of the Ninevites, but about Jonah's own salvation. He had God all wrapped up nicely in his own little box. When that thought hit me, I was ashamed of Jonah, but then I became ashamed of myself. I think I have done that. If you don't look, act, sound like me, then you can't be a Christian. What a shame!

Anyway, it still weighs heavily on me. I pray that I don't get stuck in that rut like Jonah did. I think Jonah turned it around though. After all, he wrote the book of Jonah. He had to know what the whole story was really about.

So Isaac's at school today. A day we have very much been looking forward to, but now that it is here, we are sad. Riley is moping around today. Not feeling well, but also missing Isaac. It is a sad day. I'm sure he's doing good. We look forward to hearing all about the first day when he gets home soon.

Lots of stuff happening! Very busy! God is blessing!

Amazing!!

Can you believe it? I have updated quite a bit recently. It just so happens, though, that all of the blogs I usually check haven't been. Kind of ironic, isn't it? Anyway, I'm really beginning to get into this blogging thing. I'm realizing that I can write down my thoughts. That has always been a difficult thing for me. Some would say it's because I don't have many thoughts. HOWEVER, I do but never cared to write them down. I would much rather let them stew in my head. But I'm finding this very therapeutic.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. A lot of listening to some lecture tapes. A lot of studying. It's been real good too. It used to be that, even in ministry, I would only do those things to prepare for some event or lesson or sermon. Now I'm doing it to really better myself and educate myself. I know that continuing my education officially can't take place for a little bit because of finances. But this has been very worthwhile for me. I've been stretching my own personal beliefs and thought patterns. Not that I completely agree with everything I read or hear, but if I don't at least consider it, I am just plain ignorant on the subjects.

I'm looking forward to this week's sermon. It should be good. At least good for me to get off my chest. This is one that I knew a month ago that I would be preaching, but I didn't know the direction that God would have me take with it. I'm excited, yet also somewhat anxious (nervous anxious). The content could upset some people, but isn't that the point sometimes?

Praise team practice tonight. I've been replaced on the acoustic guitar, but that's cool. The guy who's playing now is super-talented and is just getting involved in the church. It's really cool to see people getting plugged into things. This also gives me the opportunity to going back to vocals, which I enjoy.

Going to be a long day on Sunday. We have a "men's meeting" after service. Should be a long one with all the things that need to be discussed. Our move to St. Anne's, the possibility of buying the land, meeting with the elders of another church, etc. Pray for us, but more specifically, pray for me. There are some things that I need to discuss with them that are important for our growth.

Praying for you all. Be a blessing!!

Music

Currently Listening
Kings Gold, Vol. 4
By Gold City & Kingsmensee related

Ok so some of you may find my listening selection to be quite odd. However, if you know me at all, you will know that I like quite a variety of music. This morning I woke wanting to listen to some good old southern gospel quartets. Between the deep bass voices to those high tenor notes, it just cool! Sweet harmonies rock!!!

Ok enough about my music selection. Yesterday's post has still been on my mind. Hope it was thought-provoking for you. Got a call yesterday that we will now be locating, as of September 11, in St. Anne's Episcopal School in MIDDLETOWN!!! How exciting! We are finally going to be in our target community. We're also going to be meeting with the elders from another church in the lower part of the state. Not sure what that's about, but it's encouraging.

Check out this website for some info on yesterday's post. http://www.livingroom.org.au/blog Feel free to explore for some insight as to this "new" way of doing church that is reaching countless people around the world.

WARNING: Dangerous Thoughts Ahead

Wow! So I'm preaching on Jonah on Sunday. Not the typical swallowed by the "whale" sermon though. I'm focusing on Jonah chapter 4. Jonah's waiting for God to destroy Nineveh, but it never happens. Jonah is furious. He's ticked at God for showing grace. How amazing!

You know, isn't that like us though? I think we in the church do a good job of saying that Jesus is for everyone, that God loves everyone. "Just not them." We have a hard time accepting people into the church who aren't just like us. It's so hypocritical.

So now I'm struggling with my sermon. There's so much I want to say, but not sure if it fits in well with the sermon. God has just been revealing so much to me lately. The topic I'm dealing with the past 2 days has been about being a "missional" church. How many of our churches would support a missionary who just goes into a village, builds a building and says come? None of them. Because we know that the missionary must first be accepted into their culture. If the village needs a well, he digs a well. So why is it that churches just build a pretty new building a say, "Come" without ever being first accepted into the culture of the community.

Our churches must begin to think more like missionaries instead of ministers. We must think about reaching the community instead of the community just eventually making its way to us.

Not sure if too many people will buy into that theory here. It's worthy mentioning though. Ideas always sound good on a tape or in a book, but when you ask people to implement those ideas, they run like chickens. Stay tuned......

Hymns

You know listening to Songs of Redemption by Jars of Clay is really good. I grew up listening to all the hymns in church. In fact, I don't think I really ever sang many "choruses" except at camp and then in college. However, in today's culture, I believe that many more people would listen and enjoy singing the hymns if they sounded like this. The messages in these songs are tremendous, but tragically, the message is often drowned out by the organ blaring very loudly and slowly. Please, please, please check out this cd. I had kind of lost interest in Jars of Clay, but this is good stuff.

Still struggling with some stuff, but definitely seeing "light at the end of the tunnel". I guess part of it is still dealing with how much we are "needed" or "wanted" here. It's the same stuff you hear all the time in ministry. If something is wrong you hear, but if things you're doing something right, it seems to be quiet. Part of me thinks we don't hear anything one way or the other. Am I doing what the church expects? Am I preaching relevant sermons to their needs? Am I leading them into a growing relationship with God through Jesus Christ? That's my prayer. That's my desire.

We've been a bit "homesick" lately, but those spells always come and go. We'll be very excited for school to start up again. Have I mentioned that yet? I was asked to be a head coach for Isaac's soccer league. I graciously (and very quickly) declined citing the fact that I've never coached or even played organized soccer in my life. Hopefully, he'll have a coach so I can at least help in some way. Kinda funny, though, for those who know my soccer IQ.

We walked downtown at the Peach Festival on Saturday. I don't remember if I mentioned this earlier. If so, forgive me. I'm 31. The "Old-Timer's" is beginning to set in. It was an ok little town festival. Nothing compared to the Blueberry Festival in Plymouth though. We didn't even get peach pie or peach ice cream. Guess we'll have to wait till next year. We even have a nice peach tree in our yard. Tasty.

Enough rambling. Later.

Just Checking In

Just wanted to check in and say hey before I go to pick up the boys from a Vacation Bible School they've been attending this week. Things are pretty hectic, as always, around the Grasham house.

I've been doing a lot of reading the past week or so, but that might change now that we got basic cable. Just kidding. Currently reading Uprising by Erwin McManus and A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren. Both very good. Next up for me will probably be The Present Future by Reggie McNeal. You may notice the tendency to read from guys who have "Mc" in their names. Maybe it's because we're like addicted to McDonald's and their $1.99 Happy Meals on Wed and Fri nights.

Anyway, pray for my parents please. Dad resigned from the church in Byrdstown on Sunday. They are currently looking for another ministry. This week they're away at a retreat for ministers and wives. Hopefully, that is refreshing to them after this very stressful weekend.

Later.

Pregnancy Update

Susan went to the doctor today for her checkup. Isaac went with her to hear the heartbeat. While there, she found out that her doctor has resigned and she has been assigned to another doctor. All of this may seem stressful, but it's not. She had not seen her previous doctor since we found out she was pregnant. He is in Kansas, I think, as a part of the Reserve. So the doctor she has been assigned to is the doctor she has already been seeing. This doctor also comes to the Middletown office one day a week. So now we won't have to drive all the way to Christiana for her appointments. Great news.

We are doing all right. Still settling in. I'm getting some much needed reading done though. Uprising by Erwin McManus headlines my list right now. I'm also excited about reading A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren after finishing McManus. Good stuff though. Check it out if you want.

Later.

Hooray for DSL!!!

This morning on my way home from a trip up to Newark I called Verizon to check on our DSL order. Of course, I've done this every day for the past week and received the same response. It would be activated August 11. I kept calling because I naturally assumed that it would be delayed like it was when we moved to Newark in the fall. But this morning I received a pleasant surprise. "Good news! Your Verizon DSL was activated on August 10." If I wasn't in the car, I would have jumped up and down with joy.

Oh how nice to have hi-speed and wireless service. For those of you still stuck in dial-up, I apologize for what may seem to be an arrogant attitude right now. But after living with hi-speed for 8 months...a week and a half of dial-up was enough to drive me crazy.

Good times last night with Kevin and Wendy Henke. Went to Newark and ate at Bertucci's. Great Chicken Anna Maria. Mmmmmm. Then of course the usual shopping afterward. Picked up a 4-port USB hub at Staples. Very nice.

Susan's mom leaves tomorrow to return to Indiana. It's been very good to have her here. We've done a lot of work on the house. A lot of painting the past two days. A lot of boxes have been emptied and taken to recycling bins. It's nice to not have to hold on to boxes so we can move again.....cuz we're not for a while...a good long while.

Hope all is well for you all. Leave a comment if you like.

Later.

Getting Settled

Well, it's been over a week now that we've been in our new house and things are starting (I repeat, starting) to get settled down. We still have mounds of boxes and totes laying around, mostly filled with my books, but they will find their permanent home soon.

I have been encouraged over the past couple of days by the number of people from church who have commented on how excited they are that we are finally down in Middletown. I don't think I realized how far it really was for us to be way up in the north part of Newark for the past 8 months. As the months wore on, it grew more and more obvious that we desperately needed to be down here closer to everyone.

Church went well yesterday. Every week we have a few new people come and visit. Our goal, of course, is that they return. Fortunately, we have had some success in getting return visitors. I think that our relaxed and friendly, non-threatening atmosphere helps in that regard. I am firmly convinced that there are great things around the corner for Northeast Christian Church. I just wish that I could speed them up a little bit. But God has His own time for things and He will continue to bless us as we seek Him and honor Him in everything.

Susan's mom arrived on Friday for a visit. It has been good to have her here to help. She flies back home to Indiana on Thursday. Please pray for Susan's nephew Braydin Gable. He was involved in a 4-wheeler accident this weekend. He swerved to miss a large dog, wrecked and now is in Riley hospital with 3 broken ribs, a fractured vertebrae, and several other painful injuries.

We have received a couple of very encouraging emails recently. It's always nice to hear from friends. Excited to hear from Kim Clevenger in Warsaw about 4th Grade Camp and other exciting news like college. We always love to hear from friends. Even though we're closer in proximity to church folks, we're still quite a distance from friends and family. Drop us a line sometime. We'd love to hear from you.

Later.

We're Here!!

Well, we're finally moved into our new home in Middletown, DE. It was definitely a long process and a long time in the making. We are overwhelmed right now with making sure things are finding their place. It will all happen in due time. We started getting stuff ready for the truck Sat. morning at 7am. Two men from church showed up at 8 ready to help. The truck was supposed to arrive around 10. However, the truck deal fell through. So we ended up moving all of our stuff in the back of trucks and on 2 flat-bed trailers. Yeah. It was an adventure to say the least. The last 2 guys left the house at 10pm Saturday night and we still had stuff up in Newark. Finally, we completed the moving process by bringing the last load down in the van on Tuesday. Needless to say, we are completely exhausted from all of this. But it is so much nicer being close to people from church. What a blessing that is!!!

Our DSL has yet to be hooked up, so I'm using a free AOL disk for now. We are still able to receive email at our main address though, grashams@verizon.net Email us and we'd be happy to give you our address and phone number. Our cell numbers will remain the same thankfully.

I know that this is somewhat short and choppy, but it fills you in on what has been going on. Hope to hear from ya'll soon!

Later!