It's never too late - rants and raves on Black Friday

This Sunday is the first Sunday of the Advent Season. As we move closer to Advent, our worship of Jesus is being challenged by an empire of materialism. Sadly, many of us have been taken captive. We shop till we drop, sit in traffic jams flaring up at one another, and even create massive to-do, or to-get lists that haunt our days.

Did you know that Americans spend 450 billion every year on Christmas? Did you know that many Americans rack up credit card debt that they won't pay off by the next Christmas? We apparently buy enough things on Black Friday to move retailers from operating in the red to turning a profit. Give thanks.

Do you realize that the holiday season is very lonely for many Americans? Do you know why? Consumerism does not equal meaning, happiness, or value. It just equals having more things.

Here's something I have been learning lately.

It's never too late to become who you might have been. Maybe I'm just hopeful. I desire something deeply valuable and beautiful this advent. I desire relationship not plastic. I desire a heart that is continually being transformed by the grace of God. I desire meaning, happiness, and value. I find it more every single day in my relationship with Jesus. I grasp it more and more as I begin to understand the sermon on the mount.

I desire rubbing shoulders and spending time with others who have a desire for something deeply valuable and beautiful this advent.

I desire to give. To love. To worship.

• It's not too late to worship Jesus more fully this advent season.
  
• It's not too late to spend less, and give more gifts of relationship and presence with family and friends.
  
• It's not too late to love like Jesus loved.

The Bible as We Know It

Join us on Sunday evening, November 23rd for a short study entitled The Bible As We Know IT! This three week course led by Yon Wibscov is for both seeking unbelievers and mature leaders and will explore:

* how the Bible was put together
* how the right manuscripts were chosen
* how to know what you read is true
* how to know it's really from God
* what the word 'inerrant' means

IT begins at 6:30 PM @ Elizabeth Hall.

Please Watch

Advent Conspiracy Video embedded below. Facebook viewers will have to check out www.benjamindurbin.com



We will take part in the Advent Conspiracy on Dec. 21st through our giving.

Lost

This week's message....


Invite, Invite, Invite.

Who?
Your "religious" friends
Your "sinful" friends

See ya Sunday morning.

Home: A peak into my brain

I made it home from Honduras and the Compassion International Vision trip. I was very privileged to be on this trip.

Three quick thoughts.



1) Compassion International is the real deal and makes being missional globally, while being church focused and gospel centered, possible for every believer. EVERY believer.

2) The people that are all over the Willow Creek Association and church need to listen to this. I spent all week with three key staff: Jim Mellado (president of the WCA), Steve Spoelhof (executive vp wca), and Chris Hurta (director of pastoral development wc church). They are the real deal. They may have faults, but mine are greater. I'm pretty sure most of the new testament characters have more faults. I witnessed their hearts, saw their tears, but most importantly was challenged by their faith. Why do I know this? A) The Holy Spirit's leading. B) They had absolutely NO reason to be fake with a nobody like me in Honduras.

3) Jim boldy proclaimed that the North American church is the richest church in world history. We have to submit to God. . We have to reach the least of these (matthew 25). We now have enough resources to spread the gospel and monumentally make an effect on global poverty. Here is my challenge. This is from me. Quit sitting on your assets and fulfill the great commission. Spread the gospel. Fight poverty. Live the gospel. Proclaim the gospel. We are Christ's ambassadors (2 Cor. 5). Follow Jesus.

Isaiah 1:17
learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed. ^[a]
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

Meet Sandra

Today, Becky and I sponsored our first child from Compassion International. Her name is Sandra. We were able to see the compassion project she attends. It is ran by a local assembly of God church. We spent time with her, visited her home, and met her family. Now we want to introduce you to her as well.

The video below is in Spanish. She tells us that her name is Sandra, she thanks us for being her God parents, and she asks for God to continue to bless. (think of this as the message remix translation haha).



Tonight, we had dinner with children who are in the Leadership Development Program for Compassion International projects in Honduras. We met two students who have grown up in the projects, live by the gospel, and have now finished shool and began University.

Today was quite a day! We got to see the work of Compassion and a local church. We visited homes for local hondurans living in a flood zone near a local river. We got to meet our child we are sponsoring. We saw children beginning the compassion projects, and we saw children who are now grown up and becoming successful because of it!

Tomorrow - the Global Leadership Summit in San Pedro Sula.

God bless,
Ben

CDI Sueno de Dios Photos

I'm in Honduras and on day one we actually visited Project CDI Sueno de Dios. Below are photos Becky and I took of the children and a few of the home visits. Compassion International is doing terrific work in Honduras to partner with local churches to change their community by the power of the Gospel. Until this trip, I did not know fully Compassion's focus on the local church. The third to last picture is a picture of the pastor who runs the project for 300 children that passion supports. They support this project through the Child Sponsorship program, Leadership Development Program, and Complementary intervention. The final picture is of Jim Mellado, president of the Willow Creek Association with the children.

Heading to Honduras

Becky and I are traveling to Honduras tomorrow courtesy the WCA and Compassion International. Several of you have asked what we are going to be doing, so I thought I would post a few things.

Wednesday - we will be visiting the El Vinedo Child Development Center. We will be making home visits with children from the project and then have dinner that evening with pastors.

Thursday - we will visit another project (CDI Sueno de Dios) and more children. Then we will have dinner with the children in the Leadership Development Program.

Friday - we will be at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit.

We'll be doing other things as well, but here are some of the highlights to help satisfy curiosity. Keep us in your prayers!

Halloween Fun

The week of Halloween fun has come to an end. I thought I would share a couple of photos of our family. I've decided that Halloween is much more fun as a parent than I remember it being as a child. Brylee was so excited to be Dee Dee Doodle this year...and she was so cute too! This was the first year we took Brylee to a couple of houses to trick-or-treat. I asked her if she like going door to door or to her granparents better. She said her grandparents. Good answer :D

Questions

I have received a lot of questions in this past week about God. So many, that I wanted to share a resource that I believe is incredibly helpful. People are hungry. People are hurting.

Please visit ...

http://www.reasonforgod.com/