Hannah’s Neighborhood

Go forth and fill your libraries with media.

Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.

~daisy

I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.

I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.

Cheers,

daisy

Bad news. As many of you have probably noticed, the Amazon Conduit was not fixed in the last week's release. Unfortunately, there was an undetected bug that is preventing the conduit from working.

We are working on this bug fix and hope to have the Conduit back up and running this week.

I will keep you posted.

Thank you for being so patient.

~daisy

Blog Action Day

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Blog Action Day is every October 15th, when blogger are asked to post something about a single issue to show our strength and conviction as an online community. It's a great way to feel connected to the greater good, and the participation of so many bloggers to support the world's leading non-profit organizations is something you can do to help, right now. By blogging today, you're supporting some of the world's leading non-profits and sharing your voice for change.

This year's topic is climate change, and we'd love to read your thoughts on the topic. If you participate, leave us a link to your post in the comments, so we know to check out your post!

Go to www.blogactionday.org to learn more, get a badge for your blog showing your participation, and see some ideas for your post on climate change.

Can't wait to read your posts!

~ daisy

"Why do we wear our hats on our heads when we pray?" the answer in the famous Fiddler on the Roof musical, "Tradition!"

I don't want tradition for tradition sake, but I do want the experience that motivated the first followers of Jesus to do what they did! They gave up all, sacrificed comfort, and radically proclaimed the validity of their experience with Jesus. I'm also interested in trying new techniques in our culture to declare this great Truth. However, I still hunger for the experience. I guess I don't just want to talk about Jesus and freedom, I want to live it!

Next time you are reading through the New Testament try to focus on what the author is trying to focus on. All too often we get sidetracked by what well intentioned teachers have taught us in the past. Try to, for a moment, let it all go and look for what the author is trying to get you to see. For example: Ephesians has a lot of "predestination" verbage and "free-will" talk too. So, a lot of time has been spent reading these passages in that light. However, we must realize the author wasn't trying to answer some of our questions. Rather he was putting us on a journey to be filled with the fullness of God!

- Look for repition.

- Look to Introductions and Conclusions.

- Look for grammatical "therefores" "and so's" and when the author emphasises something know it is important!

Let's live the life!

The Amazon Conduit will be working again on October 15, 2009. Thank you to everyone for your patience.

Have a great weekend,

daisy, Team Vox

In my last Team Vox post, I let you know that we're aware that the Amazon conduit is broken and that we're working to fix it. Many of you want to know when it's going to be fixed and I'm so sorry I haven't gotten back to you about that sooner.

Unfortunately, I don't have an exact date to give you, but rest assured, the Amazon conduit will be fixed in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I'm about to finish my latest book and I could use a few suggestions as to what to read next, so... if you don't mind, let me know in the comments what's on your nightstand and/or what book you think I absolutely must read next.

Thanks! :)

daisy

Some of you may have noticed that right now you cannot add books from Amazon to your Vox library. Giving people a glimpse into what's on your night stand is important to many of you, so I just wanted to reassure you that we are doing our best to get this bug fixed. I'll keep you posted.

So sorry for the inconvenience.

Hope you have a great weekend!
daisy

I like Coffee. However, I'm not over the top as some might think. For some reason I don't shy away from being known as someone who likes coffee. So, when brainstorming for a creative sermon illustration and the thought of drinking and Iced Americano during the sermon came up I was all in. I purchased my favorite summertime beverage Sunday morning on the way to New Life. I waited until the sermon began to begin my sipping frenzy, I had to have most of it drank by the time my 2nd point rolled around. As I discussed the letter from John to the church in Laodicia of Revelation 3 about how they were "lukewarm" and not "hot" or "cold" it was time for the illustration. I like iced espresso, and I like hot coffee . . however lukewarm coffee is spew-able! The message to the church in Laodicia was the same: hot water is good for calming, cool for refreshing they were spew-able too! Powerful.

I neglected one small element. I don't usually drink 3 shots of espresso during my sermon after my morning cups of coffee. The cafine rush was a bit much! One visitor said, "I enjoyed the service, the sermon was a bit manic but good." Manic maybe, more like Maniac. I set up the illustration too much. Then with the cafine blazing in my system I began to sweat. Now I'm excited, sweating, and enthusiastic about coffee. Hopefully something of the point translated! Truth is, in my zeal for coffee fueld by my caffine rush I forgot one of the main illustrated points. Espresso when mixed stays good, but if it just sits there it spoils in moments. The people at laodica were useless and indifferent . . they weren't mixing and they were spoiled.

Oh well, I will continue to brainstorm for creative personal sermon illustrations. yet, I will not be drinking espresso on a Sunday morning for awhile!

So, I'm Re-committing to my Blog!

Honestly the last 2 months have been a lot about Re-Meifying (not a word!). Results are in, I feel more like me than ever! I stood up at a prayer meeting and declared, "we are on the verge of a breakthrough and I know where it starts." pounding my chest for dramatic effect I said, "it starts right here." Boy was I right, and now I'm learning to be careful what I pray! Really though it has been a fantastic 2 months and I feel more alive than I ever have. Here are a few of the things I've Re-committed too:

-  Living for Jesus. No longer as a profession, but as a personal follower of His teachings devoted to seeking His Spirit's empowerment. I realized I was inviting people to my church and not to Jesus. I had the right motivation as I truly believe that if someone attends New Life they will find Jesus presented in a relevant way, but I'd stopped asking people to know Jesus! It's a slight difference, but it has made all the difference. More than just asking people to follow Jesus again as if it were just a recommitment to personal evangelism I'm finding my new again devotion so thrilling and so exhilarating it is just spilling over to those I'm around! The Bible has come alive again! Worship times and devotional times are like all the times! From the abundant life I'm living God is birthing fruit. It's easy and it's all happening quite naturally/supernaturally.

- Loving my Family. I am so in love with my wife and our beautiful children. Ashley and I have been married 5 1/2 years and I'm more in love with her now than ever. My boy is 3 yrs old and my daughter 3 months old. I find the most joy in sharing life with them. Honestly, this new re-me initially created a desire in me to love and give more to them not only to my relationship with God. However, I've found living out the new devotion most difficult. A bit of a confession here, but I wonder if it is true for others. I want to be the best husband and father but it seems so much stands against it. Not just my own personality flaws but the busyness and the business of life seem to rob the family first and most often. But, my re-relationship with Jesus has placed and uncompromising desire to put my family before anything else. All of it is a process but I'm committed and now re-committed to seeing them grow, and not just looking back at pictures without me in them. I won't tolerate the pressure to leave them behind while I move anything forward: not a career, not a church, nothing. I will look back at the end of my life and celebrate the times I was there, not wish I could have been. Even in the midst of church planting I will take time first for my family.

- Serving my church. We are revitalizing/planting a church in the St. Louis area www.thenewlifecommunity.com and I'm committed to it. More, I'm in love with the adventure of it. A couple of weeks ago I took the 4th of July weekend off and spent it with family (see above). Saturday night I woke from a dream where I had been preaching at New Life, I felt a deep sense of disappointment that I wasn't really there in that dream serving New Life. Cool thing was there were 55 people there, just like the last time I'd spoken. What impressed me the most was that I am truly excited about being a part of what God is doing now, not just what he will accomplish in the future. I love the process. And really since my Re-me adventure began things have taken off, we've turned a corner, we've had the breakthrough I knew we were on the verge of having! We've had someone give their life to Jesus every gathering for the last 2 months, prayer ministry has started, we've had over 70 for the last month, and the story continues to unfold!

So, these are just a few of the re-me details. I'm sure I will speak more specifically in the near future on more. Until then I pray that if you are reading this that the abundant life that Jesus spoke of in John 10 would be yours too.

Peace,
Jason