Starting off, I survived Y2K. That’s a pretty big deal. And from there on out I obtained my driver’s license and subsequently had my first accident, established my relationship with God, had my second and third car accident and subsequently learned the value of safe driving habits, graduated high school, bought my first lotto ticket and subsequently learned the importance of financial responsibility, graduated college, secured my first real job, bought my first car that wasn’t older than I was, met my future wife and subsequently got married and subsequently lost my virginity, bought my first brand new car (thanks to Cash for Clunkers) and subsequently obtained my first car payment and subsequently learned how content I can be driving a used vehicle.

All of that and more in the last ten years. So, what have you done?

Josh and I both grew up in the same church. He’s about 6 or 7 years older than me. And over the past, probably 7 years, Josh has been so much more to me than just an acquaintance. He has been my youth pastor, my mentor, my ministry leader, my boss, and above everything else, he has been my friend.

Josh has taught me how to be a leader. He has taught me how to dream big, and then chase those dreams. And as far as individuals investing in my life goes, outside of my parents, Josh has by far made the largest.

He now lives in Georgia, and I miss him and his family a lot. In fact, the night we helped them pack up, I didn’t even make it to my car before crying like a baby.  But thankfully, due to technology, I can still keep up with what’s going on in his life and he is still able to invest in me via his blog.

I hope that everyone is so lucky to have a man like Josh in their life… if not, there’s always blog.joshclark.me.

Tuesday, Sept. 16: After the wind storm on Sunday the 14th, six:forty took the opportunity to help clean up the community. We headed to Tuscora Park to clean up sticks and branches. We tried to find some elderly to help out, but everyone we talked to already had their yard cleaned up, but they were still very appreciative. We ended up getting a thank you note from the Mayor of New Phila, Michael Taylor. That was nice.

Tuesday, Sept. 30: We took the time to just pray for everything that’s going on everywhere. I find it difficult to take time during the week and just lay everything out before God, I find it nearly impossible to do it on a daily basis. So, it was good for me to just clear off some space and pray with some friends. We prayed for our Church, six:forty, the next President, the economy, the Aids Crisis, our next lead pastor, missionaries and a bunch of other stuff. We also took the time to pray through the list of college students I have. So, if you are away at school, i want you to know that we haven’t forgot about you at six:forty, and that we were praying for you. Here’s a little something I shared this past Tuesday, I thought it was cool.

Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. – Ephesians 6:18

Will God really make the pouring out of blessing on others dependent on our prayers? Yes, He makes us His fellow workers. He has taken us into partnership in His work. If we fail to do our part, others will suffer and His work will suffer.
God has appointed intercession as one of the means by which others will be saved and Christians built up in the faith. People all over the world will receive life and blessing through our prayers. Should we not expect God’s children to endeavor with all our strength to pray for God’s blessing on the world?
Begin to use intercession as a means of grace for yourself and for others. Pray for your neighbors. Pray for sinners that they may come to Christ. Pray for your minister and for missionaries. Pray for your country and for the government leaders. If you live a life completely for God, you will realize that the time spent in prayer is an offering pleasing to God.
Yes, “pray at all times… and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.” In so doing you will learn the lesson that intercession is the chief means of bringing others to Christ and bringing glory to God. - Andrew Murray, Teach Me to Pray

There will be no six:forty on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

I believe this is true. Due to the even playing field that YouTube, blogs, MySpace and things of the like have created, it doesn’t take much to get yourself in front of thousands of people.

The article also comments on how people have been paranoid about having a presence online, but have come to the conclusion that there’s nothing they can do about it, so they have determined to get out there, and become proactive in creating the image they want for themselves.

This got me thinking about the image that we, as Christians, have had in the public eye. Granted, our image is more of a collective image than one of individuals. It’s nearly impossible to tell someone you’re a Christian without them getting a negative impression, immediately.

So, what will it take for us to become proactive in changing our image?

Check out my good friend Ryan’s blog for some thoughts to think on.

Your Response: Oh, wow. Well, happy birthday, Craig.

Thank You.

But that’s not why I told you. I was spending some time today reflecting on just exactly what is so great that I have done with my life (which I believe has become an unintentional, annual ritual), and I realized that other then giving my sixth grade presentation on Luxembourg in exactly 10 minutes (and I mean exactly, the stopwatch read 00:10:00:00), nothing, really.

Now, I believe that God has done some incredible things through me and in me, but any attempts of greatness on my own, have undoubtedly fallen short. And lately I have been relying on my own means to spark greatness. And it’s like trying to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, but all I have is two strips of licorice. Can you imagine how frustrating that would be? Not to mention ridiculous.

The main reason for this blog is so that you can follow along with me through the process of leading a ministry full of twentysomethings and below (18-29). If you are not someone that attends this group called 640… that’s okay. You can stick around.

I just want to be able to open myself up to those who are interested in getting to know me up close and personal. I intend to share my thoughts, dreams and plans throughout my posts, and would be glad to have people comment on what they might think of them. For instance, tomorrow I’ll post some notes from what we do tonight.

A Whiteboard Session

Tonight at 640 we will be having a whiteboard session, entitled BLANK, where we will open up discussion on some different aspects of 640. I feel like God has given us a blank page to fill in ourselves, and build a ministry that develops its own identity, instead of trying to carry one on that we no longer hold.

So, with that said, this concludes my first post ever, and throughout this process I’ll be trying to not take myself too seriously.