Here’s my little man beating out his big sisters in the age they learned to crawl. That’s my BOY!
Posted via email from Stephen Parris
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I’ve eaten 4 of these today. They’re really good. Fortunately they’re only 15 calories each. Serious citric acid goodness in three flavors. I have a leaning towards orange.
Posted via email from Stephen Parris
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25 June, 2010
I’ll remember that I was packing my house to move when I heard that Michael Jackson died.
Thanks for the memories, Jack-O.
A tragic life, but an amazing talent.
. . .
stephenparris.com
arts + innovation pastor • riverchurch.com
678.469.9820 // @stephenparris
Posted via email from Stephen’s posterous
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Sunday = Father’s Day. Here’s how THAT went down.
Let’s go stay at my parents’ house! WIN
Ran out of gas in 99° heat. Father in Law had to rescue us…on Father’s Day. FAIL
We then get 15 miles from home when I realize I’ve left one of our bags at home. FAIL
So we do lunch (at 2:30pm) in the car. Drop the fam off at FIL’s house to say thanks for the rescue and hangout while I go back home. NO SWEAT
Drive back to FIL’s, then 1-1/2 hours to dinner for my dad. Caia spills iced tea on Kenni and my mom. FAIL
Otherwise a nice but chaotic dinner. WIN
Drive to their house…but not without accidentally jumping a curb and smashing up the bottom of my truck’s chassis. FAIL
Unloading, I get a stinkin’ moth under my bottom eyelid. FAIL
Annette has to literally pin me down to dig it out with a paper towel. FAIL
She loves me enough to pin me down and dig out a bug with a paper towel. WIN
Still hurts. FAIL
That’s all I remember.
I think my mind has blocked most of the memories to save me from going into shock.
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One of my primary reasons for blogging when I set out was to keep a timeline of what’s happened in my life. I figure if I can hang onto this database long enough, I’ll be able to read it back to help me recall things when I’m old and geezerish.
So with my track record lately, there are a few months of my life will vanish like the wind.
C’est la vie.
In an effort to get back on track, here’s the unabridged version of what’s happening these days:
- We ‘moved’ into our new house in Charleston on Saturday, June 13. We have the best friends in the world. Jon, Joel, and Randy helped load everything up, and then Jon, Joel, and Jason stinkin’ drove all the way to CHS with me to unload and set up. Katie kept the girls while Annette was at a girls’ overnighter/going away party. Then Terri drove Annette and the girls to CHS on Sunday. Forever indebted. [click to continue…]
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Tuesday night Annette and I were finally able to attend our first River Church Core Team gathering.
It exceeded our hopes and expectations.
We are on for the ride of our life together…God is doing something incredibly unique here.
We launch 3 January, 2010 in West Ashley, Charleston, South Carolina. There were 16 folks at the gathering who make up most of our “Core.”
They are not ordinary.
They are extraordinary.
I’m serious…each and every one of these men and women is high-calibre.
I’m amazed.
We talked through Matthew 28:18-20, and took a look at this article which explains the relationship of the Talmidim and his Rabbi. It was a good illustration of our goal at River Church to lead by fostering true community and discipleship. Intentionally, specifically, and strategically. Just as Jesus invested his greatest effort in Peter, James and John to leverage the cornerstones of the Church, we can only expand the Kingdom of God in West Ashley by focusing on roughly 3 folks over a long period of time who then focus on discipling roughly 3 folks…and so on.
Here’s the hard-hitting quote of the night:
If your disciples are not discipling, then YOU are not discipling, and you may very well not be a disciple yourself.
So, stick with me here: If the effectiveness of our church’s leadership [micro] is equal to our disciples’ effectiveness, and if the role of the Church is to make disciples of all nations, then the overall [macro] health of River Church can be easily gauged by how engaged our people are with making disciples themselves.
Simply put, if years from now we are seeing the number of intentional and effective disciples increase exponentially, then we are leading a healthy church.
That’s a tall cup of tea to swallow. A daunting task.
But Christ has told us that we are able and that we can rely on His help.
Novelty will fade and we will move from launch mode to [hopefully] gaining in maturity. Through it all, if River Church is multiplying disciples exponentially, all over the globe, then we are successful.
If our reality shows otherwise, then we have missed our calling.
Is it really that simple? Am I oversimplifying? Way off base? I’m a veteran of the Church, but am a newby in leading a church. Is this thought too idealistic!
I guess the reason I’m so uncertain is I don’t see too many church plants out there who are operating in a way that effectively cultivates this kind of community.
Are we ready to lead so intentionally and intensely that we would only have the bandwidth to disciple three men or women? Can our pride handle putting so many of our eggs in that basket?
One night on the Sea of Galilee, Peter didn’t doubt Christ’s ability to find firm footing in water…he doubted his OWN ability.
If our clothes are dusty from walking behind Jesus, we are able…because our efforts are powered by the Spirit of God.
Again, is it this simple? Disciples leading disciples who are leading disciples? Is this a thorough enough summary of the Great Commission?
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Big changes are underway here in the Parris household. Yesterday marked my final day of serving as the Program Director at West Ridge Church…and today marks Day 1 of an adventure in Church Planting! Annette and I will soon be packing up our lives and moving to Charleston, SC, to join some friends who are planting River Church in the West Ashley community. I will serve as Arts + Innovation Pastor.
I’ll write about how all this came to be in great detail very soon, but for now you can check it all out on our new family blog, parrisfam.com.
You know, I think we’ve all known this is coming. But this is probably the first we’ve seen of it look practical and cost-enabling. Sit back and watch 9 minutes of “wow.”
I hope Steve Jobs is already negotiating licensing with this kid.
Caught this on John’s blog: One Step Closer to ‘Minority Report’ – ChurchCrunch.
This is hilariously true, and speaks for itself. Enjoy.
For a higher quality version, click here.
Lots of folks have been asking me how Jack’s big sisters have taken to him… Well, this should give you an idea. (Let’s just hope Caia doesn’t have a communicable disease right now.)
Caia Lovin’ on Jack “Baby Cry” from stephen parris on Vimeo.
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