Happy New Year

The New Years Eve party here at the church has just gotten over and I thought I'd post some of the pictures from this evenings activities. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year

The New Years Eve party here at the church has just gotten over and I thought I'd post some of the pictures from this evenings activities. Happy New Year!

New Years Eve 2006

The service went great today. Abby's painting once again was terrific! I'll see if I can get a picture and post it here by tomorrow.

Got the photo of her painting check it out -

This evening the church is having a New Years Eve party. I plan on being there and maybe even sneaking some pics of some of the festivities and posting them here on the website. Stay tuned...

New Years Eve 2006

The service went great today. Abby's painting once again was terrific! I'll see if I can get a picture and post it here by tomorrow.

Got the photo of her painting check it out -

This evening the church is having a New Years Eve party. I plan on being there and maybe even sneaking some pics of some of the festivities and posting them here on the website. Stay tuned...

Pre Preaching Ponderings

Tomorrow, once again in the sermon, we tackle the big issue of God’s sovereignty and glory in this world. I have been reflecting on how my understanding of what God is doing in this world shapes my worldview and how I interpret all of the events that happen to me and around me.

Most definitely, God is all about His GLORY. I’m so thankful that He is in charge and knows what He is doing. I don’t think I’d like His job. I tend to get stressed out when I forget that I don't have to manage the universe and everyone in it. I’m quite happy just resting in the knowledge that He is revealing His GLORY and my job is to reflect His GLORY in this world.

Pre Preaching Ponderings

Tomorrow, once again in the sermon, we tackle the big issue of God’s sovereignty and glory in this world. I have been reflecting on how my understanding of what God is doing in this world shapes my worldview and how I interpret all of the events that happen to me and around me.

Most definitely, God is all about His GLORY. I’m so thankful that He is in charge and knows what He is doing. I don’t think I’d like His job. I tend to get stressed out when I forget that I don't have to manage the universe and everyone in it. I’m quite happy just resting in the knowledge that He is revealing His GLORY and my job is to reflect His GLORY in this world.

Be Intelligent - Filter & Focus

I was always told by my folks, "it’s not what you know, it’s knowing where to find the answers". With the rise of the Internet answers are found easily and they are found much more quickly. However, I could waste a lot of time on the Internet simply by taking a lot of rabbit trails. There is so much information on the Internet it is overwhelming. I think that those who are "intelligent" are those who not only know where to go to find the answers, but how to filter information in order to get the answers quickly.

Not being able to filter information directly affects our memory. "Difficulty filtering out distractions impacts a wide range of daily life activities, such as driving, social interactions and reading, and can greatly affect quality of life," said study leader Dr. Adam Gazzaley, adjunct assistant professor of neuroscience at UC Berkeley, Sep. 2005.

Mark Batterson’s blog touched on touched on this topic today as well. Mark made reference to 2 Thessalonians 3:11, "We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies." Mark says, "The word busybodies means "to busy oneself with useless or needless matters.""

There are just some things in our life that are needless. Smart folks know to avoid the needless and busy themselves with the needed. So, in 2007 my resolution is to be smarter. In order to be smarter, I need to filter out the distractions that are unnecessary so that I can focus on the necessary.

Be Intelligent - Filter & Focus

I was always told by my folks, "it’s not what you know, it’s knowing where to find the answers". With the rise of the Internet answers are found easily and they are found much more quickly. However, I could waste a lot of time on the Internet simply by taking a lot of rabbit trails. There is so much information on the Internet it is overwhelming. I think that those who are "intelligent" are those who not only know where to go to find the answers, but how to filter information in order to get the answers quickly.

Not being able to filter information directly affects our memory. "Difficulty filtering out distractions impacts a wide range of daily life activities, such as driving, social interactions and reading, and can greatly affect quality of life," said study leader Dr. Adam Gazzaley, adjunct assistant professor of neuroscience at UC Berkeley, Sep. 2005.

Mark Batterson’s blog touched on touched on this topic today as well. Mark made reference to 2 Thessalonians 3:11, "We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies." Mark says, "The word busybodies means "to busy oneself with useless or needless matters.""

There are just some things in our life that are needless. Smart folks know to avoid the needless and busy themselves with the needed. So, in 2007 my resolution is to be smarter. In order to be smarter, I need to filter out the distractions that are unnecessary so that I can focus on the necessary.

Blogging - Grandpa Style

This evening I came home to find that my Grandfather, Thorvald Sorensen, had sent us our Christmas gift and his annual "Story Book". My Grandpa is 87 years old this year and once again this year he is enrolled at the local Junior College in a Creative Writing class. For the past several years he has sent us a book full of his writings that he has put together throughout the last year. This year's work totals 138 pages. Some of his writings and comments have even been featured in his local newspaper several times.

My Grandfather is a proud Dane and shares many stories about our Danish ancestry, growing up on the farm in Iowa, serving in the war, and various other memories. For the past several years he has been translating his father's (my Great Grandfather, Chris') daily journal entries from Danish into English.

I guess writing has been in the Sorensen blood for a while now. From my Great Grandfather, Chris writing about his daily activities, to my Grandfather writing his papers for class and our yearly Story Book, to my father, Steve, who is currently working on a couple of books to be published, to me blogging daily now - a fourth generation "blogger" :-) Kinda' cool.

Blogging - Grandpa Style

This evening I came home to find that my Grandfather, Thorvald Sorensen, had sent us our Christmas gift and his annual "Story Book". My Grandpa is 87 years old this year and once again this year he is enrolled at the local Junior College in a Creative Writing class. For the past several years he has sent us a book full of his writings that he has put together throughout the last year. This year's work totals 138 pages. Some of his writings and comments have even been featured in his local newspaper several times.

My Grandfather is a proud Dane and shares many stories about our Danish ancestry, growing up on the farm in Iowa, serving in the war, and various other memories. For the past several years he has been translating his father's (my Great Grandfather, Chris') daily journal entries from Danish into English.

I guess writing has been in the Sorensen blood for a while now. From my Great Grandfather, Chris writing about his daily activities, to my Grandfather writing his papers for class and our yearly Story Book, to my father, Steve, who is currently working on a couple of books to be published, to me blogging daily now - a fourth generation "blogger" :-) Kinda' cool.

Values, Passions, & Dreams

As we near the end of the year I find myself, like many people, evaluating where I've been over the last year and looking forward to where I want to be in the next year. I stumbled upon something the other day that I had written in my PDA almost 9 months ago. I jotted these notes down while reading through Craig Groeschel's book "Chazown". Reading "Chazown" really caused me to evaluate my personal values, passions, and dreams. Here is what I wrote down...

I value:
Evangelism
Authenticity
Passion
Reliability
Personal Growth

Some of my passions are:
Church growth/health
Changed lives
Balanced living
Creative/Effective communication
Leadership

Now for the very personal part; some of my dreams:
To lead at least one person a day (365 per year) to Jesus Christ.
To increasingly communicate creatively.
Travel more.
Continually come up with unique and accurate biblical insights.
Lead many other pastors.

How about you? What are some of your values, passions, and dreams?

Values, Passions, & Dreams

As we near the end of the year I find myself, like many people, evaluating where I've been over the last year and looking forward to where I want to be in the next year. I stumbled upon something the other day that I had written in my PDA almost 9 months ago. I jotted these notes down while reading through Craig Groeschel's book "Chazown". Reading "Chazown" really caused me to evaluate my personal values, passions, and dreams. Here is what I wrote down...

I value:
Evangelism
Authenticity
Passion
Reliability
Personal Growth

Some of my passions are:
Church growth/health
Changed lives
Balanced living
Creative/Effective communication
Leadership

Now for the very personal part; some of my dreams:
To lead at least one person a day (365 per year) to Jesus Christ.
To increasingly communicate creatively.
Travel more.
Continually come up with unique and accurate biblical insights.
Lead many other pastors.

How about you? What are some of your values, passions, and dreams?

One More Get-Together

We got to enjoy the day at my parents house. We had a good time eating and opening presents.

One More Get-Together

We got to enjoy the day at my parents house. We had a good time eating and opening presents.

Tragic Weekend

This has been a challenging Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for our church. A young mother (26) who has been a recent regular attender of our church, was found dead in her home. She leaves behind a 3 month old son.

The police are suspecting that she was murdered. Those of us close to this young woman were unaware of her death until late Sunday evening after our Christmas Eve service at church. After I received the phone call late on Christmas Eve I found it very difficult to get to sleep; as I am sure it was difficult for many others facing this tragedy.

This is the first, and I pray to God the last time, that we will ever have to hear news like this occurring to someone in our church family. Fortunately, I can remember a service a few weeks back where I saw this young woman sitting in the second row of seats at church and boldly lifting her hand to acknowledge that she had asked Christ to be the Lord of her life.

Her tragic death drives me even harder that we focus on our mission as a church and see lives transformed by Jesus Christ. Time is short, and we must rescue those who are living in darkness.

Tragic Weekend

This has been a challenging Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for our church. A young mother (26) who has been a recent regular attender of our church, was found dead in her home. She leaves behind a 3 month old son.

The police are suspecting that she was murdered. Those of us close to this young woman were unaware of her death until late Sunday evening after our Christmas Eve service at church. After I received the phone call late on Christmas Eve I found it very difficult to get to sleep; as I am sure it was difficult for many others facing this tragedy.

This is the first, and I pray to God the last time, that we will ever have to hear news like this occurring to someone in our church family. Fortunately, I can remember a service a few weeks back where I saw this young woman sitting in the second row of seats at church and boldly lifting her hand to acknowledge that she had asked Christ to be the Lord of her life.

Her tragic death drives me even harder that we focus on our mission as a church and see lives transformed by Jesus Christ. Time is short, and we must rescue those who are living in darkness.

Merry Christmas - 2006

This morning came bright and early in the Sorensen household. Shelby came bounding into the master bedroom at 6 A.M. Not too early, but way too early when you consider I didn't get to sleep until 2:00 A.M. (more on that in an upcoming post).

Here are some photos of the goings on this morning. Here is Shelby's stack of gifts.

In comparison, here is my stack... :-)

Shelby got an mp3 player made for kids. She calls it her "IPod".

Our dog, Caedmon, even got in on some of the action. He loved his new chew toy.

When the dust settled from the frenzy of opening presents this is what was left.

And then one last surprise gift. Jackpot! Santa came through. The pony castle of Shelby's dreams.

To all those faithful blog readers - Merry Christmas! I love you guys, have a great day with your families.

Merry Christmas - 2006

This morning came bright and early in the Sorensen household. Shelby came bounding into the master bedroom at 6 A.M. Not too early, but way too early when you consider I didn't get to sleep until 2:00 A.M. (more on that in an upcoming post).

Here are some photos of the goings on this morning. Here is Shelby's stack of gifts.

In comparison, here is my stack... :-)

Shelby got an mp3 player made for kids. She calls it her "IPod".

Our dog, Caedmon, even got in on some of the action. He loved his new chew toy.

When the dust settled from the frenzy of opening presents this is what was left.

And then one last surprise gift. Jackpot! Santa came through. The pony castle of Shelby's dreams.

To all those faithful blog readers - Merry Christmas! I love you guys, have a great day with your families.

Post Preaching Ponderings Christmas Eve

Wow! The service today went really well. Everyone involved did an excellent job. Tammy took some pictures of Abby while she was painting...

Abby concluded her painting about halfway through the sermon. At the end of the sermon I did a little artwork myself. When I splattered Abby's painting with black paint and then smeared it around, I thought the whole church was going to implode from the collective gasp of disbelief. Abby's painting was so beautiful and I messed it up royally. It was so great!

Now I can't wait for next Sunday. I promise - I will not be painting anymore. I'll leave it all to the expert.

Our Christmas Eve service went well tonight too. A lot of people showed up for our first inaugural Christmas Eve service. We enjoyed hot chocolate, cookies, and candy canes. We had some kids up front singing Christmas carols, reading the Christmas narrative and I shared a short message.

Merry Christmas - I'd better close for now... I've got some of Santa's cookies I'd better get to eating. Blog ya tomorrow.

Post Preaching Ponderings Christmas Eve

Wow! The service today went really well. Everyone involved did an excellent job. Tammy took some pictures of Abby while she was painting...

Abby concluded her painting about halfway through the sermon. At the end of the sermon I did a little artwork myself. When I splattered Abby's painting with black paint and then smeared it around, I thought the whole church was going to implode from the collective gasp of disbelief. Abby's painting was so beautiful and I messed it up royally. It was so great!

Now I can't wait for next Sunday. I promise - I will not be painting anymore. I'll leave it all to the expert.

Our Christmas Eve service went well tonight too. A lot of people showed up for our first inaugural Christmas Eve service. We enjoyed hot chocolate, cookies, and candy canes. We had some kids up front singing Christmas carols, reading the Christmas narrative and I shared a short message.

Merry Christmas - I'd better close for now... I've got some of Santa's cookies I'd better get to eating. Blog ya tomorrow.

Twas the Night Before Sunday

Twas the night before Sunday, when all through the house
Pastor Kris was annoying, even to his spouse.

The sermon he had gone over, many times with care,
In hopes that on Sunday he would not despair.

Enough of the rhyming, that was getting pretty lame - for shame, if it's all the same... AAAAAHH make it stop!


This afternoon I got a chance to see Abby's first painting that she is working on for our GLORY series, it looks great. She is very talented. I can't wait for tomorrow, in fact I think it will be hard getting to sleep tonight. I really want tomorrow to go well.

We have passed out between 300-500 invitation cards in the community to our services. I've talked about it until people are probably sick of hearing about it. We've put out every chair that we own, the worship team has practiced, the media ministry team has all of their cues ready, I've worked as hard as I can on the message... all that is left is to watch God do His part and change lives.

Twas the Night Before Sunday

Twas the night before Sunday, when all through the house
Pastor Kris was annoying, even to his spouse.

The sermon he had gone over, many times with care,
In hopes that on Sunday he would not despair.

Enough of the rhyming, that was getting pretty lame - for shame, if it's all the same... AAAAAHH make it stop!


This afternoon I got a chance to see Abby's first painting that she is working on for our GLORY series, it looks great. She is very talented. I can't wait for tomorrow, in fact I think it will be hard getting to sleep tonight. I really want tomorrow to go well.

We have passed out between 300-500 invitation cards in the community to our services. I've talked about it until people are probably sick of hearing about it. We've put out every chair that we own, the worship team has practiced, the media ministry team has all of their cues ready, I've worked as hard as I can on the message... all that is left is to watch God do His part and change lives.

Is Tomorrow Christmas ?

All week long Shelby has been asking, "Is tomorrow Christmas?" I think every parent can relate to the anxiousness that our kids are getting to open up their gifts and play with them.

I've got to admit I'm getting a little anxious myself. Not for presents though (in fact I don't have a single present under our tree this year; I opened my IPod early ;-). What I'm anxious for is Sunday. I can't wait to share this Sunday with our church family and all the guests that are going to grace our doors on December 24th. I can't wait to see Abby Wagner painting on stage. I can't wait to enjoy just the "buzz" and electricity of anticipation before the service starts. I can't wait to hear the worship team after their hard practice the other night. And I can't wait to share a message that will, very clearly, spotlight our glorious God.

Is Tomorrow Christmas ?

All week long Shelby has been asking, "Is tomorrow Christmas?" I think every parent can relate to the anxiousness that our kids are getting to open up their gifts and play with them.

I've got to admit I'm getting a little anxious myself. Not for presents though (in fact I don't have a single present under our tree this year; I opened my IPod early ;-). What I'm anxious for is Sunday. I can't wait to share this Sunday with our church family and all the guests that are going to grace our doors on December 24th. I can't wait to see Abby Wagner painting on stage. I can't wait to enjoy just the "buzz" and electricity of anticipation before the service starts. I can't wait to hear the worship team after their hard practice the other night. And I can't wait to share a message that will, very clearly, spotlight our glorious God.

It's a Boy!

This morning (Thursday) Tammy, Shelby and I made our way to meet our new nephew, Tegan Oren; 8lb 2 oz & 20 inches. Here's a photo (sorry the quality isn't very good); trust me he's really cute...


I didn't get a chance to hold him today. I had to keep my distance; I'm nursing a sore throat and didn't want to pass anything on to Tegan. It was great seeing my sister Yvette and my brother-in-law Ronn. Ronn is pastor of the Disciples of Christ Church in Trafalgar, Indiana. We will get to celebrate with the Oren's and my parents again the day after Christmas.

It's a Boy!

This morning (Thursday) Tammy, Shelby and I made our way to meet our new nephew, Tegan Oren; 8lb 2 oz & 20 inches. Here's a photo (sorry the quality isn't very good); trust me he's really cute...


I didn't get a chance to hold him today. I had to keep my distance; I'm nursing a sore throat and didn't want to pass anything on to Tegan. It was great seeing my sister Yvette and my brother-in-law Ronn. Ronn is pastor of the Disciples of Christ Church in Trafalgar, Indiana. We will get to celebrate with the Oren's and my parents again the day after Christmas.

Crummy Church Signs

I found this site the other day. These are actual church signs that make you go huh? There are some humdingers. If you are short on time check out the hall of shame page.

One of my favorite stupid church signs is - "Kill the Devil".

What on earth? Can we do that?

Crummy Church Signs

I found this site the other day. These are actual church signs that make you go huh? There are some humdingers. If you are short on time check out the hall of shame page.

One of my favorite stupid church signs is - "Kill the Devil".

What on earth? Can we do that?

GLORY Series

This coming Sunday begins our new four week series called "GLORY". Abby Wagner will be on the platform creating works of art throughout the services. I've seen some of Abby's sketches and they look wonderful! I'm really looking forward to this series; I believe it will be one of the most memorable series we have ever done.

Here is just a bit of what I will be sharing this coming Sunday -
"God must paint into the canvas of time and space His GLORY. Everything is to Him and from Him and for Him (Romans 11:36). This is not about your GLORY; if it were we'd be worshipping you. But this universe and everything in it is about God...You have been placed here not for your glory, not for your satisfaction; it's not about you. You have been created by a magnificent, powerful, glorious God - to bring Him GLORY. You are to be a reflection of His GLORY."

GLORY Series

This coming Sunday begins our new four week series called "GLORY". Abby Wagner will be on the platform creating works of art throughout the services. I've seen some of Abby's sketches and they look wonderful! I'm really looking forward to this series; I believe it will be one of the most memorable series we have ever done.

Here is just a bit of what I will be sharing this coming Sunday -
"God must paint into the canvas of time and space His GLORY. Everything is to Him and from Him and for Him (Romans 11:36). This is not about your GLORY; if it were we'd be worshipping you. But this universe and everything in it is about God...You have been placed here not for your glory, not for your satisfaction; it's not about you. You have been created by a magnificent, powerful, glorious God - to bring Him GLORY. You are to be a reflection of His GLORY."