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Aaron Fenlason

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Had a great meeting this afternoon with Aaron Fenlason, pastor of New Life Church in Wichita. Aaron blogs at Hope of Righteousness. There were so many areas of agreement in which we found as we talked today. It was indeed sweet fellowship and encouraging to hear of this amazing work. The church meets at 242 S. Edwards in Wichita (north of Friends University). Pray for this work as they are currently looking for a like-minded leader to help in leading the musical parts of worship. Let’s ask God to do amazing things through Aaron and this church.

Recap – Josh…

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Well, we are back. Got back into town last night and am back in the office rolling on another week. Have a busy day today as well.

Just got done getting Josh Seachris’ sermon preached here yesterday online. I’m excited about listening to it. Josh always handles the Scriptures well and points us to great application as he wrestles with texts. The sermon was entitled “Reverence, Contentment, and Faith: The Appropriate Response to a Sovereign God” from Ecclesiastes 3:1-15. Any applications stick out to anyone from this sermon?

Hope you all have a great week.

Weekend Update…8/8

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As you may or may not know, we (Me, Meghan, Andrew, Gabriel) are in Colorado Springs, CO for Tyler Dixon’s Wedding this weekend. The wedding is in a few hours at Cathedral Pines Lodge. Rehearsal went well yesterday and wedding is today. Should be a fun time. As you think of them, pray for Tyler and Melanie as they begin their new life together.

Tomorrow, back home at Crestview, Josh Seachris will be filling in, continuing his series through Ecclesiastes. I don’t have it in front of me, but I believe Josh told me that his sermon would be from Ecclesiastes 3 on the Sovereignty of God.

In the evening, the church will continue in worship meeting in small groups to discuss our unity of purpose and how that connects us to one another from Philippians 1:27-30. Hope the weekend goes well there.

Reading Update…

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I posted a reading update a while back and thought it was time for the latest…

As I mentioned in the previous post, I’m really being helped by Lou Priolo’s book Pleasing People: How not to be an “approval junkie”. I can always grow in my battle against pleasing men. And this book gives great help for the sanctification I need to be pursuing in this area.

Manly Dominion by Mark Chanski is a helpful book (so far) on what it means to exercise our role as men and, even more basic, to be the people God created us to be.

Sent by Ed Stetzer will be our small group curriculum this Fall. I’ve read it twice and am going through it one more time very meticulously to get a better feel for how I can use this material in my small group.

I am also going through Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson’s book Counsel From The Cross for the 3rd time. Why? I am so encouraged to read this. Counseling is an area that I need to be consistently growing it. I am swayed that keeping the Gospel central is key to healthy churches and numerous other reasons. This time I am slowly working my way through again.

I also keep reading some in The Mission of God, giving the foundational Biblical and theological underpinnings of missionally reading the Scriptures.

Anything big I’m missing out there?

Update On Reading…

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While I’m busy this week prepping for the weekend and getting ready for camp (next week) I thought I’d post on what I’ve been reading…

I’m doing lots of background work on Luke and specifically Luke 15 for sermon prep. Particularly helpful have been a couple of books by Kenneth Bailey: The Cross and the Prodigal and Poet & Peasant.

I just finished volume 2 (of 4) in Spurgeon’s Autobiography.

Along with the Elders, I have really been helped by Elyse Fitzpatrick & Dennis Johnson’s recent book entitled Counsel from the Cross, which gives us more practical ways to employ the Gospel in our interactions with others.

I’m almost done with Voddie Baucham’s What He Must Be, which has been helpful in reminding me of my role and my responsibilities as a father.

Mark Driscoll’s latest, Religion Saves, was quickly worked through. Lots of helpful things in here from birth control to worship to law & grace.

Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck’s recent Why We Love The Church has been thoroughly enjoyable. I’m still rather early in it, but the introductions alone drop a grenade of sorts on our preconceived ideas about the church and the casual relationship so many of us have with her.

I know that I struggle consistently with fear of man related tendencies, so I picked up Pleasing People by Lou Priolo to give me some godly counsel.

I think I was tipped off at Piper’s Pastor’s Conference to the book The Mission of God by Christopher Wright and it was a good tip off. It demonstrates how God has always been on mission and how we can know His heart for missions by looking at His Word. I chop away at this book to the tune of a chapter a week or so.

Also on the list to read soon are:
Manly Dominion by Mark Chanski (another book related to my role in marriage)
Get Outta My Face! by Rick Horne (book on parenting teenagers)

Also, I nearly forgot Broken Down House by Paul David Tripp, an excellent book on issues related to sanctification and living in a way the redeems what sin has destroyed.

That’s been all lately. I have some other books that I’ve finished and would highly recommend, but I’ll save those for another post.

Back from Vacation…

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Yes, made it back safe and sound. Kind of hit the ground running getting the sermon (of which I had already researched) finally pulled together on Saturday. But thought the sermon Sunday went well. Was nice to be back in the saddle again. Was also nice to be back to the boys (we vacationed without them). Some other highlights included…

Reading books:
Letters Along The Way by Carson and Woodbridge
Comforts from the Cross by Elyse Fitzpatrick
Spurgeon’s Autobiography
Meg and I enjoyed devotionals from Colossians

Listening to sermons:
I already mentioned how we listened to Humble Pastors by Driscoll. We also listened to C.J. on Parenting and the latest sermon by Chandler

So, we had a great time and fully enjoyed ourselves without regrets.

More Vacation Recap (& Scenery)

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 My last update involved what we did through Monday. We ended up eating at a neat Pizza By the Slice place. It was very good pizza and the pieces were ginormous.

On Tuesday AM, we went to a Tai Chi class, grabbed some lunch, watched a movie at our condo, and then headed out that evening to a covered wagon ride and all you can eat BBQ dinner put on by the activity office of our place. It was a good time. Meg and I laughed a lot. We have a hot tub at our place and have used it a good bit.

Wednesday involved another tennis lesson and then driving to hike. The picture here is one we took at this cool lookout we hiked to. Again, that night we watched a movie and relaxed.

Today (Thursday) we had a really lazy day and haven’t done much. We anticipate leaving in the morning. Just thought some of you might like an update.

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