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COMMUNITY Stuff
Cash Crunched?
A new session of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University begins Monday, August 23. Join us on Monday, August 9 or August 16 for a preview of this 13 week course that will help you take control of your financial life!
DISCOVERY DINNER
New at CCC? Want a better understanding of our mission, ministries, and membership procedure?
Want a great meal (and free childcare, if you need it)? You're invited to a "Discovery Dinner", Tuesday, August 3, at 6:30. All we need from you now is an RSVP! Call Elizabeth at 251-951 to secure your spot.
Rangers Ballgame Road trip
Wanna see a Ranger's game? Donna
Bernard has worked out block tickets and
block hotel rooms to make it affordable for
families to go.
The game night is Thursday, July 29 when the
Rangers play a 7:05 p.m. game against the
Oakland A's. Tickets are $25 and includes
"All u can eat" wristband for the Homerun
Pavilion café (which is air conditioned by
the way).
The hotel rooms are at the
Holiday
Inn Arlington Northeast which is adjacent to
the stadium. A trolley will take the group
from the hotel and breakfast on Friday is
included all for a mere $89 per room (figure
$100 after taxes and fees).
Only ten rooms and a limited number of $25
game tickets have been purchased so please
let Donna know if you would like to take your
family to a Rangers Ballgame as soon as
possible. You can reach Donna at (318)
255-7694. Each family will be responsible for
transportation to Arlington, but we will try
to convoy from CCC parking lot around 9 a.m.
Thursday, July 29.
Benefit Concert
On August 20, 33 Miles will be performing at 1st Baptist West Monroe to benefit 4 year old Jackson Mock who has been diagnosed with leukemia and is at St. Jude Children's Hospital. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased by contacting CCCer Zelda Garcia at 614-9506 or 255-6481.
Write to our enlisted CCCers
Below are addresses for Ben Kirby (who is attending Officer Candidate School) and Daniel Cason (who is at Marine Boot Camp). Drop them a note and let them know people in Ruston are thinking of them!
Candidate Kirby, Benjamin G, 3098
Officer Candidates School, Alpha Company, 4th Platoon
2189 Elrod Avenue
Quantico, VA 22134-5033
Rct Cason, Daniel E.
Platoon 2059, BN 2 H CO
P.O. Box 16255
Parris Island, SC 29905-6255
Route 66 Blog
Join us on Route 66 (our One-Year
Bible
reading blog). Come on; we want to know what
you think about what you're reading!
Go to www.cccruston
.com/blog/.
Online Directory
Forgot how to view our online directory?
Just go to https://webview.shelbyinc.com/app/07895/def
ault.aspx.
If you already have a password
enter your email address and password. If you
don't yet have a password; click on forgot my
password and follow the prompts.
PRAYER NEEDS
Let's trust God together to
work his good
and perfect will in the following lives and
situations:
For Zelda Garcia who is recovering from surgery.
For Sgt. Shaun Lasyone who is stationed in Iraq with the Louisiana National Guard until December.
For Gail McCray's sister, Jacqueline, who is recovering from a heart attack.
For Sharon Pettijohn who is recovering from surgery for a broken ankle.
For Jason Mayhall and family as
he interviews for a new ministry position.
For Ben Kirby while he is
attending Officer Candidate School with the
US Marine Corps in Quantico, VA June 3-August 14.
For Daniel Cason while he is
attending Marine Corps boot camp in South
Carolina.
For Jackson Mock, who has been
diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia.
For Eli Smith who is in
Iraq for a six month deployment.
For Maxine Coleman's son Rick,
who is undergoing chemotherapy for a brain tumor.
For Renee Smith's father,
Harold "Goose" Ferguson, who is battling
pancreatic cancer.
For Alton Spillers, Mitch
Spillers' father, as he continues to
recovery from thyroid surgery.
For Ray Sanderson, Steve
Sanderson's dad, who is undergoing
chemotherapy.
For Kim Love as she continues in a
clinical trial being offered by M.D. Anderson.
Regarding Publication of Prayer Requests:
Unless instructed otherwise, prayer requests
received from the CCC Body are included in
the weekly News & Notes. If you do not want
your prayer request included in this
publication, please indicate so on this
communication card or notify Elizabeth
Turpin, CCC's Office Coordinator, at
318.251.1951.
Regarding Publication and Use of Photos:
CCC occasionally uses photos of members or
attenders of CCC for the weekly News & Notes
publication and on the CCC website. If you
object to the use of your photo or photos of
your minor children, please notify
Elizabeth Turpin, CCC's Office Coordinator,
at 318-251-1951.
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LEARNING CENTER Jazz
FROM THE ELDERS:
In case you didn't hear the news, CCC's LC Director Gwen Dingler is on a "mini-sabbatical" this summer--her first after more than 20 years of faithful, excellent ministry.
Gwen will be "out" until the end of July (Samantha Rhymes, and Sarah Fernandes will be assuming most of Gwen's responsibilities during her absence). Gwen is going to take some family time, and then spend some time in a personal, directed spiritual retreat, and then, during the latter part of July, consult with some other children's ministries and children's ministers in the region. PLEASE pray that this will be a time of much-needed rest, rejuvenation, and replenishment for Gwen--that God will fill her up spiritually, emotionally, and professionally.
Big Church Summer Schedule
During the month of July children ages 4-6th grade will join their parents during the Worship Service!
Uniform Drive
During the month of July there will be a competition between Learning Center classes to see who can collect the most school uniforms and school supplies for Cypress Springs and DART! The winning class will celebrate with a Watermelon Party! Collection boxes are located in Learning Center classrooms and near the Learning Center information desk.
Expectant Moms
We ask you to please keep our CCC
expectant mothers (and their babies) in
your prayers--
Tracy Bennett, Bethany Rush,
Jessica Stephenson, Ellie
Puckett, Jessica Moore and Dawn
Whitman!
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MISSION Focus
On the Fourth of July, we shared our new life in Christ with sister churches, Twin Cities Bible (of West Monroe), Crossroads and John Knox Presbyterian (of Ruston), at Lincoln Parish Park.
It was a great day of celebration! We worshiped in song, through the proclamation of God's Word, by partaking of the Lord's table together, and through the ordinance of believers' baptism.
Because of audio limitations, not everyone was able to hear the testimonies of all the baptismal candidates. One of those baptized was Bilal Dia, from Lebanon, currently a student at Louisiana Tech. Dan Erickson was able to get Bilal to write out the testimony he shared at the park. Here it is:
My name is Bilal Dia. I was raised in a Christian environment all my life, but I spent the last 20 years in an unstable area. I have witnessed many wars, people getting persecuted and killed for their belief or opinions. Mine was a world where a person who cheats, lies, and steals is rewarded and a humble believer, a Christ-loving person was considered naïve.
In such a hostile situation, Jesus never left me alone. After I reached out to the Lord with full faith, I felt his hands wash away my agony. Jesus lifted me up into his arms. I never understood why, I thought I did not deserve his grace. I looked up to him with tearful eyes and he always looked back at me with a smile. I was filled with his love and grace. He brought me into his kingdom and since then my
gray sky was forever blue.
[Where I am from] Declaring your faith and celebrating Jesus...could cost you your life. I was deprived from this blessing for a long time. A very long time. But Jesus' mercy and generosity lead me to here, to this small, Christ-loving town. It is not a coincidence that I am here today. The Lord led me here, so I can openly declare my love to him. My life was [somewhat] peaceful, thanks to the Lord, but never complete and always suppressed. But the Lord was with me all the times. Even with all my sins, the Lord had never left me.
During all these years, God had empowered me to reserve my faith under pressure. I was saved many times from life-threatening situations. The Holy Spirit has made humongous interference in my life, helping me make the right decisions, keeping the right people around me, leading me in the right directions and keeping me alive.
The Lord gave me the power and strength to endure suppression all these years. I'm just here to tell you that the Lord had a hold on my life. I have been delivered. I am not scared of celebrating my love.
Bilal adds:
I would like to thank each and every one of you who have been next to me, guided me, and/or added value through my journey with Jesus.
I have been overwhelmed by the "Rustonians" kindness. From the beginning, this town have been a blessing for me. I am glad that I have found a loving Christian family away from home. I am defiantly proud of being part of La Tech and starting my journey with God from here. I know this journey might be bumpy, but I am all ready for it.
2010 Summer Missions Celebration
Mark your calendars and save the date! Sunday, August 15, we'll be celebrating and hearing from our summer Missionaries!
Until then let's keep praying for Meredith Maines in China and Jordan Prescott in California. Remember notes from home are so very uplifting and encouraging when you're on the field. Go on, send them some love. Meredith can be emailed at meredithmaines@gmail.com and Jordan can be reached through bill.prescott@uscm.org (Guidelines for communicating with field missionaries can be found here
Word from the Coppedges
For those of you who may not know them, Amanda and Robert Coppedge and their children live and serve in Turkey and are long time friends of CCC.
Stephanie Bucklew recently received this email from Robert,
"Keep praying. Our summer plans are falling apart. The apartment was not livable. Hard living as a family in limbo. We will take about a week to make the drive back to Istanbul. Pray for our travels and kiddos. Who knows divine appointments may be awaiting us on the slow trip back."
Please join us in prayer for the Coppedges.
Thanks
MANY THANKS to the JOY group: LeeEvelyn Tannehill and Marie Pipes; the College crew: Craig Rush and Connor Beech, Zach Binns and Elizabeth and Stephen Turpin for answering the call on such quick notice and helping with the move for our friends at DART! There are many ways to be involved with DART through CCC Missions - Local Team. If you'd like to know more, please contact Mara Johnson at johnson.mara56@gmail.com or 318-278-3182.
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BIG DAYS!
"Happy Anniversary" to the following
couples:
July 18 - Daryl & Misty Savage (1998); Brian & Sarah Warren (1998)
July 20 - John & Sue Keating (1968)
July 21 - Geoff & Rachel Deason (2001)
July 22 - John & Becky Stutzman (2000)
July 26 - Stephen & Monica Richardson (1975)
July 27 - Josh & Kaye Foster
...and "Happy Birthday!" greetings to
these
celebrating CCCers:
July 16 - Sonja Cardwell, Matthew Moore, Keith Clement, Rabia Tufan, Lainey Kilpatrick, Cohen Mayhall, Jake Taunton
July 17 - Bethany Cardenas, Georgeanna Hanes, Kenneth Toms
July 18 - Jordan Prescott
July 19 - Nicole Kessler, Caleb Whitman, Alex Stephens
July 20 - Katie Clark, Brian Volentine
July 21 - Eric Steward, David Guerin, Leigh Ann Kilpatrick
July 22 - Carol Rugege, Caleb White
July 24 - Terry Burns, Catherine Kirby, Allen Moore
July 25 - Kathy Butler
July 26 - Jessica Franks, Winston Matejowsky, Allison Gilmore, Anna Hall, Tracy Cardenas
July 27 - Andrew Halbrook, Kevin Kilpatrick, Lucy Kilpatrick
July 28 - Amy Bernard, Maggie Bullock, Jay Strickler, Charlee Walters
July 29 - Heather Bowling, Daryl Savage, Ben Hall, MaKayla Hill
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Important DATES
Sun, July 18 - Wade Burnett from
Crossroads speaking at CCC, Psalm 32
Fri, July 23 - College Movie and Pizza Night at CCC
Sun, July 25 - Len Woods speaking, Psalm 84
Sun, August 1 - Len Woods speaking, Psalm 42
Sun, August 8 - Jason Howell speaking, Psalm ??
Sun, August 15 - Missions Sunday
Fri, August 20 - Lincoln Parish schools begin
Sun, August 22 - Mike Jones speaking on "God the Son"
Sun, August 29 - Sammy Murimi speaking
Sun, September 5 - Mark sermon series begins
Mon, September 6 - Labor Day (CCC office closed)
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PLEASE READ!
Important Message
from the Elders
Every now and then, life (or, more accurately, "God") throws us a "curve ball." Or he opens doors. Or he takes us in directions we never anticipated. Whatever analogy you like best, when those unexpected times come, it's up to us to respond in wisdom and trust. This is precisely where we find ourselves at Christ Community in the late summer of 2010. There is every indication that the coming months will be an exciting time of growth for our body.
On Tuesday, we talked with our staff to let them know that the elders of CCC are beginning a process of meeting with the elders of Crossroads to discuss the future relationship of our two churches. There is no way to know yet what this future relationship might look like--it could mean that we simply partner together in outreach endeavors or in college and/or youth ministry, or it could mean that we come together as one church with a single mission. From cooperating or co-laboring to combining, the range of relational possibilities is BROAD.
One very normal reaction to reading the last paragraph is "What?!? Where did all THIS come from?" The rest of this letter attempts to answer those questions. It also lays out a process for all of us to be able to move forward together. Our hope is that the coming months will be a trust-building, relationship-strengthening time for our entire congregation--no matter what the outcome of the process.
First, a little history. As most of you know, two of Crossroads' founding elders in 2002--Danny Graham and Wayne Smith--were also founding elders at Christ Community Church in the mid 1980's. Both men left CCC in the midst of intense conflict in 1995. And until recently, that "split" remained unreconciled.
This is where the "landscape" began to change dramatically. Over the past couple of years, CCC's leadership (past and present) have met multiple times with Danny and Wayne and other former CCC leaders to resolve the 1995 conflict at Christ Community. A couple of months ago, we joyfully celebrated the reconnection, restoration, and reconciliation of these former leaders. You can read the entire story and watch part of the service at www.thereconciliation.info. It is an incredible testimony to God's power and faithfulness!
Because our two churches have so much in common: historical roots/"DNA", doctrinal beliefs, similar visions, and because the founding leaders of Crossroads were also among the key founding leaders at CCC, one of the questions that this reconciliation has raised is "What does all this mean for the future of Crossroads and Christ Community?" It obviously means the beginning of greater cooperation in ministry, but does it mean more than that?
Late this spring, as the reconciliation process was nearing a God-honoring conclusion, some naturally began to wonder about "the future." Because we did not want to detract from the relational healing that was so desperately needed by so many, and because nobody even had a clue (much less a road map) for how to navigate such a discussion, it was agreed that no serious conversations about the future relationship of CCC and Crossroads would take place until the reconciliation process was completed.
We believe the time has now come to begin prayerfully asking these questions. Over the past weeks, the leaders of our respective churches have solicited counsel from Robert Lewis and Bill Wellons (of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock) and Tim Hawks (formerly at CCC, now at Hill Country Bible Church in Austin, TX), as well as from the Sagequest group (i.e. leadership consultants Jay Brenneman and Jack Nicholson) in Colorado. We asked for their help in sketching out a wise, healthy, and transparent process of discussing our future relationship that everyone in both churches could embrace regardless of the outcome. Their counsel was unified and helped us craft the following plan:
(1) CCC's lay elders are going to begin meeting with the lay elders of Crossroads to get to know one another and to begin seeking God together. There are men in leadership both at Crossroads and at Christ Community who were not integrally involved in the reconciliation (because they weren't part of CCC in 1995). There are other men on both leadership teams who do not really know one another. Because any future relationship between our churches needs to be established on deep trust, and because that kind of trust can only be developed in the context of relationship, we will invest a significant amount of time over the coming months cultivating these personal relationships.
(2) This process of meeting together will be completely open and transparent with both congregations. The elder boards met together this week to outline a series of meetings with one another where they will pray together and to begin delineating the issues that need to be addressed.
(3) To make sure we know where folks at CCC are as we begin these meetings with Crossroads we are going to hold Family Meetings as needed at CCC. The first such meeting will be Wednesday, July 21 at 6 pm at CCC. At this gathering, CCC's lay elders--Randy Braddock, Dickie Crawford, David McGehee, Byron Moore, and David Wheeler will share their individual perspectives on the beginning of this process and answer questions before we pray together as a church family.
(4) Our hope is that the openness of this process and our transparency as leaders will foster an ever-deepening trust in our body no matter what the outcome. We can say honestly that we don't yet know what course of action is wisest or best. We truly have no agenda, other than (a) to prayerfully ask God what direction He would have us go; and (b) to do our best to discern and follow that leading. We are beginning this process because we believe the recent, remarkable changes in the "church landscape" here in Ruston merit us at least asking the question. We want to be faithful and obedient as a church body in seeking the Lord's answer to this question.
(5) The staff elders--James Skinner and Wade Burnett at Crossroads and Len Woods at Christ Community--will NOT be involved in these initial elder meetings. The plan is for the lay elders at both churches to meet together long enough to get to know one another, to begin developing trust, and to evaluate along with the congregations in both places whether this process of discussing a more formal relationship with one another should move forward in earnest. If and/or when the process reaches the point that a closer partnership seems God-directed, then the staff guys will be asked in by the lay elders. Until then, the process will be entirely led by the laity.
(6) Throughout this process, we want everyone at CCC to have a voice! Does the thought of a more serious partnership or possibly even a merger with Crossroads excite you? Scare you? Concern you? Do you have questions about why such a thing would even be considered? All of these reactions (and any others) are welcomed. We want to make room for the many different perspectives that will be present in our body as we begin questioning, praying, and seeking God's will together. We are trusting that God will guide us from multiple starting points to a very clear consensus destination. All we ask is that none of us prematurely "lock ourselves into a certain position" (either anti-partnership or pro-merger) before we've first really sought God and before everyone has been given an opportunity to prayerfully participate in this process.
This really is a fantastic opportunity for CCC. We want it to be a great time of pursuing God together, of learning to listen for his voice (and to one another), of growing in trust, of communicating healthily and maturely. It's also a great occasion for the leadership at CCC and the body to become closer through a process that very few churches ever get to experience. Please be involved!
Join with us in asking for the Lord's direction and protection. Pray also that this process does not distract us from our ongoing mission together as a body--sharing new life in Jesus Christ with our neighbors near and far. Our elders and staff team will be busy the rest of the summer planning for a great fall, and we're excited about what what we continue to see God doing in our midst!!
To summarize: the question being asked by both elder boards is "What kind of relationship does God want CCC and Crossroads to have in the future?" Again, we really WANT your feedback as this process unfolds. In addition to the upcoming Family Meeting (additional meetings will be scheduled as needed), please feel free to contact any CCC elders at any time. You can email us as follows:
Byron Moore at bmoore@argentmoney.com,
David McGehee at davidwmcgehee@gmail.com,
David Wheeler at psychwheeler1@suddenlink.net,
Dickie Crawford at crawford@latech.edu and
Randy Braddock at randy.braddock@gmail.com.
We are also available via cell phone: Randy (265-7729); Dickie (278-2446); David McGehee (548-2668); Byron Moore (548-3622) and David Wheeler (278-3918).
We look forward to being together on Wednesday, July 21, at 6 p.m. to discuss all of this in person. Until then, please be in prayer.
In His Perfect, Powerful Care,
Randy, Dickie, David M., Byron, and David W.
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