Mark Simpson's blog

Preacher Billy Sunday had just finished a message on anger when a woman approached him seeking to justify her angry outbursts. She said to him, “I blow up, and then it’s all over.” To which Sunday replied, “So does a shotgun, and look at the damage it leaves behind!” Angry outbursts and their devastating effects are everywhere. From road rage to domestic violence to irate customers at the grocer to children’s temper tantrums we know anger when we see it. Anger and its effects are not something new to our modern world.

It was a beautiful Spring day. The sun was high in the sky and there was a warm breeze blowing just strong enough to alleviate the heat radiating from the sun. This was the first day that felt like spring after a pretty wintry winter, and since we were living by a lake all we could think about was being on the lake soaking in as much of the day as we could. So we called some family to join us for this picture perfect day trip. Little did we know this picture perfect day on the lake would be nearly ruined by what was under the surface. Our day trip on the lake started out pretty normal.

Normal is an interesting word. The American Heritage Dictionary defines normal as “conforming, adhering to, or constituting a usual or typical standard, pattern, level, or type.”
It took until my junior year in college for me to realize my eyesight was not normal. I was oblivious to the gradual deterioration that had taken place over the years, so I thought the way I saw the blackboard was the way everyone else saw it. While everyone else was seeing sharp lines and distinct shapes I was seeing fuzzy lines and blurry shapes.

I have a sweet tooth for ice cream. All it takes is a stroll through the ice cream aisle at the grocery store or a Dairy Queen commercial and all my defenses collapse. But several years ago I had a horrible ice cream experience that nearly changed my love for the arctic dairy treat forever. Some friends of mine knew of my love for the cool creamy stuff and thought it would be funny to play a practical joke on me. They built the most beautiful caramel sundae the world has ever seen.

This video does a great job of explaining why we value Growth Groups so much at MorningStar. We believe that when our Growth Groups are functioning properly they are the best place to find and foster biblical community. And we believe that biblical community is essential to our growth spiritually. Thanks Mars Hill Church Seattle for sharing this video on Youtube.com!

The August & September newsletter for the Greater Dayton Association of Baptists included an article from our Associational Missionary, Don McMurry entitled, “Do We Need New Churches?” I was intrigued by the question. I was also drawn to the article because I am aware of the increased emphasis Southern Baptists are placing on planting churches. That was enough persuasion to read the article. I found a few of his thoughts particularly challenging as I read.
Don’s approach to the question of starting new churches was refreshing.

We church attenders are a peculiar people. We have an interesting way of doing things. On any given Sunday we can be found singing songs about our devotion to Jesus with lyrics like, "It's all about you," and "Not to us," or "All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give." But within a few moments of singing these lyrics as a prayer of commitment to God we turn around and evaluate our worship experience based on very self-centered standards.

The American Film Institute recently released their top 100 movies of all time. Topping the list was the classic movie Citizen Kane. The movie takes the viewer on a journey through the life of fictional character Charles Foster Kane. Kane accrues an incredible amount of wealth and power and ultimately destroys himself. As the movie moves along and Charles Foster’s desire for wealth, power and pleasure grows there is a recurring shot of a wall with a fireplace in the center of it in the home of Kane.

I was ten years old and my family lived in a neighborhood with a lot of children. Every day was an adventure filled with all kinds of games. Some of the games were the traditional variety; football, kickball, wiffle ball, and others were games we made up ourselves. We played them all of over the neighborhood all day long, but no matter where I was in the neighborhood I always knew when it was time to come home because I would here my Dad’s distinct whistle.

We will begin a Sunday morning teaching series in March entitled, "Love in the House." In preparation for the series we went and asked people in our neighborhood if they agreed with the statement, "the church is the most loving place in town." This video is a compilation of the answers we recieved. We invite anyone to join us for this series and see what God says about the church being the most loving place in town.