manna?

Ethan’s Appointment

Posted by Matt Wolters

Hi everybody!  Thanks again for all of your prayers.  We just got back from the appointment with the neurologist, and we’re very happy about the report we got.

The doctor is confident that the tissue that was found in Ethan’s brain is simply a group of cells that formed while Ethan was in the womb, which means that it probably has nothing to do with the symptoms, and makes it the most scary coincidence that we’ve ever experienced.  As for the symptoms, (White in his vision, and muscle weakness in his hands), The doctor thinks that they’re, more than likely, the cause of a migraine.  He’s not 100% sure, so he’s going to put Ethan on a migraine suppresant, and if his symptoms go away, then we’ll be sure.

Thanks again to all of you for your prayers.

GOD IS GOOD!!

Thanks,

Matt and Wendi

Pop Culture

Posted by Ed and Lois

Monk is a TV detective with more phobias than Sammy Sosa has homers. ( a baseball metaphor) Joan is a high school student who has regular conversations with God. Both of these TV sreies give me pause to reflect. Neatness, cleanliness, and noise are but a few of the phobias that can set Monk off. All the while solving some of the most unusal murder cases I’ve ever seen. My thoughts here are what are my phobias? Are they obvious? Do they make other people chuckle? Do we as Christians have have habits that make the world grin? How about the church? Lunch lady, janitor, teen hunk, and a little girl on the playground are but a few of the guises that God uses to talk to Joan. He usually has a task for Joan to accomplish for Him. Joan argues and wrestles with God and sometime gets it right, and sometime doesn’t have a clue what happened. She always wants to know why. Who does that sound like. It seems to always work out OK, although not in the way she expects. Monk is on the USA network Friday night at 10:00 P.M. Joan of Arcadia is on Friday night at 8:00 P.M. on CBS.  Give them a chance and let me know what you think. It’s summertime. You already seen everything else. Two thumbs up. 

Ed

MarketingProfs.com > Storytelling for Leaders

Posted by Mike Boyink

As Judy Wicks, founder, president, and matre’d; of Philadelphia’s White Dog Cafe so eloquently says, “People in our society hunger…to share their values, to enjoy a sense of community, and to be part of something that is larger than themselves.”
http://www.marketingprofs.com/4/clark1.asp

A few good take-aways in this article…

First, how sad that this article comes out of the business world.  It really speaks to our culture that people have to look for community, values, and a sense of belonging from their jobs.  A reciepe for disappointment, I think, as the basis for that whole relationship is only based on dollars and cents, and the moment your position crosses the column from black to red it doesn’t matter what kind of community you were part of, you’re gone.

The latter part of the article (where I grabbed the quote from) really reminded me of our “high-touch” discussion a few weeks back. 

The first part of the article is about storytelling (which we touched on this past Sunday) and reminded me that one of the primary goals I have for this website is to provide a place to tell, respond to, and archive stories that are important to us as Christians, and as Manna.  It’s in those stories that we see God at work first hand.  It’s those stories that people not involved in a church want to hear.

Ethan Wolters

Posted by Matt Wolters

Wendi and I just want to thank all of you who have been praying for Ethan lately.  Your prayers are absolutely priceless.

Just an update….  We took him in for a second MRI last Wednesday and the tissue that they had found had not grown between the two appointments, so that’s good news.  Praise God!  The neurologist wanted to see us, but had a three to four month waiting period, but praise God again, he had a cancellation and will see us this Thursday.  Then we’ll hopefully get some more detailed and concrete information.  We’ll keep you all posted.

Thanks again for all of your prayers.  We don’t know what we would do without them.

God bless!

Matt and Wendi

Current Church Models Lead to Large Churches And Large numbers of Unchurched @ e-Church.com

Posted by Mike Boyink

Here is my guess based on intuition and cobbled together reports. I tend to believe that the unchurched are sophisticated, smart and self-sufficient. They do not think they have “felt needs” nor do they want their spiritual formation programed. Why? Because formation is a mystery like the creative process.

http://www.e-church.com/blog-detail.asp?EntryID=637&BloggerID=1

Some interesting numbers from Barna study are linked to here.