No Name Church

mdcook@gmail.com — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 05:10:00 PST

Perfect people are such High Maintenance! We used hang out with people who thought they were perfect. They were really boring by the way! But do you know what I am saying? These people look great on the outside, sound right, look right, hang with the right people. . . . But on the inside they are rotten to the core like the bad potato I found the other day, but they try to mask it as if they smell good! Just like with the rotten potato, no amount of cologne can make it smell right! If you find your self in the land of Fake Believe-RUN and don't look back!

MC

Alan and Ryan

mdcook@gmail.com — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:47:10 PST

Paper or Plastic?

mdcook@gmail.com — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:31:39 PST

The other day after buying our family of five Groceries, I started to complain about what a hassle it is to buy groceries. Such a pain to walk all over walmart, fight lines and lop-sided baskets, and then to top it all of the work of carrying the groceries back to the car and unload into the house. What a pain! Then it hit me how ridiculous I was, our life is so easy here in the states and we take it for granted and often complain. I wonder how many times we do the same things with the abilities, gifts, talents and tools God has given us?

Be careful not to complain about what God has provided.
MC

I love Technology!

mdcook@gmail.com — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:32:35 PST

If you remember, Kip sang this lovely little song in Napoleon Dynamite. Many of us have been able to relate to this song as we find ourselves more and more fluent with technology.

When I first started with technology at work I immediately saw how powerful this could be in churches. I was convinced that unless churches went to more technology in the worship services and how they did their business, they would not attract the lost. I was so convinced that I rallied the troops 24/7 on this idea that we must have it and it was worth the cost to modernize, no matter how against this the traditionalist were.

Today I look back on this and realize we were all wrong here. More technology does not = more unchurched, nor is it evil and a scourge on the church. God has shown me that both groups had the wrong focus, we were letting technology and the gadgets drive what we wanted, and the others were letting pride and tradition drive them.

Through it all I have learned that worship @ it's best is simply from the heart. People are ultimately attracted to people, not gadgets. The only people that are attracted to gadgets are the bored church people. They know how they are to live their lives but they are hung up on playing church and like small immature children they get bored, and are offended easily by the smallest stuff.

The shift for us is that we have our lives full of PEOPLE not church stuff, and I realize that God cares about people which is the church.

Central Park Service

mdcook@gmail.com — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:21:31 PST

The church service will be held this Sunday @ Central Park, near the new library off of main street. Wear warm clothes, and bring a blanket! Service starts at 10:30 AM. See you there!
Matt

A happy New Year!

mdcook@gmail.com — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:13:11 PST

Just wanted to say thank you all for making a great '08! As we wrap it up, enjoy a few photos from the Christmas play!

Kevin

mdcook@gmail.com — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:26:24 PST

Kevin was baptized this Sunday.
One of the most exciting things about being in the body of Christ is seeing lives transform.
One way God does this is through the Body.
We are so blessed with each and every member that walks through the door.

...to train Christ's followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we are all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. Eph. 4:12-13

A big THANK YOU to Solid Rock Bible Church for allowing us the use of their baptistery.

mp3's back up!

mdcook@gmail.com — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:06:01 PST

Extreme Make Over on my road

mdcook@gmail.com — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:31:36 PST

Late Friday afternoon my principal sent out an email saying the road near school would be closed all week and we should all seek alternate routes. Well, I completely forgot and was running late and ran into the road block! I was very angry yesterday about my route to and from school being altered by "road construction". I had to go "out of my way" to go around and find a different route increasing my drive time.

I pretty much had gotten over it and was ok with it knowing it would be all week and there was nothing I could do about it. Then I found the out the real story. ABC is doing Extreme Makeover a few blocks from our school, and one of our students is the recipient!

Click here for more

My anger quickly turned to sadness as I realized how selfish I can be. I was annoyed over something good. Shame on me. I think it is cool how many people are affected by this and have to go out of their way for this family everyday. I am more than willing to go out of my way everyday for something like this.

So how many road blocks are put in your life that you may complain about that are actually a good thing? Next time think about how the road block may be a good thing.

11.16 Service with Steve

mdcook@gmail.com — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:00:03 PST

Central Park Service

mdcook@gmail.com — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 11:35:18 PST

The audio caught some wind, and be ready to turn it down! The first 30 seconds are rough but it gets better.

We had a great service today and the weather was perfect.

The yard was full

mdcook@gmail.com — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 10:48:22 PST

I have been struggling with my mind being full of junk, lies, half-truths. I have been worried about things that are never going to happen. Questioning things that I know to be true, but I have not been taking captive all my thoughts and making them obedient to the Spirit. I know it is so easy to let your mind run wild.

It has been taking up too much energy, space and time. Satan wants us to go crazy in our minds, fill them with lies and worry. We know this is not from God. I finally began to cry out to others for prayer and help from God.

So I began to ask God for insight about my worries, were they true or Imagined. Late one night I had a dream, I had a dream I was at a train yard that was full of trains like the picture below.
All the trains got called out one by one until the yard was clear. I began to cross to the other side. I soon returned to find out another train was coming to my left. I crossed it's tracks and got out of its path, forgetting to look back to the right I see a train out of the corner of my eye barreling down upon me @ 70 MPH or more. I quickly jump to get out of it's way, just as it is about to hit me it stops on a dime as if it ran into an invisible brick wall. The train crumpled and crashed into a pile behind the lead car. In Matrix style slow motion I could see a ripple of energy that had gone out supernaturally, because fast moving trains don't just stop!

What does this mean? God told me my mind was full of all this junk, I began to take captive my thoughts and they began to clear out. After clearing my mind, two more thoughts came rushing in. I escaped one but God supernaturally intervened and stopped the last one.

God was telling me this is over, I have this know don't worry.

Since then my mind has been free of the trains like this one.

How is your mind?
Is it full of junk, closed to God? Or is it wide open to God like these tracks?Ain't it good to be free, If you are not free get help God is waiting, your friends are waiting to pray for you, let some one help you, let God help you. Sometimes we need God to come in and stop the train.

Thanks God for stopping the train before it derailed!
Matt

Church out of the Box with Hot Dogs!

mdcook@gmail.com — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:12:05 PST

A beautiful day...

Prayer Works

mdcook@gmail.com — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:46:18 PST

I met David in August of 1996 and have to admit that we didn't hit it off immediately. But, if you know God, you start to get the sense that when He has other plans it's just easier if you go along from the start.

How do you make a 12 year old story short? Over the course of time David and I have been involved with each other in a lot of ways. I have seen them go through weddings, births, surgeries, good times and hard times, and I know that God has been tugging on them for a long time.

The most exciting part of this story is depicted in the pictures you see. That is David, his wife Elisha, sister-in-law Bianca, and father-in-law Richard all being baptized into Christ together. It reminds me of the jailer and his whole household being saved.

He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must i do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them (Paul and Silas) and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. the jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God--he and his whole family. Acts 16:30-34

Each one in this family has their own unique story, not the least of all is Richard who is battling cancer.

One side note: Rick said he could never figure out why he let his family talk him into building a pool...now he knows. Thanks to the Reeds for hosting this great event!

God is Good, never quit praying!
Al
(Alan Craig, guest blogger)

Been Awhile?

mdcook@gmail.com — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:57:21 PDT

I am afraid it has been too long since our last post! God has been showing me in the last few weeks that you can have friends closer than family. I now have enlarged my "family" by many times. Sometimes it gets so "messy and complicated" with family that you have a long and storied past with. Isn't it good to have friends that you can have a fresh start with. Friends that see you in your fresh life, that don't have previous "muddy water" to get in the way of seeing you for who you have become.

Some old friends have grown along right beside us and see us as changed people. We are not who we were a year ago, and do not intend to get stagnant. God is not stagnant!

We were meant to live! Here is to Good friends, new beginnings and fresh starts.
Matt

School

mdcook@gmail.com — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:25:22 PDT

As we prayed over Noah, Chloe, and Micah about the return of school and normal life (the end of late nights and sleeping late), It occurred to me that as parents Keely and I want our kids to take Isaiah 61 as their motto as they go into the school house this year. As a teacher I also adopt this motto, I feel like each child that comes into my class is divinely appointed to be there. Likewise I believe my children are in the class that God has put them in.

May we all seek to live this scripture out daily.

Isaiah 61

The Year of the LORD's Favor

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners, ^[a]

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

The Book we have been talking about

mdcook@gmail.com — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:37:24 PDT

This book will rock your world.

I have read about half of the book so far. I recommend it if you are up for a mental challenge!

It will challenge what you have thought about church in the past.

For more info check out their site.

MC

Drive in Movie Tonight @ Walnut Creek

mdcook@gmail.com — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:25:29 PDT

They will be showing the movie Cars @ dusk. All are invited!

MC

Pray today for Brad and Amy

mdcook@gmail.com — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:37:16 PDT

I am calling on all of you to come together and pray.

Right now Joyce Smith, Amy Rollmann's mother, is having surgery to remove cancer. After that, they will determine if she needs to have additional treatment.

This family is precious and needs your prayer. Please lift up Joyce, Ronnie, Amy, Starla and Brandon in your prayers. As you can imagine they are experiencing stress, fear and sorrow during this time. May God extend them an extra measure of peace and comfort over the next few days and weeks to come.

Thank you for joining me in prayer.

K

Check out our newest book!

mdcook@gmail.com — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:21:22 PDT

We have ordered more, if you did not get one see Sheila.

You can also go to Blurb to purchase one.

What a year!

Church on the lake Sunday

mdcook@gmail.com — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:51:14 PDT

10:00 AM
West Bay

View Larger Map

Looks Good On the Outside

mdcook@gmail.com — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:58:00 PDT

The other night I had a dream that I was in a house that had a door that was open. Something inside me was driving me crazy that the door must be closed, so I walked across the house and closed the door, and fell back into deep sleep.

There are some brand new houses down the road from us that are finished inside and out but have not been sold. One in particular we keep riding by has been left wide open for weeks. I began to get concerned about this and called a number the sign in the front and let the real estate people know. They asked me if I would help secure the house for them.

I closed the open door of that house the day after I my dream. I had not made the connection until today. It dawned on me that this was a God thing and these events were connected.

The house is beautiful inside and out, but it is very stale and empty on the inside. It made me realize how we can have relationships with others that are like this house, shallow and empty. Sometimes the best thing to do is get up and close the door on those relationships. I now have a better understanding of what Jesus meant when he said "let the dead bury the dead." I never really knew what that meant. Today, for me, it means sometimes the best thing to do is close the door and move on when there are things that get in the way and slow you down in your walk God.

We don't cast the door in cement (permanently closing it) and do away with the door, the door is still there and could be opened from time to time at your choosing. God can change anything.

Do you have some doors in your life that you need to close?

MC

Another way to help bring heaven to earth

mdcook@gmail.com — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:03:04 PDT

I just read about Katie's Helping Hand.

They help the families of kids with long term illness. Just another way to help out.

Click below to read more about Katie.

Katie Vacanti-Mitchell, 16, leukemia survivor and creator of Katie’s Helping Hand, an advocacy group for families, will present a check to Cook Children’s Medical Center from her organization, which feeds parents of sick children.

At age 12, Katie was a brave young girl who, in the midst of her own life’s struggles, reached out to help those around her. While undergoing two years of intensive treatment for leukemia, Katie realized that parents with children who are suffering life-threatening illnesses have financial as well as emotional challenges. For her efforts, Katie Vacanti-Mitchell received the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s Above and Beyond Citizen Honor award for the State of Tennessee in March.

New Skin By Johnny Reed

mdcook@gmail.com — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:01:31 PDT

Matthew 3:1&2
In those days there appeared John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness (Desert) of Judea and saying, repent (think differently; change your mind, regretting your sins and changing your conduct), for the Kingdom is at hand.

When John the Baptist came on the scene, he was a prophetic forerunner to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. For years, I “knew” what the bible said about the Kingdom of God being at hand, but I didn’t “understand” what it really meant. My understanding of it came through the sport of boxing. When there is a title match announced, it is said “The title or championship belt is at hand or on the line!”

To the nation of Israel, this was a statement that was as an ax laid to the very root of who they were. They (Israel) had known for approximately 4,000 years that God Himself had chosen them to be the ones to reflect the Kingdom of God on the earth. Now they have this crazy prophetic dude out in the “desert” telling everyone including the Jews that there had been a gross misrepresentation about God and He was about to give it to people that would properly represent it. I believe that is only by the illumination of the Holy Spirit that we can understand exactly how this deeply stirred the indignation and wrath of the church.

Then, the next thing we see is a carpenters son saying that He is not only who “all” the past and present prophets had had prophesied about but that He is the Son of the Living God walking upon the earth. I think that we could all agree that Israel’s boat had not only sprung a leak but it was about to sink with only two choices and one of them would soon be the laughing stock of the nation. Either kill Jesus or repent. To them, repenting meant to count 4,000 years of their religious works as nothing but trash and then follow a thirty-year-old kid around town loving Gentiles. Therefore, there only option, which Jesus stomped on through His resurrection from the dead was to kill Him!

I have brought us through all of that to bring us to the point that we are in today. I believe that the church is in the same condition that it was 2,000 years ago.

Israel

was supposed to take the representation that God had given them and become one with the Gentiles. They refused and it was handed to us and we are at a prophetic point in history where God is asking us to count our works as nothing in order to move forward and know Him deeper than we ever imagined!!! We have come face to face with the same sin that

Israel

committed in misrepresenting the Kingdom. To some, this is Good News, but to others that same indignation is being kindled to kill the prophetic voice that is upon us.

It is amazing to me that even for the Jew that could be baptized in the name of the One that they killed still found if difficult to not worship with but to even sit down at the table and eat with a Gentile. What they had religiously separated themselves from is what God was now saying to be passionate about. For us today, we have religiously separated ourselves from not only the world but from one another in the church and called it ok.

Johnny Reed

Wall-E

mdcook@gmail.com — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 06:23:00 PDT

At First glance this seems to be another kid movie, until you leave the theater and you are hit with many layers and levels of complexity. You realize that the story is Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, and loving each other. The story is timeless, thought provoking, and very deep. Attached is a link to an interview by the director and here is a quote from Andrew Stanton:

You could blame consumerism as one thing that's happening in this film, but there's a million other things we do that distract us from connecting to the person next to us and from furthering relationships, which is truly the point of living. So I came up with the idea that as WALL•E was picking up trash, it would have all these signs of humanity for him to rifle through, to get him interested in what humans were all about. I loved the idea of WALL•E finding something real. He was fascinated with the idea of living. And what's the point of living? Something real. He was a manmade object with something real inside him. And he found something real while surrounded by manmade objects. That just was poetic for me.

More

Easter Eggs

No Name Church

Alan and Ryan

Paper or Plastic?

I love Technology!

Central Park Service

A happy New Year!

Kevin

mp3's back up!

Extreme Make Over on my road

11.16 Service with Steve

Central Park Service

The yard was full

Church out of the Box with Hot Dogs!

Prayer Works

Been Awhile?

School

May we all seek to live this scripture out daily.

Isaiah 61

The Year of the LORD's Favor

The Book we have been talking about

Drive in Movie Tonight @ Walnut Creek

Pray today for Brad and Amy

Check out our newest book!

Church on the lake Sunday

Looks Good On the Outside

Another way to help bring heaven to earth

KATIE'S HELPING HAND

New Skin By Johnny Reed

Wall-E