Polar Bear Plunge

I am taking this opportunity to brag about my brother, Drew Ollivant. This past Sunday morning he participated in Make-a-Wish Foundation's annual Polar Bear Plunge, the Boise Idaho chapter. Not only did he raise $2,200 (the most raised by a single participant) but he was also in the water longer than any other participant. If you don't believe me, you can check out the video proof below.

A record 337 people jumped into Lucky Peak Reservoir at 11 a.m. on January 1st. The program's goal of raising $30,000 (enough to grant six wishes) was surpassed by the participants' donors.

This is his third consecutive year participating in the challenge. This year he sought contributions from a variety of sources including people on college sports websites he visits. He promised to promote each donor by Sharpie-ing their user name onto his body. One donor gave him $400 to wear an Alabama hat into the water. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next year!

Just Say Yes...Part 5

I finally made it through a whole series! Sunday Neal spoke to us about Nehemiah. He showed an awesome video that Adam shared was created and performed by two former NC State grads (The Fabulous Bentley Brothers). Quite entertaining. Check it out here. To hear Neal's message, click here.


Just Say Yes...When You Face Opposition

Nehemiah 1-6

Why do we avoid opposition when it comes to building up the cause of Christ?
Have I ever been a part of something that built up the cause of Christ and created opposition?

Nehemiah was the king's cupbearer in Susa. Jerusalem's walls were destroyed.
Ch 1:3-11 refers to prayer five times

Nehemiah's plan consisted of prayer, preparation, poise and perseverance.
Ch 2:1-8 he prayerfully asks the king for permission to return home and for help with supplies to repair the walls.
v11-16 he inspects the work to be done and v17-18 presents the plan to rebuild to the people who agree

The priests built the first gate as an example to the people. Everybody was involved in rebuilding the walls - everyone has a role to play.

Ch 4 the people were ridiculed and reminded that it would take awhile to complete. Then there were threats of physical violence. v13 they posted guards and continued to work.

"God, make me strong so that I can stand up under the pressure of opposition."

Ch 5 we learn that the Jews had been taking advantage of their countrymen by exacting usury.

We may not be facing opposition because: 1-We're not doing anything to give Satan a reason to be concerned or come against us; 2-we are the opposition; 3-we are not doing anything at all - not complaining, not helping).

Ch 6 rumors were spread to frighten the people. v9-but I prayed.
v15-16 the wall is finished; the surrounding nations are afraid because they knew God had been involved.

Nehemiah worked for 12 years to help restore Jerusalem. Then he returned to Susa as he had promised the king.

His continued efforts made a difference. It wasn't a one day or one time service project.

You have to have a plan if you are going to persevere.


I really liked the reminder that we all are supposed to be doing something to further the cause of Christ. Our response to God didn't end once we accepted Christ - that was just the beginning. The story reminded me that I'm much more likely to be passionate about a cause that is close to home (I can relate to, or is physically near). We all are willing to do what is needed to protect our homes and families and that may be our motivation for our acts of service. Not that it's an excuse not to help people in other countries. We all should be able to relate our need for Christ in our lives to the importance of others all over the world hearing about Jesus' life-giving salvation. We need to remember that we should be constantly serving, not just intermittently.

Moving Toward Others

Yesterday was our church's fifth anniversary! It was a lot of fun looking back over the past few years and considering what the future may hold. I really appreciated Jeff's zeal and excitement about the doors that have been opening and the possibilities of what the future may hold. I definitely want to be a part of where our church goes from here!

Below are my notes from week three's Soul Revolution message series.

Matthew 22:36-40
-Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is. He responds by giving two, indicating that they are inextricably linked together: love God, love other people.

Our relationship with God can be measured by how our relationships with others are going (their health).

God loves people; therefore we are to love people (love what God loves).

Our conviction (wanting to love and serve others) does not always match our practice (how we actually relate to other people).

John 6:1-13 - limited supply (5000 hungry people, 5 loaves and 2 fish)

A limited supply (our abilities, time, money, possessions, shortcomings) in the hands of an unlimited God can yield amazing results.

It's amazing that people can be both very selfish and very generous.

Perhaps the boy with the food realized that this was his opportunity to love/serve others with what he had.

What if we gave our limited resources to God to use to love those around us? We can love people in rich and meaningful ways with what God has given us.

Help people fall in love with Jesus by being Jesus to people.

"MY CHANCE" : When an opportunity arises to use what God's given you to help others, instead of saying "mine" why not try saying "this is my chance"?


I really liked the call to be generous with what we have. To not limit God by what we may see as an impossibility. What if God wants to show his immense power through our puny resources, but we are too scared to see what he will do? In line with the 60-60 experiment, when we are reminded to ask what God's will for us is in this moment, perhaps we should consider what we have to offer and ask God to use us and use it. Who knows what God wants to do through us? We won't know unless we ask and then respond.

Is there anything God is calling you to do that you are hesitant about, perhaps because you are concerned that you aren't enough, don't have enough, or that God isn't enough?

Day of Service

We did not have church service yesterday so there are not any message notes to post. Instead of holding service, we had our annual CCC Day of Service ("Don't go to church, be the church!"), where we all went out and served in various capacities in the community.

There was a group who packaged meals for Stop Hunger Now, an organization that assembles and sends prepackaged meals to countries around the world. I believe the goal was something like 15,000 or more meals completed. I haven't heard the results yet, but I'm sure the mission was accomplished.

One group helped with yard work around Durham Middle School, our Sunday morning location. It is always nice to be able to give to the place that allows us to do what we do.

Another group, which included most of our teens, went to City of Refuge where they helped feed the homeless and participated in their Sunday morning worship service.

A group went to the State Fair to help collect canned food on behalf of Must Ministries, an organization that works with the homeless in our area providing food, clothing, and emergency shelter. We have also had a box in our church lobby the past few weeks to collect Bibles for Must to distribute to those who need them.

One group worked with Care Net, an agency near Georgia State's campus in downtown Atlanta that offers a variety of services to pregnant women including counseling, parenting classes, services information, as well as a clothing and supplies pantry. I believe they helped install shelving, provide office furniture, and sort through the various clothing donations.

The group that I participated with volunteered at the YWCA in Marietta. We did yard work/landscaping on a courtyard, removed kudzu from a tree (no small feat if you are familiar with kudzu), and picked up litter around the facility. I learned that the organization can receive funds from recycling old cell phones and cell phone chargers. In a few weeks, we are going to set up a box in our lobby for CCC members to donate their old phones.

In the afternoon, some people also went down to the Austell area to help Samaritan's Purse and Westridge Church clean out some of the flood damaged houses in the area. I appreciate those who were willing to work both morning and afternoon to serve those in our area.


I really enjoyed serving yesterday. It always encourages me to find more ways to serve, but I am not usually very good at following through. I did however decide to take the initiative on collecting cell phones for the YWCA and Neal and I talked some today about continuing to improve the courtyard, be it by obtaining some better playground equipment along with more kid-friendly ground cover for the playground, locating gently used patio furniture, or even planting flowers in the spring to provide more color. I really would like to do more to help the agency. They have a 5K at the end of the month, but it's the Sunday morning of our 5th anniversary celebration. Perhaps their next event.

I am excited to learn next week how much money was raised in the Mina Offering Challenge. I am praying that it will blow our minds and fully cover all of our Day of Service expenses. I still have one more Farmer's Market tomorrow to sell bread for the project. I am interested to learn what others have done to make their money grow!

With Week 4

I have been so slack lately. I admit it. Here is the final installment of the "WITH" series. You'll notice that week three is missing. I was in the nursery that week. If you want to hear it (or any of the other messages), click here.

I'm With Them

Lifestyle Enclaves: groups who have a common interest for the purpose of furthering the individual's interests
>This is how many people have been taught to think about the church.

Matthew 5:13-16
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

>Salt is cheap in our culture. In Jesus' day it was valuable and hard to come by. It was used to preserve food.
>Jesus was saying that we are valuable and precious in a world that's spoiled and decaying.
>Light meant warmth, safety, protection, hope. We are to provide truth and life.

74% of Christians agree that you don't need to be part of a church to be a Christ-follower.

A true community has a cause, a mission, a reason for existing outside of meeting its members' needs. True community is missional.
It is what is different about the church compared to other organizations and groups.

Acts 1:8 - you will be my witnesses throughout the world

What would happen if we became intentional about being salt and light in our community?
What would God do if we gave ourselves over to him to show compassion to others?
What would happen if we partnered with God to redeem and restore this broken world?

God has never been impressed with religious behavior. Isaiah 58:6-8

In the Metro Atlanta area there are 5 million people so 120 doesn't seem very important or impressive. However, Jesus changed the world with 12 followers. Imagine what could be done if the 120 of us were united in a common cause.


Personal application: Be purposeful in my actions and activities. Seek to give myself to God in order to be used to spread compassion and love to those around me.

Explicit Lyrics Week 4

Note: You may be wondering what happened to week 3. Adam and I were on vacation in Aruba so I will have to listen to the message and post a response later.

Broken Records: When Love Breaks Your Heart
Song of Songs 5:2-6:13

Jeff started out talking about seven major areas of conflict in marriage: communication, finances, sex, raising children, work, in-laws, and major illnesses. Adam and I agreed that three of the last four were not relevant at present to our marriage.

We learned that the number one cause of relational conflict is selfishness and the number one trait for diffusing conflict is humility.

I was already quite aware of selfishness' role in relational conflict. I have been struggling lately with selflessness. I hate admitting that I'm selfish and yet no one would be surprised to hear me say it. The fact is, we all naturally care most about ourselves and our wants and we have to work hard to change our mindset to consider others. It has been a prayer request of mine for quite some time. I can see how my selfishness keeps me from being more loving and considerate of others, especially my spouse. I hate that that's the case but I suppose acknowledgement is the first part of change.

Anywho, in the section of Scripture, we see Beloved choosing her own desires over showing love to Solomon. We also see her seeking to remedy her mistake by searching for Solomon so that she can apologize. And we also see that Solomon does not react negatively to her rejection, but continues to demonstrate his love in spite of his hurt.

That's certainly an example we all can learn from. I know my natural response when hurt is to figure out how the other person can feel as I feel. Now, I generally try to let this thought pass in order to be able to share feelings in a non-hurt, non-aggressive way. However, it goes against every inclination to be loving toward whoever has hurt me. I know that that is what Jesus did, and I want to be like him, but this attitude requires a lot of work and effort.

Jeff said there was research (did not hear source) that found that couples who pray and read their Bible every day (not necessarily together) have a likelihood of divorce of 1 in 1150 couples. Those couples that go to church but do not have these two disciplines have a likelihood of 6 in 10 just like the national average.

He also said that the first nine years of marriage are the toughest. Adam pointed out that we're a third of the way through...

We were told that the bridge from selfishness to humility is service and communication.

We were asked to ponder the following questions in relation to our marriage: Am I giving or demanding in my relationship? Offering or withdrawing? Depositing or taking away? Generous or stingy with affection? Open-handed or close-handed? Easy or hard to get along with?

We are also supposed to sit down and communicate openly and honestly with our spouse about our marriage.

Our final thought was: Fake it until you make it. Act loving until you feel loving.

My personal question from this was how do you distinguish selfishness from legitimate need? There are things that you want your spouse to do for you. Are these things desired from selfishness or are they reasonable requests, things it is okay to ask for? The hard thing for me is to express what I want because there's always the fear of rejection if nothing results. It's one thing to have a need that isn't met because it isn't known. When a need is expressed and then not met, what are you to think? Does the other person not care enough to act? Do they not realize its importance to you? Are they just not able to do it? There are so many unknowns that it's a little scary to be transparent. But I guess that's a risk that one must be willing to take. A need unexpressed will almost always go unfulfilled. One expressed has at least a 50% chance of being met. Those odds are quite a bit better.

So what's my application? Continue to pray and seek to lay aside my selfishness in my relationships. To continue to express love despite what I am receiving (to not let my emotions decide my actions, but truth and what is right).