In the "Movie Business"

Hello everyone!

Last week Christian Challenge got into the movie business! We've been using videos in our services for a little while now, mainly for sermon illustrations, but we decided to do our first video recording on our own. This was not for a sermon illustration but a "commercial" to promote our Community Groups.

We got the idea from a video that was posted on GodTube. Rich Carlisle sent me a link and I thought it was pretty good. When I forwarded it to Jenni Baier to see if she could edit out the end and put our logo on it, she suggested that we try to shoot it ourselves. We batted the idea around in our staff meeting and decided to give it a shot.

The first question was who was going to play the roles. We instantly thought of Jon Martinez, our youth pastor, as the main character. We thought about Bud Frederick for the last character but he suggested Rich Carlisle, our Community Groups coordinator. Then there was the question of who would play the "bully"? We tossed out the idea of my dad, Buddy Martin, and everyone thought it would be awesome but that he probably wouldn't do it. Believe it or not, he agreed to play the role of the "biker bully"! To the right is a picture of our three "stars" in character!

We got some prop help from Terry Gilcrease who supplied the leather jacket and sunglasses. (Bro. Buddy already had the Harley do-rag! [G]) Jim Ross did the voice-over. I helped direct a bit and Jenni did the filming and editing. All that came out to a pretty decent little production, which you can see below. Definitely not Hollywood, but something we had fun doing. I hope you enjoy:

If you can't see it above, try: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMuSyyqOSl0

Here are a couple more pictures from my cell-phone camera that you might get a kick out of:

That's it for this update. You never know what's coming next around Christian Challenge! And if you're interested in more information about our Community Groups, check out this link on our website. See you next time!

Blessings,

Nathan

Heroes

Hello friends,

In a recent email to some of you I said I would be posting a blog soon about a hero I saw during the aftermath of the hurricanes that came our way. Unfortunately that email was 11 days ago and I'm just now getting around to posting about it. Sorry - I hope you didn't hold your breath!

OK, so here goes - on the right you can see the picture of a brave Cleco employee, standing knee deep in a drainage canal using a long pole to reconnect power to a home. (If you look closely, you can see the property owner standing on the right observing the work - don't you just love it when people watch over your shoulder? :-) Click on the picture and you'll see a larger view.) The technician was wearing rubber boots and the water was within an inch or two of going over the top of his boots. I'm sure the pole was made of some sort of non-conductive material, but the idea of standing knee-deep in water while using a pole to reattach a fuse on a transformer that conducts hundreds of watts/volts/amps (whatever!) of electricity is not my idea of a fun day at the office!


This is a real hero in my book. I saw him when I was out driving around the district I represent in the city of Pineville. His yellow coat and the yellow pole easily caught my eye and I jumped out of my van to snap this picture with my cell-phone camera. He is just one example of the hundreds of heroes we saw up close and personal during and after the storms that impacted our state. Utility workers, Public Works employees, Firemen, Policemen and regular Citizens all stepped up when called upon to help their neighbors. (The picture on the left shows some of the Pineville Firemen distributing water in the parking lot of the Furniture World on Hwy 28E in Pineville. They also distributed truckloads of ice and MREs - Meals Ready to Eat. Thanks, Furniture World, for letting us disturb your business to help your neighbors!)

I think we should salute the heroes among us - the firemen and policemen who coordinated their efforts to provide much needed water, ice and food to hundreds of Cenla residents; the public works employees who worked around the clock to remove debris from the roads and opened stopped drains in the middle of the night; the utility crews who restored electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes in record time; the elected officials who went days without sleep, coordinating relief efforts, and sometimes getting into the thick of things themselves to help rescue flooded residents; the media who demonstrated incredible cooperation to keep everyone informed; and the neighbors who lent a hand when others needed it. It's great to live in a town of heroes!

Some of them were compensated for what they did. Others helped out because it was needed. Some of the efforts were highly coordinated. (See the picture on the right of a caravan of Department of Wildlife and Fisheries vehicles as seen in my mirror, on their way to help folks. Click the picture for a larger view.) Some of the efforts were not-so coordinated. But people stepped up. They lent a hand. They helped each other.

We were pretty impacted by Gustav, and somewhat by Ike. There are still scars in our community - fallen trees, wounded structures, lost landmarks. But we will recover, we will rebuild, we will move forward. And we will do this because of the heroes in our midst. So next time you see a police officer, a fireman, a public works employee, a utility worker or someone who helped, say "thank you. Thank you for being a hero. We won't forget you."

Blessings,
Nathan

I don't like Ike!

OK, so this isn't the most original title, but I did want to post a word of encouragement to those facing down yet another hurricane. I know many of you are hurricane-weary and I have heard the fatigue, and even fear, in people's voices as they talk about the prospect of being without power for another extended length of time. That's not something I look forward to either, to be truthful. But in spite of the storm, I know we have a hope that is fixed and sure.

In the Bible there was a group men who were mighty warriors. They were superior marksmen, members of the NBAA (National Bow and Arrow Association, a forerunner to the modern-day NRA - ok, I just made that up! ),  and their bravery was uncontested. Their valor on the battle-field earned them the deep respect and admiration of their peers. 

Interestingly, these military models of masculinity had a softer side - they loved to write music! And over the years their songs became recorded in an ancient text so that they are now more known for their songs than for their military exploits. One of their songs is recorded in Psalm 46, a song of the "sons of Kohath". Listen to it translated into English from the New Living Translation:

1 God is our refuge and strength,
  always ready to help in times of trouble.
2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come
  and the mountains crumble into the sea.
3 Let the oceans roar and foam.
  Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!    Interlude

4 A river brings joy to the city of our God,
  the sacred home of the Most High.
5 God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed.
  From the very break of day, God will protect it.
6 The nations are in chaos,
  and their kingdoms crumble!
God's voice thunders,
  and the earth melts!
7 The LORD of Heaven's Armies is here among us;
  the God of Israel* is our fortress.    Interlude

These men had faced trouble. They knew what warfare was like. They had also seen natural disasters. And yet, their hope, their confidence, their bravado was not based in their military might, their sophisticated strategies or even their technological advances. Their refuge and their strength was God Himself. Though the earth shook, though the mountains quaked, though the ocean foamed and roared, they would not fear for the Lord Himself was their fortress.

The ocean is definitely shaking and quaking, rocking and rolling. There will be a lot of devastation. And there will be some failures in our technology, planning and preparation. Our leaders are doing the best they can - but they're tired and they're human. Times like these remind us that we can't control everything - in fact, we're in control of a whole lot less than we think. We need to hang onto something bigger than us. I hang on to my faith that God is in control, especially when I'm not. Especially when I'm not.

BTW, for my Christian Challenge readers, on Sunday we're going to have a Disaster Response Survey in the bulletin. I look forward to your responses. The Lord is giving us many great opportunities to serve our community. Let us continue to let our light shine in such a way that people see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. (Matt 5:16)

Blessings,

Nathan

The Other Side of the Storm

Hello friends,

Gustav has said his goodbyes and left us with a few gifts - fallen trees, snapped electrical poles, power outages to over 90% of Cleco's more than 200,000 customers, including most of the Christian Challenge church family.

I've attached a photo that is not an uncommon site around Cenla. There are literally hundreds of these fallen trees. Fortunately, *most* of them did not cause damage to structures. However, some homes and businesses have been severely damaged by falling trees, branches and/or hurricane force winds.

In my role as City Councilman I've been involved in trying to restore the essential services of water and sewer service. We have 10 water wells and over 80 sewer lift stations. ALL of these infrastructure tools were taken offline when Cleco's primary transmission line that services our area failed.

That's the bad news. We had to call for a emergency water conservation plan and a water boil advisory because our water pressure got precipitously low. The good news is that emergency power generators are being brought in and slowly our water wells are coming back online. As of this writing 3 of our 10 wells are online and are keeping our pressure up enough to provide minimal service throughout the city.

Cleco is doing a heroic effort at restoring power. In driving around Pineville I'm surprised at how quickly certain areas are having their electrical service restored. It may be days or even weeks before everyone has their service restored. But hopefully Cleco will set a new record in power restoration.

In my role as pastor I've contacted most of our church members and am pleased to report that there have been no structural damage reports. There are a LOT of trees down and a few leaky roofs, but thankfully no damaged structures.

I'm also extremely proud of the way church members are reaching out to one another, checking on one another, providing basic needs, etc. you guys are an awesome bunch and I'm extremely proud to serve you as pastor.

The days ahead are going to be hot and long. Cleanup will be tedious and sweaty. But as we help each other and reach out to others throught the community, may our light shine in such a way that they will see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven! Remember,

I *LOVE* serving Jesus with YOU!
Nathan
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Sent via Treo 700p smartphone

Getting through Gustav

Hi y'all,

It's about 6:45PM and we're sitting in the darkened living room watching the wind and rain through the window. We lost power about an hour ago and are settling in for an AC-free evening. I've got fresh batteries for the radio so we can keep up with updates.

Supposedly the worst of the storm will be between 8:00-10:00 tonight. I've got a feeling we'll be in bed a little earlier since we won't have lights to fight the darkness.

My mom and dad are returning from vacationing in Tennessee. Ialve tried to talk them into delaying their return but I guess I get my har-headedness naturally. :) They should be home in the next hour.

The church just lost power - the McBrides had lost power at their house and went up to the church. He just texted me in the last paragraph to tell me the lights are out there now.

Oh well, I'll post more once the storm is past. I pray the Lord will keep us all safe and allow us to minister to others on the other side of the storm.

Blessings,
Nathan
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Sent via Treo 700p smartphone

Faithful Man - Buddy Martin

Hello everyone!

I hope you've had a great week! It's Friday and I'm about to head down to Zachary to lead worship and teach a couple of workshops at the Awana Ministry Conference. Before I go I wanted to post something special that happened this past Wednesday night at Christian Challenge.

We are in the midst of a great transition at Christian Challenge. This past Wednesday night was a significant event as we are transitioning away from mid-week services to Community Groups that will meet in people's homes throughout the week. We held a "Community Group Kickoff" to celebrate what God had done in our lives throughout the years through our week-night services as well as to help set the tone for our Community Groups. (We had been meeting with our CG leaders for several weeks and had held two CG orientations for everyone on the previous two Wednesday nights.)

Our goal with the Community Groups is to provide an atmosphere for true spiritual growth in a safe atmosphere where people can ask questions and interact, truly growing roots into God's Word and each other's lives. In our corporate worship services all of our chairs are facing forward and most folks are looking at the back of someone else's head. In the Community Groups everyone sits in a circle facing one another, giving the opportunity for dialogue. This does not replace the important of the pulpit, teaching, corporate worship, etc. But it supplements these important aspects of our spiritual life with the opportunity to dig deeper into the Sunday sermons and learn personal application from God's Word. As you can tell, I'm excited!

Besides our Community Group Kickoff, there was another, ulterior, motive for our gathering on Wednesday night. My dad's 68th birthday was the next day and we decided to give him a surprise birthday party that night. And boy was he surprised!

My mom had found a song that she asked me to sing to my dad as part of the birthday celebration. It was written by Johnny Minick and sung to Howard Goodman to celebrate his life and ministry. With some help from Jenni Baier we modified the song a bit to fit my dad's life and ministry and I sang it to him at the close of our CG Kickoff. I'm not the best singer in the world, but I thought you might enjoy a tribute to my dad, Buddy Martin - a faithful man:



Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/v/kbtgQ6CllBQ

That song kind of says it all, it's definitely what I feel about my dad: "I know that I can always count on him. Lord I want to thank You for a faithful man." Thanks, dad, for modeling faithfulness and steadfastness to all of us throughout all these years. And thank you for being excited about what God is doing at Christian Challenge now and into the future! You're my hero!!!

Well, that's it for now. I've got to head down to Zachary and it's later than I wanted to leave. But I wanted to post this video before to much time got away. I hope y'all have a great weekend!

Blessings,
Nathan

More from Steven Curtis Chapman - Larry King

Hello everyone,

This may be old news to some (and I apologize for the delay since the last entry) but I wanted to follow up with posting the interview Steven Curtis Chapman and his family did with Larry King. I think you will be moved as you see what true faith looks like. So here's the interview, in six parts:


Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u8T3dL8KYo


Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9nt_FPtK3I


Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDQdvYyBu4Q


Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5qf5gwTO8A


Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY8alyk69vg


Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzv8xf1Omd8

This is one of the most heart-rending tragedies any family could ever endure. And yet, with transparency, humility and authenticity, the Chapman family is living out true faith in the eyes of the nation. Let's continue to pray for them and learn from them and thank God for their witness.

Until next time, blessings!
Nathan