PastorDaveCortner.com

|

"It’s not the one who plants nor the one who waters . . . but God, who makes things grow!" – 1 Corinthians 3:7

Facebook Rambling

January 3rd, 2012

I check in on Facebook a couple of times a day.  I am not there long.  I check the updated statuses and pictures of people (especially family), periodically add an update and that’s about it.  I have come across three articles on Facebook in just two days.  Here are a few of the thoughts that I read:

  • Bill Gates gave up Facebook because he had “too many friends”  (Oh really?  I wonder why?)
  • “Facebook was designed to help create social bonding, but in reality it detracts from authentic community.”  Interesting conclusion…I agree with this in some cases…not all, but some.  One person said, “How about picking up the phone to ask a friend how they are doing instead of clicking on Facebook, reading their status and then assuming that is the true and whole picture?”  Wow!
  • It steals a lot of time.  One author put it this way – “Facebook can be a huge time suck”.
  • Facebook can have a negative impact upon us individually.  It can bring out the ugliness of jealousy as we read about someone else having a great day at work, having children who have attained high accomplishments, and reading about someone else’s trip.  It can make an individual feel unwanted as the person sees several people communicating about a specific event and the person reading wonders why they were not invited.  Our posts can bring “comments” from people that make us wonder “did they read what I wrote…they just don’t get it”.  We say we would like to see an “unlike” option, but would we be bold enough to use it?   (Yes, I know…”My little girl is sick” – click unlike…but what about “We just got a new car” when your car is held together with duct tape…would you click “unlike”?)  And the judgmentalism it can bring out…we can easily be judgmental secretly and silently…just ignoring or hiding something or someone, when inside we might be thinking, “Is that all they have time to do, playing those stupid Facebook games like Farmville?” or when they invite us to “events or causes” and we think, “Not in this lifetime, friend!”

So…what am I going to do?  I am not giving up Facebook…sometimes I think I should, but not right now.  I am just thinking out-loud about it and wonder if others have some of these same questions and thoughts.

Hope for the New Year – Psalm 33 – Sermon Podcast – 01.01.2012

January 1st, 2012

/><br /> [gplayer href=

Download MP3

(Right click the link above and choose “Save As…”(Windows) or option-click (Mac) to download this file.)

What Did You Get For Christmas? – Matthew 2:1-12 – Sermon Podcast – 12.25.2011

January 1st, 2012

/><br /> [gplayer href=

Download MP3

(Right click the link above and choose “Save As…”(Windows) or option-click (Mac) to download this file.)

Call His Name Jesus – Matthew 1:18 – 25 – Sermon Podcast – 12.18.2011

January 1st, 2012

/><br /> [gplayer href=

Download MP3

(Right click the link above and choose “Save As…”(Windows) or option-click (Mac) to download this file.)

Mary’s Treasure – Luke 2:19 – Sermon Podcast – 12.11.2011

December 11th, 2011

/><br /> [gplayer href=

Download MP3

(Right click the link above and choose “Save As…”(Windows) or option-click (Mac) to download this file.)

Grace – Ephesians 2:8,9 & 2 Corinthians 12:7 – Sermon Podcast – 12.04.2011

December 4th, 2011

/><br /> [gplayer href=

Download AAC

(Right click the link above and choose “Save As…”(Windows) or option-click (Mac) to download this file.)

Sorry for the quality of this recording. We were having an issue with the sound system this morning. It will be back to normal next week.

Characteristics of the Christian Life – 1 Peter 2:1-3 – Sermon Podcast – 11.27.2011

November 27th, 2011

/><br /> [gplayer href=

Download MP3

(Right click the link above and choose “Save As…”(Windows) or option-click (Mac) to download this file.)

Understanding Baptism’s Purpose – Acts 8:26-40 – Sermon Podcast – 11.20.2011

November 27th, 2011

/><br /> [gplayer href=

Download MP3

(Right click the link above and choose “Save As…”(Windows) or option-click (Mac) to download this file.)

THANKSGIVING DAY and FAMILY

November 26th, 2011

Periodically, I use this blog to share personal issues.  This is one of those times.  We just returned from a wonderful time with our entire family at Thanksgiving.  I must admit, however that the time together had some difficult times emotionally because of the recent sinful actions of Angela’s husband.  Angela is doing amazingly well…we are proud of her and the way she has been working through this most traumatic time.  But…she and the kids are human and they are in need of continual prayer and support.  Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive to her and to us.

The ride home was long (we drove through the night on Thanksgiving night).  I was very quiet because I did a LOT of thinking.  Today my son-in-law (Jason) posted a blog and ironically it describes well much of my feelings and emotions currently as well.  So…here it is:

left with his name…

(by Jason Holdridge – www.jasonholdridge.blogspot.com)

I just got back from Thanksgiving 5 pounds heavier physically, 50 pounds heavier emotionally.  Here’s why.

My wife’s sister has weathered a horrific turn of events in her marriage over the course of the last 6 months which has left her doing the lion-share of holding her children together as well as herself. Just seeing the collateral damage of a broken marriage firsthand was sobering.
I think the thing that just tore me up was walking up the sidewalk toward their front steps and seeing “The Terpstra’s” chiseled into a rock off the left side of the entry way. I don’t know why, but it just didn’t sit right inside me.
How can a man court a woman, take her from her father & mother & sister & brother, ask her to take on his name, and then leave her? She is now Angela “Terpstra” and her children are “Terpstra’s”. Her home is covered with pictures and memorabilia with that mark of identity written on checks and documents and household furnishings, and the one who asked everyone to take on
his name isn’t even there. They are left with his name–in many ways bound to it–and he is off spending the holidays with another woman living another life.
Something is wrong with this picture.
How dare a man invite a woman into a life whereby she leaves her name behind and assumes his identity as her own only to strand her with an “empty word”? It’s not a name anymore, it’s a word. I remember hearing someone say, “Your name is all you have.” It is your honor, your mark of truth and trust. When you lose your name, you lose everything. All you are left with is a word, an empty, sad, vacuous collection of letters.
It’s not just the woman either, the children bear that name as well. They have to sign it on their school papers and say it when called upon in class. They have to see it on the back of their uniforms when they head out on the field and hear it spoken over the loud speakers after they make a tackle on Friday night. The boys will meet someone someday and pass that name along to
her. The power of a name is everlasting, you can’t just move on and assume another name if you’re a son. That’s with you for life. There’s no getting away from that name, that backstory. It’s part of your heritage, your hermitage.
I watched my nephews and my niece wrestle between innocent childhood and premature adulthood in unpredictable waves of rest & restlessness. One moment they would be lost in joy and the next minute their eyes would be sunken in with sorrow. One minute they would be laughing from their gut and the next  minute they would be in their room crying from the absence of their father. It
was forcing them to endure something they didn’t have the scaffolding to emotionally support. What do you do with that?
This name loomed over us the whole weekend. This name was attached to everything touched and talked about. This name is forever etched into our hearts like that welcome rock next to the front porch. It reminds you of days gone by and days yet to come. It taunts you to anger and haunts you with sorrow. It won’t leave you be, letting you get on with the beauty of life because, for now,
it’s the most present/absent thing about reality.So I’ll say it again, if you’re a man and you ask a woman to leave her name
and take on yours, if you plan on asking her to leave everything she’s ever known to come under the banner of your identity, if you want to create offspring that forever are stamped with your signature for the remainder of their days, and if you want to etch your “John Hancock” in the immovable rock of your family’s heart, please understand the gravity of your every move, your every
motivation, your every moment. All those under your name are counting on your nobility. Their reputation is bound to your next decision. Cleave to your character.
When a name becomes a byword, you’re never closer

Called to Fear and to Love – 1 Peter 1:17-25 – Sermon Podcast – 11.13.2011

November 13th, 2011

/><br /> [gplayer href=

Download MP3

(Right click the link above and choose “Save As…”(Windows) or option-click (Mac) to download this file.)