Friday, December 16, 2011

December 2011 Newsletter

Below you'll see the images for our December 2011 Newsletter. Grab some hot cocoa and enjoy reading it.





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QR code scanning info -
* What is a QR code? It's kind of like a bar code but it can contain much more data, contact info, web addresses, etc.

* How do I scan this on my device?
  • Windows 7 Phones with 7.5 (mango) update can use the bing vision search. [if you don't have this update try PhraseMeme Scanner (found on the windows marketplace)].
  • Android phones/tablets try QR Droid (found on the Android marketplace).
  • iPhone/iPad try QR-Reader (not tested personally).
  • Blackberry try QR Code Scanner Pro (not tested personally).
* How do I read it on my device? You'll need a reader with pdf support (PDF reader).

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The Winter Cometh

The once green corn stalks ripple in the sharp wind like sand colored streamers
The last leaves cling desperately to barren branches
Limbs, like claws, reach to the sky thanking their Creator
Winter is coming, the earth feels the stretching of its sinews
Thinly stretched to the point of ripping
Yet renewed in a fire-like cold that kills all that might harm
Rebirth is in the throes of the frigid gray day
What once was warm will be once more
Crippling rigidity will give way to warm fluidity
When the Winter comes and goes
And grateful for the redeeming nature of Winter
The earth content, yet hopeful looks to Spring
Even as Winter has only stepped in the door

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

November 2011 Newsletter


Below you will find image links to our November 2011 Newsletter. Hope you enjoy it.






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QR code scanning info -
* What is a QR code? It's kind of like a bar code but it can contain much more data, contact info, web addresses, etc.

* How do I scan this on my device?
  • Windows 7 Phones with 7.5 (mango) update can use the bing vision search. [if you don't have this update try PhraseMeme Scanner (found on the windows marketplace)].
  • Android phones/tablets try QR Droid (found on the Android marketplace).
  • iPhone/iPad try QR-Reader (not tested personally).
  • Blackberry try QR Code Scanner Pro (not tested personally).
* How do I read it on my device? You'll need a reader with pdf support (PDF reader).

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

October 2011 Newsletter

Sweaters on and heaters running.....cool fall weather is here! And so is our latest newsletter for October 2011. Click the links below to view the pdf.




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QR code scanning info -
* What is a QR code? It's kind of like a bar code but it can contain much more data, contact info, web addresses, etc.

* How do I scan this on my device?
  • Windows 7 Phones with 7.5 (mango) update can use the bing vision search. [if you don't have this update try PhraseMeme Scanner (found on the windows marketplace)].
  • Android phones/tablets try QR Droid (found on the Android marketplace).
  • iPhone/iPad try QR-Reader (not tested personally).
  • Blackberry try QR Code Scanner Pro (not tested personally).
* How do I read it on my device? You'll need a reader with pdf support (PDF reader).

Monday, September 26, 2011

September 2011 Newsletter

Hottest summer on record in Tulsa. We're ready for the fall weather! Here's our September 2011 Newsletter.





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QR code scanning info -
* What is a QR code? It's kind of like a bar code but it can contain much more data, contact info, web addresses, etc.

* How do I scan this on my device?
  • Windows 7 Phones with 7.5 update can use the bing vision search. [if you don't have this update try PhraseMeme Scanner (found on the windows marketplace)].
  • Android phones/tablets try QR Droid (found on the Android marketplace).
  • iPhone/iPad try QR-Reader (not tested personally).
  • Blackberry try QR Code Scanner Pro (not tested personally).
* How do I read it on my device? You'll need a reader with pdf support (PDF reader).

Friday, August 26, 2011

August 2011 Newsletter

Okay, so what is the record for an air conditioner breaking down in one summer? Ours has went out five or six times? Twice yesterday! It's fixed...again. Enjoy the heat you summer people, the cool autumn weather that I love is just around the corner. To finish off your hot summer, here is our latest newsletter HOT off the press. Hope you enjoy it.






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QR code scanning info -

* What is a QR code? It's kind of like a bar code but it can contain much more data, contact info, web addresses, etc.

* How do I scan this on my device?
  • Windows 7 Phones try PhraseMeme Scanner (found on the windows marketplace).
  • Android phones/tablets try QR Droid (found on the Android marketplace).
  • iPhone/iPad try QR-Reader (not tested personally).
  • Blackberry try QR Code Scanner Pro (not tested personally).
* How do I read it on my device? You'll need a reader with pdf support (PDF reader).

Monday, August 22, 2011

Website Upheaval

Since we started this new adventure using creative arts for missions, I kept putting off our new website. I had a placeholder that head some of the colors, links and style of the new version but not much depth. I finally got it finished and uploaded. Check out the site at http://www.thecrossers.com/. Be sure and tell us what you think! We would love to hear it. Here's a screen cap of it.

Friday, July 15, 2011

July 2011 Newsletter

What a hot month we've experienced! Before you melt, read this. It's our July newsletter! Oh and if you would rather read it on your mobile device, scan the QR code below!


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QR code scanning info -
* What is a QR code? It's kind of like a bar code but it can contain much more data, contact info, web addresses, etc.

* How do I scan this on my device?
  • Windows 7 Phones try PhraseMeme Scanner (found on the windows marketplace).
  • Android phones/tablets try QR Droid (found on the Android marketplace).
  • iPhone/iPad try QR-Reader (not tested personally).
  • Blackberry try QR Code Scanner Pro (not tested personally). 
* How do I read it on my device? You'll need a reader with pdf support (PDF reader).

Monday, June 27, 2011

How to Plan and Rebrand a Book

You can see the strung up planning cord above my desk. It has the major sections of a missions book I am working on. The book for Team Expansion is actually a rebranding of another book, for which we have permission to use. I am using the headings and terms from our organization to redesign the book into one that our churches can use to partner with us (Team Expansion) and missionaries to reach the least parts of the world and plant biblical church planting movements.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Newsletter - June 2011


Don't forget to take our June 2011 Newsletter to the beach with you! Here it is. Click on the picture to download the pdf. Right click it to choose to save the target (pdf) to your computer.

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

The First Print of My New Curriculum Arrived

So, always an exciting moment is receiving a print version of their book/material. Today two copies of my new 154 page Jump VBS arrived via Fedex. Below are the photos chronicling the exciting event.





Sunday, May 22, 2011

Newsletter - May 2011



And for your reading pleasure, here is our May 2011 newsletter. Click on the picture to download the pdf. Right click it to choose to save the target (pdf) to your computer.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Sleepy Saturday...Working!

So, here I find myself the the fourth Saturday out of five working. I am almost done with the new VBS curriculum I'm working on, JUMP VBS. I have almost 100 pages done and only about fifteen to go. I have really enjoyed designing this curriculum, but I have been working on it for months. Some design and research were done a year ago! So, even though I have enjoyed it, I am ready to have it complete. Usually, after lunch I find myself fighting the natural napping desire. I try different things to get me out of the after lunch funk. I get more Diet Dr. Pepper (cans are kept at the ready in the fridge at my office), I make coffee with my Keurig coffee maker (so I can make one cup of coffee at a time), and I have stood up and walk around in a circle around my office. Well, enough writing, now back to writing...if I can keep my eyelids open.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Newsletter - March 2011


March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, just like this newsletter!

Life - Same As It Never Was

So, while we were displaced from the house due to a circuit breaker fire, I was diagnosed with shingles....and bronchitis. The shingles are gone and I am now on the second antibiotic for bronchitis. We did get back into the house after most of the restoration work was done. The day after we got back our nephews, Kohl, Jacob and Brandon (two of which live with us) went on a mission trip to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona. They had a good time and we're glad that God is shaping their lives through experiences like that.

Late last Thursday night, we had to take Kevin back to the hospital. Since being discharged back in mid-February, he never really got over whatever was causing the pneuomonia he had. They put him in ICU for the first few days and last night moved him into a step down unit after stabilizing him and figuring out that he has a yeast infection in his lungs. He'll get meds to combat that for about a week and then we plan to take him back home.

We are also trying to get the word out that a ten page JUMP VBS sample packet is available for download. Soon the whole curriculum will be available for those wanting to challenge kids and parents with a VBS focused on missions around the world. You can download the packet at http://bit.ly/jumpsample. Also, check out the JUMP VBS page on facebook and you can "like" it! The JUMP VBS page is at www.facebook.com/jumpvbs. I would love to see dozens of churches using this curriculum this summer and spreading out over the next few years.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Newsletter - February 2011


And for a short month, here's a short read, our February Newsletter!

Life Moving at Breakneck Speeds

As a result of our trip to Italy, my back was beyond "out".  It was debilitating.  I could only sit at a computer for about two to three minutes before the pain made me stop.  The first couple weeks I tried everything, and it only got nominally better. Over the next several weeks I had many visits to the chiropractor, massage therapy, heatpads, icepacks, bedrest, etc...... By early December it was doing better, but still major pain.  A good friend told me about a doctor they had used in the past that thought out of the box and might be able to help.  I made an appointment and found out a week before Christmas that I have flat feet.  I have probably had them for some time.  That's maybe why my back would flare up from time to time, especially depending how much I was putting my back through.  That doctor sent me to a foot doctor who makes his own insoles.  I've had them about two months now, and I can truly say that my back keeps continuing to do better.  The pain is not totally gone, but I am taking far less pain meds than before and not wondering if the pain will ever stop.  I am able to do things that I haven't in awhile.  The past two weeks at church I could lean forward and pray during communion.  In the past year, I could only do that about twice, maybe only once.  Two weeks in a row is amazing! So hopefully, it will continue to get better over time.

In December, our container arrived from Italy.  It was mainly filled with our things (books, resources, CD/DVDs, video equipment, computer equipment, clothes, some furniture, etc... The Casey family who we ministered alongside in Ancona, Italy for years also put some things in the container too.  They finished up their part of the ministry in Ancona in January and headed back to the states too.  My office stuff, bookshelves, books, art desk, etc.... is sitting in storage waiting for a new office area that is being renovated at Highland Park CC in Tulsa. They have, with support and love, given me a space to use for an office when I'm not working from home or in bookstore cafes.  Now, it's just a Sunday School room, but soon it will be in the 2:20 Center positioned in a house behind the main building.  The 2:20 Center is a fairly new space that was formerly the home of a deaf ministry school, Happy Hands.  They were able to expand and grow into a major new property and that left this house to have new uses.  The church leadership prayed and decided to use it for various ministries, such as a counseling office and donation center.  Up on the third floor I will have a corner office in what will also serve as the High School Sunday School room.  All that's needed are some funds for carpeting and a new paintjob and I can move my office stuff in.

Towards the end of January, three people in our house got the flu, Angie and our nephews, Jacob and Kohl.  This also happened at the same time as a record blizzard in the state of Oklahoma, so we didn't have nursing for most of the week.  I ended up playing nursemaid to three sickos and doing much of Kevin's round the clock care.  I was fortunate to have our nephew Brandon's help since he was out of school for the snow.  At the end of that week, the fevers were gone, nurses were able to get back to the house and I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  I had no idea what was going to happen next.

That Saturday night, my brother, Kevin starting having a coughing spell that ended up lasting seven or eight hours.  Around hour six or seven we had to call an ambulance because nothing we tried got him to stop and his heart rate kept increasing and he just seemed to be in distress.  We ended up finding out that Kevin had a severe pneumonia.  It made an infection run through his body and he ended up being in ICU for about 9 days.  Kevin did a great job of getting over it with the help of antibiotics and great care.  We brought him home almost two weeks after he went there and we once more thought things were settling down.

Two days after bringing Kevin home, the lights started flickering and going off.  After flipping the breaker switch once to turn them back on, I noticed the second time that something else seemed to be going on.  There were all kinds of sparks and sizzles coming from the breaker box.  I asked someone to get me the fire extinguisher and someone else to open the window. They brought the extinguisher back quick.  Good thing too, since shortly after the breaker box burst into flames.  I sprayed it down, but it kept sizzling.  I sprayed it again and the sizzling continued inside the box.  I left Kohl watching it with the extinguisher and I ran to get my tools.  I needed to open up the panel so I could spray inside, the extinguisher wasn't getting in.  I got it opened up and sprayed it a couple more times.  It kept sizzling a little, so I had the family call 911.  By the time the firemen got there, I had run out of extinguisher and the sizzling was almost done. We called some friends and family and moved Kevin (and us) with all his medical equipment over to my brother Greg's house.  The power remained off all last week until Friday and now we are waiting on a restoration company to clean it back up.  It is really only smoke and odor damage. 

In about a week we hope to move back in, but we'll see and try to have patience.  In the meantime, I completed a ten page sample packet for the new Team Expansion JUMP VBS curriculum.  This packet lets churches see if they want to use this resource this summer.  If you are interested, please let me know!