Unreal Reunion

On By Daniel CooleyIn Confessions of an Idiot Pastor, UncategorizedLeave a comment

If you ever feel like your life is worthless, have a Reunion. A Youth Group Reunion. It’s great therapy, even if it is unreal.

Back in the 90s I was Youth Pastor for Del Norte (now New Life) Church. I was paid to organize trips to Mexico, Disneyland, Mark Matlock and Magic Mountain; to go camping and rappelling in the White Mountains and Colorado; to raft down the Salt River and study my Bible. It was a tough life.

When the kids (now all around 40!) showed up, it’s amazing what you remember. There is no telling what brings a kid back to Christ. You remember the difficult conversations, the crazy stupid things the kids got into in High School, and the crazy stupid things I did to try to help out. But now, decades later, to see young families of believers, I’m reminded, God’s Word really does work. There is a reason to be in this job – a reason besides Disneyland.

But – Disneyland was cool.

But – Disneyland was temporary cool. The reunion was a little piece of Heaven. Eternally cool. Totally unreal.

Thanks New Life / Del Norte youth for putting it all together.

Cottonwood – will see you on Sunday!

total cover w back jpeg-002

Why We Love Easter

On By Daniel CooleyIn Fav blogs by others, UncategorizedLeave a comment

unnamedThis blog was written by Chuck Swindoll

Why We Love Easter

But now Christ has been raised from the dead. (1 Corinthians 15:20, NASB)

The path of the pale horse snakes through a grim, dark valley. All attempts to remove the venom of death’s sting prove futile. Try as we may to steer clear of that pale path, we finally realize it’s inescapable. Like an uninvited guest at dinner, it shows up—always at inappropriate times—and there it stands, expecting to be seated and served. When it decides to return to its grim, dark valley, it never leaves alone; without asking permission, it takes someone we love with it. We grieve in its wake . . . our loss is palpable.

Not wanting to call the intruder by name, we seek less-offensive titles. No matter which we choose, each sends a chill down our spine: life’s final exit, an untimely end, the last roundup, the Grim Reaper, the grisly terror, one’s final hour, gone away, passed on, “journey’s end” (Shakespeare), “that dreamless sleep” (Byron), “the last enemy” (Paul), “the debt we all must pay” (Euripides).

If that marks the end of our existence, “we are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). Truth be told, that is the pitiable existence of most who lose their loved ones. Since they haven’t the one ingredient that could lift them above their grief, most folks get trampled beneath the hoofs of the pale horse. Their emptiness is reflected in Peggy Lee’s cynical song of yesteryear. In it she asks, “Is that all there is?”

No! A thousand times, No! That is not “all there is.” But in order for anyone to give such a bold answer, there must be that one ingredient I mentioned earlier. HOPE.

And what gives us this hope? The resurrection of Jesus!

Because He has been raised, death loses its sting. Listen to the hope in this magnificent promise: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22).

Why do we love Easter? Because it reroutes the grim, dark valley of death, leading us onto a glorious highway of hope.

—Dr. Charles R. Swindoll, Chancellor Dallas Theological Seminary

An Easter Confession

On By Daniel CooleyIn Confessions of an Idiot Pastor, UncategorizedLeave a comment

unnamedFor pastors like me, Easter can be too busy to worship. Well, we go to worship, lead it even, but the sit-down-get -your -personal-life-in-order-contemplative worship isn’t happening. It’s ironic, stupid even, but true. There’s extra services, extra set-up and tear-down for us portable folks, eggs to color and a special service to plan. Who has time for worship?

I stole the blog below from the department chair of Media Arts and Worship at Dallas Seminary. It was convicting for me, was hoping it could be helpful for you too.

Face-Time Worship

Jesus entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts. . . . and he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. (Mark 11:15–16, NET)

It’s the Monday before the cross. But Jesus isn’t frazzled, rushing about, desperate to get His house in order. Instead, He is calmly getting His Father’s house in order. For us. The Gentiles.

Jesus first encountered Gentiles in His home when wise men from the east arrived after a long journey by starlight to worship Him as a child. Now, in His Father’s house, those living on God’s doorstep had co-opted true worship by streamlining and commercializing the process.

Here, in the court of the Gentiles, worshipers purchased sacrificial animals without missing a beat. Facebook worship. Casual. Easy-breezy. Limp. “Friending” God doesn’t work. He requires face time.

But, then as now, time was in short supply—so those in charge of the facility (as I’m sure the spiritual bean-counters had come to regard it) created a shortcut through the court of the Gentiles lest marketplace shoppers be inconvenienced by having to walk around the temple. “Good for business,” we can hear them rationalize. “A way to consolidate commerce and communion. Besides, some of the shoppers may be seekers. A shortcut would at least get them close to the spiritual action.” But Jesus blows the whistle, stopping the hurly-burly traffic through the plaza dedicated to Gentile worship.

I feel Him tugging at my sleeve too. Because I sometimes regard worship as an interruption. Which is precisely what it is intended to be. An interruption of my soul-scorching pace. Real worship forces me to pause—to acknowledge that no amount of hurry will improve the odds that I will “win.” Speed doesn’t alter the fact that we are hurtling toward a spiritual dead end. It just gets us there faster. The velocity of authentic worship is as slow as starlight.

This Easter, let’s slow down. Let’s savor slow and contemplative worship.

—Dr. Reg Grant, Department Chair and Senior Professor of Media Arts and Worship

 

RENOVATE: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

On By Daniel CooleyIn Book Reviews, UncategorizedLeave a comment

renovateThe Good: Léonce Crump lives in a city that needs help. Radical help. Rather than give up on it – he believes God has called us to do something about the mess our world is in. I love the way he challenges us to see where we live as a gift from God – a gift to bring heaven to earth, to bring change to our cities and our own lives. It’s a new idea to me, this idea of settling down to bring lasting change and reconciliation to our community. In spite of the bad and ugly, I recommend this book!

The Bad: In the chapter The Way Home Leonce makes a point out of Heaven being a temporary place where God currently lives. He shows that our world will be reborn when Jesus returns, and so he believes we should look, strive really, for a universal restoration of all things. I get that theology, but also see other scriptures talking about a later time when our world seems to be blown to cinders. At any rate, it seems like he is making a big deal out of something that’s difficult to prove from Scripture. I also disagreed with the idea from page 25 that Eve after the Fall would somehow long after her husband’s role. In a book with this much theology, that’s not much to disagree on. But, it brings me to the ugly.

The Ugly: I felt at times (like those listed above) that Leonce stretches Scripture to find more support for his thesis of “Changing Who You Are by Loving Where You Are.” That being said, I like the thesis. Sometimes, however, I think you change who you are by learning to accept where you are. But, he loves Atlanta. Yuck. Maybe I’m wrong – if you can love Atlanta, you can love anywhere.

OH – I received this book for free from Multnomah Books for writing a review. Trust me, a free book didn’t change my review. I might can be bought, but not for ten bucks.

dan@danielcooley.com

AllBks

 

7 STEPS TO CATCHING A MENNONITE MAN

On By Daniel CooleyIn Uncategorized1 Comment

No time to blog? Reblog your daughter’s, she writes better anyway!

mrsmpenner's avatarLateToEveryParty

20160127_164405Between school, holidays and an unexpected pregnancy, I’ve been a little busy. Or rather, sick, tired and stupid. They tell me it’s normal for someone in my “condition”. If being the bringer if life is a “condition”, where’s my medal?

So what shook me out of my sick and tired pregnancy hiatus? Under my blog settings, there’s a section that shows what people have google searched before clicking on your site. One search read, “How to make a Mennonite boy like you.”

Great question.

How To Make a Mennonite Boy Like You:

Jon, my husband, thinks the very idea of this blog is manipulative. He hates it. Since I’m currently growing his Mennonite baby – which is sucking all forms of life and energy from my inferior, non-Mennonite body – I can and will do what I want.

Immediately my heart went out to this girl. No doubt she’s been sitting in her school cafeteria…

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A GOOD IDEA ISN’T ALWAYS A GOD IDEA

On By Daniel CooleyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I can so relate to this. Great insight!

johnmchoul's avatarHeartline Haiti Blog

nap_dv21094When making decisions, we’ll generally try to arrive at answers or solutions that are to our advantage. In the decision making process, we’ll probably have several questions, such as: Is this good for me? How does it help me? Is this a step forward? Is this a step up? Will I make more money? Will this make my life easier? What will others think? Does it make sense?

The issue though, for the believer, is that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts, (Isaiah 55:8) and so what, in our minds, seems like a good idea or a good decision may not be what God wants.

In Joshua chapter 9, we read that the Gibeonites came to Israel, lied to the leaders and asked for a treaty because they were afraid that Israel would conquer them in battle. It seemed that the Gibeonites were…

View original post 304 more words

Back to Haiti

On By Daniel CooleyIn Missions, UncategorizedLeave a comment

haiti 13It’s that time of year again! The Cooley’s are attempting to serve our friends in Port-au-Prince Haiti.
Not true.

This year it’s one Cooley. JoLynn has to work, Megan thinks being a new mom will limit her, Micah and Caleb will be at Camp Peniel, and Amanda doesn’t want to take Oliver and Emerson with her. I’m it.

Maranatha Children’s Ministries (www.mcmhaiti.org) is an organization that focuses on the children of Port-au-Prince. This year we plan to be in Haiti from June 22 to July 9, during their English Camp. We will be there before camp starts to get things ready, and for the first week to help things run smoothly.

English Camp is a program that teaches English, Math, Science and Biblical values to over 400 kids who are unable to attend school. Along with education, Maranatha provides breakfast and lunch for all the children and staff.

Spiritual Help: I’m asking for your prayers. Haiti can be an unstable, dangerous country , and I sometimes get in… situations. Worse though is the risk of disease, dehydration, fatigue, and drama. Last thing I want is to have Haitian Happiness (stomach issues) at someone else’s house with 400 kids running around. Cooley’s need their privacy. This one especially. Let me know on Facebook or email dan@cottonwoodchurch.com and I’ll put you on my list for updates.

Financial Help: Those going are raising money for Maranatha Ministries through a Silent Auction and massive Garage Sale. However we must each raise $1350 for our own travel and food expenses. If you wish to donate to me go, there are two ways.

  • 1. Snail mail a check to Cottonwood Church, 4041 Barbara Loop, Suite B, Rio Rancho NM 87124.
  • 2. If you would like to give by debit/credit card, just go to Cottonwoodchurch.com. Click on giving, then Qgiv. You can direct your donation to Haiti Missions and put my name in the Memo box. DONE!

AllBks

Fishing for Faith: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

On By Daniel CooleyIn Book Reviews, Uncategorized1 Comment

fishing4faithThe Good: Leanna Craig LeBato has a great way of taking every-day occurrences and seeing something special in them. She helps both parents and their children understand that God is always there, even in the small things. Fishing for Faith is a refreshing read.

The Bad: This is a good book, not The Good Book, but a good book – I’ve nothing bad to say about it. And that is saying something.

The Ugly: The girl in the pictures looks a bit odd in some of them. Not ugly, just… odd. Maybe that makes it more accurate?

Buy it. You’ll like it.

Confession: I did some editing for Leanna on this book, so yes I’m biased. I’m also right.

AllBks

The King of Torts: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

On By Daniel CooleyIn Book Reviews, UncategorizedLeave a comment

5356The Good:
John Grisham is back to writing his more typical legal thrillers. It’s a great way to waste some time when nothing is pressing and The Bachelor is the only thing on TV. Until you get to “the ugly” that is

The Bad:
The good guy is… rather yuck. It’s hard to feel bad when the good guy falls – and lands in his $45-million-dollar jet.

The Ugly:

At the end of the book there is a trial at the Coconino County Courthouse in Flagstaff AZ. The book says it was the second week in September that morning, and temperature was already pushing 105F. Not likely. I grew up in Northern Arizona. When Jesus returns, I figure He will set up camp in Flagstaff. Maybe.

Flagstaff is 7000’ above sea level, making it 2000’ higher than Denver. It has NEVER hit 100F. Ever. It’s most extreme temperatures range from -30F in January of 1937 to 97F in July of 1973. It has an annual snowfall average of over 100 inches, making it one of the snowiest cities in the USA.

OK, so it was a pretty good book and this is just a glitch. But little things like a revolver that has a magazine, emergency brakes that lock up the front wheels, and cities described incorrectly somehow jerk me out of the story. So John, if you’re googling your name on a boring day when The Bachelor is the only thing on TV, and find this blog, I hope you’re listening.

 

 

 

Nothing to Lose: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

On By Daniel CooleyIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

Nothingtolose_leechild(Jack Reacher book 12) BY LEE CHILD

The Good:
I love Lee Child’s writing style. His descriptions draw you in instead of bore you, and he has a way of keeping the suspense building. But, for this book, the writing style is the best thing about it.

The Bad:
Reacher’s political views must be the author’s views, because they just don’t fit a guy like Reacher. And to see our current middle east military actions as unjust and, in comparison, our previous ones as just – this made no sense to me. Had Reacher never heard of Vietnam? And then there was Reacher picking fights and maybe killing people that didn’t seem to deserve it. And our hero Reacher talking a married woman into sleeping with him because her husband was comatose. But, the worst part of all was the religious lie. That was flat ugly.

The Ugly:
Lee lied. Well, not exactly, instead he had an Anglican minister lie in a convincing way to make the Bible seem foolish. And his argument is, well, a lie. Attacking people’s beliefs, attacking the Bible is fair game. However, lying to do it is a cheap shot.

In talking about the book of Revelation, Lee has the Anglican minister say, “It was written either in Ancient Hebrew or Aramaic, and copied by hand many times, and then translated into Koine Greek, and copied by hand many times, and then translated into Latin, and copied by hand many times, and then translated into Elizabethan English and printed, with opportunities for error and confusion at every single stage. Now it reads like a bad acid trip…”

No Anglican pastor could be so ignorant. Nor should an author be that ignorant, even if this is fiction.

This paragraph makes it sound like our English Bible is so many copies removed from the original languages that it is unreliable. It’s a lie. I have, in my office, a Greek to English translation of the entire NT. And, shock to Lee Child and his Anglican pastor, although people spoke in many languages (including Hebrew or Aramaic) at the time of Christ, Greek had been the common written language (the lingua-franca) since the conquests of Alexander the Great around 330BC.

So, John’s original writing of Revelation was in Greek – and we currently have Greek to English direct translations. What we have is reliable copy of what he wrote. Maybe you believe it and maybe you think it is a bad acid trip – but it is reliable. Where Lee got this copy to a copy to a copy idea and why he put it in is a mystery. I hate it when fiction slides into the realm of non-fiction so the author can “prove” his point. It’s just ugly.

 

AllBks