Really?? Never gave an update – how lame…

Okay ya’ll so I realize I never really gave an update from a couple posts that I wrote previously.  Back at the beginning of September I gave a challenge to our C3 people called the “Mina Offering Challenge”.  It was a precursor to setting up our annual “Day of Service”. (scroll to bottom of post where it says “brings me to today October 4″ to see what we did)

Basically each year we take a Sunday morning and DO NOT MEET for a typical “worship service” but instead move out into our community and serve in different areas.  As you can see on the post that had the recap of the “Day of Service” above it was exciting times and a lot go accomplished.

But I NEVER stopped to let you know what happened on Sunday, October 11th when everyone brought back the money from the “Mina Offering Challenge”.  Just as a reference point – back on the Sunday, September 6th when I laid out the message and original challenge we gave out envelopes with $10 bills in them to anyone who wanted to participate and asked them to “put the mina to work” and to prepare to bring back what they earned from that in about a month.  We ended up giving out $400 as a catalyst to see what the people would do with the money.

We are still trying to collect stories from all that was done.  I know some people bought supplies and baked bread and made jams & jellies from home grown things in order to sell to friends and at farmer’s markets in the area.  Some did things like dog/house sitting to earn extra money, they worked to restring tennis rackets and make homemade pizzas to sell as well as making personalized aprons for working in the kitchen and for the fellas to use while grillin’ out.  The ideas and the creative were AWESOME.

So on October 11th it was time for the “proof to be in the pudding” and we took up the offering and totalled it all up.  Some of the money would still be trickling in after that time but overall that $400 “start-up” turned into just a lil over $8,200!!!!  One of the guys helping us count the money was completely blown away.  He said he figured that we would receive enough to cover our “Day of Service” costs (that is the plan that this money would go toward covering the costs to serve and give to the ministries we worked with on our “Day of Service”) but figured that would be about it – which that goal had been about $4,300.  He was amazed that it was almost TWICE that amount.

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW – people got EXCITED & CREATIVE about following a very applicable principle from scripture.  Take what the Lord has given you – multiply your talents, efforts, and activity and then watch Him take it and bless it!!!  What an AWESOME time to see people get excited over hearing that God multiplied that $400 by 20 Times to create over $8,200.

What is even more incredible is that it did NOT affect our regular offering ONE BIT – typically on something special like this – some people decide to divert their regular giving to the special cause.  Our regular offering also ended up being about $8,800 (our general weekly giving is averaging in the low $4,000 range).  How awesome to see God work in our people collecting and giving over $17,000 in ONE DAY for some TREMENDOUS CAUSES.

The extra money we collected above the “Day of Service” costs – were NOT going back into our pockets – we planned to still give that away.  We did so by giving to an exciting adventure out in Las Vegas by our buddy Vince – see more of that by checking out another recent post I had.

SO PRAISE GOD FOR TAKING US ON A FUN/WILD RIDE THROUGH THE MINA CHALLENGE OFFERING – find out more about the story found in Luke 19:11-27.

I “Chipped IN” – Will you?

I’m a poor college student

Well I don’t really make much money

The economy is in the CRAPPER right now

You just can’t really understand my situation – time are just real tough

Maybe later

I’m sure those who HAVE will make the difference

As soon as I “win the lottery”

I’m sure we have all either uttered or listened to some form or fashion of the above statements.  I know that talking about our “giving” is for the most part taboo since it seems EVERYONE knows that God’s Word says - “don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” - in regards to giving to those in need.

But I’m about to break with tradition – and for what I believe is a VERY WORTHY CAUSE!  I try to make a habit of not asking people to do things that I myself would not be willing to do.  So what I’m about to ask – YEP YOU GUESSED IT – I JUST DID!

 I “CHIPPED IN” – I became a Verve Venture Capitalist and now I’m asking anyone and everyone to do the same.  My buddy VINCE and a whole gang of people are doing something AWESOME IN LAS VEGAS and they NEED ME – and YOU – and YOU – and yes even you there with no job and the rent coming due (okay so maybe that’s a lil harsh but I think you get my point – they need people that may have needs themselves to STEP UP AND DO SOMETHING HUGE – SOMETHING BIGGER THAN EACH ONE OF US INDIVIDUALLY)

So please take like 5 minutes – go watch the video on this post – and read it and then DARE TO CHIP IN!  I am FULLY CONVINCED you won’t regret it!

And if you are all HARD CORE about that whole – “not letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing” – well great – then let BOTH HANDS CHIP IN and give double the amount – IT WILL BE OUR LITTLE SECRET – I promise I won’t tell!

I NEED your HELP!!!

Hey people – I have the early stages of a SPECIAL PROJECT bouncing around in my head right now.  But to really get things rolling I need to gather some information.

Here is where YOU come in – I have a TOTALLY ANONYMOUS ONLINE SURVEY I need to get some serious feedback on.

If you are SINGLE or RECENTLY MARRIED (within last 2 years) and would be willing to take a survey – maybe take 15 min or so – it is about 10 questions.

Please CLICK ON THIS LINK and take the survey – be brutally honest and it will help me a great deal.  People of ALL WALKS OF LIFE – I just need vast amounts of feedback!

THANKS THANKS THANKS – SO MUCH for your help – this could be the beginning of something HUGE and you all will play a VITAL ROLE!

The Theme song from “Happy Days”…

keeps playing in my head as I think about the upcoming week.  As I mentioned in a RECENT POST.  I’ve had a pretty crazy last month.  This week ahead will sort of be the topper.

So I just keep hearing “Sunday – Monday –  Happy Days –  Tuesday  -  Wednesday –  Happy Days  -  Thursday  -  Friday  -   Happy Days –  Saturday, What a Day!  All my dreams come true!!!”

So here’s what it looks like:

Yesterday – Sunday, 10/4 – We had our BIG DAY OF SERVICE – that I think went over well.

Monday – 10/5 - trying to recoup and focus on a lil office work and follow-up from our service day.  Also while finalizing my final 4 minute comedy routine because I have my first REHEARSAL of the routine tonight @ a 4 hour edition of our class.

Tuesday – 10/6 will be my ONLY day to really spend much time on office work and focusing on our upcoming Sunday plans to kick off a new series called “Soul Revolution” - we are REALLY REALLY REALLY excited about it!  That evening I am going over to my sister’s house to keep Madison & Macy while mom & dad get to hit up the awesome U2 concert here in the ATL.  We also have some SWEET – LIFE-LONG friends coming into town that will get in that evening as well.

Wednesday – 10/7 – time to “rise & shine” nice and early as our gang of guys from C3 head out @ 6 AM again to Charlotte, NC for another installment of our “Church Unique” consulting lab.  I have to pack a bag for what takes place the rest of the week and leave my car on the North side of the ATL.  We will get back into town about 9 PM that evening but only to pick up my car and head to a hotel over on the north side.      BECAUSE

Thursday – 10/8 will be the first full day of the “CATALYST CONFERENCE” here in the ATL over at the Gwinnett Center.  Some of our staff and a BUNCH of our friends in ministry will be heading this way to experience a couple great days of fellowship, worship, encouragement, and instruction.  Back to the hotel that evening.

Friday – 10/9 will finish up the conference and finally get to head back to the homestead to crash a lil while and attempt to go over my final comedy material – BECAUSE

Saturday – 10/10 from about 10 AM till around 2:30 PM or so we will have our whole class dress-rehearsal as the FINAL STEP before the big performance.  This is so hard to believe it is actually time for this to take place, but I’m feeling more ready as the days go on.  (I had better be since like 26 or more of my friends and family will be there for the live performance aaggghhhh!)

Later that afternoon some friends from the campus ministry group I worked with back in NC are coming into town to spend their fall break and also planning to stay around for the comedy performance.  I’ll also go over any final plans & details for our Sunday morning kickoff of “Soul Revolution” also hoping to go over notes/plans for my community group meeting on Sunday night.

Sunday – 10/11 up & at ‘em for regular setup by meeting @ School by 7:30 AM and then rolling through our Sunday service – hopefully seeing lots of new faces and friends that have been invited to hear this exciting challenge.  We have some cool videos & elements planned.  We also will show a video from our “Day of Service” from this past Sunday – as well as take up our “Mina Challenge Offering”.

After church I might get a lil while to crash – but not much – then off to my community group gathering that evening.

MONDAY 10/12 – the BIG DAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED – I will handle some office work & a staff meeting earlier that morning and then try and get prepared for the big comedy show that evening.  I have to be over @ the Punchline Comedy Club around 6 PM to begin getting ready for the “BIG SHOW” which starts @ 8 PM!

Who knows what time I’ll get home that night & no telling how wired and exhausted all at the same time I’ll be.  Hopefully leading to a lil bit of a crash and sleep in on Tuesday Morning!

So if you think about it this week – and wouldn’t mind doing so – I could really use some extra prayers lifted up.  That I use my time wisely – that I don’t just “go through the motions” and that I do all things with EXCELLENCE in a way to HONOR Christ!

Then and only then will it truly be “HAPPY DAYS”!!!

“Don’t Worry, Be Trusting”??

I was reading today in John 14 – some of the first few verses.

Typically when I read this I like to really “key in” on the part where Jesus is talking about the fact the He is the “way, truth, and life” found there in verse 6.  But this morning before I could even get there – something new jumped out to me.

Right off the bat in verse 1 -

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” (Jesus speaking)

Here is why it sort of jumped at me.  In our culture, society, world – whatever you want to say.  We are inundated with a concept that our lives are crazy, busy, maddening at times and the list goes on and on.  We are looking for that thing that (as Tom Cruise shared in “Jerry Maquire”) “completes us”.  Low and behold – it is right here that we find it.

That really isn’t even what jumped out to me – yeah I KNOW that I have to Trust in God and Trust in Jesus – but the first part “DO NOT LET” - that really spoke to me as if it is of MY CHOOSING.  I play a big role and it is NOT beyond my control (understand I am not meaning “control” in the terms of I am the one doing the saving etc etc – I mean I have control over my decisions and what I CHOOSE).

So I must CHOOSE to NOT LET MY HEART BE TROUBLED – and how do I go about this?  By CHOOSING – By DETERMINING – By NOT LETTING my heart be troubled because I CHOOSE to put my TRUST IN GOD & HIS SON JESUS.

Okay maybe not such big news to you – but it was a good reminder for me today.  Especially in light of the craziness of my recent month and also the madness of my upcoming week.  So thanks God for the reminder that I must CHOOSE to put my TRUST IN YOU – and that will result in a heart that is not nearly as troubled.

Will troubles arise?  YOU BET – but will I be able to weather the storm? NO DOUBT!

Ain’t just for Eric Clapton – “Hello Old Friend”

Yeah  that’s right – Hello Old Friend – I am finally back again – I know it’s been a while and I must apologize.

For those of you whom have – and for those of you whom have not – missed me in the blogosphere – let me give a lil update of where I’ve been.

SIDE NOTE – I am NOT complaining, looking for sympathy, or trying to make my life look busy.  This is just the REALITY of my last couple weeks and a lil bit of an update of what has been taking place in my life.

Sept. 6th I got the chance to preach @ Christ’s Church @ Cobb and shared a challenge from “The Parable of the Minas” – if ya want check it out here -  I also got to share an exciting challenge for our people for the month to come.

Sept. 12 things started to get a lil crazier than normal for me as I started the first day of a 10 day House/Dog Sitting stint for a family in our church.

Sept. 13th I got the opportunity to be a lead teacher in our Elementary Class for our Kidzone program.

Sept. 20th – Once again I got the chance to preach @ C3 was able to share about the parable of the “Good Samaritan”.  During our worship service some heavy rains began to fall which little did we know what was about to take place.  I ran out after service to a quick lunch.  Then a group battle the weather to head over and witness the baptism one of our young boys from church – which was an exciting time!!!  Then later that day on to a meeting for some planning for the future of our Kidzone Children’s ministry.

As I mentioned the rains that had become that day would last on through that day and into the next – in some places over 20 inches would fall in about a 35 hour period and cause one of the most UNBELIEVABLE flood situations I have ever witnessed.  Basically everything in the Atlanta area came to a screeching halt.

Sept. 22 I went and picked up the family for whom I had been house/dog sitting at the airport.  Helped get them home and settled.  Then moved my stuff over to the house of another family in our church who were out of town and would spend the next couple days at their home house/dog sitting for them. (yeah it is becoming my life! ha ha ha).  Later that evening I then had the opportunity to play some indoor volleyball with some friends in a league back in Smyrna (where I NORMALLY live).

Sept. 23rd – 6 AM a group of guys from our church headed out to Charlotte, NC for a church consulting workshop we are attending.  Finally returned home about 9 PM that evening.

Sept. 24th I finished house/dog sitting for the second family (but wait there’s more) and finally got to head back to Smyrna to unpack my stuff – start to do laundry and get ready because it wouldn’t be long before I would be back at the home of the 2nd family I mentioned above.

Sept. 26th back over to house/dog sit for the 2nd family again while they headed off to Jamaica (yeah seems like a fair trade right?) Also continuing to do some major planning on our upcoming “Day of Service” and also continuing to work on my upcoming comedy routine in my stand-up comedy class.

Sept. 27th – normal routine for our worship service @ Christ’s Church at Cobb – followed by an Appreciation Lunch for our Elementary Age Volunteers and discussion for upcoming changes to that program.  Home for a few moments of rest – then to my Community Group that evening for our opening session for a new series coming up called “Soul Revolution”.

Sept. 28th – Visit in the AM to Care Net – one of the partners for our “Day of Service” coming up.  Staff meeting later that day – continuing to work on plans for our “Day of Service” – then a Community Group leader meeting later that evening.

Sept. 29th pretty regular day – finishing up some material for my comedy class which would last for about 3.5 hours that evening.

Sept. 30th trying to FINALLY get my car in to the shop for a WAY OVERDUE oil change and check up.  Continuing to work on plans and line up about 6 job sites and about 90 people for our “Day of Service” coming up.  Then our C3 Prayer Group gathering that evening – which fortunately one of our members had volunteered to lead the meeting that evening – HUGE BLESSING to not have that on my plate.

Oct. 1st – This would finally be the LAST DAY of my house/dog sitting stint as the family would return from Jamaica that day.  This would bring to an end an 18 of 20 day/night stay away from my home in Smyrna so that I was able to house/dog sit for people in our church.  This has created some MUCH NEEDED extra income and also allowed me to create money for my “MINA OFFERING CHALLENGE”.

That evening I decided (as if I hadn’t had enough going on at night this week) to meet up with a guy from my comedy class in order to check out the comedy club where we will soon perform and watch a live comedian.  It was great to check out the show, to see the venue where we will perform, and to just sit and talk about our routines and share ideas.  But I’m not gonna like – I was EXHAUSTED to finally get home.

Oct. 2nd – was the final BIG DAY OF PLANNING AND PREPARATION for all the final details for our “DAY OF SERVICE” coming up on Sunday.

WHICH BRINGS ME TO TODAY – SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4th -

7:30 AM leave my house to meet up with people by 8 AM to haul some furniture downtown ATL to Care Net Pregnancy Resource Center of Atlanta.  We arrive about 8:45 and began to load in the furniture and get our team set up there.  The team working there was putting some shelf units together and then moving and sorting baby clothes and items for the Center.  My buddy Derik and I then loaded up some furniture in his truck that they were getting rid of.  We headed about 30 min over to a local YWCA where some of our church members were already working.  We moved mulch into a play area and did a lot of trimming shrubs and bushes and weed-eating and general yard work.  Meanwhile a LARGE group was at the school where we normally meet on Sundays to pack meals for an organization called “STOP HUNGER NOW” – we packed a lil over 15,000 meals in about 2 hours.  Then some of those same people went outside and put out pinestraw in the flowerbeds around the school property.  All at the same time our Student Minister, Ryan and the teens and some of their parents went downtown ATL to work with “CITY OF REFUGE” doing some exciting ministry down there.  Finally myself and about 5 others headed over to work with Samaritan’s Purse Disaster relief teams to help with the horrific Atlanta flooding that I spoke of earlier.

Finally getting finished and back home about 6:30 PM this evening.  So now I am chilling, resting, and thinking back over the MADNESS that has been the last few weeks.  It was crazy times – but it has been some great stuff.  Some things that I am truly thankful that God has continued to allow me to be a part of.

So a HUGE THANKS to all my C3 Family for being such a great part of some exciting things.  To allowing themselves to be used as humble and sacrificial servants to proclaim JESUS’ name in our community and the large city!

So I’m sorry that I haven’t taken time to stop and keep the blog up to date – but hey at least NOW YOU KNOW – and as GI Joe says – “knowing is half the battle”!!!

Sports Magazine BONANZA – for a great cause!

Hey people – whomever you are wherever you are – I COULD USE YOUR HELP – while at the same time HELPING YOU!

I’m trying to come up with some – alternative methods for RAISING FUNDS – for 2 solid causes:

1) 50% of money raised from these sales will go toward some service/mission projects that OUR CHURCH is going to be participating in over the next few weeks.

2) 50% will go toward my fundraising efforts as I continue in the apprenticeship/residency here @ Christ’s Church at Cobb.

I am trying to unload a HUGE COLLECTION of Old Sports Illustrated and Sports Magazines.  It is a PHENOMENAL COLLECTION of over 650 magazines.  Included in this collection are almost 60 Michael Jordan Cover Issues!!!

I can GUARANTEE I will beat any of the prices you will see online at some of the major “back issue” dealers.  In fact I have a database with EVERY ONE of my magazines listed, by date, who/what is on the cover, what the condition of the magazine is – along with prices from TWO (2) of the MAJOR dealers online – then listing MY PRICE for the magazines!!!  You won’t believe the prices till you see them.

This is a GREAT FIND for EVERYONE –  maybe you are a HUGE SPORTS FAN, Maybe you are a fan of a particular player such as – Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’neal, Kobe Bryant, Kareem, David Robinson, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriquez, Nolan Ryan, Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken, Frank Thomas, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, John Elway, Dan Marino, Barry Sanders, TIGER WOODS, Athletes from the Summer & Winter Olympics and the list goes on and on and on.

The magazines cover the years from January, 1987 till about August, 1999 - that’s right about 12.5 years worth.  They have been stored in great conditions and some of the bigger stars (especially the Michael Jordan’s) have been protected in plastic sleeves and albums.  I’m telling you that you just won’t believe how incredible they are.

I would LOVE to hold on to these – but I just don’t have the space for them anymore – I’m tired of moving them AND I could really use the money!  These Magazines are valued at about $7,500.00 on those major online dealers.  I have my total collection valued @ just under $1,700.00 so as you can see it is PRICED TO MOVE.

If someone wanted the entire collection I’d be willing to sell it for $1,500 or make the BEST OFFER!

BUT you don’t HAVE TO BUY IT ALL – if you are only interested in specific magazines I will sell them that way too!  You don’t even have to be a sports fan – these make GREAT PRESENTS  - for a special birthday or a Christmas gift or something to celebrate or commemorate a specific day 10-20 years ago.  Remember Sports Illustrated came out EACH WEEK so there are TONS of actual dates to choose from – and a cool nostalgic look back!

If you can access – Excel files then you can CLICK HERE and download a copy of my entire database.  I cannot “guarantee” that I have all that are listed, simply because as people buy them I can’t always keep the inventory up to date, but this gives you an idea of what there is.

If you are interested in any of this – you can post a comment here on my blog – or you can e-mail me directly @  neal.alligood@gmail.com.

I’d LOVE to hear from ya and help you out with some of these AWESOME MAGAZINES!  I much rather deal locally, but I am willing to ship as well, but there will be shipping costs added – which will depend on how many you are buying and where I would be shipping.

So definitely drop me a line if you have ANY INTEREST whatsoever – also pass the link to this post along to anyone you know that might be interested!

C3 Mina Offering Challenge

Hey C3 Peeps!

Here is a lil reminder about our MINA OFFERING CHALLENGE!

Find the SERMON ON OUR MEDIA PAGE – that is referred to in the video.  It is on 9/6/09 – Parable of the Mina’s.

Hope you enjoy this lil reminder – and don’t forget to GET CREATIVE!  Looking forward to seeing the great offering we take up on OCTOBER 11th & also hearing some CRAZY STORIES of what people did to “PUT THEIR MINA TO WORK”!

2 Hysterical Women – 1 Funny Friday post!

So here it is – your weekly dosage of Funny Friday videos!  These 2 women are OUT OF CONTROL!

First Up – Woman Freakin’ out on Radio show!

By the way – if you don’t have enough sense to NOT go on a radio show and put your hands in a box that you can’t see what is actually in there – then this is EXACTLY what should happen to you if not worse!  GET A CLUE LADY!!!

Second Up – Woman freaks out after missing flight – wish I knew WHAT THE HECK was so important to flip out like this! (or maybe I don’t want to know!)

My own 9 on 9-9-09!

Lot’s of people around cyberworld today are getting some serious knowledge & insight dropped on them by some of the best leaders & minds out there in Kingdom work.  It is being put on by a group called LEADERSHIP NETWORK – and is called “The Nines” – many great leaders – each getting 9 minutes – live streaming videos – later the video files to be free downloads – challenging people with messages and stories.  It is some pretty cool stuff.  It is taking place @ 9:09 AM central time – on September 9th, 2009 – yeah yeah yeah – real catchy! ha ha ha

BUT – sometimes I wonder if we spend so much time on things like this (and please DO NOT HEAR WHAT I’M NOT SAYING – I think these are great resources but not if we only LISTEN and don’t CHANGE & DO SOMETHING because of them) and we never then put the resources & information into action.

So I decided to come up with MY OWN 9 on 9-9-09!  These are just gonna be 9 thoughts/plans/encouragements/ideas that I have gleaned from others or that God has shown me at some point in my own life.  In 9 words for each of the 9 statements.

I know – I am not one of the “big wigs” on this SWEET – “THE NINES” deal today – but maybe something here will encourage & challenge you as well – so here we go: (in no particular order – just basically cause I’ve always wanted to say that ha ha ha)

1] “David Served God’s purpose in his generation” will you? (Acts 13:36 ref)

2] Remember, This life is a marathon, not a sprint.

3] Always EXPECT the BEST, but PREPARE for the WORST.

4] Bridges burned now, may NEED to be crossed later.

5] Never Apologize based ONLY on stipulation they forgive you.

6] Love God, Love Others as yourself, Go SERVE PASSIONATELY!

7] The Church is Body, Bride, Beautiful, Messy, People, Alive!

8] Don’t SETTLE for CLARITY, SEEK CHANGE – ordinary to EXTRAORDINARY!

9] “Be Still and KNOW GOD, Stay CONNECTED – FRUIT HAPPENS” (thanks Psalm 46:10, John Burke & John 15:4)