New Blog...again....

I'm now at,

http://jeffrossman.wordpress.com/

Check it out.

Awww

My poor, neglected "amusing musings" blog. I've got to post something.

I weighed in at 210 lbs this morning. I haven't posted my weight in a while because...well...it hasn't changed in a while. At least I'm not gaining! I guess 26 lbs down from where I started isn't too bad. I'm hoping to lose the love handles soon though! Sheesh!

I've been real busy lately. Work from 8-5, then on Tuesdays I have Life Group, and Wednesdays I have church (though I haven't gone to Wednesday nights in awhile). My sister's wedding is a week from this Saturday - it's so weird that my sister will be married.

I'm still waiting to hear from Christ Life Church in Tempe. I sent them off a "demo" the other day so they could see where I am musically. I'm scared about it, honestly. I worked for a week trying to put something good together, and everything felt like crap. So I emailed the Associate Pastor there and told him that I was working on it. He said, "Just send whatever you have." So I did, and I think I regret it. We'll see.

Church is good. We're about 2 or 3 weeks away from moving into the new building, which will be very exciting. This week we had our first College/Career meeting. It consisted of the Pastor, Reggie (the adult who will lead the group, I think), a girl named Rachel, and myself. It was kind of cool, though, because it really became a planning meeting, of sorts. We talked about what the College Group should look like, what kind of things we would do. It was fun.

Ping Testing...

@fb Let's see if this works...

Ping testing...

What's up with my brain?

So here's the story...

Monday or Tuesday morning before work, I was doing my email/internet surfing thing, and I decided on a whim to stop by www.youthspecialties.com and look at their job postings for ministry positions. To my surprise, there was one position that really intrigued me. It was a surprise for many reasons. Allow me to share those reasons with you:

1. I wasn't expecting to be interested in a "church job" this soon.
2. It's in Tempe, which means, if I were to be offered the position, I would have to move back to Phoenix.
3. It's a big church (probably 2,000-3,000 members, if not more).
4. The position itself is something I've never felt drawn to before, but now all of a sudden it sounds interesting.

So, what's the position, right? "Worship/Creative Arts Pastor." Obviously, some of my talents would insist that I would be interested in this field of ministry, but I've never actually wanted to do this kind of thing as my job before. I'm still a little unclear as to whether they are looking more for a new "front man" for the band, or for a person to coordinate and oversee the whole worship/creative arts department at their church (though it sounds like the latter). If they want a front man, I'm probably not the guy. Instrumentally I think I can cut it, but not so much vocally. I have a decent voice, but not a great voice.

One of the main drawing points to this church, for me, is the fact that their theological leanings are very similar to my own (which is honestly kind of rare). Furthermore, often people who share my particular theological leanings (that is, Oneness Pentecostal) tend to be kind of old-fashioned in their approach to ministry, and sometimes a little exclusive, which annoys me greatly. I like cutting-edge ministry, and I feel that theology is one of the stupidest reasons for churches to divide. This church appears to have similar ideas. That excites me.

What sounded so interesting about the position to me, was the simple fact that before Hope Chapel and I parted ways, I was finding great pleasure in the process of planning services, looking for new and creative ways to do corporate worship, fine tuning things like lighting, sound, media, etc., and this appears to be exactly what this church is looking for.

So, I sent a resume. They want to meet me. We'll see what happens.

Praise God!

So, I finally heard back from the HR lady at La Frontera, who had caused me to question whether I would still have a job this week. The president of the school I graduated from and she finally got in touch, and she said that I was all set. Praise God!

When I talked with her yesterday, she said (without saying it), that she was going to turn a blind eye to the fact that the accreditation status of my degree was a little sub-standard. She said something to the effect of, "All I need is verification that you were awarded a degree." So, I get to keep my job, and since I got everything out in the open, I can go on with a clear conscience, not worrying that soon they will discover that I'm not truly qualified.

What did I learn from this?

Honesty really is always the best policy. I really felt a wonderful peace from God when I decided I was just going to lay it all out on the table for them, and then let the chips fall where they may. I knew there was a possibility that I would lose my job, but I knew that God would honor my obedience. As it turns out, He honored it even more than I expected! I basically did everything I could to give them a legitimate excuse to fire me, but they didn't. God allowed me to keep my job. God is an awesome God!

The Mightyrandomthought #5

Yesterday there was a dead bug outside my office - it looked like a cockroach or something. The first few times I passed it, it was on it's back. Then, around 11 or so, I passed it again, and it was on it's belly. Then an hour or so later I passed it again, and it was on it's back again. Then, around 2 o'clock, I passed it again and there was this swarm of tiny ants all around it, most of them crowded right around its body. The next time I passed that spot, the cockroach was gone. Rest in peace cockroach.

Interesting Turn of Events

Last Thursday I received an email from the HR Generalist at work. In it she said she was attempting to verify my degree, but was having trouble finding any contact information for the school, and asked if I could help. So I looked - for sure, there is not even a hint of a website for the school I graduated from. It's a very small school, so I guess it's not completely surprising. So I had to email the nice HR lady back and say, "I'll have to get back to you on that one."

So over the weekend I tracked down the number for the President of the school, and had a little chat with him...Let me back up a bit...

When I graduated from Freedom Seminary with a B.A. in Biblical Studies, I was told that the school was not yet accredited, but was working toward accreditation, that they were in the tail end of that process, and that when the process was complete, I would be grandfathered in. Since I had spent the previous two years at a non-accredited Bible School, the prospect of a school accepting all those classes toward an accredited degree sounded great! I knew it wouldn't be a prestigious degree, but what do I care?

So, over this past weekend I spoke with the President of the school to let him know that someone might be calling to confirm my degree, and while on the phone I asked him where the school was in the process of becoming accredited. I wish I could say I was surprised at his answer, but I wasn't. They're still in the process. According to him, the big thing that is standing between them and accreditation is some specific type of external audit that takes a couple of years and costs $25,000. Needless to say, this small school doesn't have $25,000 sitting around.

Long story short, I have to go in to work today and tell them that my degree is from a currently non-accredited school. Chances are, this little revelation will cost me my job.

::Surprising spiritual twist::

Since Thursday I have had a knot in my stomach about the whole thing. Then I went to church on Sunday. The pastor preached about faith, and about trust. The title of the sermon was "Focusing Your Faith." The worship was wonderful, and I felt wrapped in God's presence. Then the sermon just brought me to a wonderful place of calm trust, that whatever transpired with my job, God was going to take care of me. I just had this wonderful peace that I was in God's hands, and in His plan and nothing was going to change that. God is awesome.