Doing the Work of the Father

Clay Smith JFBC

Forward: into our community

John 4:28-38. John models for us how to live on mission, talking to the Samaritan woman. Jews did not interact with Samaritans. The woman came to the well at noon perhaps because of previous bad decisions. After she left her water pot there, she went off to tell people about Jesus.

v 31-34 Jesus said I have food to eat that you don’t know about. My food is doing the work of the Father, of who sent me.

JFBC plans for the service to last 70 minutes, always ending by saying “You are sent”.

Jesus was sent to reveal the Father, to live a sinless life. The core of the Gospel. His righteousness is given to us. Jesus came to destroy the work of the devil.

He came to save. Luke 19.

The point: we are sent in His name. John 20 …as the Father has sent me, so I send you.

The question: are we sent? Or all we settled, like an oil & vinegar salad dressing?

Two lessons…

1. You have to see the work. On farms you had to wait to harvest. But then we can see what needs to be harvested.

2. Share the work. God wants us to help others along in their journey. How has our church gotten comfortable? Do we have margin in our lives, where we take time to look around? 

7 million people in Atlanta, and 67% don’t go to church. Ask ChatGPT about East Cobb…affluent, educated, materially full but spiritually thin. East Cobb has lots of depression and  apprehension. Lonely. An emptiness that can only be filled by Jesus. The same can be said about Buckhead and most of the rest of the city.

Expanding Ministry initiatives:

1. evangelism disciple making.

2. Home groups. Shifting ministry into neighborhoods. 30 have already been started.

3. More church planting in Atlanta.

4. Ministry to the vulnerable. Serve our city, etc. Food, emotional.

5. Adoption and foster care. Christians adopt and foster at a higher level.

6. Pro family and marriage.

7. Benevolence, assist those in need.

8. Reaching into local schools. Wheeler has 60 homeless children.

The goal is how many we can minister to, not how many we can fit into a new worship facility.

Goal: 100% participation. Not just a building program but an expansion of the entire church ministry. Aiming to raise $82 million. Includes regular budget for the next 2 years plus all of the usual additional offerings, like missions. JFBC currently supports 24 missionary units.

The church’s last building campaign was over 20 years ago.

Funny Thing About Love

Yes last night's Hallmark Channel movie was hoakey. Did have a couple of recognizable actors.

Monday: Matthew stopped by. Nancy popped in. I went for a walk. The Cho's brought us supper.

Actor Sam Neill has passed away. He was 78. Was in lots more than just Jurassic Park.

July 12

Breakfast while watching JFBC. Forgot to to a picture of the sandwich that C made me for lunch.

C&A brought Miller over for a visit. As they were leaving, W&MC drove up in their new Toyota Sienna hybrid minor. Nice. Later M stopped by to visit. 

Bonnie Tyler passed away. She was 75.

Senator Lindsay Graham passed away after a short illness. He was 71.

Reid's Funeral

 

Baby Miller is starting to bond with Goose. Miller has has three baby cousins born in the past three weeks: Burns to Beau and Bae, Theo to Jordan and Ted, and Louise to Joe and Katherine. Below Miller models her Taqueria del Sol onesie.

Matthew had a one of his own concoctions make the Kimball House mei: his signature oatmeal cookie cream sandwiches were on the special menu for July 4th. They sold out.

Some Tech fans loved those old honeycomb uniforms. Not sure why. You could only see the honeycombs if you were up close - it's hard to see them in this photo. Instead the helmets look off white. And the jerseys and pants are worse. No pop to the numbers. Good riddance.

Former Jefferson JayBuck passed away last week. We were keeping the girls and couldn't make it back for the funeral. JayBuck was a friend of Mr Miller, his daughter Bettina went to school with Ceil. Classic stories of the families sleeping over together when the power was out. JayBuck always sounded like he was up to something. Always asked good questions about y work and life. Had some good conversations with him on his front porch, just down Leee Street from the Miller's house. He will be missed. 

I still have a couple of these helmets.

The SEC.

Question of the Day: who are your favorite Cardinals?

Status Update

 Since my friend recently passed away, I’m no longer writing the update emails that form the basis for my blog posts. I’ve been posting much too political data recently, and want to put a stop to that.

Had a busy few weeks and am not ready to put an end this old blog quite yet, but might seriously cut back on the content. We’ll see. 

Peachtree Times

0.52.16 08.25 32 Annie Norman 4539th, 128th in age group

0.55.03 08.52 59 Steve Edwards SPdL

0.57.52 09.19 24 Graham Smith JFBC

1.00.37 09.46 32 Will Murphy 10609th ot 45225

1.03.53 10.17 52 Atlanta mayor Andre Dinkins

1.06.00 10.38 26 Nathan Hall JFBC

1.06.07 10.39 27 Emma Benkert, Nathan's friend

1.07.00 10.47 44 Scott Morris SPdL (middle)

1.08.54 11.06 26 Jackson Brasfield JFBC

1.09.44 11.14 62 Danny Downing JFBC

1.09.45 11.15 62 Jimmy Light SPdL

1.14.40 12.01 44 Karolina Krawczyk Ryerson

1.15.15 12.07 56 Raphael Warnock politician

1.17.33 12.29 24 Emma Brasfield JFBC

1.17.43 12.31 64 Tracy Ellis Mt Paran

1.21.28 13.07 58 Kelly Johnson SPdL

1.23.54 13.31 38 Chris Vineyard Ryerson (left)

2.04.27 20.02 51 Brandon Leak 680 the Fan

Peachtree Photos

 Will ran the race wearing a cap. Below: Nathan and his friend Emma.

Kelly posted a good time this year.

Former coworker Karolina ran the half marathon last year.

Tracy Ellis (below left)

Chris Vineyard (below left)

Home Team Brandon Leak from 680 the Fan

Scott Morris (below, middle)

Saturday morning A&C took Miller to the Marietta Independence Day parade.

GT: Another Year, Another Uniform

 

Blah blah blah. Let's be honest. Tech has one "big" uniform tweak every year. I am so over it. Tech fans consider themselves such experts on everything. Doesn't matter the shade of gold, they hate it. Goodness gracious.

So like everyone else, here's my worthless opinion. Except I have been a student of uniforms for well over 50 years, and specifically Tech uniforms. So it's not like I am a newbie on this. Under Armour is paying much more for the privilege of outfitting the Jackets. First off, there's plenty to like about these uniforms. 

I'm happy with the darker shade of gold. More contrast. Call it what you will: old gold or whatever. Not really mustard, though I wouldn't mind seeing it. The shiny gold really never was a traditional color. And when I say traditional, I'm not talking about the years 2000-2026. I mean the 1940's, 50's, 60's, and 70's. 

What zero people have mentioned, but is such a big factor in the overall look of a uniform: no navy or black face masks. So much better to wear gold masks with gold helmets, and white masks with white helmets. Of course, we'll see what happened when they take the field. In every game there's a chance that ugly dark mask makes an appearance.

The thing about uniforms: for the most part tiny details can't be seen from the stands or on most TV shots. Thank goodness. Not sure what the deal is with the odd numbers, jersey stripes, and the single stripe on the pants. Supposedly they give tribute to a structure on the Tech campus - a relatively recent structure that isn't beloved or traditional.

If anything the numbers resemble a drop shadow look, a great design back in the 1950's that was revived in the 1990's. I seriously doubt the Jackets are on the leading edge of the next great fashion trend. Nice that the numbers are large. Not exactly block numbers, but close enough. At least fans will be able to make out what number a player is wearing, from the stands or on TV. In recent years that hasn't always been the case.

Not a fan of the large GEORGIA TECH wordmark above the numbers. Is it really needed? Whatever. I do like how in all these photos, you really can't tell whether there's contrasting color on the collar. As it should be. Don't need another detail. Simple is better. For years and years Tech had the ugly striped collars. An upgrade.

Nice that the gold GT helmet logo on the white helmet can actually be seen. Last year the logo was invisible, even on closeup photos. Would be more visible with a navy outline (like on the gold helmet), but you can't have everything.

Odd to have a single pants stripe. At least its relatively thick, so it will be visible. I liked the two stripes Tech wore last year. Players look ugly and slow with no pants stripe. A navy stripe would make the pants pop, but for some reason Tech is just hellbent to just have gold and white uniforms.

Not sure when navy or black became such a bad thing. For years and years the Jackets wore dark numbers, with dark stripes on helmets, sleeves, and pants. At least we aren't too similar to Vanderbilt or Wake Forest.  

Then there's the black pants. But no black jersey. Yet, anyway. I'm sure the players will want to wear them (so they can be like almost every other football team in American. Nothing at all unique about black uniforms. Want to be unique? Want to be special?  DON'T WEAR BLACK. I'm sure at some point the black jerseys will be unveiled for some special game, and everyone will be fired up - forgetting Tech's woefully bad record while wearing special uniforms.

Just noticed the ridiculous Under Armour cleats. Whatever. I doubt they'll stand out on TV. I'd rather have white cleats with gold trim, than navy or black trim. Looks better from a distance.

We'll see how these uniforms look once the Jackets take the field. Lots of unknowns, like the facemasks and cleats. Coach Key seems to make an effort to keep the uni combinations to a minimum. I hope that continues. Like the best uniforms, it's best to keep things simple.