One Woman's Journey... A Guest Post

Not all that long ago, if you were to ask me "What do you think about God?" I would have gone on this long tirade about Christians. At my kindest moments I would think them boring, naive and bad dressers and I regularly said "I will NEVER be one of THOSE people". I equated God to his people and not the other way around and my opinions were not kind.

Then I lost a  bet with God and I reluctantly returned to church. In those early days I was aggressive, even MORE judgmental than usual, and defensive. I just knew those people would condemn me so I condemned them first. I steadfastly kept God OUT of my blog, out of my life and out of my heart. Those days the only thing that kept me coming back was KidStuf and Mary's hugs. In those early days Pastor Ken was not MY pastor and in fact, I was convinced if he said the word "Literally" ONE more time, well, even I would not spork a pastor, but...

It was before Pastor Hal refused to let me goad him. It was before Ms. Amy cast her spell on me and made me love her. It was before my beloved 4th grade tweens, before the Dorcas ladies, before the Cafe Club. Back then I mocked The Promise and thought talk radio was for freaks and kooks. Then I showed up at the doors of the church one November Sunday and found KidStuf.

To you, the leaders, players and Students of KidStuf, I say thank you. Every cold morning, every missed vacation, every night rehearsal and every other imaginable sacrifice you made to put on a production of KidStuf every week saved me. You broke down Christianity into bite sized pieces and fed it to me in a way I could digest. When Pastor Ken was still talking over my head, you spoke directly to my heart. You found me and you lead me to a real relationship with Christ. One virtue, one song and one laugh at a time. You broke through my strong defenses. With each new secular song I heard in church the wall cracked. When I saw a grown woman in pigtails bouncing around the stage the cracks deepened. When I saw a strong black man dressed as a pregnant woman the wall crashed to the ground. Once you brought down my defenses Pastor Ken got in and was never again THE pastor but MY pastor. Once that happened there was no going back. God walked it and did what God does.

Over the next few months I discovered I was the one Pastor Ken spoke of when he said "Those no one else wanted." I was Mary Nobody. I was the beaten down, the scorned, the lost. I was the one who felt I was too broken to be saved. I was convinced I was going to hell and I would take you with me given half the chance. I knew every section of the Bible that I could mock or use in my arguments but had no idea how many books in contained, how it started or how it finished. I knew every verse that was inconsistent, or could conveniently be twisted but had no idea how many times the word "Love" was used. Yes, I am the one this church changed course for. I am the face of Mary Nobody.

These days there is rarely a day God is not in my blog. Should  you find yourself in my car you will hear either a podcast for my "God Pick" playlist. I am married to the same man, live in the same house, drive the same car, have the same job but nothing is the same.

Now, I give God the credit for the dramatic changes in my life, but The Church at Argyle was His tool. THOSE  people pried open my heart so God could get in and completely transform me. I am not worthy to be called one of THOSE people but I'm honored to be among them and I am forever grateful.

With Gratitude & Love,
Beth Reed

A word from Rick...

Dear Argyle- September 5 was an incredible day at Argyle! What a beautiful thing it was to see the different parts of our body work together as one. I am so thankful for and proud of our KidStuf Team, our Greeters and Ushers, Dan and the Chairmen, Leroy and the Kitchen Team, Amy and the Children's Ministry Team, Beth, David and Kim for capturing the event with photos, Tommy and Ricky for building the Snow Cone House, Leroy's Dad for donating the Snow Cone Machine, Leroy's brother, John, who delivered the machine and everyone who stepped up to cover all of the costs of the day so that we could offer everything without charge. Over 600 attended and everyone enjoyed a great show, food, fun and Christian fellowship. It doesn't get any better than that! Two weeks ago, 30 wonderful people became members at Argyle with two coming for baptism. God is good! See you Sunday, Rick

Why We Do It... A Guest Post

What a great service Sunday. Thanks so much to all of you for all you do!

I am guilty of taking for granted that our church will be there and will be great. Pastor Rick will have great music. The Worship Team will be great. Pastor Ken will have a moving and inspiring sermon. The KidStuf actors will rock.

I'm thankful that I can do my little part and serve as a baby toe in the church body. I tried doing "Word" in KidStuf and was sick with worry about remembering my lines every Saturday night. I tried being a lead teacher; again, I was sick with worry every Saturday night, and dreaded it, and knew that wasn't right.

But I can DANCE and smile. So I am happy to dance on the KidStuf floor and serve as the STAIRMASTER, keeping kids off the stairs and stage and go shhhhh to the noisy ones during the show.

I can dance in UpStreet too (its like a free aerobics class). And I CAN easily be a friend and listener and provide Jolly Ranchers to kids in UpStreet and assist crazy fun Don Eldridge in his kids small group. I'm so thankful to him for figuring out the curriculum and lesson, which boggles my mind many times. I'm happy to say shhhh while he speaks and to play the games, especially those boy vs. girls competitions that can be so riveting.

It's EZ to hug, smile, chat and encourage little ones and listen to their stories about a lost tooth, good grades, winning a soccer game, and to meet their friends and relatives.

I guess I'd like to inspire those folks who think they don't have a place at church that they do! Even if you aren't as comical as Kenny, eloquent as Mr. Dwight and Mrs. Linda. Even if you aren't a musician like the amazing Bass family and that awesome teenage drummer girl Cameron or you don't sing like Arlette (ssss..Stepping Stone). Or you are not actors or actresses who can remember lines and get on that KidStuf stage without vomiting.

Keep searching till you find your spot. Try things and if they don't work. Try something else until you find a comfy space, like I have.



Mary Maragy

Summer's here...

the mosquitoes are swarming and the weeds are thriving in response to the rain, and we are following a new schedule for the summer.

We will have one Worship Gathering at 10:30 am, along with UpStreet and Amazing Place. KidStuf, Inner Space and The Argyle Café are on break, but Impact continues from 4:00 to 6:00 pm on Sundays.

When school lets out, some people seem to disappear from church, even if they don't have kids in school. There was a time when a lot of groups in the South took a summer break, but that had to do with temperature and humidity hovering in the 90's. Thank goodness and John Gorrie that we don't have to face that particular problem (at least, not indoors). So, since we have great air conditioning, that can't be the reason people stay away.

Care to offer your thoughts?

Hal Hunter

Another reason we do what we do...

I just spent a few minutes, along with Children's Ministry Director Amy Gieger, with a mom who was in the office with her two daughters to discuss baptism.

Mom was raised in another faith, but as an adult felt an emptiness, heard the Gospel, and came to faith. Recently coming to Jacksonville, she was attending a church that was meeting her spiritual needs, but was boring her children stiff. She was looking for a church that would speak to her kids; a friend invited her to Argyle and KidStuf.

This is a Christian family, the kids are in a Christian school, and there was never any doubt that the kids were going to hear the Gospel, and see it demonstrated daily. The question was- were they going to hear it in a way that excited them and engaged them and gave them an age-appropriate approach to life change.

I guess we know the answer- they were here to discuss baptism. Just another reason why we do what we do here at Argyle.

Hal Hunter

Some Win Statements In Children's Ministry...

One of our primary ministries at Argyle involves our kids. We have a lot of them in our family, and they are important to us. Click here to read about our Children's Ministry strategy.

Amazing Place is our environment for preschool kids. A win here is a kid who comes out of this environment knowing-

• God made me
• God loves me
• Jesus wants to be my friend forever

UpStreet is our environment for kids K-6th grade. We want them to learn that-

• I need to make the wise choice
• I can trust God no matter what
• I need to others the way I want to be treated
• Jesus loves me so much He wants to save me forever

KidStuf is our high energy stage environment for kids and their families. It is a place that gets kids excited about God and what He is doing in their lives. A win in KidStuf is a kid who gets excited enough to drag his parents and friends to church.

Another win is when we see families growing together. We want to partner with parents; we can never replace them in developing their kids spiritually. Family Times is a resource we encourage families to use to help their children in the rest of the week when they aren't here.