Tag: Longmont

Local Busses in Longmont Free

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I took the bus today, and I liked it.

I’ve always thought about riding the bus here in Longmont; there’s a bus stop about 100 feet from my house. The thing is, that the bus doesn’t run very often, and it costs just as much as driving my car around town. I’d rather get around without my car – but there’s no real incentive to do so, until now.

Starting today, busses within Longmont are free. If you ride from Longmont to Boulder, you will be given a voucher to reduce the price for the in-town part of the ride.

Unlike my car, the bus is air-conditioned. And even though the ride to where I work on Tuesdays is 30 min by bus, as opposed to 12 min by car – I always have plenty of work I can do on my phone while I am sitting on the bus, which makes it time I can easily spend productively.

I’m not sure if this initiative is motivated by the desire to be environmentally friendly or simply because no one was riding the bus (my guess would be the latter), but I say: Good on you, Longmont! I love that this city does cool stuff like this. I will definitely be riding the bus a lot this year and using my car less.

 

White Fields on the Radio

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Starting this week, you can hear me on the radio here on Colorado’s Front Range, on 89.7 Grace FM.

White Fields is doing a series of 1-minute devotional messages called “Word from the Field”. Our thought was that instead of just airing our sermons, we could do something a little bit unique, that would also run multiple times per day at different times. This way we can stand out from the crowd and reach people who listen to the radio at different times of the day and week.

We are also uploading these recordings to SoundCloud, so that people can keep up with them online and share them through social media. You can follow us on SoundCloud here, and below you can listen to the messages we’ve recorded so far.

The Interactive Sermon

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The past 2 Sundays at White Fields we’ve been trying something new, where our background slide invites people to text or tweet their questions in during the sermon. Once we get these questions, I will answer some during the service if we have time, or I will answer them on The City – our church’s in-house social network.

The response we’ve gotten to this has been really good! I’ve really enjoyed engaging with people and answering their questions. You can read some of those discussions here. Look for the posts titled “Sermon Follow-Up”.

I think that in this day and age, with the proliferation of the internet especially, sermons need to be more interactive. Finding the right way to do this though, is what is hard.

Timothy Keller, at his Sunday night services in NYC, has had a question and answer time for years. It’s a main part of the service – and it invites skeptics to come and do what New Yorkers do best: be skeptical and inquisitive. Tim Keller has said that the average young adult in New York is a thinker and thinkers have questions, and if you want them to really consider Christianity, you have to give them a chance to have their questions answered.

Nowadays, any news article you read online gives readers the option to engage in a comments section, where they can have a discussion about the content of the article. Any attitude in churches of “don’t question anything” is completely disconnected from where our culture is at today, especially with young people. Furthermore, I feel that if pastors are not answering the real questions that people are asking and struggling with, if we are not addressing the issues that people are really wondering about and discussing, then we have become irrelevant talking heads. If everywhere in the world there is transparency and discussion is encouraged, but at church we have smokescreens and we don’t like questions, what does that communicate to people? Perhaps that we lack the confidence that is required to allow people to ask questions? That shouldn’t be the case.

However, the danger in opening up to engagement like this, is that it inevitably gives a platform to haters – people who don’t have sincere questions, but who ask questions in order to be critical or in an attempt to trip others up. This is something that Jesus dealt with a lot from the Pharisees and Sadducees, who put a lot of effort into tripping him up. I’m sure that Timothy Keller gets tons of people like this as well, but it doesn’t deter him from encouraging people to ask questions and give him the chance to offer a biblical answer.

What are your thoughts on encouraging engagement with sermons? How have you seen it done effectively – or ineffectively?

Scientists flying over Colorado oil boom find worse air pollution

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Scientists flying over Colorado oil boom find worse air pollution

This article from the Denver Post claims that “scientists have found that Colorado’s Front Range oil and gas boom has been emitting three times more methane than previously believed — 19.3 tons an hour.”

A friend of mine had this to say about it: “Maybe if these companies spent as much money on being ‘clean’ as they did on advertisements telling us ‘it’s safe,’ it would actually be safe.”

I certainly have noticed a huge push in media advertisements from oil companies claiming that fracking is safe – radio and television ads, not to mention internet marketing and mass mailers.

What are your thoughts on fracking? Do you think that environmentalists are making a big deal about something which could potentially be a great thing for our nation?

I like the idea of energy independence; I think the US should pursue it.  At the same time, I’m glad to live in Longmont, where fracking has been banned. I like clean air and clean water and the whole fracking experiment seems risky to me.

It seems hard to get truly objective information on the risks of fracking. Even the information that is put out about how safe and environmentally friendly it is seems to be from those who stand to benefit from it financially.

Please let me know your thoughts on fracking below in the comments section.

Supreme Court Upholds Allowing Christian Prayers at City Council Meetings

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Supreme Court Upholds Allowing Christian Prayers at City Council Meetings

A narrowly divided Supreme Court upheld decidedly Christian prayers at the start of local council meetings Monday, declaring them in line with long national traditions although the country has grown more religiously diverse.

Yes, our country is increasingly diverse, and we should respect that diversity, but I think this is a victory for the American people. 

What do you think?  Take this poll over at the Longmont Times-Call, and see what other people think.

 

National Day of Prayer

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Today is the National Day of Prayer. 
All around the nation today, people will be gathering in churches and at flagpoles to pray for our nation. Click here to find a list of observances near you.

I will be taking part in the Longmont-area noon observance, which is open to all. It will be held at 737 Bross St. in Longmont from 12:00-1:00 PM.

Wherever you are today, set aside your time today to pray for our nation.

Pray for All People First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, (1 Timothy 2:1-3 ESV)

Longmont church hosts Boulder county’s largest Easter egg hunt

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Longmont church hosts Boulder county’s largest Easter egg hunt

20140416-112732.jpgThe front page of the Longmont Times-Call featured this article about the Easter Egg hunt outreach our church is hosting this Saturday in Roosevelt Park.

What I love about the online version of the Times-Call is the video interviews. This article has a great video interview with a couple from our church.

Check out the article, and come join us on Saturday!

 

Already…But Not Yet

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On Sunday mornings at White Fields I have been teaching through 1 Samuel; this past Sunday I taught the second half of chapter 16, in which David has already been anointed king of Israel, but it will be another 15-20 years of hardship before David will sit on the throne of Israel as king.

David is king already, but not yet.

And this phrase, “already, but not yet” sums up so much of the Christian life. In Christ we are justified, glorified, made holy, seated with Christ in the heavenly places – already! But not yet.

Yesterday a great lady woman from church sent me this poem she wrote, inspired by Sunday’s message:

Sometimes life just seems to drag on
And sometimes we grow weary of the wait 
We want it all, we want it now
We shout out in whispered pleas 
Begging for speed, hurry please
But He answers not yet, He asks us to wait
Discouraged and let down we struggle on 
Don’t struggle on 
Don’t falter when you can run 
Don’t struggle when you have won
He has already won
It’s already done
We are waiting for an end that is already won
So hold on
Hold on to His promises 
Hold onto His love 
Hold onto the Hope that it’s already ready
It’s already done
But not yet

– Ryane Salazar

The Song Sung Over London

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Big Ben is the most famous clock in the world. It towers over the city of London, over Westminster Abbey and the Parliament.

What most people, in fact, what most Londoners don’t know, is that the music in the chimes that keep the time of Big Ben are from an old hymn: “I Know that My Redeemer Liveth”, from Handel’s “Messiah”.1

Every day, Londoners set their clocks and schedule their lives based on a tune about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that sings out multiple times every day over that great city which is arguably the ‘center of the world’.

I will be preaching on the text from which the title of that song is taken this Sunday at White Fields Church in Longmont. If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll join us!

White Fields Church lg EASTER 4.10.14-page-001

1. http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-18968027

How did I know it was time to leave Hungary?

Published on by nickcady14 Comments

My wife and I were missionaries in Hungary for over 10 years, where we were doing church planting and humanitarian work with Calvary Chapel. In 2012, we moved from Eger, Hungary to Longmont, CO.

A friend recently asked me how I knew it was time to leave Hungary, and how God spoke to me and led me during that transition. I thought that a video blog would be the best forum for answering that question. Check out my response in this video.

If you have any questions about this topic, leave a comment below – and if you have any questions you’d like me to answer here on the blog, feel free to email me at nick [at] whitefieldschurch.com