Word Confusion

Maybe it is part of starting a new job in a new location but the past few days it has struck me how often people use the same word but meaning different things. I have also seen people use different words and be convinced they are talking about something unique but in reality they mean something very similar. Christianease has many words that have multiple meanings, for example, the word service: it can mean a specific event on Sunday morning; it can be related with doing good works; or it could be related to evangelism and outreach. When we use the words we assume that the listener(s) hear the word with the same message we have in our mind when we speak it.

At Hope, our new church home, we are wrestling through the second scenario. People talk about Mini Congregations and small groups as different events with different purposes but when people define the goal of each, they are almost the exact same things. For insiders, people that have been around for a while, the differences are clear because they may have experienced both or they have just been around long enough to know what is different. For someone new, it can be quite confusing. My solution, I am going to try hard to not use either set of words. I hope we can come up with a new vocabulary that has the same meaning for everyone and that a new person can quickly understand. In reality the vocabulary is not as important as the leaders understanding how their role fits into what God is doing in and through Hope Church. I am excited to see how God works through something as simple as words.

Starting at Hope

Starting a new job is sort of a weird experience. One of the hardest parts in remembering who you have met before and who you have not yet met. Starting as a pastor at a church, hundreds of people know who you are and I know nothing about them. I have met many people as part of the interview process but I only remember a handful of names. I am looking forward to the day when I have a handle on at least some of the names.

Feel free to remind me of your name often!

Hebrews 4:12

"The word of God is living and active." I have thought of this verse numerous times this past week in many different conversations and meetings. In many of those conversations, the verse was more of a question than a statement: How does the word of God become living in active in someone's life? What are barriers for someone to experience the living and active (transformational) word of God in their life?

For me personally, sometimes familiarity with the word of God shields me from its full impact. I am not suggesting familiarity with Scripture is bad - sometimes you just do not realize the value of something that is a normal part of your life. When I was growing up, I had some baseball cards. One of my favorites was a Nolan Ryan rookie card. The value of the card came from the fact that I liked Nolan Ryan, it never occurred to me that the card could have greater value. In college, I was a camp counselor and the campers were avid baseball card collectors. They did not collect cards because of the players; rather, good cards were determined by financial value. They told me my Nolan Ryan card had great value, it was worth a lot of money. Unfortunately for me, the card had been thrown away. Nolan Ryan had retired and my interest in baseball had diminished so my baseball cards were probably burned in garbage.

I wonder how much more value the words in scripture have than I realize for my life and the lives of the people around me. How does your interaction with scripture lead to change in your life?

English Camp

In about two weeks, my family and I will travel to Estonia. During our first week in Estonia we will be partnering with a church in Kohila and a part of an English Camp. We can't wait! An English Camp is an opportunity for student from the city of Kohila to spend a week practicing their English. Estonian's have an incredible English fluency level and students are motivated to practice their English with native speakers. I have the priveldge of speaking at the main sessions and Jen, Zach, and Abigail will all be a part of small group discussions out of the large group talks. I hope to jump into a small group as well! The large group discussions will present the story of God from creation through Christ. It will be interesting to see how students engage with the story of God and choose whether or not it connects with their own story. If you are interested in praying for the English Camp and our family through this journey, send me an email at david.cupery@gmail.com and I will add you to our prayer list. I looking forward to how God will work in our lives, the leadership teams from Kohila and Koma, and in the lives of the students who attend.

Vacation

Tomorrow we embark on a great family adventure. It starts on the same day Jen and I were married 16 years ago! She is amazing - our married life has been far more adventurous than we could have imagined when she said, "I do." I am amazed at her ability to impact people, in each step of our adventure - Jen has left behind people she has impacted spiritually. I am really blessed to have her as my spouse.

Our family adventure will lead us to Atlanta for the weekend. On Saturday, we hope to visit the Coke factory in Atlanta. That happens to be one of my favorite drinks and we have heard that they have samples from around the world. We are looking forward to tasting the Eastern Europe examples. Zach hopes to mix every possible drink together and create his own masterpiece. On Sunday, we will go to Buckhead church and meet up with a friend from our time in Estonia. Looking forward to catching up with Rodney and being back at Northpoint.

Cheesehead

I am a cheesehead! That's right, I like the Packers, Brewers, Bucks, and Badgers. I have passed my love of several of these teams to Zach. Sadly, even after 16 years of marriage (Friday), Jen still has not seen the light ... or cheese. She still cheers for the cubs, bears, and for anyone playing against a Wisconsin team. Abigail is a bit more political on her choices. I am still trying to convince Jen that she should try ice fishing - I am sure if she did that her life would be changed and she would see ... the cheese.

I can't sing

I asked Zach for an interesting blog topic and he said, "tell people you sing terribly." Sometimes I'll sing in the car. My kids plead with me not to sing when they have friends in the car - for some reason that is often when the best songs come on the radio. I don't mind that singing is not one of my strengths. It was clear already in 5th or 6th grade when I went to the band director for a pre-band interview. After trying a couple of different instruments, the director said, "Maybe band isn't for you, enjoy study hall."

It is easy to tell people I am not very talented musically because I really do not care. There are other areas of life where I have lots of opportunity to learn where admitting weakness is not that easy. Sometimes I want people to see me as an expert regardless of what I actually know. Yesterday in my quiet time, I read Zephaniah 2.3 "... seek humility..." I guess I have a lot to learn from music and singing.

Third Culture Family

What does it mean to be 3rd cultured? Jen and I both grew up in the Midwest. Jen grew up in Naperville, IL while I grew up near Randolph, WI (yes, your probably going to have to google that one). Our first culture is here in the U.S. Our kids have both spent much of their lives growing up in Tartu, Estonia; thus, almost half our years parenting have spent in a 2nd culture. Our family life is a conglomeration of both U.S. and Estonian influences but probably does not fit either exactly - it is a third culture. Practically, that means we probably allow Zach and Abigail more independence that most American parents but not as much as Estonian parents. Really, it means we are not normal and by we here, mostly I mean me. It also means, we are really looking forward to learning what family life is like in Minnesota. What impact will the culture have on our family? Will I be able to get Jen ice fishing? I can't wait to learn more about MN culture because often I learn interesting things about myself that I would not have known if I was not in a different culture. Learning is a good thing!

Mooving to Minnesota

Ready or not, here we come. Who are we? We have shaken many hands and said 'hi' to quite a few of you but we are looking forward to getting to know many of you in the upcoming years. Here is a bit of information about us. Jen and I have been married almost 16 years. Zach is finishing 7th grade and Abigail 3rd. This past year was their first experience in schools in the U.S.

We are looking forward to our first family vacation in the U.S. in quite some time. We will be going to Disney in Florida. We are not quite sure what to expect but very excited at the same time. We will also spend part of July in Estonia. We will be involved in an English Camp. It will be exciting to be in Estonia, it will be our kids first trip back since we moved back to the US in August 07.

Finally, we are looking forward to August 2nd. While we hope to be in MN several times before this - it will be our official reception at Hope. We are looking forward to what God will do at and through Hope in the upcoming year(s).