Chris Edmondson, pastor of oneChurch, has seen his peeps step up and be the church this past week.

Exit One Baptist Church, more appropriately known as oneChurch, is less than three years old as a church plant in north Clarksville.  The still flooded Woodstock neighborhood is in the church’s back yard.  (It is hard to define their backyard since they don’t really have a permanent home.)

The church had approximately 100 people participating in flood relief during the past week.  That doesn’t count those who showed up for a big Saturday relief effort yesterday.

Considering that the church can identify not more than 300 adults in their congregation, the volunteers accounted for about one third of the church.

The Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief team leadership marveled at the participation of oneChurch.

One young single adult from oneChurch lost everything she owned in the flood and was working in relief efforts through the week.  Edmondson said another woman volunteered every day doing disaster relief.  Her husband just deployed to Afghanistan and she has two toddlers at home.  She paid for childcare while she did volunteer relief work.

Edmondson said he has been reminded that God is awesome and has given his church some top-notch people.

What would happen if one third of the membership at big box churches were out there doing relief work?  There is enough work to keep them all busy.

I was wrong.  My misinformation made my analogy all wrong.  It is not that the analogy was wrong.  It just didn’t work because the sand pile is still there.

That’s OK.  Analogies always break down at some point.  The great thing is that I can always come up with another analogy to make a different application.

The river didn’t wash the sand pile away.  I know that’s incredible, but it still sits there on South Riverside Drive – perhaps a bit diminished, but still there.  South Riverside Drive was less accessible and I just didn’t see the sand pile in any photos so I assumed it was gone.

So the force of a river is no different from weight of city leaders.  The sand pile just won’t be moved down river no matter what.

So, here is my new take on it:

Even with grains of sand, there is value in unity.   Sticking together has its advantages.  We saw houses, storage buildings, vehicles and many other monolithic things that you would think wouldn’t be carried away by water.  But, the massive pile of tiny grains of sand stayed essentially intact.  The reason – the mass of sand was much more formidable a few grains of sand or even a small pile of sand.  The mass of sand stood together against the force of the raging river.

So here goes the analogy:  Standing alone, you can get swept away.  In a small group, you can be overpowered.   But, joined together, you can be an immovable mountain.

Even so, there are times when standing alone has it’s merits – even if it means getting swept away by the current.

Where do you stand?  Are you certain your stands are worth taking – whether you stand alone or with a mass?Ta

Printed materials may be the last thing a business will worry about when digging out from flood damage.  But, it will be impossible to salvage any printed materials that were caught in the floodwaters.

As businesses dig out from the flood, MediaWorks would like to help by sticking with our core competency – design and printed materials.

This may not be the highest dollar area of loss for a business, but it is something that will be needed to get up and running.

To assist flood-damaged businesses, MediaWorks is offering to provide a basic initial order of materials free of charge.  For design needs, MediaWorks will provide design assistance but not production costs for signs and other materials.

Printing materials may include letterhead, envelops, forms and other materials that are used in the business’s regular operations.

For design, MediaWorks will assist the business in re-developing signage that will meet city codes guidelines.  This is an opportunity to upgrade signage.

MediaWorks may not be able to meet every need for printing services.  But, we will look at each request to assess what we can do.

MediaWorks will determine the quantity of a basic initial order.  We will retain artwork for future reprints.

To request assistance, submit a request in writing using the contact form at www.mediaworksdesign.com.

How many signs and how much warning do you need to get the message?  As Clarksville and Middle Tennessee assess the damage from last week’s flood, in the American tradition, some want to place blame.

One business owner was quoted as saying officials should have given more warning so that he could have gotten valuables out if his business.  He commented that a few hours more warning would have saved him $100,000.

Weather forecasts for a week had indicted there would be heavy rains.  Rainfall totals were 12 inches in two days – way beyond previous records.  The flooding didn’t actually start until the following day as waterways began to swell.  Places that had never experienced flooding before were standing in water.  Interestingly, the business owner who complained actually was located in the flood plain.

Somehow, we have the idea that government is responsible for taking care of us.  But then protest when government grows out of control.  Talk about having cake and eating it too.  Really!  How about a cup of tea with your cake?

We seem to approach all of life that way.  Somebody else should be warning us, watching out for us, or taking care of us.  Surely, we aren’t expected to be responsible for our destiny.

Jesus had a few observations about that.  At one point, he said that unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.  How many signs and warnings do you need?

There are lots of warning signs we need to be paying attention to.  Warning signs are just that.  They warn us about potential disasters ahead.  Sometimes, the disasters may not materialize.  That makes us even more surprised when they actually do happen.  What warning signs are you ignoring?  Keep ignoring them and eventually, you’ll be caught unprepared.

The church is not a building but a people connecting in community.  The church is not all about itself but all about others.

When floodwaters hit Clarksville last week, it was prime time for the church to be evident.  While many groups, organizations and individuals kicked in to help, Grace Community Church went into service warp drive.

While there was a definite, coordinated approach by Gcom Church leadership to organize volunteer efforts, helping is what GCom folks seem to do naturally.  Last Sunday morning before the Cumberland River crawled out of its banks, GCom folks were on Riverside Drive helping business owners prepare.

Early Monday morning as floodwaters crept across Riverside Drive, GCom leaders were chattering on Twitter and Facebook about where help was needed.  Some may have been a bit too eager to get folks down there.  That’s OK.

Everywhere I went, every meeting I attended, GCom folks were evident.  All through the week, they were out there.  By the time floodwaters receded, GCom had a volunteer structure set up on their website.  It is simple to go to their website – www.gcomchurch.com – and find a place to volunteer.  That may be the most effective volunteer coordination plan outside of Hands On Nashville.

As cleanup efforts continue, GCom surely will be present and involved.  By then, others will have talked about God’s message in the flood, formed a committee, voted to organize and enlisted volunteers as well.

As a young, active, and excited community, GCom is making things happen.  Perhaps someday they will be established, have a big building, and be more mainstream.  For the sake of their message, I hope not.  I hope they keep being who they are.  Because, I’m pretty sure this flood won’t be the last opportunity for the church to be community.

The water continues to rise

Let the waters rise.