November 29, 2007
Now regardless of your politcal party of choice…I thought this was a great question that is worthy of hearing the response.
What a great question! It was fun watching Giuliani try and get around this even though I did appreciate the honesty in that he says he reads the bible frequently and did not try and win people over by saying he reads it daily. However I must say I really liked the response by Gov. Huckabee..watch this and see what you think. By the way…Gov. Huckabee also had a great comment about ending the IRS!
I am sure we are in for an interesting year as the campaigns really begin to get moving here.
God is still in control!
November 27, 2007
Ok…today began with some disappointing news yet God was using this news to show me that He is ultimately in control. We are busy trying to connect all the pieces for what hopefully will be the biggest and best Gift Give-Away and I am working with a railroad company, a public school, several retail outlets and a couple of Christian charitable organizations. This mixture alone is enough to drive someone crazy! Trying to keep everything together and organize this big event so that we make the biggest impact possible for the kingdom of God is BIG. The thing is that I know I can do this…I have coordinated big events in the corporate world so this should be nothing. The problem is that I am working against an enemy that is determined to try and distract me. The solution is simply realizing that I don’t have to do this because God is going to allow everything to fall into place.
I attended a meeting today in Aurora for our section in the Assemblies of God. While at the meeting I shared my concerns for resources and several pastors responded immediately! God is showing me how awesome He is in that I do not have any needs that are to big for His unlimited resources!
Nothing is to big…nothing is to hard…nothing is impossible when it comes to God! So today I officially release this thing knowing that God is greater than all this other stuff.
Great Sunday
November 26, 2007
Well, now that I have an opportunity to take everything in from yesterday I can update on everything.
Sunday we had an incredible attendance! We are going to be pushing the 200 mark before to long if we keep this up. I thank God that He is blessing us the way that He is. Each week people are making the commitment to trust Him with their life which brings me great joy as we know that He is doing amazing things. This Sunday was especially joyful since we were able to baptise in our own church for the first time. We had 9 people that made the decision to be baptised and several more that are ready for the next time! What an amazing God we serve!!!!
Last night ended with the dedication service for Grace and Truth COGIC. Pastor Rudy has really become a friend and I am thankful to see the way that God is blessing his ministry. Pastor Rudy spoke of our friendship and I am convinced that as we serve each other that God will bless both ministries.
Our God is an awesome God!
Another Great Weekend Service!
November 25, 2007
WOW! I seem to be saying this a lot lately but really…WOW!!!!
For the second week in a row we are pushing some incredible attendance numbers! I have been asking God to send folks in and He has responded! Another weekend with people turning their life over to Christ and making a commitment to follow Him. November has been awesome as we have had multiple people each week give their hearts and lives over to God!
OK…I will post more later…I am tired and so finally I am going to head home and try and get some rest until tomorrow.
Keep praying and He will keep blessing!
Home for the Holidays
November 20, 2007
This has been a crazy day! We are still sitting at the airport waiting for our flight which was delayed along with just about every other flight today. This caused the airport to be full of angry, hungry travelers trying to fight their way to their desired destination. So…traveling for Thanksgiving is simply crazy! I have to say though that I am excited about the days ahead. It will be nice to enjoy the holiday with family that I have not seen for some time. One of the highlights of the trip is knowing that tomorrow morning I will be attending a service at the church that my brother has joined. Who would have thought that we would ever be enjoying something like this together! God is awesome in that He restores relationships that have been troubled and strained.
Take time this holiday season to just thank God for all He is doing even if you don’t see any results immediately!
Reflection
November 18, 2007
What an awesome weekend! We had the great privilege of having many families visit us for the first time in both of our services and several people made a commitment to follow Christ as their Lord and Savior! Who could ask for anything more?
I am always amazed at what God is doing but days like today just simply blow me away! Our attendance was off the charts and the excitement and energy here was incredible. The testimonies that people have shared over the last few weeks have really been a special touch and I thank God for all He is doing through this ministry.
So I pray that we all head into this Holiday week with Thanksgiving in our heart as we reflect on all that God has done and is doing through us!
Giving just feels good!
November 17, 2007
Wednesday night was such a blessing as we served families in the Riverdale area! Everyone came back with testimonies as to how their life had been touched by seeing some of the conditions that people are living in right in our backyard. We are praying for the love of Christ to invade their homes so that they will rise above the poverty and know that God is going to see them through every hard ship!
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Priceless!
November 14, 2007
Can Vegetables — 2 for $1
Box of mashed potatoes and gravy — $3
Turkey — $15
Bible — $3
Seeing the smiles on 40 families — PRICELESS!
I am so excited about everything that is going to happen this evening! It is amazing that with an average attendance of 130 we can accumulate enough goods to be able to provide an awesome Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings for 40 families that are not associated with the church! I truly thank God for such a giving and loving church family so that we can reach so many people!!
Great Church!
November 12, 2007
Just spent 2 days with the best group of leaders any pastor could ever work with! We sat aside time for prayer, fellowship, team building, vision casting, calendar planning and just an all around great time. I know that God has blessed me by placing me in a church that is serious about reaching the community around us. We reaffirmed the mission statement of the church and even critically evaluated ourselves in areas where we are weak. The area where we are the strongest is our ability to minister to the community around us. Stories were shared about how the outreach efforts have blessed us internally!
2008 is going to be another great year of impact and growth for River Oaks Community Church!
Now…let’s just get through the rest of this amazing year! We are going to be taking 35 Thanksgiving baskets out on Wednesday night as we bless families in our community with everything they need to create a great dinner for their families. Then we turn our attention to December 15th when we will be doing the largest Christmas Gift -Giveaway that we have ever done. It is such a joy that we can focus on the families around us and trust God to take care of our needs! God has blessed us with all the right connections and I know that He will continue to make a way for us!
Excitement!
November 10, 2007
I am really looking forward to church tomorrow! I am very excited about the Thanksgiving Dinner series and this has to be one of the most interesting messages to date. It is amazing how items that we find on our table every year can really be used to minister to ourselves and others about the awesome God that we serve. While I am going through the message I am going to have one of our members cooking! Let’s pray that the place does not go up in smoke tomorrow!! So come on out and experience a little Martha Stewart style church!
