Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Donor Saves Alabama Youth Camp

A $727,000 check from a donor who wants to remain anonymous paid the debt of the Methodist Church's financially troubled Camp Sumatanga in St. Clair County Alabama, the Gadsden Times reports.

The North Alabama Methodist Conference was told in June the camp had to have $300,000 by Sept. 1 to stay open. A "Save Sumatanga" campaign reached $400,000 which bought the camp more time.

Now the latest gift was used to pay off the mortgage and other debt on Friday, according to the newspaper.

Many denominational youth camps are finding it more difficult to sponsor year-round, church-owned facilities.

[from Breaking News from The Birmingham News - al.com by jmacdonald@bhamnews.com]

15 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Started in Ministry

1. Everyone Will Not Understand You … SO Stop Trying To Explain Yourself. Cast Vision … And MOVE Forward!
2. Everyone Will Not Like You … So STOP Trying To Be Popular.
3. You Don’t Have To Be The Person Who Actually Solves Every Problem … Admit You Are Not The Smartest Person and Let Your Experts Be Your Experts.
4. Spend WAY More Time Talking About Who You Are Rather Than Who You Are Not.
5. A Leader Is Always An East Target Because They Are … A Leader. So, Get Over Yourself And Get On With What God Called You To Do!
6. When The Holy Spirit Presses Something Into Your Heart … Don’t Ignore Him.
7. Do NOT Expect God’s Next Step To Make Sense.
8. You Can’t Plan A Move Of God … But You Must Be Prepared For One!
9. Do Not Resist Something Just Because You Do Not Understand It!
10. People Who Claim You “Are Not Deep Enough” Are Obsessed With Information But Have No Desire To Live Out Transformation.
11. You Don’t Need To Listen To Everybody … But You Had Better Be Listening To Somebody Because God Didn’t Ask You To Take This Journey Alone.
12. Never Apologize For Asking People To Commit To Something … Jesus Didn’t!
13. The Church Has Been Underachieving For Way Too Long … So Dream BIG And Don’t Apologize For It.
14. There Will Be Days When You Want To Quit … Don’t … Jesus Didn’t!
15. The Gospel Changes Lives … PREACH Every Sermon Like It’s Your Last!

[from Perry Noble dot com by perry]

Church Security - More Incidents

Three men burst into two seperate churches this past Sunday yelling, "God is dead!" The incident caused a disruption and they were escorted out by church members. It was a situation that caused fear for church members.

Shreveport (LA) Police say the man first ran into the Heritage Baptist Church at Kirby Street and Creswell Avenue, yelling "God is dead," and a few other things, before getting escorted out.

"I thought it was humorous in the sense that if there's no God why spend so much of your time trying to disprove that which doesn't exist," said Heritage Baptist Church Pastor Earl Blackburn.

The suspects repeated the offense again just a mile away at First Baptist Church of Shreveport. "It was right in the middle of service. He just came in and started screaming about God isn't real and it's all fake, it's all a lie," said church member Michael Morales. "It was just very disturbing," said Morales wife, Elizabeth. Morales says he and several other men watched the man go outside and get into a pick-up truck with two others passengers.

"A couple of guys called the cops as soon as he walked out and we gave them a great description of the guys and of their truck and we got their license plate number," said Morales.

This is a church security incident that could have escalated very quickly. Notice the church members were able to keep their wits, and reportd a great description, which led to the suspects being apprehended.

Due to the descriptions, police quickly found the truck and charged the driver with DWI. They believe he had just dropped off the other two men at Highland Park, where the men were eventually arrested.

A police spokesman stated, "I just checked with detectives in major crimes and we're going to try to book them in under a hate crime. This could have gotten out of hand quick."

What is your church doing about security?

[from Church Security Member by Church Security and Safety Today]