COGOP General Overseer's Father Passes Away

Brother Frank Howard (Elva Howard’s husband, and General Overseer R. E. Howard's father) passed away this morning (around 9:15 a.m.).

The family is gathered together this morning to make notifications and arrangements.

We will post this information as soon as it is known.

Please keep the family in your prayers.

What's In Your Trunk?

Keep the necessary survival items.

According to BePrepared.com, the essential items you need when stranded in a mechanical 911 are water, food and warmth.

You may be able to make it without food for a few days, but your body will dehydrate without water. Water is also good for washing wounds, sanitation and for an overheating vehicle.

Since food spoils in extreme hot or cold temperatures, Calorie Food Bars are the best thing to store in your car. These bars leave you feeling full and provide you the necessary energy.

What if you’re marooned in the winter cold? According to BePrepared.com, to stay warm you may need 6 to 20 hour warm packs or emergency blankets. Place the warm packs in your gloves, shoes and pockets. Emergency blankets are made of a reflective material can reproduce up to 80% of your body heat.

Create Your Own Emergency Car Kit.

Here’s a tool kit you can put together containing items prescribed in the March/April issue of Westways Magazine: pliers, an adjustable wrench, a utility knife, Phillips and flat-head screwdrivers, work gloves, a quart of engine oil, antifreeze, a weatherproof flashlight, a Swiss Army knife, wire cutters, bottle opener, an ice scraper, duct tape to make a temporary patch on a leaky water hose and a dry fire extinguisher.

Familiarize yourself with these items before you run into a mechanical emergency.

Have a supply of flares or triangles. The downside of using flares is that they only burn for a short time and can create a fire hazard where there’s a spillage of fuel.


Reflective triangles last forever and are easy to see by oncoming cars especially at night. Be sure you purchase the ones with sides at least 17 inches long and reflective strips that are two inches wide.

Always keep a flashlight with fully charged batteries in your emergency car kit.

Keep jumper cables stashed in the trunk. Don’t skimp on jumper cables. The longer the cables, the less you need to position the cars together.

If you don’t know how to do a jump-start properly, you can do serious damage to your car’s electronics and yourself.

Take care of yourself as well. A cell phone is a must. Store a list of emergency contacts (ICE) in your cell phone.

Packed away in your trunk, you should also carry a first-aid kit containing bandages and dressings, instant ice and heat compresses, scissors, waterproof tape, pain relieving medicine such as Tylenol or Advil, antiseptic wipes, wound ointment and a set of instructions on basic first aid.

Invest in an up-to-date Thomas Guide to help you navigate when you’re totally lost.

Having a roadside emergency kit for mechanical breakdowns and unusual weather conditions can make the difference between getting back on the road or being stuck.

March Winds

Don Brock

A New Perspective

Yvonne Brock

Yes, Yvonne is with me on sabbatical.

Footprints In The Sand

A private walk on my very private beach with the church-dog.

The View Outside My Window

On sabbatical, alone with the Lord.

Today's Prayer

Dear God, If you be for me, who can be against me? You spared not your own Son, but delivered him up for me, for us all. How shall you not with him also freely give me all things? (Romans 8:31-32).

The things you give are nothing like the things of the world. While the things of the world may entice and look pretty, they are temporary and cannot give true and lasting fulfillment. The things of the spirit are eternal and bring meaningful and lasting fulfillment.

Thank you for your many, many blessings. Thank you for my family both biological and adoptive through the church of the living Christ. Thank you for your encouraging touches and miracles in the midst of pain and suffering. Thank you for teaching me through life's circumstances and for giving me strength to endure and peace for the journey.

Thank you for all things, for every need you meet, and for Jesus Christ in whose name I pray. Amen.

Have you told your pastor lately ...?

[From Voice of Hope by Dr. E.C. McKinley]

The phone rings at 4:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning ... one of the members of the congregation is near death. The pastor answers the phone and within moments is on the way to the hospital.

After realizing the church member is stable, the pastor notices its almost 9:30 a.m. Just enough time to get to the church.

Standing at the front door, the pastor welcomes everyone as they enter, while looking out the door to see where everyone else is at.

The services get started and the deacon pulls the pastor aside to share that something must be wrong with the heat/air unit, there have been complaints about the temperature.

As the pastor goes to check on the heat/air unit, the treasurer hands the pastor a note to remind the moderator of the service that the insurance payment is going to be due next month, and the church really needs to take up a good offering today.

Just as the worship service is ready to start, one of the older members catches the pastor in the aisle of the sanctuary to complain about an error in the bulletin. Even though the pastor didn't catch the small error, an apology is extended ... though the pastor feels like it would never be appreciated.

After all of this, the pastor walks to the pulpit, opens the Bible and the notes prepared for this morning's message, and the pastor is exhausted ... yes, even before it begins. Yes, the physical exhaustion is because the pastor was up late on Saturday night preparing for Sunday, but the mental/emotional exhaustion is even more of a burden. Yet, the pastor declares the "whole counsel of God," gives an altar call, and even though no one responds (in fact several were slipping their winter coats on while the pastor was finishing the sermon), the pastor walks diligently to the door of the church and extends the same, warm and friendly handshake.

And yes, this goes on week after week.

I can tell you about this pastor, because I have been there, but more importantly because I personally know hundreds of pastors by first name, and I see, hear and feel their struggle. You might ask, "well, what does that have to do with me? What's with the title "Have you told your pastor lately...?" I would think the answer is obvious. Have you stopped and told your pastor lately that you appreciate the labor of love, that you appreciate the sacrifice of family time, and the all of ministry your pastor has accomplished around you.

The truth is that only once per year is NOT enough ... we should have a regular habit of telling our pastor how much we love, appreciate and care for their ministry. It can be done with a simple thank you, or a card, or you might even want to bless your pastor with a gift. How could that be wrong?

You say, "well does my pastor deserve that?" The answer is a resounding "yes!" God trusted your pastor enough to call him/her into the ministry, and I know that you will be blessed as you bless your pastor.

Why not take that opportunity today ... you don't know how long it might have been since your pastor heard those words.

God bless each of you.

15 Signs That You (Or Your Church) Lacks Vision

[By Perry Noble]

#15 - No one is ever challenged to radically rearrange their lives to be a part of what God is doing.
#14 - God hasn’t asked you to give something up.
#13 - Everyone in your church is perfect. (If you are truly reaching lost people then you will discover that ministry is messy.)
#12 - Nothing in regards to how you lead has changed in the past year.
#11 - When your youth group wants to do something you make them have a bake sale in front of Wal Mart–but when your senior adults want to do something the church covers the cost; after all, they are tithers! (And that same church will wonder why “the youth don’t come to church anymore.”)
#10 - You always find something wrong with ministries that are seeing fruit.
#9 - You can do everything you have in front of you WITHOUT the help of God AND others.
#8 - You spend more time on other churches websites than you do reading your Bible.
#7 - You think the answer to every problem is, “If we just had more money.”
#6 - No one has ever left your church.
#5 - You continually call other churches begging them for money.
#4 - You allow people with money to dictate the way you spend your time and the direction of the church.
#3 - When you go to a conference and come back and announce “we are changing everything” because you have received INSPIRATION not REVELATION.
#2 - You’ve never spent sleepless nights wondering, “How in heck are we going to do this? Seriously, I told our church we were going to do WHAT?”
#1 - You worry more about keeping the people in your church happy than you do about pleasing God and speaking the truth.

National Doctor's Day

[By Ed Thomas]

Dr. David Stevens and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations say recognition of National Doctor's Day on Sunday is a chance for churches to acknowledge that Christian physicians have one of the biggest mission fields on earth.

CEO of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), Dr. Stevens says physicians sacrifice years of costly study followed by the hard work and stress of their profession, and he thinks communities should acknowledge those sacrifices. Stevens also hopes churches in those communities will help doctors recognize their key placement for the Christian gospel's sake. "I see every Christian doctor as a medical missionary. Our members -- over 17,000 -- may not serve in a foreign country, but each day they have dozens of intimate conversations with patients who do not have a relationship with God," Stevens contends. According to Stevens, doctors can influence patients or even lead them to Christ through their medical skills and Christian attitude. He says churches should encourage doctors for this reason. "Make this a special day for them, and then help them to see that they're [an] extension of God into the community from that church, to introduce people to Christ and move them on their journey towards God," Stevens says. Stevens also notes churches can refresh the vocational desire and the spiritual service of physicians by recognizing them with notes, prayer, and other special means suggested at the CMDA website.

Day of Prayer for Students

The month of March is “Students First” at First Priority. God’s design is that all children have adults in their life to encourage, mentor and pray for them. In other words, our children come first. It is their needs and battles that must concern us before we consider our wants and desires.

Because of this need, First Priority has secured from the Governor a proclamation naming March 30th as the Day of Prayer for Students Across Alabama. When teachers and principals were required by court decisions to stop leading students in prayer, we lost a powerful weapon in the battle for the souls of our kids and our nation. Its time for adults to reclaim that weapon by stepping up to the challenge and praying for and with students across Alabama! Our children don’t just need our prayers, they deserve them!

http://www.gofirstpriority.com/dayofprayer.htm

Today's Prayer

Dear God, You have instructed me to not be anxious, worrisome, overly concerned for any thing ... but instead to bring everything to you in prayer and thanksgiving. If I do this, you have promised me that your peace, which passes all understanding, shall keep my heart and mind through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). I come to you now for myself and on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Christ, and for those who suffer so much due to anxiety and depression. I pray that you will fill us with your peace; that you will touch our minds and remind us that we do not need to worry. You are our God and maker. You will handle it for us. Worrying does no good. May we lean into you, talk with you, spend time in your Word and before the throne of grace.

May we fellowship with other Christians, those who will encourage us, even more so as the day approaches. Right now, this day, we give you our concerns and ask that you will work out all to our good and your glory. Thank you, Father, for loving us and carrying our burdens. Thank you, Father, for providing our needs. Thank you, Father, for Jesus Christ our Savior and the hope He has given. For it is in His name I pray, amen.

Strom Selected as President of Trinity Bible College

[By Steve Tvedt]

On February 29, 2008, the Trinity Bible College Board of Regents took action to form an Executive Team for the college by selecting G.L. (Jack) Strom, Samuel H. Johnson and Samuel Farina, to assume executive leadership of the college. Strom was selected to be the president of the college. Strom, along with his wife Barb, will be relocating from Florida to Ellendale, North Dakota, to fill the President's office immediately.

"As the president of Trinity Bible College, along with the newly elected Executive Team members, Rev. Sam Johnson and Rev. Sam Farina," Strom says, "I plan to capitalize on the strengths of TBC and focus on communicating a progressive but relevant vision for the future."

Ministry is an inseparable part of Strom's life, whether as the son of a minister, a Bible college student, pastor, church college administrator, missionary evangelist or strategic initiative planner. After serving as a pastor, in 1972, Strom joined the administrative team of North Central Bible College (now North Central University) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he served as vice president of Development. In 1982, he left the college to start his own strategic planning service, Strom Ministry Concepts. Strom has led churches and para-church organizations to dramatic growth in giving, both as a pastor and as a capital fund initiative planner. Under his consulting leadership, churches, colleges and other church related ministries have experienced increases in giving, totaling millions of dollars.

Church Participates With ABC's Extreme Home Makeover - Pastor Joey Turman

In early February, Pathway Temple Church of God of Mobile, Alabama, was asked by ABC Television and Heritage Homes to help with the popular television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. As many as 150 members from Pathway volunteered, says Andric Daugherty, administrative pastor at Pathway. They served meals, worked in the house for the Gaudet family, whose home was damaged by Katrina, and acted as tour guides for guests and VIPs.

Several Pathway businessmen contributed their skills with such things as cabinet installation and trim carpentry. Others helped raise trusses, clean the house, and move furniture. Many Pathway members were on hand at the end of the week to shout those famous words "Move That Bus!"

The Gaudet family, recipients of the home improvement, was chosen in part because of their volunteer work in the community. "They have given so much to the Mobile area, and now the Mobile area is able to give something back," remarked Pathway's Pastor Joey Turman.