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Sunday, September 21, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
"Launch" Conference
One Day Launch Conference(Church Planting Seminar)
Tuesday, September 30
Avalon Church
McDonough, GA (Atlanta area)
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
This is the only Launch Conference Nelson Searcy is teaching this fall. This is a powerful conference that has helped hundreds of new churches Launch Large!
This conference is only two weeks away.
Here's a link to all the details:
https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p235
Right now, the per person investment is only $89 (early bird rate). Group rates are also available; just call Cristina at 212.730.8300 x212.
This Cartoon Crosses The Line
[Click on image to enlarge it.]This cartoon is from the Washington Post. It is a cartoon of Sarah Palin speaking in tounges at a podium and God's basic response is a curse word and him saying that He can't understand.
This is disturbing to many Christians. Pentecostals and non-Pentecostals need to speak up.
Washington Post
Letters to the Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15th St. NW
Washington, DC 20071
The Washington Post
Main Number: 703.469.2500
Main Fax: 703.469.2995
P.O. Box 17370
Arlington, VA 22216
Caroline Little - CEO & Publisher
Jim Brady - Executive Editor
Steve Stup - VP, Sales & Advertising
Goli Sheikholeslami - VP, Classifieds & Local Products
Today's Report From Missionary John Doroshuk in the Country of Georgia - 9-19-08
Today we went to the outdoor market and bought several boxes of fresh tomatoes and grapes. These were then packaged and we distributed them to 28 families. These people have not tasted a fresh tomato for over one month. They received the tomatoes and grapes as though we were giving them some gold.The Georgian people are a very meek people. After being in contact with several hundred of them throughout the week, I am amazed that I have not heard one of them rant and rage against the invasion or the Russians.
However, their stories are heart breaking. Most of those in the refugee camps do not have a home to return to. Entire villages of up to one thousand people has been laid totally wasted without one home intact. Some of them will never be able to return to their homes. They will have to start over in some other place.
Thank you so much for your love and prayers. Yes, we need to keep the situation in Georgia covered with prayers as only God knows how things will end up.
Thanks again for your love and prayers. This truly is the time to have part in, "I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me to drink, I was naked and you clothed me, Sick and in prison and you visited, me ..."
Thank God for you and the saints who are literally fulfilling the words of Jesus. Be blessed with love and grace.
Brother John
mailto: mincoordinator@attglobal.net
Missionary John Doroshuk Reports From the Country of Georgia
Yesterday was a very full day. We were at one refugee camp and two refugee centers. I fought back tears most of the day as we listened to the tragic stories.
One young mother with three children still does not know where her husband is. Another young mother with four children last saw her husband as he went to work in the morning on the 7th of August.
One elderly couple fled for 8 days on a small farm tractor through forest, mountain paths and fields to get away from the Russian front. They have received word that their house, barn and fields have been completely destroyed.
A little boy slept with a coat as a covering. We bought him his own blanket.
We were able to help 37 families with fruit and vegetables as well as some daily necessities.
Some or most of these people have not even seen an apple since the war. One little boy, before he ate his apple, put some apples on a small plate and wanted to share them with us.
These people are worried about what is going to happen when winter comes. Those in the tent city are already cold at night as it is located close to the mountains. They are all begging for warmer bedding and of course for winter clothing and footwear.
Then there is the great concern of what will it be like when and if they can return to their homes. They will need funds to restore their homes, at least walls, roof, windows and doors.
There are so many young mothers with babies with only a little water and a small wash basin to do all of the laundry. Pampers would be a God send to them.
If there is any way you can help, or if you have questions, contact missionary John Doroshuk at mincoordinator@attglobal.net.
"Leading While Bleeding" Conference
[We highly recommend this conference.]Conference: Leading While Bleeding
Date: September 27, 2008
Location: T.L. Lowery Conference Center, Cleveland, TN
Registration
Cost: $50 per person and $35 for your spouse. This conference is for hurting ministers and we all know that ministry is a team effort.
We are also offering a discount for all students. We would like to invite you for $10 (you must show a current student ID at the registration table when you arrive).
[Brian Cutshall]
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Going Public With the Problem
When you determine a problem can’t be resolved privately, you’ll likely need to make preparations to take it public. When you stand before your church, or women’s group, or small group, or student group, here are five things you’ll want to do:- Acknowledge the problem
- Own your mistakes
- Present the plan
- Answer questions
- Recap with vision
Each of these thoughts seems basic–and they are. But they are all very important. Let’s talk about acknowledging the problem.
Too many leaders avoid “owning” or “acknowledging” the problem. Some ministers attempt to turn difficult seasons of ministry into a spiritual pep rally explaining what great things God is going to do. In many ways, this lacks integrity.
When something is not right and we don’t acknowledge it, many will lose confidence in our leadership. They’ll assume that either we don’t know about it (which doesn’t reflect well on us) or that we don’t have the courage to address it.
People would rather have you “tell it like it is” than ignore or hide the problem. A truthful acknowledgment is almost always better than pretending there is not a problem.
Telling the truth takes integrity. People follow leaders with integrity.
[From LifeChurch.tv : swerve by Craig Groeschel]
Starting Additional Services at Your Church
Many things should be considered before starting additional/multiple worship services at your church. Here are some things pastors have learned in so doing:- Never add a service to an existing schedule. Change the entire schedule or people won’t adopt the new schedule like you need them to do.
- Get people to commit in writing to making the move to the most likely least attended service. Be creative, challenging, but not pushy.
- Bring the heat (lots of intensity) in your first service. Don’t allow crowd size to diminish your intensity or the intensity of your service. Don’t make people miss the service they just left.
- NEVER refer to a service as “the early service.” Refer to them by their time slot. Don’t create a stigma for that service that may not exist.
- Do identical services if at all possible.
- Meet with your critical players to work out bugs in between services. Correct on the fly.
Ask your people to serve in one service and attend another. - Leave sufficient transition times. If parking is limited, consider that in your planning.
- If you are at 70% capacity, you need to be launching a 2nd service. The only people that like big crowds are preachers.
- If you are at 80% capacity, you are losing people. At 80%, people cannot sit together OR they are forced to sit in places they don’t want to sit.
- When you launch a 2nd or 3rd service, you can manage the crowd size with pipe and drape. If at all possible, never let your crowd fall under 40% capacity. Pipe and Drape or the creative arrangement of chairs can keep you in that sweet spot of critical mass.
- Strategically reward your key, high-output volunteers (gift cards, hand-written notes, sincere pats on the back).
- Never ask, “What is the least number of people we need to pull this off?” View additional services as a recruitment opportunity. God fills vacuums. So, don’t limit what He wants to do.
- On low days (Labor Day weekend, Memorial Day weekend), combine services and roll with a packed crowd to build and maintain momentum and to rest your key leaders.
[From Missional Church of God by travjohnson]
Which Presidential Candidate Do I Vote For?
In America, we are more than heavily influenced by a two-party system. All candidates talk about "change" and "shaking up Washington." But, can any one person effect significant change?The first thing a new congressman or senator is told when they get to Washington is to follow party lines. Each party actually has a "whip" to keep Representatives in line with the party.
So, what is really important is the Party Platform. Read each party's official platform. Skip the biased news networks and commentators. Go right to each Party's official website and their platform. It will tell you what they really believe and what agendas they will have for the next four years.
Determine which platform more closely represents your personal beliefs and values. Then vote your conscience, hopefully your Christian conscience. Which platform has the most violations to God's Word?
Republican Platform; http://www.gop.com/2008Platform/
Democrat Platform; http://www.democrats.org/a/party/platform.html
Missionary John Doroshuk Is In The Country of Georgia Right Now
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Missionary John Doroshuk is in the country of Georgia ministering to refugees now. He reported today that yesterday evening he went to one of the refugee centers in Tbilisi to distribute some rice, sugar and toiletries. He was able to help 28 families plus some single men. All of these people do not have a home to return to; the war completely destroyed their homes.
So many of the people had a nice garden and orchard before the invasion by Russia. They are unable to go back to these to take in whatever is left. Some places have a land mine every three or four feet apart. One of the reasons the Russian forces stayed back in Georgia so long was to spread a complete blanket of land mines so that even if the people could return, they would not for fear of be killed by one of the land mines.
Today he will be going to the tent city refugee camps on the outskirts of Tbilisi. These people have been dealt such a horrible blow.There still seems to be a shortage of bedding, mattresses, blankets, sheets and pillows. So, winter clothing and bedding are desperately needed.
Many of the people in the tent cities will be able to return and restore their home, some even before winter. Others who have no home to return to have been placed into buildings that will house them for a longer period of time. The authorities have commandeered all daycare centers for a minimum of twelve months to be used as refugee centers.
If you can help in any way, please contact John Doroshuk. Thanks for caring and sharing the needs of our brothers in Georgia.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Bill McCartney is Back at Promise Keepers
Promise Keepers is expected to undergo major changes after co-founder Bill McCartney was brought out of retirement to once again head the nearly 20-year-old organization – arguably the most prominent among men's ministries.McCartney, 68, returned to the helm of the organization, assuming his new role as CEO and Chairman on Monday, five years after having resigned. He also brought back with him former Promise Keepers executive Raleigh Washington to serve as president.
The leadership change comes as attendance has been declining at Promise Keepers events for years. The organization was going through a period of refocus and recalibration in recent years, scaling down the number of stadium-size events it holds annually and adding smaller local church events such as PKAdventure.
Former president and CEO Dr. Tom Fortson, who resigned last weekend, had told The Christian Post earlier that they were "looking for ways to have more impact at a lower cost."
"We will continue to offer a number of our larger arena events; but by offering new programs such as PK Adventure, PK Edge and pastors' workshops, and by incorporating satellite and internet technology, we provide a more robust PK experience that can impact men beyond the arenas," Fortson had said last month.
He noted that few men attend church on Sundays and that churches also struggle to maintain a vibrant men's ministry. Thus, Promise Keepers began placing more emphasis on equipping local pastors to better reach men and "to harness today's technology to reach more men with less," as Fortson stated.
Promise Keepers partnered with Church Communication Network to broadcast the local PKAdventure events this year to other host sites.
"Look at it this way: PK is growing with the marketplace of ideas and today's technology.
Although the conference is important, it's just one of the many ways PK will now be reaching and equipping men worldwide," Fortson further commented to The Christian Post at the time.
Promise Keepers is best known for its large-scale conferences held each year across the country. At its peak in 1996, the organization held 22 stadium conferences and drew 1.1 million men.
While the organization continued to hold almost as many stadium conferences thereafter, attendance dropped. In 2006, some 132,000 participated in the organization's 18 conferences.
The action to bring back McCartney, who had retired in 2003 to care for his ailing wife, was generated by former board chairman Sam Winder, who was retiring.
"It came to the position where he (Winder) felt like what he needed to do is put the ministry in the hands of the founder," Washington explained to The Christian Post. "As he was retiring, he wanted it and the board agreed."
"The coach (McCartney) basically said 'if this is a unanimous decision by the Promise Keepers board of directors, I will follow,'" Washington continued. "In light of that, Tom Fortson did resign."
General counsel Ed O'Brien said Fortson's resignation was voluntary, according to the Rocky Mountain News.
Under its new leadership, Promise Keepers will be rolling out with a fresh new vision and plans over the next several weeks, Washington said.
This year's Promise Keepers events will continue as scheduled.
http://www.promisekeepers.org/
[By Lillian Kwon - Christian Post Reporter]
Ray Boltz Is Gay And Out Of The Closet
Ray Boltz is gay and tells his coming out story to the Washington Blade.Boltz, with about 4.5 million LPs, cassettes and CDs sold, never made a splash outside of Christian circles but he never really tried. With a handful of RIAA Gold-certified albums, three Dove Awards from the Gospel Music Association (GMA) and a string of 12 No. 1 hits on Christian radio, Boltz is a household name in evangelical circles. “Thank You,” a sentimental song about a dream in which a Christian thanks the Sunday school teacher who led him to embrace Christ, is his signature song. It was the GMA song of the year in 1990 and has become a staple of Christian funerals. Other Boltz trademarks are “Watch the Lamb,” “The Anchor Holds” and “I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb.”
“I’ve kind of had two identities since I moved to Florida where I kind of had this other life and I’d never merged the two lives. This was the first time I was taking my old life as Ray Boltz, the gospel singer, and merging it with my new life. Emotionally it was kind of a big deal to think about that.” Ray Boltz was tired of living a lie.
He’d gotten to a point nearly three years before where he couldn’t continue down the road his life had gone. His 33-year marriage to ex-wife Carol was, he says, largely a happy one. It produced four children — three daughters and a son who are now between 22 and 32 — but family life and going through the motions of being straight had grown so wearying to Boltz, he was in a serious depression, had been in therapy for years, was on Prozac and other anti-depressants and had been, for a time, suicidal.
Boltz admits to some nervousness, but says ultimately, he isn’t worried. He doesn’t want to get into debates about scripture and has no plans to “go into First Baptist or an Assembly of God church and run in there and say, ‘I’m gay and you need to love me anyway.’” For him, the decision to come out is much more personal. “This is what it really comes down to,” he says. “If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself.”
(READ MORE)
[JOEY DiGUGLIELMO]
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