Thoughts from the weekend

Thoughts from the weekend:

Great weekend.

Friday and Saturday evenings, we had around 24 people (each night) in our home for what are called "lead gift" gatherings. These fellowship times are times when some of the leaders of our church gather together to receive a challenge to commitment financially to the Stone Church relocation process.

The principle is found from I Chronicles 29 and Nehemiah 7, where the sequence of giving was: The leader first, then the leaders of the people, then the people themselves.

It's a wonderful, scriptural principle. People do what people see. After seeing what the leaders were giving and how committed they were to rebuilding of the temple, the Bible tells us in 1 Chronicles 29:9, "The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the King also rejoiced greatly."

I was thrilled at the excitement level I saw from our leaders.

While all of us have challenges in our lives (kids in college; parents to take care of; debts to pay off; medical bills to pay), we all are called upon to give sacrificially before the Lord.

Together we can do it! Together we can sacrifice to give to the God's purpose and plan for our church!

Many thanks to Dieter and Susan Fleischhauer and Eduardo and Jo Anna Campins for all of their hard work and time in providing the food, etc....! Great job!

Saturday morning was fun for me. I attended the Pinewood Derby and had a chance to interact with some of our church family members. I love to do that. I love to spend time with our church family. It's great to see the kids and their desire to see their derby cars do well. Many thanks to Joe Schwider and others for a job well done.

Sunday was just great. I felt a spirit of unity and excitement about our relocation process that encouraged me greatly. The worship was powerful - God moved - in spite of the time change - losing an hour!

We had six people visit us for the first time - six people who were just lead to the Lord!

12 people are in our new membership class! God is doing a great work.

Yesterday morning, in both services, at the end, I spontaneously and genuinely share how much I love our church family. Out of all of the churches that we have pastored, our church is just the best!

Wonderful people who want to do something for God. If you are reading this, and a part of our church family, please know that you are loved and appreciated!

And then, last night, many of us gathered together and watched the movie, "Fireproof". I must admit, it's a good film. Obviously, the message is powerful, the salvation road is explained clearly, but I was pleasantly surprise that the acting was credible also and wasn't a distraction.

I must admit that I teared up a couple of times. It reminded me that outside of my relationship with God, I need to invest a great deal of time in the relationship I have with Debbie. I must learn how to meet her needs in the ways she wants her needs met, I must learn what she likes and dislikes.

May we all be blessed with healthy, growing marriages with our spouses.

I love you Debbie!

Terrill Owens was released from the Dallas Cowboys football team. I am so pumped! As we learned when Alton Garrison was here, chemistry always trumps talent when it comes to having a winning team.

The Cowboys have released Owens, Jones and Johnson, all three relational changes to the fabric of a team.

Now, on to playing Cowboys football. I am excited once again about what "can be"!