Missionary Speaker

Crystal Williams a young lady who is planning on going to Bosnia as a missionary will be with us on Sunday morning March 16. 10:30am

Ricebowls.org

We will be passing out our plastic rice bowls this Sunday, to collect our loose change in. The money is used to feed orphans. You can check out this organization at ricebowls.org
If you would like a bowl to help in this endeavor let one of us at the church know. We will be collecting funds up through the end of March

It would be great if we could collect $600.00 dollars!!

quote

I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. –Mohandas K Gandhi


"If Jesus saw what is going on in his name he'd puke."
Woody Allen

homeless

channel 6 recently did a seris on homelessness in central florida. The news video can be seen at

http://www.local6.com/news/15102052/detail.html

Childrens Hope Chest

Tom Davis operates this group that works with orphans...I am reading his book "Red Letters".
He is presently on a trip to Swaziland. This is a letter from his trip. Read it and have your heart broken


Happy New Year from Swaziland! We've been here for about a week now and this is some of the hottest weather I've ever experienced. It's snowing in Colorado, but over 100 degrees here in the southern hemisphere where it is summertime. I'm trekking through Swaziland with 25 people from all over the U.S. and Canada. God is moving in their hearts, and it looks like at least two more carepoints will get sponsored.

On this trip, I saw Jesus suffering in the eyes of an orphan named Nothando living in extreme poverty. She's also malnourished, uneducated, and has little hope of a future. Then, I saw the face of Christ in a man who is dying of AIDS. He cannot get up and lives in a 4 foot by 4 foot shack with nothing to eat - just waiting to die. It broke my heart.

Part of our tean visited eight orphans living all alone: no food, no water, and little hope. Two of these orphans are crippled and sit in the dirt all day. The widow who was taking care of them just passed away two weeks ago, now it's just the children.
The needs of Swaziland are so many. The pastor who preached on Sunday morning entitled his sermon, "We are dying like flies." They are. It would be hard for me to believe if I wasn't here and seeing it with my own eyes.
The hope here comes in the form of the faith you see in the people. The pastors, like Pastor Walter and Pastor Sam, who are being Christ to these orphans and widows. They are planting churches in places everyone else refuses to go. They take food to the hungry, everyday and as church they do home visitations to the dying as a congregation on Sunday mornings before service begins. Amazing people who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Please pray for us. The ministry here is heart breaking, but our presence here is important and needed. God is doing great things in the midst of the poor in this country. Thanks for your love and prayers. Internet is bad here, but I'm updating my blog when I can (www.cthomasdavis.com).

Thanks,

Tom Davis
President of Children's HopeChest

Next Week is Sanctity of Human Life week. It is recognized as the infamous 'Roe v. Wade' Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. One of many good websites is
www.beavoice.net

2007 Book Recommendation

Here are a couple of the books I read this past year that I would highly recommend

"The Forgotten Ways" Alan Hirsch- calling the church back to what it should be

"Surfing the Edge of Chaos" Richard Pascal - a book on leadership. Being balanced (equalibrium)is not a option but a sign of death

"Lexus and the Olive Tree" Thomas Friedman this book is a few years old His new one "The World is Flat" I believe covers some of the same material which I have yet to read. This book deals with globalization

"Jesus Secret Message" Brian Mclaren. That message is not the church but the Kingdom of God. Good read I have just started his new book "Everything Must Change"

Christmas Love

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

www.reclaimingthemind.org

A website that offers a class in theology where you will be presented with a certificate. It looks like the class is only $100.00
It looks like a Calvinistic theology but with at least a openness to Arminanism.

They also have a lot of papers from the "Evangelical Theological Society" that can be read on line

“You can get everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar

Helping each other

I appreciate the fact that our church does what it can to help each other out when one is faced with material needs weather that need is finances, food etc.

Is that not what being the church is about? It is more than just meeting together in a building on the street corner. We are to help, encourage and build each other up everyway we can.

With that said we are often put between a rock and a hard place when people who attend other churches come to us for help. My first thoughts are, "did you ask your church for help?" if so what was their response? and if they did not help you, you ought to seriously think about going to church elsewhere.

Feel free to share your thoughts along these lines. As we are faced with these type of decisions quite often.

Christmas Dinner

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving....

Our Christmas dinner will be Sunday Dec. 9, 5:00pm at the Civic center. Bring your favorite dish to share and a $5.00 gift if you would like to be involved with our silly type gift exchange :)

Favorite Thanksgiving Story

The day before Thanksgiving an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said to him, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough. We’re sick of each other, and so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her."
Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. "Like heck they’re getting divorced," she shouted, "I’ll take care of this." She calledPhoenix immediately, and said to her father. "You are NOT getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?"
The man hung up his phone and turned to his wife. "Okay, honey. The kids are coming for Thanksgiving and paying for their flights."

quote

"The Pessimist complains about the wind,

the Optimist expects it to change,

the Leader adjusts the sails. "

I like hanging around people like this

I went to a concert this past Saturday night where 'SOS' was playing. I asked one of the band members how his week went. His response, "Great week, I got rid of my TV, DVD, and games"

When I questioned him about it he said, "They are distractions from serving God and Helping the needy"

Concert Review

Our concert this past Saturday went well. I was a little disappointed in the number that showed up. There were about 60 in attendance compared to last year when we had about twice that. Not sure why when the fact is we did more advertising/promoting this year than last.

The bands did a good job
-"Surprise Attack" they were hard core and need to come up with a few more songs.
-"A Fight to Remember" a newer group with a 'Calibretta 13' sound
-'SOS' the popular local ska band, they get better every time I hear them
- "David' Victory" a hardcore band from Haines City. Their lead vocalist Guy is leaving them at the end of the year.

I was impressed by the appreciation each of the groups showed for the love offering we gave them (only $50.00 each). SOS even gave the offering back to the church.
Please pray for each of these groups that God will use them in building His kingdom

Birthday Party

My wife (Susan) will be 50yrs. old this Sunday, the 11th. We will be having a party after church in the civic center. Come over to share a meal and say Happy Birthday

5 more days

Just a few days left before our concert. We have been praying and getting things ready. Remember we would like to start around 6:30pm on saturday night. Bring your friends and come expecting a great time.

Remember each of the groups coming have their own 'my space'. So check them out.

some reasons for a school

Here are a few of the reasons I gave to our church Sunday for starting our own Christian School.

1) Many of the other schools in the area are expensive. It would be nice to offer a affordable alternative (prayerfully in the $200.00 per month range)

2) Many Christian schools take kids that have serious discipline problems, kids that have been kicked out of public schools and in some cases other Christian schools, just because they need the money.....We will not be a reform school, we believe in giving everyone a second chance and even a new start, but kids that come in because of previous discipline problems will be held on a short leash. The reason for that is because those kids become and cause distractions to the other kids who may be trying to learn something. We want to get the kids who want to learn or at least be motivated to learn.

3) Our history as a church started as a school. The fact being we were probably a school before we were a church. Meaning that whoever started church in this area probably came here first to start a school.

A new vision

there is that saying, "attempt something so great for God that if he does not do it, it will be a miserable failure"

Yesterday I presented to the church just such of a thing. I feel possibly the Lord leading us to begin laying the ground work to start a Christian day school next school year. It is going to take alot of work and prayer, but if it is Gods will He can make it happen.

I will post later on in the week on a few of the reasons I feel that this may be a good thing. In other words why I feel we ought to start a Christian school.