Starbucks Fast

For those of you who are following my Starbucks fast, I only have 733 more cups of grande carmel latte w/whip and carmel drizzle to give up before I reach my goal of 750 cups. 750 cups equals the $3000 I need to raise so that I can go on our missions trip to Zambia, Africa in April 09. While looking at blogs and videos on You Tube, I came across this funny clip. Click on the link below and enjoy!

Thanksgiving

I'm at the church office preparing for this Wednesday's Candlelight/Communion service. The worship team will be ready to bring us all into the presence of the Lord. Will you be ready? Thanksgiving is all about family gatherings,eating lots of turkey and watching football. But it's also a time to reflect on the goodness of God in our lives. The highlight of our gathering this Wednesday is always the numerous testimonies of those who come prepared to share. Their gratefulness is expressed in their words and countenances. We will conclude our time together by sharing Communion around the altar. It's a very meaningful time with our Lord. I hope that you, your family and guests can join us!

By the way,wasn't this past Sunday's all-church Thanksgiving dinner a great success? Be sure to express your appreciation to Larry and Dolly White as well as to Scott and Pam Wehe. These two fine couples plus their team of volunteers did an outstanding job of setting up,preparing the food,serving us, and cleaning everything up afterwards. I was informed that we fed 450 people !!! These are choice servants for God!

coffee

This morning I woke up early and stumbled downstairs half-awake straight to our coffee maker. I'm a creature of habit and this is a daily activity for me. I love coffee. The aroma and taste equally get my day started. Preferably I drink Folgers or Maxwell House, straight black, (no cream or sugar added). I can easily consume 6-8 cups before arriving at the office each morning. And yes it's true I bring Shari a cup every morning. Once I arrive at the church office I'll drink another 2-4 cups before noon, which is when I usually shut it down. The only time I drink coffee other than black is when I'm at Starbucks, where I order my favorite, Grande ' whipped carmel latte with carmel drizzle on top' (hint, hint). Why all this discussion on coffee? Well, it's because two very sweet ladies in our church recently blessed me with their words of encouragement and their expressions of kindness which were so much appreciated. One of them even gave me a new coffee mug that is now my all-time favorite cup to drink coffee from. Everyone needs encouragement, it refreshes the soul and strengthens the heart. Join me today in looking for someone to bless. You'll be glad you did!

Speaking of coffee, I just realized that I'm gonna have to nearly give up my Starbuck's coffee in order to start saving for our Africa Missions Trip in March 08. If I give up my favorite coffee drink at approximately $4.00 a cup I figured that it will take 750 cups of coffee to equal the $3,000 I need to raise. I'm in for a massive caffiene headache! Pray for me!! Maybe God will speak to some of you to join with me in giving up your Starbuck's and help me get to Africa to help construct a new church and do outreach ministry!??!

I woke up today with my thoughts focused on our service on Sunday, Let me encourage you to do whatever it takes to bring friends, family members and neighbors to church with you. I'll be presenting God's truth with everything I've got. I'm so amazed at how much God is able to accomplish. Just this week, two young adults (20 somethings) met with me in my office and re-dedicated their lives to Christ!! They realized only He can replace emptiness - only He can forgive past mistakes and offer a new future filled with hope, peace and fulfillment. I can't promise you that all your guest's will accept Christ into their hearts, but I can promise that they will hear His message of love, forgiveness, and restoration in a very clear and in a compelling way.
See ya tomorrow!

Incredible partners

As I read my bible today I came across the story of Jonathan and his armor-bearer in 2 Samuel 14:6-13 NIV. The Israelites were discouraged,outnumbered and inadequately armed with no reasonable hope for success. But because of the courage these two possessed...their bravery was instrumental to victory being achieved. Yet right in the middle of those scripture passages you will find these incredible words "Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf" (vs 6) NIV. God looks for faith and willingness every day. When circumstances seem to be insurmountable and our resources exhausted God assures us that we can call upon Him in our times of need. Psalms 46:1 NIV reminds us that He has promised to be "an ever present help in trouble". I'm praying for several of our church families today. Would you keep them in your prayers as well??? Perhaps the Lord will act on their behalf!!!
Kim Hawkins
Janet Hawkins
Charlie Page
May Soas

I want to give a big shout out to my Wednesday "Front Porch" Biblestudy class. You guys are the best! Recently we had a Chili Cook Off Challenge and Bud Burdett took on all challengers and finished on top after all the votes were in. We have some great cooks in the church! I think we ought to have an outdoor tailgate celebration after church some Sunday??? We just missed setting a new record in our class this past Wednesday with 60 in attendance! Currently we are studying about "Allowing God to Renovate Our Lives". If you haven't connected to any of our mid-week Biblestudy group's your missing a great opportunity to get acquainted with some of the best people around. All of our teachers do a tremendous job of sharing God's truth.

Last Sunday's guest speaker, former Senior Pastor, Dwaine Umbel deftly preached a message that provided us all with some refreshing reminders that God wants so much to bless us. There were numerous statements in his message that hit home for me. I wrote this down in my notes as he spoke.."It's important how you live today. LEGACY PROVIDES LIFE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. Legacy is leaving something behind". We are all called to bring hope to the hopeless and abundant life to those who have been robbed. I hope you all were blessed by the Umbel's ministry. It was wonderful to have them back once again here at Bethel Temple.