Time To Elect A New President!!!

I have followed this years election process closer than before. I am one of those people that is of the opinion that the country is not headed in the right direction. Now, I am not going to use this to politicize my thoughts. I know I am concerned about the economy. More than the economy itself I am concerned with the financial structure of America. There is no way I can fatham the idea budgeting trillions of dollars. But, I know what bad borrowing principles can do to a person. Scripture definitely speaks about being a servant to the lender. If there is one thing I wish Laurie and I would have never done is borrow money in the form of loans and credit cards. Bad borrowing has effected the way we have had to live even when money was flowing in pretty good. Myself, I just find it unreasonable to pump billions into an economy so more people can borrow that money. If you fail in your business you suffer the consequences...and I better button my lips.
For the first time in my life I have really begun to explore the benfits of solar, wind,natural gas and clean burning fuels. As a matter of fact, it has brought back a wonderful memory of growing up in West Virginia. A state full of coal. So much coal that we used to get truck loads for free. I remember my parents burning coal in our fireplaces in the winter to heat the house. I also remember everyone else in town doing the same thing. I remember going to eat freshly dumped snow and having to navigate around the tiny particles of burnt coal that came down with the snow. So clean burning is a good idea.
I am concerned about the moral climate of our country. Particularly, the prejudices that still run wild. Liberals hate conservatives and visaversa. Recently, I had a man that I have done business with approach me and tell me there ain't no way we need a N**** in our White House. That is rediculous!!! That was one of the most ignorant things anyone has ever just walked up and said to me. That is not good in our country and we in the church cannot afford to hold that mindset. Fortunately, this was not a church going person. I am deeply offended by the idiotic installation art in West Hollywood. There is an apparent artist who has Sarah Palin hanging from a noose off their chimney. How offensive! Where are all the feminist on this one?

I was wondering what some of you might be thinking about as to what will guide your decision in this election...

No Meeting Tonight!!!

There will not be a leadership meeting tonight. We will have our next meeting next Monday night at my house 6:30.

Consistant Church Attendance!!!

For two weeks straight we have had the exact number of people in both services. The wild thing is that 50% of those people are totally different than the people we had last week. One of the challenges all over the country is to get people in the regual habit of going to church. Why have so many people become complacent about regular church attendance? Is going to church important?
Even mega-church pastors are puzzled by the lack of consistant participation of Christians in church services. Could it be that Christians have found more stock in athletic events, recreation and "family time" than they do worshipping God on Sundays. I put family time in quotes because you would not believe the number of "Christians" that have told me they don't go on Sunday so they can have "family time". Before you crucify me please remember I preach family time...all the time.
As leaders have we turned our churches into consumer driven marketplaces? Like WalMart you just go when you have time to go or when you need something. Or am I just missing the boat? I am seriously considering running tv advertisements urging Christians to go to church. A GET OUT TO CHURCH CAMPAIGN!
This blog is not just geared towards my church...but all you church folks that follow my blog...answer this question...Why do so many Christians miss church services on Sunday morning?

Going Fishin'

Well, in seven minutes I will wake my brother up to go the trout stream. I had my best day ever on the trout stream yesterday. We both caught our creel limit. On top of that I enjoyed about two hours of catch and release. I have never done that... it was fun.
Brad had a blast too. It was funny as they released water from the dam....Brad and I were in the middle of the river. Since his brain injury he is like a little kid sometimes. You should have seen me holding his hand tryin to walk him through high water...without getting washed away myself. We were dying laughing...I said those other guys probably thought we were gay.
You know I have not had this much fun in years with my brother. He is still a pain in the neck sometimes but I thank God for the time I am having with him.
Please pray for me and Brad as I am going to share Christ and His forgiveness with Brad. Brad knows what Hank Davis has done to me and the church. Ironically, we were watching the WVU gam...THAT THEY KICKED AUBURNS BUTT... when we came acrossed a channel with Hank on television. My brother stormed out of the room and refused to watch it. I want to explain how God forgives and as Christians we have to forgive. As a matter of fact God used this to birth a message in my heart. Hope to share it soon. WELL GOTTA GOING FISHING!!

Meeting Tonight - Give Us Your Thoughts!!!

Remember tonight is our meeting. Everyone who attended last weeks meeting please bring your ideas. We will be reviewing our first service at the Hampton Inn. Even if you are not part of the leadership team your input is welcome...please post your thoughts both what you liked and what you think needs improvement.

TODD & AMBER ARE HAVING A BABY!!!

Spending Time With My Brother

Thanks to all of you who have prayed for my brother...I will be spending some time with him this week.

First Service @ Hampton Inn Conference Center - YIPPEE

Hey folks...what a great service at the Hampton Inn this morning. I was so excited to see all the good people show up for church this morning. God is so good. I had a strange feeling this morning as I had no idea what to expect. I just knew God would show up. Thank you to all of our regulars that worshipped with us this morning. I have had tons of feedback...for the most part its all good stuff. Its probably best everyone didn't make it (I cann't believe I just said that...noone should ever miss church...just kidding) as there is no way we could have sat everyone in the conference center. Remember while we are at the Hampton Inn we will have to go to a second service once we run 65 people for two consecutive weeks. I want to go to 2 services....everyone start inviting people.

Amy Lines emailed this link in regards to the message...about our testimony:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ

If you have a testimony that God has given you and would like to share it some time in church please let me know...God has done so much how can we keep silent.

I WILL SHOW YOU AS YOU GO

As we stepped out on faith trusting God to provide. We determined this would be the Abrahamic call...I will show you as you go! We, the leaders, felt it necessary to leave the building we were in and trust God. What I am about to say will blow your mind, but hear me out....PRAISE GOD FOR HANK DAVIS! I believe God has used the Word of Life lack of integrity to launch us into something great.
I believe that the WOL officials lacking integrity and forcing us out of the building has forced us to trust God. Let's face it we were comfortable where we were...we have had to step out of our comfort zone. Typically, I am the one that worries most. My faith has had to be steadfast. I am not tooting my own horn as I am battle tired. Yet I am stoked, pumped, excited and looking forward to what God desires to do. Last night we had our first leadership meeting since leaving the building. It was the best leadership meeting we have had since I arrived in Enterprise...there was excitement, there was vision casting, there was honesty, there was love, there was sincere prayer, there was worship, there was input given, there was the presence of God, and I have never seen our leaders interact like they did last night.
When we had our first Fellowship in the Park...I didn't know what to expect. Over 60 people came out...unfortunately we only received $55 in tithe and offering. When Lisa (our office manager) called she was really concerned. I don't think she liked my advice...let's trust God. I didn't like my advice as I like my security. I let her know if the folks are behind our church we will need their continued financial support. I truly decided to trust God.... this week we put a few thousand in the bank...PRAISE GOD!!!
Back to my title...Abraham was called out by God to leave his comfort zone...the only assurance he had was that God would show him as he obeys. By faith Abraham went. I felt at the end of 2007 that we needed to walk away from the property. I needed to wait on the support of the elders to do so...I also had to wait for the Word of Life lawyer to ask us to leave after many obvious empty promises by the WOL "board". I think God is going to show us as we go...just like He did Abraham. We will have to trust Him the whole way. If we saw the whole picture we may decide not to go. The Hampton Inn is just a step in the right direction. It is about to get really exciting..... He will show us as we go!

WE HAVE A TEMPORARY LOCATION!!!

First let me say how awesome fellowship in the park was yesterday. It amazes me how faithful the people of God have been. Thank you to all of you that have been supporting the church with your prayers, finances and presence at our fellowship in the park. For now this will be the last church service in the park as we have secured a temporary location. This coming Sunday we will have worship in the Hampton Inn Conference Center. We have secured that location for a month, but they will let us use it as long as necessary providing no other groups book the center. Our service will begin on time....10:30. The conference room will be open at 9:45 am for coffee and fellowship. So if you would like to come early for some chit-chat time....make necessary arrangements. Obviously, this is not idea but I thank God for any and every advancement. I need these people to meet at my house for an organizational meeting tomorrow at 7pm:
Amy
Justin
Jim (excused)
Lisa
Tony
DeWayne
Todd
Debbie
Please call me if you are not able to make it! Or post it on this blog!

FYI: It was school fall break, a three day weekend and we still had nearly 50 people at fellowship in the park. You all are awesome! Lets trust God for growth, direction and provision. I have had great feedback from all seven of the small groups yesterday. What a time of discipleship and developing relationships. I had to sneak a peak at the people walking by as we worshipped God together. People looked like they wanted to join us so bad! One of the things I love about our church is the multi-cultural feel. I look at our gathering and we have black, white, hispanic, mexican (oops that was Jeremy...inside joke), but you get the point. Wealthy and poor sitting side by side. Guys and gals we have shere potential...lets agree that we are not going to let this opportunity slip between our fingers. LET'S GO FOR IT!!!

Don't Forget Fellowship In the Park---BIG ANNOUNCEMENT THIS SUNDAY!!!

REMEMBER FELLOWSHIP IN THE PARK THIS SUNDAY 4 TO 6. WE HAVE A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT. GOD IS ON THE MOVE!!!

Read Perry Noble's Blog

I will post something a little later...but I just wanted you to read Perry Noble's blog from yesterday.

TODAY IS OUR 20 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

On this day 20 years ago Laurie and I came to the altar at Tri-State Church of God in Weirton, WV. We were young, not sure of what we would do or where we would be going. The past 20 years has found itself full of great joys and challenges. In those twenty years we have seen two of the most beautiful people in the world brought into our lives, Brooke & Mikey. We have made thousands of friends through our ministry. And we have endured. I recognize what an accomplishment this is. My goal is to make the next 20 years better than the previous 20 years. I love my wife! Let's Face it...She is so lucky to have me!!!

GREAT SERVICE IN THE PARK!!!!!

Yesterday was awesome as I pulled up and saw dozens of wonderful people gathered together for fellowship in the park.
Thank you to everyone who brought some of your best dishes. I appreciate DeWayne filling in and covering until I could make it back from Georgia. Sorry I missed the worship set...but thanks for leading fellowship in the park praise time. And to see everyone talking and praying in small groups was awesome.
Now that we have an idea of how it will work we will do our best to bring better structure...but not too much structure. We want fellowship in this setting. I was so excited to meet people that some of you invited to our fellowship. My guest did not make it but he assured me that he would come next week. That's twice in a row I have not managed to get my guest in church. All of you who have managed to bring people keep up the good work and don't just stop as one ... go for more. I was glad to see some families that had not been in church in a while. Overall I was very excited to see our church take the first step to overcoming our adversities. AND IT WAS GREAT HAVING TONY WITH US AGAIN!!!
I have gotten older, slower and fatter....I CONFESS DON BEAT ME in basketball AFTER ALL MY TRASH TALKING...but I was sick...I was tired...I was not planning on playing....I had not ate a good meal...his wife and kids were there...THERE WILL BE A REMATCH!!!

On a more serious note...we realize that there was no idea how this would go and it may have slipped your mind, but we still have some financial obligations. Therefore, please continue being faithful in your tithes and offerings. We will receive an offering at our next fellowship in the park. We may be in the park for the entire month of October as we are waiting for some possible locations to come available. Just a reminder that a name change will probably have to be in order.

I want to encourage everyone to do their best to keep the kids involved. I know the teens will want to wonder off but they are part of the church and I think its important that they participate in the fellowship as well. They need to be part of what we are doing. So lets encourage all of our children to stay and fellowship...we will allow time to chill, but they need to be part of the worship, word and small groups.

Fellowship in the park will include worship, word, small groups and lots of food,fellowship, and fun. Did you enjoy this weeks fellowship?

Countdown to Fellowship in the Park - THURSDAY

Only a few odds and ends remain and we will be totally done moving out of the church. Yesterday was the first time I was in the sanctuary with everything totally gone. It was weird but I know God is in this. I want to thank everyone who assisted in helping us get the job done. Everyone seems to be so full of anticipation. I am blown away by the encouragement I receive from those outside of our fellowship. It seems every corner I turn someone is asking about our situation. I'm trying to think of calling it something like our "blessing", "launching", "new beginning", or something like that. Its not a situation now! Its an opportunity to open our wings and soar. Nothing should hold us back...no Hank, no Devil, no person, no lack, no nothing. Its time to soar. As the prophet Isaiah said....mount up with wings like eagles.

FYI- Welcome home Tony!!! Missy is still in the hospital!!

BREAKING NEWS!!! Due to the connection of our name with Word of Life....i.e. we have been Word of Life doing business as The Potter's House we may need to rename our church. Due to seen and unforseen problems with Word of Life most everyone in leadership feels a name change is appropriate...everyone wants to break totally away from WOL...this was the name they gave the church. So, in the near future we may have a name change.

A few people have asked if it is okay for them to write Hank (Word of Life) a letter. I think that would be a good idea...just keep it Christian. By Christian I don't mean nice. Don't sin in your anger! I think for you to express how you feel would be therapeutic. So if you feel you need to communicate with WOL thats fine. There have been times I have been really hurt by people in the church. I want to lash out at them. But, over the years I have had a few things I do to help with my frustrations. First, I am point blank honest when I have been offended by someone. The other...I write a letter...most I never send but it gets it out of my system. Then I find it easier to go forward.

Countdown to Fellowship in the Park - WEDNESDAY!

This evening Direct Impact Youth Ministry will conduct their final service in the youth church. I was so touched by all the youth that were moved by emotion Sunday morning. Many of the kids in our church...this is the only church "building" they have known. I believe God is going to bless us with like we never dreamed He would. We will have the facilities to implement the vision that has been placed in our hearts.
I cannot wait for Sunday afternoon. I just feel like something great is goint to happen. It seems this is like a launching pad. That we are this powerful rocket about to be sent to places we have never been.
There has been so much uplifting and encouraging words that I really believe we can get IT! You know that IT that some have and others don't! That feeling that something is really happening. IT is happening in our fellowship...that has been my prayer. What is IT that you are trusting God for?