The Start of Something Big!

Hey all - keep the elders, me, and the church in special prayer this week and for the next few weeks. Dan and I have been conducting phone interviews this week with prospective "Grow Pastors". This is a new position that we will be filling very soon. This will be a part of the whole - "Seek-Grow-Serve-Love" system.

For those that may not know - Seek-Grow-Love-Serve is our new purpose statement. We feel strongly that it is our job to help every person we come in contact with to take one step closer in their walk with Jesus. I will be preaching for the next four weeks on this topic. So make sure you are there or catch it on our web site.

Anyway - we have interviewed nine and have the last three today. Our plan is to whittle this down to three or four and then have a second round of interviews. And man, I AM PUMPED! The candidates that we are talking with are outstanding. I MEAN AMAZINGLY OUTSTANDING. Our challenge will not be to pick a good one. It will be to pick the right one from among so many phenomenal choices.

Pray that God makes this clear. This is a huge turning point for our church.

At least somebody is making money!

I read Yahoo news every day (several times on some days). I watch the morning and evening news. Sometimes in my office I have Fox news in the background. I'm not sure this is a good thing but it does help keep me current. It also is infuriating sometimes - LIKE TODAY!

In the news today Exxon-Mobile's profits were posted for the 3rd quarter. Poor souls are struggling right now. Their profits for the last quarter were a mere 14.83 Billion Dollars. This is what that looks like - $14,830,000,000.00.

It is also noted that not only is this yet another record for the oil company - but a record for any US Company ever! The article shared how the profit was driven by the higher crude prices and the fact they were given a pass on much of the fine they were supposed to pay for the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

So lets all say a big hooray for these folks... They hit the mother load. And I'm so glad I could help every time I filled my tank. And I sure hope they don't suffer too much with the falling price of crude.

CAN SOMEBODY SAY THERE'S SOME GOUGING GOING ON!

OK - I have to stop now... my fingers are wanting me to type some bad words and I have to bandage my hand - I hurt it when I punched the screen on my computer!

UUUUGGGGGHHHHH!

Challenge Flag

Challenge Flag - Guest Blog from Brett Oliver

I love college football. For me a fall afternoon or evening tailgating with friends and family followed by cheering on the Wildcats is what a Saturday was made for.

I got to thinking about the challenge flag in football. You know, the flag a head coach can throw when he wants to challenge the call made on the field. The officials are still in charge of the game, but they aren't perfect and sometimes video replay shows a mistake. The officials recognize that part of the game and rules and allow the coaches to request this review (sometimes "requested" more aggressively and loudly than others!) and challenge their decision.

It got me thinking - who do I have that I allow to throw a challenge flag on me? Who in my life has permission to question a decision or behavior that might prove wrong or not Christ-like? Like the challenge flag, the opportunities for a brother or sister in Christ to challenge me need to be limited. We've all experienced the friend who tells us everything we're doing wrong and never encourages us - we turn a deaf ear to them - even if they sometimes speak the truth. We need those in our life that understand the balance between challenge / rebuke and encouragement.

the challenge flag reminds me that it needs to be done respectfully. The flag may be thrown toward the official in emotion. But the review process is orderly and respected. When we challenge someone is our response orderly and respectful? I need those in my life with the challenge flag and they need the permission to throw them on me.

I encourage each of you to allow those challenge flags to be thrown in your life.

Proverbs 27:17 - "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend."

We in the body of Christ need each other to keep us on track. Who in your life has the permission to throw the challenge flag? Be sure and let them know soon.

Brett Oliver

Just so you know - this is not me!

This was just too funny....

What a weekend!

Normally when I talk about the weekend I'm talking about what went on at Harmony Christian Church and I guess I am now in some fashion.

The weekend started on Friday night with a Volunteer Appreciation Banquet - wow - what a great time to celebrate with a bunch of folks that make HCC such a great place...

Then Saturday and Sunday 21 of us went on our first every men's golf trip. We went to Dale Hollow State Resort and had a ball. I can honestly say it was the most beautiful golf course I have ever seen. I can also say it kicked my butt! I did not know any one person could lose that many golf balls!

The highlight for me was hiking Sunday morning to a cave that Dave Parrish had found several years ago. We went up there before we played on Sunday and had church in the mouth of it with an incredible view of a ravine. It was breathtaking. Note to self -don't eat so many biscuits before hiking in the hills!

We're already talking about doing this again next year... I can't wait....

What I hate about E-mail.

OK - here's the promised 2nd part... please feel free to add your comments as well.... This is what I hate about E-Mail.

I hate Spam - uggghhhh!

I hate Forwards - (you know the one's you have to open three pages or more to get the message - guess what - after one page I just hit delete... and for some people - I hit delete immediately.

I hate it when people I don't even know take shots at me or the church via an e-mail with an address that does not let me know who they are.... I don't mind people's remarks (good or bad) - but they need to at least sign their name!

Did I mention I hate SPAM!

I hate it when people don't look at the distribution list and send me stuff that I already have because I was on the same list!

I hate to change my e-mail address... what a pain!

I hate it when others change their e-mail address... not quite as bad - but still a pain.

OK - let's hear your comments too.

What I love about E-Mail

This is going to be a two-part post. The first part is "What I love about E-Mail" - the next part will be "What I hate about E-mail". So here goes - and this is not an exhaustive list - but it would be great to hear your additions to the list....

I love how it as a very effective way of communication.

I love to get pics of new borns (even though they aren't as cute as my grand daugher)

I love to get sermon ideas.

I love to get pics of big fish and monster bucks (deer)

I love to not have to be on the phone with long winded people (at least some long winded people).

I love to send little notes to my wife and get them back too!

I love a good joke.

I love how it eliminates some meetings.

I love of how it can be used for evangelism and discipleship.

OK - add to the list!