HOPE DEALER In Amishland

This week we kick off an all new series called, "A.K.A. God." Yes, I will be speaking again. I took a much needed 3 weeks off of speaking for the first time in almost 5 years and it was a great break. I spent all of my 'free time' working on the children's wing and tending to child #4. Man I feel refreshed. Actually I do feel good and I'm still looking for a title for our fall series. If you have an idea, please post it. I've recieved some pretty good ones so far but I'd like them to be posted rather than by simply e-mailing me. (so that others can see too) I will choose one within the next 2 weeks and even if I don't use your exact title but I take your idea, you get the $25 gift card to the place or restaurant of your choice. Also, Bob & Jeanette did a great job sharing this past Sunday during the flood. Crazy weather! I'm really inspired to spend more time praying for the missionaries that our church supports. I hope that you

In just a few weeks we will begin our new fall line-up of small groups and various ministry opportunities and outreaches. We will kick it all off on Sunday, Sept. 9th at 10 a.m.! I am working on a new series that will help teach us how to deal with difficult circumstances and people the Bible way. We will have special guests Jon, Kate & family from the reality T.V. show on Discovery Health and TLC called "Jon & Kate plus 8." On that week we will be talking about what to do when life doesn't go as planned. Google them and check out their story if you're unfamiliar with their show. We will also be opening our newly re-designed children's wing on that day! All I need now is the name of the series so that I can begin to promote and market it. That's where you come in. My ideas are, the dummies guide to life and relationships & survival guide to 21st century living. I don't particularly like either of them but you have to start somewhere.

Today at 3:25 p.m. my friend Bob Rapp went to be with the Lord. This morning at around 4 a.m. he had a blood vessel burst deep in his brain. Sherry called 911 and he was rushed to Lancaster General Hospital. There was nothing that the excellent staff and doctors were able to do because of the proximity of the rupture and he passed at some point during the day. He was on a breathing machine so his death was not pronounced until later in the day after they ran some final tests, but we believe he passed much earlier. Our church family was amazing and so many came and were with Sherry through this difficult day. You know who you are and thanks for being the body of Christ and good friends! Please keep Sherry and her family in your prayers! I'm not sure yet in regards to the details of the time/date of the service we will have in celebration of Bob's life but hope to e-mail and post it sometime tomorrow afternoon. Bob was a wonderful man of God who touched many of our lives

I watched a pretty weird and interesting movie last night with my wife called Premonition. It was all about a lady that saw something terrible happening before it really did. She tried desperately to change what she believed would happen. The word according to Websters dictionary means... 1 : previous notice or warning : FOREWARNING 2 : anticipation of an event without conscious reason : PRESENTIMENT The Bible is full of premonitions if you will (a better term might be prophecies) that foretell a bleak future if change doesn't occur. I currently am having a premonition about the community in which I live. I can see that if I don't change and if our church doesn't continue to change what we care about, people will continue to die without the knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ. Do you have a premonition about people in your life that are heading toward a negative future? Is so, what are you willing to do about it. I end with this great quote for you to conside

I just finished reading an interesting article a few minutes ago. Two brothers were speared during the annual running of the bulls craziness in Madrid, Spain. One of the bros. recently overcame cancer so each year they look to do something exciting. This year they got a little extra excitement courtesy of a really big bull. Great story, great faith. Regardless of what you think of these guys, they decided to take a stab (bad pun)at taking a step of faith. Most of us (including me) don't normally step out and do risky things & have great faith because...well...the picture above. Risk can equal pain. It reminds me of the story of Rack, Shaq & Benny (the names have been changed in honor of veggie tales) in the book of Daniel. These guys were so brave, they had so much faith. Kinda. They are the story that I've heard all of my life that encourages followers of the one true God to stand up and believe against all odds knowing that God will come through no matter wh

This past weekend we talked about the fact that we will all stand before God. Those that are Christ-followers will stand before what the Bible calles the Judgement Seat of Christ. We will be rewarded based on what we do for Christ. Thinking about that reality, it helps me put into perspective how I need to live my life. I took alot of my notes this past week from a great book by Bruce Wilkinson called, "A Life God Rewards." If you are interested by this topic, it's an easy read and a great book. Below are the things that God will judge us for and how He will judge us. I'd encourage you to consider each item on this list and allow the Holy Spirit lead you an guide you to make a difference for both now and eternity. What will you be rewarded for? 1. WORK to make your employer successful. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on

There is so much stuff out there that really isn't newsworthy. For example, a new world record holder for Nathan's hot dog eating contest. Anyone else find it troubling that people are starving around the world and we're celebrating some goof ball eating mystery beef hot dogs? Or the other newsworthy item of the day. Headline, little girl gets small intestines sucked out while in a pool. There are so many things that I don't want to know about that story than what I would want to know. To help rescue you from weird, scary & un-newsworthy stuff, I have todays post. We were able to give $1,000 2 weeks ago to our loved ones that are doing important missions work in Grenada. Give it up for Freedom Life! You guys rocked it and stepped up! Be praying that God will use the team in an awesome way to encourage the churches and reach lost youth! You can keep up to date with the team at www.myspace.com/teamgrenada . Now that is newsworthy! Make today the best day o