Missions Training

Several times a year the IMB (International Mission Board) offers world missions training at various sites around the country.  For those who can't make it to the live training, they also offer this training online.  A new round of classes begins tomorrow night, and it's all free.  If you'd like to be a part, you can register here.

♪ I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke...... ♪

When I was still living in South Carolina our church did a "Super Bowl outreach" one year.  I don't remember where I got the idea, but here are the highlights: we put a 2-liter Coke, a bag of microwavable popcorn, and a note into a plastic bag.  The note explained that this was a gift from our church, and that we hoped they enjoyed it while they watched the game.  We then passed these out in a local mobile home park.  It was a big surprise for the residents, and lots of fun for us!

We are doing the same thing here this year.  We have unofficially adopted a local apartment complex, and have done some ministry with children there over the past several weeks.  We hope to introduce ourselves to even more of the residents, and to let them know we are here if they ever need us.

p.s. For a trip down memory lane, click here.

San Antonio

This weekend I was in San Antonio for the "National Hispanic Evangelization and Mobilization Conference". It was a mixture of plenary and breakout sessions.  The big idea was that we have to pay more attention to 2nd and 3rd generation hispanics, who are more Americanized than their parents, and who don't feel comfortable in a Spanish only church.  Parents can lament the loss of a national identity if they like, but there's no turning back the tides of change once a family moves to another country.

The conference was very good and I met some really nice people.  The whole thing was in Spanish, so my ears got quite a workout!

This Blog Isn't Going To Update Itself!

This year began as the last one ended: with many things that need to get done.  Here are a few things I'm involved in at the moment:

• I preached the last 2 Sundays at FBC ("3 Reasons You Should Be Reading The Bible").  OK, maybe it shouldn't take 2 weeks to give 3 reasons, but what can I say??  I'm rusty!!
• We had another good FOCUS meeting last Saturday.  Next step: vision trip.
• We started a new season of discipleship classes Sunday night.
• I'll be attending a conference in San Antonio this week on reaching Hispanics (relevant, I'd say).
• We begin our next semester in our Bible institute next Thursday.  It's New Testament Survey this time around.
• We're planning a "Super Bowl Apartment Outreach" for next month.
• We'll be hosting a one-day conference in early March on doing apartment ministry.  
• Speaking of apartment ministry, we're doing that now every other week at one of our local complexes.
• The missions camp preparations continue apace.  We're getting regular inquiries about it, which warms my heart no end.
• We begin a study of Ecclesiastes on Wednesday nights, beginning in February.

Lots of good stuff......I'd appreciate your prayers.

Read The Bible

Quite a number of people in our church have chosen to read the Bible all the way through this year.  We're using a chronological Bible reading plan devised by George Guthrie.   There's still time if you'd like to get on board.  Get your copy of the plan here.

New Year, New You?

If you have resolved to do better with your Bible reading this year, you might want to check out this article.