July 15, 2008
My mother had her surgery this past Friday…
The lump was removed successfully. That is good…
The lymph nodes were clean… no spreading of the cancer is good, too.
She will begin radiation in four to six weeks… this is the prescribed order of treatment…
She will be scanned to check for any further cancer cells in the tissue… please pray!
July 10, 2008
Summer is going by way too fast… hope you are going to be in church this weekend. I’m beginning a new series on Sunday… it will be a four-week character study in the OT.
This weekend is on Jacob. He had a messed up family, he made poor relational decisions with his brother… and he lost many years. Who of us doesn’t have some family baggage? We’ll see how God brought him through it.
Awesome sermon-ending song… if you listen to 104.9The River, you’ve probably heard the song… powerful. We’re using it to close the message.
New worship song… Again, you’ve heard this one if you listen to the River.
School supply drive… a local elementary school prinicpal will be with us to talk about the impact of last years drive… and hopefully will encourage our church to do even more this year.
Operation Delaware is getting closer… I really believe God is going to “show up and show off” during the week of July 28-August 1.
July 9, 2008
Whoa… it’s been a long time since the last post. Much to write about, but I’ll have to summarize…
Pray for my mother… she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She is having her surgery this Friday to remove the lump. After that she is going to undergo radiation. Please remember her in your daily prayers.
Pray for my wife… Michelle is not much of a complainer, but her rheumatoid arthritis is making her day-to-day existence pretty tough. To add to her pain she is having trouble with her feet as a result. I hate seeing her hurt.
Thanks for your prayers.
June 1, 2008
Last night some of our closest friends surprised us (me and Michelle) with a 10-year anniversary celebration at the church. It was 10 years ago today that I came to DCC to be the senior pastor/minister/preacher. Wow… lots of memories.
The reception was nicely done… many of our closest friends were there… we were given a scrapbook with really encouraging notes… and a generous gift. We are truly blessed.
Thanks, especially to Kent & Pam Hurley… Traci Bender… Jenn Condo… Kim Meiser. Apparently they were the “committee,” and they did a great job.
The most encouraging thing to me is that our kids were able to see the ministry honored. The last thing we want is for our kids to resent or despise the church. Thanks, DCC! We love you.
May 21, 2008
Weekends for a pastor are typically built around whether or not we’re preaching on Sunday. And the last couple of weekends have been full of church-related activities. This weekend we have NOTHING to do but sleep in (maybe), hang out and get some much-needed housework done.
Here’s what I’m looking forward to…
* Working on my lawn… no longer do I use the “Lawns-R-Us” companies. They are great at their jobs, but after a while I get tired of them trying to upsell me on their extra services, such as a spraying for the rare concrete-boring, basement destroying grub. So I’m gonna see if me, some turfbuilder, and a spreader can make my lawn green and weed-free.
* The new Indiana Jones movie… I loved the trilogy and hope this one is going to be good. Maybe I can slip away after the kids are in bed one night…
* Painting… Believe it or not, I actually enjoy this kind of work. It is therapy for me.
* Church… I’ll be preaching about marriage this weekend.
* Long weekend… I’m planning to enjoy the day with family and friends.
Later!
May 16, 2008
Last weekend we celebrated Mother’s Day in a big way at DCC. If you were there, perhaps you know that we had a chocolate fountain for the women, along with fruit and other goodies that they could dip in the wonderful nectar of the gods.
Special thanks to the following for helping make it happen… Jeff Warner & Russ Trowbridge (washing the fruit, prepping the trays and general stuff); Candy Gamble (for the usage of the fountain and setting up the room with a woman’s touch); Brian Ayers (for being the sergeant-at-arms at the room).
Guys… we’ll have something good for you on Father’s Day. Don’t worry, it will be very much geared toward the male need for meat! That’s all I’m gonna say…
A couple of weeks ago we got to witness DCC be the church as we met the needs of a struggling couple. Way to go, church.
Numbers aren’t everything, but they do mean something. And our attendance and offerings have been up lately. Praise God for that.
This weekend I’m going to talk about parenting… and boy, after the week we’ve had, I’m wondering if God should give this assignment to someone else. Or else the Devil knows that God’s going to kick his teeth in with this message and he’s threatened. Pray for me!
See you this weekend…
Al
April 18, 2008
I am really looking forward to this weekend when I’ll be telling you about Operation Delaware. This is the name that has been given to our church-wide mission/service project for this summer. Here are the things you need to know…
The mission: OPERATION DELAWARE
The date: July 28-August 1, 2008.
The purpose: to impact our community with the love of Christ through practical expressions
Our focus will be on serving the city of Delaware. A committee has been meeting regularly since late last year to work out the details and provide ample opportunities for us to be the hands and feet of Christ.
This weekend I’ll share some Biblical principles about serving… and hopefully enough encouragement for you to get involved.
Next week I’ll resume my “GOD” series!
April 8, 2008
Just finished I Kings yesterday. The story of Solomon is such a study in contrasts.
Good things…
* His reign as king began really well. He asked God for wisdom and received it… (I Kings 3:3).
* His fame and wisdom caused people from all over the world to come see his kingdom for themselves.
* He was blessed with wealth and an incredible reputation.
* Fulfilling the dream of his father David he completed construction of the Temple.
Things started to go poorly though…
Bad things…
* Wrong priorities: God’s House took less than half the time to complete than did Solomon’s own palace.
* Weakness toward women: Pagan wives introduced worship of pagan gods.
* Wealth: He had lots of it and ultimately it clouded his judgment.
Solomon could best be described not as wise, wealthy or a great leader. Unfortunately his legacy is that of a divided heart.
The Bible is grave in its warnings about a divided heart. Take a look at what God said to the church at Laodicea… Revelation 3:15-16 .
Today God has reminded me that it isn’t enough to run the race… I also need to finish the race.
April 7, 2008
Every now and then I’ll get really “riled up” as we say down South, by inconsiderate people. Today’s topic is…
Inconsiderate jerks who use handicapped parking and don’t need it
Go.
Here are two instances that just about sent me over the edge (cue theme music to “The Incredible Hulk…”)
1. Perfectly healthy jerk who apparently has access to a handicap placard… but has no discernible need to park so closely to a place of business, unless you count laziness a disability. Saw a Ohio-based grocery store chain stocker reporting for work with a cigarette dangling from her mouth, parking in a handicap space. Nice.
2. Clueless jerk who thinks that the striped spaced beside handicap spaces are a place to park…thus leaving no room to deploy a lift to load or unload a wheelchair. Can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been tempted to deploy the lift on top of their car… but strategically placed parking lot cameras discourage that.
So, the next time you’re tempted to pull into the handicapped space out of convenience sake, remember that you’re taking a spot from someone who truly needs it. Not to mention that you could be fined… or come out and find a lift deployed on the hood of your car. But, hey, I warned you…
Stop.
Aaaahh… I feel better already.
April 7, 2008
Saturday…
The Tar Heels absolutely laid an egg on the biggest possible stage. I was and still am shocked. Hansbrough played hard, but I’m hoping he’ll stay and work on his game for one more year (suggestions:footwork and passing out of double and triple-teams).
As much as I love ol’ Roy, I think he should have stopped some of the bleeding with some timeouts. His philosophy of saving the TOs for the end of the game shouldn’t be held to so rigidly. I’m not sure how much difference it would have made. Oh well, I’ll get over this and be right back here next year. Go ‘Heels!
Sunday…
Continuing in the GOD series, I talked about the “unfair” God we serve. Great spirit in the services and the music was really good. We used Third Day’s “You’re Everywhere” at the end of the sermon. Strong song. Pretty cool to see two couples come up and officially transfer their membership as they completed the membership seminar.
