Stop, Be Quiet and Connect

Yesterday in the message I said I would give you all some resources for refueling your soul. Here are some very good resources. I hope they bless you.

Web Resources:
Quiet Time Ministries
All About God.com
Devotions at Gospel.com
Devotionals at Crosswalk.com
Our Daily Bread
The Upper Room
BibleFood Devotional
Onlinedevotionals.com

Books:


There are more resources than this out there, but I wanted to give you a few of my own favorites. I pray that these resources will bless you as you try to Stop, Be Quiet and Connect with God.

Partnering

One part of the vision is the need for TRCC to enter into partnering relationships with businesses and other churches. These will be strategic in nature and very carefully selected. I am convinced that TRCC can partner with businesses and other churches to foster God's saving grace in Kirksville and all of Northern Missouri. If you own a business and would like to talk about how TRCC and your business might enter into a partnership for God's glory then please contact me.

Janene just told me that the TRCC shirts she ordered for me have arrived. I will be debuting the first one this Sunday.

I read an article this week about a church that is being planted in Hannibal. The pastor there has some great ideas and I think we are kindred spirits regarding how the church should be impacting their community. I look forward to meeting this pastor and beginning a relationship between TRCC and his church.

Mid-week Musings

We are working on a new church motto. This is not about coming up with a catchy slogan, but instead about identifying the vision and identity of TRCC.

It was nice to have some of A.T. Still students back in worship on Sunday. They began classes on Monday of this week.

I am looking at buying a bike. I am trying to lose about 100 pounds over the next twelve months. I have managed to drop about 35 pounds since March. I need to add the exercise component into the equation to get me over the hurdles and plateaus.

Sunday Scorecard

Worship: Our praise band did a yeoman's job this weekend. It was clear they relied heavily on the power and grace of God. They only had three people instead of eight as usual. It was a nice acoustical sound.

Message: We continued this powerful series about "Running on Empty" by looking at What Matters Most in life. I used a clip from Daddy Day Care to make the point that money, prestige or accomplishment are not the most important things in life.

Attendance: 171 (-6% change from same Sunday last year)

New beginnings and other stuff

Lisa and I attended the wedding of her little sister on Saturday in Independence. This was the second marriage for her sister and her new husband. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony.

My wife was the Matron of Honor and wore a beautiful purple dress. She was an absolute vision of beauty. It reminded me of how lucky I am to have been gifted with such a gorgeous wife.

I am spending much less time on the computer and more time playing with my children. I spent yesterday afternoon watching movies with my kids. It was really wonderful. I am trying to make better choices with my time.

Website Happenings

Julie our Webmaster is hard at work updating our website. She is truly a gifted person and we are lucky to have her in this ministry. I had asked her to see if we had the capability to podcast. Well she found that we do and the best part is that we can do it for free...that's right FREE!

So right now you can go to the TRCC website and listen to my July 8th message or download it to your mp3 player. People can also connect to RSS feeds and have the messages downloaded to their mp3 player directly through services like iTunes. This player even has a Bible built right into it so that people can look up the bible passage for that message.

We will be highlighting this at the August 18th "Welcome to Kirksville" night for new college students. Rhoda will be coordinating our presence that evening. I am looking forward to meeting many of the new students and their families and showcasing TRCC. We only have four short years to reach these students for Christ.

Sunday Scoreboard

Here is how last Sunday went down:

Music: The praise band was once again at the top of their game. I think I found the song that will be the cornerstone of our vision: Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble. That is what is going to happen in Kirksville when God works His mighty plan for this town.

Drama: The drama was about a guy who ends up worshiping his golf clubs. It was not only extremely funny, but the point was very evident and right on target. Well done Drama Team!

Message: I spoke this Sunday about Slowing Down. We live in such a fast paced world that I think we miss what is happening around us most of the time. We miss the joy in a babies laugh or the love of a friend who wants to take a walk and talk about life.

Attendance: 180 (-10% change from same Sunday last year) We had four people in Starting Point this past Sunday. I think this ministry is doing exactly what we wanted it to do. We wanted a place where new people can begin to build relationships and they are doing that in Starting Point.

Monday Musings

Well we spent Friday night at the Kirksville ballpark. Alex's team ended up playing a double-header. Unfortunately they lost both games and finished a very respectable second place in the tournament. Considering they were the fifth seed out of six teams they should be very proud of themselves. Alex had a particularly good night. He scored three times and got a base hit on a very well hit ball. Now I look forward to next season where I hope to coach both Colin's and Alex's teams in some fashion.


Today I look at the old Shoe Factory in town. It is a 100,000 square foot building on 17 acres. This building is far more than we have plans for, but the possibilities for ministry are endless with so much space. Interestingly enough I was asked by two different church members yesterday about whether I would consider that building as a possible site for the church.

Looking for a home and random stuff

I am meeting with a real estate agent next week to look at the old shoe factory in town. It is 100,000 square feet of space. Far larger than we currently need, but having space like that allows us to dream God-sized dreams about what we can do for this community. I know God wants us to have a piece of ground where He can meet us and work miracles.

I got a loaner phone, but unfortunately it seems that it does not want to ring. So I will be answering a lot of voice mails until I can get this worked out.

I am planning the series for the next quarter and just now putting the three-part vision series on the calendar for October. I want to wait until everyone is back from vacation and the college folks are back in town. The series for August is coming together.

I am blessed to have four wonderful, Godly guys as Trustees. I sense that these guys have my back and I have theiGrs. This is the type of group every man needs in his life so that we can truly be men of God. If you are a man and don't have a group of guys who will keep you accountable and that you can trust then you really need to ask God to send those guys into your life. God Bless Dave, Jerry, Keith and Larry! Thanks guys!

What a huge vision!

God has given me such a huge vision for TRCC that it seems very overwhelming. When I sit down and look at all things that God has set before TRCC I realize how terribly inept I am at making these things happen. It reminds me of my favorite Rick Warren quote, "It is not about you," from The Purpose Driven Life. It is not about me or within my power or skill to make this vision a reality. TRCC and I need to rely on God to make His vision a reality. I will make myself available to be used to the very best of the abilities God has given me.

One small peak at the vision: Within ten years TRCC will be worshipping on a 20 acre campus and reaching at least one additional community for the Kingdom. We will have more than 1000 people attending multiple worship celebrations each week. TRCC will be the driving force for spiritual revival in Kirksville and all of Northeast Missouri. TRCC will be a regional church in that we will draw people from Southern Iowa and central Missouri.

Big vision! Big God! These are not my dreams...these are God's plans. If he desires it then we need to be faithful and let ourselves be used to fulfill His plans. Is there anything too big for God? No way!

July 8 Scorecard

Here is how Sunday went at TRCC:

Worship: I think that our praise band is getting better and better each and every week. It was a welcome treat to have the praise band come up after the message and play our prayer song. The song went perfectly with the subject matter of the day.

Message: I continued our series on "Running on Empty". I spoke about the need for us to lighten the load of stress and worry that each of carry around. One of the most important things is that we are unfortunately teaching our kids the same silly lifestyle. I am praying that folks received this message with the spirit of love and caring in which I spoke it. I want TRCC to be a very healthy church in all areas.

Attendance: 166 (-16% change from same Sunday last year.)

Tuesday Tidbits

The last week has been completely crazy. We moved into our new home and are trying to get the boxes unpacked and stuff put away. It really is amazing what you find when you unpack boxes for the first time in 5 years.

We really enjoyed ourselves in Columbia on Saturday. We looked at cars and walked the mall. I think the kids enjoyed the ice cream, but were a bit bored by the car shopping. We all enjoyed dinner at Long Horn Steakhouse. It has been a long time since I had a steak like that.

Alex's baseball team won their game last night, so now they play for the championship on Friday night. They have won three straight games in this tournament. That equals the number of games they won all season long. It is really great to see him getting so excited about his team and the love of the game is coming through. It makes a father proud!

Note to self: make sure you take your cell phone out of your pants pocket before the wife does laundry. Yeah that's right, my cell phone went through the wash cycle. So I am currently with out a cell phone. I am going through some cell phone withdrawals, but truth be told I am actually kind of liking it.