5/13/2009
Refugee Sunday I Kings 17:8-15 by Tom Van Laningham & Meghan Brown Saavedra (Note: This sermon is a collaborative effort between Tom, co-sponsorship developer and Meghan, Columbia seminary intern, and it is designed as a dialogue. V1 is voice one and V2 is voice two. However, it can also be retooled as a solo event. You are welcome to use it, or any parts of it, in the context of your own congregation.) V1 This story is the first of several Elijah appearances. The most famous is the big ...
4/23/2009
Twelve Specific Things Church Leaders Can Do Now to Increase Giving By Lovett H. Weems, Jr. 1. Immediately make sure your personal giving is what it should be. 2. Immediately say "thank you" and find ways to do so regularly all year. 3. Tell people regularly what was accomplished through their giving. 4. Immediately do something concrete to assist those in economic distress. 5. Ask lay professionals to conduct workshops on budgeting and personal finances. 6. Focus on worship attendance since ...
4/22/2009
HealthFlex participants: If you haven't enrolled in the Virgin HealthMiles walking program at www.virginhealthmiles.com/northgeorgia, what are you waiting for? 650 of us are enrolled, but there are still over 1,300 of us eligible for the program-covered retirees and spouses this includes you. 228 people have already earned $25 in the program and 23 have earned $100. The weather is mild, your health will be improved, there is cash on the table. Log on, sign up, order a free uploadable ...
4/16/2009
Looking ahead to the Lectionary text for June 14, 2009 I Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." View an example in today's world on how this happens. Thanks to my friend Tom Comptom for pointing this out to me.
4/15/2009
If you’re a HealthFlex participant, watch for an important letter from HealthFlex/WebMD the week of April 13. Every HealthFlex participant and covered spouse will receive a personalized letter. This letter contains a new personal identification number (PIN)—which is required to verify your authorization to access personal health information through the HealthFlex/WebMD Web site. This is a one-time authorization designed to maintain the security of your personal health data as HealthFlex moves ...
4/13/2009
...The other book is more serious: Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by renowned restaurateur Danny Meyer (HarperCollins Publishing). I had heard about the book, and finally someone pressed it into my hands to read on another long airplane ride. Much of the book is autobiography, but there are gems embedded in the story relevant to every dying church that lives in the illusion that they are a “friendly” congregation. Meyer’s repeated point is that opulent, ...
4/13/2009
Have you ever sent out a one paragraph informational e-mail, that literally took less than one minute to write, and then spent hours clarifying to recipients what you meant? So much for time-saving digital communications! The ease of quickly broadcasting information electronically, whether through e-mail, IM, chats, or any of the host of social networks that are open to the world these days, has brought us into a modern era of possibility that didn’t exist just a few years ago. We are more ...
4/13/2009
Looking for a helpful resource to gain further insight to the movies you are watching? My favorite site over the years has been www.hollywoodjesus.com which now has weekly and monthly e-newsletter options. This week features a list of 20 stirring films from Easter Weekend including Cool Hand Luke, Signs and Hotel Rwanda. Gran Torino probably has the strongest Christ imagery of any film this season. Ken Gire once stated that he would rather see R-rated truth than G-rated lies. This film is not ...
4/13/2009
Several Sundays ago I attended Job Seeker Sunday at Roswell UMC. What a great idea! On the 2nd and 4th Monday evenings, job seekers and a myriad of volunteers gather for dinner, inspiration and instruction as they seek to find new ways to put their skills to work. In fact, one of their leaders, Katherine Simons, will be interviewed this morning, April 13th, on WGST Radio at 9:45 AM. Two years ago they averaged around 80 on Monday evenings. Last year 150 and this year over 300 job seekers. Not ...
4/6/2009
Jasmine, the Mother Theresa Greyhound by Myke on March 27, 2009 In 2003, police in Warwickshire, England, opened a garden shed and found a whimpering, cowering dog. It had been locked in the shed and abandoned. It was dirty and malnourished, and had clearly been abused. In an act of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a Greyhound female, to the nearby Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary, run by a man named Geoff Grewcock and known as a willing haven for Animals abandoned, ...