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05 Feb

February 5, 2009 |

janeseely_250.jpgJane Seely has joined the staff of Healthy Ministry Resources. She is pretty much taking the place of Phylis Stouder, who retired at the end of the year but who still comes around quite a bit to help out. Jane works with the bookstore to ship Sunday school literature and other materials, and also does miscellaneous stuff around the office.

Let’s start with connections. Jane is the sister of Mike Caley, pastor of Banner of Christ UB church in Byron Center, Mich. That makes her the aunt of Erinn Caley, who served here for six months as administrative assistant to Bishop Ron Ramsey. (Erinn now teaches at a school in Boston.)

Jane and her husband, Rodney, live in Huntington and attend First Nazarene Church. Rodney is a sales rep for a building materials wholesaler. They have three children. Michael, 26, and his wife, Heather, live in St. Paul, Minn., with their two children. Son David, 23, lives in Fishers, Ind. And Rachel, 12, is still at home.

04 Feb

February 4, 2009 |

February is when UB members throughout our churches vote on the two referenda items (proposed changes to the UB Constitution). Churches will handle it different ways, but technically, people should be able to vote throughout the month.

This is just a little reminder, with one Sunday in February gone.

If half of the UB members who vote approve a referendum, then it goes to the US National Conference. If two-thirds of the delegates approve that referendum, then it becomes official.

04 Feb

February 4, 2009 |

The Haiti team from Canada is back, almost. They got stuck in Miami Tuesday night, but today, Wednesday, will continue back to Ontario.

Follow the link to read Joan Sider’s account of their final three days in Haiti. And don’t miss the song at the end, written to the tune of “This is the Day” to recap the entire trip.

(more…)

04 Feb

February 4, 2009 |

A former doctor in Sierra Leone has been gathering a lot of equipment for Mattru Hospital, where he served in the 1980s. He received several donations of medical equipment and medicines from hospitals in northern Indiana–Fort Wayne, Auburn, Bluffton. Some of the hospitals had closed certain units, and they donated equipment they no longer needed.

The equipment was stored in a warehouse in Garret, Ind. The first container was sent on January 9 with 14,300 pounds of goods.

It takes about a month for a container to reach Africa. Donna Hollopeter, Associate Director of Global Ministries, says this is the first of what will probably be three containers they will send.

Two shipments from other organizations are also in progress:

  • Samaritan’s Purse will be sending a shipment from their own warehouse. We don’t know yet exactly when it will go.
  • Brother’s Brother is also preparing a shipment of beds and mattresses for the hospital. They are not necessarily a Christian organization, but provide help in Third World countries.

As mentioned, we’ll be sending a second, and possibly a third, container to Sierra Leone. While the materials we send are usually donated, we still need $12,500 per container to cover shipping costs. Global Ministries would greatly appreciate your help in underwriting the shipping costs. Just send your gift to Global Ministries, and write “for container shipment” on the memo line.

03 Feb

February 3, 2009 |

Ernie Herndon, Sr., Associate Pastor of Olivet UB (Dayton, Ohio), passed away Sunday, February 1.

Vewing: Thursday, February 5, from 5-8 p.m.
Funeral: Friday, February 6, at 11:00 a.m. Rev. Phillip Marxson will officiate.
Both the viewing and funeral will be held at the Robert L. Crooks Funeral Center Preble Memory Gardens, 3377 US Rte. 35, between Eaton and West Alexandria, Ohio.

Rev. Herndon was born May 8, 1924, in Somerset, Va. He was a World War II vet, serving in the Army 1943-1946. Over the years he worked as a farmer, a self-employed carpenter, and in private security. He is survived by his wife, Carol J. (McKee) Herndon, whom he married January 6, 1968; and by six children.

03 Feb

February 3, 2009 |

Jim Bolich, pastor of Prince Street Church (Shippensburg, Pa.), is preaching through Philemon. Paul wrote to Philemon, a wealthy man, about Onesiumus, a slave who stole something and then fled…and then became a Christian. Jim, on his blog, mentioned two principles. Here is the first one:

Principle 1: Don’t deny your problems; face them.

A lot of people go through life denying that their problems exist. It’s like holding a lit firecracker and telling yourself it isn’t going to blow up. But it will. And when it does, severe pain and destruction will happen.

So…what’s your problem? What’s the lit firecracker in your life? Onesimus took a handwritten letter back to the guy who had the authority to kill him, trusting God with the results. God intervened, and He can for us, too.

What’s your problem…the thing that threatens to overwhelm you? Whatever it is, give it a name. Quit denying the problem. Allow God to change your life. Face it, despite the potential consequences. And trust God with the outcome.

03 Feb

February 3, 2009 |

You might be interested in this. The South Mountain UB church of Dillsburg, Pa., withdrew from the denomination on October 8. A Pennsylvania website, Pennlive.com, reports that this congregation has merged with an Assembly of God congregation in Dillsburg.

The Assemblies congregation, called Celebration, had a pastor, but no building; they were renting a banquet room at a golf course. South Mountain had a large but underused facility, but had just lost its pastor.

They worked out their differences, and joined forces. The article says membership now stands at 300.

02 Feb

February 2, 2009 |

Pinkout_440.jpg

The Huntington University women’s basketball program raised $2,007 for breast cancer research through a Pink Out event held Saturday.

The team presented a check to Heidi Floyd, development ambassador for the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer, following its game against Grace College. Funds were raised through donations in lieu of a game-day admission charge as well as through T-shirt and pink popcorn sales.

All of the funds donated to the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer are directed toward breast cancer research.

Beth Goldsmith (top right), a breast cancer survivor and former assistant coach of the Huntington University women’s basketball team, spoke at halftime. Goldsmith’s sister passed away from the disease, and her mother is currently fighting it.

“I am grateful for this journey,” she told the crowd. “It hasn’t changed my life goals and purpose, but it has expanded them.” Goldsmith said she was pleased to come back and support “a coach, a program and an institution that I respect so much.”

Also at halftime, 35 breast cancer survivors were recognized and presented with a Pink Elephants Candle of Hope from the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer.

The Huntington University Foresters are currently ranked 12th by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

02 Feb

February 2, 2009 |

I am reading through the Scriptures once again following a chronological plan. Several things struck me as I am reading through Exodus and the accounts of the plagues. For example, the interplay between God saying he sovereignly hardened Pharaoh’s heart and Pharaoh hardening his own heart.

But the key thought that struck me most this time had to do with the Lord saying several times, “I make a distinction between my people and your people.” At least three times when he brings a plague on the Egyptians, he protects the Israelites and the land of Goshen from that plague. The people of Egypt see the distinction, and because of that, they are favorably disposed to Moses and the Israelites.

A distinction. To mark someone or something out as different. To make a comparison between. To use as an illustration that is apart from the norm. To separate out as something admirable.

What a great description of God’s people. We are illustrations. We are protected from the consequential disasters that fall on others because of our relationship with the Lord. We are shown by the Lord as different, holy. When the Lord uses our lives to reflect the difference, people will see and hear and give him glory.

Do you see the distinction? Do you acknowledge how the Lord protects? Do you find that people are drawn by what they see happening in your life?

We have a loving Father who keeps watch over us. His purpose is to show everyone himself through us. He distinguishes us from those around us. And the ultimate end is that people will be apt to revere him because of what they see in our lives.

I’m grateful for such a wondrous God.