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16 Dec

December 16, 2008 |

Scott Hardaway, pastor of Pathway Community Church, the UB church in Jackson, Mich., wrote a superb blog post called “Something to Believe In.” He talks about how we too often squander laypersons’ time and energy in ministries that lack purpose.

Here are three paragraphs from the middle of the piece. You should read the whole thing, including Scott’s own purposeful goals for himself in 2009.

I believe that churches too often simply assume that everything they do is worthwhile. It might even be true (although, usually it’s not), but I guarantee that the average person in the pew does not make that same assumption. The average person wants to know, “OK, if I give my time to this thing, what difference is that going to make? What’s the impact that my contribution is going to have?” And if we can answer that question satisfactorily, we’ll find people lining up to serve because every single one of us has an innate, God-given desire to make a real difference with our lives.

Part of answering that question satisfactorily, however, lies in our ability to own up to the fact that we have in fact wasted people’s time and efforts in the past. We have invested them in places that really didn’t make any difference. We have created ministries that were not strategic, that were not well-planned or excellently executed. We have mis-shepherded the hearts and lives of our people and put them in positions where they were destined to fail, usually due to no fault of their own.

So we must commit to not doing that anymore. We must solemnly promise (and then, of course, follow through on that promise) to do our part in developing ministries that matter–ministries that really allow those serving to make an impact or an investment in the lives of other people; ministries that tangibly bring glory to God, instead of simply supporting our structure. And the best way to do that is to set clearly defined, concrete goals that spell out plainly what will be accomplished through any particular ministry.

15 Dec

December 15, 2008 |

All 21 Huntington University students from Dr. Wayne Priest’s Applied Research Methods course have had their research projects published in the online Undergraduate Research Journal of the Human Sciences. The students, who worked in teams of three, have seven papers in the journal’s seventh volume.

“Having practical experience in research and presentation is essential for students seeking application to graduate school,” said Woods, a history major from Hillsdale, Mich.

The seven papers are:

  • “Death and Social Life: How Death of a Loved One Impacts Social Style.”
  • “Self-Esteem and Class Standing in Liberal Arts Undergraduate College Students.” 
  • “The Relationship of Fear of Negative Evaluation and Perfectionism in College Students.”
  • “Divorce, Its Implications on Children: The Onset of Sexual Relationships in Adolescents.” 
  • “The Impact of Sleepiness Levels on Academic Achievement for College Students.” 
  • “The Relationship Between Stress and Eating in College-Aged Students.”
  • “The Relationship between Body Mass Index and Self-esteem in Female College Students.”

The students also presented their research projects at the 21st annual Michigan Undergraduate Psychology Research Conference on April 19 at Albion College in Albion, Mich.

15 Dec

December 15, 2008 |

Pat Jones, Director of Healthy Church Ministries
I woke up to this amazing thought and had to share it. While there is nothing new in it, my heart was blessed to contemplate it all in a new way. So here is my new, old Christmas thought.

The One who created all things, left that which was comfortable in order to take on a form that was unnatural.
The Creator became created.
The Omnipotent One became dependent.
The One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills was born in abject poverty.
He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we may have life.

And He simply asks that we be willing to leave our position of comfort, enter into the zone of unknown, and tell the world what He has done for us. All by the power of His Spirit living in us.

All I can do is say “Thank you” and “Here am I, Lord, send me.”

13 Dec

December 13, 2008 |

Here’s a pretty incredible website, Iamsecond.com, with excellent testimonies from a number of people–some of them well-known, some not. They’re communicating that God is first in their lives. 

12 Dec

December 12, 2008 |

2008 Global Ministries Placemat

Hanging on a wall in your church–we hope–is a Global Ministries map showing all of our missionaries and where they serve. We’ve been reprinting the map every year or so, trying to keep up-to-date with our missionaries serving around the world.

Actually, it’s a placemat. It looks good on bulletin boards in church foyers and Sunday school rooms. But the vast majority are used as placemats at church meals. It’s a multi-function piece.

Now we’ve got a new one. It’s not really a map, but does group missionaries according to where they serve (Europe, Central America, Africa, etc.).

This new placemat includes:

  • Photos and information about our newest missionaries (for the website, we had to blur some of them for security purposes).
  • Updated photos from other missionaries.
  • The new Global Ministries logo.

These are free. Just contact Darlene in Global Ministries and tell us how many you want. We’ll ship them right out.

(Yes, the photos in the picture above are blurred. That’s for security purposes. The photos are sharp on the actual placemat.)

11 Dec

December 11, 2008 |

Sandie Birdsall remains in Intensive Care, following her emergency surgery on December 1 (as reported here on December 3). Brent, her husband, posts regular upodates on his Facebook page. On Wednesday, he posted the following:

GREAT NEWS. Sandie was extubated (her breathing tube was removed) around 2:30 p.m. Throughout the afternoon she made remarkable progress. Her eyes were open. She was checking out her surroundings, albeit with bleary, somewhat drugged eyes. Her progress was beautiful to behold.

One concern: as we celebrated Sandie’s progress and bombarded the poor gal with too many questions, there was one concern that we noted. Sandie was not able to move her left hand or shrug her left shoulder. I’m hoping it’s primarily an atrophy issue, but I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge that I am struggling with anxiety. Please join with me in prayer for Sandie’s FULL recovery. Lots of work and physical therapy are ahead of us. I’m concerned about and I’m praying for Sandie’s ability to regain strength and coordination in both her hands.