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30 Jul

July 30, 2008 |

Many people have fond memories of attending summer camp while they were growing up. Friendships were formed, knees were skinned, challenges were conquered, and most of all, life long lessons were learned. Now that we are older, we are glad places like that still exist for our own kids and grandkids.

Camp Cotubic is one such place. It held a special place in the heart of Mr. Tom Ponsot, who passed away in the Spring of 2005. Tom saw the great potential of Camp Cotubic and volunteered his time and financial resources to preserve it as a place where his own grandkids and many other children could experience summer camp. Tom served as the chairman of the camp board for several years and was passionate about the camp’s ministry.

One of the challenges summer camps face is raising the financial resources to maintain high quality programs. To this end we are announcing the 4th Annual Tom Ponsot Memorial Golf Tournament:

Date: September 6, 2008
Registration: 7:30
Tee Time: 8 a.m.
Location: Clear Creek Golf Course, Huntington, Ind.
Cost: $50 per person (includes green fees, cart, snacks, and lunch).

The tournament will use a four-person/team Florida scramble format. Prizes will also be awarded in a variety of categories. All proceeds to go to support the ministries of Camp Cotubic.

To register, please contact Zanesville United Brethren church by email or phone (260-638-4220). For more information about Camp Cotubic, please visit the Camp Cotubic website.

30 Jul

July 30, 2008 |

I love books. I keep a lot of books at home, and I’ve given away a lot of books. Someone told me that a person who can read but doesn’t is no better off than a person who can’t read at all. Books can open up your mind and vista. You can do things by reading a book, be translated to somewhere else. That’s the magic of books.

Christian men are notoriously bad about not reading. At Scripture Press, when we produced a book for men, we had to use a cover with a soft design that would attract a woman, who would then buy it for a man. Women, we knew, buy more books than men, even books for men.

At Mainstreet, I was always after people to read. I gave the elders books to read, theology books. There are so many good Christian books.

29 Jul

July 29, 2008 |

Polly Dunten underwent surgery Monday morning to remove a brain tumor. Her husband Darwin, pastor of First UB in Findlay, Ohio, sent me this report this morning.

The surgery is over and the Lord answered our prayers.

The surgeon feels he got all of the tumor either through surgery or by burning it out. There is nerve damage and we will see to what extent in the next few days. She currently has numbness on her left side, However, I saw the most beautiful almost smile I ever saw this evening before I left her. The tumor was pressing hard on the brain stem.  It also “thinned” the nerve. Similar to an electric wire that looses its insulation.

Thank you so much for praying for us. God is good and I am so thankful He allowed me to have my wife for a little longer.

We heard from people from around the world and around the United States.  We are humbled. I have written a more indepth statement on Polly’s blog.

28 Jul

July 28, 2008 |

At Mainstreet Church, I used a big PVC pipe to illustrate the disciple-making process. Outside the pipe are people who don’t even acknowledge that God exists. But once they realize there is a God, they enter the pipeline, and we try to move them along–

  • realizing a need for God
  • learning about Jesus
  • realizing their need for Jesus
  • giving their life to Christ
  • and then growing.

It’s all part of the journey through the discipleship pipeline.

After a person came to Christ, I would tell him, “You need to go back to your non-religious friends and get them in the pipeline with you.”

“How do I do that?”

“Tell them what you did.”

So they’d come to church with someone on their arm, and would walk with them through the process.

Spiritual maturity is not measured by what you know, but by who is on your arm and heart on Sunday. If you don’t have someone on your arm and heart, don’t talk to me about your maturity.

25 Jul

July 25, 2008 |

Polly Dunten’s surgery to remove a brain tumor will be Monday morning, July 28, at 7:15. It should take 4-5 hours, and she’ll be hospitalized probably until Thursday. There is a lot more information on Polly’s blog in a post earlier today. Perhaps your church could remember this ministerial couple in prayer on Sunday.

25 Jul

July 25, 2008 |

On Wednesday, I encouraged all churches to get a domain name, whether or not they have current plans for a website. Now you may be wondering, “So where do we get a domain name?”

There are many places. My experience is limited to Network Solutions, Aplus.net, and Yahoo. Yahoo! was extremely frustrating, Aplus not so much. But I’ve transferred all UB domains to Network Solutions.

Network Solutions makes it easy to configure domains to use with websites hosted by other service providers. We have domains scattered among several providers, and have never had trouble configuring things through Network Solutions.

  • UB.org and UBMissions.com are hosted on the Huntington University system (with the server in my office).
  • Ubonline.org (home of the UB News page) is hosted by Aplus.net.
  • Bluehost.com hosts our atmychurch.com and healthyministryresources.com websites.

GoDaddy.com is the largest domain registrar; Tucows.com is also popular. I’m sticking with Network Solutions (which is a bit pricier) for the UB accounts, because I’ve had such good experience.

If you open an account with an internet service provider (Bluehost, Aplus, GoDaddy–there are scores of them), you often get a free domain name (at least for a year). But make sure the account is in the church’s name (not the name of a staff member or layperson). Make sure the church controls the name.

To search for available names, go to the homepage of Network Solutions or GoDaddy.

What advice or experience can you share?

24 Jul

July 24, 2008 |

2008EnglishCamp.jpgI’m in China participating in the English camp for Chinese teachers. We had the teachers participate in a values survey.

  • The number one value among our teachers: “Respect and honor your parents and grandparents.”
  • Least important: “Keeping oneself disinterested and pure.”

This requires some explanation. What they mean by this is that they want to remain connected with people, in touch, not aloof. “Pure” in this context is seen as negative. It implies that you are unwilling to be “dirtied” by others. I like that.

23 Jul

July 23, 2008 |

Your church needs a domain name.

  • The potential domain names for your church decline every day. Unless your church has an unusual name, or you add “ub” to the end, you’ll probably have trouble finding an appropriate name. So get on it now.
  • When my church, Anchor Community Church, started a website in 2002, we had a terrible time finding a good domain name. Most any name containing “Anchor” was already taken, and that was six years ago. We finally settled on “Anchorpeople.org.”
  • Domain names are bargain-priced real estate on the internet. Prices vary, but $20 a year might do it.
  • Once a name is gone, it’s gone. Unless somebody forgets to renew it somewhere down the road (in which case, somebody else will probably grab it first).

You don’t need a website to have a domain name.

  • Even if you have no immediate plans to create a website, I recommend obtaining a domain name. Set it on the shelf until you need it.
  • The national office owns 37 domain names, most of which aren’t being used. We’re just saving them for possible future needs, and don’t want anyone else to own them (like unitedbrethren.com, ubchurches.us, ubchildren.org, and ubusa.org).
  • If you have an internet service provider, you can possibly use your domain name for email even if you don’t have a website.

To search for available names, go to the homepage of Network Solutions or GoDaddy.

What advice or experience can you share?