Eeeeeeeeek!

Just a quick note to let you know we're still here. The 2006 Hannaford Fall Conference is next weekend and we're wrapping up a lot of loose ends. Basically, I'm swamped. I pray that my "swamped-ness" somehow translates into lives impacted. Some quick notes:

• Got two grade progress reports for Andrik. They send them every two weeks in email - How cool is that??!! A in English, A+ in Computer Apps.
• Shooting a video for church. Bad timing with the Conference and all. I'm hoping it turns out well.
• I have two extra Orders of Worship to plan this week in addition to the regular Sunday service. I also have a program, name tags and a number of other misc projects for the conference.
• Andrea's been working hard trying to decorate Pastor Dick's office (painting, finding furniture, hunting in thrift stores).
• Kellin's been getting in trouble at school. It's only two weeks in!!! Oy!
• It got really cold, really fast. It was in the 80's one day and then dropped to the 40's. We just got our first snow this fall (in the mountians).
• Worship was especially energized for me this morning. I needed that. I pray that is was pleasing to Him.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!

Author and pastor Rick Warren starts his book The Purpose-Driven Life with the words, "It's not about you." While those words are correct, the deep truth is ... it is all about Jesus.

While there are a million, a billion, or more things to occupy our thoughts, joys, excitement, complaints, and concerns - it all comes down to Jesus. He is our focus.

Democrats, Republicans, homosexuals, pro-life, pro-choice, tattoos, body piercings, hymns, tradional, contemporary, evolution, intelligent design, creation, baptism, dancing, potlucks, music, nice suits, shorts & flip-flops, doctrine, spirituality, Gen-X, Modernism, church decorations, windows, home school, public schools, MTV, movies, the internet ... JESUS!

What's your focus?

Another September Disaster

No, it's not 9/11. It's not Hurricane Katrina. It's "Western Day" at Hannaford Street Bible Church.

I guess that's a bit of an overstatement - it certainly will not be a disaster. Our annual Western Day tomorrow is part of our "Fall Kickoff" campaign this year. It was planned to be a big start to September. We notified all the local media and sent out 10,000 full-color postcards to Helena residents informing them of the free western breakfast, hayrides for the kids, and best of all, a live bluegrass band in both services!

Thursday afternoon the bluegrass band canceled (due to an emergency health issue in the band). So two days before Labor Day weekend we have been frantically calling and searching for a replacement group. The result? No go. :-(

Needless to say, we're pretty disappointed. We made the decision late yesterday that there is just no getting someone in here at such late notice, so I've had to come up with a plan for worship on Sunday. Did I mention that I'm off Fridays, that I cleared the stage for Sunday's band, that I'm pretty sick with a cold? We considered just playing a DVD of the bluegrass band through the whole service, but we thought that might be boring especially because you can't really see the projection screen in daytime anyway.

So finally, I've decided on a Good Ol' Down Home Sing-A-Long. I've picked out about 25 good ol' songs from our hymn book that our people can request on Sunday. I'm sure some with really appreciate and enjoy the day! Although some in second service may not know any of the songs listed. That's okay, though. Our relationship with Jesus is far more important that the tradition of singing a few 50-100 year-old songs.

Like I said, it may not be what we intended, but Western Day won't be a disaster.

Rediscovering Hope in 2006

I probably haven't mentioned anything about an upcoming event at Hannaford this September. Each year we host a Fall conference to bring Christian speakers from across the country to Helena, Montana.

This alone is a feat in itself. While there are general sessions with the keynote speakers and worship, we perform a free special service to pastors and church leaders - we have two days of workshops especially for pastors in the Northwest.

This year, we're putting on the finishing touches on the 2006 conference planning. With a theme of Rediscovering Hope, we're excited to have as our keynote speaker, Bob Russell, former Senior Pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Over 22,000 people attend Southeast each weekend and the church has been named the 6th most influential church in America by Church Report magazine.

We are also excited to have Doug Schmidt, Senior Pastor of Woodside Bible Church in Troy, Michigan, and performer/comedian Jeff Smith, Director of Salt & Light Ministries in Richmond, Virginia. Finally, I am especially looking forward to having Martin Allen of Worship Foundations International lead worship and conduct two workshops. It will be the first year the conference has had a worship component.

Quotable Quips - Why Waste People's Time?

"Believe it or not–I have STRONG political opinions–STRONG ONES! AND…I love to discuss politics with people in a one on one conversation OR in a small group. However, while I will use sermon illustrations that include people in politics…I will never use the platform God has given me to support a political candidate or party…why would I waste people’s time on a Sunday talking about the government when I can tell them about Jesus?"

Perry Noble, Senior Pastor or NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina - as quoted from his blog at PerryNoble.com (August 29, 2006)

What other things do waste people's time with on Sundays when we could be telling them about Jesus?

Montana Facts Potpourri

Since we've moved to Montana, we've started noticing how many times our state comes up in conversations, movies, and television. So we have decided to keep a running list. We'll update it whenever we run across another reference to Montana and you can check back by checking the link in the sidebar under "Montana Facts Potpourri"

• American stuntman Evel Knievel (Robert Craig Knievel, Jr.) was born October 17, 1938 in Butte, Montana.
• In 1888 Helena had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world.
• The 1992 movie A River Runs Through It is set in Montana and was filmed in Bozeman and Livingston, Montana.
• In the 1971 movie Willie Wonka & Chocolate Factory, the character Violet Beauregarde is from Miles City, Montana.
• The infamous Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski (Theodore John Kaczynski) was arrested on April 3, 1996, at his remote cabin outside Lincoln, Montana.
• The U.S.-Canadian border scene of the 1987 movie The Untouchables was filmed at the old Hardy Creek Bridge over the Missouri River, just south of Great Falls, Montana.
• The 1992 Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman movie Far and Away was filmed in Billings and Bozeman, Montana.
• Drinking while driving in Montana only became illegal on October 1, 2005
• Dana Carvey is from Missoula, Montana
• Montana is the fourth largest state in the U.S. right behind Alaska, Texas, and California. As far as population, however, Montana ranks 44 out of 50.
• In the computer-animated 2007 Disney movie Meet The Robinsons, the main character, Lewis, travels to the future to meet his family and finds out that modern-day Montana will become South Montana and Canada will become North Montana
• The character Peggy Hill from the animated television show King Of The Hill grew up in Missoula, Montana

Email me if you have an interesting tidbit about Montana that I've missed.