We had an awesome day to Mountain Valley!  It started with our faithful crew getting everything up and running.  I thank God for people who love Him so much that they’re willing to get up in the cold to set up church.  MVBC wouldn’t exist without their faithfulness.

I wrapped up my sermon series called “Free to Give” today.  We’ve been talking about God’s desire for us to be generous.  I have been convicted by the example of the believers at Macedonia found in 2 Corinthians 8:1-7.  They gave above and beyond what anyone would expect from people who were living in true poverty.  I want to be generous like that!  We learned from Proverbs 3:5-12 that we need to make investing in God’s kingdom our first priority.

We also focused on the Lottie Moon Foreign Missions offering today.  We got to hear from Emily Stansell who shared about her summer mission experience in Peru.  I was so impressed with her willingness to live in very challenging circumstances in order to share the Gospel.  Praise God for those who placed their lives in His hands!  We must not forget the important work that’s being done around the world to share the Gospel with people who are hungry to know God.

We started a new tradition at MVBC today.  We asked our congregation to make a financial commitment to the ministry and mission of our church for the next year.  We all prayerfully considered what we could give and turned in a Financial Commitment Card.  I believe that this will have a two-fold benefit for our church.  Our people are seriously considering how they can contribute to the kingdom work we are called to do as a church and our church leadership will be able to make better financial decisions about our budget for next year.  I still want us to dream big and pray that God will bring in an abundance of resources, but believe that this tool will help us be better stewards with the resources we have.

The icing on the cake was standing up to preach and seeing the crowd that showed up a cold and blustery morning!  We have been growing at a quicker pace of the last several weeks and I’ve been blessed to see the fruit of our various outreach efforts.  We’ve had numerous families visit because of Angelfood and some that attended our Block Party.  Our congregation is also bringing friends and family.  I’m so proud of the warm and inviting atmosphere our folks have created for our guests!

I’m also beginning to see our prayers answered for a multi-cultural congregation.  It has always grieved my heart that Sunday mornings are the most segregated time of the week.  It’s been wonderful to see people of different cultures and backgrounds worshipping together!  I pray that we can be a part of healing the hurt and animosity among the races.  I pray that our church will be a little glimpse of what heaven will be like – people of all nations praising God together as the unified body of Christ.  Lord, let it begin with us!!

Our Lifegroup was awesome tonight.  We have such a great bunch of folks who are willing to be authentic with each other and who earnestly desire to learn more about God’s Word.  I look forward to a great time of fellowship, encouragement, accountability, and learning every week.  We had a sweet time of prayer that moved my heart and lifted my soul.   Can’t wait for next week!

It’s back to the work routine tomorrow, but for now I’m on cloud nine!  Praise God for the opportunity to serve at Mountain Valley!!!

I had a great opportunity today to attend a seminar on conflict coaching by the folks at Peacemaker Ministries. I’ve been so convicted that I need to learn everything I can about becoming a peacemaker. Think back to the many conflicts you’ve experienced in your life. How did you handle them? Were you an abassador of reconciliation like Paul described in 2 Corinthians 5?

“Now everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ; certain that God is appealing through us, we plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-21, HCSB)

Or did the conlict go nuclear?!? I must confess that most of the conflicts I’ve been involved in ended terribly. I pray that our church will have a culture of peace that grabs the attention of our community. We have a tremendous responsibilty as ambassadors. Will you join me in placing peacemaking as a top priority?

The seminar was hosted at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in Homewood, AL. April and I attended there for about five years after we were first married. It was such a blessing to see our old friends Jan Jones and Don Steen today. I look back at our time there and realize that God used them and many others to help me grow in my walk with Jesus. I pray that God will continue to bless the incredible work that Dawson is doing to build the kingdom of God!