2010 Bible Reading Plan

When I come to the end of a year, one of the decisions for me to make is, "how will I read the Bible this coming year". I like to go into the year with a plan. I may choose a translation that I don't often read or I may choose to try and read the entire Bible in one year. Some years I like to slow my reading pace way down to give me more time to reflect on fewer things.

If you need some help in determining a plan for 2010 and if you wouldn't mind doing some of your devotions by using your phone or computer, I have an idea for you.

If you go to youversion, there are about 20+ reading plans that they offer. Choose one that seems to fit and enjoy spending time with God in 2010.

Primal, by Mark Batterson

I just completed “Primal, a Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity”, the latest book by Mark Batterson.

If you are a part of Living Hope Church, where I pastor, his name will be very familiar to you. In the last couple of years we have gone through two books authored by Mark; “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day” and “Wild Goose Chase”.

I love the fact that this book draws me back to the heart of purpose, why I was created, to love God and love people.

There are certain books that when I read them I must have a highlighter in hand. This is one of them. Nearly every page I found myself marking at least one phrase or thought. It had me thinking, “this is good, this is something that I need to remember and apply”.

Let me share just a few of the many with you.

“Going back to that most primal place helps us find our way forward”.

“You cannot listen to just half of what the Holy Spirit has to say. It’s a package deal”.

“…it’s much easier to act like a Christian than it is to react like one”.

“The most primal form of love is not doing things for God. It is receiving with gratitude what He has already done for us. And then reflecting it in our lives”.

I highly recommend this book to you. This is the first book you should read this year. You can purchase the book at RandomHouse.

Dan Kornbaum Reaches Milestone

My son Mark's friend, Dan Kornbaum, reached a great milestone in his high school basketball career. Last night he scored his 1,000th point.

Goals and milestones are significant in life. Without setting goals most people tend to drift through life aimlessly.

Take a few moments in these closing days of 2009 and establish some new goals and reevaluate any past ones to see if you are still on track. As Dan needed others, his team, to help him, realize that you will need others to be a part of the process of making milestones.

Dream big and enjoy the journey.

givemn.org

www.giveMN.org is a new website that allows online giving for non-profits as a no-fee service. They just launched this website and today November 17th, their funding partners have created Give to the Max day. TODAY from 8AM to Wednesday at 8AM, GiveMN.org will match any donations up to $500,000.

So, please go to: www.GiveMN.org and type LIVING HOPE ASSEMBLY OF GOD into the box on the right (find a non-profit). On the right is a green donate box. Click on it! On the next page you can make a donation and designate it. Our church youth group, Motion Student Ministries, is doing a big end of the year push for Speed-the-Light. Today would be a great day to help them out. To designate to Speed-the-Light, just type " Speed-the-Light" in the box.

Remember, that for Today only, your dollar could be worth $2! Go to www.givemn.org today!

If this doesn't work for you today, there will be an opportunity for you this Sunday. During the service we will be taking our annual offering for Speed-the-Light.

Pray 4 Your Block

I came across an interesting website today. It is called "Pray 4 Your Block".

The following is a copy of their description of this ministry.

Imagine what could happen if your community was covered in prayer!

• Prayer will open your eyes to what God is doing in your neighborhood.
• Prayer will ready you to act as He moves in your neighborhood.
• Prayer will prepare your neighbors to experience the transforming love and power of Christ.
• All this happens as a result of your prayers!

Together we can form a virtual prayer network across communities… across the country… around the world! Simply follow the 3-steps above to raise a “prayer flag” above your residence as a visible banner to the world that your block will be regularly covered in prayer. Your “prayer flag” will be posted on a Google Earth map for the world to see. Together, we are praying for a sustained Christ-awakening that transforms people, churches and communities!

Take a few moments to:

• Create an account
• Post a (virtual) prayer flag at your address.
• Pray!

Your flag indicates you've committed to pray regularly for your block. Your registration also entitles you to receive e-mail updates with testimonies of answered prayer, resources and more.

As you can see from the picture below, I am the first one signed up in Minnesota. I think it would be awesome to get in on this in the early stages and watch the number of red flags pop up.

Let's cover our neighborhoods, communities and state with prayer.

A Visit to North Central University

Today was a strange day for my wife and me. We took our eldest, Mark, to North Central to check out the school. He is a senior this year and is in the middle of one of the biggest decisions he has ever made.

As I sat in chapel today, I encountered a moment of shock. 22 years ago I graduated from North Central. Never did I think back then that my wife and I would be sitting in chapel, with one of our kids, on the verge of becoming a college student.

The other crazy thought is that in 22 years from now I will be at the age of retirement. If these years go as fast as the last 22, I have no time to waste. I have so many things to still accomplish.

Pray earnestly, dream big, work hard, have faith, do it all for God's glory!

Go Twins!

Me and GM Ron Gardenhire

No matter how the Twin's do tomorrow they sure have inspired me and others to never quit! I love the fact that the Twin's always play 110%. If Jesus was physically walking this earth now like He was 2,000 years ago, I'm convinced He would use them in one of His parables.

When it seems like your down and out and there is no way, keep believing. Tomorrow I am preaching about this very topic. We will be talking about Abraham and Sarah, having their first child after it was physically impossible. Remember, with God nothing is impossible. Expect a miracle today.

Me and Mn Twin's great, Tony Oliva

Outrageous Joy!

Last Wednesday at Living Hope Church we started a brand new series called "Outrageous Joy". The idea of this series started because of where I was at in life. I tend to be a very positive, happy, laugh a lot kind of person. The last few months things have happened that have robbed joy from my life. I can't even put a finger on what those things all are. Just life.

I came to a point where I thought, this is enough. Ministry should not drain me of joy. Life should not bring me down. I have Jesus Christ in my heart, an awesome family and serve a great church. What's going on?

Needless to say, I am really looking forward to this fall series, because I need it!

Last week I gave everyone an assignment. Throughout the week they are to look for and jot down the things that occur that make them laugh or put a smile on their face. Come back on Wednesday prepared to share, even if it is embarrassing to them. We promised not to laugh at them but with them.

How about you? Are you looking at the glass half full or half empty? Does how you feel about life depend on the events of the day or upon things that change? The Apostle Paul was a person that experienced unbelievable trials and still continued to walk in the joy of the Lord.

I hope you can join us for this fun series as we look at Paul's life and his letter to the church in Phillippi.

Let's reclaim that "Outrageous Joy"!

What's A Great Day?

Today my family experience a "great day". We started the day by biking the Soo Line Trail from Little Falls to Bowlus. This is one of the things that I've had on my bucket list for a couple of years now. I know it may be one of the less significant things on my list, nonetheless, it was something that I desired to do with my family.

We are overlooking the Mississippi River at the Blanchard Dam.

We had lunch at Jordie's Trail Side Cafe in Bowlus. I loved the outdoor eating area. It was so relaxing.

Later in the day we played Bocce Ball; guys vs. girls. The guys won! Then we grilled some steak and had some awesome veggies from the garden. Following the meal we played croquet and then had a fire and ate smores. This is what I would call a great day.

What does your great day look like? Are you making some decisions that will create memorable moments in your life and the life of those around you? I want to do one thing every day that will cause me to say, "this was a great day".

Meeting Tony Dungy

Andrew and I were so excited to meet Tony Dungy. Tony came to the Assemblies of God General Council and did a book signing along with speaking at a luncheon and in a youth service.

He reached out his hand to shake hands with Andrew and had a little conversation with him. I think Andrew was pretty pumped. For all of you Viking fans, I did encourage him to come out of retirement and coach for the Vikings. If you read his book, "Quiet Strength", you know that will probably never happen. When he was our assistant coach, his wife couldn't tolerate our cold winters. Who can blame her.




I received an autographed copy of his new book, "Uncommon". It is the next book on my long list of books waiting for my time and attention. There is a Bible study that goes along with the book. I hope to have a group of men go through that some time this next year.

What I appreciate about Tony is that he is a man of integrity and character. He has certainly had his share of disappointments, heart-ache and success. In the midst of it all he has stayed anchored to his relationship with God and his family. I also love the fact that he loves to pour his life into others. Check out his website, All Pro Dads!

Influence Conference

The A/G General Counci began with a two day conference entitled, "Influence". I want to share one thought from each presenter.

Mark Batterson, "I would rather have one God idea than a thousand good ideas".

Reggie Joiner, "When you refuse to upgrade your systems you loose your capacity to support a more relevant approach".

Beth Moore, "Our biggest influence comes when we have a different approach to the same storm".

Keith Craft, "There is nothing great about being better than somebody else. True greatness is achieved by being better than your normal".

Ed Young, Jr., "We are serving samples to those who are already eating the food".

Vacation

Mark and Kelsey just returned from a week of camp and now we are taking a little family vacation. We got all packed up, took our places in the vehicle and went to start it. Nothing happened. Dead battery. After jumping it, we drove to Bill's Standard where they tested it. It failed the test. After a new battery we are on the road. Mark is driving next so he is getting some sleep.

For A Good Cause

Last Sunday at Living Hope Church we had a special offering to raise money for children's Sunday Schools in a country I can not disclose. Our goal is to provide money for 10 Sunday Schools at $762 each. A few weeks ago I added a little incentive to the offering. With every dollar a person gave they would get one vote to go towards the pastors or their wife. The losing, or is it winning, person would receive a pie in their face.

(Elene Tonder, from our missions committee, enjoying the anticipation)

As you can see from the Pictures, my wife Darla was the recipient. She was a great sport. Thanks to everyone who gave. We raised enough for 2 Sunday Schools. Just 8 more to go! If you would like to donate towards this awesome project, please contact me.

Ross Turner Worship Concert

Join us tonight at 7 PM at Living Hope Church in Little Falls. It's going to be an awesome night of worship.

Summer?

It's July 16th, the middle of summer and we were at Andrew's baseball game. You would think it would be a beautiful night, a warm night. Not so!!!!!

As you can see from the picture of Jeni Kornbaum, Darla and Jen Loukinen, it was anything but summer. There is no way anyone will ever convince me of global warming, not even, or especially, Al Gore. Florida in the summer is sounding really good.

Grandma's "Plot"

On our way to my parent's cabin in Pine City, we stopped in the small community of Bock. It is here where my Grandma Lovlein and her parents are buried. Certain memories flood through my mind. My grandma use to work at Tonka Toys. I always thought she had the coolest job, making the toys I played with.

My other memory is of her visits to our house. She always brought us a bag of m & m's.

I am inspired to make this weekend a memory filled one for my kids and their grandparents.

Facebook Username

I just set up my facebook username. Unfortunately my top choices were already gone. You can now go directly to my facebook sight by typing in the link www.facebook.com/revkeiththompson If you are on facebook and want a username, I would do it asap.

Grilling...not

Today after church I was thinking, "Memorial weekend, I've got to grill at least once". I thought I would check to make sure I had enough propaine and that everything was working fine. Was I suprised. As you can see from the picture, everything was rusted out. I went to buy some "universal" parts only to find out my grill must not be from this universe.

Have you ever been saving up for a certain item, only to have something break down and need to be replaced. Sometimes it's so hard to get ahead.

If anyone knows of a good grill that you are happy with, please leave me a comment.

Happy Day!

It's a happy day! For over a month my phone has not been syncing with my computer. To say the least, I have been out of sync. Today I was brave and decided I would do a hard reset. A hard reset means that I delete everything on my phone and start fresh. That is a scary thing. My phone has become my brain. Instead of keeping things in my head, it all goes to my HTC TouchPro.

A miracle happened. Everything is working and my phone and computer have reconciled. They are now talking again. Life Lesson Learned...every relationship is fixable.

Perhaps it is time for you to do a "hard reset". Somebody wronged you and you are not talking with them. As hard as it is, forgive, let go, reconcile. It's amazing how freeing it is to let go of the past and start fresh. If your life is out of sync, it's time to get it back in sync. HAPPY DAY!

Yard WORK!

Last summer I began a huge undertaking. I removed about 60 trees from the back yard. I just hauled in 48 yards of black dirt and have it spread out. After picking out 1,000,000 rocks I am now ready to seed. I'm trying to decide if I should put in a sprinkling system first. One thing always leads to another. "I might as well...."

Have you ever tackled a project that eventually tackled you?

If any one is available to help in the next week let me know. I am offering a steak dinner. Cooked to perfection by yours truly.

Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser

I serve on the board of Healthy Communities Collaborative (HCC) of Morrison County which began its roots with the support of CHI - Catholic Health Initiatives. St. Gabriel’s Hospital is a Market-based Organization (MBO) of CHI.

Catholic Health Initiatives has strong feelings of ministry surrounding creating “healthier communities.” Communities in which good health describes lifestyle, environment, social and economic as well as physical health and wellness of its community members.
The leadership of St. Gabriel’s hospital understood that building a healthy community in Morrison County would depend upon gaining the support of others in the community.

Key stakeholders and community members met together in the spring of 2002 and accomplished the following:

• They further defined what health meant (physical, spiritual, social, environmental, economic)
• They defined community as: government, recreation, housing, education, natural environment, medical, arts, media, churches, residents, culture, and heritage.

On Friday, May 15th at 5PM, there will be a spaghetti dinner fundraiser that will take place at Camp Ripley. If you would like to purchase tickets (which include entrance into the Battle of the Band competition that follows the dinner) please email me at kthompson4585@gmail.com by Sunday, May 10th.

The cost is only $9. Proceeds go to build a healthier Morrison County!!!

Brett Favre a Viking?

The chatter in the sports world today is all about Brett Favre and the possibility that he will come out of retirement yet again, this time to play for the Minnesota Vikings.

Last night I saw a news reporter interviewing some packer fans in a Wisconsin bar. Most of them were appalled to think that their god, Favre, could be dressed in Viking purple.

I have never liked Brett. It's not because of who he is as an athlete, to deny his talent would be ridiculous. It's not because of who he is as a person. From what I have read, he is a great family man. I respect him for that. I have never liked him because he played for the Packers. Growing up in Minnesota, there is no other team to cheer for than the Vikings. There has been times his talent beat the Vikings but there has been more times that he was simply lucky. That always frustrated me. It seemed like the majority of times he would somehow pull out a victory.

I can't bring myself to the place of cheering for Favre as a Viking. Somehow my brain just doesn't allow me that option. If the Vikings do get Favre, and they do happen to win the Superbowl, all the Wisconsin cheese heads (and the Minnesota ones) will all be saying something like "The Vikings couldn't do it on their own. They had to have an old, retired Packer".

Red Green closes his show with the guys at the lodge saying something like, "I'm a guy, I can change. If I have to".

There is a small chance I could change. I did come around and start cheering for Darren Sharper when he took a step in the right direction and turned from green to purple.

Andrew's Bday

At 3:45 today, Andrew turned 10. I can't believe my baby is getting so ols. We knew years before he was born that we would have an Andrew. He is an awesome kid that brings our family a lot of laughter and joy.

Alyssa Gets Braces

I just returned from St. Cloud where Alyssa had braces put on. I could buy a decent used car for the same amount of money. The good thing is that we just made the final payment on Kelsey's.

It definately is worth it. I always wished that I had them when I was young.

I'm a Winner

I have a few blogs that I like to follow. One of those is The Mobile Spoon. It has a lot of helpful tips for my HTC TouchPro cell phone. The blogger was encouraging people to follow him on Twitter. He was doing a random drawing for everyone that signed up, giving away Calendar Touch.

I WON!!!!

This program would have cost $24.95. It combines my calendar and task list into one, besides a whole lot more.

By the way, you can find me on Twitter. www.twitter.com/keiththompson As of now I do not have a prize give away. I'll do some thinking on that though.

Happy Birthday Kelsey

Today was a very productive day. I worked on my Sunday message, finished my report for our churches annual report, had lunch with my wife, looked at lawn mowers, drove to Brainerd to watch Alyssa's 7th grade softball game and Kelsey's 9th grade game.

Kelsey is celebrating her birthday today. After supper (at 8 PM) she opened up her presents and we sang a "Thompson Family" version of happy birthday. Before bed we will enjoy some dessert!

I can't believe my baby is old enough to get her driving permit. It just doesn't right. She will be a fun one behind the wheel

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELSEY! We love you!

Marian Nichols

Last Friday night Marian Nichols attended our volunteer minister's appreciation party. On Saturday morning at about 4 AM, Marian passed away. This was certainly a shock to our church.

When I became the Lead Pastor of Living Hope, I began attending a Tuesday morning prayer time. It consisted of several older ladies of the church. When these "saints" prayed, it was as if God put everything else on hold and gave these ladies His full attention. I know that's not theologically correct, but that's what it felt like to me. My life has been greatly impacted by these ladies. Over the years, one by one, they entered heaven. Over the last couple of years it was mostly Marian and I that met for prayer. I calculated the estimated number of times that we would have prayed together. It came to just over 700!

We would always end our prayer time with a song, mostly the old ones. There was a few times she would stump me, but to my surprise, on a few occasions, I was actually able to pull and old song out of the hat that she didn't know.

As a Pastor, I realize that I am called to impact the lives of those in my church and community. Often times, this gets reversed and they impact my life. This is certainly the case with Marian.

The negative -My Tuesday's will never be the same.
The Positive - My life will never be the same!

Thank you Marian.

Wild Game Dinner

Tonight was Living Hopes annual Wild Game Dinner. It's always an adventure to eat the variety of food that is brought in. I love it!

Our speaker was "Walleye Dan", a professional guide out of Brainerd. He also loves to hunt turkey. I loved his turkey calls. If I was a turkey, I would have responded.

This is a night for us to not only enjoy as men from the church but to create a none threatening open door to church for men who are not yet following Jesus. Hopefully they can see men that love adventure and Jesus.

Use Your Gift

In yesterday's message I shared about Jesus' passion for His bride, the church. How every follower of His has been given a gift, a ministry, that He calls us to. It's amazing how lives are truly impacted and changed when every part of the body works together, as a team.

The video helped me to drive home the point that no one person can do it on their own. I hope you enjoy it.

Happy Birthday Darla!

I want to wish my wife Darla a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She is the most incredible woman ever. Most men "marry up" and I am certainly no exception. God is so good to have given me someone who loves me the way she does. I value her above no other. She is my best friend and I enjoy spending every moment I can with her.

Happy Birthday Darla!

Flyer Boys Basketball Headed Back to State

In dramatic fashion, the Little Falls Flyers Boys Basketball team upset #1 seed Apollo Eagles 63-62. If you were at the game you might have been thinking, "deja vu". Last year the Flyers beat the Eagles with a tip in by Danny Kornbaum, just as the clock expired. This year it was again, Danny, this time he drove the base line and made a lay up with about 5.5 seconds to go. That basket gave the Flyers the lead. Apollo had one last shot that hit the rim and bounced off, ending the game. (Video of last three minutes)

Ron Kornbaum is being interviewed by a reporter from the St. Cloud Times.

Danny is on the phone, making reservations for Disney World.

Another one point game!

I was so impressed that the Flyers never quit. In the last four minutes, trailing by 10, they fouled as quick as they could, sending the Eagles to the free throw line. At first it didn't appear to be working, as Apollo kept making the shots. In my opinion the game started to turn in the Flyers direction when Nick was fouled from beyond the three point line. He made all three free throw attempts.

The Flyers will play at the state tournement on Wednesday, March 25th at Williams Arena.

GO FLYERS!

American Idol

For all of you American Idol fans out there (Lisa S. especially), I want to strongly suggest the person you should vote for, DANNY GOKEY.

Above is a picture of Danny with friend's of mine. In the middle is Danny Gokey, on the right is my friend, Pastor Chris Castilleja and on the left is his wife Jen.

Danny recently lost his wife and was encouraged by Pastor Chris to try out for American Idol. If Chris ever has him come to his church I am going to try and book him at Living Hope.

VOTE GOKEY!!!

The Scary thing about Facebook

I recently became friends on Facebook with my former youth pastor's wife. It didn't take long and she was uploading photos from the past. This is perhaps one of the scariest things about Facebook. You never know what others might dig up on you. (I hope you've lived a clean life :) )

I know, you are dealing with a little jealousy right now. You are wondering how Darla and I still look so young, just like this photo taken in the early 80's. We really haven't changed much, Hah!!!

I absolutely love Darla's smile in this picture. When she saw it, she let out one of her infamous laughs.

I think Living Hope should have a little fun by doing a "blast from the past". It would be hilarious to go through old pictures of everyone and catch a glimpse of our transformation.

Thieves Take Church Equipment

A friend of mine, Trent Redman, who pastors Valley Creek Church, discovered all of the equipment for their portable church was stolen.

Every week they set up and tear down just like we do for the Rice campus of Living Hope.

It looks like the thieves stole the trailer that was stored throughout the week at another church. It was found early today on Springside Drive in St. Paul.

Trent estimates that more than $50,000 in equipment was stolen. The only thing they left behind were the bibles.

Despite the lack of equipment, church went on this morning.

An article/video on Kare11's website written by Julianna Olsen said, "With most everything stolen, packing up the trailer after services was a whole lot easier Sunday. Valley Creek Church may be portable, but its members know the church's most important parts are permanent.

'It's not about a building. It's not about equipment,' Redmann said. 'All of those things can be replaced. It's about people.'"

Please pray for this church that God would provide the equipment needed by next Sunday. Somehow I think that what the Devil meant for evil, God is going to use for good. I believe God will provide new equipment and the publicity will bring people to the church.

Tourney Time!

I am at the xcel energy center for the state high school hockey tournament. Little Falls plays Breck today in the semi-finals.

This brings back great memories for me. As a kid and teen I would always get out of school to watch it on tv. This is the fifth year in a row Little Falls has made it. It's fun to watch it live and make new memories with my family.

GO FLYERS!!!!!

Men's Advance

In just a few hours I will be on the church bus with 20 other men, heading to Lake Geneva Christian Center for Men's Advance. This is always a great time for me to go deeper in my walk with God as well as my relationship to the men of Living Hope.

A fun thing we have done since we attended Promise Keeper's in Iowa is to have a "girlie pillow award". Usually the winners pillow is pink, has lace and a flowered print. What teen- age boy would have ever dreamed that when they became a man and were married that their pillow would look like that?

Along with the pillow award is the "snoring award". We have some guys that cause the richter scale to warn of an earthquake. I usually pack my earplugs or headphones. It does help, but if I don't get to sleep before they do it's hopeless.

My favorite part of Men's Advance is the opportunity for us men to be real. We share our struggles, heartaches, short-comings, dreams and passions. We share our hearts in a way that makes us vulnerable yet stronger.

If you have a moment, I would appreciate you praying that God would do a great work in our hearts.

Life Groups

I like to read the blogs of other pastors. I often find that I am challenged, encouraged and gather great insight.

Craig Groeschel, pastor of Lifechurch recently wrote something in his blog that I want to pass on to you. It really echoes how I feel about Life Groups.

"I still love small groups because:

• They follow the early church model of meeting in homes.
• They are a tremendous tool for discipleship. I prefer small groups to Wednesday night large group teaching because it gives people a chance to interact. I prefer small groups to Sunday School simply because you don’t have to build the expensive extra classroom space.
• They get more people involved using their gifts of hospitality, teaching, exhortation, etc.
• They engage the body of Christ in pastoral care. Instead of the pastors being the only ones who care for believers, small groups spread the load and utilize gifted lay people.
• They build leaders.
• Done well, they become a tremendous tool of retention. People want to be needed and known. Small groups make both possible.
• They have unlimited meeting space. You can’t run out of homes, restaurants, apartments, or coffee shops in which to meet.
• They have unlimited meeting times. In today’s busy world, a once-a-week discipleship opportunity will not work for the majority of your church. Small groups offer unlimited times to meet.
• They have changed my life. My family’s small group is like our extended family. God has used them to bless us in untold ways."

At Living Hope Church, we have found that Life Groups have brought just that, "Life"! People connecting, sharing, growing, worshiping, loving and reaching out. I am so blessed by the leaders and those who open up their homes. The leaders of these groups have become an extension of our pastoral team. It has provided an avenue for us to carry out much of the mission of our church and a way for people to be ministered to and to minister.

Ben Hanowski Ties and then Sets Record

Little Falls Flyer, Senior Forward, Ben Hanowski ties and then sets the record in Minnesota High School Boys Hockey for most career points. The goal that tied the record came when the Flyers were skating short-handed. St. Cloud Apollo had a five on three advantage. At first it appeared that a save was made on Hanowski's shot, as if in slow motion, the puck trickled over the goal line. Moments later, in the same video, the flyers scored a second short-handed goal.



Hanowski's record setting point came on a well placed wrist shot over the goalies glove, into the upper corner. The crowd, estimated by some to be around 2,000, went nuts.



Hanowski, who will be playing for St. Cloud State next year, started the season 108 points behind Johnny Pohl's record for most career points. Pohl set the record when he played for Red Wing High School from 1995 to 1998. He accumulated 378 points during that time.
It took Johnny Pohl 112 games to reach his long standing record of 378 total points. Hanowski did it in 111 games.

Although the record is a great achievement, Ben would be the first to tell you that it doesn't compare to the team goal of heading back to the state tournament to bring home some hardware.

Congratulations to the entire Flyer hockey team on their perfect regular season record! The Little Falls community is proud of you.

Blog for Mobile Phones

If you would like to follow my blog by using your phone, you can click here and it will bring you to a more "cell phone friendly" website that will not use as much data.

Sermon Length

I was reading another pastor's blog today and he was asking the question, "How long do most pastors preach for"? As I read the comments I noticed that most were around 30 minutes. I generally preach for about that time also. It wasn't always that way however.

Mark Batterson's blog got me thinking about the first time I ever preached. I was in high school and my youth pastor had asked me to preach to my peers in a youth group setting.

I worked hard on my message for a couple of weeks and when the night finally arrived I was done preaching in about 5-10 minutes. My youth pastor had to come up and add on another 20 minutes. I laugh now thinking, "It takes me five minutes just to introduce my message".

I don't know if there is a right length of time for a pastor to share a message. There are many factors to consider such as the audience, the topic, consideration for the children's workers, being obedient to God with whatever He has given you and if there are time restraints because of multiple services. I think the attention span of most allow for around 30 minutes.

At Living Hope Church, where I pastor, we meet in two locations. On the Sunday's when I am preaching at both, I am more conscious of the length in our first service because I need to allow time to visit people after and still get to our second service on time.

I am curious about your thoughts. Jot me a note.

Rice Campus Appreciation Night

Hats off to all of our ministry volunteers at Living Hope Rice Campus. We had a great time last night with the "50's" as our theme. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Some charades with 50's topics brought out some very unusual gestures.

Serving God in ministries can be very hard but it is also rewarding and fun. We should always have a blast serving God.

Special thanks to Pastor Bobby and Jen for all your hard work on this great night.

Godrev.com

There is a great website that I want to introduce you to. It is called godrev.com. GodRev’s vision is to use the latest technology to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ worldwide, in partnership with Christian organizations and churches. Their desire is to expand the ministry to the thirty-five most-used languages on the Internet in the next ten years, exposing 250 million people to the Gospel, and helping 25 million people come to Jesus as a result of this effort.

When someone finishes going through the pages explaining God's love and desires for them, they are presented with a written prayer. This prayer expresses a desire to change their life from one in rebellion against God, to one living with God. When a visitor decides to pray this prayer of repentance, they have the option of clicking on a button labeled "Yes, I have just prayed this prayer." At this point, they are listed as having made a decision for Jesus.

It is a website where you can watch in real time the people who are praying to receive Jesus-Christ through there web ministry. It works in conjunction with google. Google will fly you all over the world to the persons location in 3-d.

When you watch it for a while, you can't help but say, "Praise the Lord". It is so cool to see people from China to Russia, Africa to the U.S. giving their heart to the Lord.

Bob Hope Classic

Darla and I have had a great time in Palm Springs. We went golfing twice and went to the Bob Hope Classic. It was fun to watch the pros, amatuers and celebrities. We were right next to Kurt Russell, Alice Cooper, Dan Quale, Chris O'Donnell, Bo Jackson, William Devane and many others. Darla even talked to Yogi Berra. How cool is that.

We got up at 3 this morning to drive from Palm Springs to LA. We arrived early and went to see the sunrise at the ocean. After we were there a while several surfers showed up. It was fun to see them ride the waves. Much like snowboarding only sharks are out there with you.