I am having a little trouble focusing this morning as I out on the Lake of the Ozarks from our room. My wife and I are at our District’s Pastor and Spouse retreat. I love opportunities like this to get away with my wife and to spend time with other pastors and their spouses in a relaxed atmosphere. This past weekend was a tremendous time of seeing people come together and experiencing God move among us. As for the musings …

-Saturday evening was the 2nd of our Community Concerts of Prayer. Wow! We experienced such a powerful move of God and his Holy Spirit. There was such a great spirit of unity and humility among the people who participated. I believe it was a snapshot of what “the church” should be, without regard of labels. I am already looking forward to our 3rd Concert of Prayer on October 24.

-With the kind of preparation we experienced on Saturday evening it is no wonder that we had a great time of worship on Sunday morning.

-We had a couple of great times of prayer during our worship service yesterday. I am so excited that we seem to be becoming a people of prayer, not just people who pray.

-We had a lot of kids again on Sunday, that is a very good sign. Huge props go to our children’s workers/ministers. You are awesome.

-We had some minor sound issues yesterday and we are supposed to receive a definitive quote on overhauling our sound system later this week. Can I get an “Amen” for that?

-We had a new couple attend yesterday and one of our recent visiting couples was back for the 3rd week in a row and they attended one of our Sunday morning small groups. That is encouraging. We also had a regular attender’s spouse show up for the first time.

-We had several people respond at the end of the sermon saying that they had an area of their life that needs restoration and that they are committing to doing whatever God asks of them to see the restoration happen.

-I was not sure that I was going to make it through the worship service without having to make a run to the facilities. I had to make a couple of those runs in the hour before the worship service. So 8 minutes before the service began I downed 4 Tums and I had no problems after that, maybe I could get an endorsement deal from Tums.

-We are praying for a lady from our church who is about to leave on a mission trip to Honduras and we are praying for one of our daughters and son in laws who are leaving for Kenya on Saturday. I love that we are truly becoming a church who is invested in the whole world.

-Our attendance was very good. In fact it was nearly double what our attendance was on this Sunday last year.

Here’s to a relaxing, inspiring and enjoyable few days away. Here’s hoping that you find a space somewhere this week to relax and reflect.

Dennis