Yesterday was filled with several interruptions, the best being when God broke through in our worship and moved in many people. As for my musings …

-It seemed that everything in our worship service flowed well and connected each part of the service with the next part. The result was that we were moved by God and knew that we had been in His presence.

-The sermon was on Trusting God. As our service concluded, 50 people made a commitment to trust God with specific issues in their life! They wrote them down, saying they were now trusting God with these issues and laid them on the altar. It was a powerful scene.

-The morning did not start well. We had an issue with the computer we use in our sound and media booth. That problem was corrected easily. Then the projector at the front of our worship center would not project anything. We got on a ladder tried some troubleshooting tricks, but they did not work. Then we took the projector that is in the back so that those on the platform can see what the congregation sees and moved it to the front. The congregation could see everything, but those on the platform were operating by faith.

-The interruptions are continuing this morning. They are all important and are all ministry. However, they were not part of “my plan” for this morning and they are delaying these musings.

-We had a new family in attendance yesterday.

-There is some significant spiritual growth taking place in our small groups. It is exciting to see, and to hear, the results and impact.

-Our church overwhelmed my wife and I with their expressions of appreciation every week in October. What is impressive is that they show us appreciation all year long. They do it as a group and many of them do it individually. We are blessed, in so many ways, and we are humbled by their many expressions to us.

-We are planning a large children’s event and family outreach for this Saturday. Our worship center will be transformed for the event. We are praying that lives will be transformed as a result. We are praying for many opportunities to express the love of Jesus through this outreach.

-Our community was rocked this week by a couple of tragic deaths. One of a child and another of a young adult. Much comfort and strength has been, and still is, needed.

-I am really looking forward to our family being together for a couple of days around Thanksgiving. As always, we will greatly miss the ones in Africa.

-Our parenting small group has been smaller than I hoped, but the interaction and sharing has been great.

-The news of the upheaval, and unrest, with the presidential elections in Kenya has ramped up the urgency of my prayers in the past week. I have 2 grandchildren in Kenya and my son, daughter in law and 2 other grandchildren are next door to Kenya.

-One of our granddaughters turned 3 this past week. It was fun to facetime with her as she showed us what she had received for her birthday.

-I am really enjoying watching the World Series games this year. The result was much more enjoyable last year when my Cubs finally won. However, I am enjoying just watching the games that have all been close and each has had a lot of dramatic moments. My blood pressure has been much better while watching this year.

-My fantasy football team is trailing heading into tonight’s game. I don’t expect to be able to make up the difference given who I have in the game. Oh well, it will only be my second loss.

-We have turned a corner in our weather and furnaces were running over the weekend. The good news is that it is almost sweater weather.

Here’s hoping that you experience the warmth of an encouraging word from someone today.

Dennis

Yesterday was an outstanding day, not a perfect one, but outstanding even though there were some difficult moments. As for my musings …

-The spirit and energy in our worship service was outstanding. You could feel it before the service even began and it only got better as the service went along.

-October is considered Pastor Appreciation month in many circles. My church has had a different ministry area present something to my wife and I each Sunday. Yesterday, it was the children. They sang a special song, and they sang it with enthusiasm. Then they gave each of us a large bowl filled with many things, including several Hugs candies. Then they gave us a poster with their names on it that said Thank You and We Pray for You. They finished it off with every one of the kids giving each of us a hug. How cool is that?

-Our worship team did a wonderful job of leading us in worship and the congregation was singing with volume and feeling. The sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the service was even more pronounced during the singing.

-Our technical issues were at a minimum yesterday.

-On Saturday my back stiffened up and was very painful. I have some long term back issues, but I hadn’t had an issue for several months. It made me very cautious in my movements. The good news is that once I got going in the sermon I didn’t notice any pain in my back. Adrenaline is a wonderful thing.

-I serve one day a week as Chaplain at our local hospital. I enjoy serving people in this capacity. Trying to bring some comfort and encouragement to patients, and sometimes to their family. There are times when it is not easy, when you talk and pray with a family whose loved one is going through a very difficult time. Last week I had one of those days.

-I have the privilege to help teach a class on fatherhood at a nearby prison. We began a new round of the class recently. I really grow to love these men as I see them seeking to make a change and become better fathers while in prison and especially desiring to be a better father when they are released. We limit our group to 13. I think we had 10 or 11 finish the class the first time we taught it. This time there were 40 men who applied to be in the class. A couple of our alumni came back to talk with us and share with the new group what they got out of the class. That was very encouraging.

-My Cubs had a good season following the World Series Championship. They got beat by a team that is playing much better than them this year. I am still proud to be a Cubs fan.

-We had a couple of first time visitors again yesterday. We also had a couple of people return for the second time.

-We had some great discussion in the parenting small group when we met last evening.

-I am humbled by the number of people in my church who give of themselves for several hours each week. They are the backbone of our church.

-My fantasy football team is leading, but we each have one player in the Monday Night game.

Here’s hoping that you find several times this week to let someone know you believe in them. I am also praying that you will notice God at work this week.

Dennis

Yesterday was a day with a lot of chaos. As for my musings …

-Yesterday was filled with technical problems. Some of it can be attributed to it being the first Sunday since my Assistant Pastor moved on, he directed our technical stuff. Some people are returning to roles they haven’t done in a while or they are trying something new. We made it through, and it probably bothered those of us up front and in the sound booth a lot more than the congregation.

-The technical chaos was not limited to our Worship service. At our small group last night, which meets in a home, we could not get our online video segment to work. We still had good discussion.

-To add to the chaos, I was terrible in delivering my message yesterday. I was scattered in my thoughts and my words. Hoping that my prayers before the service for God to speak beyond my words were answered.

-Not everything was bad, but the chaos that took place was where my thinking went last night.

-On a more positive note, we had a couple of new people attend and one person who returned for the second time.

-We had a lot of children and youth in attendance yesterday. 3 years ago, we had 4 or 5 children and youth attending. Yesterday I believe we had 25.

-Another good thing from yesterday was that more people committed to helping with a significant children’s outreach that we will be doing in 3 weeks.

-I am very much looking forward to getting a day off to spend with my wife this week. It has been 2 or 3 weeks since that has been possible.

-My Cubs won their first series in the playoffs, so that made me happy. It doesn’t look good for the current series.

-A fun element in my message yesterday is that I used my bow for an illustration. Any time I can carry a bow around while I preach it is a fun thing.

-My mid-week study is going well. The issues we are digging into are so relevant and many people need healing in these areas. The first week only 3 came, the past couple of weeks we have had 5 and yesterday 2 additional people told me they plan to attend this week.

-The small group that meets on Monday evenings is called Inside Out. They are looking to get healthy spiritually and physically. Part of the focus is accountability. Part of the focus is learning about what God’s Word says and part of the focus is hearing from people in the health and fitness profession share. Good things are coming from that group.

-My fantasy football team lost for the first time this week. Let’s all pause for a moment of sadness.

-This morning I am experiencing a mix of joy and sadness as I reflect on having family scattered around the country and the world. I am missing times with all of us together. I am rejoicing as they are serving the Lord and that they are all doing well.

Here’s hoping you find joy as you serve this week.

Dennis

Yesterday was an outstanding day with a lot of emotion. As for my musings …

-We said good-bye to my Associate Pastor and his family yesterday morning. We had a special breakfast in their honor and during our worship time we gave them a few gifts to remember us by and had a special time of prayer surrounding them. A few tears were shed by many of us.

-It was great to be back with our church family yesterday. We enjoyed our time away and being with some family and we enjoyed being back with these people who call me pastor.

-On Friday I was honored to share the message at a very special man’s funeral. He was a retired pastor. He served this church at one time and is the longest tenured pastor this church as ever had. He was a member and regular attender of this church in his retirement. He was a great encourager to me and many others. He will be greatly missed.

-Last evening our church was host site for a discipleship training that will last until Wednesday morning. Hal Perkins and his wife Debbi are leading these sessions. There will be 2 more evening sessions and 3 morning sessions beginning this morning. I am always for things that help with discipleship.

-Yesterday morning I resumed the sermon series “Dream”. The focus was on what we expect. Because what we expect greatly impacts what we do and what we do determines our results. We looked at David versus Goliath and how David’s expectations of what God would do were different than everyone else at that scene. We have 2 more Sundays of this series, or maybe 3.

-I have had a few nights recently when I could not turn my mind off and sleep. It culminated on Saturday night when I slept for an hour total. I am hoping that trend is over.

-Our mid-week ministries had another good week last week. The number of children attending has stayed up in a range above what we anticipated. Our teen number is growing. The adult studies are going very well, though with lower numbers than we hoped. However, the main reason our adult study numbers are down a bit is because we have a lot of adults serving with our children and teens. Our mid-week ministries have become a source encouragement for our whole church.

-Saturday was my wife and oldest granddaughter’s birthday. My wife says that our granddaughter’s birth was her greatest birthday present ever. That present came 13 years ago. We now have 4 grandchildren who are teenagers. Wow!

-My fantasy football team appears to have squeaked out another victory, since neither of us have anyone playing tonight.

-I am struggling getting a handle on my Christmas sermon series. I like to have a direction for it by now.

-My Cubs split their first two games of the playoffs, since those games were on the road, I am good with that outcome. But I am very nervous for the rest of the series.

Here’s hoping you are expecting God to do great things in your life this week.

Dennis

Thanks for the kind responses to my post on Thursday. Yesterday was a good day. There were a lot of positives, it wasn’t perfect, but it was a good one. As for my musings …

-We began a new small group for young adult parents of young children last night. It was a good beginning. We had 15 in attendance and had some good discussion as we set the stage for the study.

-We had 7 or 8 people come to the altar to repent following the message yesterday. That is always an encouragement to a pastor.

-We had a couple of visitors in worship yesterday and some who were back for the second the time.

-On Saturday I was part of a minister’s choir as we participated in the funeral service of a retired minister. He pastored for 37 years as a bi-vocational pastor. Then he served as an interim, and pulpit supply pastor for several years. I never met him, he no longer was able to get out to district functions by the time I arrived in this area. But I was honored to help pay tribute to one who went before me and was so faithful.

-I am still having trouble with these 90-degree temperatures at the end of September. We have had 4 or 5 days in a row in that range. I don’t think we had this many in August.

-Our new mid-week children’s ministry kicked off last week with a bang. It was a great night with very good attendance and a lot of energy. Our light meal, before the mid-week ministries, was a big success as well. I loved seeing so many people investing in our children.

-I will be seeing my two youngest grandkids in a few days. That makes me very happy.

-Attendance was down a little.

-The feeling in the room was very good throughout our time of worship yesterday.

-My Cubs are still in first place, but they are not making it look easy.

-I had some good conversations this week with fellow pastors and with some of the people in my church. God is doing good things around here.

-My fantasy football team pulled out the surprising win last week and it appears that I won again this week. None of them looked probable until the end. But I will still take them.

-Reading a good book by Louie Giglio entitled “The Comeback”.

-I need to cut this a bit short this week.

Here’s hoping you are free to pursue the dream God is giving you.

Dennis

Yesterday had some great moments, some things that were very encouraging and just to balance things out it had some things that I wouldn’t describe as great or encouraging. Did your mind immediately go to negative possibilities? I didn’t say there were negative things, just that some things were not great nor encouraging. That means they could be just routine, or they could be negative. As for my musings …

-On Saturday, our church had a float in our community’s annual festival’s parade. It is a big deal around here with more than 100 entrants in the parade and thousands watching. The people who worked on the float did a great job. We had 15 or more children riding on the float or walking the parade route and 10 adults. We handed out frozen popsicle type products (I can’t remember what they are called). We had 1,400 of them and ran out before the end of the parade route. We also handed out some cards to families that had info about our upcoming children’s ministries on them. It was a warm sunny day in the 80’s with a little breeze. The kids were awesome through the waiting to start the parade and all the way to the end of the route.

-We celebrated that our Assistant Pastor and wife’s baby that was born 5 weeks early who was at church yesterday.

-Yesterday was the 2^nd of 6 messages in our “Dream” series. This one was about daring to be courageous in taking the next step to pursue the dream God is giving. There were some illustrations from the movie “Christmas Story”. I was so excited about this series leading up to it, without realizing how much God was going to work on me through this whole series. Wow, I have a lot to work on in following God’s dream.

-My Dad was in the hospital for a couple of days again this week and a couple of days in skilled nursing before getting back to his apartment at the assisted living facility. He was very excited to be back in his apartment. It was encouraging to talk with him last evening. I know that each setback takes a little away and I cherish each conversation or visit.

-My son and daughter in law received their work permits from the country where they are serving in Africa. We have been praying fervently for this as their visas were due to expire at the end of the month.

-The lack of response to offering another disciple group on Sunday mornings was disappointing. I didn’t communicate well about the beginning date, but it was still disappointing. On a positive note, we have several people who are already in our disciple training. This was to a be new group.

-We had some new people in attendance yesterday.

-We have a new mid-week children’s ministry beginning this week. We will also be trying to offer a meal before our mid-week groups for a few weeks beginning this Wednesday.

-My wife began a weight loss accountability group last Monday with 13 in attendance!

-My fantasy football team was terrible last week and I still squeezed out a win. The only person I would have beaten in our league was the person I played. This week my team is playing much better and I will likely lose unless a miracle happens tonight.

-Our attendance was better yesterday.

-We are beginning a new small group next week for young adults with young children.

-Praying for a pastor friend who is preaching a funeral today and tomorrow.

-Praying for the recovery, and restoration, efforts in Texas, Florida and Mexico.

-My Cubs are still in first place, but the lead is slim. Good news, there are only 13 games left.

Here’s hoping you will accept the dare to be courageous in your faith and in following the dream this week.

Dennis

This one is a struggle, just like many things were yesterday. As for my musings …

-Announced the resignation of my Assistant Pastor in worship service yesterday. He is taking a position with a larger church about 40 minutes away. He is going to be able to be full-time in ministry. He was part-time with us and had to work another job. He, and his family, are going to be missed. We wish them the best. Now we pray and trust that God has someone else in mind for us.

-I began a new sermon series yesterday entitled “Dream”.

-I found it a struggle to preach yesterday. It may have been the swirling emotions of announcing my Assistant’s resignation. It could have been that I had promoted this series and the beginning of some new fall groups and then the attendance was not good. It may have been that many people seemed distracted during the service. It may have been a lot of things. Whatever the reasons, the struggle was real.

-We are beginning some exciting new groups and ministries within the next two weeks. A new mid-week children’s ministry. We are going to try doing a mid-week meal for a few weeks. We have a parenting of young children group that will start in a couple of weeks. There is a weight loss and health accountability group that is starting tonight. A new discipleship group will start next Sunday. A 6-week Ladies Bible Study and a Bible study to bring healing to damaged emotions will start in another week. A lot is beginning, maybe too much. Some of this was planned, some of it is happening organically and all of it has great potential.

-Praying often for family and friends in the southeast that have, or are about to, deal with hurricane Irma. So far, the ones I have heard from are all safe. Some have damage to property, but are physically safe. In Houston and Florida, the recovery is going to be difficult and long.

-The American football fans in my family had a mixed bag of results over the weekend. At least 3 of us were happy with our college team, but none of us were happy with the results from the NFL. I specified “American football” because I have several family members who live where the subject of “football” means something different than a pigskin, 100 yards and goal posts.

-There is no doubt that the departure of my Assistant Pastor and family will be a setback for us. I am believing that if God moved him on to another place, then He has something in mind for us. In this moment, I am having trouble seeing it, but I am trusting Him.

-I was encouraged yesterday when a few people stated that they would be willing to step in and work in some of the areas that my Assistant Pastor has been leading.

-Praying for several people to become a part of the new discipleship group that will begin this Sunday.

-Praying that our church would be a place where people who have felt left out can, and will, come in and be welcomed, loved and able to embrace all that God has for them.

-My Cubs are still in first place, but they seem to be barely holding that position.

Here’s hoping that you can see some positive things in your path this week and that you can encourage someone else.

Dennis