Hello Folks,
     I must celebrate that there are times when it is a great joy to be able to point to the efforts of God's people to reach into the world.  This can be done in numerous ways.  There are times when personal evangelism is the means by which the church attempts this then there are various ways that they attempt to do this as a body.  This past Sunday in our congregation I saw people who were willing to make a step of faith by committing to God through Faith Promise.  Charles Heater was our special speaker and God used him to point people to the needs of those around us and to our responsibility toward them.  At the end of the day our folks promised to give $27,735 to missions and to believe that God would give them the amount of their pledge through the year.  There will be people in Haiti, Ecuador, Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Nicaragua who will have their needs met because this congregation has placed trust in God to use them as a conduit to provide the resources these folks need.  I am thankful for the willingness of people who sit in our pews to be used by God.
     Every year congregations all across the U.S. and the world have "Annual Business Meetings".  It would seem that most folks do not believe that it is needed due to the fact that most of them do not bother to attend.  There is a sense in which I understand because we should be people who are saying that we trust God to perform His glories as He will.  Yet there is a need for financial transparency that will allow anyone who desires to see where money is used and whether the leadership is being faithful.  I wish I could figure a better way to give this information allowing people to give input rather than having a business meeting.  Until then I will keep attempting to provide all the information that I can to the congregation and look forward to the way we invest our resources in the Kingdom.


Have a great day,


HGRudd