Carillon
Friday, 04 December 2009 16:21
I am very excited to announce that our long search for someone to intern with us at Carillon in preparation for moving into Dell Webb Huntley is over. We have issued a call to Dr. Perry Martin Sr. and his wife Rebecca, parents of our Yorkville Campus Pastor, Perry Martin. At present, Dr. Martin pastors a church in Kansas City, Kansas. The plan is for he and "Becky" to move into the area and to intern with us at Carillon for six months, starting next March or April and then to move into Huntley. Once there, he and Becky will start developing a small group ministry and eventually move toward a public worship service. Dell Webb Huntley is a 55+ active adult community of near 10,000 people in the north west suburbs of Chicago. If you have any contacts in Huntley that you know would be interested in this ministry, please have them contact me at earlferguson@communitychristian.org - I urge you to pray with us for the success of this project.
Carillon
Friday, 04 December 2009 15:51
Michale Foss, in POWER SURGE (Fortress 2000), uncovers what he call six "marks of discipleship:"
1. Daily Prayer
2. Weekly Worship
3. Regular Bible Reading
4. Service
5. Spiritual Friendships
6. Giving
These six marks he says are "...simply habits of the sould that open us to the woinder and mystery of God's active presence in our lives. They keepl us focused; they fix our attention on the things of God." p. 106
"God's grace meets the desire of the heart through the disciplines that express that desire." p. 110
How serious are YOU about the call to be a disciple of Christ?
Carillon
Thursday, 22 October 2009 13:40
An email I sent in answer to a question about giving and secrecy: “….do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”-Matthew 6:3.
I understand where you are coming from and agree at least in part. The reason for our Lord saying this about our alms giving and prayer is because the Pharisees, actually blew a horn and announced that they were throwing coins into a coffer for the poor and stood on the street-corners praying loudly and piously (probably irritatingly as well). It was these hypocritical displays of giving and praying that Jesus despised. But Luke boasts about what the church was giving in Acts and even calls attention to the fact that Barnabas sold a piece of ground and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet (pretty public wouldn't you agree?). Acts 5 indicates such was done rather openly. The problem there was Ananias and Sapphira lying about what they were giving.
To not share the blessing that we receive from giving would just be wrong. Others need to be encouraged to do the same as you and I do and realize the same spiritual and material blessings that God grants us. We let people who have the gift of singing, sing and who have the gift of serving, serve. Why not recognize and let the people who have the gift of giving, give and in so doing encourage others to do likewise.
I know that there is a fine line between boasting of what we give and encouraging others by our example while giving God the glory. I pray that this will always be the case with us. I know I want that to be true for me. Your letting me know that you are a tither (this may sound strange) actually encourages me and tells me a lot about your heart, even though that was never in question in the first place. Thanks for your concern for truth. Let’s continue the journey together and always commit ourselves to being open to a new viewpoint. God bless you, my brother...
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