Ashley Day 2 Samuel 12 Nathan Confronts David

Ashley Day 2 Samuel 12 Nathan Confronts David

Scot McKnight

Scot McKnight

Willow Creek Assocation - Missional Jesus; Scott M Download at rapidlibrary mp3 music

Willow Creek Assocation - Missional Jesus; Scott M Download at rapidlibrary mp3 music

Prof. Dr. Scott Mcknight - The Jesus Creed.mp3 Download at rapidlibrary mp3 music

Scot McKnight

http://storiesof.us/wp-content/audio/willowcreek/SHIFT08/Missional Jesus_ Scott McKnight.mp3

Scot McKnight

Scot McKnight

Prof. Dr. Scott Mcknight - The Jesus Creed.mp3 Download at rapidlibrary mp3 music

Interesting facts about the Bible

Interesting facts about the Bible from Bibleplan.org Link - http://www.bibleplan.org/bible-reading-record.pdf At the bottom of the reading schedule someone wrote ... "The Bible contains 1189 chapters: 929 in the Old Testament and 260 in the New. Reading 3 chapters each day and 5 chapters on Sundays will cover the entire Bible in one year. Follow some plan. Even one chapter each day will cover the New Testament in only 9 months. God's Word is alive. The more you expose yourself to it, the more it will expose itself to you." Interesting facts. It breaks it down to manageable size - you can do it!

ESV Bible Reading Plans - RSS

http://www.esv.org/resources/reading-plans-devotions/

The Barna Group - New Research Explores How Different Generations View and Use the Bible

The Barna Group - New Research Explores How Different Generations View and Use the Bible: "New Research Explores How Different Generations View and Use the Bible"

Online Leadership Training with Lynn Anderson

Rob just posted the Lynn Anderson Leadership Training Video Sessions online. We are asking all leaders to watch these videos and complete the assignments in the participant’s guide prior to the discussion groups. Before Lynn arrives we will have read the texts, completed the first three assignments in the participant’s guide and the three videos. The videos will not be shown during the Wednesday evening discussion groups. We posted the videos online so that you can prepare for each of the three discussion groups. Complete one video training each week. Each video is numbered in the order it appears in the series. These videos can also be viewed on an iPhone or other smart phones using the same links. You will need to enter your password when prompted to view these videos. The user name and password will be sent to you via email.

Invited to Bob Russell's Mentoring Ministers Retreat (Small Group of 8 ministers)

Something great just happened - I thank the Lord! I get to spend March 7-11 with Bob Russell and a small group of 8 other ministers. I applied for this last year and forgot about it until surprise! I got an email that said "

"Congratulations! Bob would like for you to attend his March 7-10, 2011 retreat. The retreat is conducted at Country Lake Christian Retreat Center in Henryville, Indiana, 30 minutes north of Louisville."

I am excited!

Bob Russell is one of my heros.

Several years ago I called Southeast and asked his secretary for an appointment. I thought if I could could sit with him, face to face, by myself, for just 15 minutes ... that would be great. I was surprised when said "Let's go to lunch" and the appointment lasted longer than 15 minutes. He rode in the car with me to restaurant. We talked one-on-one in a quiet booth for more than an hour. It was like eating lunch with Jesus. He asked probing questions, challenged me, answered my questions - it was amazing!

website

http://www.bobrussellministries.org/content.asp?q_areaprimaryid=2 -

I included some pictures from Russell's Website below - I cannot wait to sit around that table with 8 men and Bob Russell. It's like It will be like having dinner with Billy Graham!

We will pick you up at the airport, provide all transportation during the retreat and take you back to the airport on Thursday. A typical retreat schedule is printed below. Bob requests that you schedule someone to preach on the weekend following the retreat so you won't be distracted during the retreat by pending sermon preparation."

Who is Bob Russell? I pasted part of his bio from his his website.

"Bob Russell enrolled in Cincinnati Bible Seminary where he graduated in 1965. At just twenty-two years of age, Bob became the pastor of Southeast Christian Church. Today that small congregation of 120 members has become one of the largest churches in America, with 18,000 people attending the four worship services every weekend in 2006. Bob retired from Southeast in June 2006.

Bob and his wife Judy have been married forty-five years, May 29, 2010. They have two married sons, Rusty and Phil. Phil is a Louisville Metro Police Officer and a deacon at Southeast Christian Church. Rusty recently became Senior Minister in Port Charlotte, Florida after serving at Southeast for many years. Bob and Judy have seven grandchildren with whom they enjoy spending their time.

An accomplished author, Bob has written over one-dozen books. He also has a weekly column in The Lookout, a magazine printed by Standard Publishing. In his leisure time he enjoys playing golf and is an avid University of Louisville football and basketball fan."

A message to elders and ministering shepherds

The fall and spring are prime time for church growth and service. The winter and summer seasons are periods for prayer and planning typically mark by a predictable decrease in attendance. I call it the summertime lull - we don't worry about it because we expect and encourage families to spend time together - summer time is vacation time. The winter lull tends to be shorter and varies from year to year depending on the severity of weather. But fall and spring are prime times for church growth. That's why we do a spring campaign that climaxes with friend day on Easter and a Fall campaign that leads up to Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have been praying and planing and preparing for this fall. Our 40 day journey begins on Oct 17 and runs 6 weeks - Thanksgiving will mark the end of our 40 day journey and the beginning of the Christmas season. Paul said "be prepared in season and out of season" - and that's what we've tried to do. The 40 day team has been preparing for Oct 17 since last spring and we believe that God will bless our church family - He's been leading us to this point and we want to do everything with excellence because that is what Jesus deserves - our very best! Our vision and strategy is to build stronger relationships with Jesus and people through small groups. We're asking, encouraging, persuading every member to join a small group for six weeks. Which brings me to the point of this email. Your role as an elder and ministering shepherd is so important. Please contact your partner and let's revive our shepherding groups. Let's make sure no one falls through the cracks from now until Christmas. Working together enables us to care for our church family - whenever any member misses two weeks in a row - please contact them. You're familiar with the plan because you've done it. Yes, during the recent past we seemed to have lost some momentum - but you continued to work the assembling, greeting, caring for people and serving them in so many ways. I love to see you shepherd. Let's kick off the fall campaign by contacting and communicating with our partners. Each month, please hand your sheet to Jeanie or me and you'll receive new care callers. This current list has not been updated but we will take care of that with your help - write down the names of new comers - communicate and work together and assume responsibility for them. That seems like the best way to update the list - rather than arbitrarily assigning people, the elders and ministering shepherds can decide how new people are assimilated - with your help we can complete the update in one month or less. I am excited about this fall - I hope you are too. Pray for me and I'll pray for you as we all serve Jesus together. Grace and peace, Jeff

Phil and I at the Clapton and Daltery Concert

Going to see Eric Clapton and Roger Daltrey tomorrow in Cinci with Phil

Going to see Eric Clapton and Roger Daltrey tomorrow in Cinci with Phil

Home Six Mile (Jeff's song about growing up in Boone County WV)

Jake Copley's new church

Jake and Liz are doing great. I just talk to Jake. He's preaching for Artemus Christian Church in Barbourville KY - http://artemuschristianchurch.com/default.htm

Rob Durst is the Best!

Our AV man, Rob Durst, is the best! Rob stays ahead of the cutting edge of technology. When Jeanie and I walked into the Media Center for our Mac training this morning we were instantly blown away. I wish you could have walked in with us. I don't know how to describe it. Two Macs were sitting side by side on a rectangular table facing a big screen. The LCD projector is mounted on the ceiling projected the computer screen image on the big screen on the wall. He had prepared everything - it was perfect - when we walked in we both said "Wow!" Then he started to train us - which was even more impressive. He was so methodical and thorough. He explained the outter surface, the hidden speakers, hot keys, short cuts, magnetic power cords, and every single port - he knew it all. And everything he said was relevant - he could have went on for hours with technical information and high-tech jargon that neither one of us could understand. But he only talked about the things that were helpful and necessary. He showed us video clips. He demonstrated everything as he taught. It felt like we had hired a high priced consultant. Then, when he finished, he unwrapped a hard-cased she to put over my new Mac. All three of us smiled because we all knew that the reason for the hard-shell casing was to protect the machine from me! I am rough with machines even though I try to be careful. Now, the quality of the training he provided this morning is not any different - this was not a one-time- thing. The quality of Rob's work permeates everthing he does. He understand stage and lighting and audio and video equipment. He networks computers, maintains security and administrates systems. He measures outcomes and tracks hits on our website, the number of people who watch Norway live and tracks how many people download our podcasts. He works very closely with Matt and the Praise Band and mixes the sound for 3 guitars, a bass and electric drums and microphones for 5 singers. He understands me! He anticipates my needs - microphones, power point mix with video clips and on and on. He knows what I need before I asked him for it. And his work at the church is his part time job. His full time job is at First Sentury Bank. On top of this he does other things like church camp. That's where he had be the morning he trained us. Can you imagine that? No one gets any sleep at church camp. That was especially true for Rob. Because Thursday night he created the church camp DVD and all the campers took it home. Kids watch those church camp DVDs all year long. The church camp movie that Rob creates, edits and produces is the best advertisement for church camp. My children watch their church camp movies with their friends. So, I just needed to tell you about Rob Durst. He is the best! I never dreamed I would have the privilege of working with an AV guy of this caliber. I remember when my sermons were recorded on an old cassette deck that was stuck in a little room no bigger than a closet. I was grateful for the man who used to record my sermons in a previous church. The song before the sermon he walk back and push the button and record it. He used a high-speed recorder to make copies and I get a call once in a while from people who listen to my old cassette tapes. When I compare what Rob has done with digital recordings and the number of people that download sermons from Norway - Wow! I thank God for Rob! I feel really close to him and I appreciate his work so much - he makes me a better preacher and he makes everybody at Norway better. Rob is spreading the message of Jesus. We are so blessed to have him. The next time you see Rob show him that you appreciate him.

Healthy Church

This Sunday we begin our brand new summer series called "Healthy Church" - it's a study of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus. "Health" is is a major theme in the pastoral letters. Paul used the word "sound" e.g. "sound teaching", "sound faith," etc. The Greek word "sound" actually means "healthy". Jesus wants his church to be healthy, growing and full of love.

Let's get healthy this summer! OK? I'm ready are you? Diet and exercise improves your healthy. I am not talking about physical exercise. I am talking feeding on God's word and exercising spiritual disciplines.

Let's begin with a 30 minute exercise in God's word. Just follow the three simple steps below.

1. Say a short prayer - ask the Father to fill you with his Spirit so you can understand Him.

2. Read the 3 books (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus) before Sunday.

3. Say a short prayer and ask God help you live like Jesus.

See you Sunday Healthy Church!

Garrett Family Vacation (2010) Siesta Key Florida

We just returned from our family vacation. We spent a week with Bob, Susan and Heather and it was a great vacation. Kim, Tori, Shayna and I drove. Amber and mom took a direct flight. It was a refreshing, relaxing, memory-making vacation. Bob and Susan have a beautiful home in Siesta Key - just a block from the beach. A salt water canal weaves it's way through their neighborhood. They live in paradise. Below are a few video clips.------------------------------ At Bob & Susan's Jeff caught a Catfish Fun in the Sun White Sandy Beach (Bob, Susan, Kim and Jeff) Picking up Amber and Mom at St Pete Airport Tori and Dad at Gilligan's listening to the Blues

Todd's video

Cooper - some pics from hospital and home

Amazing Grace - 7yr old Rhema Marvanne