Revitalize Your Church

Today, I'm flying out to speak to the pastors of our Indiana South District. It's really a blessing for me to be able to bring a word of encouragement to these good soldiers for Jesus who serve in the trenches. They are billing the event, Super Saturday. We're going to have a great time together, and I'm sure we're all going to be blessed. On the other hand, however, it's quite a sacrifice for them. They have to sit indoors all day on a beautiful spring Saturday in southern Indiana while I'm flapping my jaws. The return flight arrangements didn't work out for me to come back until Sunday. So, I've agreed to preach at the Paoli Wesleyan Church since I'll be in the neighborhood anyway.

I just returned from speaking to a wonderful group of Wesleyan pastors from the Western Pennsylvania District. They were fantastic -- hung right in there with me as I blabbed along! My host, Shawn Cossin, is an outstanding young pastor (former state trooper) who is has a thriving ministry at Sandy Lake Wesleyan Church. It was a real joy to get to know him. We have kindred spirits! Shawn definitely has a bright future. Our conference was at Hyde Wesleyan Church -- which is famous for it's amazing missions program. I don't think there's a church anywhere that's more intentional about blessing the nations than these guys. I was blown away. Unfortunately for me, their senior pastor, Bob Croft, was on sabbatical. So, I'll have to wait to catch a few pointers from him. I was especially delighted to reconnect with my friend, Jeremiah Gomez. He's a sharpie! It was also a joy to visit with District Superintendent Randy Swink and his wife, Gayle. They're doing a gre...

Today, I am flying to Columbus, Ohio, in order to spend some time with my dearly beloved mother and four older brothers (who are almost as dearly beloved!) I am looking forward to spending time with my family in Ohio. On Sunday afternoon, I'll be speaking with a group small church pastors and laypeople. I hope I can bring some encouragement and blessing to them!

I'm really impressed by what these guys are doing. Shawn Cossin, Director of Evangelism and Church Growth for the Western Pennsylvania District (Wesleyan Church), exudes vision and passion for reaching people for Jesus. Their D.S., Randy Swink is an outstanding leader. His son, Brad, served as an intern with us last year, and became a hero to my sons, Luke and Wes. (They talk about him all the time.) Next month, I'm scheduled to fly there and speak to these guys -- but methinks I'll learn as much as I teach. Check the 3 One Day Learning Events and the Videos at the bottom of the page!

Today, I am going to be speaking to a group of pastors in Colorado -- without even leaving my office! We're going to use Skype to "beam me in." Technology is amazing!

Finally home -- after a full week away teaching Evangelism in South Carolina and speaking to a group of pastors in Oregon. I was privileged to have dinner last night with our General Superintendent, Jo Anne Lyon along with Karl and Sharon Westfall. Karl is the DS for the Northwest District, and Sharon's daddy is one of my heroes -- Orval Butcher. We dined at a lovely restaurant with a panoramic view overlooking the city. Beautiful! JoAnne and I found several amazing connections -- including a mutual apostolic succession! Awoke at 4:15 this morning, to catch an early flight back to Minneapolis. Arriving at the airport, I scuttled over to Gate C18, and served as the "Welcoming Committee" for Dr. Wesley Duewel. Dr. Duewel, author of Ablaze for God and several other books, will be our special guest speaker at church tomorrow. We had a delightful visit all the way back to Hayward. I discovered that Dr. Duewel was personal friends with the great missionary E. Stanley Jones. He ...