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STL Your LIFE Savings

2010-03-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

Topic: Manage Resources
Title: Where Is Your LIFE Savings?
Text: Matthew 6:19-21
Theme: Time

Read the Text: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Illustrate: Imagine that you are holding your piggy bank, and in it is all your life’s savings. You are walking to the bank and on the way there you trip on the sidewalk and a few coins fall out. You quickly gather the coins before someone else can snatch them up, then you continue on your way.

You make it to the bank without anymore mishaps and you stand in the back of the line that is twenty people long. You wait for your turn to deposit your life’s savings and just as you reach the counter, you hear a scream and a man demanding you to hand over your life’s savings. All that you had is now being taken from you, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Challenge/Connection: Our treasure on this earth is fleeting. It may disappear from theft, waste, investment, or giving. Your life is the same way. You are not guaranteed tomorrow. The time you have can be wasted, invested, or given away.

Instead of taking your life to a bank you are building up a spiritual bank account. The things you do on this earth are being added and subtracted by the “Supreme Banker.”

This is a bank that can never be robbed and you can never loose the investments you place in the heavenly bank. Take joy in the investments you are making into the kingdom and look forward to receiving your heavenly bank account.

Receive Offering: One thing you can do with your life/time/resources is to invest it into the kingdom. Tonight, don’t just give in the offering, but commit to pray for the missionaries and love the lost.

Guest Contributor: Kim Pfitzer

Family Focused Ministry Podcast

2010-03-09T06:00:00.001-06:00

I've posted my session from the North American Children's Ministry Conference. Feel free to listen in. My notes and keynote slides are available as well.

The audio file is just over one hour in length. The goal of this session is to inspire children's ministers to focus a measure of energy on expanding their influence into the home as well as give some practical ideas to help accomplish this goal.

Fight the Stereotype

2010-03-08T17:04:00.006-06:00

Pay attention, class is in session. The guys over at Simply Youth Ministry have done it again with a great "instructional" music video just for youth workers.

Five simple rules for youth ministry. A little bit of funny and a whole lot of truth.

Here's another one they did a year ago.

Speech to Text

2010-03-05T06:00:00.055-06:00

I recently found (recommended by friends, I have not personally tested) some software that will allow you to talk to your computer for creation of documents.

Introducing Dragon (PC, iPhone) and MacSpeech (Mac) by Nuance. Nuance has perfected the speech to text software for the computer. Their software allows people to create documents speaking naturally at three times the pace of the average persons typing speed. And it doesn't misspell words or miss punctuation.

Think of the possibilities.

25 Ways To Win

2010-03-05T06:00:00.024-06:00

25 Ways To Win With People (Maxwell & Parrott)

I believe one of the most mis-valued things in life is our relationships. As leaders, we must always be doing what we can to maximize the value we place on others. In 25 Ways to Win with People, we discover some great insight to what leadership guru John Maxwell uses.

Here's a sample.

1: Start with yourself. You have to become a winner. Before you can truly give value you have to be healthy and growing.

2: Practice the 30 second rule: Say something nice to everyone you meet within the first 30 seconds of your conversation

4: Create a memory and help visit it often: Find ways to make memories and use tokens, images, and stories to relive those highlight moments

8: Encourage the dreams of others: Too often we are trying to get people on board with our dreams. But the reality is, if we are truly going to win with people we must invest in their dream and try to get them on board with ours.

19: Remember a persons story: Listen to their story and remember it when you talk with them

22: Learn the mailman's name: SAVE Method (S) Say the name three times in conversation, (A) Ask a question about the name, (V) Visualize the persons prominent physical or personality feature, (E) End the conversation with their name.

25: Help people win!

The full list of 25 is worth the read. Enjoy!

Family Focused Ministry Notes

2010-03-03T11:37:00.003-06:00

I had the honor of teaching a session at the North American Children’s Ministry Conference in St. Louis on March 3, 2010. Here are the notes and keynote printout from that session. I hope to make the audio available down the road.

You have my permission to utilize this content for training sessions in your church or ministry region. If you need additional information or sources of information, feel free to contact me.

Presenter Notes
Keynote Presentation

STL Give to the Company

2010-03-03T06:00:00.001-06:00

Topic: Make Money
Title: Give to the Company
Text: 2 Thessalonians 3:7-10
Theme: Get a Raise Pt4

Read the Text: 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”

Illustrate: The most satisfying job opportunities are those where the employer takes care of the employee because he/she knows that an employee is adding value to the company.

When you view your job as, “How can you add value to the company?” You become an asset to the employer. If your only role is to show up for your scheduled time so you can take home a paycheck your time there may be short lived.

You will not be hired because the company needs to give their money away - you are hired because they see that you can add value to their organization.

Challenge/Connection: People who never get a raise view their paycheck as what the boss and company owes them. People who get raises and promotions view their paycheck as a thank you for time spent investing into the success of the company.

Receive Offering: Pray and Receive Offering

SD Summer Camp

2010-03-01T06:05:00.004-06:00

Announcing the launch of the redesigned and updated SDAG Summer Camp website. Register and make a minimum payment online by April 15th to qualify for a free 2010 Camp DVD! VOTE NOW For Your Choice of Camp Shirt Designs!

Three easy steps to register:

1. Get a username and password
2. Add your kids to the account
3. Register those kids for camp

Need additional help - watch this tutorial video for a demonstration of how to use this site.

North American Children's Ministry Conference

2010-03-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

This week John Flemmer and I will be attending the North American Children's Ministry Conference in St. Louis. Be watching this blog and my twitter updates for items of interest as it relates to reaching the children in your community.

Later on this week we'll be a part of the national BGMC conference, "Shake it Up!"

I look forward to sharing great ideas with you as a result of this conference.

Things Tips-n-Tricks

2010-02-28T06:00:00.001-06:00

Things: Task Management Has Never Been This Easy

If you're anything like most leaders in an organization, from time to time your to-do list is longer than there are hours in a day. So, if you aren't able to hire multiple assistants, and managing volunteers seems to be just another thing to add to your plate - how to you continue to be productive and keep your mind at peace?

I use Things

Things is a Mac/iPhone app that helps to manage not only simple tasks, but major projects, staff, and areas of your organization.

Here are a few ways that I use Things to increase productivity and reduce the amount of stress in my life.

1. Things inbox is my catch all. This usually happens when I'm out of the office, so having Things on my iPod touch is essential. I can be walking through the grocery store and have a great idea about a printed piece for an upcoming event, or the name of a potential speaker for a training session we are hosting. I immediately get out Things and enter it as an action:

- Find the phone number for Speaker Name or
- Design marketing post card for event promotion

Later when I get back to my computer, I sync this with my computer so I have the current information on my desktop.

2. Tag and File each action: On a regular basis I go through my inbox and assign tags and file each action into the specific project. for. On "Find the phone number..." I would use the tag "research" and on "Design marketing..." the tag "Design Required" seems to fit. Each of them would then be added to their appropriate project. A deadline - if appropriate - is added to give me a reminder of when it's due so I don't miss an important deadline.

When I have time to spend design, these tags help me call up all "Design Required" elements to batch them at one time. Or, because it's grouped by project/event I can work on one many different "tags" for a specific project.

Here are some of the tags I use most frequently: Design Required, Email, Phone Call, Meeting Content, Publish Online, Blog, Research, Office Work

Regardless of the tags you use - I find these tags work the best if they help me define exactly what needs to be done in order to complete a certain task.

3. Utilize Hot Keys: By going into the Things Preferences, you will find options as it relates to "Quick Entry" (see image below). These hot keys are great when going through your email inbox or doing initial research from the web. When in my email I hit my Control+Space and a quick entry box pops up where I can immediately enter the action, add tags, a due date, and file it in the appropriate project. The great feature about the "autofill" hot key is that it will place a hyperlink in the Things task so you don't need to take time to enter all of the information from the email. This works on multiple programs and allows you to keep your tasks more organized in less space.

4. Hyperlink My Notes: In a similar fashion to the quick entry, if you already have a task that's created and it relates to a file in your finder, simply drag that file into the notes section of the task and it will create a link to that file. For instance, now that I've located the number for the speaker and created a new address book card - I drag that card into the notes section and change the task to Call Speaker Name to book for conference. When I get back to that task I don't need to go to my address book to search his name, I simply click the hyperlink in the task and it opens up for me.

Things is very intuitive in that if you move a file (other than delete) it follows where you've moved it - no broken links!

For more tips head to the CulturedCode website

Never Miss A Word!

2010-02-27T06:00:00.001-06:00

Recently I was in a networking session where most of the attendees were taking notes on computers and pda devices. I felt sorry for the one lady who was hand writing all of her notes. That is until she started unpacking all of the technology in her pen and paper.

Livescribe is a pen that records your hand strokes as you write on special Livescribe paper. When you get back to your computer plug it in and you now have a printable page on your computer. Additionally, with the push of a button the Livescribe pen records the audio for transfer and playback at a later date.

Though the pen and paper are a bit pricy, if you can't seem to make the jump to a portable computer, are a slow typer, or just prefer pen and paper but are tired of a analog filing system - then Livescribe might be the solution for you.

March Missions Madness

2010-02-26T06:00:00.000-06:00

Every year during the month of March, BGMC runs its annual campaign called “March Missions Madness—Lost Change for Lost Souls.” This campaign takes place during college basketball’s March Madness playoffs. The month of March was also chosen because National BGMC Day is the second Sunday in March.

The purpose of this four-week campaign is to bring special attention to BGMC and what it does. The object of the campaign is to get every person in the church involved by looking for lost change (money) for one month in order to reach lost souls around the world. Lost souls are reached by supplying our missionaries with the supplies they need to spread the gospel.

We suggest that you give every person in the church a Buddy Box or a Buddy Barrel bank. We suggest giving out the Buddy Boxes. These boxes come folded flat so they take up very little storage space. Because they come folded flat, they fit into church bulletins. This is an easy way to get a BGMC offering container to every church person. The Buddy Boxes are the size of a juice box container. These boxes are also more cost effective for BGMC.

Read More

My Reading Secrets

2010-02-25T09:49:00.000-06:00

I don't claim to have the silver bullet for getting through books, but each year I am surprised at how many books I complete. A few people have asked why I read so much and how I get through so many books.

Three years ago it was good if I completed one book in a year. Last year I completed 23 in 12 months. Pastor/Author Mark Batterson reads about 100 books a year. So, I'm not tooting my horn here... just giving some perspective and hoping to inspire you.

Here's the response:

WHY READ?
1. Readers are leaders. I'm sure you've heard that one before, but it's true. If we want to lead we must be growing. One of the best ways to grow is to read. Not just books, check out blog posts, podcasts, tutorials, newsgroups and more.

2. Reading keeps your mind open. Want to learn something new, gain a new perspective - then become habitual in your reading.

3. Reading give us information to recall when someone needs assistance. Once you've read/studied the information in a book it comes back to you at different times and helps guide the decisions and actions you and your organization will make. Without that you are limited to only your personal interactions and experiences.

4. Mentorship: There are some amazing leaders and thinkers that have walked this earth. We would love to be mentored by them - by reading their works or about them, in a sense we can still be mentored by them. In most cases this mentorship costs less than $25.00. Now that's a great deal.

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR NUMBER OF BOOKS:
1. Read Faster: There are some tricks you can learn to help you read faster. Work on gradually increasing your reading speed. You may need to reduce the number of distractions in order to accomplish this but it's worth it. Practice over and over. Create a habit of increasing your speed.

2. Read In Chunks More Often: Don't have a full hour for reading, no worries. Take 15 minutes and read a chunk. Try setting a goal of a chapter a day or five chapters in a week. Read more frequently.

3. Make Use of Abridged Versions: On occasion you will benefit from the abridged version of certain books. This helps you get the focused 20% of the book that contains 80% of the content.

4. Maximize Your Travel Time: About half of my books are read to me while I drive. This makes it a little difficult to review the highlighted portion and go back just to find one chapter or one segment, but it beats wasting that time while I am on long drives.

5. Read A Variety of Topics and Authors: Each year I set a personal growth curriculum. During this process I try to find a topic of growth that is valuable to me and find three different authors who address that issue. This helps me grow as well as give me different perspectives on that topic.

My hope is that you will fall in love with reading. Why? Because you are the lid in your organization. If you want to help the people in your organization grow, you must also be growing.

My Library
Reading Now Bookshelf

STL Regifting

2010-02-24T06:00:00.000-06:00

Topic: Maximize Opportunity
Title: Regifting!
Text: 2 Samuel 24:24
Theme: Give something that costs you. - Give the best you can.

Read the Text: But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

Illustrate: Have you ever gotten a gift that you just knew was a “re-gift?” Like a gift card that had $1.85 on it, a half burnt candle, used tea bags, or a mostly-used tube of toothpaste? What about used socks or underwear, coffee stained mugs, or a 1/2 box of Q-tips?

If you have the time to prep this, feel free to wrap up some of these items and use them as give-a-ways to enhance the delivery.

How would you feel if on Christmas morning, or your birthday you received a package that had these items in it? Not very loved.

Did you know that most of the items mentioned above have been received by some of our AG missionaries from well-meaning people?

They know they should support and invest in missions, but instead of giving the best they could, they found and gave what was easy.

Challenge/Connection: King David had the opportunity to offer something easy and free to God. Araunah had given him the supplies for the sacrifice and said - I’ll let you take these for free.

It would have been easy for King David to receive that and just pass it on - but his response was, “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

Just like we appreciate gifts that have a measure of thought and preparation to them, do do the missionaries we support.

Tonight what will you give to the missionaries: used tea bags and burnt candles, or will you give sacrificially to get them the best possible.

When you sacrifice and give to the missionaries - you are making a sacrifice to God as well.
Receive Offering: Pray and Receive Offering

STL Goes Undercover

2010-02-17T06:00:00.000-06:00

Topic: Meet Missionaries
Title: STL Goes Undercover
Text: 2 Corinthians 8:22
Theme: Many missionaries are risking their life and security to spread the Gospel.

Read the Text: In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you.

Illustrate: There are many missionaries around the world who, in following the call of God are in countries where their life is in jeopardy. They are “zealous” to spread the Gospel. STL enables them to reach groups of people normally out of reach.

Challenge/Connection: I just wanted you know how much we appreciate our STL truck.
Our work has us often on the borders of [Middle Eastern countries]. This last month we passed through [territories of two Muslim nations]. As we stopped in a few of the many villages along the way, I couldn’t help but thank God for the fact that we had a vehicle that enabled us to get into these rugged areas.

We were over-landing the [rugged terrain]…no roads or trails, not even a path to direct us…just a thousand miles of grass and mountains. We stopped to make tea and within a few minutes were surrounded by 300 goats and their 12-year-old shepherd. We spent time with him and shared our food….in turn this opened another door with a nomadic tribe that roams [the area]. This is one area of the world that would have been virtually impossible to reach through any other means than a private vehicle equipped for the outback.

This area is home to a [Muslim terror organization]. After passing through this checkpoint, we visited scores of villages in what is now a terror-inundated region. At every stop we were overwhelmed with how lost and open the villagers were. Once again, without the truck that [Speed the Light] bought for us, we would never have been able to reach this area.

You have blessed us and given us feet to get into places that are extremely remote and dark. We cannot express how much it has meant to us. Thank You!

John

Receive Offering: Pray and Receive Offering

STL My Team is Bigger

2010-02-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

Topic: Manage Resources
Title: My Team is Bigger
Text: Ephesians 5:15-16
Theme: Time 02

Read the Text: Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Illustrate: Set up a game with two teams - heavily stack one team so the disadvantage against the other is very obvious. Allow them to play for a moment.

After having them sit, ask if it was fair? Emphasize that one team was able to do more because they had more players.

In life, it often seems that things are just as unfair. Someone will have more money and stuff. Another will have more popularity and skill.

But there is a great equalizer - Time. We are all given 24 hours a day. No matter where you are in the world how young or how old, you have the same amount of time. The difference is how we use it.

Challenge/Connection: Not only should we manage our money. But we must also manage our time. Those of us who squander our time on unimportant and temporary things are wasting a valuable commodity.

The question you will be faced with as you enter adulthood, in addition to how will you manage your money, is how will you manage your time?

Have you set up a time budget? How much time will you allow for TV, for Homework, for Internet?

Do you have a way to hold yourself accountable to ensure you have the time to do what needs to be done.

I would propose to you that we could do more for the Kingdom of God by managing our time as diligently as we mange our money.

Receive Offering: This evening I want you to help stack the missionaries team with resources that help them Speed the Light of the Gospel. Your offering tonight will create a disadvantage for our opponent.

Not Another One Of Those "Christian" Movies

2010-02-09T06:00:00.000-06:00

I saw this helpful review of "To Save A Life" on Tyler Tufte's blog. Reposted with permission.

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Not Another One Of Those "Christian" Movies...

That was exactly my first thought after be barraged with emails and ads for "To Save A Life", a forthcoming Christian movie. Many Christian movies of the past have been lacking - in story line, in acting, in reality. I thought for sure this one would follow the steps of those before it.

I WAS WRONG!

I've now seen the movie twice and have brought a group of teenagers to it as well. Wow! What a powerful movie. The Christian message is clear and yet the movie is relatable to a God-less culture. They didn't shy away from mild swearing, underage drinking, and premarital sex simple because it's a Christian movie. Instead they used those things (cautiously) to connect with this culture. This is what movies of the past have neglected and it's cost them. "To Save A Life" deals with many real-world issues, from popularity to abortion. Whether you're a parent or a youth leader, this movie is a great platform for discussing many of these issues with teens. Check out a thorough review from Pluggedin.

Check out the quick stats from opening weekend on this movie:
-#1 Fan Ranking at Fandango.com
-Top 15 National Ranking for Box Office totals
-215,000 people saw it
-$1.5 million grossed

The movie has been out for 2 weekends now and has grossed over $2.5 million! And more theaters are opening the movie this weekend, notably Milbank & Rapid City, SD. And apparently in Aberdeen there is a push to get it in so call your movie theater manager and tell them you want to see it!

If you haven't seen the movie yet, take your teens this weekend!

David Boyd Polar Bear Plunge

2010-02-04T16:11:00.000-06:00

Since boys and girls gave over $6 million to missions in 2009, David Boyd (national BGMC director) agreed to jump in Table Rock Lake. Here's a video of that event!

National Site

If you want to see me jump in Table Rock Lake next February help use give $75,000.00 in 2010!

Polar Plunge for BGMC

2010-02-04T06:00:00.008-06:00

CHILDREN’S PASTORS PLUNGE FOR BGMC

When David Boyd, the national BGMC director, put out the national challenge that he would do a polar bear plunge into Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri, in February if the nation raised six million dollars for BGMC, a number of district BGMC directors and children’s pastors also set challenges. District BGMC directors set districts goals and if that goal was reached, they would do a polar bear plunge. Five district directors will be doing polar bear plunges in the next few weeks. Children’s pastors around the country also challenged their kids and set a church goal for BGMC. If that goal was met, they would do a polar bear plunge. We’ve been receiving testimonies of these plunges and thought all of you would enjoy seeing a few of them.

FIRST ASSEMBLY OF GOD, WILLMAR, MINNESOTA

On January 17, 2010, children’s pastor Randy Christensen did an exciting “polar plunge.” This jump happened in celebration of the children of their church reaching their fundraising goal for2009. One hundred and one different grade school aged boys and girls worked throughout 2009 to raise money for BGMC.

Pastor Randy’s kids fundraised, prayed, and sacrificially gave $12,296.55 to help others know the love of God. The goal for 2009 was $12,000. Consequently, Pastor Randy found himself jumping into an icy watery mix! Outside temperature was in the 20’s on the day of the plunge.

Days before, AG workers at the church in Willmar, Minnesota checked the outdoor water spout on the church to make sure that water would flow through the hoses to the tank. Unfortunately, the water pipes inside the building walls were frozen! Help came from the local fire department to fill the tank with 1,000 gallons of non-heated water on the day before the jump. An electric underwater aerator was placed in the tank to keep the water moving so that it would not freeze over during the night.

To view the video of the jump on YouTube, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib4UXqDozAI

Randy Christiansen is our Kids Camp Speaker for 2010!

STL Get a Raise

2010-02-03T06:00:00.001-06:00

Topic: Make Money
Title: Avoid Distraction and Create Focus
Text: 2 Thessalonians 3:7-10
Theme: Get a Raise Pt3

Read the Text: 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”

Illustrate: Have you ever been to a store where you’ve been ignored by an employee. Maybe you’ve wandered around WalMart looking for any resemblance of a blue vest? Imagine turning the corner and seeing a dozen employees eating, sending text messages, talking about relationship struggles, and viewing you (the customer) as an interruption.

You would not likely shop there consistently if that were the standard mode of operation.

If you are going to be viewed by your employer as worthy of a raise, you will need to focus on your job and leave personal “business” out of the equation.

Challenge/Connection: People who send/receive text messages, discuss personal issues, or are focused more on relationships with other employees rather than on customer service and investing in the company rarely are considered for significant raises.

Incremental raises may be given, but significant raises are never a consideration.

Receive Offering: Pray and Receive Offering

A Bald Dave! YES WE CAN!!!

2010-02-02T23:19:00.000-06:00

What a banner year for STL! It's exciting to know that we have completed the following projects with funds raised in 2009:

Boat Motor for Kiribati Islands
Boat Hull Replacement for Kiribati Islands
1000 MP3 Players for China
Vehicle for Uruguay
Video Projector for Tim Harris
Sound System for Guatemala

After completing these projects, we still have funds left over to apply to our next most urgent need - the vehicle for Rich and Deb Reid. However, these remaining funds do not complete the entire project for the Reids. We need an additional $30k to complete this project.

That's where the Winter Escape STL Offering comes in.

I would like to do everything we can the next two weeks to raise and bring $15,000 for Speed the Light. On Saturday afternoon Chet Caudill, the national STL director, will present a challenge followed with an offering and goal response. If we Reach $10k in one offering Pastor David Bauchspiess agreed to shave his head!

Here's another cool part.

Nebraska AG has agreed to match whatever we bring in that day to help us reach the $30k we need to complete this project NOW! That's a huge blessing for us and for the Reids who are making payments (plus interest) on their vehicle.

Here are the practical steps:

1. Present this challenge to your students the next few weeks.
2. Bring a check with you in the amount of the funds raised already in 2010
3. Sharpen your razors!

I believe we can receive a $15k offering. I believe we can eliminate this project NOW! I believe David Bauchspiess will look amazing as a bald guy!

To-Do...or Not Getting Done?

2010-02-02T06:00:00.003-06:00

The key to achieving a goal is the completion of tasks over a set period of time. To-do lists help us plan and complete these tasks; they help us to remember, plan ahead, and get ideas out of our brains and on to paper.

Many to-do lists are too general, I know mine can be. Tasks are listed without a planned completion date or priority level. What if you could set up a simple, clean looking to-do list with a specific date in mind for completion of tasks?

Teux Deux is a free, browser-based application that will simplify your to-do list. It includes a week overview and the ability to cross out, delete, and move tasks (the crossing out is especially enjoyable). There's also a "Someday Bucket" for those tasks in the distant future. You'll find it easy to use and pleasing to the eye. Here's a short how-to video that will get you started.

Give it a try and get moving on the tasks and goals that have been buried at the bottom of your to-do list.

Convoy of Hope and STL

2010-01-29T06:00:00.000-06:00

A quote from Hal Donaldson. Founder and President of Convoy of Hope:

"The partnership between Convoy of Hope and Speed the Light has resulted in 30 million people receiving help and learning that Jesus loves them. The transportation provided by Speed the Light has enabled Convoy of Hope to provide lasting hope. Haiti is no different. Trucks are desperately needed to get the food and supplies where it is needed most. If we can get more trucks, many more people will receive help and find hope."

Read more about how Convoy of Hope is helping in Haiti (story on foxnews.com). Each semi truck Convoy uses has been purchased with STL funds raised by students across America.

Keep up the great work!

NCU America's Best

2010-01-28T06:00:00.000-06:00

Minneapolis, MN - North Central University has again been recognized among America's Best Colleges and Universities by the U.S. News and World Report. North Central's selection as a 'Best Baccalaureate College' in the Midwest marks the second consecutive year the school has received this prestigious recognition. While simply being named to such a significant list is an honor in itself, we are further honored to report that after being named for the first time in 2009, North Central has moved up a full tier in the Report's rankings for 2010.

The indicators used to measure academic quality according the U.S. News and Report fall into seven broad areas: peer assessment; retention and graduation of students; faculty resources; student selectivity; financial resources; alumni giving; and (for national universities and liberal arts colleges) "graduation rate performance," the difference between the proportion of students expected to graduate and the proportion who do. The indicators include both "input measures," which reflect the quality of students, faculty, and other resources used in education, and "outcome measures," which signal how well the institution educates its student body.

For more information visit the U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges 2010 page, and NCU's profile on the usnews.com website.

Considering a post High School education? Check out NCU.

STL The Widows Mite

2010-01-27T06:00:00.000-06:00

Topic: Maximize Opportunity
Title: Perfect Practice Makes Perfect
Text: Luke 21:1-4
Theme: The widows mite - not equal giving, but equal sacrifice - how you give now will determine how you give and are blessed down the road

Read the Text: As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Illustrate: Following a magnificent piano concert an elderly lady approached the featured musician and waited in line to speak with him. After several minutes of signing autographs and shaking hands with adoring fans, he approached the elderly woman. She said to him, “Oh, I would give anything to play the piano like you.”

To which he replied; “No you wouldn’t.” and he went on signing more autographs

Stumped, confused, and a little but put off she repeated herself. “No, that was magnificent, I wish I could play like that - I would give anything to have that ability.”

Kindly he turned toward her again and said, “I really don’t think you would.” and again turned to the remaining fans.

Becoming indignant the elderly woman said, “Your music is absolutely inspiring, I would give anything to have that impact on others.”

Again he turned to her and said. “I’m not trying to be disrespectful ma’am, but I really don’t think you would give anything. Would you begin learning piano at the age of four, practice an average of six hours a day, pay for private lessons from the greatest teachers in the world. If you really would give anything to do this, you would have needed to start a long time ago.” and with that he turned and walked away.

Challenge/Connection: We enjoy hearing stories of others who have done such great things with what God has given them. But the truth of the matter is they started where they were and created a habit that would one day lead to greatness and inspire others.

Today when we receive this offering you might be tempted to think, I can’t do anything great right now - so I’ll do nothing. But the truth of the matter is this is a practice session that will lead to greatness down the road. Don’t give up today just because it feels insignificant right now.

Receive Offering: Pray and Receive Offering