Greetings!

 
Welcome! Please come in. "Ten Thousand Angels" was written by Ray Overholt. In 1958, at the height of his show-business career, he wrote this now famous song. The song is really about Jesus going to Calvary and about the vast number of angels always standing ready to serve Him. View the video, listen to or sing the words.

Are there other beings on earth and in space beside human beings? If so, who are they and what do they do? Unfortunately, a Christian can go to church and attend Bible class his entire life and never hear a sermon or study a lesson that deals with the subject of angels - both good and bad. We pay a big price for not knowing. Some of us in the church are like these children who offered their explanations.

 

Gregory, age 5: "I only know the names of two angels, Hark and Harold."

Mitchell, age 7: "It's not easy to become an angel! First, you die. Then you go to Heaven, and then there's still the flight training to go through. And then you got to agree to wear those angel clothes." 

Daniel, age 9: "Angels talk all the way while they're flying you to heaven. The main subject is where you went wrong before you got dead."

Jack, age 6: "Angels don't eat, but they do drink milk from Holy Cows."

 

Some time back Rev. Mike Zehnder (LCMS) said: "Pastor Ginkel's course on angels is the most in-depth Bible study on the subject I've ever seen. His teaching is strictly Biblical, steadfastly adhering to God's Word on a subject where there's a lot of wild speculation. Still, the fascinating feature of this course is that he has provided quotations from popular books and articles on angels that are dead wrong, serving as an interesting foil to show what the Word truly says. We advertised the course in the paper and a number of folks came from the community regularly because the topic of angels is 'hot!' And so is this Bible study."

 

The Story of Angels Study Guide, 120 pages, 10 lessons, #150 $6.95

The Story of Angels Leader's Guide, 64 pages, #151 $4.95

50 Flyers to promote the study, #152 $3.50

 

To learn more about the course click Angels to go to our website. You can place your order there or email us or call 303-980-8863. 

Thomas Watson, founder of IBM, built one of the most successful companies in history because he never allowed the organization to replace people as his number-one focus. During one meeting a number of managers were reviewing customer problems with Mr. Watson. On the table were eight piles of papers, identifying the sources of problems: manufacturing problems, engineering problems, etc. After much discussion, Watson, a big man, walked slowly to the front of the room and, with a flash of his hand, swept the table clean and sent papers flying all over the room. He said, "There aren't any categories of problems here. There's just one problem: Some of us aren't paying enough attention to our customers." He turned crisply on his heel and walked out, leaving twenty fellows wondering whether or not they still had jobs . . . Isn't it funny that we have to remind ourselves that the goal of all ministry is people! (The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make, p. 49, Hans Finzel) 

(God Is In the Small Stuff, pp. 86-87, by Bruce & Stan)

Hello, my name is Rachel, and I am a burnt out former church secretary. The Stuff Christians Like blog had a post on the church secretary, the most powerful person in the church some time ago. It's eerily accurate, but I laughed especial hard when I read this in the comments section:

I don't doubt it. I'm in my twenties, but it only took a few years in a small church office to burn me out - and I worked at an especially healthy church, full of good people who cared about helping me thrive. Not every secretary - and certainly not every pastor - is as fortunate as I was when it comes to interacting with co-workers. [read more] Note: Be sure to read some of the posts

Pride will kill you. Forever. Pride is the sin most likely to keep you from crying out for a Savior. Those who think they are well will not look for a doctor.

As seriously dangerous as pride is, it's equally hard to spot. When it comes to diagnosing our hearts, those of us who have the disease of pride have a challenging time identifying our sickness. Pride infects our eyesight, causing us to view ourselves through a lens that colors and distorts reality. Pride will paint even our ugliness in sin as beautiful and commendable.

We can't conclude that we don't struggle with pride because we don't see pride in our hearts. The comfortable moments when I pat myself on the back for how well I am doing are the moments that should alarm me the most. I need to reach for the glasses of Christ-like humility, remembering that nothing good dwells in my flesh, and search my heart for secret pride and its symptoms. In his essay on undetected pride, Jonathan Edwards points out seven sneaky symptoms of the infection of pride. Here they are: [read more]

Fact #1: 90 percent of pastors will never pastor a church larger than 200 people. Eighty percent have less than 100.

Fact #2: 99.9 percent of us will pastor a small church some time in our ministry. Every pastor wants their church to grow. I do. And it has.

Fact #3: I can pastor a small church well, without settling for less. I discovered it to be a profound privilege and blessing.

I tend to agree with the person who said if all planned meetings were postponed, a lot more would get done. This is what I have learned about planning and executing successful meetings:

1. People and their time are valuable. Do not waste either. Begin on time!
2. It is vital that the right people are in the meeting. Decision makers and implementers are crucial.
3. Most meetings last too long. Strip down the agenda to cover what needs to be addressed. Be careful with non-agenda suggestions. [read more]