GOOD REPORTS!!!

 

Meditate on these things;

give yourself entirely to them,

that your progress may be evident to all.
(1 Timothy 4:15 - NKJV)

What an excellent and encouraging 27th Annual Business Meeting we had last night at CHURCH IN THE NOW EAST!

In an age when many churches never even consider being so open with their congregations about the finances, it feels really good to know that we have maintained our integrity in that area. For more than a quarter of a century we have practiced the tradition of being open with our books.

And who would have believed, after all that has happened over the last year, that we would hear such a good financial report?

As Debye was sharing the surprisingly impressive figures and outcome from a year of such transition, I was listening to her words, and thinking about the goodness of the Lord...thinking about how the offerings have been up considerably lately, and how that so many people have pitched in to help out in so many different ways, recently.


It just confirmed to me once again that, not only is this church blessed, its very existence is a sovereign work of God!

His favor on us is obvious.

Even the small fire that we had in the building last week proved to be a blessing, in that it gave us front page coverage (free advertising) in the local papers. It has been a year since the foreclosure on the property, and many people assume that we are no longer meeting there on Iris Drive. But after the story ran (especially because there were so many firetrucks in front of the building), the community now knows that CITNE is still a very active part of Conyers/Rockdale.

I want to thank the 7 awesome people who presented themselves as candidates for the Board of Directors. As I listened to each of them speak so eloquently to the congregation (live, on video, or on Skype)  about their history with the church, not to mention their impressive accomplishments, I couldn't help but thank God for all the wonderful, high-quality people in my life. I am a very blessed man.

We were supposed to elect three new members, but because of a discovered ballot tie, we actually elected four, which is fine with me.

CHURCH IN THE NOW MIDTOWN is also experiencing a manifestation of favor. The historic Virginia-Highland Church has made its beautiful facilities available to us for as long as we need them, so we will be meeting there, starting tomorrow night! As you may or may not know, CITNM is completely autonomous, and does not depend on CITNE for any support. They are an amazing group of people who have been consistently faithful to this part of the CHURCH IN THE NOW vision since we started there 9 months ago.

I have about three more chapters to finish on the book, and may get them all done before next weekend. I can't wait for you to read it!

It's all good, and that's all for now...