Faith comes from looking at God, not the mountain!

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” – Habakkuk 2:14

You are invited today (Pentecost Sunday) to join hundreds of millions of Christians in 220 nations of the world celebrating the Global Day of Prayer (GDOP). Live GDOP observances are being broadast live by God TV. CLICK HERE to watch.

For those of you who live in or near Culpeper, Virginia we are planning a community-wide Observance today from 3:30 pm until dusk at the Yowell Meadow Park, Pavilion A. The vision is for the worship leaders of the various churches to lead us, as a community, into worship, and praise as we join together with others around the globe in mutual and unified repentance and prayer. Please consider bringing a blanket and a picnic basket and stay until dusk.

The program will be fluid/flexible.

Order will be determined on-site based on your needs (i.e., choirs, and those needing to leave early, will be given priority)

The worship leader/musicians will take the lead, prayer leaders will step in between praise & worship selections.

Pastor Jacob Phillips and Dr. Charlene Phillips, President Culpeper Ministerial Association have privilege.

Here’s what we think we know so far:

Coordinator, Jeff Light
Worship Leader, Lee Catherine Clayton

Musicians, in Alphabetical Order
Lee Catherine Clayton
Rita Grace, vocals
Lauren Light, Guitar & vocals
Adam Meisberger, Guitar & vocals
New Life Anointed Ministries Choir

Prayer leaders, In Alphabetical Order
Stephen P. Burke, The Lord Will Provide Ministries
David Contreras, Primera Iglesia Bautista Maranatha
Pastor GW Dameron, City On A Hill Church
Brian Frances Hume, The Bones Shall Live
Zeke Lam, First Bible Baptist Church, Ruckersville
Pastor Jeff Light, Novum Baptist Church
Pastor Eugene Logan, New Life Anointed Ministries
Pastor Adam & Amy Meisberger, Bethel Baptist Church
Pastor Jacob Phillips, White Oak Baptist Church

Who are you upsetting? Who are you connecting? Who are you leading?

Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: (Numbers 30:1)

Yesterday morning, Michael Stay sent me an email with a link to a profound video with Seth Goodin talking about tribes. This was in follow up to our strategic planning meeting on May 14.

Seth says we are living during a major transition with how ideas are shared and spread. We are in a new model of leadership. Changes are no longer made with money and power. Tribes are what matter now. It’s tribes that can change our world, not because they force people but because people want to connect. Assemble tribes that assemble tribes that becomes a movement.

Seth then asks, “Who are you upsetting? Who are you connecting? Who are you leading?”

Most movements are about finding a group that’s disconnected, but already has a yearning. Change comes by affecting the “who” not the mechanics of what you are doing. People are waiting for you to lead them.

Tribe Leaders …
1) Challenge the status quo
2) Build a culture
3) Connect people to one another. More than anything else, people want to feel missed.
4) Commit to the cause, to the tribe, to the people who are there.

Challenge: Do something. It only takes 24 hours to create a movement.

Prayer Power
Almighty and eternal God and Father, I worship and adore You. I ask You to help me assemble a modern-day Gideon army, a tribe, to inspire people around the world to the greatness You designed them for. Thank You Jesus for being my Shepherd, for making me lie down in green pastures, for guiding me in the steps of righteousness and leading me for Your own name sake. Anoint me from the heavens. Anoint me from the Holy Temple. Anoint me from Zion, O Lord.

Blessings to do something to change the world — to join or lead a tribe!

Growth Opportunities

1) Watch TED video “”Seth Godin on the tribes we lead”

2) REGISTER for Week #9 webinar in our 12 week series “Experiencing God Through Journaling.” We meet at 8 pm EDT today (May 19).

During this webinar, we will discuss TRIBES and STRATEGIC ALLIANCES!

I am committed to helping those who are committed to helping me! – Mike Barber

You are invited to join our vibrant, online, world-wide community (tribe) to change lives and disciple nations.

3) “Can You Really Make $5000 A Month Or More Without Having A Website Or A List?” – Announcing: A Webinar (on May 21) That Will Teach You Exactly How To Do This, Using Proven Techniques For Affiliate Marketing That Connie Regan Green Has Been Using Since 2006.

‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; (Matthew 25:35)

What role is God calling you to play to feed the hungry?

About 2 years ago, Virginia Morton approached her church about bringing Stop Hunger Now to Culpeper after Rev. Lee Warren, a good friend of hers, peaked her interest. Lee is a United Methodist minister from South Hill, Virginia and oversees Stop Hunger Now in Virginia. This program has mushroomed since Lee took it over.

It turned out the timing wasn’t right, so Virginia later approached Erick Kalenga, founder of the Rize-Up youth ministry, and he embraced the idea. Erick arranged for Lee to speak on May 5th, 2008 at the Stop Hunger Now assembly at Culpeper County High School (CCHS). The vision was cast, but Erick still needed a point person to manage this project.

In late 2008, Natalie Rosenberger was praying for God to show her what He wanted to do at the same time the Holy Spirit prompted Erick to call Natalie about taking charge over the Stop Hunger Now project. Natalie is 19 years old and had been involved with Rize Up at Culpeper High School before graduating in June 2008. She is the daughter of Brad Rosenberger, one of the seven supervisors on Culpeper County Board of Supervisors.

I first met Natalie on December 21, 2008 (4 days before Christmas) when she came with Erick Kalenga to the weekly Friday Pray Culpeper meeting at Reformation Lutheran Church. Virginia, Dewey McDonnell, and I formed a circle around Natalie and Erick laying hands on them and praying for God’s favor for Natalie to be able to raise at least $5,000 by Feb 7, the date they hoped to pack at least 20,000 meals at CCHS.

On January 9, I went to the Best Western in Culpeper to hear and videotape Natalie and Erick share about the Stop Hunger Now opportunity to a small, but influential group of pulpit and marketplace ministers. Now Natalie had the daunting task of raising $5,000 in just 4 weeks.

Through another set of miraculous circumstances, Soul Purpose Church was able to bring Apologetix, a Christian parody band, to Liberty High School in Bealeton Virginia on Sat January 31. When Natalie was allowed to share about Stop Hunger Now for 3 minutes, I learned that she had now raised $4,200. An additional $500 was raised at that concert.

Yesterday I spoke with both Natalie and Erick and learned they have now raised $5,200 and hope to raise another $800 by Feb 6 for a grand total of $6,000.

Come experience the miracle! If you live locally and are available, you’re invited to join Natalie, Erick, and more than 50 other volunteers at CCHS on Saturday February 7 to CCHS to package about 24,000 meals. The packing officially starts at 10 am, but Erick is asking volunteers to arrive by 9:30 am if possible. Bring your kids. Bring your friends. Everyone who comes will be blessed.

Each highly nutritional meal costs only 25 cents. 100 people can package the 24,000 meals in just 2 hours. That’s enough to feed an orphanage with 48 children twice a day for 7 months. Children as young as 5 years old can get involved and help with the meal packing.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank You for Natalie Rosenberger and for her UNCOMMON obedience as she stepped out in faith trusting You completely. Thank You for providing exceeding abundantly above and beyond what she imagined. Thank You for every person who will show up on Sat Feb 7 to package these 24,000 meals. May You bless each one of them and all those who receive these meals. Thank You Jesus. Amen and hallelujah!

Blessings of the Day
Stop Hunger Now YouTube videos – these are short and heart-moving [see below]

JIREH Marketing: Empowering Christiant Women – recorded audio from Feb 3 webinar

Experiencing God Through Journaling: Life and Relationship Enrichment – recorded audio from Feb 3 webinar

Blessings to partake of the Stop Hunger Now miracle!

—————————————–

Due to the initiative and faith of Natalie Rosenberger, Rize Up exceeded its goal of raising $5,000, which will allow > 20,000 meals to be packaged by 40-80 volutneers in a single day (Feb 7) to feed starving and malnourished people around the world. We can make a difference in the world as a community, but we need your help.

Watch this inspiring 6 minute YouTube video below and then get involved. Your help and support will make a BIG difference!

On January 9, 2009, Natalie Rosenberger and Erick Kalenga shared their Stop Hunger Now goal at the Best Western to an engaged audience at the Best Western in Culpeper, Virginia.

“And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.” (Deuteronomy 8:2)

What were the top 10 highlights and low points for you personally in 2008?

In keeping with the annual tradition begun last year, I’m going to share the top ten spiritual stories of 2008 from my perspective. These stories relate primarily to Culpeper, but also Virginia because both are my home.

On December 26, 2008, the Culpeper Star Exponent published a lengthy article titled “Culpeper’s top 10 stories of 2008.” According to that, these were the top ten stories in order of significance:
1) We felt the full effects of the 2008 recession
2) Culpeper opens new high school
3) Center of the political universe
4) It started with Cox’s dismissal
5) Town thrice left in the dark
6) Controversy for Branch, Compton
7) Teen’s death hits entire community
8) Town’s future a matter of politics
9) No shortage of candidates here
10) Terremark – new facility brings jobs

In Culpeper (and Virginia), the top 10 spiritual stories of 2008 were (in chronologic order)
1) Selection of Dr. Rev. Charlene Phillips as President of the  Culpeper Ministerial Association (Feb 2008)
2) Virginia-Liberia Alliance established (Apr 2008)
3) Launch of City on a Hill Church by GW Dameron (June 2008)
4) Launch of Transformation Virginia initiative (Aug 2008) – Culpeper’s fire spread because of Jack Stagman
5) Death of Kelsey Orndorff (08-29-08)
6) Eastern View High School opened (school name is very significant biblically)
7) Launch of community-wide Experiencing God initiative (09-07-08) – spearheaded by Rev. Mark Jenkins
8) Churches launch homeless initiative in Culpeper (Nov 2008)
9) Culpeper Community Thanksgiving service (11-25-08) – UNITY
10) Marching Through Culpeper convergences

Of course, these 10 stories represent only a very small fraction of the many great things that God did in Culpeper in 2008. Thank you to all of you (locally, regionally, nationally, and even internationally) who are sowing your prayers, time, treasure, and talent to make Culpeper and Virginia a bright light for the world.

At the statewide level for Virginia, one of the most significant positive spiritual initiatives I am aware of for 2008 was the decision by Bowie Curry to launch a 24/7 house of prayer in the Greater Fredericksburg area starting January 2009.

On the national front, “The epic election that made Barack Obama the first African-American president was the top news story of 2008 – followed closely by the economic meltdown that will test his leadership, according to U.S. editors and news directors voting in The Associated Press’ annual poll.

Internationally, I feel the Beijing Olympics, which began 08-08-08, brought a significant and temporary peace and calm to the world overall for a few weeks during an otherwise very stormy year.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank You for the favor you showed to Culpeper and Virginia this past year. Thank You that the pastors and churches in our community are coming together more and more in UNITY to address common problems we face. May 2009 be the best year ever spiritually in the history of Culpeper and Virginia. Do an amazing work to make our communities a bright light for the world! In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
Details for the top 10 spiritual stories of 2008 for Culpeper [see below]

Blessings to make the time to reflect back on 2008 and to set godly goals for 2009!

————————————————————————————————————————–

Details for top 10 spiritual stories of 2008 for Culpeper (in chronologic order)

1) Selection of Dr. Rev. Charlene Phillips as President of the  Culpeper Ministerial Association
On Feb 19, 2008, Rev. Randy Orndorff passed the baton to Rev. Charlene Phillips to serve as President of the Culpeper Ministerial Association for two years. This marked the very first time that a female and a black person were elected to the recognized top position of spiritual authority for the Culpeper community. Charlene did a wonderful job leading in the Spirit to bring more UNITY amongst the pastors and marketplace ministers. Thank you Charlene. And thank You Pastor Randy for the wonderful job you did leading our community spiritually for the two years before Charlene took over.

2) Virginia-Liberia Alliance established (Apr 2008)
In my devotional on May 28, 2008 titled “A Day I’ll Never Forget“, I mentioned that “December 18, 2007 was a turning point, not only in my life and Sam Reeves’ life, but also for Culpeper, Virginia, and the nation of Liberia.” As a result of my offering to help Sam Reeves and Rim of Grace Ministries, I had the privilege to
a) Visit meet Ron Davidson and visit the Gleaning For The World headquarters in January 2008
b) Participate in Operation Rescue Liberia Day on Feb 23, 2008
c) Participate in Virginia-Liberia Alliance Day on Saturday April 19 at the Reformation Lutheran Church.
d) Visit the Liberian Embassy in Wash D.C. with a large contingency from Culpeper, including Rev’s Jacob and Charlene Phillips
e) Build a strong friendship with David Bean, who I would nominate as Culpeper’s citizen of the year.

3) Launch of City on a Hill Church by GW Dameron (June 2008)
 On April 17, 2008, Pastor GW Dameron contacted me out-of-the-blue to say he was moving with his family from San Diego CA to Culpeper VA in June 2008 to finish a work that had been started to make Culpeper a city set on a hill (for Jesus). In the short while GW has been in Culpeper, he has been responsible for a big upswing in the spiritual climate of our community To learn more, visit my blog titled “City on a Hill Church” (July 21, 2008) -

4) Launch of Transformation Virginia initiative (Aug 2008) – Culpeper’s fire spread because of Jack Stagman
Rick Heeren had told me on numerous occasions for more than a year that he wanted to come back to Culpeper to fan the flames he had started a few years earlier. I kept advising Rick to contact Jack Stagman and go to Northern Virginia first. Finally that happened.

On July 29, we held our first ever Transformation Virginia webinar. The blog (website) for Transformation Virginia was birthed. And Rick came to Northern Virginia, Fredericksburg, and Culpeper on August 17-19,2008. After spending 3 days shuttling Rick around, Jack caught the city transformation bug. In my opinion, Jack is currently playing the most significant role in the spiritual transformation of Virginia. He has already been responsible for lighting fires for prayer evangelism in more than 7 new communities in Virginia.

5) Death of Kelsey Orndorff (08-29-08)
Saturday August 30, 2008 was definitely the saddest day of the year for me when I learned that Pastor Randy Orndorff’s only daughter (Kelsey) died in a serious car accident the evening before on her way to a Chris Sligh concert in Fredericksburg. As President of the Culpeper Ministerial Association for 2 years, Pastor Randy had been offered tremendous support to our Pray Culpeper team. As I was driving to the first memorial service held for Kelsey on the night of Aug 30, the scripture that came to my mind was Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints.”

During the memorial service, I learned from the testimonies of numerous people that Kelsey had manifested an UNCOMMON love for Jesus and for the destitute in this world, especially the homeless. Given that and Pastor Randy’s reputation as one of the most beloved pastors of our community, I knew that somehow, some way God was going to bring something great out of something so tragic. He always does. People at the Culpeper United Methodist Church, pastors in our community, and the community-at-large rallied behind Randy and LeAnne Orndorff. On November, Chris Sligh came to Culpeper High School to lead a concert in memory of Kelsey. About 800 people, mostly teens, showed up. I believe the new homeless ministry that the churches in Culpeper recently embraced is a direct result of Kelsey’s death.

6) Eastern View High School opened
Two years in the making, the much anticipated Eastern View High School finally opened. School spirit ran high from the get-go, as an estimated 5,000 people attended the Cyclones’ inaugural home football game, a friendly scrimmage against CCHS. Behind the electrifying legs of star tailback Stevie Strother, EVHS went on to finish 7-3, playing to large crowds most every Friday night. More importantly, the opening of EVHS provided a big boost in morale to our community. I believe the name of this school is very significant spiritually because Moses’ Tabernacle, Solomon’s temple, and Jewish synagogues all face to the East (i.e. have an eastern view). Mountain View Community Church, a large local church having a tremendous impact on the spiritual climate of Culpeper, is moving its Sunday worship services to EVHS starting January 2009.

7) Launch of community-wide Experiencing God initiative (09-07-08) – spearheaded by Rev. Mark Jenkins
This summer Mark Jenkins caught the Holy Spirit fire of revival and he wasted no time in spreading that to others in our community. Supported by more than 100 LIFE groups, numerous churches and businesses embraced the 7 week “Experiencing God” series prepared by Henry Blackaby. Thank You to Mark for lighting a fire that will not be quenched.

8) Churches launch homeless initiative in Culpeper (Nov 2008)
Jesus said that when we take care of the destitute (i.e. the poor, the hungry, widows, orphans, the sick, those in prison, etc), we are caring for Him. Thanks to the Culpeper Food Closet, the needs for many of the hungry were already being met. Thanks to the leading of Pastors Chad Whaley and Michael Gray, the Culpeper Ministerial Association embrace coming together to care for the urgent need of homeless people in Culpeper just in time as freezing temperatures came in late November. We are trusting God to engage many more churches and volunteers as needed to continue this vital ministry.

9) Culpeper Community Thanksgiving service (11-25-08) – UNITY
In the entire time I have lived in Culpeper, I have never witnessed such UNITY among such a diverse audience as at this year’s Culpeper Community Thanksgiving service. We thank Dr. John W. Kinney for his passionate message about rejoicing always. And we owe a special thanks to Rev. Charlene Phillips for the prayers and relationship building she did to make this possible.

10) Marching Through Culpeper convergences
Virginia Morton never ceases to amaze me with her persistence, ever-growing faith, and positive attitude. The weekly MTC prayer calls on Tuesday afternoons have been my favorite times of corporate prayer. In my June 4 devotional, I stated that “the Marching Through Culpeper movie project is by far the biggest God story I have ever been involved with from a marketing perspective on the web.”

On July 24, Virginia launched her very first email MTC marketing campaign and posted her first blog entry herself. As a result of that, Georgia Willis got reconnected to Virginia and then to me. Because of her love for Jesus and her involvement in key positions of leadership on a variety of higher education boards, I have dubbed Georgia “Virginia’s Princess of Education.” On December 18, Virginia emailed me an amazing list of 2008 convergences for MTC.

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

What adversity do you need to overcome through rejoicing?

I apologize for the delay in sending you today’s message. In my devotional on November 26, I committed to share photos and highlights from the November 25 Culpeper Community Thanksgiving Service on Nov 27. However, like many of you, my past few days have been filled with enjoyable moments with family and friends during this special Thanksgiving week.

I remain acutely aware that for many people, including those with estranged families or who have recently lost loved ones, the holiday time can seem quite lonely and even depressing. Please pray for my dear friends Sharon and Jerry Graham. Sharon’s father was in a car accident last week and died on November 24. His memorial service was held on November 28 in Pennsylvania. When I spoke with Jerry on Nov 29, he told me Walter’s funeral was the best one he had ever been to and that it was extremely well attended. Lois Lucas, Walter’s wife who is in very poor health, was able to attend the entire service. Thank You Jesus.

Along with other members and guests of the Culpeper Ministerial Association, I was privileged to attend a luncheon at noon on Tuesday November 25 with Dr. John W. Kinney. That tradition of meeting with the keynote speaker for lunch on the day of the Culpeper Community Thanksgiving service began last year and it’s something I really look forward to.

The actual Culpeper Community Thanksgiving service in the evening on November 25 was awesome. I estimate that about 500-700 people came. What impressed me the most was the level of worship and the UNITY, especially between races and churches. Thank you to all the local government and school officials who came.

While I truly enjoyed every part of the two hour service, these things stood out for me:

1) The love and passion (burning fire for Jesus), manifested by our local pastors such as Mark Jenkins, Dr. Ted Fuson, Jeff Light, Habacuc Diaz Lopez, Charlene Phillips, Michael Gray, Jacob Phillips, and Randy Orndorff.

2) The lyrics and passion in the songs sung by the Culpeper Middle School choir, Immersed (Lee Catherine Clayton and Cammie Shelatz), Laura Nelson, and  Mrs. Janette Smith.

3) The strong support for the Culpeper Food Closet and the new homeless initiative by the Culpeper Ministerial Association. Thank You to Pastor Chad Whaley for launching the latter. Jesus told us to take special care of the downtrodden – the poor, the hungry, the widows, the orphans, the sick, and those in prison. When the Body of Christ does that, people will be attracted to Jesus.

4) Dr. John W. Kinney’s passionate message about rejoicing always. He emphasized that we are to rejoice in the Lord, not necessarily in our circumstances.

5) Pastor Randy Orndorff’s very touching and authentic message about his daughter Kelsey and the significance of the number 33.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank You for the passion for Jesus You are stirring up among Your people in Culpeper and Virginia. Thank You for the UNITY among pastors and races. May You add many more logs to the spiritual fire until finally a forest fire of revival and awakening breaks out to impact the word for Jesus. Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
Photos from the 2008 Culpeper Community Thanksgiving service:   Flickr   Facebook

Blessings to choose to rejoice in the Lord always, not in your circumstances!

Within a few days, we hope to post a more complete article by Julia Peck, the race director. For now CLICK HERE to enjoy the photos on Facebook. If you don’t have a Facebook account, CLICK HERE to see the photos on Flickr.

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. (Ephesians 4:31)

What are you thankful for this week?

Tuesday November 18 was my best day of 2008 thus far. Why? UNITY! CLARITY! PASSION! God was all over the day – good news at every turn. God rekindled my fire for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes after reminding me of the extremely positive impact that organization had on me, my family, and the Culpeper community.

I woke up at 4 am instead of my usual 5 am and read the book of Jonah and the first 5 chapters of Isaiah. America today reminds me a lot of Nineveh of old in the days of Jonah. When I wrote my devotional around 7 am and did a Google search looking for my link of the day, the first link I came across, I chose to use and wouldn’t you know, the key verse for that blog post was the verse from Isaiah that had jumped out at me earlier.

At the monthly Culpeper Ministerial Association meeting, 29 people came, although three had to leave early because of an unplanned urgent meeting. That’s more than I’ve ever seen before. But what’s really neat is the fire, passion, and unity I see among our spiritual leaders. I am so thankful to Jesus for what He’s doing.

Hagazi Kebede led the devotional. He is my dear friend from Ethiopia who works for the Persecution Project Foundation. Hagazi has been a faithful participant in Pray Culpeper [http://prayculpeper.org]. After sharing his story of being the victim of racial discrimination and hatred in the late 1980′s, he shared how God miraculously healed him from the root of bitterness that had taken hold through the power of a vivid dream. Hagazi then shared that his favorite book of the Bible is Jonah, which I had read earlier that morning.

Mark Jenkins, pastor of Mountain View Community Church and the one currently leading the Experiencing God series in our community, said he is encouraging everyone at his congregation to bring wheel barrows of canned food to the community Thanksgiving service on Tuesday evening Nov 25. He said he expects it to be standing room only at Culpeper Baptist Church, which has a roughly 900 seat capacity. That’s never happened before for this spiritual community event.

Randy Orndorff, pastor of the Culpeper United Methodist Church, shared great news about how many businesses and organization are marketing the Chris Sligh concert in memory of Kelsey Orndorff at the Culpeper High School on Saturday Nov 22. They expect that to be sold out with an overflow. That auditorium seats 1,200.

There was active discussion and interest in starting a quarterly community worship and prayer gathering. Pastor Chad Whaley came and discussed the need for pastors and churches to adopt a simple solution to address the needs of the homeless in our community. Pastors jumped all over that. Thank You Jesus!

In the evening, Julia and I drove to Fredericksburg for the annual FCA banquet. I hadn’t been involved with the FCA or attended one of its banquets for 4 years. It was weird how we ended up going. My wife started actively using Facebook after participating in the webinar I hosted with Mari Smith, the pied piper of Facebook.

Then Kerry O’Niell, the Director of the Fredericksburg area FCA, began reaching out to bless Julia with little “touches” through Facebook. About a week ago, my wife tells me out-of-the-blue that she wants to go to the FCA banquet. What an incredible blessing. I’ll share more about that tomorrow.

Jack Serra, one of the regional VP’s for Harvest Evangelism, says “The businessman’s ministry in the marketplace will only advance to the extent his marriage permits.” He teaches that a wife’s primary role to her husband is helpmate and that husbands need to listen to their wives. Well, for months my wife has been telling me I need to get out more to be with people and groups.  Of course, she’s right.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, we have so much to be thankful for in Culpeper and Virginia. Thank You for turning up the spiritual temperature in our communities. Thank You unity, clarity, and passion among our spiritual leaders. Thank You for rekindling my fire  to bless teens through the FCA. Ignite a bond fire of praise, worship, and prayer in our state that rapidly spreads across our nation. Thank You Jesus. Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
Chris Sligh

Blessings to end 2008 on a bang, overflowing with thanksgiving!

Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife. (1 Corinthians 7:10-11)

How do you “fireproof” your marriage?
When will you fireproof your marriage?

God truly works in mysterious ways. Today’s story is an amazing tangle of circumstances with God reaching out to bless marriages right here in Culpeper, but also in Virginia, America, and beyond.

On Tuesday evening November 4 (Election Day), Julia (my wife) and I went to hear Rick Heeren speak at City On A Hill Church in Culpeper, Virginia. Pastor GW Dameron was the gracious host. This was the first time I had ever been to the new location for City On A Hill Church, now located in the same building as AT&T (formerly Cingular), on Route 522 adjacent to Yowell Meadow Park.

What Rick shared was fantastic to fan the flames for community transformation. As Julia and I were getting ready to leave the building, the Holy Spirit prompted Julia to pick up a gorgeous handout on the table at the back of the sanctuary titled “Fireproof Your Marriage: Never Leave Your Partner Behind.” The back of that handout said:

“Learn the secrets to a lasting marriage. Financial pressures, the stress of parenting, differences between men and women, boredom, temptations – they can all scorch a relationship. The fires will come – will your marriage last? Come to City On A Hill Church this week as we start a series called Fireproof Your Marriage. The God who designed marriage intended for it to be a loving, lifelong partnership. Join us as we discuss His plans for indestructible relationships. You’ll find practical insights for building an enduring red-hot marriage.”

The Fireproof Your Marriage handout opened a discussion with GW and us about the 6 week marriage series he is hosting at City On A Hill Church on Saturdays at 6:00 pm EST, starting November 8. Julia and I learned that “FIREPROOF” (the movie) was playing at our local theaters and we talked about watching that movie on Sat Nov 8.

Early yesterday afternoon, my wife asked if I wanted to go with her a few hours later to watch the matinee showing of “The Secret Life of Bees.” Normally I’m not a big movie buff, especially during the work day. But I agreed. When we got to the theater, I asked how much longer “FIREPROOF” would be playing at the theater and found out that was the last day.

So Julia and I watched 2 movies back-to-back – “The Secret Life of Bees” and “FIREPROOF.” For someone who only goes to a movie once every 2-3 months, and never to back-to-back movies, this was peculiar. Both movies were fantastic – extremely wholesome stories. Fireproof starred Kirk Cameron and was made by the creators of “Facing The Giants,” one of my favorite movies of all time.

As a result of the Nov 4 discussion with GW and the FIREPROOF movie yesterday, Julia and I now plan to participate in the “Fireproof Your Marriage” series that starts Saturday November 8 at City On A Hill Church in Culpeper. If you live nearby and are available, we invite you to join us.

Who is FIREPROOF for? According to a blog post titled “Singles loving FIREPROOF,” “it’s for everybody. Kids, parents, older couples, singles. Everybody. Each viewer learns about forgiveness. The movie speaks to all relationships and has application for us all as we accept and serve each other unconditionally.”

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank You for these two fantastic movies. Thank You for leading Julia and me to watch them together yesterday. Thank You for the “Fireproof Your Marriage” series that starts in Culpeper on Saturday November 8. May everyone who participates be richly blessed. Bless all those who were involved in the making of these two movies. Thank You Jesus. Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
www.fireproofmymarriage.com

Blessings to fireproof your marriage!

“And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.” (Matthew 10:14)

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your use of Web 2.0?
What are you going to do to improve that?

I feel like a kid in Toy Land. During the past 6 weeks, I’ve plunged big time into Social Marketing and have discovered how much fun Web 2.0 is and how effective it is at building relationships and growing my network. Leadership is about influence.

What’s the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. Well, my wife gave the best summary I’ve ever heard while we were walking earlier this week – Web 1.0 is 1-way communication and Web 2.0 is 2-way.

Last week I was saying Web 2.0 is at least 10-100 times more powerful than Web 1.0, but now I realize that’s a gross underestimate. Web 2.0 is at least 100-1,000 times more powerful than Web 1.0.

Let me give just a few simple examples to make my point. I’ve been sending these daily devotionals for 27+ months now. Typically, my net growth rate (new subscribers minus unsubscribers minus invalid email addresses) is about 7-10 people per month.

Well, since beginning the five week series of webinars titled “UNCOMMON Social Marketing (Web 2.0)” on Oct 2, my net growth with my Constant Contact list alone has been 158. That doesn’t include Twitter.

On October 9, I hosted Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff, a.k.a. The Blog Squad, as my guest experts. They were awesome. What they shared would benefit every business, every ministry, and every church. I was so impressed, I had the entire webinar professionally transcribed for my very first time and then used that to make a Camtasia video. I published that video online and it’s FREE for 3 more days. See today’s Link of the Day before this opportunity passed you by forever.

Denise recommended everyone on the webinar open up their own Twitter account. She said all the shakers and the movers on the Internet are now using Twitter. She said she was a skeptic until she started using it. I was a skeptic too until I started using Twitter. Now I’m a believer. Let me share why.

Since opening my own Twitter account two weeks ago, I now am following 179 people and have 96 people following me. I’ve had 36 new people follow me in just the past 2 days without doing anything to try to attract them. What’s so significant about that? Every Tweet I post (and each only takes me 2-3 minutes) shows up instantly at the top of every personal Twitter web page for everyone who is following me. But not only am I building relationships and influencing those people, but everyone who is following them as well. That’s an opportunity to influence tens of thousands of new people in just two weeks.

In the past week using Twitter, I got connected to “The Internet Marketing Inner Circle.” I’ve learned more about Internet marketing and a variety of other interesting topics than I did in the past year. This is incredible. I feel like I’ve had my head buried in the sand by not learning about and using Web 2.0 until the past 2 months.

My favorite Bible is the “The Maxwell Leadership Bible.” According to Dr. John Maxwell, “the American church is dying due to lack of strong leadership. Nothing is more important than leadership. Everything rises and falls on leadership. Leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.” To be a leader, you must have others follow you and your example.

Jesus said the whole Bible could be summarized in the Greatest Commandment – to love God and love people. In other words, “Life is about relationships.” Other names for Social Marketing are “Relationship Marketing” and “Attraction Marketing.”

Doesn’t it make sense that when you add value to other people first without expecting anything back from them, they will automatically be attracted to you. Jesus said, “It’s in giving we receive.” I want to be an UNCOMMON Giver. What about you? Will you let me coach you to unleash the power of the web in your business or ministry?

You’ve invited to participate in tonight’s Week 3 webinar of the UNCOMMON Social Marketing (Web 2.0)” series. The topic today is “Content Sharing, Bookmarking, and Renegade University.” This is about improving your search engine viability very quickly. Seize this opportunity while it’s still FREE. After October, the 5 week course will cost $150/person. See today’s Link of the Day to register.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, we praise You as the God of the Internet, Your supernatural highway of communication. Thank You for opening my eyes of understanding to the power of Social Marketing. Thank You for the UNCOMMON favor you are showing me as many, many new people are attracted to the messages I am sharing on Your behalf. Open the eyes of my readers to the power of Social Marketing to grow their own ministries and businesses to advance Your Kingdom here on earth. In Jesus’ name we pray and give You glory! Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
Register for the FREE Week 3 Webinar for “UNCOMMON Social Marketing (Web 2.0)” – Includes link to Recorded Webinar video “How to Create Massive Visibility so More Clients Call YOU!” with The Blog Squad

Blessings to be a good steward with Social Marketing!

Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! (Psalm 150:1-2)

What are you thankful for God doing in the past week?
How will writing this down create more of an attitude of gratitude?

I’m excited. If I tried to share most of the things I’m thankful for that took place in the past week, I’d be writing until tomorrow. Fortunately for you (and me), I’m not going to do that. But here are some highlights.

On October 1, the first Wednesday of October (and the first day of the 4th quarter of the year), we had 8 people meet for our weekly Pray Culpeper gathering to pray for our community. This included 3 pastors. Thanks to Pastor G.W. Dameron, Pray Culpeper is now meeting again every Wednesday at Noon at Reformation Lutheran Church on South Main Street in Culpeper, across from the 7-11. According to Virginia Morton, Pastor Randy Orndorff has indicated he wants to start participating again after he gets back from his much needed vacation.

On Thursday October 2, I hosted the Week #1 Webinar for the UNCOMMON Social Marketing (Web 2.0) course. My goal was for 50 people to register, but to my amazement we had 83 people register by 5:55 pm (my favorite number) that day. I want to extend a special thanks to the Joseph R. Daniel Technology Center and Germanna Community College for promoting this on the home page of the GCC website.

On Saturday October 4, my wife competed in a triathlon at Lake Anna along with Dr. Sue Wilcox (my former anesthesia associate) and Leanne Rutkowski. Leanne is the wife of Dr. Bob Rutkowski, an orthopedist I worked with for 12 years. This was Leanne’s very first triathlon, albeit a team event with Sue.

During a local, group, century (100 kilometers or 100 miles) bicycle ride on October 4, Ron Nolley had a heart attack and apparently had to have CPR for 15 minutes before the rescue squad came and shocked his heart to get him back in rhythm. I was quite sad over that situation and prayed for Ron several days. Yesterday evening, I was glad to learn that Ron was able to undergo triple bypass surgery earlier in the day.

Also on October 4, Virginia Morton went to Richmond for a writer’s conference. We had prayed earlier in the week for her to have favor with Kurt Ellis, the writer of John Adams, a seven part TV mini-series that led all recent Emmy nominees with 23 nominations.

As God would have it, I ended up going to Young Life’s 2008 Hoe Down at the Daniel Technology Center on Saturday evening. That wasn’t even on my radar screen, but when Jon Monroe stopped over to pick up his laptop earlier in the day, he told me about it. I’ll share more about this event later this week, including photos.

On Sunday October 5, Soul Purpose Church hosted “Friend Day.” The results were impressive. Based on completed connection cards, at least 20 new visitors came and there were 9 salvation decisions. 39 people signed up for the Daily “Discovering Soul Purpose” email. Pastor Matt is feeling led to start his own daily email/blog.

Last night I got an email from Pastor Matt stating this coming Sunday he plans to recommend everyone try THE JOURNAL software we had recommended our UNCOMMON Journaling for Destiny course. Matt, as you may recall, was the very first person to sign up for our June course and he’s experienced the fruit.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank You that the gates of heaven are open right now. Thank You that You are rapidly changing the spiritual climate of our city and region. Thank You that Transformation Virginia is alive and well. Please encourage each of my readers in a special way this week. Thank You Jesus. Amen and hallelujah.

Link of the Day
Registration for Blogging and Email Marketing Webinar on Oct 9, 2008

Blessings to exalt the name of the LORD!