One Week Later

Where has the last week gone?  I just realized I had not been blogging since last Wednesday.  A lot has transpired since then.  Perhaps I should bring my millions of readers up to date.

As you may know, the Executive Committee of the Arizona Conference meets the day following the K-12 Education Board.  Last week was no exception.  I had missed the prior meeting due to a sudden death in the family.  I was able to attend this meeting and I am glad I did.  Some important votes were taken that were of significance.  Shifts in the conference office and in the pastoral assignments will soon become reality.  I believe they are good moves—the challenge is to see how the membership of the affected churches perceives and reacts to the move of a pastor from or to their church.

There was one item that surfaced that will have a major impact on the conference evangelism goals for years to come.  It has to do with a sponsor providing the financial resources to make contact with every household in the entire State of Arizona.  That is monumental.  The concept is still in its infancy but I see it as another way God choosing to smile down on our feeble efforts.  It’s pretty exciting to think that every household in Arizona will be contacted with the Advent message.  If that is to become reality, it certainly means that our churches will have a lot to do between now and then to get ready to be an inviting and receptive place for new people to be embraced.

In any case, I had the opportunity to travel to Southern California for Friday and Sabbath.  It was particularly special in that my daughter, Amanda, was the Sabbath morning speaker at her home church in Orange.  She preached an amazing sermon about the Advent through the eyes of the angels.  I was truly an inspiring and inspired presentation.

That evening I had the opportunity of listening to my nephew, Joe, in concert at a venue in Los Angeles.  He is quite a talented singer-songwriter that is making ripples in the music industry.  He did not disappoint.  I left early Sunday morning in order to make a 3:00 p.m. with the Spanish pastors from the conference.  In the end I did not even stay until the end of the meeting.  My stomach was not happy at all—most likely because I left early Sunday morning from Riverside, and thus missed out on my mom’s traditional Sunday Heart Attack Breakfast for the family.  My arteries thanked me, but my stomach complained vehemently.

Monday took me to Gilbert and Yuma.  Both meetings were rewarding for different reasons.  I am hoping to see a church school open its doors officially in the new future.  The way it is being perceived at this time as as a hybrid school that would provide a solid core curriculum together with enrichment to home schooled students.  We are moving with a proposal that should be ready for the February meeting of the K-12 Board of Education.  The trip to Yuma made the day seem long.  My time there flew.  There are some very wonderful people in Yuma!

To be continued…. I have to get to my board meeting at the Verde Valley School in Cottonwood.  I’m hoping the temperature does not drop below freezing before I have a chance to get off this mountain!  I hope the meeting is short….