On Wednesday, October 31,  we are throwing a huge party in the parking lot of CIL from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.! Join us for our first ever MONSTER MASH with candy, live music, and fun for kids.

Invite your neighborhood, your friends and your family to our first ever MONSTER MASH “Trunk or Treat.”

 

 

This Wednesday (October 31) is your chance to say good-by to the David and Margie Huff family.   During our “Trunk or Treat” we will have the Huffs available for you to wish them God’s blessing on their new assignment in Chattanooga.  The “Trunk or Treat” and reception is from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

Our church has been blessed the last 6 years by the incredible ministry of David and Margie Huff.  We thank God for these special friends!

What a great time we had at Men’s Night on Sunday night (October 28).   We had 35 men participate in this night.

Some of us played football until it was dark, most of us ate delicious chili and all of us were inspired to be greater men of God!

Pastor Jay Edgerton organized this event and did a great job leading as he always does!  We heard great devotionals from Jake Bradley and  Lee Moseley, while Benton Oglesby and Daniel Reed led us in worship.

What a talented group of men we have at CIL!

I am thrilled that Tim Parry is planning a Men’s Retreat for January 25-26, 2013.

Men, make your plans for this important weekend!  The best is ahead of us!

1. “Sleeping in” is overrated . . . you’ll regret it!
2. I’m starting a new sermon series called “Anger Management.”  Everyone will benefit from these messages.
3.  It’s going to be way too cold to go to the Titans game.
4. It’s David and Margie Huff’s last Sunday with us.   We’ll be taking up an offering for the Huff family, so come ready to contribute.
5. Everyone has got their “church skips” in from Fall Break, so we all should show up – 🙂
6. We will be baptizing in water.   You can sign up here.

What a Sunday we have planned!

Most of all, Jesus Christ will be with us, and He is the reason we gather!

CIL‘s youth and associate pastor, David Huff, has taken the position of Lead Pastor at Hamilton Life Church in Chattanooga, TN.

I really hate losing David Huff, but I am so proud of him!   In six years of working with me, David was an exceptional example of competency, respect and hard work.  He is a talented minister who has a servant’s heart.  He honored me as the Lead Pastor, even though I was only a few years older than him.  Hamilton Life Church is very blessed to have him and Margie.  Though its sad to see the Huffs go, I’m excited about the relationship we can continue with them and Hamilton Life as a sister church.

Hamilton Life Church was planted six years ago by my friend Damon Passons, and our church sponsored it financially.  It’s a great church, which already owns a building and has developed a great core of leaders in its short history.  Damon will be a staff pastor at my home church in Texas.

David’s last Sunday will be this Sunday, October 28th.   We’ll be taking a special offering for the Huff family, so come prepared to contribute as the Lord leads you.

We’ll have a chance to say good-by to the Huffs during our “Monster Mash Trunk or Treat” on Wednesday, October 31.   During that event, you can take time to extend your love and appreciation to the Huff family.

Please pray for us as we seek God’s will for a new youth pastor at The Church at Indian Lake.

On Friday, we had the opportunity to tour the White House gardens. This tour only happens six days a year, and we were fortunate enough to be in DC on one of those days. We were also blessed to find this information from another tourist the day before.

The day also brought a day-time visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This memorial has impacted my view on war in a significant way. To see the names of the soldiers lost individually personifies the cost of war. It’s such a moving and important place. !

Our last stop was the National Zoo. Why? It was my 12 year old daughter’s dream to see a live Panda Bear.

We’ve been so blessed on this trip. Thanks for all the prayers!

On Thursday, we toured The Capital, The Air & Space Museum and Ford’s Theatre. A constant theme in our trip had been, “Where’s Lincoln?” as we keep up with my youngest who goes by that name. Asking that felt a little odd in Ford’s Theatre :).

On a serious note, I have read quite a bit on Abraham Lincoln, so visiting Ford’s Theatre was a meaningful experience.

We are on vacation in Washington, DC.   We took both of our mothers, so seven of us piled in a rented suburban and drove.  Our first stop was eastern Kentucky to pick up Beth’s Mom.  From there, we took the northern route through West Virginia and Maryland.  I must say, the drive exceeded my high expectations with fall foliage, and beautiful mountain views.  I expected West Virginia to be beautiful, but I was shocked and delighted by western Maryland.   What a gorgeous state Maryland is!

Our first day in Washington, DC, included a visit to The National Museum of American History, The National Museum of Natural History, The National Archives, The Lincoln Memorial, The Vietnam Memorial and The WWII Memorial.  If these visits don’t evoke patriotism, nothing will!  We truly live in a special country!

–  When I saw deer hanging out in our parking lot early this morning, I thanked God for our church’s beautiful property and atmosphere.

–  Great to meet new folks visiting CIL for the first, second and third times.

–  After a great two months of high attendance, Fall Break for Sumner County Schools had our attendance down about 1/3 of what it’s been in previous weeks.  Still, the enthusiasm for worship, the Word and communion was up!   We prayed for all our members traveling over the weekend, and we look forward to everyone getting back over the next couple of weeks.

– I was honored to attend the wedding for Kolby Miller and Emily Phelan Sunday evening.  It’s great to see two young people put God first in their relationship.  The wedding was beautiful in every way!

– With the Titans on a bye, and a busy afternoon, I didn’t pay attention to the NFL today.  Still not sure who Sunday’s winners and losers were, and it really makes no difference.

– I’m on vacation with my family this week.   We planned our vacation for October during Fall Break because summer gets too complex with all the ministry events I’m involved in.  Coming off the mission trip, this makes for a busy October of travel, but it should be my last big trip of the year.  I am thrilled for the time I’ll have with my family this week.

The poverty of Haiti is obvious in the face of hunger, unemployment and the primitive infra-structure.   To me, the greatest poverty is the poverty of opportunity.  When I questioned young people about their future goals, they didn’t even understand the concept of the question.  How could they?

“Haiti’s economy has been shrinking since the early 1980s while the population has continued to grow.  Haiti is among the world’s poorest nations.  It is estimated unemployment combined with underemployment affect about 85 percent of the labor force.

50% of the people cannot read and write.  Life expectancy at birth is only 52 years, and the incidence of diseases ranging from intestinal parasites to (AIDS) is extremely high.   A limited elite of about 10 percent, mostly professionals, enjoys a sophisticated, affluent lifestyle. This elite class has traditionally resisted all attempts to restructure the Haitian social system. The majority of Haitians live in poverty with little education, few opportunities for employment, and limited political influence (summary provided by Healing Hands International).”

Dr. Matt Tincher summed it up best when he told me, “We don’t bring Jesus to Haiti, Haiti is Jesus.”

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” –  Jesus (Matthew 24:40)