Month: March 2017

God of the Wilderness

On By Aaron AllisonIn DevotionalLeave a comment
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If you are in the wilderness, God is going before you to help you. In Exodus 17:6, God told Moses, “I am going to stand there in front of you,” when he led Moses to an unlikely source of provision. CIL prayed this together twice during our Sunday service, and you can pray it with us now. (This is a picture of the Sinai wilderness)
 
God of the wilderness,
You go before and await our coming.
May our desire for you compel us
beyond complaint to conversation,
beyond rejection to relationship.
Pour your love into our hearts,
that, refreshed and renewed,
we may invite others to the living water
given to us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Dissertation dedicated to my family

On By Aaron AllisonIn Family News1 Comment

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A few days ago, Beth really honored me by giving notice of my successful dissertation defense to earn a Doctorate of Education.  It meant a lot that she did so, but she deserves equal honor.  In fact, I dedicated my dissertation to her and the kids.  I wrote on the dedication page the following:

I dedicate this work to my wife, Beth, and my children, Abbey, Luke, and Lincoln. I hope the sacrifices you have endured for me to pursue this dream will be repaid to you with many opportunities for joy and success in your future.

Specifically, for Beth I wrote on the Acknowledgement page:

To my wife, Beth, your encouragement and support of me goes beyond what words can adequately express. You are my life partner, and I am so thankful we did this together.

On the Acknowledgement page for the kids, I wrote:

To my children, Abbey, Luke, and Lincoln, thank you for your understanding when I was distracted or not fully present for you during this project. I believe we have many years of great times together.

I wanted to make sure this important recognition was not buried in a dissertation, but proclaimed to the world!  I love you, family!

Time Change, No Name Change

On By Aaron AllisonIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
Hey everyone!

I hope you are having a great week.  Three things I want you to be aware of going into the weekend.

1.  Time change happens this Sunday.  You know the drill, plan for one less hour of sleep, but a lot more daylight the next few months.

2. You may have noticed from social media that I successfully defended my dissertation and earned my Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree.  This would not have happened without the support of CIL.  I am so grateful to you for letting me and my family accomplish this.

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So what do I want you to call me now?  Unless you are taking one of my classes, there is no need to call me Dr. Allison. I do not believe in the term Reverend, as the Trinity is the only one to be revered. According to the Bible, in a congregation, I should simply be called Aaron.  However, if you choose to call me Pastor, there is not a greater privilege I could imagine.

3. I am preaching this week from Genesis 12:1-4 on “Walking in God’s Purpose.”  Who doesn’t need to hear a message of this importance?  Who do you know that needs this message?  Invite them to CIL, and we will all grow in love this Sunday.
I love being your pastor!

Aaron Name