Cadet Ball

It has been many years since I attended a high school dance, but on February 29th, I did. My son is a cadet in a NJROTC program, and they asked me to be the keynote speaker. I'm not sure if their first choice backed out, or if they just couldn't find anyone else to do it, so I agreed.

I have been speaking to a good number of community groups lately, including Civitans and Rotary. I'm scheduled for Lion's Club and a few other groups in the near future. I always jump at the chance to get McEachern's name out to the public. Anytime our leaders or staff are associated with worthwhile community events is a plus for our congregation as far as I am concerned.

So, it was time to dust off the dress blues and speak to a group of high schoolers who had no interest in hearing me speak! They are a great group of value driven young men and women, and I was proud to talk with them, and even dance a little bit.

Atlanta Tornado

FROM THE NORTH GEORGIA DISASTER RELIEF COMMITTEE STORM REPORT FOR NORTH GEORGIA AREA

Updates will be posted to: http://www.ngumc.org/ministries/outreach/disaster_response/2008_north_georgia_tornados/
Saturday, March 15, 2008 – 5:15 p.m.Rev. Mike SelleckI’m writing to give readers a quick update of where things stand with the storms yesterday and today. Please note: This data is time sensitive and reflects what has been passed to us at this point.Friday Night Damage--UPDATE From the daylight photos on the news, we can see there is going to be a good amount of cleanup in the downtown area of Atlanta. Prior to checkpoints being set up, Associate Connectional Ministries Director, Rev. Shari Rates was inside the storm corridor early this morning taking photos and assessing the damage. She will be providing us with personal accounts of what will be needed in the days and weeks ahead. Rev. Byron Thomas of Central UMC reports that, despite the fact they are very close to the Georgia Dome, they only received power outages and no wind damage. Saturday Damage UPDATE--Saturday 5:15pm Violent storms continue even at the time of this email. The folks at Aragon UMC were caught in the midst of their Easter egg hunt, but took refuge inside the building--all are fine. There is reportedly a heavy amount of damage in Cedartown. Due to power outages, District Superintendent, Jacquie Rose Tucker, is still trying to learn what the status of things are in that area. Dr. Warren Lathem, District Superintendent of the Atlanta Marietta Distinct, has heard no report of damages in his area.Accessibility UPDATE--Saturday 5:15pm Conference Disaster Relief Committee Chairperson, Mr. Mike Yoder, is on the job. He and a few of additional committee members are in contact with Georgia Emergency Management as well as FEMA and are being apprised of any changes or requests for assistance. According to officials, “all volunteers are being asked to stand down and stay away especially in downtown Atlanta." They request as few people in the area until the storms pass and assessments can be made! Much of the Atlanta area clean up from last night is being done by qualified and properly equipped city crews; car removal, tree cutting, power restoration, rubble pick-up, etc. What is needed--UPDATE--Saturday 5:15pm At the moment we’re asking that you simply be prepared to assist when notification of assistance is issued early next week.Trained crews of UM “early response” volunteers are at the ready if needed. If you have not been trained in early response, please don’t make plans to just show up and see if you can help. One of the lessons from the Katrina and Rita storms is that untrained and unequipped volunteers often become a secondary disaster in an already chaotic situation. Significant steps have been taken to keep random groups of unqualified (untrained as first responders) teams out of a disaster any disaster area.Remember that our strength as a denomination has always been long term recovery – helping people put their lives back together over the months ahead, long after television crews, helicopters, and photographers have moved on. If you are not ready for “early response” work, know there will be many opportunities for all types of volunteers to assist in the recovery phases.If you need to report damage, heed this process: Pastors -- call your D.S.D.S.’s -- call Mike SelleckMike Selleck – call appropriate Disaster Committee folks.(If you’re interested in ‘early response’ or ‘recovery’ training for future disasters, log onto the Conference web site, drill down to Disaster Response, and make plans to get you and a team of folks qualified.)

Finances and Tithing

I did not realize what would happen as a result of our sermon on giving yesterday.

A little background for you who were not there: During Lent I am preaching a series on the spiritual disciplines. The first week in Lent the sermon was on Bible reading and study. Subsequent weeks were on prayer and worship. Yesterday the sermon was on giving and the biblical standard of giving 10% of our income, or the tithe.

At the end of the sermon I said that many of us are not able to tithe because of the debt in which we have placed ourselves. I have taught my children that if they give God 10%, save 10%, live on the other 80% and do not borrow money, they will not only never have financial problems - they will be rich.

I have been inundated with requests by church members to meet regarding their personal finances. I am not a financial expert by any means. However, I can refer you to two programs that we use at McEachern and that I endorse wholeheartedly.

The first is Crown Financial Ministries. You can find more information about them here.

The second is Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. If you are in debt up to your eyeballs, need help setting up a budget, and want to be inspired by others who have done what you feel you can never do, this is the website for you. I am a big Dave Ramsey fan. We will be offering his Financial Peace University here at McEachern starting in the fall. You can start now by following his baby steps and listening to him on 640 WGST from 3-7 p.m. on weekdays.

Most of all, I want our congregation to find real financial peace. It does not come from following our culture's way of going into debt to buy "stuff". It comes from what John Wesley instilled in the early Methodists: "make all you can, save all you can, so you can give all you can". That's true peace, and abundant joy.

Dinner Tonight

Those of you who know me know that I love to cook. Last Sunday was "she who must be obeyed"'s birthday.The problem was, one of my children, a girl-child was skiing in West, by god, Virginia, and I had to preach three worship services and then head to the mountains for a week for my rich uncle in DC. So, tonight, we finally did the birthday dinner and presents. The guest of honor was a nice standing rib roast that I had a buddy of mine cut for me. A little EVOO, some fresh ground pepper and kosher salt and it was ready to go.

Next was the sear. I got the egg (Big Green Egg)up to about a million degrees and seared the roast on each side. After that I let the roast rest for 20 minutes while the Egg cooled to a reasonable 350 degrees

Then it was back to the Egg where I took it to an internal temperature of 120 degrees, tented it with foil and let it rest for 10 minutes. After that it was a sharp knife and the following:

This was all served up with some extra small English peas that I had seasoned well. I also did some great mashed potatoes. They were Yukon golds that I boiled after cubing them. I took a head of garlic, sliced off the top, drizzled with EVOO and roasted for about 45 minutes in a 400 degree oven. A little heavy whipping cream, a stick of butter, some salt and pepper, and BAM!, fluffy garlic whipped taters.

After a week away from cooking this is as good as it gets!

Happy birthday Pam!

The Lenten Experiment: Bible Study

Today marks the first Sunday in the Lenten season. We began the season last Wednesday with a great Ash Wednesday service. During Lent I am preaching on the spiritual disciplines. During my sermon this morning I mentioned several study bibles and one "looser" translation.

The looser translation that I mentioned is The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language by Eugene Petersen. You can buy one of the cheaper editions at Cokesbury (the retail arm of The United Methodist Publishing House) at http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=569878

The two study Bibles I metioned are The New Oxford Annotated Bible http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=392577. This is the bible I used for study for many years, and I use a leather bound copy for preaching. However, since the HarperCollins Study Bible has been published that is the bible I have used for study. You can order it at http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=385829

Most of these bibles are also found at your local bookseller. You can find nicer versions of these bibles (hardbound or leatherbound) at Cokesbury, Amazon, or your local book store.

Happy reading!

It's Been a While

Yes, it's been a while since I have blogged - but I have several excellent excuses!

I have been doing a little traveling lately for some continuing education. The week of January 21st I was in Orlando, a great place to be in January. I was attending The Large Church Initiative National Conference. Each year 600 or so of the Senior Pastors and staff of our largest United Methodist Churches gather together to share best practices and learn from some of the best minds in our denomination. I was able to spend time with Gil Rendle, author of When Moses Met Aaron: Staffing and Supervision in Large Congregations. Gil used to work for the Alban Institute and has great insights on leading a large congregation. I was also able to hear from Dr. Gary Mason about the work he is doing in East Belfast Ireland. Gary recently received an award from the Queen for his work in ending interfaith violence in Belfast. I also heard from Rev. David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World, about his work in overcoming hunger and poverty. I attended workshops on Implementing Your Vision with Wesley Habits, Human Resource Management, and a Senior Pastor's Affinity Group. All in all, it was a most worthwhile week.

Last week I was in Alpharetta at the International Leadership Institute Training. The goal of the International Leadership Institute (ILI) is to accelerate the spread of the Gospel around the world by training and mobilizing leaders of leaders to reach their nations with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Strategically selected leaders receive advanced training in leadership, evangelism, and multiplication. McEachern will be hosting one of the ILI conferences in Venezuela this Fall.

I should be around for a while and have more time to blog. One of the things I will be sharing with you soon is our Vision Forum. I'm excited about it, and hope you will be as well.

Snow!

For the second time this week Atlanta has had snow! Of course it would have been more fun if the kids had gotten out of school on Thursday. But the roads were clear, and the buses rolled, so it was off to school they went.

It would have been better for us clergy types if the snow had not come on Saturday. Many churches have already cancelled services for tomorrow. Ironically, the bulletin paragraphs that I wrote were about our snow policy!

In a nutshell here's the policy: if the school district cancels school, all church activities are cancelled and the church offices are closed. If it snows on Sunday, we will still have services, but we strongly recommend you stay home if the roads are unsafe.

I live on the church campus, so safety is not an issue for me. I will conduct 8:15, 9:30, and 11:00 services for all who are intrepid enough to brave the elements. It may be an unusual service depending on what staff members are able to make it in.

This morning we sent out an email to over 2,000 people letting them know of our plans for tomorrow. Several outgoing voice mail greetings at the church have been changed as well. The church website should also have an update this afternoon that will let you know of our plans.

If you can't make it in the morning, I encourage you to join together with any family members you may have around you for prayer, and little Bible reading, and maybe a hymn or two. Then enjoy your family and neighbors and the beauty of the snow!