I just got back from the National Preaching Summit in Indianapolis, where I was for the past couple of days to speak to a group of pastors and take part in a series of seminars. It was cloudy and overcast there, so I was happy to come home to all of this beautiful weather we’re having.

Here is an interesting overview of the National Preaching Summit and what it’s all about:

13th Annual National Preaching Summit March 12-13, 2007 * Indianapolis, IN. * Marriott East Hotel.

The National Preaching Summit is designed for those who have the privilege of proclaiming the Gospel. The Summit is not a “church growth conference,” nor a “practical ministries” seminar. Our objective is to offer a first-class conference for church leaders dealing with the preaching event in a positive way, at an affordable cost. We seek to celebrate the joy of preaching, while enabling those who are called to preach to hone their skills. If you love preaching, enjoy fellowship with other ministers, and desire to become the most effective messenger possible, plan to join us in Indianapolis!

This Year’s Faculty: NEW! Click on the speaker’s name below to hear an audio sample!(Note: when you click the link, please select the option to open the file and it should play in your default media player.)
Dudley Rutherford * Jerry TaylorRandy Gariss * Tim Spivey * Jeff Vines

2/17/07
Box Score
Hope International reeled off a jaw-dropping 28-4 run midway through the second half and then held on to upset The Master’s College 61-56 before a stunned crowd in Bross Gym Saturday evening. The win is the Royals’ season-high fourth in a row.In the first 1:19 of play, it appeared that the 24th-ranked Mustangs were going to run away and hide as they tallied the game’s first six points. Jumpers by Stacy Nanninga and Lisa Chenoweth sandwiched around a pair of Annie Gillespie free throws put the Mustangs ahead 6-0. But Hope roared back to tie the score at seven before a Kayla Rutherford layup gave the Royals their first lead of the game at 9-8 with 12:10 left in the opening half. That set up a see-saw effect on the scoreboard over the next seven-plus minutes, featuring a pair of ties and four lead changes. Hope gained its largest lead of the half (16-12) on a Jasmine Nault jumper with 6:24 left but the Mustangs answered back with a 9-0 blitz, ignited by a Chenoweth three-point play and capped by a Kinsley Mittel free throw at the 3:29 mark to race ahead 21-16. A Mittel layup with 2:06 left made it a 23-18 game and her free throw with 24 seconds remaining put the Mustangs ahead 26-20 before Hope’s Allison Wulff cut the deficit to four at halftime with a late jumper. Just as they did in the first half, the Mustangs dominated the opening minutes of the second stanza and threatened to blow the game wide open. A 7-0 spurt, fueled by a Stacy Nanninga layup and finished off by a Gillespie trifecta, moved the Mustangs to a 33-22 lead with 16:46 left to play and just over two minutes later, back-to-back layups by Mittel and Gillespie extended the advantage to 39-26. But Hope didn’t fade. In fact, they exploded, using a trio of three-balls over the next three minutes to trigger the monster run that helped them blow by the Mustangs. In addition, a pair of threes by Malerie Rodrigues and Rutherford pushed the margin to 52-43 before Nault capped the assault with a jumper for an 11-point cushion with 5:20 left to play. The Royals needed almost the entirety of that padding, though, because the Mustangs finally awoke from their nine-minute slumber (four points) and decided to do something about their plight. Gillespie, single-handedly, got the squad going, scoring six consecutive points as part of an 11-2 burst that drew the Mustangs to within 56-54 with 1:33 left. Rodrigues and Gillespie traded a pair of free throws each but a Mustang turnover and a Wulff jumper off her offensive rebound made it a four-point (60-56) game with under a minute to go. That was enough as the Mustangs failed to score the rest of the way while Rutherford made the win sure with a free throw with five seconds left. Rutherford and Roderigues poured in 13 points apiece for the Royals, while Nault added 12 points and seven rebounds. Point guard Stephanie Wenke dished out a game-high 10 assists.

Today we kicked off our ABC’s of Financial Success series, and the spirit of the congregation was amazing. You can just sense God getting ready to transform lives and lifestyles. There is NO question that the God we serve owns the “cattle on a thousand hills” and He will bless those who honor HIM.

Join that Life Group. Get involved. Trust God with the first fruits of all your crops. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse of God. Give and it will be GIVEN to YOU. Our attitude is crucial in understanding that everything we own comes from God to begin with, and we need to trust in HIM and in HIS WORD.

I’m looking forward to all the services today. I will have a story to post about what happened last night in church, but I want to wait until tomorrow to post that.

Please know that I love you… but Jesus loves you even more!