Sidewalk Prophets, a contemporary Christian band that has played for the youth at the North American Convention of the Church of God (Camp Meeting), had a concert today during Anderson University's chapel. The two founders of the group are graduates of AU. They have recently won a Dove Award and have had two major recent hits on the radio, "The Words I Would Say" and "You Can Have Me." I took my lunch break to go hear them in Reardon Auditorium, since it is just across the parking lot from Church of God Ministries. It was an excellent, worship-filled concert!

The Dormers, new Church of God missionaries to Kenya, have now reached 100 percent of their Living Link budget and 100 percent of their start-up costs. They are now free to leave for Kenya and will begin their work in November. Congratulations to them, and may God bless their work for the Kingdom!

Each morning at Church of God Ministries begins with a short devotion, sharing of praises and prayer concerns, and prayer. It's a beautiful thing, and it sets the tone for the rest of the work day. We want God to bless the work that we do, and we ask Him to do that during what we call Prayer Circle. Yesterday, we did something the assigned devotional leader may choose to lead us to do--we sang! "For the Beauty of the Earth," the classic and beloved hymn. Church of God Ministries staff surely can sing, and in parts!

Today, during the prayer circle, we learned that Sam Dunbar, beloved leader in the Church of God, passed away last night. I met him once at a meeting of Church of God pastors in Michigan. I also recall seeing him speak a few words, likely for an offering, at NAC (Camp Meeting) one year. He was the pastor of the Saint Louis, Michigan Church of God and prior to that, served as an Area Administrator in Oregon. Thank God for the hope of heaven!

The photo shows Pastor Sam Dunbar (pictured right) at a fun community event held at the Saint Louis Church of God in Michigan (best photo I could locate).

On Friday, I was out of the office, ill with a cold. I've not had a cold so bad in a few years. But God healed me quickly, and just in time to be able to lead singing at Main Street Church of God in Anderson on Sunday. In fact, my voice was stronger than usual during the service! I'm happy to be back at Church of God Ministries today.

Last Thursday, I spent much of my day on the phone conducting interviews with people across the country who have good information to provide for several of the articles that I'm currently writing or have just submitted today. I really enjoyed talking with Pastor Mark Krenz, from the ONE Community Church (emphasis on "one") in Arizona. His start-up church has been incredibly successful and I wanted to know why--not just to publish for the world to see, but for my personal minstry. He emphasized community invovlement and making church comfortable for those who are not used to it. He intentionally advertises ONE as "a church for people who don't like church." The amazing thing is that this kind of marketing your church can be done without compromising the message of the Gospel. The illustration that has stuck in my mind is how a Christian might feel walking into a Islamic mosque for the first time. Wow! I think I would try to avoid it at all costs! That's how unchurched people probably feel.

What strategies can we adopt to reach the unchurched where they are, without compromising message? That's the question, and I think it's one that the church can answer in a variety of healthy ways!

Stay tuned, this article about Krenz and ONE Community Church will be published at http://www.chog.org/ in the next few weeks!

The above pictures shows Pastor Mark Krenz and the church--when they were meeting at a sports bar!

Welcome to "The NAC ChoGger!"

Friends,

Welcome to The NAC ChoGger! Why "The NAC ChoGger?" Because I love NAC (the North American Convention of the Church of God, a.k.a. Church of God Camp Meeting, a.k.a. Anderson Camp Meeting). In 2009, I created my first blog, http://www.nac2009.blogspot.com/. My assignment as an intern in the communications department at Church of God Ministries was to promote NAC through strategic communications. I was all too eager to complete this task, for I LOVE Camp Meeting!

While there have been many changes over the years (from before I was around to remember), and there most certainly will be changes in the future, NAC has served many purposes within the Church of God. One of my favorites is the gathering together of saints from around the world in a magnificent show of unity in Christ. I love the worship, the teaching, the preaching, and the fellowship! I look forward to see how God may use NAC in the future to advance His kingdom, and I know that I want to be there each step of the way.

I also love the Church of God reformation movement. I am interested in enhancing communication techniques so that the word can get out as to what God is doing through the Church of God movement as a whole, down to the individual churches and laypeople. As it is convenient, I will be post articles and news items, devotions, press releases, and opinion pieces in this blog. They may or may not have anything to do with the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), but more often than not, they will be related in some manner. Hopefully for some of you, this blog may help you feel more in touch with what's going on in the Church of God around the globe and perhaps even at the Church of God Ministries office in Anderson. Connectivity, unity, relational holiness--whatever you want to call it, I'm all for it! :)