Check out the new article at the Church of God Web site about NAC 2011!

The holiday season has passed and now it is time to start thinking about summer plans! Have you marked NAC 2011 (June 24-29) on your calendar? Have you planned ahead so that you can get time off work to attend? Plan now, and getting the time off might be a relatively easy task.

Is it worth the planning and the time off? Absolutely! Consider the life-change that historically occurs during the North American Convention. Consider the increase in effectiveness of your ministry that could take place because of your attendance at the many conferences related to your Kingdom work! NAC wants to help you and your church be effective, and especially this year, to be poised to Permeate! the culture for Christ!

Make it a vacation--one with physical and spiritual rewards! Anderson, Indiana is rich with Church of God history, and features interesting sights such as the mounds at Mounds Park. Much more about Anderson-area tourism can be found here. Indianapolis has much to see, as well. Learn more here.

God is doing some incredible things throughout the Church of God. God is doing some incredible things through Church of God Ministries, essentially the ministry arm of the General Assembly of the Church of God. It is important that we share what is going on across North America and the world so that the public may see that God is real, and that His work through Church of God Ministries is important. The past couple of days I have been searching web sites of state and regional offices of the Church of God, looking for unique and/or compelling stories of God's work. Many of these stories that I find will be either turned into an article and released onto chog.org or CHOGnews. Other stories that already appear in article format may be published once again, but this time for more saints to read.

I came across this short article about a unique and very visible ministry one local Church of God is doing in Oklahoma:

Heartland Community Church with the guidance of Travis Hanks from the OSU [Oklahoma State University] extension planned and planted a community garden. Thirteen families signed up to plan and work the garden and share the harvest. It is an exciting ministry within our church family as we work together. We became visible to the community of Seminole as we transformed the empty half-acre lot that lies in the middle of town. The response to what we are doing has been amazing! It is the first project of this kind in Seminole County and we would like to see more of these gardens spring up in the future, involving other church communities and the community at large.

I found the picture above on the page on Facebook about the garden. This picture shows the Sunday School class and the shed they painted for the garden.

The latest issue of CHOGNews has been sent out via e-mail (the August edition). Do you receive CHOGNews? If you don't, visit www.chog.org/chognews to sign up today!

Interesting "Factoid" from CHOGNews: 85 percent of respondents say that moving all convention activites (Camp Meeting) to the "traditional convention grounds" improved their experience.

I hear that the Credentials Congress is taking place in Indianapolis.

There's an article in the August CHOGNews about Barney Warren's hymn, "Joy Unspeakable." In the past year or two, Todd Agnew, contemporary Christian recording artist made his own rendition of the song, using Warren's verses. It has some success on the Billboard Christian Songs chart, as well as much radio airtime. The article is also on the Church of God web site, and can be found with the news articles. It's entitled, "Heritage Song Resurrected."

Much of today in the office (Anderson) has been preparing articles and design for the upcoming Church of God Foundation newsletter. See chogfoundation.org for more details--it's a great way to direct your giving and leave a legacy of love for God's church!

News from the Church of God in Arizona! A good story I found:

"From Gangs to Jobs" (posted from azchog.org)

Natividad Mendoza is a licensed Church of God pastor who is Executive Director of a very unique ministry, From Gangs to Jobs. FGTJ is an inner city ministry whose mission is to provide opportunities for disenfranchised young men to find a hope and a future. This is accomplished through caring relationships, skill building, and job placement. FGTJ targets young men (ages 16-24) who are at risk and/or active gang members, some who have been incarcerated or on parole. The motto is that if we believe in a youth, hope in them, walk with them, then they will have a greater chance for success. The ministry is housed in a facility in south Phoenix, Arizona. It is in need of a bathroom to make it fully operational. Needed are materials, skills, volunteering for a mentoring relationship, job connections, teaching, and ministry funding. Natividad may be contacted at natividad@fromgangs2jobs.com. The website is fromgangs2jobs.com. The above photo shows graduates from the program and several board members at the graduation ceremony at Bridge Community Church of God in Laveen, Arizona in early spring.