Academy Again

The past year I have spent most of my time writing my book, "Son of David: Drawing the king out in every man."  Which if finished the first draft of the manuscript in September and now I am waiting to hear back from the different publishers and editors that I have talked with on the next step I will take to see it become a published book in 2014.

After writing the book, I then started a new blog:
http://sonofdavidbook.blogspot.com/

This is focused on giving updates on that process to publishing and sneak peeks at the actual manuscript.  So PD's Pages has taken a back burner this past year, however, there is something that has come up that deserves attention and to be shared that fits within PD's Pages more than any other place.  It is something I wrote in my journal on November 21st of this year...

With the storm that brought 2 tornadoes to Grant County and 10 more to Indiana as well as destructive power to the city of Washington, IL came a very unexpected reminder or invigoration of a dream.

Though neither tornado hit our home or church, powerful winds did hit the home we purchased for the Marion New Life Academy.  6 windows were blown out, a large portion of the roof was torn off exposing the wood and 2 large trees were taken down from the roots as well as the front door was torn in two.  We had to walk into the place and survey the damage but in doing so, we were reminded of our dream to bring hope, life and love to kids in Marion.

Then Shami and Savanah discovered another powerful reminder within a few days of the storm.  This reminder had flesh and blood.  It was a young girl who Shami had helped 3 years ago wash her face, brush her teeth and give a little baby doll to.  This young girl and the experience Shami had with her was one of the catalysts to the Academy dream launching out and creating a boarding school for kids in our area that live with social and financial need.

She had lived in a home with no running water, had come to school with lice several times but the day after Shami helped show love to her, she was never seen again.  She was taken out of school, perhaps out of fear by her parent(s) and what might be done...I don't know.  But there she was 3 years later back at the same school.  Shami asked her if she remembered and she said no, until the little doll was mentioned and she remembered the doll.

Now after a couple of years of quiet, God is telling us to pick up the dream once again.  He is telling us to start the process anew.  All I can think to say is here we go again!

For more on the dream of the Marion New Life Academy go to www.newlifecc.us and click on the link to the Academy informational page.

Chasing Him and this dream again,
PD

Start your New Year strong!

I am excited for the start to this new year! Again we are beginning with a focused time of prayer and fasting, and giving God the first of our year. Here are a few reminders:

- Our Saturday Prayer Gatherings begin tomorrow at 7:14 pm – 8:00 pm in the Sanctuary and will be every Saturday in the month of January.

- Our opportunity to pray together in unity also will come every day at 7:14 am and 7:14 pm. Set an alarm on your phone or home and choose to pray together at those set times each day for a few minutes.

- Our 21 days of prayer and fasting begin this Sunday, January 6-27th and I encourage you to get involved in this time by fasting a meal, particular foods, different types of technology or other things can “eat up” your time for 3 days, 10 days or the entire 21 days and put a greater focused effort in meeting with God through prayer, the Bible and personal worship time.

- Our iFast series in January will focus on II Chronicles 7:14 and how this verse can help bring Forgiveness and Restoration to our lives, our communities and our country.

- Our 7:14 smartphone APP is now available through iTunes. This provides a great tool for a daily verse, and devotional, prayer lists, resources and a way to see how many people hav joined you in prayer that day.

- Our first week (Jan 6-12) is a national week of prayer and we will be providing a handout to use as a guide during that week for your time of prayer.

 

- Our church is not alone. Check out www.jentzenfranklin.org/fasting-2013/ for even more resources and helpful hints and articles to make your 21 days of prayer and fasting an even greater success!

I ask you to challenge yourself and those you know to commitment to attend and get involved in as many of these opportunities as you possibly can. Let us together be in a constant, daily, relentless pursuit of God’s presence in our lives this first month of 2013. It will impact rest of your year the way you choose to start the year!

Chasing Him,

Pastor David