Hey everyone!
It seems like tons has happened around here since my last blog. Technology just keeps going faster and faster, it makes it really hard not to get left behind. That brings me to the purpose of this post. I do not even know how many people read this, but I am asking you what you think. What would you think of the following things for CWC?
What would you think about Creating a CWC Web Campus where people all around the world could join us live through the internet each Sunday morning. They could also have a chance to talk or pray with someone live during that service. There are also several other features that may be available to our "online" members.

What about a CWC Facebook page, or a CWC Twitter feed? I am asking you to help us use technology to the best we can to improve our communications with you, your personal experience with CWC, and the best possible way to reach out to our world. If you have any ideas or comments, please e-mail me at media@cwcperryton.org

Thank you to everyone who attended the Town Hall of Hope event tonight! It was a great web cast with Dave Ramsey. In time like these we really need to hear the voice of hope. I know many people are very worried about the economy, but as Dave shared, there is hope! This is not the "worst of times" as the media would like you to believe. As for me, I found that if you want to be happier, don't watch the news! We tend to put our faith in what we hear from the TV instead of what The Creator might be saying. I think the bailout program is the dumbest thing our government could have done. The trouble is that we have worked our nation into a state of panic because times are hard. It is OK for things to get hard. It is hard for me to buy into the whole economy scare when there are still companies posting billions in profit. To me, it seams maybe bailing out people who have six figure salaries is not the answer. Maybe they need to take a pay cut and help out the rest of their employees. Maybe the $50,000 car would drop in price if we were not paying all that money to the top people in the company. If you missed the Town Hall event, I hope you will check out http://www.townhallofhope.com and let your voice be heard. As Dave said, it is time we the people take back our nation!

God Bless!

Walking in Faith?? Or Not!

A couple weeks ago Pastor's sermon was about 3 types of faith that James references in the Bible. The 3rd type of faith is Dynamic Faith. This is what I like to call "Faith in Action". Sometimes it is a Faith that may require you to do something for someone else, and sometimes it may require you to just say yes to the leading of God. Pastor mentioned the statements "look before you leap" and "he who hesitates looses", both of these statements are true... the hard part is how to know when to apply them. In my life, God does not seem to have the same timing as I do! I guess that is true for all of us! Sometimes, God seems to lead us to do something that makes no sense to us in the natural. It seems like God does not understand what I am dealing with at that time. As you read that statement, I'm sure you thought how silly that sounds. God always knows what we are facing much better than we do, but in our lives we really seem to forget that. How often do we really live by faith? How often do we rely on us instead? Someone recently told me that it is easy for them to have faith that God will supply your needs, but it is much harder to believe that God will supply my needs. To me, that seems to be true many more times than I would like to admit.
I love to look back through my life and wonder what would be different if just one decision I made would have been different. What about those times that God whispered something in my ear that I did not follow through on? You see, when God lays on our hearts to do something that does not seem to make sense, it is very easy to convince ourselves that must not be what He really means, or that He does not mean that for now, or how about this one... "when I am in a better position, I will do that". What have we missed out on? For me, I can share a story both ways. One where I did not follow through, and one where I said "God I will follow even if I don't know how this is possible, and if this is really You, then You will have to supply".
The first situation took place when I was in the fifth grade. I can remember it just as clear as if it were yesterday. You see, I had excepted Christ when I was three, grew up in church; had a Christian family; and knew what was right and wrong, but when God laid it one my heart to share my Faith with a friend at recess... I chose not to do it. Why?? Because I did not want my friends to laugh or make fun of me. You see, I really do not think God knew what He was doing. Less than a week later, I found myself sitting in the back of a church attending that same friends funeral. My prayer is that he really did know Christ, but I really do not know. You see sometimes one decision can change the events of an eternity. What would have changed if I had just obeyed God's leading instead of worrying about what others might think?
The other situation is when we adopted Karter. To us, we knew that God had laid adoption on our hearts, we just didn't know how that would be possible. When we began looking at the cost to adopt, we really saw no way possible... Yet God still seamed to be leading us in that direction. We simply said yes to God and said that if this was really His will, then He would have to provide the resources. Amazingly the Finances began to show up. When it was all said and done, God had provided everything we needed.
Don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting that we should sit back and let God "prove" Himself to us, but sometimes He just calls us to say yes. Sometimes, we need to jump into action instead of "looking before we leap". I truly believe that if we walk in an unquestioning Faith we will be blessed as much or more than God will use us to bless other people.

Wow, it's 2009! So much has happened in the past few years. When I look back I cannot believe where God has brought us. There are so many things we were dreaming of that now have come to reality. It is an honor to "show off" my God! He is so very good to us, and I love to share the vision of CWC when talking to people who cannot believe there is a place like this in the Texas panhandle. In fact, just a few weeks ago I was visiting with someone from Los Angeles who is in the audio/video broadcasting industry, and came to CWC to attend a wedding. He could not get over the capabilities we have. His comment is that he expects to see this kind of set up in a mega church in California, but not here in Perryton! It was very fun to talk to him about how God has been leading us on this journey. Church is not about all the bells and whistles, but in today's world, sometimes that is what it takes to get peoples attention. After all, if you are reading this you are logged onto our newest outreach tool. This web site is an incredible way to reach out into our world. It is also a great place for the CWC family to stay connected. I hope you take time to visit daily to see what changes. It is my mission to use my talents and God's direction to make this the most effective outreach we have. If you were in church last week, Pastor Mike shared some Stats with you. People from 28 countries other than the U.S. visited our site in 2008. That is amazing!!! Did you know we actually kicked off the original cwcperryton.org website 2 years ago today? That's right on January 24, 2006 we launched a "new" online presence that has transformed into the site we have today. Although there is basically nothing here today that was here in 2006, we have had an incredible journey learning how to effectively use the web to spread the gospel. Now some 102958 visitors later, we are excited to say that we are still not finished! In fact, I strive to learn better ways to reach out online. That is why we are redesigning our online newsletter so that we can get you the latest information and give you the best possible opportunities to get involved in the ministry here at CWC. Soon we will be redesigning the CWC Prayer Center web page to be a more effective source for prayer. You will be able to see prayer requests from around the world as well as read praise reports for the prayers God has answered. I hope you take advantage of this tool and join with us to pray for all of these needs. I also would ask that you would set aside a few minutes each day to pray for the staff and elders of CWC. We want to hear God for each step we take, and your prayers can help us here Him more clearly. Lastly, I challenge you to take a couple minutes each day to pray for this website. This is a powerful tool, and I do not want to misuse what God has given us. We have spammers attempting to hack our site daily, and it is an ever increasing struggle to make sure that does not happen. Please pray that God's will be done on this site and that any other agenda would be crushed!

Thank you all for your prayers!
God Bless!!