Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Blessed Beyond Belief

Blessed Beyond Belief. That is how I feel about an amazing opportunity that has come my way. Next Wednesday, October 12, I am scheduled to fly to Washington, D.C. with my two pastor buddies, Marshall Blalock and Curt Bradford. There are only three of us left in our group that has been meeting for over 22 years. Our other buddies have either moved away or are currently in witness relocation plans. LOL . We have had some incredible opportunities and next week will add to the list. We have been invited to a preview of the new Museum of the Bible in our nation’s capital. If you are interested you can go check this out at www.museumofthebible.org. The Museum of the Bible will be 430,000 square feet and is only 3 blocks from the Capitol building. Plans are for it to open in the Fall of 2017. Hmm, perhaps a church trip to D.C.? Anyway, this museum is promoted as a world class museum with cutting edge technology. There will be art, artifact, kids areas, theatres, literature, world class libraries and biblical exhibits, etc. I am pretty excited about being offered a free trip…oh yeah…a free trip and to be given a private preview tour.

I have been blessed beyond belief by and with my pastor’s small group. We were originally put together as a peer learning group that would agree to meet once a month. We immediately began meeting every Friday morning for breakfast and our group time. We have gone on study trips together, travelled to hear our mentors teach, gone on a mission trip to Peru, toured the Holy Land and remained great friends during it all! The value of close personal friends has been felt during family crisis, personal health issues and church issues. It is like have your own private consultant group. We have even gone to the place of not calling staff members unless they have met with our Friday group for an informal interview.

I am excited about this trip and will look forward to telling you more about it. I am just as excited about going off with my pastor buddies. Our small group has been invited to Ridgecrest this December to speak to state leaders about our small group. It seems so normal to us, but apparently it is not. I think our assigned topic is “How a pastor can stay clothed and in his right mind”. Really, it is on Church Health and Healthy Leaders. I am honored to be considered such and twice honored to be with my good friends, Marshall and Curt.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing and Matthew does not rise!

Pastor Tom