Gentlemen,

Please don’t miss all the great services and opportunities of ministry for you and your family on Wednesday nights starting at 7:00 PM! Pastor Everette wanted this information spread out to as many people as possible. My apologies to you, if you have already received this email from another individual.

The spiritual biblical smorgasbord includes the following for Wednesday nights:

• Teaching on Prayer in the Sanctuary – Dr. James K. Bridges
• Single’s Ministry at the Worship Center upstairs Rm. 200 – Steve Martin
• Youth Service at The Rock – Kolt Bridges
• Royal Rangers (Ministry to Boys) at The Rock – Ron Nelson
• Mpact (Ministry to Girls) at The Rock – Alisa Sutherland
• Choir – In the Choir Room at the Worship Center – Dandy Bridges
• Nursery – for infants and babies – the Worship Center
• Study Through the Bible – A book of the Bible each week in the Chapel – Everette Pafford

Don’t forget that this Sunday (September 20^th) will be our Kick Off Sunday for dual services here at Freedom Life Church.

• First Worship Service will be from 9:00 AM to 10:15 AM
• First Adult Bible Study and Children’s Classes from 9:30 AM to 10:15 AM
• Second Worship Service from 10:30 AM to 12:00 Noon
• Second Adult Bible Study from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM

Look forward to seeing you all this evening and at our Kick Off Sunday dual services on September 20^th. Have a great end to your week!

God Bless,

Brent Smith

The men’s connection monthly large group meeting was tremendous. We had 70 men attend the meeting which is an all time record to our knowledge. There were many highlights but the greatest was Pastor Kendall’s message to the men and the worship service, led by Jacob Nelson. A number of men gave an overview of the Men’s Connection ministries including Bryan Thompson, Brent Smith, Scott Wilkes, Oscar Figueroa, Pastor Everette, Dan White, Michael Gallops and Steve Roemerman. We want to give special thanks to the men that works so hard in the background with the preparation of breakfast and stay late for cleanup – they do so as unto the Lord. We hope to see you at our next large group meeting on September 26^th.

Good Afternoon Freedom Life Church Men. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the men’s ministry, which we call the “Men’s Connection”. The Men’s Connection was started last year with the primary objective of developing strong authentic and transparent relationships and accountability with men at Freedom Life Church. We are not about a “program” but we have developed some strategies to help men to connect, develop relationships and serve God’s kingdom. We have seen the fruits of men getting connected, developing stronger personal relationships and joining together to serve God’s work. Our desire is that the Men’s Connection will enable our men to bind together in the support of the Leadership and ministries of Freedom Life Church.

The Men’s Connection is organized as follows:

• Large Group Meetings: A Monthly meeting to celebration what God is up to in the lives of the men and an opportunity to connect with our brothers in Christ. We have had 40-55 men attending the monthly meeting.
• Small Group Meetings: To foster relational connections among small groups of men (5-8). The goal is encouragement, prayer, accountability and support of each other in development of authentic Christian Living.
• Ministry: Provide hands-on ministry opportunities that will result in men living out their faith. Current ministries include the Ronald McDonald House, Dallas Dream Center and World Missions.
• Special Interest Groups: Provide relational connections along the lines of activities and special interest of a man in connecting with Freedom Life men. Examples include Fantasy Football, Golf and Sporting events.

You have a great opportunity to get connected with the Men’s Connection next Saturday, August 22, at 7:30 am in The Rock in our 1^st ever FREEDOM LIFE CHURCH MEN’S CONNECTION LARGE GROUP MEETING.

We are anticipating “80-100” men and best of all Pastor Kendall will be speaking. The Large Group meeting is fast paced and uplifting and includes:

7:30am       Breakfast & Fellowship – We offer various types of breakfast from month to month. This month we will be serving Pancakes, Breakfast Tacos, OJ and Coffee.

8:00am       Worship & Prayer – Jacob Nelson and his team will lead us in worship.

8:15am       Men’s Connection Ministry Overview – A brief overview of planned activities.

8:30am       Testimonies: “Tell Us What God Has Done For You in the Last Month” – Dan White provides an leads us in testify about what God

8:45am       “PASTOR  KENDALL”

9:30am       Prayer & Dismissal

Men’s Connection Announcements:

The Men’s Connection is sponsoring a “Texas Rangers Baseball Family Night” on September 11^TH. Tickets are only $10.00 and parking is $5.00. During the next two Sunday’s (after church) we will have a table in the foyer to accept your money ($10.00 per ticket) and ticket(s) confirmation. We have received 32 ticket request to-date and have 61+ seats “on-hold” from the Rangers. There will be fireworks after the game and we hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to “connect” and fellowship with our new Freedom Life Church family. Hope to see you there!

Another facet of the Men’s Connection is called the Special Interest Group where men “connect” with like interest. Brent Smith and Paul Dorn are heading up a Fantasy Football League and the “draft” will occur Friday night, August 28^th, at 7:00 pm in The Rock (doors open at 6:00 pm). Beware, this event contains a lot of “smack talk” (whatever that means). Anyone interested should contact Brent Smith at rbrent_smith@yahoo.com

Thank you for being a part of “The Men’s Connection”.

God Bless and have a great weekend.

The Men’s Connection

Good Afternoon Freedom Life Church Men! Just want to provide a few updates:

SUNDAY SIGN-UP FOR THE SEPTEMBER 11^TH TEXAS RANGERS BASEBALL FAMILY NIGHT GAME

During the next two Sunday’s we will have a table in the foyer to accept your money ($10.00 per ticket) and ticket(s) confirmation for the September 11^th Texas Rangers Game. We have received 32 ticket request to-date and have 61+ seats “on-hold” from the Rangers. There will be fireworks after the game and we hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to “connect” and fellowship with our new Freedom Life Church family (this is designated as a “Family Night” event). Hope to see you there!

1^st EVER FREEDOM LIFE CHURCH MEN’S CONNECTION LARGE GROUP MEETING

The August Large Group meeting will be held in The Rock on Saturday August, 22 at 7:30 am (a week from Saturday) and we are anticipating “80-100” men. For those of you who will be joining us for the first time, the Large Group meeting is fast paced and uplifting and includes:

7:30am       Breakfast & Fellowship

8:00am       Worship & Prayer

8:15am       Men’s Connection Ministry Overview

8:30am       Testimonies: “Tell Us What God Has Done For You in the Last Month”

8:45am       “PASTOR  KENDALL”

9:30am       Prayer & Dismissal

We had a tremendous Large Group meeting last month. We are truly excited about what God is doing within and thru the Men’s Connection.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP INVITE

Another facet of the Men’s Connection is called the Special Interest Group where men “connect” with like interest. Brent Smith and Paul Dorn are heading up a Fantasy Football League and the “draft” will occur Friday night, August 28^th, at 7:00 pm in The Rock (doors open at 6:00 pm). Beware, this event contains a lot of “smack talk” (whatever that means). Anyone interested should contact Brent Smith at rbrent_smith@yahoo.com

Thank you for being a part of “The Men’s Connection”.

God Bless and have a great weekend.

Good afternoon CLA Men- Two very important items:

1) A new FAQ has been put together and distributed. Due to it’s size I won’t be posting it on here. If you did not receive a copy via email please reach out to any board member.

2) There is a Q&A meeting scheduled for this Thursday at 6:30 PM in The Rock Cafe. While this meeting was organized under the Men’s Connection Group, all spouses are more than welcome to attend. It was never our intent to exclude spouses however, we will not be able to provide childcare services.

Thank you and see you Thursday!

THE MEN’S CONNECTION

CLA Pulpit Search Committee Update July 28, 2009

To the Members of Christian Life Assembly,

First, I would like to thank all of you for your support and encouragement after Sunday’s announcement. I want to assure you that we are as excited about the future as you are.

Many of you had questions related to the presentation on Sunday. As promised, we wanted to take the opportunity to answer as many of them as we could.

If you do not see an answer to a question you may have, please send it to me directly. My email address is ckraft@splashmedia.com.

Our plan is to update you via email again next week. We are committed to getting you the facts you need to make an informed decision.

Thank you again for your prayerful support and your patience in this process.

Thanks.

Chris Kracht
CLA Pulpit Committee Chair

——————————————————————————————————–
CLA Pulpit Search Committee Update July 28, 2009

Q&A

• Question -I’m confused about where the services over the next two weeks will be.

Wednesday, July 29 @ 7:00pm

Service for Freedom Church and CLA attenders on the CLA campus in the Rock, fellowship time to follow in the Rock Cafe

Sunday, August 2 @ 6:30pm
Service for Freedom Church and CLA attenders on the CLA campus in the Sanctuary, fellowship time to follow in the Rock Cafe

Sunday, August 9 @ 10:30am
Service for CLA attendeers and members on the CLA campus in the Sanctuary.
Sunday August 9 (After Service)
Special Business Meeting for CLA Members on the CLA campus in the Sanctuary for the purpose of voting, fellowship time to follow in the Rock Café

Sunday August 9 @ 6:00pm
Special Business Meeting for Freedom Members in the CLA Sanctuary. CLA Members are invited to attend a special prayer meeting in the Chapel at 6:00pm.

• Question – What if I can’t attend them all?

We are having several opportunities for you to meet the Bridges, and members of Freedom, but we understand that many people will miss one or more of them. The reason we are having three is so that as many people as possible can attend at least one of them.

• Question -I’ll be out of town on August 9. Can I vote by proxy? Can I get an absentee ballot?

No. CLA has no precedent precedence for this, and we are unable to provide for proxy or absentee votes.

• Question – Why did the announcement for a special business meeting include the mention of a change to the constitution and by-laws?

Because of the mechanics of blending the bodies, we need a change to permit Freedom people to come to the new, combined membership, without loss of their membership status (for example). There are several issues of this sort that may require a change. We are still doing the work on this. It may be that no change is needed.

• Question – Can we vote on Kendall but not merge?

No. The proposal is to merge the two churches which would enable Kendall Bridges to be elected Pastor. This will only happen if both churches have a 2/3 majority in favor.

• Question – Will we still be Assemblies of God Church?

Yes. We will still be an AG church, still in the Denton Section, still in the North Texas District.

• Question – Do AG Officials know we are considering this?

Yes. Our District Superintendent, Rev. Rick Dubose and our District Presbyter, Dr. Richard Plunk have been notified. Officials in Springfield, who we believe are interested, have also been notified. However, as a sovereign church, we don’t need approval from the Assemblies.

• Question – Where did the board and Pulpit Committee seek counsel?

From many sources, including:

• Rev. Lee Lebsack, our former pastor
• Rev. Scott Olson, former associate pastor, and interim pastor following Pastor Lebsack
• Rev. Don George
• Indirectly, Dr. Dobbins was approached (Pastor Everette did this, based in part on his long personal relationship with Dr. Dobbins)
• Indirectly, Rev. Tommy Barnett was approached (Pastor Bridges did this)

These men provided input on Kendall, the merger or both. On the merger, we had a great deal of input, and most of it was consistent. The key message we heard repeatedly was that the merger, if it was to work, would have to be based on moving the kingdom forward, not on ego or other selfish motives.

• Question – What will the name be?

The formal name of the new church will be Freedom Life Church of the Assemblies of God.

Of course this is a mouthful, and people will shorten it, probably most often to “Freedom Life” and “Freedom Life Church.” We all agreed that we don’t like using “letters” but if people MUST use initials, FLC is better than other alternatives we considered.

• Question – Why change the name?

Several reasons.

First, it shows respect to the members from Freedom Church who we will join.

Second, our church has a tradition of changing name at major milestones. Over the years, we have been Maplewood Assembly, Walnut Hill Assembly, Christian Life Cathedral, and Christian Life Assembly. This name change is in keeping with a long tradition and although our move is not of a physical nature, we feel a name change is an appropriate representation of a spiritual move of our body.

Third, it signals to our community and to us a new beginning, looking forward.

Fourth, the name has a message that has meaning to the lost – Freedom Life is, in essence the message of the Gospel – who the Son makes free is free indeed (John 8:36), and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is Freedom (Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”)

These ideas are clearly seen in Jesus own preaching. For example, in Luke 4:18, he said “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed…”

• Question – Which Constitution and by-laws will be used?

CLA’s documents will survive, with the public understanding that a revision may be needed with 6 months. Some minor changes may be needed to reflect the name change, and to incorporate Freedom Church board members.

• Question – Who will be on the board?

CLA will retain all 10 current board members. Freedom will name 4 lay members, which CLA approve as part of our voting to merge.

Kendall will become a board member, Chairman and church member by virtue of his election as Senior Pastor, in accordance with our Constitution and by-laws. This will give us a combined board of 15 members.

• Question – Will Steve Roemerman still be our Chairman?

No. Our by-laws make provision for a deacon to be chairman, only when we don’t have an elected Pastor. In accordance with our by-laws, our Senior Pastor will become Chairman of the Board once elected.

• Question – Did the board ask Pastor Tommy and Pastor Dave to leave to help make the merger happen?

No. Pastor Tommy resigned after the board determined a staff reduction was necessary. The board did not ask him to leave. Pastor Dave’s position was eliminated because of financial considerations. The decision was made before the pulpit board began serious consideration of Kendall.

Pastor Bridges worked to help us retain our staff. By the time we invited him to begin staff discussions, as part of the exploration, our Fine Arts position had already be eliminated.

• Question – What happened to Pastor Everette as a candidate? I think he’s great.

Everyone should agree, Pastor Everette is great. He’s a great example to us of a solid man who is deeply committed to God, to seeking God’s will, and to our church.

He’s said repeatedly that he appreciates the love people have expressed in suggesting him to lead CLA. However, his statement has been, “Thank you… however I do not wish to be considered as a candidate for the position.”

Pastor Everette has served this body during critical times. He played a crucial role as the most seasoned member of the staff during the transition from Pastor Lebsack to Pastor Richard. He been a trusted advisor to the board and pulpit committee during the search. He has been faithful to be a sounding board, and source of wisdom. Some of the most valuable advice on how to think about the risks and benefits of joining forces with another church came from him.

We owe him a great debt of gratitude, and he’s made an impact that won’t be fully know until eternity.

• Question -Will Pastor Everette stay with us and if so what will he do?

Yes. He will have similar duties to the role he played during Pastor Carl’s ministry, and will lead OK Fellowship, among other things.

• Question – Will Pastor Chris stay with us?

Yes.

• Question – will Pastor Joe stay with us.

Yes.

• Question – Who will be our Youth Pastor?

Pastor Bridges will need some time to say for sure, but Freedom Church youth are being served by Kolt Bridges. Pastor Tommy has committed to help with this
transition.

• Question -Who will lead worship?

We expect we will still use worship teams. The details will be worked out over time. We expect that our worship teams will be blended. We are going to try this in the Sunday evening service on August 2.

It is the responsibility of the Sr. Pastor to designate a Worship Leader. We expect that Dandy Bridges and Starla Bridges will fill this responsibility.

• Question -What’s happening with Fine Arts? What will happen to our choir and orchestra?

We are strongly committed to ministry through music, but it’s too soon to tell exactly what the future holds. Freedom church does not have a Fine Arts pastor. CLA has raised up lay leadership to lead the choir and orchestra during the transition. Again, it is the responsibility of the Sr. Pastor to provide leadership in the area of “style of worship”. We have had a number of discussions about the future of these ministries, with, and without a merger, and it’s simply too soon to say.

We expect that our worship teams will be blended. Again, this will take time but we are going to try to begin this in the Sunday evening service on August 2.

• Question -Will we keep the name of the Rock? Or change it as well?

No plans to change that name.

• Question – How can we afford all this staff?

Due to this being a merger of two churches, the member/giving base of both churches will be brought together.

• Question -Does the Freedom merger mean we are financially better off as a church? Are our money woes over?

We will be stronger together than apart in a number of ways, including financially. Financial analysis was done by members of the board, the finance committee, and the pulpit committee.

It’s not fair to every say that “money woes are over” but the current income levels of the two bodies generate a more stable financial situation.

If CLA’s people remain faithful, some of our current pressure should ease, but Freedom Church is smaller than CLA, and we can’t expect them to make all problems disappear forever.

Our plan is to grow together and put our financial troubles behind us and focus on ministry.

• Question -Will our Lay leaders or theirs be in charge of their respective areas of ministry?

First, the whole idea of ‘ours’ and ‘theirs’ is something we must avoid. It’s “our” church. In terms of legacy, the lay ministries we’ve looked at so far seem as though they will blend well.

We think a small group of lay leaders, working with the pastoral leaders will be able to work out more details than we’ve been able to consider thus far. That team will be announced shortly.

The group of “lay leaders” will be representative of both congregations. Because we both have gaps in our lay leadership, we think there won’t be too many places where we have redundant lay leaders.

Everyone who wants to be a lay worker will have plenty of Kingdom work to do.

• Question -I’ve heard that we are looking to become more seeker friendly… Is that true?

It depends on what you mean by “seeker friendly.” That term was not something used as a criteria by the board in its charter of the pulpit committee, nor was it anything that was considered in the selection of Kendall Bridges. So in one sense, NO it’s not true, it was just not a consideration.

But more generally, if by “seeker friendly” we mean an approach that waters down the full gospel, -NO we are not looking for that. When people mean this, they are really asking if the church plans to become a “social gospel” church, and again, the answer to THAT question is NO.

If by “seeker friendly” we mean building a place where people experience concern for them just as they are (“just as I am, without one plea”) and a place where they find acceptances and the Love of Jesus – YES we think that’s what Jesus said we should do. When people mean this, they want to know if we will make sure we are a place where hurting people can be saved, and they answer is YES. So, while we didn’t use the term “seeker friendly” the answer to THAT question is “yes”.

• Question -What about the Holy Spirit? Does Kendall Bridges believe in the movement of the Holy Spirit?

Yes. Kendall is recognized as a leading voice in Pentecost. He’s been a speaker at General Counsel, and is a sought after teacher for full gospel ministerial training.

The Bridges family represents multiple generations of commitment to the full gospel message, and no one has a better claim to understanding the legacy of ministry in the Holy Spirit that Kendall and Starla Bridges.

• Question – What’s in this merger for us? Does our church really benefit?

The short answer to “what’s in this merger for us” is that we can be more effective for the Kingdom. The New Church will be stronger and better able to make an impact in Carrollton and Plano. If you believe the mission of the church is to reach our Jerusalem first, then that’s a good example of “what’s in it” for us.

• Question -Will all those Plano folks really drive over to CLA? How many members do we think will really come over in a merger?

Yes, we think the vast majority will. Freedom has been averaging over 170 on Sunday this year; we think most of that number will come.

Of course, 170-180 in attendance means that a larger number call Freedom Church “home.”

Like CLA, Freedom is a “destination church” that some drive a long way to reach. Many of the members of both churches drive 20 or 30 minutes now. In the case of Freedom Church, some of them were going to Calvary (Irving) or Richardson before driving to Plano. They are very committed and have deep relationships with each other, so yes, we think the vast majority will.

We’d like to think that people in both churches have relationships that run deeper than a few extra minutes of driving.

• Question – I suggested a person I really thought would make a great pastor, why wasn’t that person presented to the body?

There were several reasons why candidates were not presented to the board by the pulpit committee. Some who were suggested by the body were not interested (i.e., they did not fill out an application, or seek a serious discussion about our pulpit).

It’s important to know that some candidates referred to the pulpit committee did not want to be considered.

Some who were interested were impressive in one way or another, but the committee did not achieve a consensus to move forward with them. Some have just not been in the process long enough for the committee to form a perspective.

After careful evaluation, it was determined that a merger in conjunction with calling a pastor was enabling both churches to be more effective for The Kingdom, impacting lives in North Texas.

Kendall’s candidacy moved quickly through our process, and the large number of open doors seemed to be just one clear example of God’s hand at work.

LAST SATURDAY’S MEN’S CONNECTION MEETING – WOW!

What a tremendous Large Group meeting we experienced last Saturday. We are truly excited about what God is doing within and thru the Men’s Connection. We were blessed by the singing and ministry of the “Beulah Boy’s”, the delivery of God’s word by a number of our men, a special message from Steve Roemerman and a tremendous message about Christian Accountability Connections from Brad Fairchild. We encourage you to join us for our next Large Group meeting on Saturday, August 22^nd at 7:30 am.

SEPTEMBER 11^TH TEXAS RANGERS BASEBALL FAMILY NIGHT

In the form of an update – We have received 32 ticket request to-date. We have 61+ seats “on-hold” from the Rangers. The deadline to submit your request for tickets is Sunday August 23^rd. There will be fireworks after the game (and hopefully during the game by the Rangers). This is an opportunity to “connect” and fellowship with others and we hope to see you there.

Please reply to this email if you want us to reserve tickets for you and if so how many. If you have already responded with ticket request, please disregard. Thank you.

SMALL GROUP MEN’S CONNECTION FOCUS

As stated in our Large Group meeting last Saturday, a primary focus for the Men’s Connection today is in building relationships among the CLA men thru our “Small Group Connection” (SGC). This is where a group of 4-6 men get together based on their schedules, for encouragement, God’s word and prayer and to develop Christ based relationships. We have group leaders that will be contacting approximately 35 men who have expressed interest in joining a SGG in recent months. If you would like to join a group TODAY, please send a reply to this Email. Also, please let us know if you desire to lead a group.

Please reply to this email if you want to be a leader or member of a Small Group Connection. We are asking that you respond “regardless” if have done so prior. Thank you.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP INVITE

Another facet of the Men’s Connection is called Special Interest Group where men “connect” with like interest. Randy Farrar, who attends CLA and our Large Group Meetings, wants to start a Special Interest Group of men playing disc golf once a month. This Saturday Randy will meet at the church at 7:30 AM to play at a basic course in Carrollton from 8:00 – 10:00 am. Randy says that he has plenty of disc and that the cost for this is right  - $0.00!

Anyone interested should contact Randy at 214-914-8887 and meet at the church parking lot this Saturday at 7:30 am.

CLA MEN:

FIRST:

We want to confirm that this month’s Men’s Connection Large Group meeting will occur on July 25^th at 7:30 am. (Please disregard Sunday’s Church Bulletin reference to the 3^rd Saturday).

NEXT:

The Men’s Connection will have a “FAMILY NIGHT AT THE RANGERS” on September 11^th with the game starting at 7:05 pm. The tickets are only $10.00 and parking is only $5.00. Also, there will be Fireworks after the game and we will have great seats to watch the game and festivities (section 213) and enjoy each others company. We are encouraging you to bring your wife (inexpensive date night) or the whole family. We will “not” be arranging bus transportation since this is a family event.

We would like for you to respond by Email, at your earliest convenience, with the number of tickets you intend to acquire so that we can secure adequate number of seats together. You are not committing at this time but we would appreciate the expression of your intentions. We will distribute tickets on Sunday, August 23rd.

God Bless!

“THE MEN’S CONNECTION”

The Monthly Men’s Connection large group meeting has been delayed one (1) week and changed to May 30^th at 7:30 AM. We feel we should reschedule our meeting due to this being a holiday weekend (Monday May 25^th) and the Church garage sale occurring this Saturday.

We are excited to announce that J. W. Green will be speaking at our Men’s Connection large group meeting. J.W. has been attending CLA for eight (8) years and is a very engaging and entertaining speaker.

Men, remember that each month you will have the opportunity to give a brief testimony of what God has done in your life since the last Men’s Connection meeting. We are serving a “TODAY” God and he is doing great things. This is your opportunity to be a blessing to others.

GOD BLESS AND HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

If you know more than 10 people you probably know someone who is unemployed or needs a change in jobs.  In today’s economy you may even be one of them. Unfortunately many people have been in their previous jobs for so long they may not know the best way to find a new job or they may simply not know where to look or have the resources necessary.

You can help though! If you know of job openings where you work, or anywhere else, please send them to Michael at gallops@bww.com. Michael forwards the job openings to those who have indicated they are in need of a job. If you prefer to send them anonymously just state that in the email.

If you are one of those in need of a job please let Michael know that as well.  You can also go to  http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CLAJobs/ and join the Yahoo group. This simplifies sending out the job notices. Yahoo groups give you the option of receiving every email or a digest of emails. Of course right now there are very few emails going out – maybe an average of 1 per day.

Other ways you can help are to create profiles in LinkedIn.com and even Facebook. Upload your address book and you’ll probably be surprised how many people you know are already there!  We have a CLA Group page in Facebook that you can also join. Both Facebook and LinkedIn give those looking for jobs more networking ability. They can search for local people in similar jobs, ask for referrals and introductions, and in some cases even contact the hiring person directly.

Less useful but still important are sites like Plaxo and Twitter. Plaxo lets you keep your contact information (as much or as little as you want) up to date and available to everyone you are connected with. Twitter will let you reach out and communicate with people who can help you find a job.

Don’t forget about Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com. While they are primarily useful for those looking for technical jobs they do have listings for a variety of other jobs. And of course you can always Google “Job Networking Dallas” to find several other networking groups that might be useful.

Most importantly, remember that God is on control. Pray and trust Him. And know that we are here to support you and pray for you too!

Guys, if you missed the Youth Fine Arts last Sunday you missed the best there is. All of the kids were phenomenal!  Here’s a link to some pictures of the different soloists, drama groups, human videos (solo and group), ensembles and the full choir!  Check out the pictures and make sure you come next year!

http://gallery.me.com/ck1dfw#100072

I really enjoyed the fellowship gentlemen! Here are a few photos from Saturday’s meeting.

Get ready to have a great time of fellowship and food! Rumor has it we’re having all you can eat pancakes and sausage - that means you better get there early cause the pancakes are going to go fast! Come expecting to be blessed both in a time of worship and a time of sharing! We had a great group last month – let’s try for an even bigger turnout this month! Next month we should have so many men that we have to move to the Rock! We’ll see you Saturday morning at 7:30 AM!

Be sure and put the date on your calendar! Men’s Connection is meeting March 28th at 7:30 AM. You don’t want to miss this incredible time of fun, fellowship and worship! You will be blessed!

The Men’s Connection meeting last Saturday was one of the best ever. You really missed a great time if you weren’t there! About 20 men from CLA showed up at 7:30 for some incredible food, fun, friendship and worship!

After eating we began with prayer requests. Most of those centered around people in the church needing jobs, homes or properties needing to be sold, sickness, and comfort for families who lost loved ones recently. Of course we prayed for Pastor Carl’s quick and total recovery and return to church.

Originally the discussion was going to be about the current economic crisis in America and how it was impacting us. Soon it became much more than that and ended up being a discussion about “practical Christianity.” In other words, what are some practical ways, we as men of God can help those in the church who are in severe financial crisis?

Several ideas were presented, including buying groceries, educating church members on the basics of finances, and even doing minor car and home repairs.

We also discussed discipleship training and how we have failed to really disciple men. It seems our focus may have been on evangelizing them but then we tend to forget about what comes next. Living for Christ is much more than just “getting saved.” We need to help and teach people about having a continuing relationship with Christ.

One way we can do this is by improving our attendance at Sunday School – the place where we can learn (or teach) Bible basics. Ron Nelson asked, “are we so strapped for time and money that we can’t fit in time for Sunday School?” Many of us grew up in Sunday School and learned a great deal about God and God’s Word.

Another serious problem is that our culture is devoid of teaching boys to become men. How do we fix this?

It was pointed out that we can help grow our church by inviting people. But we must have the answer, we can’t simply invite them and expect the staff to “make it happen.” Men must step up and do their part.

Dan White pointed out that the next step is to prioritize the things we discussed. He said these are all great ideas but we must set a priority so we can get started. Ron added that we can start with educating people – pick a course, market it well in the church and then do it!

On Sunday be sure and shake a hand and introduce yourself to someone new. A good way to remember their name is to repeat it several times while you’re talking to them. This simple thing can bring people back to our church again and again.

Don’t forget the job network! If you know of job opening in your company please send those to Michael Gallops at gallops@bww.com. If you need a job please let Michael know. He’ll be working to hook people up with job openings that “fit” them. There are forms in the foyer to complete so that Michael has your contact information. And remember, there is a job networking class on March 15 in the fellowship Hall, immediately following the service. We’ll be reviewing resumes, discussing job skills and ways to refresh and improve them and showing you how to create an on-line presence that will help in your job hunt!

Be sure and check back here for the dates of next month’s Men’s Connection meeting!

This month’s Men’s Connection Meeting will be Saturday, Feb 21 at 7:30 AM. You do not want to miss this exciting event! Ask any of the men who attended in January and they will confirm that you will be blessed. You’ll likely be teased and kidded but it’s all in good fun and you’ll know that you are surrounded by men who love and appreciate you! Besides, there’s always good food to eat too and plenty of strong coffee to get your morning started. Come on out and fellowship with other men from the church and make some new friends!

Originally we had communicated that we would be meeting on December 12^th which would be this coming Friday. However after some discussion several members of the leadership team for the men’s connect thought it would be best if we delayed this month’s Men’s Connection to Friday December 19^th. On the 19^th we will start at 6:30 AM and adjourn at 7:15 AM. It will be a continental breakfast and will be held at the at the rock café. Our theme will be “How do we keep Christ central in our homes during this season?” With this question in mind I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas in regards to the theme.

Men,

A colleague of mine put this video together.  I thought it was very appropriate for the season and I wanted to share it with you all.    -Chris

Click to watch

First, I am not looking for any ‘that a boys!” with this post. (Although those are always appreciated.) What I’d like to see is further discussion of the topic and the points presented yesterday at the breakfast specifically the main points of:

·     Being a priest implies being chosen by God – What does the realization of being chosen by God to lead in spiritual things impress up on you personally?

·     Being a priest implies representation – What qualities and actions of a man best represent God to our family members?

·     Being a priest implies intercession – What things do you think are of critical importance to intercede or pray about for your wife and children. (If you are not married – For your future wife?)

Finally, I want to encourage us to continue to pray with the men who stood for their children yesterday at the end of the meeting. May I be so bold as to suggest that you pray all this week for your brothers & their children – I can think of no greater way to be connected!

See below or click here for an interactive gallery.

The Men’s Connection Large Group Meeting will be held this Saturday November 22^th at 7:30 AM in the Church Fellowship Hall which is located in the worship center. We have an exciting meeting planned:

§  Food & Fellowship – A great breakfast will be served starting at 07:30 am.

§  Men’s Connection Update – We will be providing a brief Men’s Connection update that will include:

o   Testimonies from three (3) of our men that are involved with the Ministry Connection and Special Interest Connection groups.

o   The Blog – A demonstration of the new Men’s Connection Blog!

o   2009 Plans – A review of our 2009 Men’s Connection plans.

o   Men’s Contact Information – Discuss how we plan to communicate.    

§  Devotional & Prayer –On the topic of “The Family Connection-The Priest of the Home”.

Be there at 7:30 sharp to enjoy coffee and breakfast that Pastor Billy and his crew will be preparing. Don’t miss the great food and fellowship!

Don’t forget that our next large group meeting will be next Saturday at 7:30am.  Pastor Everette will be speaking on being “The Priest of the Home”.

Marcus “Big Woof” Moore Swings Hard at Season Ending Out

In a fitting end to its season, the CLA Men blow a 9 run lead in the second to drop their final game of the year.   

Enjoy a few glimpses of the last game of the season below.

What are they smiling about?

Hey guys, can you think of any more daunting a task than that of raising and leading the family? What is incredibly amazing about it is that one can undertake this important role with little to no instructions. For the past several days I have been mulling over my assignment for the next Large Group Connection. I will be bringing our devotional connection on November 22^nd and I have several ideas buzzing around in my head.  However I do not want to be guilty of answering questions that no one is asking.

So I thought I’d ask you to help me out.  What are some of the questions you have about your God given role as the Priest of your Home? What do you think is most misunderstood about the role? Again I have my ideas but I want to hear your thoughts.

I look forward to hearing from you to make our connection around God’s word a powerful and most meaningful time.

Gentlemen, mark your calendars. Our second Men’s Connection large group meeting will be held Saturday, November 22nd at 7:30 am.

The topic will be “The Family Connection-The Priest of the Home”.  Pastor Everette will be speaking on men’s responsibility as the spiritual head of the household.

Be there at 7:30 sharp to enjoy coffee, fellowship and breakfast.

Marcus Moore looks for another homerun in last night’s game

In what manager Tim Rigsby called “just another brick in a building season”,  the CLA Men dropped another game Thursday night at McInnish fields.  While it was technically a loss, there were several bright spots.  A blistering homerun by Mark Kurpiel brought in two runs in the first inning giving life to a small rally.  Tommy McCaul literally was transformed Thursday with several stunning defensive plays as well as a crushing home run that had jaws from both teams hitting the floor in awe.  Unfortunately, Kurpeil’s first inning dinger nullified the scoring opportunity, but it was clear McCaul is a new man.

The CLA men are preparing for their last game of the ‘08 season next Thursday November 6th.

For more photos from last night’s game click here.

Ronald McDonald House Breakfast-This Saturday at 7:30am!

If you haven’t had the opportunity to be blessed by serving the Ronald McDonald House families, you do not know what you are missing.  It’s a great time for fellowship with the other men of CLA and a great opportunity to let your light shine on lives that are in need of hope.  Volunteers should arrive at 7:30 sharp.  This week’s coordinator is Dan White.  Contact Dan if you are interested.

Don’t forget that tonight’s game is at 8:45 at McInnish Park in Coppell. 

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Time to man up and put your culinary acumen to the test.  We know you think your chili is the best in the world, now it is time to prove it to the rest of us.  Legend has is that a first time cook won the famous Terlingua Chili Cook-off in 1972.  Don’t be scared! Get with Roger and enter today. If your kitchen skills just aren’t up to snuff, make sure you save the date and attend as an official taster.

I love Zig Ziglar’s homespun and biblically centered advice.  This is a short clip of him discussing Hope and Encouragement.  We produce this content at Splash Media and we run The Success Training Network.  I’m giving every man at CLA a free subscription to the service that would like it.  Just email me and I will make the necessary arrangements to get you set up with a VIP pass.

To login for free for the next seven days, just go to:  http://www.tstn.com  (click on Watch Now.  Your temporary User Id:  Urgency  Pwd: Honesty  )