1. First job after college
2. Getting married
3. The birth of Toby
4. Moving to Ottumwa and the birth of Lydia
5. The birth of Blythe
6. The birth of ???? (I know, but you don’t )

The old way of doing things was great, and there was nothing wrong with what I was doing except for the fact that God was calling me into something new. The new season was an opportunity to grow, but I had to shake up my rhythm.

So here are a few of the different things I have done in the area of reading scripture for my quiet time.

• Read through the books of the Bible in alphabetical order. There was a season in which it was very important for me to know what I was going to read the next day, or I would get lazy. This kept me on track.
• Another time I read through a book of the Bible one chapter at a time and wrote a page of thoughts about what I read each day.
• I followed Wayne Cordero’s reading plan found here ,which allowed me to read through the entire Old Testament once and the New Testament twice in a year.
• I have read  a commentary. This is the season I am just finishing up on. I have been reading various commentaries by James Montgomery Boice, and it has allowed me to go deeper and slower than if I were to do reading plans that have me just click off that I finished the assigned reading for the day. I highly recommend this for those who are looking to mix it up.
• I spent a season just reading the Gospels to infuse more of the words of Jesus into me.

A few additional thoughts:

• Whatever you choose to read make sure that it is winnable. Don’t tell yourself you are going to read 10 chapters a day if you currently aren’t reading anything.
• At the same time, make sure and stretch yourself. You don’t want to limit what God can do.
• Know what you are going to read after you finish what you are currently reading.
• If you are going to read a commentary, I suggest one written by N.T. Wright if you have never read one before.
• Record your reading plan. Maybe using S.O.A.P. is a good plan to infuse into your quiet time. Get a journal and write the key scripture you read for the day. Make an observation about what you read. Write an application on what you are going to do. Journal or say a prayer to close your time.
• Another option is the 4 R’s
  • Read. Reading and marking the words and verses that speak to me.
  • Reflect. Thinking about what I have marked.
  • Respond. Focusing on truths I marked to pray about and obey.
  • Record. Capturing what God has said in writing (a journal).
• Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day!

I hope some of these thoughts and ideas help.

What do you do for your quiet time?

Today I say goodbye to two of the most key people of my ministry career. No one has journeyed with me longer than Ben and Michelle. I have partnered with the VanZante’s for 10 years of ministry, and today they are moving.

They have done it all, and when I say “it all,” I mean it. Check out this list!

• Junior High Girls & Guys Small Group Leader (multiple years)
• Mission Trip Leaders (multiple years)
• Mission Trip Team Leaders to Milwaukee
• Retreat Leaders
• Overnighters (countless)
• High School Girls and Guys Small Group Leaders
• Student Ministry Teaching
• Event Leaders
• Mentors
• Dynamic Partners (weird wording for being an Elder)
• Leaders of Small Group Leaders
• Church Plant Core Team
• Bridge Members
• Caisson Prayer Warriors
• Children’s Ministry Room Leaders
• Worship Team
• Eggstravaganza Leaders
• Team Leader of Offering Counting
• Partnered in Serve Days in Ottumwa

I know I’m missing things in the list above, but you get the idea. They have been the two most faithful friends and servants anyone could ask for. It was like I had a pair of aces in my back pocket at anytime for any occasion. What I will miss most about Michelle is her faithfulness in prayer and intercession. I can’t count how many times she has heard a word for me or thebridge that has been right on. What I will miss most about Ben is his willingness to do anything, anywhere, at anytime. He lives the crazy prayer. I am excited that they will still be joining thebridge in January for our next trip to Cambodia and am confident they will stay connected from afar.

The reality is tough. Ben and Michelle are irreplaceable, and they will be greatly missed by thebridge, my family, and me personally.

September 12 thebridge will turn 3! It also marks the beginning of a new series “Go Fish,” Children’s Ministry, and will be followed closely by the launch of the latest Growth Groups and other events. Since the very beginning, we have been resolute that prayer must come first. So in preparation for all that is coming, we are launching a 30-hour prayer surge that will take place over the course of five days from 6pm to midnight beginning Sept 6 and ending Sep 10.

We will have two rooms of prayer stations set up at thebridge office to help direct your intercession. You can sign up for a specific time below or just show up at any time that works for you.

Monday

6:00pm – JS
7:00pm
8:00pm – JKH
9:00pm – CJS
10:00pm
11:00pm  - PREKTK

Tuesday

6:00pm
7:00pm
8:00pm
9:00pm
10:00pm – JS
11:00pm – MS

Wednesday

6:00pm – BP
7:00pm
8:00pm
9:00pm
10:00pm
11:00pm

Thursday

6:00pm – ES
7:00pm – KR
8:00pm -
9:00pm – AC
10:00pm -
11:00pm – MS

Friday

6:00pm
7:00pm – SM
8:00pm – SM
9:00pm
10:00pm – JS
11:00pm – MS

“When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.”

“Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in,’ aim at earth and you will get neither.”

- C.S. Lewis

• Loved hanging with Kellee, Levi, Brandon, Mac, and Cy on Saturday night during set up. I was able to process some thoughts with them.
• I was pumped to have Tommy share and can’t wait to see what is next for him.
• No drummer – no problem.
• The communion process needs some work. Open to ideas.
• The video we showed was not the original video. The resolution of the words wasn’t working this morning so I at 9am I decided to make my own. So grateful that it worked.
• Really pumped for next Sunday’s vision casting.
• Huge thanks to the crew that stayed after to tear down all of the props from our Hall of Fame series.
• Lots of people showed up for our children’s ministry meeting. So glad to have Pam owning that from here on out.

1. The Twins seem to be missing the fire in the belly that makes teams champions. Is Joe Mauer to nice? Is there something else going on with Justin M. besides a headache? My wife thinks so. Honestly the missing ingredient is Joe Nathan this year in my opinion.

2. I have the first pick in one of my Fantasy Football Leagues. I have ruled out trading down as of yesterday and am trying to decide between Chris Johnson, Ray Rice, or Adrian Peterson. Any suggestions?

3. Ottumwa Football is going to turn things around this week. Go Bulldogs.

4. How many days until that first Hawkeye game? What do you think the divisions should be next year for the Big Ten? I’m in favor of an east/west split.

Nebraska                        Penn St
Iowa                                 Ohio St.
Minnesota                      Michigan
Wisconsin                      Michigan St
Illinois                             Indiana
Northwestern                 Purdue

I’m sure some would argue that the East would be loaded but (gulp) Iowa and Nebraska are just as competitive as Ohio St. and Penn St. Wisconsin and Illinois are equals to Michigan and Michigan St. and Minnesota and Northwestern are equals to Indiana and Purdue. What do you think?

5. Disc Golf is the new hobby of choice. If you ever want to throw let me know.

1. My first thought went to the snooze button is why I struggle, but the reality is the distraction started long before the buzzer. The first obstacle is a lazy bed time routine. If I am consistant at anything, it is not getting to bed when I want to. The Twins game goes to extra innings, one more e-mail to check, a movie got started later than I intended, or a number of other things. What I have noticed about most of the distractors that take place at night is that they are typically media driven. Relational reasons to not going to bed on time are almost always worth the loss of sleep, but media reasons are almost never worth it.
2. The snooze button or sleeping in is still an obstacle even if one does go to bed on time. For me, a night of interrupted sleep is a given. Excuses abound as to why I deserve that extra 30/60 minutes of sleep rather than having my quite time. I justify away and try to carry on with my quiet time a little later than what I had originally intended. No big deal, right? Wrong! That time has already been replaced. Life was still moving even though I was sleeping, and when I roll out of bed I have to enter in at the time.
3. The third obstacle is a wave of various distractions that come from all sorts of places. These distractions center on not having a game plan. Let me list off a few of the decisions that if not thought through in advance could very easily thwart your quiet time. Deciding on when you are going to shower, what you are going to wear, if you are going to eat before, during, or after, and where you are going to have your quiet time. Each one of the above things is not that big of a deal, but I am amazed how many of the “not that big of deals” steal time.
4. The fourth obstacle is technology. There are times when I think it would be great to have some music on in the background. As I wait those four seconds for my itunes to open, I wonder what the weather is going to be which leads me to checking the top story of the day, and before I know it, I not only have checked my e-mail and various other news stories, but I have neglected to pick out any music and (gasp!) have a quiet time.
5. The last obstacle to overcome is not knowing what you are going to do during your quiet time. Maybe this one is better stated as not having a game plan part 2. It has taken me several years to land a strategy to my quiet time. I am a firm believer in mixing it up, but this doesn’t mean leaving it up in the air each day. Next week I will share thoughts on developing a quiet time game plan.

• Children’s Ministry is the new name that will cover everything we do with children.
• We have added a fourth room to Children’s Ministry and dubbed this room BridgeKidz. Our room break-down is as follows:
  • Baby Bay/ Birth-Age 2
  • Preschool Pier/ Age 3 – PreK
  • Kidz Kove/ K-2nd Grade
  • BridgeKidz/ 3rd Grade – 5th Grade
• We have adjusted our volunteer schedule to a new rhythm that we believe is highly advantageous for our help while still providing excellent connection with the kiddo’s. Each volunteer is being placed on a team that they will serve with the entire ministry year. Looking forward to the final team names that Pam has been working on.
• Each team will serve only 7 Sundays from September through May. Volunteers will be serving on a rhythm of serve one Sunday–off 4 Sundays.
• There is a new check-in system that will streamline families to the room drop-off more quickly.
• In order to provide our volunteers with the greatest opportunity to succeed, knowledge of what to do, and enjoy the call of serving children, we will be introducing leader roles, a handbook, and room rules.

If you would like to join us in what is one of the most shaping ministries in the church, please contact pam@ottumwabridge.org or call 682-9260!