Billy Graham: The Journey: Living by Faith in an Uncertain World
Dallas Willard: The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship
Eugene H. Peterson: The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language
John Eldredge: The Journey of Desire: Searching for the Life We've Only Dreamed of
John Eldredge: Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul
Shaunti Feldhahn: For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women
Wess Stafford: Too Small to Ignore: Why Children Are the Next Big Thing
Learn more about the Declaration of Independence here.
Looking for a way to teach your children the words to the Declaration of Independence? Jack Boyd, a friend who serves as one of our Elders at Stonecreek, created the "Declaration Song" with his daughter, Steffy, to help her with a 4th grade homework assignment. The helpful resource is here.
If you are looking for some great entertainment, I highly recommend the HBO mini-series John Adams. Check out the series trailer:
Stonecreek Church has been given the opportunity to host an exclusive private-viewing of the 2009 Leadership Summit, broadcast live from South Barrington, Illinois, to Stonecreek Church on August 6-7.
This is a global summit, and Stonecreek is the first church in their history to be given access for a private viewing event to host right in our own facility. More to come, but this is a great opportunity to invite clients or your staff team for quality leadership development, with a non-threatening introduction to Stonecreek.
The lineup of speakers for this year's Summit includes Bono, Tony Blair, David Gergen, Carly Fiorina, Patrick Lencioni and many other notable leaders. See the lineup, here.
Registration information and details will be coming soon, so watch closely for your opportunity to register your friends and co-workers from your company or organization.
[Please Note: This is an exclusive opportunity for Stonecreek Church members and regular attenders to invite their friends and co-workers. Due to the exclusive nature of this private-viewing arrangement, this event cannot be advertised to the general public.]
Over the last two weeks, Stonecreek Church has purchased 1,655 insecticide mosquito nets that includes training and delivery to African families through Compassion International. The Bite Back Campaign is an extension of Compassion's Crisis Intervention Program, that supports and resources families of Compassion-sponsored children facing crisis.
Malaria kills more than 1 million people every year. Malaria kills more people in Africa than HIV/AIDS. Yet, malaria is preventable and treatable. Watch this video... you can do something about it! For $10, you will equip a local church in Africa with a mosquito net and the opportunity to educate and build a relationship with an African family. Through Compassion International, you become a partner with a local church in the global fight against malaria in Jesus' name.
Purchase a net this Sunday at Stonecreek, or directly through Compassion, here.
Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble. Psalm 41:1
This past Sunday, Stonecreek Church rose to the challenge to "Bite Back" and do something to prevent the spread of malaria and the deaths of innocent children.
Over 1,300 insecticide mosquito nets were purchased on Sunday, and middle and high school sudents pledged to be a voice on behalf of Compassion children by seeing an additional 670 insecticide treated mosquito nets purchased over the summer months. Even preschoolers and children are teaming up with their small groups by earning pennies and change over the summer months to purchase nets!
After Sunday's event, 53 Compassion children now have sponsors to support them, write them and offer them a ministry of hope. Stonecreek is approaching near 400 children sponsored that are receiving personal ministry from among our fellowship. [You can write your sponsor child online, here.]
Thank you, Stonecreek, for your personal ministry to children who cannot speak up for themselves. Together in partnership with Compassion International, we are releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.
[A special shout out to Stonecreek's student pastor, Dustin Dozier, who created the incredible home replica that will be on display for a couple of weeks in Stonecreek's lobby.]
On my recent trip to Uganda, I had the opportunity to visit the Luwero Child Development Center, empowered by Compassion International in partnership with a local church. This particular ministry serves 238 children. 8 of those children tested positive and undergo treatment for HIV. In total, 56 individuals (parents, caregivers or siblings of the 8) receive treatment for HIV/A through Compassion's Crisis Intervention Program.
As Tanita shared her story, I was overwhelmed with emotion. Despite the language barrier, I could feel her young heart relive the pain of her uncertainty as she shared her life with us. Yet, greater still, this young 14-year-old girl has hope because Compassion was there--Compassion is there--ministering through a loving local church and a caring sponsor's support of $38 each month.
Here is a portion of Tanita's story, in her own words:
“I as admitted into hospitals so much when our mother was not having money. Because she was not having a job. Some church people came to our home and they were told my story. So I was registered at the Luwero Child Development Center in Compassion. And I thank God for that.
One day in a meeting at the hospital, I heard children when they were talking about HIV/A with doctors. Our doctors told us that HIV does not kill you if you take your drugs and in time. I started drugs in 2005. I have seven others like me here in this project. We thank LCDC for helping us. Because they give us food, transport to hospital, and treatment.
I thank God for my beautiful skin, my good nails, my nice hair, my good appetite and my whole life. On behalf of my fellow HIV positive children in this project, I want to thank you sponsors for all the support you give us which is helping us to have a good, healthy life.”
If ever you doubted whether your monthly child sponsorship was making a difference, doubt no longer. If you've always wanted to make a difference, but do not know how, I can confidently point you to Compassion International's child sponsorship program. Your $38 per month and regular letters of encouragement with your sponsored child are a personal ministry to a young heart full of potential.
Together, we extend compassion and release children from poverty in Jesus' name... one child at a time.
If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah 58:10 (NIV)
Josh McKague took this incredible photo at the church where we visited a rural Compassion project. I met Josh in Atlanta, and have had the opportunity to work with him on some video projects at Stonecreek Church. When Compassion extended the opportunity for me to host our trip to Uganda, I immediately knew I wanted Josh to come to capture our trip in photography and film. I look forward to sharing his final collection in the near future. Until then, engage with us through visual media and join us in praying for the local churches that minister to children and their families through Compassion International Uganda.
The feet of these little children tell a story of their own. Tired, worn, weary, enduring... searching for hope... for someone to give them rest... a better future than the one they have known.
Day one of my visit to Uganda with Compassion took me to a small rural village, two hours from the capitol city of Kampala by bus. The depths of poverty I saw in this village were indescribable. Through Compassion International and the local church in that village, hope is being restored... one child at a time.
Steven Gibbs and I look forward to sharing our trip with you this coming Sunday, May 31, 9:30 a.m. or 11 a.m. at Stonecreek Church. You can make a significant difference by partnering with Stonecreek and Compassion to release children from poverty in Jesus' name!
Compassion International recently announced that it now serves one million children and their sponsors through their child sponsorship program! I am so thankful that Stonecreek Church is a strategic partner of this significant ministry that is releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name. Over 350 of these one million children are sponsored by Stonecreek families!
May 21 I will travel with 19 other pastors and church leaders from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Colorado, Illinois, and Florida, to see first-hand the ministry of Compassion International in Uganda, Africa. Compassion extended a generous invitation to me to host this "vision trip," and share how Compassion International has impacted my life personally, as well as the ministry of Stonecreek Church.
I am pumped that I get to share the experience with Steven Gibbs. You'll not want to miss Sunday, May 31, 9:30 a.m. or 11 a.m., as we host Compassion Sunday at Stonecreek and share our experiences. In addition to child sponsorship opportunities, we will launch Bite Back, an opportunity for you to help end the deaths of children from malaria.
He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses. Proverbs 28:27 (NIV)
The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die. Psalm 116:15 (NLT)
Kim's father passed away early this morning around 3 a.m. This picture was a snapshot taken at Stonecreek Church on Christmas Eve 2008 [Tom and Lois Grafton and Kim]. Tom loved the Lord, and he demonstrated it by the way he lived his life to serve others. I am a fortunate man to have had the influence of such an incredible father-in-law in my life. His life brought me my greatest gift in Kim, and his blessing carries forth in my children and their generations to come.
