“Then Joshua said to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you’” (Joshua 3:5).

At the closing of my annual review with the personnel committee and the session, I shared, “I believe we are in a fantastic place to see God do amazing things in our future. I believe the future is bright for the Little Church on the Prairie. I believe that the best days for the Little Church are still ahead of us.”

It’s normal for leaders to say such things about the organizations they lead.

But I don’t think this is just leadership fluff. I’m not just saying these things because I think it sounds like what leaders ought to say. I say these things because I believe this is where God has positioned us.

I believe the Little Church on the Prairie is perfectly positioned to see God do amazing things in the future. I say that based on these four factors:

1. We are healthy

   I work with congregations in the denomination by coaching their leadership. I have seen many churches and worked with my share. The Little Church on the Prairie is one of the healthiest congregations around. We are not perfect. No church is. But we are healthy. We are able to love one another through difficult times. We name and call relational “violations” when they occur. We find Godly ways to disagree and find a way forward. The Little Church is a healthy congregation.

2. We know where we’re going

   We have a clear vision of who and what we’re trying to achieve. We have a goal by 2016 to be a congregation of 600 worshipers in 3 worship services. We will continue to strive to provide excellent ministries to the Baby Boomers and Builders here at the Little Church campus. And we have launched Lakewood Grace at Harrison Prep to reach the millennials and generation X. We will continue to do this through excellent worship, FOCUS Groups, outreach/mission, and family ministries.

3. We have fantastic people

   Most leaders say that their organization has fantastic people, and when you see how they operate and treat one another, it’s clear that there is much dysfunction. That’s not the case at the Little Church. Again, we are not perfect. But we recognize that. We are a church and a staff who say, “We’re faced with some challenges. But we’re in this together! Let’s figure out how to serve God and God’s people together.” That’s what makes the Little Church people such fantastic people. We know we’re going to work it out. And we will work things out together. We don’t bolt and run when things get hard. When things get hard, Little Church people roll up their sleeves and get to work.

4. We are debt free, and we have a strong financial base

   The Little Church is very fortunate to have a working facility that is completely debt free. The recent success with our capital campaign where you pledged over $800k in the next three years, and your continued strong support for the yearly budget positions the Little Church in a strong financial position.

All these factors place the Little Church in an ideal position to see God do amazing things in our near future. But most of all, the best days are still ahead of the Little Church on the Prairie and Lakewood Grace because God is at work here. God is up to something great at the Little Church and Lakewood Grace in 2017!

In Christ,

Pastor James <><

I’m a guy. I have lots of friends who are guys. And one of the things about guys is that no guy likes having his stuff, you know…his most private stuff…messed with. When it comes to our most private part, don’t be messin…don’t be joking around. There are few things more painful than when our most sensitive area gets mishandled.

So what does any of this have to do with God?

Well, I’m reading through Genesis and I come across Genesis 17 where God reaffirms his covenant promise to be Abraham’s God and as a sign of that covenant, God wants Abraham, his sons, his descendants, and all males in his household to get circumcised.

Now, remember, before Genesis 17, no man had ever been circumcised.

I’m trying to imagine the scene when Abraham shows up around the camp fire after having a conversation with “God”.

“Um guys…” Abraham says hesitantly. “Well, you know God’s been talking to me for a few years now…and God spoke to me again…He says that we’re his people and that he’s our God.”

“That’s great Abraham,” says the guys around the camp fire.

“Well, there’s more,” Abraham says. He takes a deep breath. “You see, to show that we belong to God, God wants us to take a flint knife and cut off….”

Listen. At this point, there’s no amount of beer or whiskey or anything else on planet earth that’s going to make okay what Abraham is just about to share with his boys. There is no way that any man is going to think that taking a blade to his thing to chop off…yes, chop off…is okay.

Look! There’s no way that sounds like a good idea. There’s no way that sounds like any idea. That’s insane! What guy is going to think that that’s an okay thing to do?

That there is circumcision. That there’s a whole nation of guys who thought this was a thing to do proves only one thing…God spoke. God is real.

No way Abraham thought this up for himself and convinced a bunch guys around his campfire to do the same.

So yeah…I’m thinking circumcision is one of the greatest proofs that God exists and speaks to his people.

What an adventure the last couple of weeks have been!

Spent four days in the hospital. Discovered that there are three more blockages in my heart. Had one more stent placed to deal with the blockages. And food poisoning!

Quite a way to end 2016 and start 2017.

Here’s the good thing. This too shall pass. And better yet, things can only get better from here on out.

Looking forward to a fantastic 2017. Looking forward to seeing what God will do through the Little Church on the Prairie and Lakewood Grace. God is doing fantastic things through the Little Church. There is good ministry being done. I am surrounded by fantastic people.

The pieces are all coming together for a God-filled 2017!