January 2012 Encouragement

So here we are in the final days of January 2012. This year is already passing by at breakneck speed! Time so easily gets away from us! Have your plans to start the year in a happier, healthier, more financially responsible way taken a backseat to every day demands? We all know that old habits die hard and we must really work to develop new ones. Much has been written about the benefits and difficulties of life changes, and even Paul says in Romans 7:15; ”For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” So this timely reminder is to encourage you to not despair if your start date for the things you truly wish to incorporate in this new year has been shifted around a bit.

The Lord tells us “do not despise meager beginnings”. Do you realize that reading only one book a year puts you in a category of being among the world’s most literate?

Did you resolve to lose weight? Let me encourage you to eat healthy, just for today. The person who makes healthy choices today enjoys the benefits of each choice for many days to come.

Was it your plan to read more? Let me encourage you to pick up that book today. What you learn, enjoy, and glean from its pages can never be taken from you.

Is this the year you plan to take control of your finances? It's not too late to make a heartfelt "first fruits" offering. Paul tells us in Romans 11:16 “If the firstfruits be holy, the rest of the batch is also holy.” What you give to God as His firstfruits offering of the year, whether it is a days’ pay or a months’ pay or even your first hours’ pay, secures in your heart and in fact that He is involved in your finances and will bless the increase yet to come.

Take that step, however small, and be on your way to fulfilling this years’ goals!

May God richly bless you as we continue in this New Year!
Carol Dillard,
Stewardship Ministries Director

New State Website!

Please take note, we have a new website for the State offices.  www.wacogop.org is now online.  Please update all your shortcuts and favorites as the old Homestead site will no longer be updated.

You might also want to check out the new site for Camp Kairos. www.campkairoswa.com.  You'll find information on the possible purchase of a campground.

Overseer's Insight: January 2012

Dear Saints:

I pray that you and your family had a wonderful Christmas and will now have a Blessed New Year.  Just think about it, we are about to embark on an exciting new year, one year closer to our Lord’s return.  As we look around there is much to do to prepare for His Coming.  There are many souls to reach.  I am hearing some exciting news of how some of our churches are reaching their communities.  Our goal is not to be the best church ‘in’ the Community, but the best Church ‘for’ the Community.  Our mandate is to minister to those in need.  As we work on ministering to those in our communities, the Lord will bless and reward us for fulfilling His Mandate of going out and compelling them to come in.  All of us are Laborers together with the Lord.  Again, my wife and I count it such an honor to work in the harvest with some of the most precious people there are!

Stewardship Month

January in the Church of God of Prophecy is “Stewardship Month.”  The Lord desires for all of us to be good stewards with what He has given us.  That not only means with our tithes and offerings, but also as stewards of our time, our gifts and callings, and our work for the Lord. Down economic times is not the time to cut back in our stewardship obligations, rather it is a time to give more, more of ourselves and more of our resources.  By doing so, we step out in faith and trust the Lord for His Divine Providence and care over our families and our churches.

21 Days of Prayer and Fasting

As in the past several years, Bishop Randall Howard, General Overseer, invites all of us once again to join thousands of others in the Kingdom of God for 21 days of Prayer and Fasting as we begin the New Year in a Season of Seeking.

Bishop Howard states, “dedicating the first days of the New Year to calling on the name of the Lord is the best way I can think of to start the fresh New Year God has given us with eyes toward Him, ears open to Him, and hearts hungry for Him.”

(Please see Part III, below, of the Regional Overseer's Annual Address regarding the Importance of Prayer.) 

SCHOOL OF PRACTICAL AND ADVANCED STUDIES (SOPAS)

The School of Practical and Advanced Studies is scheduled for three days, March 22-24, 2012 at the New Horizons Church, Washougal, WA.  As you recall, we have had SOPAS I and SOPAS II in  our Region.  SOPAS III will be offered this time and there will be teaching tracts in both English and Spanish.  Please note:  It will not be necessary to have taken SOPAS I or SOPAS II prior to taking SOPAS III.

(Note: There are No Tests, for those who may be apprehensive about attending.)

(For students completing the reading assignments, a Certificate of Completion will be awarded.)

This is a Must School for all Pastors, Ministers, and Aspiring Church Leadership.

More information will be forthcoming, so be sure to mark this time on your calendars.

Lay Ministers

All lay ministers are asked to send in their lay minister’s certificates to my office, 7319 199^th St. Ct. E., Spanaway, WA 98387 by the first of the year, so they can be issued a new one for 2012.  Their current certificate is only valid for 2011.

Events Calendar for 2012
January                       Stewardship Month
January 13-15              Winter Teen Retreat - White Pass (Shelly Symonds, Director)

January 26-29              Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary - Salem, OR (Research & Writing)

February 3-5                Adult Retreat - Pacific Beach (Don & Mary Knoblich, Directors)
February 24                 District Convention - Tacoma (Rick Bear, District Overseer)
February 25                 District Convention - Washougal (Franklin Smith, District Overseer)

March 10                     District Convention - Kirkland (Roger Jones, District Overseer)
March 17                     District Convention - Tri-Cities (Franklin Smith, District Overseer)

March 22-24                School of Practical and Advanced Studies (SOPAS III) - Washougal, WA

                                                (English and Spanish Tracks)

“Driven By The Spirit”

Blessings for the New Year!

Bishop/Dr. Don Knoblich