Kirk Bowman's blog

Our church set out to make Christmas happen for 500 underprivileged kids again this year.

The latest update to that - we have sponsored 539 kids for Christmas!!!!

It's been such an amazing blessing to watch literally thousands of Christmas presents flow through this place over the last few weeks. We didn't just hand out a box with coloring books. This was major bags of presents being handed out.

Tears flowed freely from lots of moms (and from us) as we handed them loads of presents for their kids.

Every present had a sticker that said"This present was lovingly picked out just for you to show you how much God loves you".

An amazing team of volunteers and our paid staff and our hugely generous church made this happen.

Huge kudos to Coral Childrey who organized and coordinated the connections for all this to take place.

What a joy to pastor such a generous church.

Goals are funny things. They are targets we aim for. If we aim at nothing we hit nothing. They give us something to try for.

One of the primary pieces to the DNA and culture of our church is an atmosphere that inspires and encourages people to succeed in business and enterprise.

God has a plan for us to thrive in every area of our lives - spiritually, emotionally, relationally and in our work environment.

Work is not a curse. Barrenness on our work is a part of the curse. Jesus has broken all the curse for us!

Feeling unfulfilled in the work we give ourselves to is not God's intention for us. Finding our gifting and employing it in a meaningful way is so important to making work work.

At our last Business Breakthrough meeting one of our guys was sharing his story. His job had transitioned. He put out lots of resumes. Nothing. So he decided to print a few business cards and give it a go on his own. Doors started opening up like crazy from him. Favor over all his efforts.

He was expressing his gratitude for the environment and support of our church and specifically our Business Breakthrough team in helping him have the courage to step out there and take a chance on something new.

Awesome!!!!

Christmas for 500 kids is about touching 500 kids one at a time with the love of God.

One of our church members who is engaged in this project with us comes running into my office yesterday. "This is a freakin awesome church" she says. Then she tells me the story of a mom we just handed a carload of Christmas presents to.

The dad had taken the kids bikes and sold them to buy drugs. The dad was being put in the jail that day. The mom is feeling desperate for her kids. Our church took on the job of making Christmas happen for her kids.

We just handed the mom new bikes to replace the ones the dad had sold off. The Mom is sobbing with gratitude.

Awesome!!!!

Inoculate or Permeate. It seems either one of these views defines perspective on Christianity or even church life.

The inoculaters would have us huddled into "the bubble" never to be tainted with anything secular. While there are definitely some things to avoid associating with - this view can definitely insulate us from actually engaging in the real life context of the world we're called to reach. The salt can get stuck in the salt shaker.

Permeators are engaged in advancing the kingdom into culture and into individual lives. This is surely what God has called us to. The downside of permeation, that I have observed, is sometimes the salt can lose it's flavor. People become so much like their culture, in trying to relate to it, that their distinctiveness is almost completely erased.

One of our permeation projects right now is "Christmas for 500 kids". Our church is stepping up in it's usual generous way and so far we have 350 children sponsored. At close to $100 per child, do the math, it's already a sizable move from our awesome church family.

The stories of need amongst kids this year seems escalated. There are some really difficult situations that are in desperate need of a touch of the love of God.

We are still working hard to make Christmas happen for kids. Anybody wanting to engage with us on this - call our office and get involved. We still have a lot of kids that could use our help.

Last year our church heroically stepped up and made Christmas happen for 500 underprivileged children who would not have experienced any presents for Christmas without our help.

It was awesome to bless all those kids. And families.

We're doing it again this year. As of right now, we have pledged sponsorship for almost 300 kids.

Could I encourage you to get involved in helping us bless kids in Jesus name.

We just have a short window of time left to get this done.

The Bible is clear about God's heart for the poor. My heart always goes to kids, especially. They are the ultimate victims of poverty. They really have no options.

We are blessed to be a blessing! Let's rise up and do this.

For years I have read about how valuable time is.

"Time is the most precious commodity. Money lost can be recovered, time lost can never be recovered." Quotes I have read that all ring true. But I just had a new awakening to another dimension to the value of time.

The other night I was discussing with some leaders the value of their presence at meetings. Sunday meetings. Leadership meetings. Prayer meetings.

We all have meetings we go to. Any time there is a gathering of people, that's a meeting. Dinner with my family. Work. Going to play golf. Going out to eat. Church meetings. All meetings. That require some of our time.

As we discussed the value of their presence at these different meetings I had a fresh realization about the value of time. I was asking for their time. A very valuable commodity.

Time is a valuable thing. Time with God. Time with my wife. Time with my kids. Time at church. I only have so much time. Only so many hours to spend.

My words were careful, my heart very aware. All these guys are so busy. Lives so full. And I was asking for their time. For God. For His house. For our church to be all God wants it to be.

And they all responded with a beautiful heart. God and His house was worth their time.

Whoever and whatever we give our time to tells a lot about what we truly value.

My heart had a new appreciation for the value of time when I was asking people I love and respect to give this valuable thing called time.

Thanksgiving was a blast this year. We had 25-30 people over for a great day of feasting and hanging out together.

It was a great mixture of friends and family. Long time friends (almost 25 years of friendship). A guy who used to be in my teen ministry way back in the day - now with a wife and 3 kids. New friends. A newly married couple. Lots of church friends and then my awesome family.

My wife is an excellent hostess and cook so everything was perfect for the day. Jambalaya and oyster dressing are two New Orleans dishes that I anxiously await every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Suzette does them so well.

I think some of the main things I am thankful for were represented on that day. My amazing wife. My gorgeous girls. Long time friends. New friends. Church friends who have stuck with us through thick and thin. Family. Health. Home. Blessing.

I hope your Thanksgiving was blessed as well.

Still reflecting on my latest trip to Ghana and what a powerful event it was. I've been pondering an idea as a result of my time there.

The idea is: Find out what God is blessing and then become a part of it.

It's so much better than trying to get God to bless what we want Him to bless. God is good, but He is stubborn. He is God, we are not. So I want to go with His flow rather than trying to get Him to go with my flow.

This analogy always helps me : If I want the hand of God on my life, find out where His hand is and then get under it.

"Why change the world? Change worlds!"
Henry Miller

I want to get in the world of God's blessing and favor and then bring others in with me.

After 42 hours of travel (each way) , I returned late Saturday night to Asheville from Kumasi, Ghana. The trip was grueling but it was well worth it.

Partnering with Dr. David Shibley and Global Advance ministries, I had the opportunity to minister to 1,500 pastors and leaders from around Ghana.

It was amazing! I felt swept up into something greater than any of us could have put together on our own. It was a God moment. God is up to something great in Africa.

Some highlight reel moments for me.

1. Watching every single one of those guys sow into an offering to help sponsor another conference for leaders to be held in northern India. What a holy moment as they gave unselfishly from what little they have to help someone else hear the gospel.

2. While I was teaching on "The power of a proclamation", I encouraged them to take a minute to proclaim the praise of our awesome God. The Holy Spirit took over the meeting and for 15 solid minutes we all declared the greatness of God. It was electric.

3. At the end of the conference, Dr. Shibley called them to commit to plant at least one new church in the next 12 months and for some of them to go cross cultural if they would. Watching hundreds and hundreds of guys stand with determination to answer that call was so touching. It wasn't just the numbers but the presence of God in the moment was powerful.

The African pastors and leaders are such beautiful people. Humble, serving like crazy and completely sold out to God and His cause on the planet. They all danced in worship like little kids. Joyful and without a care for anything but expressing their praise to God. It was fun to experience.

Thank you to all who prayed with us. Your prayers affected a nation!