Thursday, March 24, 2011

Neckties Required!

A man dying of thirst walked through the desert. As he stumbled over a sand dune, he was greeted by a man selling ties. The dehydrated man begged for water, but the salesperson said he only had ties. In frustration and anger, the thirsty man continued his journey for survival.

Within an hour he reached an isolated restaurant in the middle of the desert. At first he thought he was seeing a mirage; but as he drew closer, he knew the restaurant was real.

He felt ecstatic. He ran for the door, but a security guard stopped him and denied him entry into the restaurant. "I'm sorry," said the guard, "but to eat in here you must have a necktie."

I read this cute story and thought about ways God grows the His Kingdom and His church. Recently we started an Outreach Strategy to connect guests and prospects to Anderson Mill Baptist Church. Outreach is rather simple, but often overlooked. It's like the necktie in the story. It may not seem relevant in the beginning, but without outreach nobody profits. Our Outreach Strategy:

  • Demonstrates that we really are a friendly church.
  • Helps everyone to attach a name to a face.
  • Allows our church to extend a timely "Thank You for being our guest."
  • Gives us an opportunity to share His story, the gospel.

Already, several AMBC members are helping our guests to connect with God and His church. You can join us. Just comment on this blog and we'll contact you about orientation. If everyone would be involved once a month, His church will grow.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Marriage Mentoring


This year AMBC allocated budget support for our first in-house Marriage Enrichment Conference. On August 26-27, 2011, Dr. Scott Floyd and his wife will be our guests for this exciting event. (More on this later.) As part of this conference and in line with our Milestones strategy, we will offer marriage mentors to those attending the conference.

Who are mentors? "Mentoring involves life-to-life exchanges that help others discover and pursue their passions and sort out their priorities." David Stoddard1 Mentors are couples who model life, help mentorees set and keep goals and challenge and encourage couples in their journey.

Why do we sometimes need mentors? Jan & I were remodeling our home in Alvin several years back. One delivery truck was loaded with lumber and supplies. As the truck backed into our driveway, the weight was too much and the truck sank in the soft clay soil just off the drive. It wasn't going anywhere without help. Jan was keeping a toddler at the time and he was watching all this take place. The driver came to the door and told us. "I need to call Bobby." Bobby was the dispatcher at the lumberyard. Our small toddler friend heard this and commented, "I sure hope Bobby has a tractor." Like tractors, mentors can help keep the relationship moving. Whether we have slowed down or come to a complete stop, we may need a little help to get out of the clay and back on firm ground.

Who might profit from a mentoring relationship? Anyone can. Whether we are preparing for, repairing or trying to maximize our marriage, mentors can be the short term guide for the journey.

If you are interested in looking into having a mentor in your marriage, sign up today for the Marriage Enrichment Conference. Click on the stack of cups to register.


1
The Complete Guide to Mentoring. Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott. Zondervan, 2005. Page 28