FRESH
With Spring just around the corner, most of us will start our home spring cleaning. We will get rid of stuff that has no real value and has been taking room. We will clean windows, baseboards, carpets etc… We will open the windows to allow fresh air to flow through.

Acts 2:1-4
¹When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ²And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

As we witness the Holy Spirit being poured out at Asbury College it made me think about a few things. First, we have many books and speakers telling us what the job/function of the Holy Spirit is. We are very good about putting Him on display and enjoy a brief movement by Him.

Second, brevity is where the church operates. We have become too impatient for a lasting manifestation of the Holy Spirit's power.

Third, the Holy Spirit knows His job, but He will not operate in a place where our reliance is on anything and everything but Him. So where do we start? PRAYER! The condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. If the Holy Spirit will be near our churches, it must pray. The format of our prayer meetings is not nearly as important as its essence. If we say we ought to pray, we will soon lose our motivation and quit; the flesh is too strong. We have to be driven to pray. We should despair at the thought that our churches might slip by without seeing a manifestation of the Holy Spirit working on our behalf.

Keeping it fresh,
Bishop Larry

THE FINE ARTS FESTIVAL HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR APRIL 15, 2023!
 
It is exciting to once again be able to offer the Fine Arts Festival to the Rocky Mountain Conference! This is a great opportunity to feed into the lives of OUR YOUTH, which is feeding into OUR FUTURE! The most exciting thing this year is we are providing an all day experience including morning workshops as well as the Festival Showcase. This means you will have the morning,... to yourself!

Registration is currently open online, and closes at midnight Saturday, March 4, 2023. The link to registration is below, and will take you to the online form.

Registration starts at 8:15AM, and closes promptly at 9:00AM. We will have breakout sessions for everyone, lunch, rehearsal and then the Festival Showcase.

Contact Christopher Wales if you have any questions regarding this event.

As I reflected on 2022, I realized I wasn't as intentional in ministry as I had hoped to be. If you're anything like me, it seems like I have too many tasks and not enough minutes in a day.

As we begin 2023, I have decided to get better organized. I will separate the urgent tasks from the important ones and hopefully stay on course in what God is calling me to. One of the ways I plan on getting better organized is by using a 2023 Pastor's Planner. This is a tool that I believe will help myself and hopefully help you. Just click on the link below for the PDF version.

May God bless you in this new year!

As I was pondering on our recent Art of Leadership Conference and the subject of discipleship and mentoring I would be amiss to not mention how much missions fall into that category.

I know that Dawn Myers touched on it when she spoke about how much influence Pastors Brian and Carole had on her and her siblings' lives as well as her own missionary endeavors. Think about the missionaries you support and the lives they are influencing on a daily basis and about the sacrifices they are making to invest their own lives to grow someone in the Kingdom of God.

What about you here in your own church? Who are you mentoring or discipling to possibly become one of those who will go to another country to spread the good news of the Gospel? Here's another question for you. Are you even giving to missions? By doing so you can be an example to young Christians of the importance of the mission work of the IPHC as well as local missionaries' such as the Martinez' in Guatemala, or even Johnathan and Angie Burgess with their ministry Good News.

In Matthew 28:19 Jesus tells us to Go, but in relation to the mission field of other countries some aren't always able to go, but we can send and encourage others to go.
 

I have recently rediscovered a devotional on prayer that has been on my bookshelf. I've gone through it several times, and each time I find it to be more informative. It is titled “Love to Pray” by Alvin VanderGriend, and is relatively short in content, but filled with prayers and personal growth experiences of the author. It is only a 40 day devotional, so it can easily be used by most of us.

Some of the chapter headings are: “What's the good of Prayer?”, “Claiming God's Riches”, “Prayer as a way of Life”, “Heroes of Prayer”, and more. In the back of the book, prayers for different circumstances can be found, which are helpful, but intended as suggestions only.

This helpful resource can be purchased through Prayer Shop Publishing.

The bottom line is this: PRAY
 

Can you believe that we are beginning the 4th quarter of our conference year? Where has the time gone?

We continue to improve and guide our conference tech forward and this year I have made quite the progress. You will now find, on our website, most forms you need as members of the RMC Conference, as well as forms and documents you need as leaders. Please bookmark the RMC Website and refer to it for your needs. If there is something you would like to see there, please feel free to contact the office.

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