July 2019 – February 2020 Fiscal year-to-date Update: Giving was $337,983 vs. budget of $286,664 Spending was $231,761 vs. budget of $286,664 Loan balance as of 2-28-20: $672,805 July 2018 – June 2019 Fiscal Update: Giving was $432,435 vs. budget of $374,400 Spending was $338,369 vs. budget of $374,400 In addition, $104,070 was paid for…
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I do not know why I have a Master’s Degree in Muslim Studies. Let me be clear. It wasn’t an accident, like I woke up one morning with a headache and a fuzzy recollection of taking a bunch of classes in Muslim Theology. What I mean is that I haven’t figured out God’s plan for…
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I am increasingly disgusted with my society . . . And myself. If social media has done anything to us, it has made us into professional pundits and quick-draw responders. From the obviously poor parenting of zoo-goers, to the clearly poor judgment of zoo owners, to the (more close to home) poor use of the…
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I encountered the following while reading my Bible this morning. I have read through the Bible in a year using many various programs, but this year I am reading through the ESV from Genesis to Revelation in about 3-4 chapters per day. Having read this before, it must not have struck me in the same…
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I’m not going to tell you what to do, but get your kids signed up for summer camp! I may be a little biased regarding the whole summer camp gig since I worked four Summers from 93-96 at Camp Barakel in northern Michigan and even met my wife there in 1993. I was not privileged…
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It is hard to believe that I have now lived in Mattawan for 7 years. This community has changed a lot since my family moved here to start a new church. In the past few years Sandy the “junk yard horse” departed the world. A huge open field in town has been converted to a…
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My Facebook page is blown up with politics. And so I can only assume that everyone wants to know what everybody else thinks. So I thought I would share it here to avoid having everyone ask me what I think one on one. Consider this blog a preemptive discussion to serve all of those…
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A few weeks ago, my wife and I packed up the van, installed the children and set off for what many consider to be the promised land: Florida and Disney. The trip down was fairly uneventful, we enjoyed our time at Disney waiting in lines, and all that stuff that most people seem to…
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