the craziness of an Awesome God
Ok, so for those of you not from True North (or those who have been out of the loop for awhile) we have had a very insane thing happen here at True North. Back in June, we had an organization called Love 146 (who seek to abolish human trafficking esp. sex trafficking of children in South East Asia) come and speak at True North. They usually take a love offering, but our staff decided that what ever came in the whole offering that day would be theirs. For us, it was a moment of trust & faith in God's provision. A few weeks later, an anonymous person in our congregation won a 3 million dollar lotto scratch off, and decided to give it all to True North. As a planting team, we have decided the appropriate response to God's blessing is to give away the entire 1st year of money, followed by at least 20% a year for the following years. The remainder will go towards helping us find a bigger location to meet, as we've out grown this one and are adding our 5th service Sept. 7th.
We have been stunned and in awe of our God. We're this little church plant coming up on three years this September, and we have seen God's faithfulness & favor in incredible ways. This is another chapter in the story He is writing, where only He can take the credit & the glory.
Today was the Lotto press conference, complete with over-sized check and all. It was held at a place we frequent called Eldorado's. There were a ton of camera's rolling and photos flashing. Craziness. But in the midst of the questions & media, I couldn't help but worship our great God. We celebrated today, not so much 3 million dollars, but a huge faithful God. Jesus was the spotlight today. I don't know if anything will come of the media coverage, but my prayer remains the same - God glorify Yourself - Jesus you are the famous One!
Pray for Bert, our Lead Pastor (my best friend, brother-in-law & pastor...) that God continues to give him wisdom & direction, that God protects him & leads him. It's his example in leadership & generosity that spreads. His main concern today as he fielded the questions from the media was that what Love 146 has been doing gets out there. I'm proud of him. So keep him in prayer.
**** EDIT Newsday video:
Now for some iPhone photos:
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