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Showing posts from July, 2007

On the soapbox at Pastor Tara's blog...

What's in a Name?

My friend Pastor Tara Sloan (excuse me, Pastor Tara Denson-Sloan) did a blog post today on her blog called "On the soap box with Pastor Deanna." It's really good, not because my name is a part of it, but because she's an excellent writer, and makes incredibly insightful points. She also happens to totally share my heart for so many things. We eat out of the same box of Cheerios. I always enjoy what she has to say and I thought maybe my friends who read my blog might be interested in reading this. So go here to read it.

One thing she talked about today was her name, and the hyphenation of it or lack thereof. By the way Tara, the "D"as my middle name that you always see on anything in writing stands for Doss (my maiden name) that I took as my middle name when we got married. My grandmother (most Godly woman I ever knew) did this herself. When she got married her maiden name became her middle name. She was Jura Ressler and when she married a Lewis she became J…
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it took a test?

to tell me this? No, it didn't, but you're right, Pastor Tara, it is cool to take it and see what you know confirmed! If anybody else wants to take this test, click here. For some reason no matter how many times I tried, I couldn't put my results in my blog through their method of doing it! I am just not the queen of html like Pastor Tara is.
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Count on joy!

Okay, so I won't get to do what I want to do on my birthday.


One thing God is teaching me about is dealing with disappointments in the right way. I historically don't do so well with them. My heart gets set on something and then if it doesn't materialize I tend to take it hard. Whether it be the fact that my first car gets wrecked, or that the Hampton Inn and Suites does not have biscuits and gravy when their weekend sign clearly states that they always have them - I get disappointed. I like to be alone when I get disappointed. When I feel that way, I don't want anyone within 10 miles of me. I just want to be alone and process it.

The word disappointment is made up of DIS and APPOINTMENT. DIS means separate, apart, or asunder. So, disappointment describes a feeling of dissatisfaction or anguish, which is experienced when we are torn apart from our expected appointment with whatever it is we thought was happening or was going to happen.

All of us have hopes and dreams big …
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It shouldn't take courage

"Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with openeyes, and make it possible." T.E. Lawrence



Right now the fellowship that I am a part of (the A/G) is at a crossroads. Many general council positions including the very top one (GS) are up for election and there is a buzz all around about it. I've blogged the past year about completely de-politicizing (is that a word?) myself. And truly, I have. I have been stripped of all desire to be immersed in the political scene, (sectional, district or national) nor do I care what may happen as a result of me expressing my view. (I have nothing to lose. I happen to be credentialed with the A/G, however my church and my writing are the focus of my ministry life, not "the district" or "Springfield.") My life is my family, my church, my friends, and my writing and speaking mini…
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Sleep in Saturday

Today is "sleep in Saturday" and although I normally do sleep in on Saturday it's always a work day for me, with very rare exceptions. From the time I wake up I am usually going non-stop on both church work, and home work. No matter how much I work during the week, the finishing touches are never on for Sunday until late Saturday night. (And I'm an organized person. Working on Saturday is not due to slacking, it's just due to my workload and wanting everything to be just right.)

I slept in this morning and would have kept going longer but my sister called from Baltimore telling me she was at a store and found an adorable knock off Prada purse that was pink and white and wanted to know if I wanted it. Hello...is the pope Catholic??!!

A purse. Now there's a good reason to be woke up! Last night, I prepped my special sweet roll recipe for the kids (and us too, but they are the ones who are most ga-ga over them) and they have to sit all night covered up and you bak…
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Fun Friday!

Today is our day off...and for those who are reading my blog for the first time, let me clue you in as to what fun Friday is all about. I treasure our day off. My husband and I both do. We try to not let anything interfere with it, and at least half the time we succeed. During times we don't succeed, we do something to make up for it. It's very difficult, especially with kids our kids ages not to have something church related to take care of even if it as simple as dropping them off or picking them up for an activity and thereby having at least a 30 minute conversation with somebody in the church parking lot. To other parents, it's just a friendly conversation but for us, it can often turn into just another day at the office, with people stopping to ask, "hey, did my curriculum come in up at the office building?" or "Can I talk to you for a minute...something happened this past week..." and it's never just a minute...in fact usually it's at leas…
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B.O.O.M.! Savanna's reflections

from Kids Camp

My daughter, Savanna came back from Kids Camp today. We were blessed to have a load of our Northside kids there along with our children's pastor and helpers. (Jordan also went to work Rec Staff - which he greatly enjoyed.) I've been sitting here asking Savanna her impressions from camp. In case any of you don't know, I'm a huge fan of KIDS CAMP and YOUTH CAMP. Perhaps there is nothing more life changing in the lives of our young people. I once heard something like 90% of our pastors and missionaries receive a call from God at camp. We never ever let our kids miss camp, nor do they want to. When they get back I can hardly wait to hear what happened!! (Now that I don't go to camp anymore and truthfully I kinda miss those days of being a YP!) Anyway, she was sharing all of it with me and so I thought I'd let her share them with you. Here they are, from her in her words... (I'm just typing as she talks...) The theme of kids camp this week was "Boom!" …
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I made the list!

I never cease to be amazed at the women who tell me they are blessed through the ministry of Pastoring Partners, and tell me their lives have been changed. Today I made the distinguished list of "People who are an inspiration to me" by Lady Melissa Sutton, co-pastor and first lady of House of God International Ministries in Clearwater, Florida. Lady Sutton has been one of those special ladies that God led to the website years ago, that I was able to, (and continue to) minister to via this avenue of ministry.
Lady Sutton is one of the many women around the world that I know online through pastoring partners, but not in person...yet. She's coming to the Unstoppable Conference in September, and I can hardly wait! This is going to be a bit like heaven. I am going to see some people I haven't seen in a long time (like Pastor Tara) and meet some people I've been talking to for a long time but just haven't had a face to face with.
Thank you, Lady Sutton, for honoring …
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Friday's Feast

www.fridaysfeast.com
Appetizer

Describe a toy you remember from your childhood. My first toy that I remember is one of the little "popper" toys with all the balls in it, that you push. I remember pushing it down the hallway and running with it.


Soup

On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest) how observant are you? Depends what it is. When dealing with people or things written, extremely observant. However if I were sitting in front of a baseball game, I wouldn't be the least bit observant.


Salad

Where would you rather be at this very moment? No where but right here where I'm at. There's no place like home, and no place like this comfy bed I'm in right now...on my day off. :-)


Main Course

When was the last time you learned something new? I try not to let a day go by without learning something new. When you stop learning, you stop growing. This week I'm reading in I Chronicles. God is teaching me things through the life of Saul. I don't want to make the sam…
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Courageous Parenting

The past month Larry and I have been bringing a series of messages on "Courageous Parenting." Through this we have been sharing the Biblical values we hold about this subject in our household and also hard lessons learned. One thing I believe strongly is that as parents we're called to be just that - parents, not pals. Our kids have plenty of pals, but only two parents, and as such we need to be courageous and take the unpopular stand at times.
As everyone knows, Dustin totaled my car 2 months ago. Since then he hasn't driven, mostly because there's nothing for him to drive! Larry and I share one car and that takes it up 100% of the time and then some. But before we get another car or he gets one of his own, I was determined that he needed some help. Mind you, he wasn't reckless when he had the accident (only going 24 mph but it was raining and he hydroplaned and panicked.) Part of this is the fact that he was a young, inexperienced driver. I have come to real…
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Why call them pastor?

My friend, Pastor Leanne Weber, (who serves as an A/G children's pastor in Wisconsin) has an excellent and thought provoking post today about why people call evangelists (whether famous or not) "pastor" when they refer to them from the pulpit or as they address them in person or whatever. (And how much it irritates her!) I agreed completely with her. The person that God has ordained to set the pace for the church are the senior pastors, and that's that -not anyone else, and certainly not somebody on TV. I know it has really irritated me when I advise someone in the church and they ignore my counsel and tell me they heard this or that on Joyce Meyer and this is the direction they are heading. (Joyce is a great example because, I'm 100% crazy about her. She's honestly never said something I've ever disagreed with, yet. I believe she's an incredibly wise and anointed woman.) But the reality of it is, she's not the pastor of our church - my husband an…
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Pray that women become UNSTOPPABLE!

Right now we are preparing for the "Unstoppable" Women in Ministry Conference here in Tampa, hosted by myself and my associate, Pastor Lindsay. I blogged about this in the past here. We have four other incredible women of God who are joining with us in speaking and worship leading for the weekend at the Hilton Garden Inn, (September 13-15). What happens in the lives of those attending is going to be amazing. This is not going to be a retreat where we talk about menopause or how to make a craft in four easy steps. We're dealing with life-changing ministry issues here, not just the "change of life." (lol)
Which brings me to a pet peeve...some friends who have asked me to host this in the past, but aren't coming. The other day I took the time to call 40 women friends or colleagues. Why? Because I care. Many are coming to Unstoppable, and in fact this isn't just a Florida thing, but quite a number of women in ministry are flying in across the country for Un…
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Mindless Surveys and Why I Like Them

Accomplished a ton of work today both at the office for a few hours and also on the road. Had a meeting today, and connected with Pastor Jenn Lee for lunch. I'm crazy about that woman! We have so much in common it's ridiculous right down to a love for Mustangs. (She just got a Mustang convertible last week...) I so much enjoy talking with women who share my passion for ministry...for co-pastoring, for dream chasing, for worship. She's one of those people. I really wished I could stay at lunch forever but had to get back... Speaking of Mustangs, Ernie Haaire Ford called tonight while I was at church and left a message that they have a silver Mustang they want me to come over and take a look at.
Tonight we finished our Courageous Parenting series in the Wednesday night adult service. What a great series this has been. Larry and I normally take turns preaching every other Wednesday night and this works great for us. This month though, we tag teamed every message and then did …
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On the lot

Today after work, Larry and I went car shopping. Yes, this was my first day on a car lot again. It was interesting. I test drove a few cars, and managed not to cry. :-) I did sit in a few to test drive them and then immediately got out and said, "it's just not right, I know this isn't going to work..." and didn't bother. I drove two Mustang GT's and a Tiburon and looked at a bunch of other cars - Mazda's, Toyotas, Nissan's, etc. We still have a lot more to look at. I keep coming back to Mustangs just because I enjoy them so much. It won't ever be the same, however I know I could enjoy one again even if I wasn't madly in love with it. It will sort of be a fling as opposed to a soul mate. :-) We're going to look until something feels right, so we'll just keep going. I keep wondering if anything's ever going to feel right but perhaps if we just keep going, at some point we'll get a feeling, although Larry really "feels" …
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Now that you're saved...don't steal!

Today we had a very different type of day in ministry. It was a “working day” but quite different as we were invited to go to a pastor’s day at “The Holy Land Experience” in Orlando. They invited us to come for free, tour the place, eat lunch with them and hear a special speaker. We went with Gary & Tammy, our good friends who are the pastors at Evangel A/G in Orlando. We had a really good time together, as usual. On the way to Orlando this morning I got 2 hours of work done on the computer which was probably more than I would have gotten done had I been at the office because I had no interruptions. When Larry drives and I get on the laptop, I just whiz through my work and I love it!

We spent the day at the Holy Land Experience and then we had plans this evening afterwards to go to Keith & Joy’s in Lakeland on the way home. (Our friends who pastor Harvest A/G there) On the way there I returned a bunch of ministry phone calls that have been piling up the past two days. That take…
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Phenomenal day in the house

It was an absolutely astounding day in the house today at Northside. God is so good. We were just going after God with all our hearts...I really sense many people growing to a new level never attained before... praise and worship just absolutely rocked. It was the people's hunger for God that is making the difference...there is really nothing else that different. It's not that it's better music, better presentation of anything - it's just a hunger for the Lord and a desire for a revolution, plain and simple. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled. We are living in exciting times!!! I would blog more tonight but it's like this...my kids are all spending the night somewhere else getting ready to leave for camp in the morning. That means Larry and I have this house all to ourselves tonight. It was a great day in the house today and it's going to be a great night in my house tonight. :-) More tomorrow...
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Go Girl Conference

I’m just getting back tonight from the “You Go Girl!” conference, hosted by my good friend, Pastor Andrea Fruscella, co-pastor of First Coast Christian Center in Jacksonville, FL. I decided to take my life coaching ladies to the event. Only six of them could go out of the group but it was so worth it for all of us. I am coming back with my head and my heart so full.

Janet Pascal did the music. Andrea’s message (aptly titled, “You Go Girl”) was awesome. I loved it. And I heard the ministry of Dr. Debbie Dunlap for the first time and I was more than blessed, I was so challenged. I have so many things to work on, I don’t know where to start. She said some things that were absolutely revolutionary to me. Her messages were about depression and anger but they were more biblically based than anything I have ever heard. Rare is it that I go to anything where I haven’t heard of some re-mixed version of the message, but in this case I actually got something new. Basically her outline that she ga…
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