One of the mothers of our church has published some of her wonderful writings in this new book described here. You can click the link below to purchase your copy.

by Evelyn S. Benton
This is a collection of extraordinary spirit-filled poems that are full of wisdom and insight that can only come from living a rich, Christ-centered life.
In 2004 at the age of 71, Evelyn S. Benton dedicated her life to Christ and was baptized. It was then that the Holy Spirit began to give her inspirational poetry.
“Each day I realize more and more that nothing really matters in this world except love — the love we receive from others and the love we give in return.” ~Evelyn S. Benton
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A native of North Carolina, Evelyn S. Benton has been married to her husband, Albert, for 55 years. She is the mother of 7 children, who have produced 11 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. She enjoys gardening and writing poetry.
(2007, paperback, 48 pages)

Source: Treasures of Mine

On the journey of balance in church growth, I have taken the first step; that step is recognition. Recognition of the value of both aspects of church growth, the human and godly side. I believe that Paul was chosen by God to be an Apostle, not because he was the single greatest persecutor of the church, (which would be a significant benefit) but, because of his previous training and experience. Paul was a Renaissance man of his day. That doesn't make him better than anyone else, it just gave him an advantage of being able to relate to the culture of his day.

My friend Mark Batterson likes to quote Jesus as He spoke to the disciples about "relevant" ministry: "Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves" Matt 10:16. This is the challenge of balance. We are to carry the powerful love of God to our communities and do it as shrewdly as top marketing executives. If you are developing an existing work or in the process of launching a new church, I highly recommend that you find a copy of "Church Marketing 101" by Richard L. Reising. It is a great resource for getting off to a great start or taking it to the next level.  

Multitasking! The word invokes awe and wonder from certain generations (of which I am a part). In a perfect world everyone has their specialty and everyone's specialty is in demand. The motto is: "Find one thing and do it well", sounds like sage advice, until you come to the reality that even something that looks like "one" thing as an end product is the result of numerous processes carried out successfully. I've recently been in the process of "growing myself" as a means to grow a healthy church. Wow, the number of books I have to read and retain, the volume of material seems enormous! Combine that with the general oversight of a growing church, with all the processes that involves and it get's pretty exciting! The result is I've gained a great appreciation for what seems to be this generation's (Buster/Millennial) innate ability to "Multitask".

The fact is that: Strategic Planning, Church Marketing, Effective use of technology, Outreach, Skillfully Leading Change, Entrepreneurial Acumen, Cultural Relevance etc. ad nauseam, are all needed to actually bring about real growth of the local church. It then becomes increasingly obvious that the essential element is not really "Multitasking" but, prayer that enables you to tap into that ultimate church growth element "the will and wisdom of God". The early church leaders didn't have knowledge of any of the previously mentioned disciplines but, they did see tremendous growth of the church from 120 to over 3,000 on at the opening service and within the year they had grown to over 8,000. There is a balance that must be struck between the wisdom that we can gain from modern church growth principles and the wisdom of God to bring about phenomenal growth. During the remaining months of this year, I plan to discover that balance and I'll be sharing that discovery with you who are in the same process of becoming the best God would have you to be.

Have you ever been in a partnership situation in which your partner seemingly brought much more to the table than you did? In our consumer oriented society, we have been acclimated to being served more than serving.  It’s seems like everywhere we go there is an expectation of getting a lot more than we are really paying for.  I am currently being invited into a partnership which offers a tremendous amount of resources and I have felt challenged to really identify just what I bring to the table. Ironically, I was not focused on “what was in it for me” or “what can I get out of it” but, what resource I could be in this partnership.  Maybe it’s because I getting more mature (not older), that I recognize how important it is for me to be a resource to my society.  Someone who reads this may be asking these same questions of themselves: what can I do well? What real abilities do I have? What have I produced over the course of my life that can be a resource for someone else?

Dr. Myles Monroe in his teaching on purpose said “don’t seek success, but seek to be of value” because it is when we are of value that people will exchange their resources for what you have.  He goes on to ask the question: When others think of you, what comes to mind? For example: when we think about Bill Gates, we thinks about Microsoft(a multibillion dollar corporation); when we think of Michael Jordan we think of Basketball, John Maxwell-Leadership, T.D Jakes-preaching, Mahatmas Gandhi- peaceful civil action, Martin Luther King Jr. we think about “the Civil Rights Movement”. What is it that people think about when they think of you?

This caused an intense investigation into what I have to offer my world. I believe I have discovered some things today that I can do and do well.  To determine my resources I first sought God about what he really gifted me to do. Then I meditated on what I have done with great success in the past and where my energy flowed most. I also consulted some trusted friends, who I knew loved me and would tell me the truth. By following that process I feel I have gained some insight into areas that I have genuine expertise and gifting. I feel much more confident that I really have something to bring to the table in any networking situation.

        With the week I just navigated through I am really looking forward to a nice relaxing Monday. As I sat in the airport this week I really gained a greater appreciation for those “road warriors” who make travel a part of their living. In the middle of all the hustle and bustle air travel, you can really become stressed out.  Finding peace in an environment of heavy luggage, flight check in, security check- points, departure times, flight delays and cancelations, is a rare and valuable commodity. This experience emphasized to me the importance of having a deep inner peace at all times. 

        What a wonderful God it is who offers us a peace that cannot be removed by the world’s seeming endless demand for furious activities.  All of that hurried and busy activity can lead to near exhaustion, while Jesus invites us to come to him with our weariness, for a much needed rest.  We don’t need any expensive psychotherapy, or learn any complicated meditation techniques, we are to simply bring our stress and weariness to our loving Savior and he will replace it with His peace and we will find rest for our souls.

         So, today I say “TGIM” thank God it’s Monday, because today I get to go on a spiritual retreat of rest and have fellowship with the One in Who’s presence there is the fullness of joy!