First off, let me say a BIG THANKS to everyone for all the kind and encouraging words, cards and gifts to mark our 25th anniversary as your pastor here at KBC/Wellspring. Wow! Like I said to Pastor Wes in the second service, "Twenty five years is a long time!" It has been my privilege and joy, along with Debbie, to walk with you and serve this congregation for the past quarter century. Thank you. By the way, I am planning to hang on to the cards for quite some time. They should come in handy in the future on a discouraging day.

Secondly, let me say a word about the upcoming sermon series. Yes, this weekend I am scheduled to preach--we'll see if I have remembered how to string some meaningful thoughts together. I plan to focus on Matthew 1 and the genealogy Matthew employs to introduce his gospel. On first glance this just seems like a long list of boring and unpronounceable names, but I have found it to be a treasure trove of stories and encouragement as we meditate upon the Lord's ways in bringing forth his redemption into this broken and twisted world.

This week I want to reflect upon David's place in the family tree of the Savior; the next week his son, Solomon; and then, on the weekend just before Christmas we will look at a lesser known figure, Zerubbabel.

Lastly, we are getting settled back into the routines and rhythms of life in Connecticut and the congregation. Good to be back.

Blessings,

Pastor Rick

Debbie and I drove into Connecticut about noon on Monday and saw evidence of the snow bomb that went off across the state while we were away. Wow! We had been keeping track of the storm via internet, e-mails, and phone calls, but nothing prepared us for the devastation we encountered upon our return. We walked through our neighborhood and chatted with neighbors who were very happy to have some uninitiated with whom to share their personal storm survival stories.

I can't say I am sorry we missed the storm, but it was strange to be away from the action when so much was going on around here.

Anyway, we have stories of our own journey to share in coming weeks.

First the raw data. We travelled over 11,000 miles and drove through 26 states. That necessitated 3 oil changes along the way, but thankfully no other vehicle issues. We visited 7 national parks (Theodore Roosevelt, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Crater Lake, Redwoods, Zion and Bryce Canyon) in the course of our travels. We visited several family members, my mentor from seminary, a friend from our first church now in pastoral ministry, and the Norton family from Wellspring who are on assignment in Nashville. We spent six weeks in California, immersing ourselves in the life and culture of Bethel Church in Redding. We took advantage of three conferences hosted by the church during our weeks there, featuring revival leaders from Argentina (Claudio Freidzen), Canada (John and Carol Arnott) and the Bethel family. We met many amazing people while at Bethel. Most importantly, we consistently encountered the presence of God in that house of revival.

On our last day in Redding we had breakfast after church with Steve and Wendy Backlund, who are on staff at Bethel and who have been here to Wellspring on two occasions. Steve asked us what were our biggest 'take-aways' from our time there. I answered for my own experience with two big blessings. First, I experienced significant rest, refreshment and deep renewal during this time away. The six months prior to our departure were some of the most difficult of my entire ministry and fatigue and emotional stress were very much with me upon our leave-taking from Connecticut. Secondly, both Debbie and I came away from our time at Bethel with the clear conviction that there is a whole lot MORE to the reality of the Kingdom of God than we had ever before imagined. We heard testimonies and experienced encounters with the power and presence of the Kingdom that have definitely stretched our capacity to believe, hope, dream and seek. We look forward to sharing many of these stories with you in the days to come.

For now we are glad to be back home. On the agenda tomorrow at Thanksgiving will be gratitude for our amazing adventures on this sabbatical and for a great community of believers to return home to and with whom we can share the greatest adventure of all as we seek first this thing called the Kingdom of God.

Pastor Rick

Debbie and I have wrapped up an amazing five weeks in Redding, CA where we spent lots of time reading, reflecting, praying, resting and immersing ourselves in the life of Bethel Church.

First of all, I hope by the time you read this everyone has their power restored! What an amazing season in Connecticut to have half the state shut down twice in the span of a couple months. We have tried to monitor progress from across the country and have been amazed by the the devastation caused by that freakish storm. I can't say I am sorry we missed it all. In fact, it was amazing to experience four full uninterrupted weeks of sunshine.

By way of tallying up how I have invested my time while away: I have read several books and scholarly articles on a theme I felt the Lord has given me to explore in the next coming season. This theme has to do with how a righteous God administers justice and governs a world filled with nations, societies and individuals who are in rebellion against his goodness and his ways. This is a theme that has been growing in its importance to me over the past several years and increasingly so as we see global stresses and tensions increase.

Debbie and I also had the privilege of attending two amazing conferences while at Bethel. At both of these events and the many other services we attended at the church made major deposits in our minds, hearts and spirits. Mostly we have been stretched--big time--at all the Lord is doing in and through his people during these amazing days. The testimonies we have heard from leaders and ministers from across the globe are very encouraging to say the least. I look forward to sharing some of these with you when we return. More importantly, I hope to increase the body of testimony that is building from our Wellspring family of how the Lord is changing and shaping lives through us.

However, I cannot give the above tease without sharing one amazing testimony we heard our final night at Bethel Church. This was a "regular" Sunday night revival service, with the addition of having several folks baptized. One of those being baptized was an African-American single mom who had recently come back to the Lord and was making her way into the life of the fellowship. She lives in an apartment complex and had been consistently harassed by one bitter woman who was making life miserable for her. The neighbor had called her names and called the authorities on her several times. Not pleasant.

But "Linda," the renewed believer, had been taking training classes at Bethel in how to walk in the power and love of revival. One night the Lord spoke to her in a dream, "lupus, 34." Apartment 34 is where her unkind neighbor lived. Linda sensed the Lord calling her to minister to her neighbor. "No way, Lord. I'm not talking to that racist woman!" The next night the same message from God came again. Then a third night in a row. Linda yielded to the Lords's prompting and wnet to knock on the door of apartment #34 the next day. "What do you want?" came the 'greeting.' "Does 'lupus' mean anything to you?" Linda asked.

At this point the angry countenance behind the door melted and the woman began to sob. "I have just been diagnosed with lupus!" Now Linda knew the Lord had indeed been speaking to her. "May I pray for you?" she asked. The next day Linda got a call from Melissa at the doctor's office. "The doctor said he must have been mistaken--there is no lupus in my body!" But these tow new friends knew what was up! God had healed a body and built a bridge that transcended fear, hate and division.

Now Linda leads Bible studies in Melissa's apartment. She leads outreaches to the teen-age girls in the complex. She was asked one day by "Drunk Harry"--"Are you the woman who prays for people?" "I guess so," replied Linda. "Well, would you pray for me?" he asked. "What do you want prayer for?" Harry looked incredulous, "Can't you tell--I'm drunk all the time." Linda prayed for Harry and he received a powerful touch from God. He has not had a drink for the last month.

Revival has begun in the apartment complex!

So, with these stories and more. With lots of rest and refreshment. With loads of encouragement poured into our hearts we are on our return trip to Connecticut. We are with our daughter Kate in San Luis Obispo for a few days. Then we head east, stopping to see the Nortons in Nashville and our parents in southern Ohio. We plan to be home for Thanksgiving and look forward to seeing all of you that weekend.

Thanks again for the privilege to invest this time in renewal and for all of your prayers and support.

Blessings,

Pastor Rick