IT IS PUBLISHED!!!

Joy's book, Knowing God By Heart - An Invitation to a Praise-Driven Life is off the presses! It has been published!
I am so proud of my wife. She is an incredible woman and I am so blessed to be married to her.
This is one of her goals that she set some time ago and it is now complete and in her hands.





The books will be available from Joy, from her publisher, Pleasant Word, a division of Winepress Publishing Group (www.pleasantwordbooks.com) or Amazon.com. A couple of our local bookstores may also carry it.

You can check out more about the book on Joy's website www.joythornton.org.




Now, I have to get with the program on my goals!
Joy, I am so proud of you. You are an amazing woman.

It Doesn't Get Better Than This!

There is nothing better than sharing your breakfast with your grandson!
Sam loves eggs.
Especially the "football beans" (kidney beans) that are part of the omelette.

I'm Impressed

I am impressed by a group of young (at least younger than me) pastors / leaders that are advancing the kingdom of God. Their spirit reminds me of the early apostles.

Mark Batterson hosted the Buzz Conference at his church he started a few years ago in Washington, D. C. It is a great success story. (National Community Church - http://theaterchurch.com)

Craig Groeschel, the pastor of LifeChurch.tv (Oklahoma City) was one of the main speakers. He shared what he thinks are four great qualities of innovative leaders:

1. Innovative leaders heal the sick. Jesus sought out those in need and met their needs. He stated, too many churches are inwardly focused and are not meeting the needs of unbelievers. And in order to reach those who no one is reaching, we will have to do things that no one else is doing. Our goal is to reach people for Jesus however we can and in order to do that, we need to teach our people to love people who don’t know Christ. His question was, “Who is God calling you to reach that no one around you is reaching?”

2, Innovative leaders break the rules. Jesus broke the Sabbath rules. Craig used the analogy of Nascar. “Go straight, turn left. Go straight, turn left.” Innovative leaders don’t take the common path. They turn right! Every great movement of God was started by a leader making a right turn. Question: “What is God calling you to do that’s never been done before?”

3. Innovative leaders offend the Pharisees. When you do something new to reach people for Jesus, the Pharisees WILL attack with a vengeance. Groeschel said we shouldn’t worry when the Pharisees are shooting at us. We should worry when they aren’t. Question: “What new thing will God call you to create that will be hated today and embraced tomorrow?”

4. Innovative leaders redefine success. Instead of saying how many people they are reaching and bragging about numbers, innovative leaders are constantly reminded how many people there are still to reach. We cannot be impressed with ourselves. We need to stop building attendance and start building the Kingdom.

I LOVE KIDS!!!

I want a HAPPY MEAL!!!!

I’ll bet her mom is not real happy!

Girl, 4, Called 911 Nearly 300 Times

CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. (AP) - Authorities tracked down a 4-year-old girl who called 911 nearly 300 times last month by offering to deliver McDonald's to her suburban Chicago apartment.

Unbeknownst to her mother, the girl used a deactivated cell phone to call dispatchers 287 times in June—sometimes as often as 20 times a shift.

Dispatchers heard the child's voice but could only track the phone's signal to the apartment complex.

So authorities used a ruse to pinpoint her.

"We asked (the caller) what she wanted. She said she wanted McDonald's," said Steve Cordes, executive director of QuadCom's emergency center, which covers Carpentersville.

"We talked with her and we convinced her if she told us where she lives, we would bring her McDonald's," he said. "She finally gave us her address. So we sent the police over—with no McDonald's."

After police arrived, the girl's mother took away the phone, Cordes said.

Under federal law, deactivated cell phones still must be able to access 911. Many deactivated phones will contact an emergency call center if the user holds down the nine key.