Wednesday, April 04, 2007

HATS OFF TO CE NATIONAL


If you are new to Grace Church, you may not be familiar with a very special organization that we as a church partner with on a regular basis. I am speaking of a ministry located in Winona Lake, Indiana called CE National. In my 20 years of pastoral ministry I have seen the benefit of CE National as a youth pastor, a Senior Pastor and as a parent. I have had the thrill of being on their Board of Directors; teaching in their Youth Institute; being on many of their different cabinets and committees as well as speaking at many different CE National events. Here are just a few things about CE National that make me a fan:

They have dynamic, passionate leaders. The entire CE National Staff is outstanding but it is men like Ed Lewis (Executive Director) and TK (Timothy Kurtanek, pictured with family) that give CE National their heart and passion. I love hanging out with these guys. Recently I was out in Indiana speaking for CE National. As much as I love doing that, my favorite part of the whirlwind trip was having lunch with Ed (even though he conveniently forgot his wallet) and then spending dinner with TK. These two guys simply energize me!

They are committed to the local church. I am convinced that it is to the local church that the Bible has given the task of world evangelization. I love a ministry that comes along side the local church and whose purest motives are to be a catalyst for the local church to do exactly what God has called her to do. That is what CE National does. I have found them to be one of the best friends the local church can have.

They believe in truth and giving ministry training and experience. In our world today where so much of the emphasis, even in Christian circles, is on critical thinking and questioning truth, I love the stand that CE National takes to teach young people the truth of what God’s Word says so that they develop convictions that are based on Scripture. I love the fact that they don’t just talk about ministry but they provide practical training coupled with opportunities that involve being active in real life ministry opportunities.

They are willing to take risks. CE National is never comfortable with where they are at and what they have accomplished. They are always looking for ways to make a deeper impact. Just recently they changed the name of their Youth Conference from Brethren National Youth Conference (BNYC) to Momentum. BNYC has been one of the most impacting youth conferences anywhere. Why not broaden the scope so that even more young people and youth groups can benefit from its dynamic program?

If you are new to Grace Church and are not real familiar with CE National, I would encourage you to spend some time on their web site (http://www.cenational.org/). This summer we will partner with CE National again as we host all of their Operation Barnabas teams for their orientation and work along side of them to touch more people in one day than we ever have before through our upcoming rodeo and western fair on June 24. We will then be sending what we hope will be our biggest group ever to their Momentum Youth Conference in Mississippi at the end of July. Thanks CE National for your partnership!

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