BillLaMorey.com

Singleness: A Gift or a Curse?

Today we continued in our "Secrets of Growing Healthy Relationships" dealing with the unmarried in a message entitled "Singleness: A Gift or a Curse?" The message was given by Leroy Case; who is the chaplain for The Master's School in Simsbury, CT and who himself is single. (Sorry ladies, I'm not authorized to give out his digits).

Rebecca and I, along with some other couples from Calvary, attended Family' Life Weekend to Remember marriage conference this weekend. So I haven't heard the message yet, but I've heard good things about it, and can't wait to check it out!

To hear the sermon you can click here to download the podcast from iTunes or click here to download it or listen online from our church website.

Chip's Blog

Chip (one of the guys on staff at Calvary Fellowship) just started a blog. If you like sports and ministry, then you should check it out! [UPDATE: Link Fixed]

http://chipanthony.blogspot.com/

"The Office" Videos

Here is "The Office" video we used as a bumper to the message yesterday followed by the outtakes video:

The Office

This morning we continued in our "Secrets of Growing Healthy Relationships" series with a message entitled "The Office." We talked about 4 ways to transform our workplace from simply a place of business into a ministry, and thereby pleasing God while making our jobs more meaningful and fulfilling.

To hear the sermon you can click here to download the podcast from iTunes or click here to download it or listen online from our church website.

Spiritually cold New England

When I read an article like this one I am so thankful that God is using churches like ours to break through some of these stubborn New England trends.

"The Office" new episode Sunday 10AM @ Calvary Fellowship

Very few Sundays go by without job-related prayer requests at Calvary. Sometimes people ask for prayer because they're unemployed and are seeking a job, but more often we get requests from people that already have jobs! Typically people are asking for prayer to help them deal with difficult co-workers and/or a difficult boss. Indeed, the workplace contains some very challenging people that we have no choice but to interact with each day. Just last week I came across this article  describing "Four obnoxious attitudes in the office." Unfortunately, these (and more) obnoxious attitudes are far too common, and articles like this don't really provide very much long-term help in dealing with them.

Fortunately, the Bible contains some very helpful principles pertaining to our attitudes and our actions in the workplace. And even if our co-workers don't change immediately (or ever), there are still some decisions that we can make that will honor God and revolutionize our work experiences. We're going to discuss these ideas this Sunday in a message entitled "The Office." Since most of us spend more of our waking hours with our co-workers than anybody else (including our families), this is a huge area for us to get a handle on if we want to decrease stress and increase joy in our lives.

PS: Wait until you see the bumper video!

Great Employees Only

 "Great Employees Only" by Dale Dauten was a fascinating book to read. The idea is to create a culture where  great employees thrive and everyone else is "dehired" (his alternative to firing). The book intrigued me because some of the things he wrote were so appealing yet counter-intuitive such as his "formula for effortless leadership success":

• 90 percent hiring (and de-hiring)
• 10 percent inspiring, and
• 0 percent management. (If an employee can't be inspired and needs managing, return to top.)

I still wrestle with this and I'm conflicted because part of me wonders if this can really be true while at the same time hoping it really is! Even though there are some philosophical ideas I'm still weighing, there were many great points and there are a few applications that I walked away with right away after reading this book. In mind it makes that makes "GEO" worth the read even if I don't end up agreeing with all of Mr. Dauten's concepts.

True Friends

This morning at Calvary we continued in "The Secrets of Growing Healthy Relationships" series with a message entitled "True Friends." Through examining the friendship of Jonathan and David, we discussed three essential qualities that a true friend should possess.

To hear the sermon you can click here to download the podcast from iTunes or click here to download it or listen online from our church website.

Growing Up With God

This morning at Calvary we continued in "The Secrets of Growing Healthy Relationships" series with a message on parenting entitled, "Growing Up With God." The goal of successful parenting is not to raise successful children, but godly children. From Ephesians 6 we talked about 1 thing we should not do, and 2 things we should do in order to be the kind of parents that help their children grow up with God.

To hear the sermon you can click here to download the podcast from iTunes or click here to download it or listen online from our church website.

Books in a sentence (or 2) part 5

Thoughts on the books I've recently finished:

"Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Ted Tripp -Some parents have a tough time with this book since Tripp is militant about spanking (though against spanking militantly), but I found it to be a great book to help parents develop a philosophy of parenting that develops a long-term, big-picture strategy.

"The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate" by Gary Chapman -Classic book on marriage that I've heard a lot about but only recently got around to reading. Fascinating to consider that much of the frustration we face in marriage may not be attributed to a lack of love, but rather a lack of properly-expressed love.

"Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods (Re:Lit: Vintage Jesus)" -Mark Driscoll -This was a great book for our staff to work through together. Mark isn't always right, but he ALWAYS has an opinion; love it!

"No Perfect People Allowed: Creating a Come-as-You-Are Culture in the Church" -John Burke. Every pastor/church leader should read this book that discusses outreach and discipleship achieved through the cultivation of proper environments. I found it both moving and motivating.

"Fargo Rock City : A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota" by Chuck Klosterman. Hilariously awesome book that was a lot of fun. If you grew up on metal this is a must, if you didn't you'll probably still find this book funny, though possibly pointless and offensive.