Our fast is a unique experience to share a common sacrifice to join together in prayer. Yet I am reminded and I am thankful that our Savior sacrificed his life to give us life. God, thank you.

Well, only a week left for students, a weekend for teachers, until summer is over for all practical purposes. Summer heat will stay with us until mid-September’ish. No whining, we don’t have to deal with sub-zero winters. So, enjoy your last week students and make a friend smile. Go with the flow teachers and try not to stress too much. Remember all those happy faces looking forward to spending their days with you. Everyone, don’t forget to hit the ice-cream shop this week. And remember, every moment is an opportunity to serve God as we serve others.

Your pastor

Here’s a note regarding giving to help those in Haiti:

1. If you write a check or give cash, just write Haiti and the money will go to a missionary in Haiti to use on the scene.

2. Tim Phillips learned that if you would like to give specific medical supplies, Cross Timbers Church is making a collection and will take the items to Haiti. A link to a list of items and the details is at:http://dnn.crosstimberschurch.org/CTHome/HaitiRelief/tabid/561/Default.aspx

3. Keep praying for the people of Haiti and those giving aid.

Your brother,

brad

Our Finance Team pays close attention to our spending and helps us use the money given to Live Oak wisely. I thought to make sure everyone knows how we are doing, I’ll start keeping a regular update here in my blog. As you can imagine, I sure pay attention to the finances of the church. When Live Oak sold the old property, there was a profit. We decided to invest/commit a large portion of that profit in the move to Surrey Ranch. Why, to increase our effectiveness in reaching our vision of touching lives and families in our communities. So, we began at Surrey Ranch knowing that we would have higher expenses than present giving. We would use our savings. Well, Live Oak has been and continues to touch lives and families. However, giving has not risen as we hoped. A good projection is that at the present rate, our cash reserves and cash flow will run out in about mid-August, 2011. Most of our expenses are pretty much fixed and we already run a lean operation. So the ole’ cut expenses approach is not the answer. The answer is to increase our giving. The vision is clear, the need is great, now is the time to invest. Prayerfully consider giving and increasing your giving at this critical time in what God is doing through Live Oak.

I’m practicing and trying to figure out how to work the admin software for my blog. Just checking to see if this made it.