Church Calendar – You have two choices on the calendar tab on your Community Builder (CB) home page. “My Calendar” has all activities for the groups you are already in, i.e. church congregation, a LIFE group, etc. “Church Calendar” shows all activities related to church ministries or church sponsored activities. Anytime you want to know information on all church activities, you can go to CB > Church Calendar and find out. For example, if you can’t find your bulletin, but know there was an announcement about a new Bible study, go to the Church Calendar, click on the event, and then on “more details”. If your teen told you there was an activity but he can’t remember what time it starts, go to the Church Calendar. If you want to schedule an activity, first go to the Church Calendar to see what’s happening on the day and time you want. If it looks available, you can email me through CB to make the final reservation request. Or if you are a leader of a CB group, you can set up the event and request to reserve a room yourself and I will receive your request to confirm its availability.

Online Giving – Many thanks to those who have chosen to give regularly and consistently by signing on to the online giving feature of CB. Everyone is encouraged to check it out and give it a try. It’s very easy to set up and our server has maintained the highest security measures followed by banks and other financial institutions. Two other benefits: The convenience of not having to remember to bring your checkbook to church is great, and most importantly honoring the Lord by giving regularly from your “first fruits” instead of remembering after the money has gone elsewhere.

Smart Phone Access – You can access CB from your smart phone or other wireless devices. Then that address, phone number or email of someone in the congregation is always available to you, even when I’m not in the church office to answer your plea for help.

Read Part I of here to learn how to update your profile, look up birthdays, and set your privacy settings.

Since it launched in December, we have now used Community Builder (CB) to invite and register women for the January retreat, which also conveniently included paying for registrations by credit card online. It was used to sign up people for the March for Life. Our LIFE group leaders are using it to communicate with their groups and to manage their rosters. Our deacons are scheduling worship service security teams. The Belize summer missions team is tracking their preparations to go this summer. Many thanks to those of you who are building the community and finding new uses for it. This is a “continuing education” project so watch for future demonstrations, or you can always contact me with questions or instructional needs.

One especially handy tool for everyone is the online giving. We offered that in the past through our previous software, but this one is even easier to set up and manage. It’s convenient, consistent, secure and deliberate, allowing you to give “cheerfully” rather than sitting in the worship service and realizing you forgot your checkbook…ooops again. So if you have not considered giving this way before, take a moment and check it out. Login, click on “give” and follow the prompts. Or you can go to your profile and click on “give” or “financial.” If you have any questions, just contact me any time.

Another use for CB is matching up people with special interests…or matching those who have a freezer to give away with those who are looking for one…or matching those who need some work done around their house with skilled people in our church family. We have started a group called “Bulletin Board for Needs” which you can request to join and then communicate with others in that group. We have also created “Workforce Ministries Lunch Group.” This is the ministry which holds monthly lunches for business people who want to integrate their faith with their workplace. You can request to join that group and William Kirkwood will send you updates and invitations. If you have a special interest and want to know if there are others in our church family with the same interest, contact me and we can set up a group for you. To see the current groups available, go to Groups > discover a new group > search, and the entire group list pops up.

Check out Blue Ridge Community Builder today!

Confronting the Influence of Darwin – Hank Hanegraaff — Can the twentieth century be understood fully outside of an understanding of Darwin’s theory of evolution?

Self-Control in a Wired World – Joshua Harris — Best line: “A little web surfing, a little Facebook, a little folding of the hands around the smart phone and spiritual poverty will come upon you like a robber.”

Five Ways to Feel Scripture – Jared Wilson — Number one is “Interpret before you apply”! That is huge. Too often we start with, “What does this passage mean to you?”

The Gospel, Anger, and Romans 13 – Jay Younts — This is a very challenging article for me personally. What are we most concerned about? What is our priority? Public policy activism is good but are we seeking to love ourselves through it or love God and love our neighbor through it?

Weighty Words [from C.S. Lewis] on the Meaning of a Husband’s Headship – John Piper — Best line: “No relationship is more clearly commanded to model the death of Christ. No relationship is more costly—in both senses of that word (painful and precious).”

BibleMap.org

With BibleMaps.org you can pull up books and chapters of the Bible from either the ESV or KJV versions and the map will show you the location of places mentioned in the text. Pretty slick. Check out BibleMap.org and add it to your bookmarks!

1. Imagery
2. Story
3. Dialogue
4. Identification of Heroes
5. Overall Composition

Very helpful to read as the summer blockbuster season starts. Not that we can’t go to the movies, but we should be aware of the messages being preached rather than blindly absorbing it. We should also be able to answer some basic questions of the films we watch:

1. What is the overal message of the film?
2. Is that message consistent with God’s Word? Why or why not?
3. Does it correctly identify (maybe even just partially) the condition of man and his need for saving? If so, what is the savior it provides?

Read the article and think about it with the next movie you watch.