John Howell's Blog - John Howell's Class

Questions from Sunday!

I was asked to put the 3 questions from last Sunday’s lesson on the web so here you go….. 1. What are the areas of your life where you see evidence of God maturing you? 2. What are the areas in your life where you are immature? 3. When do you plan to be mature in the areas that you are currently immature? You need to set a date and have someone hold you accountable to that date. Continue

Added by John Howell on August 25, 2009 at 2:22pm — No Comments

Communication

Communication: something that is communicated by or to or between people or groups!!! On a scale of 1-10 our church is scoring about a -3 in the communication department. I believe it is one of our greatest struggles. In the spirit of this class I feel that we need to put our minds together and put together some “out of the box” ideas for communication. So here is where we are…..the only forms of communication are the bulletin, the TV screens in the sanctuary and a monthly news letter. I know… Continue

Added by John Howell on June 6, 2009 at 8:01pm — No Comments

Singles

Singles the next great frontier for our class. We need to make a strong push to get the word out that this class is a class that LOVES singles. We need to make the commitment to invest in and love on singles. I am looking for ways to promote the marriage and singles class. I need ideas on how to get the word out to a culture that up until now doesn’t think they need a church or to be part of a community of believers. We promote our business, our politics and now we need to promote our Jesus. So… Continue

Added by John Howell on June 6, 2009 at 7:43pm — No Comments

Watch you children this is scary!!!

May 14, 2009 Hopped Up on Cheerios Because of its claims to reduce cholesterol, Cheerios has been branded a drug by the FDA. The FDA was no doubt trying to make a point about the claims some food items make, but what they've unwittingly done is create a huge black market for illegal prescription Cheerios ... Continue

Added by John Howell on May 15, 2009 at 1:14pm — No Comments

Just when you think the world is headed the wrong direction

May 15, 2009 More Americans “Pro-Life” Than “Pro-Choice” for First TimeAlso, fewer think abortion should be legal “under any circumstances”by Lydia Saad PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves "pro-life" on the issue of abortion and 42% "pro-choice." This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995. The new results, obtained from Gallup's annual Value… Continue

Added by John Howell on May 15, 2009 at 12:47pm — No Comments

Who is your church????

Forefront, the church we started in Virginia Beach, is filled with people who were far from God when they first showed up. It was also filled with people who were/are struggling with all kinds of sins. At one point a few years ago I was feeling really bad about that. Like, if I was a better pastor, these people would all be living more holy lives. I thought of churches I had attended in the past, and how they didn't seem to have so much sin in them. Then one day I read Romans 13 (which is today… Continue

Added by John Howell on May 11, 2009 at 11:24am — No Comments

Military!!!!

I think we are missing a huge opportunity!!!!The military is full of families that are looking for people to love on them and invite them to fellowship. I know that we have the right class and the right age group to make the biggest impact. I am looking for ideas on how to get connected with the military families in our area. Military class members I need you to take on the role of “DS” to give me some “AIT”…..I need to know what your needs and wants are when you move to a new area. Tell me how… Continue

Added by John Howell on April 8, 2009 at 9:30am — 4 Comments

Out of the box thinkers only!!!!

I need some fresh ideas for the class. I have notice that we seem to have all the same faces in Sunday school. I have been praying about how to attract new members. I believe that the Bible teaches that we are to be missionaries to those around us. I think we have lost our focus on inviting new people church and asking them to live in community with us. I am looking for some new ideas on how to reach the community in a “non-churchy” way. I don’t think we can keep doing things the same way and ex… Continue

Added by John Howell on April 8, 2009 at 9:00am — 3 Comments

30 day experiment!!!!

I want us to embark on an experiment for the next thirty days. It will be like a reality show for 30 days. It will only work if we actually stay the course for the next thirty days. I liken it to “reality spirituality” Kind of like American Idol meets Jesus!!!! I know our faith is not a competition like American idle and there are not really winners or losers. Yet, there's something intriguing about an aspect of this-the reality part. Wouldn't it be cool if our faith were a little more raw,… Continue

Added by John Howell on February 22, 2009 at 12:00pm — 1 Comment

35 and counting

Well it is 10 minutes to midnight on 2/17/09. I turned 35 today and it got me to thinking about life. I was laying in bed and couldn’t sleep so I thought I would write for a while. It is weird because I never used to do this but I find as I get older I reflect more and find some comfort in writing down those thoughts. I was sitting at my desk this afternoon and thinking about the last 35 years of my life. Many of you know that the last month has been a difficult one for me. I was reflecting on f… Continue

Added by John Howell on February 18, 2009 at 1:00am — No Comments

Thought for the week.....I read this and wanted you guys to see it!!!

I sat in a prayer meeting once where we were led in prayer for a person who had a rather tedious job in a not-very-well-run office. The prayer lasted for 3–4 minutes and was concerned with the person’s godliness: it asked for grace to help them endure, wisdom to look at their job in the right way, and patience — the works! Now, these are all good things. I have no problems praying for them. But the person in question had an ordinary job, pretty much like millions of others in the world with ord… Continue

Added by John Howell on January 28, 2009 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!

Time for a milestone Time to begin again Reevaluate who I really am Am I doing everything to follow Your will Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills So show me what it is You want from me I give everything I surrender... Time to face up Clean this old house Time to breathe in and let everything out That I've wanted to say for so many years Time to release all my held back tears Whatever You're doing inside of me It feels like chaos but I believe You're up to something bigger than me Large… Continue

Added by John Howell on December 31, 2008 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Biblical marriage!!!

Have you ever had a time when God asked you to do something or say something and you thought there is no way. Well that is something that God continues to allow in my life these days. God has been stretching me in my walk these last few months. I have had to take a hard look at what I believe and why I believe it. Then God in his attempt to grow me called me to do a series on marriage. I have discovered through this journey the last few weeks that even though my marriage is great there are alway… Continue

Added by John Howell on November 14, 2008 at 12:36pm — No Comments

Thank You!!!!!

Thank you!!!!! I just wanted to say a special thank you to all the people that helped with the booth at “The block party”. It is such an honor to be apart of a class like this. I can’t believe that every time I ask for help you guys step up and go above and beyond. I really appreciate all that you guys do. I heard that there were about 2000 people that attended the event. To God be all the glory and honor. I love you guys and I love this class. I hope you all have a great weekend and see you Su… Continue

Added by John Howell on October 31, 2008 at 1:41pm — No Comments

Block Party at the Church

Donna Walden is looking for help with the block party. I talked with the class this week about taking on a booth as a class. I need to know how many people would be interested in helping with that? Please let me know if this is something that the class would be interested in doing?????? In his name, John Continue

Added by John Howell on September 29, 2008 at 11:12am — 1 Comment

The Four marriage HOT BUTTONS!!!!!!!

I have been thinking that in marriage there are a few hot buttons that get pushed and then EXPLOSIONS occur!!!!!! We are going to discuss the FOUR HOT BUTTONS OF A MARRIAGE: Communication Children Finances Sex....Rated M for mature (no children PLEASE) and then a Wrap on the Series The format will be a ask ANYTHING style. Andy Smith and I will receive questions from you anonymously. We will research them in September and answer them throughout the series. I want you to ASK ANYTH… Continue

Added by John Howell on August 16, 2008 at 11:30am — 1 Comment

The new series: "The Original Church"

Well, I wanted to get everybody thinking about the new series that we are jumping into. I think that God is going to do amazing things with the class as we walk through the book of Acts. As we learned today we need to wait on the Lord and pray about all the things that we do. I think that the church of today is missing the big picture when it comes to prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit. I don't truly understand how the Spirit works, but I am coming to realize that it is not me working for Go… Continue

Added by John Howell on August 3, 2008 at 4:00pm — 1 Comment

Website Roll out

Hey everyone I am so excited about the website. I have spent the last few minutes sending each of you a email invite. I think that this is a good start to us really getting outside of the box and reaching people that we have never been able to make a connection with. Again I want to thank you for all you support and for being a class that really wants to be ALL that God wants us to be. John Howell Continue

Added by John Howell on July 14, 2008 at 8:30pm — 2 Comments

The Jesus life!!!!!

I recently read a book called I Became a Christian and All I Got was This Lousy T-shirt. It had a major impact on my life. I am beginning to understand that life with Christ is not about my behavior but is built on a relationship with Jesus Christ. We spend so much of our life trying to do all the right things. We try to make sure we check all the boxes in our life. I am trying to live each moment allowing God to help me build relationships with those around me and spend less time checkin… Continue

Added by John Howell on July 8, 2008 at 3:32pm — 2 Comments

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