This is the sixty-third update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pastor Sprague has sent another update about the ongoing minstry of Trinity Church in the North Shore and New Orleans and hurricane relief.

Crack Pots for Jesus

What a difference eight months makes! Back in August, I was gearing up to re-launch our new ministry year with a full staff and a new building right on the horizon. The Elders had just unanimously approved my 70-page strategic plan. We were ready to roll. Oh, how the Trinity - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit - must have had fun with my plan of operating from strength. What a good chuckle they had over "Michael's plan". They decided they could do better! Exceedingly better! Included in the revised plan was their (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the sixty-second update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

We have another e-mail update from Pastor Sprague about the minstry of Trinity Church in the North Shore and New Orleans.

"The Jesus Movement

Lately, I have been asking questions of the early church that might radically influence the Jesus movement today.

1. How did an obscure, marginalized Jesus movement become the dominant faith of the western world in just a few centuries?
2. How did Christ-followers convince people they weren't vagabonds, gypsies or involved in a cult?
3. How did the Christian community in the first century go from being one, one-zillionth of the population to 56% of the Roman Empire? That is a growth rate of 40% per decade!
4. How did they grow so rapidly with no (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the sixty-first update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pastor Sprague has sent another e-mail update about the minstry of Trinity Church in the North Shore and New Orleans.

"You're Not Crazy!

You're not crazy! These are words our teams need to hear. Our team volunteers have now exceeded 2,700 and have logged in 110,000 man hours. There were 142 last week. Wow!

Over the past several weeks, the volunteers have included a high percentage of college students. Some of these students have given up the beaches of Florida for New Orleans. They gave up fun in the sun to gut homes. Narcissism has given way to activism. These young adults are about the cause of Christ. They are not crazy! I am so encouraged by hundreds of college (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the sixtieth update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pastor Sprague in a new e-mail message is calling for all prayer warriors to help in the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA and hurricane relief.

"Calling all Prayer Warriors

Over the last 6 months I have feasted upon and been sustained by the God of Exodus 17. The people of God faced a great challenge in their confrontation with the Amalekites. Joshua and the men engaged them while Moses went up to the hilltop to raise his hands in dependence upon God. Oh, how he must have prayed. While his hands were raised, the battle went well. When his arms drooped, the mission was hindered and the enemy made inroads. Two friends came to his rescue (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the fifty-ninth update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pastor Sprague has sent another e-mail with a plea for financial assistance to help in the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA and hurricane relief.

A Financial Request and More Stories of Grace

I have never been a fundraiser and perhaps never will be. I don't know that I ever want to be a fundraiser. I am simply a pastor of a local church, in the middle of the finest movement of the Spirit of God that I have ever seen. One of my dear friends, and now colleagues in ministry, is raising support to provide for his family to continue to help lead the work of outreach here in the Gulf Region. I am referring to (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the fifty-eighth update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pastor Sprague has sent another e-mail update concerning the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA and hurricane relief.

Lessons I’m Learning 6 Months After the Storm

One of my earliest set of reflections on Katrina six months ago was entitled "What I Learned Today." I haven’t forgotten those early lessons of surrender and faith. Now after a half-year I can say that Jesus continues to teach me lessons in the arena of faith. The scripture and my own journey reveal Gods ways:

I. An Initial Call

God is in the business of giving out assignments, tasks, adventures, partnerships, or whatever you want to label them. It is simply His calling. The call came to Abraham, Moses, Joshua, (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the fifty-seventh update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Grace Community Chapel of St. Peters, MO, and Chatham Bible Church of St. Louis, MO, combined to make up what we have called Grace Team 4. Grace Team 4 served with the EFCA/Compassion Ministry , and Trinity Church of Covington, LA, January 12 - 14, 2006. The video you are about to see was taken during that time of service in New Orleans. This is only half of the team. I hope to have a picture slide show up soon, showing what the other half of the team 4 accomplished. Click on the more button to read below the fold.

This is the fifty-sixth update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pastor Sprague has sent another e-mail asking for prayer for the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA and hurricane relief.

Important Prayer Requests for New Orleans

This morning I had the distinct privilege of attending a prayer meeting and luncheon with Billy Graham and his son, Franklin, in preparation for this weekend’s "Celebration of Hope" crusade in the New Orleans basketball arena. It was inspiring watching a courageous, yet feeble warrior come to the pulpit using his walker and aided by his son. With an exceptionally keen mind, he communicated a message of hope. Billy Graham said, "I’m devastated by what I have felt and seen." He said he hadn’t called his wife because as of (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the fifty-fifth update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

The following is another message from Pastor Sprague concerning the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA and hurricane relief.

Death of the Church is Greatly Exaggerated

Those of you who know me well know that I am a reader. Over the years, I have profited from and enjoyed the writings of Christian pollster, George Barna. He has brought a great body of research and insight to the body of Christ. This is not true, I believe, in his latest work entitled, Revolution.

In his new bestseller, he expresses great passion for the capital "C" church, the universal group of believers in Jesus, but misses completely the biblical doctrine of ecclesiology or practically put, the vital importance (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the fifty-fourth update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pastor Sprague has sent another message concerning the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA and hurricane relief.

"Sorrow in the Evening, Joy in the Morning

There are a lot of stories told and testimonies given at Trinity Church these days. Last night was no exception. A man named Clarence gave praise for the work team from Minnesota that cleared up his home freely, lovingly, diligently and in the name of the Lord Jesus. Yet, he also revealed his family’s tragedy. His missing 22-year-old nephew was found the day before, shot in the head, maimed and burned. His charred body was found in his SUV. So much pain, yet he stood before us all, giving glory to (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the fifty-third update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pastor Sprague has sent the following message concerning the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA and hurricane relief.

Urgent Request for Prayer and Help for Trinity Church

I am convinced that Trinity Church is where it is today after Katrina because of the prayers of the people of God, like you! We may be weak, limping and weary, but we are advancing in the cause of Christ and experiencing the sufficiency of His grace for teams, provisions, encouragement, and fruitfulness.

I now need for you to pray for a very urgent need for four staff positions to be filled. During the aftermath of Katrina, I rejoiced that God used the Trinity staff in an extraordinary way. The (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the fifty-first update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

The following is another weekly update from Pastor Sprague concerning the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA and hurricane relief.

“Bridge-Building

It is an amazing time to be preaching at Trinity Church to our dear people, guests and teams. Despite so much hardship and heartache, the family of God is so responsive to the Word of God. Last Sunday, I preached from Acts 10 on “Bridge-Building”. In the passage, we encountered the beloved disciple, Peter, with a great big plank in his eye. His blind spot was a deep seeded prejudice against Gentiles. Peter was brought up this way. The lens of the Great Commission to go to the whole world was simply the Jewish world for (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the fiftieth update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

This is the final report for Grace Team 4 written by Team Leader, Tom Pflederer.

“January 16, 2006, New Orleans

Lake Pontchartrain is the second largest salt-water lake in the United States, some 600 square miles of water, a small ocean. In the middle of the 24-mile long North Causeway that crosses it, all shore lines pass out of view and the horizon is an unbroken line of water and sky. One night we watch a breath-taking sunset fade to darkness and the light of a full moon dancing on the surface of the churning water, a dazzling display of beauty.

Lake Pontchartrain is also a geographic and topographic nightmare, a doomsday scenario of unfathomable proportions for sub-sea level (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the forty-ninth update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

The following is this week’s update from Pastor Sprague concerning the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA and hurricane relief.

“Dying to Live

As each year begins, I usually ask God for a verse to focus on during the New Year. The verse this year is 1 Corinthians 15:31b - “I die daily.” I don’t think I am going to like this verse …Honest…. but I think I’ll like the fruit. I have been meditating on Jesus’ call to die to self.

• Matthew 16:24,25 - “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the forty-eighth update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Continuing on with Pastor Sprague’s weekly updates on the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA in hurricane relief.

“Morbid, yet beneficial…for me

“He is no fool to give up what he can not keep, to gain that which he can not lose.” Jim Elliot
“Only one life, will soon be passed, only what’s done for Christ will last.”
“What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?”

I have a spiritual practice that I enter into annually on January 1 that propels me into the New Year. It is a bit morbid for some but it is beneficial for me. It is an exercise in counting (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)