The Precious Privilege of Voting

Today is the last day for early voting and I want to take this opportunity to encourage our entire North Dallas Community Bible Fellowship Family to get out and exercise your voting privilege. That’s right. Voting is a privilege and a responsibility but not a right. It is one of the privileges granted to us as citizens of the United States of America. It is important that you are part of an informed electorate and you must vote your conscience. It is easy to be swayed by misinformation and outright lies. Know the candidates and get the facts. Your vote matters. You and you alone can determine who leads our community, our state and our nation by going out and casting your ballot. May God direct you as you make these important decisions.

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A Call to Sacrifice and Service

We have spent the last few days trying to digest the implications of the Hillcrest vote and we are both excited about the possibilities and somewhat daunted by the enormity of the challenges.  Even so, we are convinced that we are seeing the providential hand of God directing our steps and we are praying that God will increase our faith as we move forward.  We see blessings in the possibility of acquiring all of the space we will need for the foreseeable future.  Needless to say, we intend to be very diligent in evaluating this opportunity, and we are praying for wisdom and discernment as we move forward.

As we began to prepare our operating budget for 2011 and beyond, we were gearing up for the normal cost increases that occur every year.  We were also anticipating additional costs associated with our proposed move to Plano.  With the Hillcrest acquisition, we will potentially see some of those increases much earlier in 2011.  We are painfully aware that many NDCBF members have lost jobs or have been otherwise impacted by the economic downturn, and our prayers are with those families.

We firmly believe that God is leading us into a brighter future by His powerful, providential hand.  We are equally convinced that where God guides, He also provides.  If God is leading us to acquire the Hillcrest property, and we believe He is, then He has already made provision for us to accomplish it.  That provision is through the combined efforts of the people of NDCBF.  I want to thank all of you who have faithfully supported our ministry through one of the most difficult times in our history.  We are grateful for your sacrifices and your service.

In the future, we all will be asked to do more.  We are looking forward to a new era of volunteer service to the church and to the community-at-large.  We simply cannot afford to add enough paid staff to perform every task that needs to be done.  In addition, we need to broaden the base of our financial support.  We are trusting that members and frequent guests who are currently not supporting the church financially will be led to do so.  We are also praying that those who are currently committed to give will seek the Lord as to how they might be able to do more.  Won't you join me in this great move of God?  We are not asking for equal giving but equal sacrifice.

To God be the glory.

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Praise God While In The Hallway

Greetings from the Pastor’s Desk,

I wanted to take a few moments to attempt to put the recent decision by the Hillcrest Church to sell their facility to NDCBF into some kind of perspective. Needless to say, the growing excitement and anticipation is palpable.

We have known for some time that the size of our physical campus has been significantly hampering our numerical and spiritual growth. We had sadly come to be known as the “church where you cannot get a seat”. People are looking for other options and we are failing to fully engage and impact the community around us.

Over the last several years, we have made a number of futile attempts to remedy our space problems. It has felt very much like what Pastor Bob Rice described in his Founder’s Day message. He said that God will often close a door before He opens another, and you may find yourself in the hallway waiting for that other door to open. The challenge is learning how to praise God while you are in the hallway instead of succumbing to bitterness, blaming and backbiting. It has been a difficult process, but I am beginning to learn how to praise God from the hallway.

Our entire leadership team was convinced that God was opening a tremendous door of opportunity for us when we acquired our Plano property. Each time we have tried to build on it, however, the door has been closed, significant funds have been expended, and we have found ourselves back in the hallway again. God has been teaching us about praising Him from the hallway.

That was then! This is now! God has opened a new door and He has given clear insight as to why we have not been allowed to build on our Plano property. God was providentially planning something better for us. The Hillcrest purchase, if consummated, would give us the chance to be a real blessing to a congregation that has experienced some challenging financial times over the last few years, and at the same time satisfy our space concerns for the foreseeable future.

There are several aspects of the potential purchase that make it so attractive. First, it is existing space and we could occupy it, with minimal modifications, within the next few months. It also gives us a “true” sanctuary instead of the multipurpose building we were planning to construct, and it gives us 150,000 square feet of space on day one. Second, we can acquire the Hillcrest property without exceeding the original debt ceiling established by our lender. The most important aspect of the purchase of Hillcrest is that we can turn our focus from building new space to doing the ministry God has called us to do.

With the upsides there are also some downsides. We will have to made provisions for the age of the buildings and the maintenance costs associated with their upkeep. In addition, we will have to make some modifications to make the space work in some areas to accommodate our ministries.

We are moving quickly to formalize our purchase agreement with Hillcrest and begining the 60-day due diligence period. During these two months, our plan is to determine if moving forward with the purchase is in the best interest of our congregation. I will address other issues of interest regarding the Hillcrest property in this space over the next few weeks and months.

A final note.  Please continue to pray that God will give us wisdom as we evaluate each aspect of the purchase in detail. In addition, please  pray that God will begin to move the congregation to fulfill the obligations that were made to our Arise and Build campaign. We need those commitments fulfilled today more than ever. The less money we borrow, the less money we have to pay back. Members and frequent guests who are not currently committed financially to supporting the church are being encouraged to do so if they believe in the vision. We suggest tithing as a good place to start.

To God be the glory as we move forward to take the land.