Rob Ketterling

CHRISTMAS PARTY

We have our neighborhood Christmas Party at our house in 30 minutes and it should be a good time. We moved a year ago into a new development and decided we would be the family that hosts the neighbors at Christmas so this is our second annual party. I like it because we meet all the new neighbors but I have to admit, I need to work on names. (My wife says that if I'm stumped on a ladies name guess Kristie because three of our neighbors are named Kristie!)

Following that, I'm off to the Viking's game to stand on the sideline! One of the families in our church does special events for the Vikings so they got me and Anthony Richards tickets for the sideline for tonight's game. It should be fun to see the game from a whole new vantage point and hopefully not get run over. It also will be good knowing that we won't have any beer spilled on us from the people behind us! (I've had that happen several times at sporting events.) I'm wearing a blue zip up sweatshirt if you want to try and see me.

Services went great this weekend and once again we had dozens of people respond at the end of the service. We focused on Heaven and I thought it was a creative way to end with an illustrated sermon. Thanks to all of the people that shared their stories and sang special music. It was a great way to end the series.

ONE FIFTH

I was checking my stats on my blog for Thursday and people must have been busy eating and enjoying family time. I know this because my blog only had about 20% of the traffic it normally does! Good for you if you were out enjoying Thanksgiving and not reading blogs, surfing the web etc. Enjoy the Holiday!

DOOR BUSTERS

We went shopping today as part of the after Thanksgiving Day tradition but we didn't get up early. We looked through the adds and thought that our sleep was more important than the few dollars of savings. (We had 40+ people at our house yesterday so sleep was needed!) So we went out for our 8:30AM "door busters" and got most of what we wanted had we gone at 5:00AM so we felt pretty good about our purchases. It seemed like some stores were amazingly busy while others had hardly any traffic.

Becca found a movie poster to pose with yesterday and I thought it fit her and the big shopping day really well. She told me, the first step for help is to admit you have a problem.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I just want to post this morning and say Happy Thanksgiving, we have a lot to be thankful for. I'm reflecting on what I'm thankful for and right now, I'm so thankful for the sense of smell as my Turkey cooks and fills the air with a fabulous aroma! Seriously though, I am so thankful for so many things and I can try and say thanks to the people that were such a blessing to me but I'm sure I'll miss some! Even so, I want to say thank you to everyone that attends and is a part of RVC, you are amazing! This past year has given us something to be amazed at. We have to say thank you for God's faithfulness as we overcame the budget shortfall, opened a new campus and grew by so many people. We've had an incredible amount of people commit their lives to Christ and many others continue to grow in their walk with God. It's truly a year to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for Healing Place Church, (You guys are awesome! If you are ever in need, we're there for you!) the ARC, (You guys stretch me to the next level and bless RVC in so many ways.) AG Financial, (You truly stepped up to the plate when we needed you.) our soldiers that keep us safe, (If you are deployed, we're praying for you and your family.) all those that serve in our government, the landscaping blessing we received this year and my family. (You are amazing and deserve more credit than you get.) OK, I know I'm going to forget some people, so here's a last all encompassing group. I'm thankful for all of you that weren't listed and know that you should have been. I am so thankful for you, sorry I missed you but I am thankful for you. Maybe it was the smell of the turkey that affected my memory, but please know that you are appreciated. Be sure to thank God today and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

BUDGET 2009

I'm in the thick of things as we continue to plan our church budget for 2009 and I have to admit, it's a big challenge. It's not a challenge to add up the numbers and decide where the money will go, it's more of a challenge of trying to predict what will come in and how God will bless us in 2009. You see, we're one of the fastest growing churches in America and in the past year we've grown by about 700 people (54% growth in one year) and we're also now a multi-site church. It makes it a real challenge when you try and forecast in faith a budget that reflects current giving, the current economic situation, and an element of faith along with the projected growth. So as you can see, it's a little more complicated than the average church that might experience only 5% growth or less in a year.

I really feel like God is going to continue to bless RVC and that we really have some great momentum going right now. because of that, I'm continuing to step out in faith with sound wisdom. (Does that sound like a contradiction? Faith and Wisdom...I don't think so, it's really the way I try and live my life.) I'm very glad that I have a financial advisory board and that we have such great leaders at RVC in our Elders, our new Administrator and the people that run our ministries. If you think of it today, say a little prayer for all of them as they help me to move RVC forward and finalize the 2009 budget. I believe 2009 is going to be a great year for RVC in so many ways!

CAN'T SHAKE IT

I talked to a guy this morning at the health club about this past week's sermon and he told me, "I just can't get it out of my head, it just keeps rolling around." And I though to myself, that's what I'm aiming for! Besides that, I though that this was a sermon that none of us should get out our heads. I think our problem is that we keep Hell out of our heads and we forget that we are supposed to live differently in light of eternity.

So as you go throughout your day, don't let last week's sermon go, hold onto it and let it change you and the way you live. Be more intentional about life because Heaven and Hell hang in the balance.

CHOIR, HELL, AND THANKSGIVING

Once again, I have a weird title for a blog but I like it! We had a great weekend full of fun and some real good victories. We were the proud parents in the back of the St. Olaf Chapel at St. Olaf College in Northfield, as our son Logan sang in the Anacrusis Honor Choir. Connor sang with them last year and it was great to have Logan make it this year as well. Logan really enjoyed it and thought it was an honor to sing for Director Bob Chilcott. (Logan is in the first row, first one on the right.)

We had part three of the series on Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell and I thought this weeks sermon on Hell went really well. I think it was a real wake-up call to us and about 50 people made a decision to follow Jesus! I've had several people comment on the statement by Charles Peace so I thought I'd post it here.

Sir, I do not share your faith.  But if I did - if I believed what you say you believed - then although England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would crawl the length and breadth of it on hand and knee and think the pain worthwhile, just to save a single soul from this eternal hell of which you speak."
~Charles Peace

 

Getting ready for Thanksgiving, we're going to have the family over at our house so it should be a fun time. I'm exercising today for my meal three days from now! Hope your family has a Happy Thanksgiving.

WASHINGTON D.C.

I just got back from Washington D.C. after being a part of the HOPE 2008 meetings with key leaders in our government. HOPE 2008 was lead by Convoy of Hope (A benevolence and relief organization we support.) as a way to reach out to the leaders in Washington in the current administration and the incoming one. We wanted to thank them for their past efforts and do everything we could to work together in the future.

While there we met with and heard from Steve Preston, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Honorable Rick Santorum, (Former Senator from Pennsylvania.) Jedd Medfield, Special Assistant to the President and Acting Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Dr. John Kim Cook, Director of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Department of Homeland Security, the Honorable Allison T Young, Special Assistant to the President; Acting Director, USA Freedom Corps, Jim Wallis, President and Executive Director, Sojourners and many others. As you can see, it was some high powered people, great servants in our government and key leaders.

In addition to meeting and hearing from all of them, it was also a great time hanging out with the people in the crowd. I met several CEO's, entrepreneurs, and high profile individuals. I also reconnected with some great friends in ministry and because I said I'd list some of their names I'll do that now! Scott Wilson, Lee McFarland, Mark Batterson, Andrew Statezny, Sam Farina, and others. (If I promised a link and didn't deliver it, I'm sorry, comment and place your link!) I love the friends I have in ministry and I love partnering with them!

I'll blog more about this later, this blog is too long already!

HEART HEALTHY FOODS

I'm wondering if anyone out there has a site that can tell me all of the heart healthy foods one could eat. I'm especially interested in the foods one could eat if they were out for dinner or lunch and wanted to eat healthy. If you know of a site that you could recommend please let me know. (P.S. I'm hoping for more than salad recommendations!)

THIS WEEK'S SERMON WILL BE HELL

I typed out my blog post title and then realized, hey, that's a blooper if I ever saw one! I thought I'd leave it up there and just let it go because I really am preaching on Hell this week. I'm hoping the sermon itself will be much better than the title, but the topic will remain on Hell. If you have any questions on Hell you can post them here on the blog and I'll try and include them in the sermon.