Monday, October 22, 2007

THE RESULTS

"And let us not be weary in well doing:  for in due season we shall reap if we faint not."  (Galatians 6:9)

If I put some time and effort into it, I could write some "clean" and inspiring lyrics to the tune of Frankie Vallee and the Four Seasons' hit, "Oh, What a Night!" as I think of the results of last night, and really of yesterday.  No, I'm not talking about the Red Sox, although I could add "THAT, TOO!"

I also could write, "Oh, what a week!"  I'm really tired this morning!  Many of you know that I was out for something like 8 nights in a row.  Since I'm not a "night" person, that's a lot for me!  In fact, I'm hard pressed to think of when the last time was that I was out 8 nights in a row!  No, today's piece is about the results of the very special drama presentations with Dennis Cole yesterday.  Overall, the day was wonderful!

I'll get the negative stuff out of the way, first.  As great as the day was, I was disappointed in the attendance.  Many of you know that our church has struggled over the past few years, and that a couple of times over that period it nearly closed.  From a fiscal "on paper" point-of-view, we are not "out of the woods yet".  Attendance figures for 2007 have averaged around 22 per service.  (As small as we are it wasn't too many years ago that our typical attendance double that.)   I had really hoped for 35-40 for the morning service and we actually had 28.  I had also hoped for 50-80 for the evening and we actually had 30.  However, we DID have several first-time visitors at yesterday's services and we had several people attend that I've not see for awhile.  As is always the case, there were people who told me ahead of time they'd be at the services who did not show up.

Quality-wise, the services were EXCELLENT.  On a 1-10 scale, I would give the morning a 9 and the evening a 10.  It's hard to describe the drama ministry Dennis does.  Just to state it matter-of-factly, it would sound almost boring. It's not.   When you hear Dennis Cole present "The Book of James" you really think James is standing before you.  And, he picks volunteers from the audience to interact with, and does all sorts of dramatic gesturing, standing on chairs (no kidding!) and all sorts of things that keep you rivited to his presentation.  The most powerful part is his commentary at the end of the presentations.  In the evening, it was particularly powerful.  After the "Sermon on the Mount" presentation, Dennis had those who wanted prayer come up front. With virtually no input from any of the people, he prayed specific prayers over each of them such that you'd think he HAD to know them and what they'd gone through or were going through.  To a stranger it would probably seem as though he has psychic powers; but no, what Dennis was operating in was the God's gift of "The Word of Knowledge" which is talked about in the book of First Corinthians.

Dennis is a strong booster of World Vision's child sponsorship program and he promoted that yesterday.  (It's a lot like Christian Children's Fund and some of those other organizations you may have heard of.)  I know that at least one couple from our church sponsored a child.  Our Men's Group also sponsored a child.

We had a good tiime going out to eat with Dennis at lunchtime.  As our mutual friend Pator Rick Amendola of Webster, MA says about Dennis, "He's a card, isn't he?!"  Well, I'd say he's a "character" and he is, but since he plays characters in drama I guess that fits!

There was a positive, faith-filled atmosphere at the end of the service last night.  People had been very strongly affected by what they'd seen and experienced. 

I did not stay up for the very end of the Red Sox game as I was just so tired from yesterday and from the week, but it IS really exciting that the Sox are in the World Series.  This morning I'm tired and happy and reflective and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Incidentally, to those who did attend the Dennis Cole services, especially those of you from outside of our church, thank you so much for coming!
 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

wish I could have been there. GO SOX

Anonymous said...

it is really great how God movesgo soxs

Wendy Cole said...

Hi Bob! - Just doing a web search on Sermon on the Mount looking for a church who has it archived and came across your blog article on Dennis. We both had a great time reading what you wrote. Thanks for a GREAT review! Hope to see you soon on one of my trips to MA. We pray for you, you are an encouraging, gifted and kind man.
Blessings!
Dennis & Wendy