More Snow!

Well it is snowing once again here in Middletown. There is about 6″ right now, and they are calling for more. The kids are enjoying it, they have seen more snow in two weeks here, than they have seen in all their lives. I must say that the snow here is different. It is more of a powder than slush and ice like we are used to in Georgia, so it makes for more fun. All I have to say is, “ man it is cold.” The high today is 29.

Wayne

www.hope.fm

Kids Are Making Friends

Today, for the first time since we have arrived, several young people were outside riding their skateboards and having a good time. When our kids saw this, they rushed out to meet them. I am glad that my children are not shy about meeting people or about talking about the church.I know that God is going to use them greatly here in Middletown. Please pray as we are planning on starting Bible studies real soon at the “Y.”

Wayne                                      

www.hope.fm             This is a double post

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Latest News

  January 2008

Dear Pastor, Family, and Friends,

    New number and new address. We are officially New
Yorkers. Praise the Lord, it is finally here. My
family and I will be moving before the end of January.
All are excited and anticipating what God has in store
for us.
Thanks to all of you who have been praying and giving,
your efforts are not in vain. When we arrive in
Middletown, we will be contacting all of the people
who we have been able to meet thus far.Then begin to
have Bible studies with those who are interested. We
plan on having a big day on Easter of this year, so
please pray that God will give the increase, and I
know that He will.
Our new address is 9-C Hillside Dr. Middletown NY
10941
and my phone number is 845-467-1235. Please pass this
info on to as many people as possible. You can also go
to our website www.hope.fm and keep up with us there.

In closing, I would like to mention a great need that
we have, our moving and set up costs. If any of you
have ever moved a long distance, or started a church
from scratch, you know of all the costly expenses:
moving, initial rent, deposits, signs, advertisement,
printing, sound equipment, chairs, pulpit etc. If
anyone would like to give toward this urgent need,
please send all donations to Macedonia World Baptist
Missions P.O. Box 519 Braselton Ga 30517 marked Wayne
Cooke set up fund.
Thank you so very much, and may God bless your
ministries.
Wayne, Lina, Alex, Jordan, and Abigail Cooke

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New Number

Just to let everyone know my new number

845-467-1235

Wayne

www.hope.fm

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Dealing With Conflict

Anyone who is a leader will at one time or another have to deal with conflict. As pastors, I think we deal with it probably more than others. We are leading hundreds of different people with different personalities, and different views. Like it or not, there will be conflict.

You can’t avoid conflict, but conflict can define your time as a leader. At Revolution, I have dealt with conflict numerous times and I live by some principles that I have discovered that have helped me deal with these issues, so I thought I would pass them on there since this is one of the questions I get a lot from other pastors.

• Realize Conflict Isn’t A Bad Thing – When we hear the word conflict, we automatically think negative. Conflict can be a good thing.  It resolves issues and gets issues taken care of.
• Run to confrontation – We RUN to conflict.  Guys are so afraid to confront people that they will let problem people hang around causing trouble for too long.  When we hear of an issue we waste no time confronting and dealing with the situation.  By confronting quickly you get the issue taken care of and you are able to move on in whatever way you decide.  When you confront slowly, you spend more time stressing over the issue and allow more time for that person to bring others into the issue.
• Deal with conflict face to face – 90% of people with a problem will never tell you about the problem.  No one goes to Tim about our music, no one comes to me about the teaching, etc.  When the do confront the person they are upset about, 99% of the time they do it through e-mail.  I think this is the most spineless thing in the world.  The biggest wuss in the world is a bad dude behind email.  We do NOT get into email exchanges with people.  We set up meetings and handle the situation.
• Don’t take it personal – This one is HARD.  I have learned to learn when confronting people about their problems with me that their problem is normally something different and instead of dealing with that issue that truly is bugging them.  People don’t know how to discuss so they attack.  I don’t take it personally.
• Don’t confront while still angry – I normally try to give 24 hours to allow myself to calm down.  I am very passionate and can break “redneck” real quick.  So what I do my best to go into meetings while not being angry.
• Have another person in the room – I do NOT deal with conflict without either Malcolm or Taylor in the room with me.  Too many people will take what you say and twist it and then it is my word against theirs.  I always have others in the room to see how things unfold.
• Say what you have to say – I do NOT hold back my thoughts.  I say what needs to be said and I am very clear on how we are going to proceed.  Too many guys don’t say what truly needs to be said and that is why they are in conflict with that person again in the future.
• When it is over, it is over – When I leave a meeting with someone, I am done.  I don’t stay angry, I don’t hold grudges, and I don’t keep dealing with the situation.  When we are done with a meeting, I make sure everything has been laid on the table and held nothing back.
• Take the high road – After meetings where I have had to confront someone, I have learned that 75% of the time they will start to bad mouth me.  I will NOT get into a he said/she said with someone.  I will not go around telling what happened to everyone who asks.  I will not defend myself to those who weren’t in the meeting and I will not run down the person who is running me down.

I found this today on another blog, thought it might be a help.

Wayne

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I think so, maybe, I don’t know

James 1:6-8 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

The other day the Lord kicked my backside with these verses. We often wonder why God is not blessing us, or why our ministry doesn’t seem to be going like we think it should. I believe that one main reason is because too many church planters and pastors bail out way to soon. The Bible says that if I doubt while I am asking,  I will be tossed about. Maybe one of the reasons that the average tenure of a pastor is between 2-4 years, is they are doubting God too much and thinking that the next church will be better. Which leads us to the last verse: ” a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Men, we need to decide if God has called us, then we need to ask in faith believing God that it will happen, and stop being tossed around in the waves of ministry. You know that church hoppers are often criticized, I wonder if there are a lot of pastors that would fit into that crowd?

Wayne

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Peanut Butter

My pastor, Chris Grinstead, says sometimes going to church is like eating a peanut butter sandwich.  Although peanut butter & jelly would be better, just peanut butter will get us through. We may have to go to church out of plain duty, kind of like eating just a dry peanut butter sandwich, but if we keep going sooner or later we will receive some jelly. As leaders we don’t have the comfort of missing for any little reason. We must always remember that we have followers and what we do they will mimic on a much larger scale. So, the next time you think that it would be o.k. to skip church, just drink a glass of milk, it helps the peanut butter go down.

Wayne

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Blogging

Today I got chewed out by a good friend for not blogging more often. I see now the need to communicate more with the world. To all pastors, or anyone trying to promote a cause blog! blog! blog! Wayne

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Quote

One of the marks of successful people is that they are action-oriented. One of the marks of average people is that they are talk-oriented.” -Brian Tracy

In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury. Proverbs 14:23

Sent to me from John Pearson

Thanks

Thanks to Travis Snode for his gift of $200 toward our church plant.

Wayne