Beginnings are great.

There's an excitement that comes with beginnings. And at Harvest Church, it's all about to begin.

On Sunday, February 2nd, 2014, we will launch a new and amazing series that will help us as a church get ready for the what's to come. Like every church, our goal, our desire is grow; to see lives changed for the glory of God. But we realize that two things must happen.

1. God is the one who makes things grow.
God grows people. God grows churches. God grows His kingdom. We want to see the church grow. We want to see God do great things. But it's God who does it.

2. We need to be ready when the growth begins.

And So It Begins, is the start of our getting ready for growth. Over the next 10 weeks at Harvest Church, we will spend time looking at some important practices that will help us prepare for the growth that God has in mind. Each week we will discuss practical, necessary aspects of what we will need to do to care for the people that God will be bringing to this church.

If you are part of the Harvest family, or if you are one who has been looking for a church with a commitment to loving the community and sharing the Gospel message, then I want to invite you to join us starting this Sunday, February 2nd, at Harvest Church. We gather for worship at the VFW Post in McMurray, at 10:00 a.m.

Visit the church website at, www.HarvestChurchToday.org.

- jay

Budgets. You either love or hate them. If you love them, they are a wonderful tool to help you set and meet financial goals. If you hate them, well…

Personally I think budgets are a helpful resource. There have been years when I have had success budgeting out our family finances, and there have been years when we lived paycheck to paycheck. 

But this Sunday at Harvest Church, we presented the 2014 Church Budget. There's something about presenting a church budget that get me both excited and nervous. I think it comes from years of watching church leaders present their budgets to a barrage of critics, questions, judgement, and stress. I guess it comes from the fact that, when it comes to money, specifically money that is given, everyone wants to have a say it how it gets spent. I've sat through more than one meeting where the debate turned into a shouting match. Sad, really.

But none of that was the case. And praise God for it.

At Harvest Church, we decided to do something a little different. The budget is created by the Ministry Leadership Team. The Ministry Leadership Team (or MLT) is made up of our pastoral staff and the men and women hire to oversee the ministry at Harvest. We believe the budget should be set by the ones who are called and charged with responsibility of full-time ministry. The budget then is presented to the Harvest Ministry Board. The board is made up of men and women, members of the church, charged with the task of managing the items of property, finances, bylaws, and matters of governance. If the board finds the budget to be acceptable, meaning the MLT isn't going crazy with numbers, the budget is approved.

With the boards approval, the budget is then presented to the church family at our annual informational meeting. That is what we celebrated this Sunday. And here is what I loved about our, the budget was set to bring the church to a place where we would have to take a big step of faith.

I believe God has called us to do something incredible at Harvest Church. I also believe that God has given us the opportunity to step out in faith, trusting that He is provide. Our budget for 2014 includes a more than $20,000 increase. That's a big increase for our very young church.

But I am convinced that God has given us a ministry and a budget. Sure it's more than we can do on our own. But that's the point. For years I have watched as churches project budgets based on what their giving is. As the various ministries of the church give their respective budgets to the budget committees, you hope that your budget is accepted. But what happens is, the budget committee evaluates the amount of gifts given in the previous year and then project, or guess, the amount of gifts that will be given in the year to come. If the submitted numbers fall within the projected giving amount, then the budgets is accepted. But what room is left for God to do something miraculous?

If we base our budgets on what we know we can do, how do we step out in faith and leave room for God to do what only God can do? But when we know our limits and insist on trusting God, we leave room for the Owner of the cattle on a thousand hills to open the flood gates of blessing.

We want to see God do amazing things. And if it begins with the budget, then it begins with the budget. But I am excited. Really excited. There's an anticipation among our church family. A hunger for God to work in us and through us. And I want the church to see the amazing power of God. It's a big budget for a little church, but it's nothing that our God can provide.

2014 has been designated as an #EPIC year for a reason. And it's really getting exciting!

- jay

While you might not have seen the words above, if you have checked in here at JayHigham.com looking for the blog, it is what you saw: NO BLOG TODAY! It's been two full weeks of no blogging of any kind. Nothing here at JayHigham.com. Nothing at TheGoodHusbandBlog. Nothing at StudentMinistryToday.com. Bummer, right?

Unfortunately, for as much as I love blogging, it sits as one of my lowest priorities. So when life rev's up and we get busy with work, church, family commitments, and free-lance projects, the blog has to take a back seat. That translates into 2 weeks with no blog.

And while I want to say, Hey, here comes a fresh week of blogs! I'm not sure that I can promise that. Because the week ahead looks to be another busy one. My goal however, is to line some things up for  posts that will go live over the next couple of weeks. The content for most of the upcoming blogs will discuss some of the exciting things happening at Harvest Church, and some issues of life and faith as we continue to discuss the #epic life in 2014.

So my invitation to you is this, don't give up on the blog yet. Don't unsubscribe. Continue to visit, read, comment, and share! I will still be here. Thanks!

- jay

Yesterday, Amy shared this article on her Facebook. The article was written by a woman named, Julie Cole, for HuffingtonPost.com. In the article, Julie shares 6 reasons for having 6 kids.

We have 5 kids. (Almost had 6 until this past Christmas. We lost #6 the Saturday before Christmas.) Now we're not trying for other child, but if it's in God's plan for us, we're more than willing. But big families still get crazy looks and ridiculous comments. I got a laugh out of Julie's comments. Take a few minutes to read her article.

"When people hear that I have six kids, the reaction is usually entertaining. Sure, there are some days when I wonder what I've gotten myself into, worry about the world they'll inherit and consider the environmental footprint of a family like mine. But most of the time, I just celebrate how awesome it is to have six kids. Here are a few reasons why:"

Read more here!

- jay