Connecting People and Churches of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches Monday, February 6 2012   
  • CPR 3 Sees Great Opportunities for Help and Hope

    Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

    by Judy Daniels

    odeens dan with haitian girlWhen Dan O’Deens volunteered to help at Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks, he didn’t realize that God would use that experience to launch a new ministry.

    O’Deens was pastor of the Gateway Grace Community Church in Parkesburg, Pa., at the time. Before arriving there in 1997 as a church planter/founding pastor, he had served as a youth pastor in Osceola, Ind., and as a Christian school administrator.

    Along the way, he developed a passion for people who were overlooked and struggling. “I grew up in Cleveland,” O’Deens said. “So I’ve always rooted for the underdog.”

    It was that mindset that motivated him to volunteer at Ground Zero following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He worked first with the Salvation Army and then switched to the Red Cross, taking basic courses so he would be ready to help during a crisis.


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  • The Four Church-Planting Commissions

    Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

    by Ed Stetzer
    The first observation is that we are sent, as found in John, chapter 20. Whenever Jesus gives us a commission, He gives some sort of promise to accompany it—a promise of His peace, His presence, or of the power of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus said to them, “Peace to you, just as the Father has sent me so also I send you.” And that’s number one in our outline—that we are sent. Jesus announced Himself as being sent more than 40 times in the Gospel of John. We are identifying with Jesus by living as sent ones, or by being missional.

    We have come to an unfortunate conclusion that only certain people are sent, that the only ones who are really sent are those who are missionaries. As a matter of fact we have created in our churches an unbiblical and unhelpful three-tiered level of Christianity. In three-tiered Christianity, first there are the lay people—not on the staff of a church. There’s another level, we describe as “called to the ministry.” Many pastors give testimony and say, “I was called to the ministry when I was 17,” or “I was called to the ministry when I was 24.”


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  • Partnership Allows New Academic Degrees

    Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

    Undergraduate and graduate engineering degrees are now available on the campus of Grace College, Winona Lake, Ind. They are available in cooperation with Trine University in a program that allows students to earn an engineering degree through Trine while attending and receiving all the on-campus benefits of Grace.

    Degrees available include Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology and a Bachelor of Engineering with stems in Biomedical Engineering Management, Civil Engineering Management, and Mechanical Engineering Management. Students will simultaneously earn both an engineering degree from Trine and an applied physics degree from Grace.

    All four undergraduate degrees will provide engineering students with the latest resources to meet the tough demands of the global workplace. Engineering students will be prepared to enter a fast-changing world where their education will enable them to be on the cutting edge of their fields. Thanks to their time at Grace, these students will also be equipped to deal with relational and spiritual challenges.

    The partnership between the two schools allows students to enjoy Grace’s Christian campus experience, including dorm life, chapel, and growth groups, while they learn from Trine’s academically rigorous and widely-respected engineering classes. Engineering students will be able to keep their financial aid package all four years and will be eligible to participate in collegiate sports. Students will meet with a faculty advisor from Grace College and a student support specialist from Trine University, which operates a 400-acre main campus in Angola, Ind., and has regional learning centers spread across north and central Indiana.



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