An Invitation To Refresh Your Soul

I will be out of town for a few days...but I thought I'd present this to see if any of my blog friends would like to participate in a great event with me! See you soon. jd ************************************************************ REFRESH with Ben Overby is coming to Central Church of Christ in Pascagoula, Mississippi on March 10-12! Everyone is invited to enjoy four rich presentations on spiritual growth and formation. Thursday night at 7:00 - Refreshing Your Spiritual Life Friday morning at 10:30 - Refresh Your Mind in The Word Friday night at 7:00 - Refreshing Our Relationship - Prayer Saturday morning at 10:30 - Power to Stay Refreshed These sessions will be interactive and time for Questions and Answers will be available. You might have asked yourself...who is Ben Overby? So I thought I'd share some information with you about this brother I have come to respect and admire. ***************************** Ben Overby is blessed to be married to Kim. They are the adoring parents of JT and Alex. The Overby's live in Hamilton, Georgia. Ben's a native of Greenbrier, Tennessee. Kim's a native of Belfast, Northern Ireland. By the grace of God, Ben is privileged to tell the story of God's love to trainees at Ft. Benning each Sunday. Throughout the week he spends his time connecting to new converts via mail, developing materials to help Christians find the grace to grow in Christ, communicating with parents of soldiers, supporters, and others regarding the ministry. Most of his energy, however, is spent prayerfully peering into the true window of reality--God's Holy Word. He believes that the gospel is the power, the incredible dynamic, whereby God is able to penetrate the human soul in order that it might be saved; saved not just from the guilt of sin but also from the dominion of sin. What follows, as imperfect as it all is, is Ben's effort to say something about the paradoxes of the simple yet profound, the ancient yet forever new, the anguish and the ecstasy, the folly and the wisdom, all contained in rich layers throughout the story of a God who shocks the world, a God who looks nothing like we expected, a God who hangs on a cross teaching us the way to true humanness. God's grace filters into Ben's life through family and friends, especially Kim, JT, and Alex; a small group of men (Benny, Landon, and Fred) who meet weekly, challenging each other to take a fresh, close look at Christ; a small study group he meets with twice a week; the Chattahoochee Valley Church; and those spiritually tenacious, answer-demanding, wonderful, brave young men at Ft. Benning's Infantry Training Brigade. May grace and peace be multiplied to us all through the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord! **** Ben's Ministry at Fort Benning **** Over a year ago Colonel Mike Hartsell invited me to join him in preaching the gospel to trainees stationed at the Infantry Training Brigade in Ft.Benning, GA. At that time Mike was the Post Chaplain. Mike established this unique ministry less than two years ago—a ministry that has since touched countless lives and by God’s grace resulted in many baptisms into Christ. My relationship with Mike grew from the fact that we were both part of the Chattahoochee Valley church of Christ in Columbus, GA (I began serving CVC in July 2002 as Family Minister). Having prior military experience, including a short stay at Ft. Benning while attending Jump School, and given that I’d enjoyed about ten years pulpit work, the work at Ft. Benning seemed a natural fit. Before long I was certified to conduct Church of Christ services on post. Last year Mike was transferred to Ft. Sam Houston to serve as Post Chaplain. After his departure I was made the Faith Group Leader and the Chattahoochee Valley church agreed to provide oversight for the ministry. A Church of Christ service is offered each Sunday at 1:30 at the Soldiers Chapel. Early this year I made a request to the chaplain staff for an additional hour of bible study—as of March 2004 that request was granted. Also, we were granted an additional 30 minutes after the worship service in order to conduct baptisms. The ministry has reached a point at which it needs much more attention. As a result I’ve resigned my position as Family Minister at CVCC (effective August 2004) in order to focus my efforts at Ft. Benning. At www.spiritualreformation.org I’ll develop resources for Christians to focus on becoming more like Christ through faith, by God’s grace, and personal discipline. The site will link to a message board, blog site, and other tools ********************* I am very excited that Ben is coming to Central. I heard from friends in Texas and Alabama and Louisiana that are driving in for this weekend! Let's bring friends and have a great time together. Maybe I'll get us a cook-out going Friday afternoon and we can sit in the shade outside and chat and play guitars and eat or something. Who knows what the Lord has in mind for us? By the way, Ben's Blog is linked in the column on he left. Blessings, John