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Weekly Update from the Senior Pastor
February 3, 2006 
Dear Family and Friends,
Church signs with short slogans can be awesome or awful. I’ve seen both.
Once upon a time there was a congregation in Damascus (now long defunct) that used their little white sign as God’s battering ram for the impenitent and His rod of correction for the redeemed.
Some of my favorite, high cringe-factor quotes from their hay-day were:
- Remember—HELL lasts a long time.
- Visitors welcomed. Members—bring your Bible!
- WE have the truth.
- (And my all-time favorite, for one Easter season) Jesus says you must turn—or burn.
Okay, now the other side. On Route 27, between Mt. Airy and Damascus there are several churches who use their signs well, offering thought-provoking encouragement, sometimes with an edge, like:
- Forbidden fruit creates many jams.
- One cross plus three nails = forgiven.
- The best things in life are never things.
- Setbacks pave the way for comebacks.
- Life is an opportunity to be filled, not a cup to be drained.
- Life is short—pray hard!
Drive by those signs, with an honest heart, and you get both encouragement and conviction. Currently one of those signs is capitalizing on America’s high secular holy day of communal experience: Super Bowl Sunday. The sheer number of people on Super Bowl Sunday who see and hear the same thing at the same time, in the United States alone, is in excess of 100 million, roughly the equivalent of our nation’s total church attendance on Easter Sunday. It is a marketer’s moment to die for…
So this intrepid little church sign declares: Why don’t you stop by MY house before the big game? Jesus. Not a bad reminder. This Sunday we’ll build on Bob’s great study of YAHWEH or Jehovah: I AM; by looking at the first incident of its appearance as a compound-name: Jehovah-Jireh—I AM the God who provides; found in Genesis 22. As soon as this name of God is declared, it is connected to a prophecy: “On the mountain of YAHWEH it will be provided.” We’ll see that this very mountain would later be called Calvary—where the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world was indeed provided. Amen.
LAND UPDATES:
- There is 70.3 acres of land within the survey of the Kelley property.
- The Kelley’s have decided they will not lower their asking price, nor give us a three year term.
- They want $1 million at settlement, which will occur no later than the end of March.
- Legally we could make a case for an amended contract in light of this new, accurate (12% less land) information, but it probably isn’t worth it. We still have all the land we need to build all the buildings we would ever want (we were told we could build over 150,000 square feet—and that is a lot of building) plus room for parking and a ball field area.
- Further, we will pay transfer taxes (approximately $50,000) because the Kelley’s cannot put the land into a Limited Liability Corporation, since they own other for-profit lands.
- An appraisal is being done at the realtor’s, Bob Hilton, suggestion and expense. If it comes in significantly higher than $1 million (I am not hopeful) then we can still work out a tax-deferment gift with the Kelley’s that nets them the same amount, but would save us about $64,000.
- We are actively exploring our interim options on a number of fronts, including the possibility of leaving the shopping center earlier than March 2007 and saving significantly on our current $26,000 a month rent/CAM fees. Our giving and budget have never been stronger except for this excessive rent increase. But God and you have been faithful—keep on! And thanks.
- The newest options include the Damascus High Auditorium (which would make some of us feel like the Israelites in the last stages of the wilderness journey—near but not in the promised land, saying: “Hey, didn’t we camp here before?!”)
- We also have a potential for 6,000 sq. ft. of office/practice/meeting space at very low rent ($5 psf) needing only carpet/paint prep; located right off Interstate 70 near the Frederick Airport. Bryan Chaney also showed me another 18,000 square foot facility we could sub-lease for several years as our total interim space for $8 psf that might also take less build-out. Again, nothing definite but the Dev Team is trying to do their part as we all ask God to do His.
- The Development Team is finalizing a contract with our selected architects (Grimm & Parker) to begin the design process for our phase one building of approximately 40,000-45,000 square feet; giving us room to grow for a good stretch (up to around 1,400 members)—when we would need to begin phase two.
- Next week, under Ken Frost’s direction, the Development Team will interview the final three candidate-companies for a professional project manager on this land/facility-development. Pray for wisdom at those interviews.
- Finally, a reminder: the Development Team is a dedicated/motivated bunch (Craig Mason, Eddie Parra, Bryan Chaney, Janet Ingram, Ken Frost, Kevin Martin, Allen Mitchell, Kay LaBare, Debbie Lawrence and myself) who appreciate input, ideas and questions. So communicate with any of us in person, or by e-mailing devteam@damascus.com or through our trustees at trustees@damascus.com
Someday, when we are on our own land we may have a nice “quotes” sign. When we do, reflecting back on this stage, my choice for one of our first offerings to the passing world will be: Where God guides, God provides. Lead on, Oh King Eternal, and help us to really listen.
In the Lamb,
Richard
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