BIG Money

Last night at our prayer meeting I found out that there is a group of ladies who are specifically praying for God to give us 9 million dollars for the next stage of ministry here in Four Corners.   I was amazed at the specificity of the prayer and its simplicity.    I remember the days of the $25,000 pyramid, and Wheel of Fortune's cry of "Big Money Big Money!"   One's idea of big money I guess changes with time and now I can clearly see God blessing our church with $9,000,000 and not blinking an eye.  As I was driving earlier this morning I began thinking about the faith of those ladies, and pondered where and more specifically how God will answer that prayer.  I truly believe that money does not grow on trees, but that God uses people to finance His work in our community.

What is amazing is that while we were not watching, God has already begun to answer that prayer.  to date, God's people have given almost $950,000 to this community through Cornerstone Baptist Church.  By January, that number will top 1 million dollars of ministry invested into this community!  I think that is stinkin awesome!!!  It is amazing to just pause and reflect on the goodness of God, and the faithfulness of His people.  Meeting in rented facilities, it may appear to some that Cornerstone is some minor player in church world, but if the last 6 years are any indication, the people of Cornerstone believe in giving of themselves for not only changing our community, but the world.  By the way,  every investor will tell you, the first million is the most difficult.  May we all stay faithful in our giving and in the use of those funds for the effective spread of the gospel around the world.

Disney Closes Nightclubs

The Orlando Sentinel has an article today announcing that Disney will close six clubs in Pleasure Island.  As a parent and a pastor in "West Disney" I could not be happier.  I have always wondered why the clubs existed smack in the middle of Downtown Disney and we would often have to choose where to go either to the Lego side, as my kids called it, or the Disney Quest side.  Rumors still float about the future of Disney Quest, but I applaud Disney for cleaning up its act by getting out of the club biz.  My friend Mark often reminds me that our goal is that one day Orlando becomes better known for Jesus than for Mickey Mouse, and thanks to Mickey, we are one step closer to letting all that "other stuff" stay in Las Vegas.

Staples & Best Buy Come to Four Corners

Today Posner will celebrate the Grand Opening of the Best Buy Store. I plan on going there at least once today to look at the same stuff that I used to drive 45 minutes to look at. In some Pinocchio way, I feel like Four corners is becoming a "real" town.

Trunk or Treat

Today we delivered 3,000+ invitations to Trunk or Treat event. It is our hope that the children of Four Corners will have a safe and fun place to do their trick or treating. Let me ask you to pray for us as we prepare for this great event.

1. Pray for good weather. Tropical Storm Noel is threatening.
2. Pray for good turn out. We want to adequately serve everyone who attends. Pray for consistent turn out throughout the evening.
3. Pray for future opportunities. This event is just one in an overall determination for our church to serve the families of our community. Pray that the relationships that are established on Wednesday will continue for years to come.

We are asking all of our volunteers to be in place by 5:45 p.m. and be ready to distribute their candy by 6:00 p.m. For our guests all parking will be in the parking lot to the immediate left, and there will be attendants to help you.

Posner takes the lead

The Posner development is fast approaching full throttle and it is encouraging to dream of the possibility of driving 5 minutes to Target instead of the 35 we do now. Also a second building, perhaps the Best Buy is almost closed in and just this weekend a sign for a new Staples went up. Sue King and I are ecstatic about that, because office supplies are hard to come by around here, and it will be nice not to have to drive to Lakeland or Clermont to buy paper! The Orlando Sentinel also has a good article about the future development of Four Corners for those of you who need to stay up to date with development. You can find it here.

The Present/Future of Four Corners

Last night the Four Corners Area Council met to discuss the future of our area. Here is the Orlando Sentinel article.

Hidden Mickey Pumpkin

Hey cast members, have any of you been to Epcot's secret garden? Here is a picture of a Mickey Mouse Shaped pumpkin that they grow and the link to their website. Answer me this, is it over by the landfill on Hartzog / Western Way?

Developer Relaeses Posner Anchors

Amy is thrilled that the Posner Center at I-4 and US 27 will be anchored by a Super Target. Other Anchors include, Books-A-Million, JC Penny, and Ross. I am excited to have a Staples come in as we still have to drive 30+ minutes for office supplies. Usually we wait until we have $50 worth and get Office Depot to deliver for free. You can find the information here.

Four Corners Gator Cook-Off

Several have asked why we chose not to set up a booth at this year's Four Corners Gator Cook-Off. I will mention it here, as an insight to who we are, but also as a bit of an editorial on the event. First, I must admit that we did not participate last year.(2006) This was due to the fact that we did not know about the event until it was too late to put anything together. At that point we made plans to be involved in this year's event, and were excited to see it announced several weeks in advance in the Reporter. However some things had changed, and significantly affected our decision on involvement in the event.

Primarily, (Soap Box ALERT) They moved the "Four Corners" event into the heart of Touristville, by having it at Formosa Gardens, just between Animal Kingdom and the old Splendid China. A great place for events, an area we all visit, but definitely not Four Corners. This was an obvious attempt by the organizers to increase revenues and attendance. As a local group, I am thankful for our tourists, but if I wanted to meet crowds of out of towners, I could do that anywhere. The Gator cook-off was billed as a community event, but it was moved outside the community and designed for people outside the community.

Secondarily, I was uncomfortable as a parent with the strong focus on alcohol. The event was originally scheduled to be at Four Corners Elementary School in 2006, but moved to Champion's Gate when the organizers were informed that alcohol would not be permitted. This year, they come back with a "Beer Garden" I don't know what gets planted in a beer garden, but I know the weeds that can grow there. I do not want my kids to be around much drinking. I do take them to ball games, and maybe that makes me a bit of a hypocrite, but it seemed that the beer garden was one of the attractions for the event. For me? Not so much.

I read in this morning's paper that they had about 1,000 people show up. a good amount I guess, but I would venture to bet that they were hoping for more. The two things that I found a bit interesting: First, is that for the photo, they took a picture of the Realtor playing the ball toss at his own booth. Why? Probably because no one else was there to be pictured. Did they not have pictures of any local families to include? Second, there were only 5 participants in the gator cook-off. Only 5 individuals were in the running. That means that if I took raw gator meat, I would have come in sixth place. No wonder the reporter failed to find many who were enjoying the gator meat.

In conclusion, I truly love the idea of the cook-off and think that it can be a success that our community really rallies behind. However, they must, in my opinion come home. It must be focused on the community, not the industry. They must reach out to local churches, and organizations, in addition to businesses to really bring it home. Next year, if there is a next year( I hope there is), and if they are in Four Corners, I am going to cook up some gator meat with my special recipe and win one for the home team!

New Park in Four Corners

Polk County is in the process of purchasing 81 acres just about 1 mile South of US 192 along 27 for a new park. We have been going for so long without a park that we will not know what to do with ourselves. I almost feel like Pinocchio when he discovered he was no longer made from wood. "I feel like a real town!" It will have access to Lake Davenport so boating and fishing may be an option. My hope is that it will also include some ball fields and maybe even a rec center. Way to go Polk! Now let's get parking... or whatever you call it.

New School in Four Corners

Lake County is building a new elementary school which will be 3 miles north of US 192 in the Sawgrass Development. As there is a great need for more schools, more everything, now there seems to be a little strife between counties over the 150 seats that Lake county owns the rights to at Four Corners Charter. The Orlando Sentinel has a story about it here. I get a little bit defensive of "Our School" {Four Corners Charter School is where Cornerstone holds its weekly gatherings} because their revenue is based on the number of students they have in desks. It is not right for Lake County to sit on 150 chairs at $7,000 a piece based on the fact that they may need them at some point down the road, but unless they are willing to fork over the $1,050,000.00 in lost revenue, those chairs should be made available to Polk County students. All said and done, I am sure that things will work out fine, but these are the struggles of Building Life Together here in Four Corners. Like it or not, we are one community in four counties and we rely on each other's cooperation to make it work.