Investments today demand more personal attention than most anytime in recent years. People are keeping close tabs on their investments.

You have invested in the John Ed Mathison Leadership Ministries. You have made investments in prayer and financial resources. I want to give you a snapshot of your investment during the first six months of 2010.

Through your prayers God has opened some huge doors for this ministry. Those doors continue to open. I am learning everyday to pray more expectantly and be ready to walk through doors where I did not even know that doors existed.

Your financial investment is extremely important. One of the best things we have done this year was to be approved by the ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability). This is one of the most stringent groups of which a non-profit religious organization can join. It took one whole year for us to complete all the necessary documents, track record, etc. There are seven different areas in which a non-profit group must comply. Our ministry was accepted in the first half of this year.

To show you the importance of ECFA, many people in groups will not give to a ministry unless it has been approved by the ECFA. When I served as Senior Pastor at Frazer, if a request came for financial giving and the organization was a part of ECFA, we knew that we did not have to spend any time “investigating” the financial accountability of that organization. Very seldom would groups who were not a part of ECFA be accepted for mission giving.

ECFA has an excellent website which is listed as www.ECFA.org.

My goal is to provide more and more training for pastors who can not afford registration, fees, expenses, etc. During the first six months of this year I have been able to participate in training for over 2,000 pastors who had to pay nothing for the training event.

These funds come from your financial contributions. They also come from honorariums where I speak to other groups. All honorariums go to the John Ed Mathison Leadership Ministries.

Here is a brief summary of how your investments of prayer and finances have been used.

           – Pastors’ Conferences conducted:

             Pastors’ Conferences in Buenos Aires and Cordoba, Argentina

             Congress on Evangelism – New Orleans, Louisiana

             Billion Soul Interdenominational Conference – Orlando, Florida

             Guntersville, Alabama District Ministers Conference

             Elizabeth City North Carolina District Ministers

             Montgomery, Alabama District Ministers

             St. Louis, Missouri District Ministers

             Danville, Virginia District Ministers

             60 Pastors in Alabama –West Florida and North Alabama Conferences invited to participate July 2010 – June 2011, in “next level           ministry” training experience.

           – Preached 41 times.

           – Ministered in 23 different cities – 10 different states.

           – Preached at the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference Memorial Service.

           – Preached at Renewal Group Banquet at Northern Illinois Conference in Chicago.

           – Had daily radio devotional on WLWI.

           – Wrote a weekly blog.

           – Conducted 4 funerals and 5 weddings.

           – Spoke at the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce meeting and River Region Hotel Hospitality meeting.

           – Served as Chairman of the Investment Committee for the United Methodist Publishing House.

           – Served as Chairman of the Southeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy.

           – Served on the Board of Directors of the Confessing Movement.

           – Had new book Transformed Living in Tough Times available in January.

           – Working on new book Transformed Living in Tough Times – 60 Devotionals.

I have received so many letters and comments from pastors about the difference that the John Ed Mathison Leadership Ministries is making in their ministry. God is blessing. I ask you to please pray for discernment in where He leads for more effective ministry. My challenge is to pick the areas in which I can spend my time most effectively.

We have a great Board of Directors who meet regularly and give accountability and direction to the ministry. Here is our Board. You can go to our website www.johnedmathison.org to see a full resume of each of our Directors.

        Mr. Mike Henig – President, Henig Furs

        Mr. Mike Hutson – Retired President, Burford Equipment Company

        Dr. Gaeton Lorino – Partner, Montgomery Pulmonary Consultants

        Ms. Lucinda Samford Cannon – President, Cannon Ventures

        Mr. Harold Faulkner – Retired President, Faulkner Insurance Agency

        Mr. Craig Coblentz – President, Equipment & Parts Specialty Company

        Dr. Stephen Davidson – Partner, Montgomery Cancer Center

        Mr. Wilbur Hufham – Retired President, Regions Bank

        Mr. Ken Love – Certified Public Accountant &  Chair, Audit Committee, Federal Land Bank

I wanted to give you a 6 months report on your investments and I hope you feel they are paying good dividends.