Filed under: Church
Hello everyone! I am in Tifton, GA this week working youth camp. It is wild and crazy when you have around 400 kids ages 6-8. Yesterday was orientation and getting unpacked. We have 14 kids from our church here. They are all having have a great time at the moment. I can hear them screaming 
.
Today they will get to go to the pool and the inflatables and much more. The service was good last night with the campers filling up the altars seeking God. Keep us in your prayers and ask God to do wonders among our children.
Filed under: Church
I would like to say thank you to everyone who made Pastor Appreciation so very special. I loved the UGA decorations and the gifts not only for me but also for the kids. (A little secret just for my readers….Sarah had already put her things in the UGA purse before I was home from the funeral and then she took it to Walgreens) We do thank everyone for their efforts as well. It has a pretty quick turnaround doing Pastor Appreciation and then having everything ready for the funeral at 3:00. I love you heart.
The afternoon was so sad. We had the funeral for Ramsey Payne and the place was filled like I had never seen it. I was told by the funeral director that the processional was over 6 miles long. Please continue to remember Tanya, Anna Claire, Reggie, Regilyn and Rory and the entire family in your prayers.
I hope to post some this week while I am away at Youth Camp.
Filed under: Church
This has been an exhausting week. There has been so much so go on that I am fried. Here goes some highlights:
* I worked half the day at Youth Camp Monday. I love and believe in Youth Camp.
* We had a Council Meeting on Monday night were we began formulating ideas for the New Life renovation. It is exiting but a little overwhelming.
* Ramsey Payne (Rory’s) brother was in a terrible automobile accident. I have spent a good bit of time with the family at the hospital. They had to remove a portion of his skull and brain. We need everyone to pray hard for God to move in a miraculous way.
* I have met with numerous builders this week about the Church project.
* We are working on the Esther Project already. It is going to be awesome!
*This is newsletter week. I have just barely gotten started.
*My Sister is coming into town on Friday. I am excited to see the Family.
*Pastor Appreciation is this Sunday. I don’t really like the whole thing of singling me out.
There is a quick round up. I am swamped and I know it. Keep me in your prayers.
Filed under: Church
It has been a long weekend! The family and I went over to Brunswick where I officated a wedding. It was cool getting to go back to the ole stompin grounds for a couple of days.
Yesterday was a good service at New Life. We had 194 in attendance and we gave out knives to all of the Fathers in attendance. I preached on “The Power of the Holy Spirit.” All in all a pretty good day.
After service I went home and did nothing . Sarah fixed spaghetti (my request) and then later we had homemade ice cream. We also watched the kids on the slip n slide for at least an hour.
It is so hot here right now! I am glad that I know Jesus as Savior and that I am going to Heaven. I hear that Heaven is climate controlled.
I am off to youth camp this morning to help out for today only. I should be back this evening.
Filed under: Church
I had a meeting yesterday with a church design specialist that got me really excited. He was able to see with a fresh perspective our situation at New Life. He offered up some realistic measures for us to increase seating in our sanctuary.
We are in a situation where I do not think we should consider building until we are debt free. That in itself presents challenges. I feel like we may have an answer now. This process should it work out would be carried out in a 3-stage plan. I feel like it will work and also allow us the ability to hold over 300 in our sanctuary. That would increase our current seating by almost 100. The price for stage one would be about $25,000. I will be taking this to the Church and Pastor’s council on Monday night for discussion and consideration. I covet your prayers for our church as we begin this exciting process. Remember, we are in this together.
Filed under: Devotions
I tell people all the time that we all have a calling and place in the body of Christ. We tend to focus on the upfront positions but without the behind the scenes workers everything would fall apart.
A great example is the human body. We need our legs to walk. A broken foot can cause a lot of frustration. A small muscle that is pulled in the back though can cause major pain and also the inability to do what needs to be done. Little or big causes disruption in our lives.
We all are the body of Christ. There are no big “I’s” and no little “u’s”. Onward together as one body and one Church. I love New Life!
Filed under: Devotions
I fell last night. I mean that I really fell last night. I can’t hardly move this morning because I fell last night. Get the picture
It happened on the softball field as I left the pitcher’s mound to go after a little roller down the first base line. I scooped the ball up on the run and reached out to tag the runner (which I did) and then everything became a blur until I hit the ground. Hard.
While I was falling I did not think about how this would hurt in the morning. I did not think about how everyone would be laughing at me. I did not think about the consequences of my fall. That is exactly how sin is. While you are falling into sin you often times do not think about the ramifications for your actions or even non-actions. I want to remind you that the stop is coming.
The prodigal son had it all. He chose to take his inheritance and left to spend it all in a party lifestyle. The Bible doesn’t reveal an awful lot about the fall but it tells us about the stop. It teaches that he came to himself in a pig pen. If you are reading this and struggling with sin; I pray that you will come to yourself and go back to the cross of Jesus Christ. The fall may not hurt, but it’s the stop that will get you!
Filed under: Devotions
Priorities. We hear a lot about them but rarely do we actually take the time to write them down. It is pretty easy to see what your priorities really are. You can follow how you spend your time and your money and pretty much see what is important to you.
Take a moment to think about what is really important to you. It may cause you to readjust some things in your life.
Filed under: Church
I am back in the blogosphere!
What an awesome day that we experienced at New Life. I must admit that it left me feeling kinda scared about our future. We had 212 in attendance and we literally had no room left at the altars today. There was such an outstanding Spirit that was evident in our midst. I preached hard, real hard. I hit on sanctification hard. You must live holy to recieve the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
I have a lot of questions today and I will probably post them as the week goes on. These are good questions to have. How do we continue to meet the growing demands of New Life? I am all ears…..
Filed under: Personal
I have been in Tifton this week at Campmeeting. The hotel that I was staying at advertised wireless internet but for some reason my room didn’t have it. Oh well.
I came home yesterday for last night’s service. We had a wonderful crowd! There was just a great Spirit of worship there. Awesome!!!
I am getting ready to head back to Tifton in a little bit. Maybe my new hotel will actually have a room with the internet.
