Pastor's Blog

Blessed weekend.  Our attendance was down from the previous Sunday but I think the “flu” bug had a lot to to with that.  Pray for those folks from the Friendship family who are battling the flu and other sicknesses. 

The Lord blessed and the attendance in our Spanish service tripled from the previous week as we had 9 in attendance.  PTL!  We are having a meal following the service this coming Sunday. 

Wes Bates is now the Minister to Students at 1st Baptist of Argyle, TX having received a 100% call yesterday.  Pray for Wes & Rebekah as they move and begin this ministry while he continues his seminary studies. 

Brian Whitmore had surgery yesterday morning, did great, and will hopefully go home today.  Gerald Poiroux sees a neurosurgeon today.  Marie Schjott is having a procedure done today involving a blood clot.  Kathleen Henderson remains hospitalized as far as I know.  Joyce Hacker will have back surgery this Thursday.  Of course, we are continually praying for those battling cancer.  Pray without ceasing!

I pray that you will have a great Monday with Jesus.

It is very unusual for me to post on a Sunday but I wanted to share three prayer concerns with you.  First, Wes Bates is preaching in view of a call today at a church in Texas.  If called and he accepts, this will mean a move for Wes & Rebekah.  Pray for wisdom on their behalf and for the will of God to be done! 

Second, Joey Switzer’s grandmother, Miss Kathleen Henderson,  is in the hospital again.  The problem continues to be her lungs.  Pray for Miss Kathleen. 

Third, Sam Schjott is an active member of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Irvington.  His grandmother, Marie, took a fall and has been in the hospital.  Pray for her. 

I haven’t heard from Jerry & Gloria regarding Brian’s situation but he continues to need our prayers too. 

Please join me in praying that God will raise up the necessary scholarships for our Central American pastors who will attend the conference in October.  I am trusting that He will as He is able.  Is He speaking to your heart? 

Speaking of the conference, it pleases me to announce that Pastor Robbie Howard will now be one of our leaders.  I am so excited about him seeing what the Lord has done/is doing in Guatemala.  He will be an asset to the team God is assembling.  I say “assembling” as there may be another announcement or two forthcoming. 

Pray for our Spanish service this afternoon.  I am believing God for greater numbers today.  He is able!

Where’s Soy?  Cut “all” of my yard “all” by myself yesterday!  To top the day off, Charles called and convinced me that I needed to come mow his yard too – muttered something about his will!  Wow!

IMO, Friendship folks are the best folks in the world!  They evidenced that to me again yesterday!  

Props go to Samuel Acan, Greg Boutwell, David & Vera Bosarge, Davy Bosarge, Sammy Bowden, Melissa Brown, Karla Cooper, Kim French, Warren & Cecil Guidry, Tony Hacker, Jerry Hovel, Tommy Johnson, Kerry Kelley, Carl Ray Moulds, Sid Moulds, Reb & Brett Nevin, Chris Taylor, Soy Taylor, Lisa Turrentine, & Jerry Whitmore as they showed up yesterday morning at the Sav-A-Life location to “finish” the demolition work.  Did they work until noon?  No, they were “finished” by 10:30AM – wow!  What a great group of selfless folks!  I was very proud (in a good way) to say that these folks are part of the Friendship family as they finished what the group on Tuesday night had started!  Thank both groups for “giving to the Lord!”   (I pray that I didn’t inadvertently leave anyone off that list!) 

Last night, a group of 50+ folks from the Friendship family, along with a few from Mississippi, graciously gathered and gave Samuel one of the nicest surprises of his life!  He was blown away even to the point of tears – literally!  They blessed him with their attendance and financially!  (He made off like a bandit! LOL!)  He told me when we got home that it was an emotional time for him!  Thank you to Lisa for coordinating that event and a special “thank you” to each person who helped in any way i.e. brought food, decorated, cleaned up, made the cake (Diane Bryant),  attended the party, and gave Samuel a gift.  I think his 57th birthday may be the one he will always remember!  I don’t remember everyone who showed up so I won’t attempt to list names but God knows and He knows that this pastor is grateful! 

I didn’t need yesterday to convince me of how great the Friendship family members are as  I could list many other things that members of the Friendship family have done/do and have a list of names longer than the internet can hold!  The point is that I am blessed to serve as the pastor of such a wonderful group of people!  Wow!  Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

Brian Whitmore may have surgery today or tomorrow.  Joyce Hacker meets with a doctor today to discuss a surgical procedure to help relieve her pain.  Gerald Poiroux has an appointment with a nuerosurgeon on Monday.  Pray for these folks!

We need scholarships for the pastors conference in Guatemala.  Please prayerfully consider giving to help these men and their lives be blessed and encouraged in the Lord.

I realize that pastors such as Dr. Jack Bailey could “boast” about their folks too.  However, he has to pastor Mandy Bowling & Hope Garner and I don’t – there’s the difference! 

Speaking of Dr. Jack “Pelosi” Bailey, he says that his blog readership is now up to 8.  Mine is hovering around 12.  We need at least three new readers! 

It is the weekend.  Will Soy help cut my grass again?  (Anybody planning on seeing Haley’s Comet? – there’s your answer!)  Go to church! 

I pray that your weekend will be a blessed one with Jesus.

Jerry & Gloria’s son, Brian, remains hospitalized in NC and should have surgery either tomorrow or Saturday.  It is simply a matter of his blood count getting to the level the doctors want it to be. 

It appears that about 18 or so folks from Friendship will gather at the Sav-A-Life location today to continue the demolition work.  I am so grateful to these men & women for this effort.  I will give them their props later.  We have others who would gladly join us but can’t due to work & school schedules. 

Remember, today is Samuel Acan’s 57th birthday and we are going to celebrate tonight with a “surprise” birthday party at 6:30PM in the fellowship hall.  Hope to see you there! 

Hope you have a great Thursday with Jesus!

They say “no news is good news” and I hope that applies to the folks from, and associated with, the Friendship family in regards to sicknesses.  I have no updates today.

Soy & Samuel have spent the past couple of days in the Memphis, TN area.  If you check out “The Adventures with Samuel” on Soy’s Facebook then you will see they are having a good time.  I appreciate Bret, Donald, Tom, Pastor Danny, Pastor Ryan, and all the others who hosted Samuel – I wish I could have joined them at Corky’s!  Also, thanks to Curtis & Myrna “from Smyrna” for being gracious hosts to Samuel.

I mentioned Samuel’s schedule yesterday.  Two dates have now been spoken for – Teddy Ray & Rachel are hosting him for dinner this Sunday and Terry Stephan is hosting him for supper/church next Wednesday, 8/26. 

I gotta give some more props – Mitchel Fox, Carl Ray Moulds, Will Reynolds, Ralph Rimmer III, Tony Tripp, & TJ Vice gave of their time & talents last night to work at the new Sav-A-Life location doing demolition work.  Wow, those guys can tear some stuff up in a hurry!  Tony is da man! 

I am now asking for all available men & women to join us this Thursday morning from 8:30/9:00AM until noon doing the same thing.  I am going to “suggest” that our other three full time staff members join us too plus Soy & Samuel.  My hope is for at least 20 folks!  If you can join us, please let me know either this morning or tonight.  Here’s the kicker – Lisa & I will treat all participants to breakfast at Dick Russells at 7:30AM.  Folks need to bring hammers, crow bars, flat shovels, wheelbarrows, screw drivers, saws all, et cetera.  We need folks who can simply pick up sheetrock and throw it in a dumpster.  This is a great way to show your pro-life position! 

One of our Pentecostal friends commented on yesterday’s blog – please!  Honestly, Soy cut maybe 1/96 of our yard.  He was at it all of about 3 minutes.  I was just trying to be kind! 

Dr. Tico tells me that they fully expect 250 participants for this year’s pastors’ conference.  We need scholarships and this year we will be accepting outside donations.  A full scholarship is $60.  Give as the Lord leads.  Contact me if you need more information. 

This entry has been too long.  We are on a regular schedule today.  Don’t forget Samuel’s surprise party tomorrow night at 6:30PM. 

I pray that you will have a great Wednesday with Jesus.

Brian Whitmore, son of Jerry & Gloria Whitmore, was admitted to the hospital over the weekend.  He has an infection that has to be cleared up before they can remove his gall bladder.  So, it appears they will do surgery this Friday.  Pray for him. 

The Lord blessed us with a good weekend.  What a joy to baptize Kyle Douglas, Polly Kearns, & Lindsey Vice as a part of our evening worship service.  What a joy to see our second year of the AWANA ministry begin – thanks to those who are helping in this ministry. 

The Sav-A-Life ministry in Mobile is opening in a new location.  Terry Stephan and Dauphin Way Baptist are doing the demolition work on the interior of the existing building.  Tonight, 8/18, I will be taking a team of guys to help with this project.  We plan on being there at 5:00PM and working until 8:00PM.  If you want to join us and need more info, give me a call at 445-5416.  If I don’t answer, let me a message and I will call you back. 

Samuel Acan’s 57th birthday is this Thursday, 8/20.  We are going to have a “surprise” party for him in the fellowship hall from 6:30 – 8:00PM.  No gifts required but a card basket will be available.  All members of the Friendship family are invited to join us for this celebration. 

Speaking of Samuel, he is presently in Tennessee as I wanted him to see the good (Alabama), the not so good (Michigan), and the bad (Tennessee) of the United States.  He returns to GB tomorrow.  Some of you have asked about hosting Samuel in your home for a meal.  This Friday, 8/21, through Wednesday, 8/26, are available.  First come, first served. 

Gotta give props where props are due – Tony & Dawn Hacker have been so very kind to take us fishing during the snapper season.  We had a great day this past Friday in spite of some rough waters in the morning.  (To be honest, Les Hacker & I carried the others but that is another story in itself) 

Soy, yes Soy, came over late Saturday afternoon and helped me finish mowing our yard.  I was tired and his help was a welcome relief.  Does he want something? 

I pray that you will have a great Tuesday with Jesus!

The weekend was good.  I appreciate Bro. Jerry preaching in my absence yesterday morning.  It was good to be back in the pulpit last night.  Thanks to those who were faithful! 

Brian & Leah’s wedding was great!  Yes, we had to have the ceremony inside but, in my opinion, that was a good thing due to the wet ground, heat, and mosquitoes.  I know Leah wanted an outside wedding but it was good to be inside.  They left today for their honeymoon in Mexico.

It was so good to see many friends and to spend some time in fellowship with them.  Lisa & I met with a couple of leaders from a church that will most likely be leading a team to Guatemala next summer.  This will be a new team and they will utilize a date in August.  God continues to bless GRACE Ministries. 

It is my understanding that Anna Carol & Brenda’s cousin passed away in north Mississippi.  Pray for that family. 

School begins today so we settle back into a “normal” routine.  We are set for a regular week.  My prayer is that the members of the Friendship family will be faithful in all areas. 

I congratulate Pastor Jack & the members of Danville Baptist for their successful block party this past Saturday evening.  That was their 9th one and it seems they had a blessed time. 

My computer tells me this is the 700th post on the pastor’s blog.  Wow!

It is my prayer that you will have a great Monday with Jesus.

Praise the Lord!  Carla Kyser got a good report from the doctor yesterday.  He is the e-mail her mother, Marisa, sent to me:

The visitation for the James Merritt family will take place this Thursday night, 8/6, from 5:00 – 8:00PM with the funeral service taking place on Friday morning, 8/7, at 10:00AM.  The visitation and service will be held from the auditorium of our church.  Burial will take place in the Oddfellows Cemetery.

I have awaken early to ask you to join me in praying for the SS teacher training taking place today and for the fiesta for our Spanish speaking friends tonight at 6:00PM. 

I am praying that a good number (all?) of our SS workers will attend the two hours or so set aside for their department.  We need to do a better job within our SS and the beginning of a new church is a great time to start!  I appreciate Bro. Jerry putting all of this together and I pray that it will be a success. 

Folks have asked how many people do we expect at the fiesta tonight.  Who knows?  I am just praying that those who attend will be loved by us and will come back tomorrow for our first service.  God knows and we trust Him while doing our part in praying & inviting. 

It is my prayer that each of us will be in our rightful place tomorrow as we begin a new church year.  Lord willing, I will.  How about you?