Pastor's Blog

We had another good day in our services/Bible studies/classes yesterday and we give God the glory for His blessings.  Our Wednesday morning numbers seem to increase week by week and I appreciate those folks being faithful to attend that service. 

Bobby Broome is having a procedure done today and Sammy Bowden begins a treatment on his face & arms related to skin cancer.  Tina Wilkinson didn’t get any results from her tests yesterday.  Stephanie Guidry will have another spot surgically removed on 3/16 and Max Peacock will have a procedure done on 3/18. 

Miss Joyce Bosarge was in our service last night and it was so good to see her.  She had a good day yesterday. 

Did I mention that this Sunday, 3/8, is time change Sunday?  Spring forward one hour before going to bed which means we effectively lose one hour of sleep this Saturday night.  Don’t forget!

The “Taste of Friendship” takes place this Saturday, 3/7, from 5:00PM – 8:00PM in the CAB.  I hope you will support our students in this fundraiser for their summer camp. 

The members of our missions committee are asked to meet in my office this Sunday afternoon, 3/8, at 4:00PM. 

Our evening service will feature the music ministry of Sam & Labreeska Atkinson.  Labreeska is the niece of Miss Vinnie Brewer.  I encourage the members of the Friendship family to be present for this special service. 

Faith Academy calls.  I hope you will have a great Thursday with Jesus!   

I owe a huge shout out to Tony Hacker & Carl Bradley for their work all day yesterday in installing the remainder of the tile in the foyer and then for coming back last night to grout it.  They did an awesome job!  As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, there were a number of other folks who helped in this process and I deeply appreciate their efforts too.  Honestly, it wasn’t a two day job but Tony & Carl are as “slow as Christmas!”  They do good work but they are really slow!  If you need to hire them, do so by the job and not by the hour!  Plus, they want breakfast, lunch, & supper!  I think I personally would have come out better financially to have hired this job out! 

I received word via an e-mail yesterday morning that Dan Ash has entered Heaven.  Pray for his wife, children, and the rest of the family as they deal with this loss.  Dan was an employee at Chevron. 

Our meeting last night was attended by thirteen folks and, in my opinion, it was a productive meeting with great dialogue and input.  I was pretty impressed that the group basically agreed unanmiously on the first two priorities.  We will continue this process as we seek to follow God’s leadership regarding our physical plant. 

Today is a regular Wednesday with the 10:00AM service and then the various Bible studies, choirs, classes, and services beginning at 6:00, 7:00, & 8:00PM.  I hope each member of the Friendship family will join us for one of these! 

I need to start reminding you now to “spring forward” this Saturday night meaning we lose an hour of sleep.  This is my least favorite Sunday of the calendar year!  Don’t forward to set your clocks forward one hour before going to bed! 

Also, the Taste of Friendship takes place this Saturday night, 3/7, from 5:00 – 8:00PM.  You need to get your ticket tonight!  This is a time of great food and greater fellowship!

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

Bro. Jerry sent me an e-mail late last night to share that two folks were led to the Lord during our FAITH ministry.  Praise the Lord!  They live in the Theodore area so we may see about connecting them to a church in that area in order for them to be discipled.  I don’t know which of our teams had this privilege but I do know Who does the saving and His name is Jesus! 

I attended the funeral service for Miss Lurline Webb yesterday afternoon.  It was a short & sweet service.  Thanks to those from the Friendship family who attended that service.  By the way, I learned that Miss Webb was the longest tenured resident of the Grand Bay Convalescent Home (13 1/2 years) and also their oldest resident at 95 years of age. 

I owe a big “shout out” to the folks involved in the removal/installation of the tile in the foyer of the auditorium yesterday/last night.  That process continues today and we are hopeful this solves basically what has been an unexplainable situation.  A big “thank you” to each person who has helped and the Lord has taken note of your acts of service! 

We will meet tonight at 6:30PM to begin discussing the needs of our physical plant.  This is an open meeting for members of the Friendship family.  Plans call for us to be out no later than 8:00PM. 

Faith calls.  Hope you have an awesome Tuesday with Jesus! 

Once again, the Lord blessed and we had a wonderful day in worship.  What a joy to see three more folks follow Jesus in believer’s baptism.  That is always a good way to conclude a worship service! 

I would ask you to pray for the Lurline Webb family as Miss Lurline passed away this weekend.  The visitation with the family will take place today from 1:00PM until the 3:00PM service time.  The visitation and service will take place at Serenity Funeral Home in Theodore. 

Also, Benny Dolbare had a niece and great nephew who lost their lives in a plane crash in Louisiana this past weekend.  Pray for the Dolbare family.

Drew Crawley, son of Michael & Alisia Crawley, had an emergency surgery this past Friday night and is now at home recovering.  Jeff Camp was discharged from UAB on Friday afternoon.  Pray for these guys.

Miss Kathleen Richards, Stephanie Guidry, & Tina Wilkinson all have appointments with doctors this week to further evaluate reports they have recently received from tests.  Pray for them as they have these consultations. 

Shea Childress, Joyce Bosarge, & Carla Felps Kyser all continue to battle their respective cancer.  Dan Ash, a co-worker of our guys at Chevron, has terminal cancer and is in a New Orleans hospital.  Pray for these folks as they battle this disease. 

Rex Looney, Minister of Worship at Crosspointe Church in Madison, AL, had some issues with his heart last week.  I believe they placed three stents in his heart and he is at home.  Pray for Rex! 

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

Jeff Camp, son of Miss Kittie Camp, was taken from Montgomery to Birmingham yesterday because of some complications from his surgery of a few weeks ago.  He was admitted to the hospital and will stay until the find the cause of his problem.  Pray for Jeff & his family. 

Our dear friends from Holland, MI, Ross & Kathy Genzink are grandparents!  Their oldest daughter, Jenna, gave birth yesterday to a girl named Elliott (probably spelled incorrectly by me!) and she checked in two and a half weeks early but weighing 7 pounds & 4 ounces.  Congratulations to Jeremy & Jenna Kreuze on this new addition to their family! 

I have always looked at Ross & Kathy as parent figures in my life and I guess now they will move to being grandparent figures!  Wow, they are getting old in a hurry! 

The family of Lillian Brinkman will host an 80th birthday party for her tomorrow, 2/28, from 2:00 – 4:00PM in the fellowship hall.  You are invited and the request is no gifts! 

The past twenty plus years have seen Morris Bryant and me travel to the AHSAA state finals basketball tournament.  The past dozen or so years it has taken place in Birmingham.  We traveled to B’ham yesterday in time to catch the 4:00, 6:00, & 8:00PM championship games.  My source for passes dried up this year but Craig Moss came through in flying colors – he is an important man in Hoover, AL!  So, the next two days will see us watch basketball from 9:00AM until about 10:00PM – awesome! 

Tony & Dawn Hacker have been actively helping fill the open spaces on the June 18 – 25 GRACE trip.  I think we still have some openings so please contact me if you are interested in joining us.  We will be joined on that trip by Pastor Abel Garcia and about 11 others from his church.  Pastor Doug Chappelle and his daughter, Callie, will also be joining us. 

We will have a brief meeting this Sunday evening, 3/1, immediately following the service for those folks going on the July 23 – 30 GRACE trip.  This is important so please attend. 

We will be observing the ordinance of baptism in our 10:30AM & 6:00PM services this Sunday. 

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

The Lord blessed and we had a great time of fellowship on the trip to Colorado.  He gave us traveling mercies on the way home and we thank Him for His goodness to us.  I was very thankful to see almost 90% of our church member ski retreat participants in our services/classes/Bible studies last night.

Miss Kathleen Richards has been diagnosed with a possible health problem that will receive further examination next week.  Please pray for her as she awaits her next doctor’s appointment.  Of course, Miss Kathleen is our oldest church member at 96 years of age. 

Mr. Charles Taylor, Diane Cordelle & Keith Brown’s maternal grandfather, remains on life support in a local hospital.  Pray for Mr. Taylor and the family during this difficult time. 

Scott Older’s step-father, James Parker, is in a Tennessee hospital after having some physical problems earlier this week as he & Sandra were there on vacation.  Pray for James and his family. 

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

This entry is coming from Winter Park, Colorado where thirty of us have been since Saturday on a ski retreat.  We have had a good time thus far with one day of beautiful sunshine, warm temperatures, and great skiing followed by today with snow, snow, and more snow.  The skiing was good in spite of the continual snowfall. 

We have been joined by Spencer Cole from Danville, AL and he led our musical worship in a service last night.  I brought a message from I Corinthians 12.  It wasn’t a regular church service and it wasn’t designed to be one but it was good to spend time together in worship and the Word. 

I haven’t gotten an update from home so I am assuming that “no news is good news!” 

Thanks for reading this entry and I will post a regular entry Wednesday night. 

Please pray for Melinda Eckert as the surgeons close the hole in her heart this morning.  This is something that she has had since birth but it was only recently discovered. 

Jack Sims had knee replacment surgery in the early part of the week and is doing good in his recovery.  I expect that he will probably be discharged from the hospital today but that is purely speculation.  Pray for Jack in his recovery.

Mark Mast e-mailed me this morning to say that it is 25 degrees below zero at their house this morning – wow! 

We have an opening or two on the June 18 – 25 GRACE trip.  If interested, contact me personally. 

I hope you have a great Friday with Jesus. 

I will give Steve Savarese and the other powers that be at the AHSAA credit for disqualifying the two schools involved in the fight at the basketball game this past Tuesday.  Again, what a sad commentary of our society when these kind of things happen at a high school basketball game. 

The Lord blessed and we had a good Wednesday in our various Bible studies/worship services.  I always enjoy ending the day with our young adults and we had a good number of them present last night.  They are almost always willing to share in the conversation and I feel it is a productive time spiritually. 

It is my understanding that Henry Bosarge (Tina Sprinkle’s uncle) is a little better although he remains in an ICU.  Otherwise, there are no significant changes in the folks we have been listing on this site.  Melinda Eckert is scheduled to have surgery in the morning so pray for her. 

We had a couple of folks sign up last night for the Nov ’09 GRACE trip.  We could still take a few more folks on that trip.  Also, we had two folks drop from our June 18 – 25, 2009 trip so we now have those openings.  I need to hear from you quickly for that one.  We have reservations to fly out of Mobile in June which isn’t always true during the summer months.  Give me a holler, if interested. 

The members of “Lottie’s Legion @ Friendship” are doing a good job of leading us in giving to our 2009 offering.  We are at about the 8% mark of our goal.  We have never been there before at this point in February.  Thanks to all who have given already and those who will give in the coming months! 

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

The funeral service for Jimmy Crawley was one that exalted Jesus.  Thanks to all of those from the Friendship family who attended either the visitation or the service.  Keep praying for the Crawley family.

I believe that Alivia Seab went home from the hospital yesterday.  Praise the Lord!  I know Adam & Amy are glad to have their second child home.  I still don’t know if Bill Teasley went home (come on Vera!) but will find out today. 

Carla Felps Kyser had another treatment yesterday afternoon and is scheduled for more scans next week.  Please keep praying for Carla, Shea Childress & Joyce Bosarge. 

Melinda Eckert will have surgery this Friday, 2/20, to repair the hole in her heart.  Please pray for her as she prepares for this operation. 

I had a guest yesterday – Miss Kathleen Richards stopped by the church office for a visit.  What’s the big deal?  Well, Miss Kathleen is our oldest church member at 96 (97 on 5/3) years old.  She recently had surgery but is doing well.  What a sweet lady! 

Did you see the fighting between Carver-Montgomery and Valley high schools in the state basketball regional tournament?  The game was called off and now the officials are trying to determine a winner.  That’s easy – disqualify both of them!  Our society has gone crazy when it comes to sporting events and it begins at the T-ball level!  There is such a win at all cost mentality.  What a shame!  Do you really wonder why A-Rod and the others use banned substances?  Thank God for Upward!

Today is a normal Wednesday at Friendship with our morning service at 10:00AM and then the evening activities beginning at 6:00PM.  I pray that many members of the Friendship family will join us for these services/Bible studies. 

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