Pastor's Blog

Sara Nell Moulds will be having knee replacement surgery early this morning so please keep her in your prayers as the Lord brings her to mind.  Rachel Long remains hospitalized and in need of your prayers also.  I haven’t heard a final word from Blake Stokes but the initial reports out of Texas seem to be good so keep praying. 

There are a good number of movies making their debut during this season and one those is “The Golden Compass” which targets children.  Time and space do not permit me to go into the details but I strongly urge parents to not allow their children to see this movie.  The rating is PG-13 but that is not the problem.  Basically, this is an anti-God/anti-Christian movie as the author refuses to use the word God or church.  It goes much, much deeper than that so I strongly encourage you to boycott this one! 

We are on a regular Wednesday schedule.  I expect that the attendance in our morning prayer service will be down somewhat with the seniors being gone to Nashville.  We will continue our study in Romans as we are in the 12th chapter. 

The church calendar has been updated and I ask you to look at it regarding our schedule during this month.  There are a couple of changes the last two Sundays and the last Wednesday of 2007 so please stay up to date on these changes!  I do ask that you make plans to join us for our Christmas Eve service from 5:00 – 6:00PM as that is always such a special service. 

I forgot to mention that I brought back a limited supply of coffee from the farm in Guatemala.  This will go on a first come, first served basis so see me if you are interested. 

Speaking of Guatemala, our next trip is in February ’08 and will be a building/medical trip.  We have a few openings on this trip so, if interested, please contact me immediately.

Also, we are looking into the possibility of a ski trip to Colorado in Jan/Feb.  If interested, give me a call or send me an e-mail. 

Hope you have a great Wednesday with Jesus! 

Once again, the reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated!  Sorry about not posting yesterday – I really don’t have an excuse! 

It is a day late but I do want to publicly wish our daughter, Daphne, a happy 24th birthday!  Wow, Lisa is getting old!

Life has been fairly busy since my return from Guatemala on Friday night.  I spent the morning on Saturday preparing for, and then preaching, the funeral service for Betty McDonald.  I appreciate Belvin and family waiting until Saturday to have the service so that I could be a part of it.  Please continue to pray for Belvin and his family. 

The Lord blessed and we had a good day on Sunday featuring a GRACE meal for our senior adults.  The day was capped by our children’s choir sharing their musical in the evening service.  Kathy Wadkins and crew did a great job! 

Bro. Kerry and a group of our senior adults left yesterday morning for a trip to Nashville (I have no idea why someone would actually want to go TO Tennessee!) to see the Christmas decorations/lights, et cetera.  They are scheduled to return home on Thursday.

Bro. Benny is preparing to open our newest Upward season this Saturday.  Pray for him and all involved in this ministry. 

Sara Nell Moulds will have knee replacement surgery tomorrow morning.  Rachel Long, 11, daughter of Jeff & Carol Long, is in a local hospital with a staph infection.  Jeff is in Africa with is job so this is a tough time on this family.  Blake Stokes, 15, grandson of Pastor & Mrs. Alton Stokes and Pastor & Mrs. Jiggs Ramsey, is at the M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston for an examination/evaluation.  Carla Kyser continues to recover at home from her surgery of last week.  Pray for these folks!

I won’t go into a lot of detail but suffice it to say that I am grateful that Hugo Chavez of Venezuela suffered a defeat in Sunday’s constitutional reforms vote.  A win would have allowed him to basically remain in power for life but now, as it stands, he cannot run for the office of president again in 2012.  This election has ramifications on several other Latin American countries which could have included Guatemala with the newly elected president set to take office in January. 

Our senior high students will have a game night this Friday, 12/7, from 7:00PM until 10:00PM.  This is a great time of food, fun, and fellowship so y’all come! 

Members of the Friendship family are asked to join me in praying for Carla Felps Kyser as she is scheduled to have surgery tomorrow, 11/27.  This is in hopes of eradicating the cancer that she has been battling for the past several years.  Thank you in advance for your prayers! 

Please click on the GRACE blog to read the first update from this GRACE trip.  Thanks!  I will be posting on that site daily and may post here if there is anything that needs to be shared with the Friendship family. 

“O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree” – the words of that song were in my mind as I set up the Christmas tree in the L.G. Camp, Jr. Mission House last night as I waited on our first group to arrive.  Eugene & Louise placed the ornaments on the tree.  If only we would have had a television and a tape of “Miracle on 34th Street!” 

Yesterday was a productive day as I was able to spend some time with our staff here and then go shopping for groceries and other supplies.  Last night I had supper in the home of Pancho & Rita Arriola – the food was great and the fellowship was even greater. 

Eight folks from Canada and four from Alabama arrived at the mission house around 11:45PM last night.  They were pretty tired so once the luggage was unloaded everyone found their bed fairly quickly. 

Today, the C8 (eight from Canada) have gone to hike a volcano.  The Alabama folks will hang around the house awaiting the arrival of the LA/MI/TX group.  They should arrive at the mission house around 3:00PM.  We then go to Pollo Campero for supper and just hang out with the actual work portion of the trip beginning tomorrow morning. 

Today will also provide an opportunity for the Bama folks to work on the arts and crafts for the VBS we will host.  Kim French sent some of the cutest stick on flowers, et cetera and the group has already designed some neat crafts using these things.  Thanks Kim for providing these materials!  (I didn’t even know that Kim knew we were doing a VBS – ain’t God good!) 

Our internet service has been spotty.  As a matter of fact, it was down all day yesterday and last night.  It only came up around 8:00AM so I decided to make hay while it is day!  Please keep praying for us and keep up with us via the GRACE blog. 

I hope you have a great Friday with Jesus.

Wow, what a Wednesday!  I left the house at 4:45AM and drove to the Mobile airport to catch my 6:40AM flight to Houston where I would leave at 9:40AM for Guatemala.  Long story short – Jeff Long and I joined a plane full of other folks sitting on the plane from about 6:20AM until around 8:30AM when they had us leave the plane.  Mechanical problems.  I knew I had missed my connection so I had them reschedule me for the 4:25PM flight so I could make the 7:10PM connection.  The weather was not great but we made it to IAH without a problem.  We boarded the flight to Guatemala on time (around 7:00PM) and sat on that plane for two hours due to lightning and then finally left IAH at 9:30PM arriving in Guatemala at 12:30AM today.  I went to the rental car agency and got a vehicle and arrived at the mission house at 2:00AM.  I was unpacking and the power went out but, obviously, it came back on. 

I do not like sitting on a plane.  I would rather stand in a long, slow line at Wal Mart as to just sit on a plane parked just outside the gate or on the tarmac.  I had between four and five hours of that yesterday but, somewhat amazingly, I did okay.  Thank God for cell phones and text messaging! 

I will have a busy day today getting ready for the team that arrives tonight and tomorrow afternoon.  There are groceries to be purchased, meat to be ordered, building sites to be checked out, et cetera so that will keep me going.  Please pray for our team members as they fly in today and tomorrow that they will have on time schedules. 

Jeff Long, send me an e-mail or leave a comment here to let me know if you made it to Africa.  I should have called. 

Tom or Shari – I need Wayne DeYoung & Jon Duimstra’s driver’s license number and the expiration date for it and their passport.  Please e-mail that info to me today. 

It is 3:00AM so I am going to bed for a few hours.  I wanted our early risers to know what was happening.  Thank you for your prayers.  I hope you have a great Thanksgiving Day!

As I wrote yesterday, the doctor had hopes of getting Louis Reyer home by Thanksgiving Day.  He did because he was dealing with Louis Reyer who had hopes of getting home in the next hour.  He was discharged yesterday morning and probably was in that patch of greens before nightfall unless Miss Carmen put her foot down really hard!  Thank God that Bro. Louis is better and is home. 

It really has nothing to do with Alabama football but what a real tragedy to read that Siran Stacy, former Bama player, was involved in an automobile accident that took the life of his wife and four of his children.  The driver of the other vehicle was killed also.  Those families are deserving of our prayer support. 

It is great to have friends!  Yesterday, Jean Miersma & Ree Millard from the Kalamazoo, MI area took time out of their busy schedules to drive to Paw Paw, MI to visit my Uncle Bill & Aunt Rosita.  They had a nice visit and I am very grateful to these sweet ladies for being so kind.  Ree had visited Uncle Bill during his hospital stay following his surgery.  Thanks Ree & Jean! 

Today is an unusual Wednesday in that we don’t have any services, class, Bible study, et cetera.  However, it is even more unusual for me as I am leaving in a few hours (6:40AM) for Guatemala.  This is our annual week after Thanksgiving trip and I am going a day early to attend a banquet at the seminary tonight and to get things ready i.e. buy food (we will have Baptists among us) for the team.  Twelve of our team members will arrive in Guatemala tomorrow night and the rest will come in on Friday afternoon.  The construction portion of the trip will begin Saturday morning.  Pray for this team as they travel. 

So, I am missing Thanksgiving Day with my family and I thank them for being so understanding and supportive.  I am missing the day after Thanksgiving shopping – hooray!  I am missing the Alabama versus Auburn football game which has really got some folks to thinking!  (Folks, three letters – ULM!)  The SEC forced the Iron Bowl to be moved back to this weekend and, for now, it presents a conflict for me.  I am sure that once Commissioner Mike Slive is made aware of this situation he will immediately consult me as to how to correct it!     

I will most likely be abandoning this blog and moving exclusively to the GRACE blog each day.  I hope you will follow us as we do ministry in the name of Jesus.  Those blogs will be daily unless our internet service goes down. 

Pray for me and know that I am praying for you.  I hope you will have a wonderful Wednesday!  Time to shut this computer down and pack it for the trip! 

Have you ever been asleep at 3:00AM and dream that you hear the burgular alarm sounding at the church building next door only to awaken to realize that it isn’t a dream?  Such was my life this morning – the church alarm, followed by the phone call from the security company to apologize for waking me up, and me telling them to not send the cops as I would go check it out myself and call the cops, if needed.  (Lisa thinks I am crazy for going over there by myself – she needs to take another look at my guns!)  O well, false alarm and I needed to get up anyway as I have a busy Tuesday ahead of me. 

The Friendship family did well in attending the community Thanksgiving service last night.  Bro. Kerry and the choir did a nice job of sharing the Word in song and Pastor Daniel Randall brought a timely message from the Word.  While Friendship had a good representation, the overall attendance was not that great.  However, it was a good time of fellowship with folks from other churches and, once again, Michelle Rolls and the hostess committee did a wonderful job of hosting the fellowship.  Thank you to each person who brought a cake or pie for the fellowship.  Friendship folks are the finest!

I need to remind members of the Friendship family that we will not have any services, classes, et cetera tomorrow.  We will resume with a regular schedule this Sunday, 11/25.

I read an article earlier this morning that reminded me of some families that will be gathering this Thanksgiving Day minus some family members.  The story told of one lady whose husband died when the bridge collapsed in Minnesota and of another family whose daughter was killed at Virginia Tech.  I thought about folks I know personally who will be spending their first Thanksgiving Day without that special loved one.  We certainly need to pray for those folks but we also need to be reminded that life is a precious gift and certainly cannot be taken for granted as we have no promise of tomorrow.  So, be thankful for your family members and friends and tell them that you love them! 

Louis Reyer is improving and is looking to come home before Thanksgiving Day.  Thankfully, we don’t have anyone else in the hospital at this time. 

I don’t know if you notice or not but there have been several comments added to recent posts.  My friend, T. Garrett Wright, living in NYC with his lovely wife, Johna, has been a frequent contributor.  Clint Landry got into the mix one day and Mark Mast has been a contributor in days gone by.  It at least lets me know that someone out there besides my mama is reading these things!  We even have an Arkansas fan (Bret Hart) living in Memphis who reads the entries – isn’t it amazing that an Arkansas fan can read! 

I pray that you will have a Tuesday filled with the joy of the Lord! 

Thanksgiving week – my prayer is that each of us will spend some time this week counting our blessings and expressing our thanks to God those blessings! 

Louis Reyer was admitted to the hospital Saturday night.  Judy Ziglar, Jodi Johnson’s mother, remains at home battling cancer.  Pat Sessions passed away early yesterday morning and her memorial service will take place today at 2:00PM at 1st Baptist GB.  My aunt, Alice Gettig, is in Cleveland, Ohio today due to a serious heart condition related to blockage from a previous surgery.  Please pray for these folks. 

The Friendship family will host the annual community Thanksgiving service tonight beginning at 6:45PM.  Pastor Daniel Randall, GB Methodist, will bring the message.  We will also host the fellowship following the service and our folks are asked to bring cakes for that fellowship.  Remember, we will not have any services/classes this Wednesday, 11/21.  We will be on a regular schedule this Sunday, 11/25. 

Gene Stallings once said that games against opponents like ULM aren’t considered “big” unless you lose one of those games.  Well, Bama lost a “big” game this past Saturday.  I need to remind my friends i.e. Ross Genzink, Bret Hart, et cetera that these were not just the ULM Hawks but the “Warhawks” which makes a world of difference!   

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

Robbed in cyberspace!  Early yesterday morning I wrote a fairly lengthy entry only to have it disappear into cyberspace.  T. Garrett Wright from New York City had told me about thieves stealing furniture in cyberspace so I think I have been hit too!  Actually, I think that I got knocked offline about the time I hit publish and it all worked together to lose my entry – it was good stuff too! 

Thank you to each person who helped with/attended the surprise birthday party for Miss Kittie Camp Wednesday night after our service.  She was surprised and expressed her appreciation yesterday for the fellowship, kind words, gifts, et cetera.  Her birthday was yesterday which also happened to be the birthday of Homer Perkins, Jessica & Jamie Hall (sweet 16), and my friend in Michigan, Betsy Phillips (21)!  Happy birthday to all you guys! 

Speaking of birthdays, today is the 48th birthday of John R. “Buddy” Jones!  We will take a loose change offering for him following the evening service this Sunday.  It is so good to see Buddy being Buddy again!  Happy birthday Buddy!

The annual Thanksgiving meal for the senior adults of our community went very well again.  They said this was the 33rd consecutive year for this event.  Thanks to Pastor Benny Still for providing the entertainment and inspiration.  Thanks to each person who helped in any way to make the day a success. 

Last night, Lisa and I attended the funeral visitation for Pearl Lafferty.  Miss Pearl is Danny’s mother and she passed away last Friday in Colorado.  The visitation took place in Waynesboro, MS and the funeral will be today in Millry, AL with Danny preaching his mother’s service.  Pray for Danny and his family during this time.  

Lisa, Dana, Gina, and I are in Tuscaloosa today getting ready for the big game this weekend.  We came early to get a good parking space!  Actually, we are about to leave to spend several hours in Moundville as a bonus for the girls and their school work.  Deidra and Soy will join us late this afternoon.  Soy, the girls, and I will attend the “big” game tomorrow while Lisa and Deidra shop!  

We will host the community Thanksgiving service Monday night beginning at 6:45PM.  Michelle Rolls, church hostess, asked me to remind the readers of this blog who attend Friendship to please bring a cake for the fellowship that will follow the service.  For those readers i.e. Bret Hart, Ross Genzink, Jayme DeYoung, T. Garrett, Jamie Glenn, etc. who don’t attend Friendship, just send cash to me in small, unmarked bills!  

T. Garrett, if you will e-mail me your t-shirt size (your wife’s too) today and your mailing address then I will send you a shirt fresh off the press! 

Hope you have a great Friday with Jesus.  Live for Him!