No real changes in any of the situations involving our folks battling health problems.  Miss Vivian is completely off the ventilator as in they have taken the machine out of her room.  She is so ready to get out of that hospital – pray for patience on her behalf!  Keep praying!

Lisa and I will attend the visitation and/or funeral service for Angie Kitchens today.  Pray for that family. 

Paul Leytham e-mailed me yesterday to say that Miss Cristy is flying to Florida today to be with her brother, Juan Jose, who is apparently is in his last days as he battles cancer.  Pray for Juan Jose and the family during this time. 

Raymond Wilkinson’s mother will be having surgery tomorrow as will Susan Hensley who is my friend in North Alabama. 

I am grateful to the folks who have been providing the meals for our Hispanic folks following their Sunday afternoon service.  They seemingly so enjoy this time of food & fellowship.  We have this Sunday, 10/4, covered and we have someone who has volunteered to lead on 10/25.  We could use someone to help that person on 10/25.    Also, I am thinking 10/11 & 10/18 are open too.  If interested, please contact Lisa.

On a much lighter note – I am not a huge pro football fan but I do watch the Sunday night and Monday night games from time to time.  I would be classified as a Colts fan and a Rams fan (that goes back to the Baltimore Colts & Los Angeles Rams).  I am NOT a fan of the Dallas Cowboys!  Liked Tom Landry but not the Cowboys!  So, it pained me to see them win last night!  However, I think the sun will rise this morning!

Jack Bailey has stopped blogging while Jack Ciak has gone to a weekly blog!   

Hope you have a great Tuesday with Jesus.

To me, it is always a good thing to end a Sunday with a baptismal service.  Last night we saw three folks follow the Lord in believer’s baptism and we praise God for giving the increase.  We had a good day!

Our Spanish ministry had a total of 28 folks present but took a numerical hit as one large extended family is relocating to another state.  I have been told by a number of folks that is going to be the “norm” for a ministry such as this.  So, we just press on seeking to minister to those in this area. 

Miss Joyce Bosarge was in our service last night.  Miss Vivian continues to make improvement.  Billy Smith & Lois Kirschenman are rehabbing at home.  Sammy Bowden’s mother, Miss Eunice, took a fall at her church yesterday and suffered some broken bones i.e. nose, sinus cavity area, et cetera.  Rita Vice’s aunt, Marilyn Dukes, is in critical condition in a Dothan, AL hospital.  Raymond Wilkinson’s mother will have surgery this Wednesday.  A life long friend of mine, Susan Hinkle Hensley, will have surgery on Wednesday too.  Betty Taylor’s surgery has been set for Friday, October 9. 

Angie Kitchens, owner of Savannah’s Florist in Grand Bay, passed away last Friday.  Her service is tomorrow.  Word came to me last night that Rayford Dunham passed away yesterday afternoon.  Those arrangements are incomplete.  Lance Harbison worked at Chevron and was killed in a motorcycle accident last week.  His memorial service will take place this afternoon.  Pray for these families.

Bro. Benny McGath has resigned as the director of our children’s church.  Dale Bosarge has been elected to serve as the interim director.   I appreciate the many years Bro. Benny & Miss Julie have given to this ministry and I am grateful that he will still be leading our bus ministry.  Pray as we seek the Lord’s will in this vital area.

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

When the phone in the pastor’s house rings at midnight, one expects the worse.  However, last night was a very welcome exception. 

T. Garrett Wright was calling from New York City as he was going through his mail at 1:00AM and discovered that he had received Hien’s (pronounced Henny’s) passport from Vietnam.  Folks, this is a huge answer to prayer and God has greatly used T. Garrett to make it happen. 

Because Hien was born in Vietnam she had to have a passport from her home country in order to travel internationally i.e. Guatemala.  She has a green card but you can’t travel with that alone.  (When she turns 18 in February we will begin the process of US citizenship for her)

So, when T. Garrett was in Grand Bay earlier this year, he began the process and has literally spent hours in the Embassy and on the phone.  Deidra helped on this end as did Nicole Taylor.  We didn’t have all of our “ducks” in the proverbial row but God showed up and He showed out! 

T. Garrett will place the passport in the mail to us today and, provided Kathy Grimes doesn’t drop the ball, we will have it in hand early next week.  This is a good thing!  It is a God thing! 

So, many thanks to T. Garrett as he is a mover and shaker!  Folks, if you need something done – simply call T. Garrett!

Miss Vivian did not have the feeding tube inserted yesterday but will have that procedure done today.  However, they did do a swallowing test and she did very well with that.  She also was able to stand beside the bed and take a few steps.  God is good! 

Billy Smith is doing great and will be discharged from the hospital this morning. 

I want to remind the members of the Friendship family that we will observe the ordinance of baptism as a part of our evening service this Sunday.

Also on Sunday evening, we will be electing a committee to lead in the renovation of the CAB and will be taking action on a staff position.

I join the parents in New Jersey who are upset that their elementary age children were taught  and then video taped singing songs “praising” the President.  He is not a king!  It is particularly disturbing to me that this took place in a public school and that they took the words from “Jesus Loves The Little Children” and replaced the name of Jesus with the President’s name.  IMO, our country is in a dangerous situation. 

Lisa and the girls will travel to Town Creek this afternoon to attend a baby shower for Titus tomorrow.  They will then attend church in North Alabama on Sunday morning because as Lisa says, “they want to hear some good preaching!”  I assumed she meant Tom but she says Jack.  Good preaching + Jack = an oxymoron.  LOL!  Hopefully, JD will be preaching! 

Deidra will go with Lisa which means I have to babysit Soy!  Joy, joy, joy!  I will have to take him to the Bama game and, worse yet, I will have to feed him! 

Well, I was 100% in my college football predictions last week so I am going to give it another go.  I will go with South Carolina 16  Ole Miss 10. 

Go to church Sunday.  I pray that you will have a great weekend with Jesus!

We had a good Wednesday!  I left Soy & Deidra’s around 10:00PM and those young adults were going strong.  Again, it is a good thing to finish the day with 34 young adults gathered for Bible study. 

By the way, our young adults are doing a “u pick ’em” for seven college football games each week.  The winner for this past weekend – Katelyn Jackson.  She can’t even spell college football yet she got all seven games correct.   Thea Whalen also was perfect in her predictions but she only picked six games.  TJ Vice, Ralph Rimmer, & Chris Taylor got beat by a girl!  What’s up with that? 

Miss Vivian may have a feeding tube inserted today.  As far as I know, all of the other folks are basically the same.  Miss Joyce Bosarge was able to attend the services at her church last night. 

There will be a time of visitation with the family of Ruby Foster this Saturday, 9/26, from 11:00AM until noon.  A memorial service will take place at noon.  The visitation and memorial service will be held in the chapel at Serenity Funeral Home. 

The “Bayou Girl” aka Karla Cooper had Mayor Stan Wright of Bayou La Batre send me a personal invitation and ticket to The Taste of the Bayou this Saturday night.  How thoughtful!  However, I have plans to be eating “pork” in T’town! 

I accidentally found this article earlier this morning:

Nude, Gun-Wielding 91-Year-Old Man Helps Make Arrest of Home Intruder

Monday, September 21, 2009

LAKE WORTH, Fla. —  Authorities say a 91-year-old man in South Florida jumped out out of bed naked and held an intruder breaking into his house at gunpoint until deputies arrived.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said Robert E. Thompson was awoken Saturday morning after a burglar climbed his backyard fence and was met by his charging dog, Rettt, a Rottweiler and Doberman Pinscher mix. Thompson heard the commotion, grabbed his .38-caliber revolver and phoned police without ever getting dressed.

Deputies say Thompson fired a warning shot at 26-year-old Jose Pasqual after the intruder started to come toward him. Pasqual was booked in the Palm Beach County Jail and did not immediately have an attorney.

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

It is a little after 4:00AM and I am about to head to the hospital to pray with Billy Smith before his knee replacement surgery.  Miss Vivian Ladnier is “scheduled” to have the stent placed in her esophagus at 12:30PM today but they procedure may be delayed again.  Carla Kyser had her first radiation treatment yesterday.  Whitney Bryant took her radioactive pill yesterday and she can’t be around folks until tomorrow.  Miss Joyce Bosarge continues to take her radiation treatments.  Lois Kirschenman continues to recover at home from her surgery.  Angie Kitchen, owner of Savannah’s Florist, is in ICU in one of the local hospitals with pneumonia.  Pray for all of these folks.

Ruby Foster is a charter member of our church and she is seemingly near passing from this life.  Lisa & I visited her last night and she is in a comatose  state.  Pray for her!

Mark Vice got into a fight with a waverunner and a wave this past Friday in Missouri.  The waverunner and wave won to the tune of 26 stitches in two places on Mark’s head plus a fractured nose.  I think he sees his doctor in New Orleans this Friday. 

I need to meet with our deacons at 6:30PM tomorrow night, 9/23.  We will meet in my office. 

We received another $720 toward our pastors’ conference scholarships this past Sunday.  Thank you to all who have given thus far, to those who will give, and to those who are praying!

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

Miss Vivian Ladnier is scheduled to have a stent placed in her esophagus today.  David Bosarge’s mother, Maxine Rogers, will be put to sleep today as they do a dye test on her kidneys.  Miss Joyce Bosarge continues to receive radiation treatments.  Carla Kyser is set to begin her next series of radiation on Monday.  Betty McMann’s brother-in-law is also receiving radiation treatments.  I learned yesterday that Trudy from Serenity Funeral Home has cancer and is receiving radiation too. 

I really appreciate the members of the Friendship family who attend the Pugh and/or Emmons visitation and funeral service.  I also commend those who prepared food for the Emmons family.  Thank you for ministering during a time of need. 

I wanted to give our students, Bro. Chris, & Bro. Dale their props as they had 115 students present in Bible study Wednesday night.  Wow! 

I have been asked how much we have received toward the scholarships for the pastors’ conference.  As of this writing (12:25AM on 9/18), we have in hand or pledges a total of $6,030.  We need $10,000 to house & feed the 250 folks and another $5,000 to provide conference materials.  I share only because I have been asked by a number of folks. 

Friday facts – even with my arm in the condition it is in, I had to mow yesterday afternoon as we have had so much rain and the grass has been growing very rapidly.  Charles asked (demanded would be more accurate) that his yard be first.  It was painful (the arm) but I managed to get it done without Soy’s help – he didn’t even offer to help!  Mind you that I mowed (with a push mower) his yard last Friday afternoon.  Why?  Only for Deidra’s sake! 

Football predictions – I will only make one pick this week.  I say Miami 33  Georgia Tech 17. 

I pray that you will have a great weekend.  Lisa, the girls, & I have plans to travel to T-town and sit in the rain to watch Bama play.  I hope UF hangs 75 on UT.  Lord willing, we will see you in church Sunday morning at 8:00AM!

Carla Felps Kyser had another chemo treatment yesterday and will begin a series of ten radiation treatments on Monday.  Maxine Rogers, David Bosarge’s mother, is back in the hospital.  Miss Vivian’s situation is basically the same.  Mrs. Reed may go home from the hospital today. 

The funeral service for Mr. Pugh will take place this morning at 10:00AM.  The visitation for the Emmons family will take place from noon until the service at 2:00PM.  All of this will take place at Serenity Funeral Home.

Troy Brock was involved in a serious automobile accident in Texas this past Saturday morning.  His truck was totaled but he is okay physically.  The driver of the other vehicle involved was killed and a second passenger, at last report, was in critical condition. 

We have been asked to pray for the Quinn Henderson family.  He is the  6 year old boy who was killed in an autombile accident this past Sunday night as he was on the way to Moffett Road Baptist Church with his mother & brother.  Pray for Pastor Terry Cutrer as he ministers to the family during this time.  Pray for all of the needs that have been mentioned in this entry.

I will attend the Pugh service and will preach the Emmons service today. 

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

The obits in today’s paper show that Serenity Funeral Home will be the location for Mr. Clifford Pugh’s service & for Richard Emmons’ service.  Mr. Pugh’s will take place from the funeral home chapel at 10:00AM tomorrow, 9/17, and Richard’s at 2:00PM.  The visitation with the Pugh family takes place tonight from 5:00 – 8:00PM and with the Emmons family tomorrow from noon until the 2:00PM service time.  Pray for these families.

No new news on the folks hospitalized or those battling cancer.  Vera Bosarge did call yesterday to say that she will have a test new week to try and find the source of the problems with her back.  She also asked us to continue to pray for her neighbors. 

We are set for a regular Wednesday with the 10:00AM service followed by the evening activites beginning at 6:00PM.  I pray that many members of the Friendship family will join us for these services.

GRACE Ministries has really been blessed.  Yesterday, we received checks from Tennessee & Texas with folks sponsoring pastors for the upcoming conference.  What a blessing!  Thank you to all of those who have given financially thus far.  Thank you to those who are bathing this conference in prayer.  God is good!

Several folks commented yesterday asking about my arm injury – it’s a little late!  I cannot bear to relive the events of that traumatic experience and to post a picture of my arm as it is now would be too graphic.  I would simply say that it appears I am much tougher than Stan Gordon!  Are you surprised by that? 

I pray that you will have a great Wednesday with Jesus.  Go to church!

Miss Vivian continues to remain about the same.  Lois Kirschenman came home yesterday afternoon (I assume).  Miss Joyce Bosarge had her first radiation treatment yesterday.  Coach Easton’s (BHS) mother-in-law, Christine Reed, is in the hospital but his father-in-law came home from the hospital Sunday.  Carla Felps Kyser will have another chemotherapy treatment followed by radiation.  Bobby Stork’s brother, Donald, still needs our prayers as he recovers from his surgery of last week.  One of our visitation teams went to the Emmons house last night but I haven’t heard the results of that visit. 

Word came to me last night that Melissa Brown’s grandfather, Clifford Pugh, passed away.  I haven’t spoken to Melissa but do ask that you pray for this family.  I will post the arrangements on this site once we know them. 

Miss Lucine Bryant’s daughter, Barbara, called yesterday asking us to pray for some friends involved in an automobile accident while going to church Sunday morning.  The mother and her two sons were injured.  It is my understanding that the oldest son, 6, was being removed from life support late yesterday afternoon.  I think that I know the family name but am going to wait until I am positive before posting it.  However, please pray for this family.

There were 13 folks present for our visitation ministry last night.  I appreciate the folks who are willing to go!  That would include the folks who go on Saturday mornings too.

I am pretty bummed that I spoke to my sister-in-law, Sue, and my niece, Jamie, via the phone yesterday and neither of them asked about my arm injury.  The folks attending visitation last night asked to see it and they were “amazed” that I was up and about! 

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