Pastor's Blog

The memorial service for Betty Carol Neal will take place this morning from our auditorium beginning at 11:00AM.  Bro. Kerry will be singing.  Pastor Rodney Coleman and I will be preaching the service.  Pray for the Vice family during this time.

Jason Chesney, age 36, also passed away last week.  I have been asked to preach his funeral service.  That service takes place from the chapel of Serenity Funeral Home in Theodore beginning at 2:00PM.  It will be preceded by two hours of visitation with the family.  Jason used to attend Friendship when he was a young boy.  Pray for the Chesney family.

By the way, I appreciate our bus workers for providing a meal for the Chesney family this past Sunday.  Good ministry!

Visited with Kevin Woods yesterday and he is doing well.  He still has a long way to go in his recovery but he is making progress.  Keep praying.

I attended two basketball games yesterday to watch our RA teams play.  Neither team won (can you say “coaching”?) but the guys played hard.

Lisa tells me that I should have watched the part of the presidential inauguration where the Brooklyn Tabernacle choir sang.  She said they were great.  I think she also said that she thought she saw Pastor Jack Bailey in the crowd but maybe I misunderstood.

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

The arrangements for Betty Carol Neal are as follows:  visitation with the family tonight, 1/21, from 5:30PM until 8:00PM at the Holder-Wells Funeral Home in Moss Point, MS.  The funeral service will take place tomorrow, 1/22, beginning at 11:00AM from the auditorium of our church.  (Please note that the visitation and funeral are in different locations)  Those folks bringing food to feed the family on Tuesday need to contact Bro. Jerry Hovel as to what time to have the food at the church.

What a blessing to see another addition last night as Palmer Lavelle made a public profession of faith after having received Jesus as his personal Savior in VBS last June.  Another person prayed to receive Jesus after the 10:30AM service yesterday.  We give God the glory!

Bro. Robbie was discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon.  Kevin Woods remains hospitalized.

Our three RA basketball teams have games today at various locations around Mobile.

Joe David Bailey was 2 for 2 yesterday in picking the NFL games.  Wow!  He is not ready to pick a winner of the SB but did tell me a team coached by a Harbaugh would most likely win it all.

Speaking of the SB, how about we have a “Super Souper Bowl” fellowship?  Not!  LOL!

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

Around 4:00AM this morning, Betty Carol Neal passed from this life and entered Heaven.  Pray for her family as they walk through this valley.

Visited with Bro. Robbie early this morning and he was of the opinion that he would not be discharged today.  As of late this afternoon, he had not been discharged from the hospital.  Keep praying.

Rita Vice called we while I was officiating the Upward games today and told me that Betty Carol was low.  After the McDonald/Tillman wedding, Lisa and I went to Agricola, MS to visit with Betty Carol.  She knew who I was and thanked me for the prayers of the church.  She seems to be in a lot of pain.  Betty Carol and her family really need our prayers during these days.

Dale & Karla Bosarge left today driving to Texas for the first part of a tour.  They will begin ministering tomorrow in the greater Dallas area.  Pray for them.

The family headed to SEA left Mobile yesterday around 12:00PM and are scheduled to arrive in the morning (Sunday) at 7:00AM our time.  Pray for them as they begin this new phase of their lives.

I assume the first team of 2013 arrived safely in Guatemala although I have not heard anything officially.  (Thinking about firing a few folks – LOL!)  Pray for their ministry this week.

Blessings!

Lisa and I visited with Bro. Robbie yesterday morning.  He seemed to be better but the doctors did not release him from the hospital.  That could possibly happen today but that is not a certainty.  Keep praying for him.

Spoke to Rita Vice yesterday and she Betty Carol had a bad night on Wednesday but was better yesterday.  Rita has gone back to Agricola to be with Betty Carol.  Keep praying for Betty Carol and her family.

Clint McDonald and Erin Tillman will be united in marriage today.  Pray for their wedding ceremony.

Lord willing, I will officiate a few Upward games today and then go officiate the McDonald/Tillman wedding.  I am of the opinion that many (most? all?) marriages need someone to “officiate” after the wedding ceremony instead of the day of – just saying!

Regular schedule tomorrow.  Hope to see many members of the Friendship family in attendance.  Baptismal service tomorrow night and a missions team meeting immediately following that service.

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

Visited with Bro. Robbie early yesterday morning.  He had just gotten a good word from his cardiologist even though they were going to run one more test yesterday.  A lung specialist was going to visit with him yesterday.  Keep praying!

Bro. Kerry had to take his mother, Miss Edith, to the doctor yesterday as she had an episode last Sunday.  They will get the test results later.

Teddy Ray & Rachel along with their family will send D,J, & B to SEA today.  It will be a bitter sweet day for all of them as it is a following of His call but yet a great distance will separate the families for the next few years.  Pray for them.

Alisha Vice returns home next Thursday.  She is excited.  Hope she does not forget to bring Mark too!

We are on a regular schedule this Sunday, 1/20.  There is an important i.e. mandatory meeting for those folks from Friendship participating in either the 6/13 – 20 or July 18 – 25 trips.  Sunday evening church attendance is mandatory as well as the meeting will take place after that service.

A couple of folks contacted me to see if we got any snow yesterday.  Nope!  The folks north of us did.  I did learn that you cannot count on Miss June Bailey’s weather predictions!

Joe David Bailey was 0 for 4 in predicting last weekend’s NFL games.  He asked for the opportunity to redeem himself and I have extended some grace.  He says go with the Ravens and SF.  (Is he really picking against Brady?  Wow!)  He also predicts that Manti’s girlfriend does not exist!

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

Bro. Robbie Howard was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon.  He had an appointment with a different cardiologist and he wants to run some tests to try and determine Bro. Robbie’s problem.  Obviously, Bro. Robbie is a very popular man but this is probably not the time for a lot of visitors.  I would simply suggest that anyone feeling the need to visit him make the visit very brief out of consideration for his health.

We had a good day in our services yesterday.  Really nice crowd in the morning service and a nice crowd in the evening service considering the weather conditions.

The first team of 2013 arrives in Guatemala today.  This marks the beginning of eight or so consecutive weeks of teams using the L.G. Camp, Jr mission house.  God is good!

Is anyone else as confused as I am about the girlfriend situation at ND?  Sounds like something Michael Mason would dream up!

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

Enjoyed a wonderful visit with Betty Carol Neal in Agricola, MS yesterday morning.  She was awake and alert and seemed to be having a good day.  Keep praying for her!  (I did learn that one can never trust directions given by Rita Vice.  If I had followed them, I would have ended up in Olive Branch, MS!)

Also had a good visit with Kevin Woods.  It was my first time to get to “talk” to him.  He is appreciative of our prayer support.

I visited with Bubba & Judy Benefield prior to his nephew’s funeral service yesterday and then Bro. Jerry attended the service.  Pray for the Kiper family.

Mac McGriff sister, Alice, has a small lump in her breast that has been diagnosed as cancer.  She will have a lumpectomy tomorrow.

Keep praying for Carla Kyser, Dawn Baria, Lisa Thompson and all of those battling cancer.  Keep praying for Victoria Collier.  Keep praying for David Gorman (Linda’s son-in-law).

The funeral service for Mayor Pope takes place this morning at 11:00AM from the auditorium of First Baptist.  Pray for R.L.’s family.

We are on a regular schedule today with the morning service and the evening activities.  I hope many members of the Friendship family will join us!

I am still needing the person who gave me the poem this past Sunday to come forward so I can give proper credit.  Thanks!

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

I spoke briefly with Pastor Rodney Coleman yesterday afternoon and he shard that Betty Carol Neal is not doing well physically.  Keep praying for Betty Carol and those giving care to her.

Also, I hope to see Kevin Woods today.

The funeral service for Bubba Benefield’s nephew will take place today at noon from the Midway Methodist Church in Moss Point.  Pray for the Kiper family.

The funeral service for Mayor R.L. Pope will take place tomorrow, 1/16, from 1st Baptist beginning at 11:00AM.  This will be preceded a visitation time with the family beginning at 9:30AM.  Pray for R.L.’s family.

Linda Green’s step-granddaughter, Victoria, is doing very good following her heart transplant surgery.  However, her son-in-law, David, was diagnosed with leukemia yesterday.  He asks for prayer.

Thank you to those who supported the Spiller family yesterday.  The meal looked delicious and I am fairly confident that it was also used to feed some senior adults within the community as you cooked a feast big enough for Cox’s army!  Thank you to those who served the meal as well!  You did great!

Someone handed me a poem following one of the services this past Sunday morning.  I do not remember who it was as I was given several things during that time and was also asked to counsel with someone.  Would the person who gave me that poem please remind me?  Thanks!

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

The word is out – Lisa and I are new set to become grandparents for the fifth time at some point in September.  It is going to be a boy or a girl!  We are excited!

Folks, the well water on this hill must be powerful stuff!  As a precaution, I have ordered Lisa to stop drinking it!