Pastor's Blog

Tim Knighten will be having a scan done this afternoon.  He will immediately be able to sit down with the doctor to discuss what the medical folks see on the scan.  Join me in praying for Tim.  Let’s pray that whatever they saw previously will be gone.  Completely gone!

Tim’s mother-in-law, Jo Nell Barnes, has been diagnosed with a malignancy.  I think I remember correctly saying that her daughter, Peggy, told me they will do a procedure on June 10.  Pray for Jo Nell.  She is a sweetheart!

Our good friend in Montgomery, Decker Terry, got a good report from his surgery and subsequent lab work.  He “may” have to have some radiation a bit later but he is doing well and giving God the glory.

A huge shout out to Dylan & Elizabeth Westbrook as, on very short notice, they took the children during the Bible study hour last night.  Thank you Dylan & Elizabeth!

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  (Psalm 46:1)

Please continue to pray for Stella Brinkman and her family.

Our worship service schedule for this Sunday, 5/24, will be as follows:  8:00AM Senior Adults in auditorium, others welcome to view in the Preschool Building or CAB; 9:15AM – Sunday School with adults in auditorium, students in Youth Building and grade school children in CAB.  We will not offer SS classes for our preschoolers this Sunday as we are getting the building ready – sorry; 10:30AM worship for everyone; 6:00PM worship for everyone in the CAB.

Our 8:00AM service will be live streamed.  All three worship services will be available on the radio for those vehicles on our campus.

The plan is to basically offer everything beginning on Sunday morning, May 31.  We will have protocol in place for those entering the Preschool Building.

We had a really good day in our services yesterday.  I am thankful to those who attended.

Lisa and I continue to receive sympathy cards and we are most thankful.  We are truly blessed to be surrounded by such a wonderful church family.  Thank you!

I am going to take a vacation day today for two reasons.  First, I way behind in my yard work and my garden.  These two things will be good therapy for me.  Second, I have struggled emotionally with my dad’s passing and just need some time.  If you have a need then contact Bro. Jerry or Bro. Abel as they will be in the office.

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

We are going to have a meeting tonight immediately following our service to discuss our preschool and children’s departments opening.  This meeting is for our directors and any parents of children in these age groups who want to give input and gather information.  Obviously, those attending the meeting need to be in the service beforehand.  Pass the word!

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  (Psalm 46:1)

I apologize for there not being an entry yesterday.  Honestly, it was not until late yesterday afternoon that I realized I had not written an entry.  In my mind I had but I guess our twelve readers have a hard time reading my mind!  Sorry for the oversight!

How about some good news?  Myrtle Bowden left me a voice mail yesterday saying that she had gotten the results back from her latest tests and she has been declared “cancer free!”  Can you say “hallelujah!  Praise the Lord!”  Myrtle is giving God all of the glory and we join her in doing so.

Stella Brinkman’s situation continues to be dire.  She remains on a vent and is seemingly totally dependent on it.  She has shown very little, if any, responsiveness.  The family will most likely have some tough decisions to make in the days ahead.  Pray for Stella and her family.

I do not have an update on Mary Jackson but “assume” she is home.  Regardless, keep praying for Mary.

Regular schedule on our campus today with a service at 10:00AM and another one at 6:30PM.  Our students will meet in the CAB at 6:30PM.  My hope is to have our children back in class on Wednesday nights very, very soon.  Parents, please bring your children with you into the Bible study in the auditorium tonight.  Let’s turn the clock back many years by doing this.  I promise to keep the service as short as possible.  Young adults, teach your children the importance of attending church.  It is important!

I plan to announce some soon to be held meetings that will help us decide how we are going to transition back into Sunday School, extended care, nursery, et cetera.  Pray for wisdom on behalf of all making these decisions.

This weekend is a holiday weekend.  Many folks have been off work so much lately that I hope we will see a good number of folks remain in town and attending our services.  I will announce the service schedule tomorrow.

I am very grateful for the many calls, cards and electronic communications I have received since the passing of my dad.  They have come from near and far and I say “thank you” to each person who has reached out to my family and me.

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

Happy birthday to our son-in-law, Brad Hutto.  I hope his day is everything he wishes for it to be.  Lisa and I appreciate and love Brad.  He is a great guy!

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  (Psalm 46:1)

Keep praying for Stella Brinkman.

Linda Rogers is now battling COVID-19.  Pray for her.

Bro. Abel tells me that the services at Friendship yesterday went well.  He seemed to think that the evening service in the CAB was perhaps the best idea.  I do not have a hard count on the number who attended the service as we had some folks listening in their vehicles that did not get counted.  I do know that we were over two hundred in attendance which is definitely not our best effort.

I continue to be concerned about our young families missing the services but I do realize that our not having nursery, childcare and children’s church is a hindrance to those folks.  We are working on it.  I am wide open to any suggestions or helps.

I watched our 8:00AM service online yesterday.  I then attended a men’s Sunday School class at 9:30AM and then the drive in service at 10:30AM.  These things took place at Danville Baptist Church in Danville, Alabama where Bro. Joe David Bailey is the pastor.  I enjoyed my time with these fine folks.  I truly appreciate their partnership with GRACE Ministries and SLAM in Guatemala.  They are very faithful supporters in every sense of the word.

We spent from noon until around 3:15PM with our family at Eddie & Sue’s place.  Yes, it was a bittersweet time for me just knowing that dad was not there and that he will never be present for another of our family gatherings here on this earth.  Death stings!  I had a tough time emotionally leaving Rocky Ford to drive back to Grand Bay.  However, I found His grace sufficient!  Always has been, is, and always will be.  Thank you Jesus!

I have now moved from sympathy to empathy for those who have lost their earthly father.  Someone made this statement to me yesterday – “It will become real next week” to which I replied “It has already become real to me!”  No doubt.  I know what Stacey Dyess & Eddie Albritton have gone through this weekend.

Our church office is open today from 8:00AM until 4:00PM.

Our Wednesday schedule this week is normal as far as times are concerned – 10:00AM & 6:30PM.  Hope to have a good number of folks attend these services.

A huge shout out to Grant Tillman for installing an irrigation system for my garden over the weekend.  This is going to simplify my life when to comes to my garden.  I so appreciate Grant doing this for me!

According to the weather forecast, I will not need an irrigation system for the next few days.  Eighty percent chance of rain today.  I like the rain!

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

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  (Psalm 46:1)

I do not have any updates on the folks for whom we have been praying for in past days.  I simply ask that you continue to pray without ceasing.  God knows.

We will have in person worship services tomorrow at 8:00AM, 9:15AM, 10:30AM & 6:00PM.  Check our earlier entries for the specific details.  Bro. Jerry Hovel, Bro. Abel Garcia and Evangelist Dale Bosarge will be the messengers during those services.  Pray for these men and pray for the services.

I was blown away yesterday when Rick Bradley and Tim & Peggy Knighten showed up for dad’s celebration of life service.  What a very nice surprise!  They drove up and back in the same day which is a lot of driving.  Only crazy folks do stuff like that!

The surprises kept coming as Pastor Roy Crouch and his wife, Rachel, showed up having driven from Ellisville, Mississippi.  Rachel is a maternal first cousin.  It was very nice to see them.

Then Josh & Mandi Fortner from Millbrook, Alabama walked in.  Mandi & Lisa are best friends through State Farm Insurance so that was a huge blessing to Lisa and me just to see them.

I was not as surprised but was very pleased when Ross & Kathy Genzink from Holland, Michigan showed up.  They were heading back to Michigan after the service.  How amazing is that!

Morris & Diane Bryant and Tony Gettig were present for the visitation Friday night and then attended the service yesterday too.  Heartwarming to me.

It made me realize afresh and anew how blessed I am.  The Friendship family has been super to me during this time and I am very grateful.  The Danville Baptist family did an excellent job of ministering to the Turrentine family before and after the service.  Thank you Pastor Joe David and Danville Baptist Church!

Pastors Joe David Bailey, Roy Crouch and Jack Bailey all did wonderful in sharing during the service and/or at the graveside.  Brad Hutto was his usual great self singing the two specials.  Catfish was great with the FB live stuff.  I am told that there were eighteen hundred engagements on FB.  Not sure what all that means but they say it is good.  I do know that it was viewed from the US, El Salvador, Guatemala and Spain.  There may have been viewings from other countries but those are the ones I am aware of as I write this entry.

My brother, Eddie, did a very nice job of sharing from his heart during the service.  I will be forever indebted to Eddie and his wife, Sue, for their sacrificial care given to dad and mama during these past couple of years.  I commend Melissa and Freddie too but Eddie & Sue went above and beyond.  Thank you to Eddie, Sue, Melissa & Freddie for a job well done.

What can I say about my mama and the faithful helpmate she has been to dad for the past sixty three and one half years?  She has been nothing short of amazing.  She has had her moments since dad passed but she will be ok.  “Granny” is dearly loved by so many folks in this community.  Everyone seems to know Granny.  Please keep praying for my mama as she adjusts to life without dad.  She is going to face some lonely days.

Thank you Friendship family for allowing me to miss the services at home today in order to be with my mama and family.  We four siblings have gotten much done over the past two days in the way of legal stuff.  I am pleased to say that there has not been one cross word spoken, we have acted like mature adults and have kept what is best for mama at the forefront.  None of us have been the least bit worried about stuff.  Refreshing!

I am going to worship with Pastor Joe David Bailey and the folks at Danville Baptist today.  They are major supporters of GRACE Ministries and I am honored to be able to worship with them.

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

The decision was made yesterday to put the celebration of life service on FB live today.  Now, that means nothing to me as I am clueless.  However, I am told that it will be on Danville Baptist’s FB page.  Special thanks to Fish for making this happen.

Almost forgot, the service will begin at 2:00PM Alabama time.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  (Psalm 46:1)

Eddie Albritton sent me a message yesterday sharing what a wonderful job Bro. Abel did with the celebration of life service for his dad.  He also expressed profound appreciation for the food that was provided saying it was great and sufficient.  Good stuff!

It is possible that Miss Mary Jackson will be discharged from the hospital today.  I know she is ready to be home.  Pray for Miss Mary.

Schedule on our campus for tomorrow, 5/17: 8:00AM – senior adults only in the auditorium.  Others wishing to attend at this hour must watch/listen from either the preschool building or the CAB.  Bro. Jerry Hovel preaching.  Live stream.  On radio.

9:15AM – high school graduate recognition service.  Bro. Abel Garcia preaching.  Live stream.  On radio.

10:30AM – regular service.  Everyone invited.  On radio.

6:00PM – regular service in CAB.  Everyone invited.  Dale Bosarge preaching.  On radio.

The visitation went well last night.  I am very grateful to Morris & Diane Bryant for driving up from Grand Bay to be here.  Great friends.  Thank you Morris & Diane.

I was completely surprised when John & Laura Williams walked into the parlor.  What a nice act of kindness on their part.  Thank you John & Laura.

My first cousin, Tony Gettig, drove down from Michigan to attend the visitation and will be in the service tomorrow.  I was not totally surprised by this move as that is who Tony is.  Thank you, Tony!

My mama’s youngest sibling, Pam, and her husband, Danny, and one of their granddaughters drove over from Florence, Alabama to attend the visitation.  Pam is a sweetheart!  Thank you Danny, Pam & Emily.

Pray for the service today at 2:00PM.

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

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  (Psalm 46:1)

This entry may seem a bit selfish so I will apologize upfront.  Selfish because it will basically focus on what the Turrentine family is going through right now.

I do ask that you pray for the Dyess family and the Albritton family today as they will both have celebration of life services for their respective fathers.  Stacey & family will gather at the graveside in Mississippi at 11:00AM today.  Eddie & family will gather in our auditorium at 3:00PM.  That will be preceded by one hour of visitation.  Pray for Stacey, Eddie and their respective families.

If you are helping feed the Albritton family today, please have your food on the church campus no later than 3:00PM today.  Thank you.

Keep praying for Stella Brinkman.

Lisa and I had a whirlwind of a day yesterday.  We left Grand Bay at 7:15AM and arrived at my parent’s house at 12:15PM.  I spent a little time with family before mama, my three siblings and I left to take care of some business and then we went to the funeral home to make the arrangements.  We then came back and the four siblings sat down and discussed dad’s will among other things.    Lisa and I then left my parent’s house just before 6:00PM and arrived back in Grand Bay at 11:00PM.

So, why did we not just take the necessary clothes and such to stay for the entire time?  Fair question!  My plan was to go up and back on Thursday.  Upon learning of dad’s passing the thought was we would have a visitation on Saturday night and a service on Sunday afternoon.  We would drive home on Thursday night, I would preach Eddie’s Albritton’s service and then we would head North again.  Not so fast my friend!  Over an hour into our trip yesterday morning I found out that the funeral home could not do a Sunday service.  Therefore, our best option was a Friday night visitation and a Saturday service.  That meant that we had to come home after making arrangements and then head back up today.

I am writing this blog shortly after 11:30PM.  Our plan is to leave Grand Bay around 3:30AM heading North.  Why so early?  We will have Jayden with us and I hope he can sleep several hours to help shorten the trip for him.  Pastor, that is crazy!  Yes, that is definitely me!  (I am young, I am young, I am young!).

The arrangements are as follows:  visitation with the family from 5:00PM until 8:00PM tonight, 5/15.  Service tomorrow, 5/16, at 2:00PM.  Visitation and service both at Peck Funeral Home in Hartselle, Alabama.

My dad’s request was for donations to be made to Shining Light Abroad Ministries instead of flowers.  Mama is asking that those donations be made in dad’s memory.

I am thinking/praying it through but it is very possible I may miss this Sunday at Friendship in order to spend some extra time with my mama and siblings.  If you have a problem with that then please contact Will Reynolds and Jason Taylor as they are in charge of handling complaints this week!  Seriously, I appreciate the support that has been given to me through this situation.

Wow, I have been bombarded by e-mails, iMessages, text messages, phone calls, et cetera.  Humbling!  Makes one grateful to have such wonderful friends.  God is good!

Pray for us as we travel today.  Pray for my mama.

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

Funeral service for Charles “Curly” Turrentine, 84, will be Saturday, May 16, 2020 at 2:00 PM at Peck Funeral Home Chapel with Teddy Turrentine, Pastor Jack Bailey and Pastor Joe David Bailey officiating and Peck Funeral Home directing. Burial will be in Johnson Chapel Cemetery. Visitation will be Friday, May 15, 2020 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Peck Funeral Home.

Mr. Turrentine died on Thursday, May 14, 2020 at his residence. He was born February 11, 1936, in Morgan County to Robert Earl Turrentine and Edna Lewis Black Turrentine. He was employed by Wolverine Tube, prior to his retirement and also was a carpenter. He was a member of the Decatur Baptist Church and served in several churches in the area. Mr. Turrentine had a heart for missions and served on several mission trips. Preceding him in death were his parents, six brothers and one sister.

The family would like to thank Comfort Care Hospice for their compassion and care during this time.

Survivors include:

His wife: Carolyn Brown Turrentine

One daughter – Melissa Caffery (James)

Three sons – Eddie Turrentine (Sue)
Teddy Turrentine (Lisa)
Freddie Turrentine (Amanda)

A host of grandchildren, great grandchildren, other relatives and many friends.

Pallbearers will be Joshua Turrentine, Cody Smallwood, Adam Glenn, Scottie Davis, Bradley Turrentine, Ronnie Turrentine. Danny Turrentine and Gary Lovell.

In lieu of flowers; please make donations to SLAM Ministries (shininglightabroad.com) P.O. Box 513, Grand Bay, AL 36541.