Pastor's Blog

Mrs. Mary Annie Elizabeth Rogers, 104, passed from this life on Saturday, July 21, 2018 at her home in Grand Bay, Alabama, surrounded by family and friends. Mrs. Rogers was born May 23, 1914 to John and Hattie Sessions. She was a charter and lifelong member of First Baptist Church of Grand Bay. Her Christian life was as beautiful as the flowers she loved so well and her influence will forever remain in the lives of those who knew her. Mrs. Rogers was preceded in death by her parents, John & Hattie Sessions, husband, Floyd Rogers, Sr., son, Warren Buddy Rogers, son baby Rogers and great-granddaughter, Jesica Townsend. Survivors include her daughter, Evie and Buddy Patteson, son, Barney and Linda Rogers, daughter-in-law, Mattie and Herbert Boutwell as well as nine grandchildren; sixteen great-grandchildren; three great great-grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and a special friend, Sue Stanley Swafford. Visitation will be held on Monday, July 23, 2018 from 5:00 until 9:00pm at First Baptist Church of Grand Bay, Alabama. Funeral services will be Tuesday, July 24, 2018 at 11:00am from the church with Dr. Royce Dubose, Rev. Teddy Turrentine and Jim Cooper officiating. Friends may call at the church from 9:00 until 11am leading up to service time. Interment will follow at Grand Bay Cemetery. Serving as pallbearers will be Wayne Rogers, Chuck Patteson, Michael Boutwell, Dwight Patteson, James Rogers and Jonathan Stringfellow. Honorary pallbearers will be Max Townsend, Daniel Stringfellow, Jody Smith, Heath Bryant, Warren Stringfellow, Porter Smith, Kolbe Smith, Fisher Bryant and Tate Bryant. In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be made to Alzheimer’s Foundation of America 322 Eighth Avenue, 7th Floor – New York, NY 10001.

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

Phil Sims’ son-in-law, Darron, remains in the hospital as does my friend, Claude.  Please pray for these two men in their respective situations.

Miss Annette Williams’ has a brother who is eighty eight years old.  He was injured in a freak accident last Thursday when he was literally run over by a bus.  He is in a Birmingham hospital.  Pray for him.

The visitation with the Annie Rogers family takes place tonight from 5:00 until 9:00PM at First Baptist Grand Bay.  Another visitation will take place tomorrow from 9:00AM until the 11:00AM service time.  Pray for the Rogers family.

Keep praying for Tammy Womack.

Miss Gloria Whitmore will have surgery this Wednesday.  Pray that all goes well.  She has waited a good while for this surgery date.

Liz Whalen is still waiting to have her surgery scheduled.

We had a good day in our services yesterday.  Levi Seymour and crew did a nice job of leading our worship last night.  I appreciate folks who are willing to serve.

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

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

Darron Haynes remains hospitalized.  Yes, he has physical problems but his attitude is about as good as it gets.  He and Angela appreciate the prayer support.

My friend, Claude, also remains in the hospital having had surgery on Friday.  Pray for Claude as he has some very specific requests.

The plan is for the visitation with the Annie Rogers family to take place tomorrow night and the service on Tuesday morning.  Everything will take place from First Baptist.  I will update the arrangements once they have been completed.  Pray for the Rogers family.

Regular schedule for the Friendship family this morning and evening.  My prayer is for faithfulness from each of us.

Lord willing, I will still fly to Guatemala on Tuesday but a bit later than originally scheduled.  The Rogers family asked me to help with Miss Annie’s service which I count as an honor.  Delta was very gracious in helping me get my ticket changed without charging me the proverbial “arm & leg” (they only got the arm on this one).  I was scheduled to fly out of Pensacola but that was not possible time wise so the kind lady at Delta allowed me to switch to Mobile for my departing flight.  I am blessed.

Wow, yesterday was a pretty warm one.  Did I finish with all of the yard work?  Not exactly but please do not tell Lisa.  I had to make some visits which cut into my yard time.  I do know that I sweated through several changes of clothes and drank about eight bottles of water.

I pray that you will have a great Sunday with Jesus.  Attend church services today!

Saw Scott Fontenot yesterday and he had his prize watermelon in the back of his truck.  It weighs one hundred and ninety pounds (190).  Maybe he will do like they do in Guatemala – bring it to church tomorrow and place it on the altar as a first fruit offering.  Definitely an impressive watermelon!

Phil Sims’ son-in-law, Darron, has been admitted to the hospital with two blood clots.  One is in an arm and the other in a lung.  Obviously this is a serious need.  Pray for Darron, Angela, Whitney and the rest of the family.  Pray for the medical folks as they decide how to treat Darron’s condition.

When I was writing my earlier entry this morning I was unaware that just before that Miss Annie Rogers had been promoted to Heaven.  She passed from this life around 4:45AM.  Pray for her family as they make arrangements and walk through this valley.  Yes, Miss Annie lived to be 104 years old but death still stings.  “Absent from the body, present with the Lord!”

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

Really nothing “new” to report regarding those folks for whom we have been praying so just keep praying.

Nora did well through her surgery yesterday.  Thanks to those who prayed.

Miss Annie Rogers, age 104, is low physically.  She and her family certainly need our prayer support.  She is at home.  What a wonderful lady.  I think everyone in Grand Bay knows, or knows of, Miss Annie!

Regular schedule for the Friendship family tomorrow morning and evening.  Lord willing, I will be in the pulpit for all three services.  It is possible that the Friendship family will be asked to vote to change the church year (June 1 – May 31) and fiscal year (January 1 – December 31) in our evening service.

Members of the Friendship family are being given basically one month to sign up for our June 20 – 27 GRACE Ministries trip.  After that date, all openings will go to others outside the Friendship family.  It will then immediately be “full!”  I am especially in hopes that our students will join us on this trip.  Sign up by sending me an e-mail – pastor@friendshipfamily.net.

Courtney Cavin sent me a message yesterday and she was pretty excited!  She actually cooked a different kind of Hamburger Helper on Thursday night and did not even burn it!  Folks, that is pretty amazing stuff!

Bobby & the boys did not open the second half in the way I had hoped as they lost to Leslie Hacker’s Braves.  They are now one game below five hundred ball and are six and a half games out of first place in the NL East.  I have my opinion as to why they are struggling but I will keep that to myself.  The Dodgers won in Manny’s debut and are now one and a half games up in the NL West.  That is the only division that is really close at this point.

Well, the yard is calling my name – again!  It is a vicious cycle as I mow and Charles fertilizes!  By the way, if you ever have a yard man that you do not like just plant Mayhaw trees!  Talk about tough to mow around/under.  Charles has like nineteen of them!  Lord willing, I leave for Guatemala on Tuesday and Lisa told me this place had better be in tip top shape or else!  Or else what?  I am afraid to ask!  So, it is now breaking day so out the door I go!

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

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

Terry Lucky was discharged from the hospital yesterday morning.  Praise the Lord!  I “think” Terry is looking in to purchasing one of those hospital beds to bring to his house!  I could be wrong!  LOL!  Keep praying for Terry as he continues his recovery.

Here is what I received from Liz Whalen yesterday – “The spot on my kidney looks like a malignancy. I will have to have surgery to remove it. It is very small and on outside of kidney instead of inside – both good things. Should have complete removal with only a 1 – 2 % chance of recurrence. Thanks for prayers. Will update when i have a date for surgery.”  Her husband, John, works out of town so Liz will coordinate her surgery with is schedule.  Pray for Liz!

Our granddaughter, Nora, will have her tonsils surgically removed this morning.  Should be a simple procedure.  Thanks for praying for Nora.

A friend, Claude, has been diagnosed with a malignancy and will have some pretty major surgery today.  Would you pray for Claude?  Thank you.

Keep praying for Steve Morris and Tammy Womack.

Regular schedule this Sunday morning and evening.  Lord willing, I will be in the pulpit for all three services.  I hope many members of the Friendship family will join us for these services.

On Sunday, July 29, Evangelist Johnny Tucker will be our guest messenger in all three services.  Pray and make plans to attend, please.

Bobby & the boys host Leslie Hacker’s Braves tonight.  Time to get serious!  The Dodgers are in Milwaukee for the first game of the Manny Machado era however long that might be.

We did Juanita’s Kitchen again last night.  Bernard & Pattie were eating there as well.  If you go then please tell them you are from Friendship.  (And then make sure you leave a nice tip!)

The Willard Garnett family is set to attend our 8:00AM service this Sunday.  Just letting those who know Willard & Amy know this so maybe they too can attend the early service.  Folks, it does not get much bigger than having Willard in the house!

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

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

We were blessed with a good day in our services yesterday.  I have always been blessed by our Wednesday morning crowd.  I often wonder why other churches with full time pastors do not offer a Wednesday morning service as it is a help especially to the senior adult members.  If I were not in the auditorium preaching/teaching then I would be in the office working or out making visits.  I then preach/teach the same thing in the evening so there is no extra preparation involved.  But each pastor has to do what works best for him and his church family.

Our Wednesday evening attendance has gotten stronger over the Summer – is that different or what!  Praise the Lord.  It is a much younger crowd than our morning attendance but a really great group of folks too.  I have some work to do with them though as one of them wore a Mississippi State t-shirt last night – not good!  Will someone please tell him this is a church building!

Visited with Terry & Carol Lucky yesterday afternoon.  Actually Terry was not feeling well and slept most of the time so I was blessed to have a conversation with Carol.  Her daughter had surgery yesterday and did well through it.  Mama Carol wanted to be there but she could not because of the need to be with Terry.  Pray for these folks.

Logan Wainwright broke his foot yesterday.  He will be having surgery soon.  It was an on the job injury.  Pray that it heals properly and quickly.

The Dodgers traded for Manny Machado!  You have to believe this is going to help them going forward.  He is having a really good year at the plate.  Can he carry that over to the NL?  I sure hope so!  The Dodgers need to avoid the injury bug the rest of the year and, if they can, they should be in the thick of it all.

Word on the street is that it is “Bobby Gene vs Levi” in a one on one basketball game with a loser leave town stipulation.  I am going to intervene and remove the stipulation as I like Levi!

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

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

This entry is late and for that I apologize.  In actuality, I was waiting on Katie Tillman to get some information to me but finally grew tired of waiting.  However, I will accept the blame rather than put it off on Katie.

Bro. Jerry visited Terry Lucky yesterday and it “appears” that Terry will be discharged from the hospital this morning.  That is good news.  I will check after our morning service and visit if he is still in the hospital.  Keep praying as Terry continues to recover from his surgery.

Steve Morris continues to recover at home.  His wife, Virginia, will have a couple of tests this morning.  Pray for Steve & Virginia.

Tammy Womack obviously continues to need our prayer support.

I am thinking Nanette Fontenot got a hard cast on her lower leg/foot yesterday.  Still cannot put any weight on it for the next six weeks.  Poor Scott!

Regular schedule for the Friendship family today – morning and evening.

Edna corrected me yesterday in telling me that Miss Kittie Camp is now our oldest church member.  I “think” Miss Bessie Fernandez is a close second.  Myrtle Bowden is third.

I went to Juanita’s Kitchen twice yesterday.  Met Eddie Albritton there for lunch and the Lisa made me take her for supper.  It was “taco Tuesday!”  Lisa and I ate for just over five dollars.  Two of the servers have promised to be in our second service this Sunday.

Bobby & the boys welcome Leslie Hacker’s Braves to DC beginning Friday night.  The Dodgers travel to Milwaukee. Could they have a new shortstop by Friday’s first pitch?

I do not know about where you live but Potter Tract Road saw some major rain fall early yesterday afternoon.  I do mean major!

In other major news, Courtney Cavin has been cooking “harder” (her word) dishes lately.  Catch this – she cooked spaghetti!  Said the sauce was not homemade but the jar said homemade so it is all equal.  She is destined to have her own cooking show in the future!

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