Pastor's Blog

The doctors were pleased with the outcome of Miss Lillian Brinkman’s surgery yesterday morning.  I have not gotten word on Susan B. Quinn’s outcome but am assuming that no news is good news.  I contacted Pastor Terry Rainey and asked him to visit her and Pastor Travis Northcutt also volunteered to minister to this family during this time.  Thank God for pastor friends! 

Billy & Karla’s dad, Mr. Teasley, will remain in the hospital for several days as he is having problems with his lungs.  Fred Baugh’s mother, Myrtle Baugh, is in an ICU in one of the local hospitals.  I went to visit yesterday but I was not there at the same time as the family members. 

The funeral service for Terri Emmons will take place this morning at 8:00AM.  I visited with Roger, Angela, Tommy, Helen, and others at the funeral home last night.  Wow, that was a walk down memory lane for me! 

The funeral service for Ralph Williams will take place this morning at 11:00AM from Union Baptist Church.  An hour’s visitation will proceed the service.  Pray for the Emmons family and the Williams family as they go through these respective services today. 

I received a bulk e-mail from Derrick & Jodie Wilkerson last night which said that their foster child, Sesa, will be placed with a family member this Friday, 1/9.  Their request was for prayer for Sesa and for them as they go through this emotionally trying time.  They realize God is in control but they are hurting right now. 

Today is a “normal” schedule day at Friendship.  Bro. Jerry will be preaching/teaching in the 10:00AM service as I will attend the service for Mr. Williams.  All classes and Bible studies will meet tonight and that includes our 8:00PM Bible study. 

We need one hundred folks to join “Lottie’s Legion @ Friendship” and I hope you will pray about this.  The concept is simple and the potential results are great!  Also, we are continuing to receive vitamins, pain relievers, and cough syrup for our upcoming GRACE trip.  Now is the time for members of the Friendship family to sign up for the November ’09 GRACE trip. 

T. Garrett, I need to know that your lovely wife received my e-mail on Monday night. 

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

Edna alerted me this morning that Susan Blackmon Quinn was having heart surgery today in Greenville, SC.  I was unaware of this as they moved it up from the originally planned date.  Edwin & Eula Mae traveled to SC to be with Susan and her husband during this time.  I spoke to Susan via the phone.  Pray for her as she is most likely in surgery as I type this entry at noon. 

Miss Lillian Brinkman is having hip replacement surgery this morning so please remember to pray for her.  Vera Bosarge e-mailed me during the night to say that Karla’s dad, Mr. Teasley, wa taken by ambulance early this morning to a local hospital as he is having difficulty breathing.  Pray for these two situations.

Sam Schjott also sent me an e-mail during the night asking for prayer as he has a meeting today in Mobile that could directly impact his getting a job in the future.  Presently, he is working on his Master’s degree at the University of Florida.  Pray for Sam regarding this meeting and that he can get out of Florida soon! 

The visitation with the Ralph Williams family takes place tonight from 5:00 until 8:00PM at Serenity Funeral Home.  Pray for Edwin, his mother, his sisters, and the entire family as they deal with this loss.  The funeral service will take place in the morning at 11:00AM from Union Baptist Church. 

Congratulations are in order to Gene & Gena Davis as the Texas Longhorns rallied to beat the Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl last night.  I watched the game and would have been satisfied if both teams would have . . .

Speaking of football, I am standing by my pick of the Sooners over the Gators in the NC game Thursday night.  However, the OU defensive back who mouthed off about Tebow’s inabilities may regret those remarks.  While I am predicting a Sooners win, I will be (gulp) pulling for Tebow and the Gators.  (Is there a way for the team to win and Urban Meyer lose?) 

Pray for the situation in the Middle East.  Add cough syrup, children’s & adult’s, to the list of medicines needed for our upcoming GRACE trip.  Pray about joining Lottie’s Legion at Friendship!  January is the time to sign up for the November ’09 GRACE trip.  We will not be doing the March work trip! 

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

The visitation with the Williams family will take place Tuesday, 1/6, from 5:00 – 8:00PM at Serenity Funeral Home in Theodore. 

A Wednesday, 1/7, visitation will take place from 10:00AM until the service time at 11:00AM.  This visitation and service will take place at the Union Baptist Church. 

2009 – are you kidding me?  Where did 2008 go?  Mama always said that “time flies when you are having fun” so the older I get the more I must be having!  Obviously, I haven’t posted since 12/26/08 and I did have one person, Vera Bosarge, tell me she missed my posts.  So, it appears my blog readership is now down to one which leads me to have a new year’s resolution to get that number back up to five!

I attended the funeral service for Mark Mast’s grandfather, Andrew Boeve, last Monday, 12/29.  Mark did a good job preaching that service.  Mike Blaylock, Nate’s dad, passed away and his service was Friday, 1/2.  I did not make it home in time to attend that service but did speak to Nate via the phone.  Pray for these families. 

Edwin Williams’ father, Ralph Williams, entered heaven around 7:00PM last night.  Of course, Ed’s sister, Arlene Weaver, was a member of the Friendship family before moving to Georgia.  Pray for this family as they walk through this valley. 

Terri Emmons, 32, passed away and they will have a visitation for the next two nights and a funeral service on Wednesday morning.  Terri used to ride a bus to church at Friendship and I helped preach her mother’s funeral service back in the 80’s.  Pray for her dad, Roger, and the family during this time. 

Lillian Brinkman will have surgery tomorrow morning, 1/6, and Brittan Gillespie will have surgery on 1/21. Amy Huhn’s mother, Gloria Morrison, was diagnosed with cancer last week and will see an oncologist this morning.  Miss Joyce Bosarge is some better in her battle with cancer and Carla Felps Kyser continues to take her treatments.   Pray for these folks. 

Carmen Reyer and Larry Thompson were in the 8:00AM service yesterday and Helen Ruth Brinkman was in the 10:30AM service – it was good to see these folks.  Continue to pray for them!

2009 – The Year of Renewal.  Our focus yesterday morning was on spiritual renewal and my prayer is that God will renew us personally and collectively in these days. 

I have joined Lottie’s Legion @ Friendship and invite you to join too!  Simply put, we need 100 folks to join which means a commitment to give $1 a day between February 1 and November 30 as we reach of 2009 LMCO goal of $30,000.  You will have the opportunity to join during the month of January.  BTW – our final total for our 2008 LMCO was $25,817.91!  Praise the Lord and to God be the glory! 

We are collecting vitamins, Tylenol, Motrin, Advil, et cetera for our Februray GRACE trip to Guatemala.  I made the announcement yesterday morning and received the first bag of these items last night.  You can bring these at any time between now and January 25.  Thank you! 

Faith Academy beckons!  I hope you will have a great Monday with Jesus!