Pastor's Blog

I have known for several weeks that Donnie Felps’ mother, Miss Earline, had been diagnosed with cancer.  Yesterday, they did surgery and she will be taking chemo in pill form.  She remained in the hospital overnight but should come home today.  Pray for her.

As far as I know, Vera Bosarge’s sister, Juanita, is still waiting on a definitive word from the doctor.  Juanita’s son, Robert, is in the same situation.  Pray for them.

Jodie Johnson’s dad, Mr. Floyd, is in a local hospital and has improved some.  Keep praying!

There have been no funeral arrangements made for Rachel’s mother, Miss Pauline Pugh.  We will post them here as soon as we know them.  Pray for the family.

Tomorrow is our first “Potluck with the Pastor” in 2011.  The menu is soup, cornbread, crackers, and desserts.  Eight ladies from last Wednesday’s service are bringing the soup.  We need cornbread and desserts (I know Miss Walley is bringing one pan of cornbread).  Lisa and I will furnish the crackers and drinks.  Come join us for the Bible study at 10:00AM and the meal at 11:00AM.  We will have a great time!

Someone asked me if the team presently in Guatemala has a blog.  Yes – www.molinecrcmissionteam.blogspot.com.

The Packers, Bears, Steelers, & Jets remain standing in the NFL.  Joe David Bailey wants the Steelers to win and I am thinking they probably will.  However, the Jets have surprised me this post season.  Rex Ryan is seemingly conceited enough without winning the Super Bowl.

Going in a little while to attend the Executive Committee meeting for the Mobile Baptist Association (joy, joy, joy) followed by a counseling session.

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

I just love it when God shows up!  We thank Him for Rebecca Taylor’s salvation decision in our 10:30AM service yesterday and then for Rebecca, Amber Sessions, and Brian DeGeer following Jesus in believer’s baptism as a part of our 6:00PM service.  As always, He gives the increase and we Him the glory!

My wife, Lisa, and Bobby Henley both did excellent jobs in sharing during the morning services yesterday.  I pray that we will faithfully stand/speak for those who cannot stand/speak for themselves.

The arrangements for Rachel’s mother have not been completed at this time.  There is an article in today’s paper about it.  Pray for Rachel and her family as well as the family of the other lady who passed away in the accident.

I believe Jodie Johnson’s dad is in a local hospital.  They arrived home Saturday night and went directly to the hospital.  I will get the details today.

Bro. Benny, Morris Bryant, Jace Wilkinson & Bro. Chris all helped with the officiating in the Upward games this past Saturday.  I appreciate their help!

Pastor Jack Bailey will be sad today as Governor Riley hands over the reins to Governor Bentley.  I fully expect Governor Riley to be speaking in a service at Danville Baptist in the near future.

By the way, congratulations to Eric Collier’s brother, Spencer, on being appointed to a position on Governor Bentley’s cabinet.

I pray that you will have a great Monday with Jesus.  Sorry for the lateness in posting today.

I was in the office last night around 11:00PM when Gary Walton called to tell me that Rachel’s mother, Pauline, had been killed in an automobile accident.  It is now 6:30AM and there is a story on the WKRG website giving a very brief account of the accident.  Pray for Rachel and her family during this time.

Willie Johnson called me Friday afternoon to say they were in Phoenix and would be in Dallas later to spend the night.  They should have gotten home late yesterday afternoon with Mr. Floyd.  He suffered a heart attack while traveling on the train.  Keep praying for Mr. Floyd.

I will update both of these situations as soon as we have more details.

Arlene Meredith will have a surgical procedure done this afternoon related to her kidney stones.  Pray that all goes well and she can be free from these three stones.

No major update on anyone else except to say that Bro. Kerry’s brother, Danny, did well through his surgery.

We will observe the ordinance of baptism as a part of our evening service this Sunday, 1/16.  Those being baptized should meet in Bro. Jerry’s office at 5:40PM.

Our second Saturday of Upward takes place tomorrow.  Pray that all goes well.

Our Finance Committee will meet this Sunday, 1/16, at 5:00PM in my office.

There will be a very important meeting this Sunday, 1/16 of all Friendship family members going on a GRACE Ministries mission trip this summer.  We will meet immediately following the evening service.

Ross Genzink arrived in town yesterday.  What a great friend!  He & Larry Crawley are working together on the plumbing on our house under construction.  There used to be a sitcom about them – it was called “The Odd Couple!”  LOL!

The Moline team arrived safely in Guatemala.  Praise the Lord!

I pray that you will have a great Friday with Jesus.  Looking forward to joining many members of the Friendship family in Bible study and worship this Sunday.

Warning – kidney stones are going around the Friendship family!  Rob Nevin will go today to have two stones “blasted.”  Arlene Meredith goes tomorrow because she has three stones.  Tammy Curl has a stone(s) on the move.  Wow!  Pray for these folks!

I assume Bro. Kerry & Miss Edith made it safely to Gainesville, FL yesterday.  Pray for Danny Kelley as he had surgery.

Jordan & Robin Cole take their daugher, Bethany, to Birmingham today to have a procedure done on her eyes.

Reb Nevin’s sister, Cathy Medchill, is having surgery today too.  Rob & Reb’s son, Robert, is also having a procedure done today.  Kathy Camp, Jeff’s wife, is having surgery today in Montgomery.

I have not gotten an update from Jodie Johnson on her dad but do know that as of yesterday afternoon Jodie had not gotten to Colorado.  Bro. Lonnie Miller has improved a great deal.  Vera Bosarge’s sister continues to wait on a definitive word from the doctor.  Kevin Vice’s brother came home from the San Antonio hospital.  Helen Ruth Brinkman comes from Pensacola to see the doctor tomorrow.

Pastor Eddie Burdette’s mother-in-law passed away yesterday.  Pray for the family.

The Moline, MI team leaves for Guatemala today.  Pray for them too.

Hien Tran has lived with us for the past six years or so.  She has now moved back to live with her mother.  Lisa, the girls, and I will miss her being in the house with us but, at the same time, we are happy for her because she really, really wants to live with her mother.  Pray that she will stay in school and this will be a good situation for her.

Morris Bryant & Chris Taylor have also stepped up to help with the Upward officiating.  I appreciate their help too.  If I can get one or two more guys to help then I can stay home on Saturdays!  LOL!

The Dukies got beat last night – hooray!

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

Jodie Johnson’s dad, Floyd Zigler, was riding a train to California when he became sick and had to be placed in a hospital in Colorado.  He is now facing possible surgery and it could be serious.  Yesterday, Jodie was trying to get to Colorado.  Pray for Mr. Floyd and the family.

Bro. Kerry and his mom, Miss Edith, will travel to Gainesville, FL today as Danny Kelley is having surgery.  Pray for traveling mercies and for the surgery to go well.

Vera Bosarge’s sister, Juanita, continues to nurse her broken ribs and to wait to see if the mass that has been found is malignant.  Her son (Vera’s nephew), Robert, will have a MRI today.  Pray for this family.

Interesting to read that on the anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti much of the situation remains unchanged i.e. folks living in tents, et cetera.  It now appears that of the millions donated to the relief effort much of it has not gotten to Haiti.  The reasons are varied but it is not a good thing – in my opinion.

Dave & Donna Westhouse lead (actually Donna does the leading but it helps Dave’s ego to be listed) the first team of 2011 to the mission house tomorrow.  Pray for their safety in travel and for a blessed week of ministry.  The church in Moline has been so supportive of GRACE Ministries for many years and we are grateful.

We are on a regular schedule today with the morning service at 10:00AM and the closing service at 8:00PM.  I pray that many members of the Friendship family will join us.

We will have our first “potluck with the pastor” fellowship next Wednesday, 1/19.  Details to be announced in today’s morning service.

Pray for Rex Looney as he will most likely travel to Auburn this weekend to have his picture taken beside the NC trophy in Walmart.  (Remember all of the comments from folks last January about the trophy being in Walmart?)

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

Andy Hamil’s heart cath went well as the doctor found very little blockage.  He came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon.

Bro. Kerry’s brother, Danny, will have surgery in Florida tomorrow.  Bro. Kerry will travel there tomorrow afternoon and spend some time with him.  Pray that all goes well and the surgery will be effective.

I offer my congratulations to the Auburn fans in my life i.e. family (not immediate family as that is against the rules), Friendship family (too many to list), friends in the ministry (Pastor Bob Harvey, Pastor Rick Evans, et cetera) and others (Sam Schjott) on the national championship victory by the Auburn football team last night.  It was a great victory for AU and another victory for the SEC.  Do those folks in the “Little Eleven” (big 10) really believe they can play with the SEC in football?  Five national championships in a row for the SEC!

However, an even greater fact is that the state of Alabama has now produced consecutive Heisman Trophy winners and national champions.  No other state has ever done that and will probably never do that!  As Jeremy Krueze would say, “amazing!”

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

Andy Hamil will be having a heart cath this morning so pray that all goes well.  Otherwise, we do not have anyone from the Friendship family in the hospital.

As far as I know, Sanford Horn remains hospitalized.  Coach Ronnie Cottrell had triple by pass heart surgery and is in a local hospital.  Pray for these men and for all those folks battling cancer.

Dave & Donna Westhouse lead a team from Moline, Michigan to Guatemala this week.  This is the first team of 2011 to use the L.G. Camp, Jr. mission house as their base.  Pray for them.  Louise Mason is now down to a couple of months left of living in Guatemala.

We had a good day in our services yesterday.  What a joy to welcome Mark & Brenda Timberlake to the Friendship family.  Really, it is simply “welcome home” to them.   Our attendance was good in all three services – praise the Lord!

I think that I can say with confidence that we were the only church in south Mobile County that had to call two ambulances to our property yesterday.  Miss Helen Ruth and the young boy were both treated and released from the hospitals.  Miss Helen Ruth suffered a fracture and is now at her son’s home in Pensacola.  Harley is at home in Grand Bay.  Wow, is that crazy or what?

The April 15 – 22 GRACE trip is a go.  If you need information, contact Bro. Chris.

Tonight is the big game for Auburn.  I wish them well simply because I have a lot of family members, church members, and friends who are AU fans.  We have a few members of the Friendship family in Arizona for the game.

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

Miss Jackie Goff will be having surgery this morning.  I am headed out the door in a few minutes to pray with her before surgery and to stay with the family during the procedure.  Pray for Miss Jackie.

Our Upward basketball season begins tomorrow morning at 8:00AM.  We do have a need for referees.  I am praying some of our guys with experience will step up and help.  Pray for Kristy Sullenberger as she coordinates this ministry.

I wrote yesterday that we have some openings for our summer GRACE trips but that may not be correct information now.  All folks signed up for the Spring Break trip (4/15 – 22) with Bro. Chris must attend a very important meeting this Sunday night immediately following the worship service.  After that meeting, we should know where we stand regarding any potential openings for the Summer trips.  Again, the meeting is very important as time is a factor.

Speaking of meetings, the members of the Finance Committee are asked to meet this Sunday, 1/9, at 4:30PM in my office.

Alabama’s football team only had a few seniors this season but they will take a direct hit today as Ingram, Dareus, and others declare for the NFL draft.  Obviously, as a fan, I hate to see them go but it really is a no brainer for those who will be first round draft picks.  I wish them well.

We are on a regular schedule this Sunday and I hope many members of the Friendship family will join us for Sunday School, Discipleship Training, and the worship services.  I pray that you will have a great weekend with Jesus.

We found out in the morning service yesterday that Miss Jackie Goff will have surgery in the morning.  Also, Andy Hamil will have a heart cath on Monday morning.  Pray for Miss Jackie & Bro. Andy.

The first Wednesday of 2011 was a good day for us.  I thought the rains of yesterday morning would basically ruin our attendance for the 10:00AM service but they did not as we had a good attendance.  The attendance in the services/Bible studies last night seemed to be about average too.  I thank God for folks who are faithful in their attendance.

Our missions committee met last night and are moving forward with the plans on the building of the feeding center in Guatemala.  Pray for that project and ministry.

Speaking of Guatemala, we still have some openings on our summer trips but now is the time to sign up.  Contact Bro. Jerry or me if you are interested.

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