Pastor's Blog

Our granddaughter, Nora, is celebrating her third birthday today!  We had a small gathering this past Sunday to celebrate with her.  I hope her day is great!  Happy birthday Nora!

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”  (Psalm 19:14 KJV)

Today’s Bible reading – Jeremiah 32-34

I was under the impression that Tommy Johnson’s mother had been discharged from the hospital over the weekend but found out late yesterday afternoon that she is still in the hospital.  I will visit her first thing this morning.

Pastor Jiggs Ramsey remains in the hospital too.  The thought was that he would be discharged yesterday but that did not happen.  I will also visit him this morning but I figure that he may be discharged today.

Pastor Jack Bailey’s great niece, sixteen years old, was involved in an automobile accident last Friday night and she passed from this life yesterday morning.  Pray for the Greer family as they walk through this valley.

Keep praying for all those battling cancer.  Remember, tomorrow is Carla Kyser day at Sam’s Super Burger (both locations) with ten percent of all receipts going to help Carla financially.  By the way, our annual “Hope Sunday” is set for October 16 – please mark that day on your calendar.

Six folks joined me last night in discussing our special prayer service for our country.  This service will take place at 6:00PM on Sunday, September 11.  Oscar Petersen is the point man for this service.  Please keep your schedule clear and make plans to join us as we call out to God on behalf of our nation.

We also had a good number show up for our prayer time in the auditorium last night.  I appreciate those who come to pray.  I know what would really get our numbers up but I certainly do not want that to happen.  I just pray that we will become a people of prayer.

Bro. Jerry Hovel is offering art classes that begin today with a morning and evening session.  You can contact him for more information.

Work day on Saturday, August 27, beginning at 8:00AM.  We will have a biscuit breakfast available beginning at 7:30AM.  This is a “all hands on deck” work day.

Watched a few minutes of the Olympics last night.  Was disappointed Sunday night when Bolt only ran a 9.81 in the one hundred meters.  I have seen Baptists running faster than that when heading to the table at a church eating meeting.

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

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”  (Psalm 19:14 KJV)

Today’s Bible reading – Jeremiah 30-31

Tuesday, August 16 – Jeremiah 32-34
Wednesday, August 17 – Jeremiah 35-37
Thursday, August 18 – Jeremiah 38-40; Psalms 74; 79
Friday, August 19 – 2 Kings 24-25; 2 Chronicles 36
Saturday, August 20 – Habakkuk 1-3
Sunday, August 21 – Jeremiah 41-45

Prayer time tonight from 5:00 – 7:00PM in the auditorium.  Use the West side door to enter/exit.  Prayer is so very important!  Come and go, come and stay, just pray!

The Lord blessed us with a really good day in our services yesterday.  The Spirit was excellent and the attendance was very good in all three services.  We give God the glory!

Please remember that this Wednesday, 8/17, is “Carla Kyser Day” at both of the Sam’s Superburger locations in Grand Bay.  Ten percent of all receipts will be given to Carla to help financially in her battle against cancer.  Spread the word!

Our Building & Grounds Committee met yesterday and will be doing so again this Sunday, 8/21.  I am going to call for work day on Saturday, August 27, beginning at 8:00AM.  Our B&G committee members will lead this effort.  A biscuit breakfast will be served beginning at 7:30AM.

Rusty had to go to the ER yesterday with a kidney stone.  Have to hand it to him as he was in Sunday School and then back for the evening service.  He is one committed young man!

Justin Chinners had an apparent seizure yesterday afternoon.  He did not have to be taken to the hospital and everything seems to be ok with him now.

Charles, Rusty and Soy all helped get the fifteen acres mowed this past Saturday afternoon.  Only one mower got stuck.  The thing about having Rusty & Soy help is that they just randomly quit with no rhyme or reason.  Once one quits the other follows suit.  They only left me with about one hour of riding and then push mowing and weed eating.  Killing me!  Hiring Rusty & Soy is like losing four good men!

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

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”  (Psalm 19:14 KJV)

Today’s Bible reading – Jeremiah 23-25

Since I am out of town, I do not have any updates on those in the hospital.  However, I do have a few quick things to share this morning before we begin driving home.

First, pray for Bro. Benny McGath and our bus workers and they go out into the community today inviting folks to ride our buses to Sunday School and the services tomorrow.  What an important ministry.

Since you will be praying, pray for Bro. Jerry Hovel and our Sunday School workers as well as they prepare for tomorrow’s Bible study and fellowship.

Also, pray for Bro. Kerry Kelley and our adult choir as they will be leading our musical worship in the services.  Choir members, please be in your rightful place in the morning!

This Wednesday, August 17, is going to be an important day for the Friendship family and friends.  On that day, ten percent of all receipts taken in at both of the Sam’s Superburger locations in Grand Bay will be given to Carla Kyser to help financially in her battle against cancer.  So, I am asking you to join my family and me in eating at Sam’s this Wednesday, 8/17 – lunch, supper, snacks, et cetera. Very much appreciate Phillip and his doing this kind deed.  It is never wrong to be kind!

The Lord has put together a great team for our September 11 – 16, 2016 trip to Guatemala to work on Pastor Ben’s house.  Clara Broadus, Randall Broome, Caroline Ford, Ross Genzink, Jeff Holifield, Tim Knighten and Soy Taylor all have tickets in hand.  A quick check this morning shows the tickets had not risen in price so if someone else wants to join this team then let me know.  What a good trip for someone i.e. ladies to go work at the feeding center all week while enjoying the Independence Day celebrations too!  Airfares can change without notice at any moment.

Regular schedule tomorrow morning and evening.  Join us!

I had a delightful Friday as I reconnected with a ministry friend that I have not seen or spoken to in over twenty five years.  (Close friends huh!)  We enjoyed a meal together and had great fellowship.  Then I was able to spend over three hours with my parents and that was a good time too.  Got to see my niece and great nephews for a few minutes as well.  Was able to find/purchase a computer for the church office as I have had zero success doing so in Mobile this week .  God is good!

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

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”  (Psalm 19:14 KJV)

Today’s Bible reading – Jeremiah 18-22

Good morning from Birmingham, Alabama.  We are having such wet weather conditions that I made the decision yesterday to drive up and visit my parents today.  So, Lisa, Dana, Gina and I headed out late yesterday afternoon.  Lord willing, we will return home tomorrow and I will be in the pulpit all three times this Sunday.

Miss Willa Dean Johnson was not discharged from the hospital yesterday.  She will probably go home today but the doctor may keep her until tomorrow.

Linda Green’s sister, Shirley, was in good spirits when I visited her yesterday.  She will be in he hospital until at least next Thursday, 8/18.

Did not go by to visit Pastor Jiggs as I know he is covered up with visitors.

I delayed my going out at all yesterday due to the rain.  Thankfully it let up just before noon which allowed me to make travel to Pascagoula and Mobile.

We are on a regular schedule this Sunday.

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

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”  (Psalm 19:14 KJV)

Today’s Bible reading – Jeremiah 14-17

Pastor Jiggs Ramsey did well through his surgical procedure yesterday.  They did four by passes and, according to his family, the actual surgery only took approximately one hour.  Praise the Lord!

Miss Willa Dean Johnson has great hopes of perhaps being discharged either today or tomorrow.  She prefers today!  She is doing well in her physical therapy but is still battling some pneumonia.

Les Hacker told me yesterday morning that Randy Collins did have a surgical procedure done on Tuesday and was expecting to be discharged yesterday afternoon.  Not sure if that happened or not.

Linda Green’s sister, Shirley, remains in the hospital and will do so until some point next week if all goes as planned.

Maria Wainwright’s mother also remains in the hospital but the thought process is that she will be discharged today.

Zach Huhn arrived home from Washington last night.  He joined us for our 7:30PM Bible study and is leaving this morning bound for Mississippi State University.

We have a small group of folks who plan on traveling to Guatemala the dates of September 11 – 16 to work on Pastor Ben Labriel’s house.  Airfare is running around seven hundred dollars.  Interested in joining them?  Contact me like yesterday!

TNBA tonight at 7:00PM in the CAB for those guys who were present in one of our services this past Sunday or yesterday.

Some of our young people and young adults are planning on going to Danville for the block party this Saturday.  Please note that this is not a Friendship family sponsored event.

The Mobile County Public Schools began a new year for students yesterday.  Join me in praying for the students, teachers, administrators, et cetera.  By the way, I was asked to share a devotional with the teachers are one of our public schools this past Tuesday morning.

Wow, we have really gotten a lot of rain this week.  The grass in our yard is growing several inches per hour it seems but the conditions are simply too wet to mow.  May have to go Guatemalan and break out the machete!  I thank God that He knows what we need and when we need it!  I will say that I am always up for some cool weather regardless of the time of the year.  I do not complain about the heat.  I am just a fan of cool/cold weather.

Kenneth & Keri have set a wedding date of June 3, 2017.  Going to be at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens beginning at 1:00PM!  Everyone invited or something like that!  Full seven course meal to be served during the reception.  (I sure hope I have all of these details correct!  LOL!)  Dr. Rex, feel free to bring your church family to this happening!

My brother, Eddie, and his wife, Sue, are moving back to the States after seventeen years of living in China.  I am glad.  By the way, the number one question I get asked by folks is “is your brother a missionary there?”  Whatever!

So ready for the college football season to begin.

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

It appears that a small team of men will travel to Guatemala the week of September 12, 2016, in order to work on the house for Pastor Ben Labriel and his family.  Proposed departure date from Mobile is either the afternoon of 9/11 or early morning 9/12 with a return on Friday morning, 9/16.  As of right now, the airfare is basically six hundred and sixty three dollars although that could change at any moment.

The plan is for long work days and a possible joining in the celebration of Guatemala’s Independence Day on 9/15.

If you are interested in joining these men or have questions, please contact the pastor immediately.  Thanks!

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”  (Psalm 19:14 KJV)

Today’s Bible reading – Jeremiah 10-13

Pastor Jiggs Ramsey, First Assembly of Irvington, will have open heart surgery this morning with the expectation of doing five by passes.  I visited with Pastor Jiggs and Sister Joan yesterday in the CCU and they are confidently trusting in the Lord Jesus.  Pray for Pastor Jiggs as he goes through this surgery.

As far as I know, Maria Wainwright’s mother remains in a Louisiana hospital.  They did some tests on Sunday afternoon/evening but I do not know the results of those tests.  Pray for Mrs. Hamilton.

Miss Willa Dean was doing good yesterday even though she had just finished her physical therapy session.  She is ready to go home but still has some pneumonia and the doctor wants that cleared up before he will discharge her.

Randy Collins was admitted to the hospital during the night on Monday.  There was some confusion regarding a possible surgical procedure and I am not sure what the outcome was after I left from visiting with him.  Pray for Randy.

Had a good visit with Charles Suthoff yesterday morning in the convalescent home.  Mary Lee Owens was sleeping soundly so I was not able to visit with her.

Lisa and I were able to visit with our friend from Guatemala yesterday afternoon.  He is doing well.

I made an in home visit last night that seemed to be needed and also went well.

Keep praying for those who are battling cancer.  I communicated briefly with Carla K yesterday afternoon.  She says she is doing good but she always says that even when she is not feeling well.  Bernard continues to take radiation treatments daily and Becky is continuing with her chemo treatments.

Zach Huhn returns home late this afternoon from his Summer in Washington as a missionary.  He then leaves in the morning heading to Mississippi State University.  Amy tells me that he has had a good Summer.

Regular schedule this morning and evening.  Poppy seed chicken is the main fare for the 7:30PM Bible study.

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

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”  (Psalm 19:14 KJV)

Today’s Bible reading – Jeremiah 7-9

Visited with Miss Willa Dean yesterday morning and she was sitting in a chair for the first time since her surgery.  They repaired her broken hip/leg instead of replacing the hip.  She is having to make a decision about in patient rehab or in home rehab.

David Bosarge’s mother, Miss Maxine, was discharged from the hospital on Sunday evening.

Bernard continues to receive his radiation each week day.

We had a nice number of folks come and pray last night.  I am grateful to those who come each week to spend some time in this ministry.

I joined Rusty Suthoff last night in going out for Sunday School/church visitation.  We were only able to find one family at home out of the three we visited but that is ok.  We left cards at the others and we will go again.  I encourage each Sunday School class to be involved in outreach.

I have watched some of the Olympics for the past two nights.  I am impressed at how fast those folks can swim.

Confession time (this is really hard for me) – Soy did weed eat around the wooden fence on the South and East sides of our property while I was in Guatemala.  I have to give credit where credit is due.  (However, Rusty did absolutely nothing!  Just saying!)

The outcry was great!  I did not blog for three mornings and my laptop got blown up by folks telling me they missed the blog!  Ok, so it was only three folks but when you consider we only have thirteen readers that is a decent percentage.

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

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”  (Psalm 19:14 KJV)

Today’s Bible reading – Jeremiah 4-6

Tuesday, August 9 – Jeremiah 7-9
Wednesday, August 10 – Jeremiah 10-13
Thursday, August 11 – Jeremiah 14-17
Friday, August 12 – Jeremiah 18-22
Saturday, August 13 – Jeremiah 23-25
Sunday, August 14 – Jeremiah 26-29

I apologize for the lack of entries the past three days.  I was in Guatemala Friday morning and had a full schedule so I decided I would blog on Saturday morning as I would have several hours layover in Atlanta on my way home.  Not so fast my friend!  Our 12:25AM flight left Guatemala City at 4:30AM which meant we sat on the plane for three hours due to mechanical problems before they decided to do something different i.e. put us on another plane.  Obviously, I missed my original connection so the airline automatically booked me on the 1:25PM flight out of Atlanta into Pensacola.  Lisa called the airline and got me on the 10:53AM flight which meant I literally had to run from Concourse F to Concourse B once I cleared customs.  I was operating on zero sleep and then got to drive home from Pensacola.  The traffic was horrendous.  Took me about forty five minutes just to come across the bay.  So, needless to say there was no blog on Saturday and I just did not do one yesterday morning as I was focused on preaching.  My hope is that all thirteen readers of this blog will find in in their hearts to forgive me!

Tommy Johnson’s mother, Miss Willa Dean, remains in the hospital.  I have plans to visit her today.

Not sure if Linda Green’s sister, Shirley, is still in the hospital but will find out today.  If so, I will visit her too.

Pattie Suthoff’s great nephew was discharged from the hospital.  Folks, this is nothing short of a miracle.

Carla Kyser had a liver biopsy done on Friday morning.  The results have been sent to M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas in hopes they can match her with a treatment.  I spoke to her at church yesterday morning and it will possibly take up to two weeks for the results to be known.  Pray for a match!

Speaking of prayer, we will have our prayer time tonight from 5:00 – 7:00PM in the auditorium.  Enter/exit through the side door.  Come and go or come and stay but please pray!

On Monday, 8/15, we will have a meeting relating to our special prayer service for the United States of America.  That service will take place on Sunday evening, 9/11, beginning at 6:00PM in our auditorium.

GROW visitation tonight beginning at 6:30PM in the church office.

The Lord blessed us with a good day in our services yesterday.  We saw one public profession of faith in our second morning worship service which was a direct result of the lazer tag outing the Sunday night before.  Soy, Deidra and Anna all did a nice job of sharing in our evening service.  We give God the glory for all He did in our midst.

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