Pastor's Blog

“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.

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

I was wrong!  Pause.  I always have to pause when I write that because I know folks are shocked by that possibility!  Whatever!  Anyway, Joey Switzer’s father did not have surgery yesterday.  That helps explain why I could not find any of the family in the surgical waiting room at the hospital.  His surgery is scheduled to take place in two weeks.

I was successful in finding Miss Willie Roberts in another hospital.  Her heart cath revealed that all is well with the arteries and the heart pressure.  So, that was obviously a good report.  Thank you for praying.

Made my way to the third hospital for Beth Bradle’s mother’s procedure.  She had to wait a good while before the procedure started but all was went well there too.  Again, thank you for praying.

Terry Lucky is not a fan of the hospital bed!  He is having some restless nights but is doing “ok” otherwise.  There are some things that have to happen before he can be discharged.  Bro. Jerry will be in Mobile this morning so he will visit with Terry today.  Keep praying for Terry.

Keep praying for Tammy Womack, Pastor John and the family.

Good news as it relates to my dad.  His platelet count was up enough yesterday that he was able to receive a chemotherapy treatment.  We are happy about this development.

Marcus Hatcher and I agreed on Sunday night that we are ready for the college football season to begin.  I keep up with Bobby & the boys during this time of the year but I am more geared toward college football.

I have gone two consecutive days without mowing or eating weeds.  That is the first time in a couple of weeks.  We had a nice rain yesterday which means I could hear our grass growing!

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

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

Let me begin by saying “welcome back” to Jeff Holifield, TJ Vice and Raymond Wilkinson.  These men were elected as deacons by the members of the Friendship family last night.  They will serve for a three year period beginning August 1.  Obviously, all three of these men have served as deacons previously.  Good, godly men!

Kendall Falana and Andy Hamil were the other two nominees for deacon.  These two are good, godly men as well and the Friendship family would have done well to have elected them as deacons.  We were in a win/win situation with the five nominees. I am very confident that Kendall & Andy will just keep on serving God through the Friendship family just as they have been doing.

The Friendship family also voted last night to allow GRACE Ministries to apply for 501 (c) 3 status with the Internal Revenue Service.  I appreciate our Missions Committee for their leadership in this area.  I believe this is going to open many doors in the future for the continued expansion of GRACE Ministries.

Miss Willie Roberts will have a heart cath today.  Pray that all goes well.

Joey Switzer’s father will have surgery today.  This procedure was tried a couple of months ago but they had to resolve some other issues first.  Pray they can do what they need to do this time.

Beth Bradley’s mother will have a surgical procedure on her heart today.  It is a complicate procedure but it will be done as an outpatient.  Pray that this will be the answer for Beth’s mom.

Terry Lucky remains hospitalized.  I will be checking on him today.  Keep praying for Terry & Miss Carol.

Linda Green and two of her daughters, Tina & Tori, traveled to Jackson, TN yesterday where they will attend the celebration of life service for one of David’s sisters-in-law.  Pray for that family.

There was a memorial service for Miss Lillian Brinkman’s sister yesterday afternoon.  I pray that all went well.

I learned from Edna Pearl yesterday that Miss Annie Rogers is not doing well physically.  Pray for her.  Miss Annie is an amazing woman.  She is one hundred and four years old.  Yes, I wrote 104 years old!

The all star break in the MLB sees Bobby & the boys five and a half games out of first place in the NL East.  Leslie Hacker’s Braves are one half game behind the Phillies.  Pastor Wes Bates’ beloved Cubs hold a two and one half game lead in the NL Central.  The Dodgers are one half game ahead of the Diamondbacks in the NL West.

I drove home from Hartselle on Friday night.  Lisa, Dana & Jayden stayed until yesterday.  My sweet mother-in-law, Ann Clark, made sure that I had lunch yesterday.  She is definitely a sweetheart and I appreciate her looking out for me.  I am blessed to have her as my mother-in-law.

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)

Carol Lucky so very kindly sent me an updated on Terry’s surgery.  The surgery did not last as long as anticipated and Carol said Terry looked to be doing good when she saw him for a few minutes following the procedure.  Keep praying for Terry and ask the Lord to give him a quick and complete recovery.

Wedding for Justin & Morgan today at 2:00PM in the church auditorium.  Members of the Friendship family are invited.  Pray that all goes well.

Regular schedule tomorrow morning and evening.  Lord willing, I will be preaching in all three services.  We will observe the Lord’s Supper as a part of our evening service.

Finance Committee meets at 4:30PM.

Discussion meeting on GRACE Ministries from 4:30 – 5:00PM in the auditorium.

Informational meeting for students and their parents interested in the GRACE Ministries trip next Summer.

The thought process was that the ice machine at the church would be out of commission for some time.  Enter Bob Evans!  Problem seen.  Problem solved.  The man is not an electrician – he is a machine!  He should have his own television show!

The Lord blessed me with a really nice Friday.  Had some quality time with my parents.  Dad is not feeling well at all.  Mama is chomping at the bits to get past this little episode in her life.  Dad & I visited a couple who support GRACE Ministries financially.  They attend church with dad.  Their son-in-law walked in during our visit and I have known him for around forty five years.  Did not know he was their son-in-law and have not seen him in forty years or so.  Think Small, Small World song – cannot get it out of your head now.  LOL!  Nice visit.

I was able to visit with an Uncle of mine who is ninety three years old.  His mind is as sharp as a tack.  I then went and visited with another Uncle who is eighty eight years old.  Both of them were sitting on their front porch.  Man, that brought back memories as to when family members, friends and neighbors sat on the front porches basically every evening during the warm weather.  Not today!  I miss those times.  Really great visits for me.  Glad I had that time with each of them.

The “main” reason I went to Hartselle was to take part in a surprise birthday party for my sister-in-law, Sue.  She will soon have a milestone birthday (think 50)!  This has been planned for six weeks or so.  It was small by design and the fellowship was great!  Thanks to Eddie & Jamie for involving my family and me.  Happy birthday Sue!  Sue is a sweetheart and she is the real deal!

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

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

Good morning from Decatur, Alabama.  More on that later.

I had the privilege of visiting with Terry Lucky yesterday morning in order to pray with him before his surgery today.  He is facing a serious surgery and certainly needs our prayer support.  He will be in ICU immediately following his surgery and is projected to be in the hospital for several days.  Terry is actively involved in our bus ministry.  Our bus director, Bro. Benny McGath, will be at the hospital to pray with Terry before the surgery and then be with the family during the procedure.  Pray for Terry, pray for the surgeon and those assisting him and pray for Carol as she waits beside Terry during this time.

I visited with Randy Tillman yesterday.  Randy had quadruple heart by-pass surgery about two years ago.  He was outside push mowing his yard in the heat of the day.  I scolded him a bit but that is a lot like “pot meet kettle!”  However, I have never had heart surgery or issues.  Randy is still actively grieving Pam’s passing from this life.  Pray for Randy.

Soy, Deidra and the girls are leaving Guatemala today to travel to Costa Rica.  This is mandated by the Guatemalan government.  They have to be out of the country for at least three days as that is the law.  Pray for them to have safety in their travels and for them to get some rest while they are away. Gina will hold down the fort in their absence.

Again, the Friendship family is invited to attend the wedding of Morgan & Justin tomorrow at 2:00PM in our auditorium.

Regular schedule this Sunday morning and evening.  We will observe the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper in our evening service.  Deacons, please come prepared to assist in this service.

Why am I in Decatur?  Real simple answer – to visit my parents to bring Titus back home as he has been here since Tuesday, July 3.  Talk about an awful day of traveling yesterday – it took me right at seven hours to drive from Mobile to my parent’s house in Rocky Ford.  Why?  Lots of stops?  Yes, but not planned.  I was stopped on I-65 not once, not twice, not thee times, not four times but five different times due to accidents.  I drove through four rain showers and each of them produced at least one accident.  The first one just North of Greenville involved six vehicles.  So, I was very thankful to not be involved in any of those accidents but I was also frustrated by the time I finally got to my parent’s house.  I was “flying solo” so at least no one had to listen to me complain!

I spent about thirty minutes visiting with my parents before telling them I would see them today as I just wanted to get to a hotel and unwind from a pretty tense day of traveling.  So, I “unwound” by stopping by Big Bob’s bbq and getting a sandwich to take to the room.  Nice way to unwind and expand at the same time!  I will make a visit with my dad today, hope to visit an Uncle who is ninety three (I think), check on the construction of Eddie & Sue’s new house, and eat at Big Bob’s!

The Dodgers now lead the NL West for the first time this season – hooray!

I need for no one to tell me the score of the World Cup finals this Sunday so I can go home and watch the recording as though it s live.  (Is he serious?  What do you think?)  I need for those watching it while I preach in the second service to not applaud or shout.  I will go ahead and predict the score to be 1 – 0 or 2-1.  Riveting stuff!

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)

Terry Lucky is scheduled to have surgery in the morning.  Pray that all will go well.

Tammy Womack had a doctor’s appointment yesterday to make some decisions about possible treatments.  Keep praying for Tammy & Pastor John.

Miss Lillian Brinkman has a swallowing test today.  Pray that she will pass it and can begin the process of eating normal foods again.

Robert Baria passed his swallowing test yesterday.  Folks, Robert is a walking miracle! Praise the Lord!

What a huge blessing to see Steve Morris in our morning service yesterday – amazing!  The proverbial “cherry on the top” was to have Sharon Jardee join us as well – also amazing!  Talk about inspirations!

Rita Boutwell shared yesterday morning that one of Greg’s doctors is going to make an effort to do something to help Greg.  Pray that he can find something that can make a positive difference in Greg’s life.

Jim & Glenda Chinners’ youngest son is getting married this Saturday, July 14, at 2:00PM.  The ceremony will take place in our church auditorium.  The Friendship family is invited to attend.

I am in a bind!  The World Cup final is this Sunday, 7/15, at 10:00AM our time.  Should I cancel our services?  Should we have a giant screen on campus and have a “World Cup watch party?”  So many decisions!

Bobby & the boys took it on the chin yesterday while Leslie Hacker’s Braves won.  So, the Nationals are now five and a half games behind the Braves and the Phillies in the NL East.  The Dodgers won while the Diamondbacks got drilled which means LA is only one half game out in the NL West.

The University of Wyoming’s new advertising slogan is set to be “the world needs more cowboys!”  Some folks are crying foul!  They say it is a sexist remark and makes anyone who is not a white male feel unwelcome.  I am just going to bite my tongue and not make comment!

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

On April 29 Tess Scholz arrived in Guatemala to work with GRACE Ministries for a little over two months.  Her assignment was to assist Deidra and helping the one hundred ten children in our feeding center in the area of reading.  Mission accomplished!

Today, Tess boards a plane and heads back to Michigan.  However, she has definitely laid a foundation on which the reading skills of our children can be built upon.  She has organized a library by raising funds to purchase something like five hundred books.  She leveled the books (I think that is what you call it) and then helped teach the Guatemalan workers an effective way to teach reading skills to the children.

She became a great friend and encourager to Deidra.  As Deidra’s father, I am thankful.

The Friendship family had a “bless Tess” Sunday back in May where you gave financially to help make her stay there possible.  Others from outside the Friendship family also gave to support Tess.  Was it a good investment?  Absolutely, without a doubt.

The truth is that Tess blessed all those who crossed her path over these past two months plus.  Pray for Tess as she seeks the Lord’s will for her life from this point forward.

To her parents, Dave & Terri, nice job of raising a fine daughter.  We were definitely “blessed by Tess!”

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

Regular schedule this morning and evening for the Friendship family.

There is going to be an informational meeting for our students, ninth grade & up, regarding our GRACE Ministries trips next Summer.  This meeting takes place this Sunday afternoon, July 15, at 5:00PM.  Students and their parents are invited to attend.

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