Food and clothing drive

I forgot to mention in the last post that we had finished our food and clothing drive at church. We were able to donate a good amount of food and some clothing to some local pantries. Actually, the clothes have not been dropped off yet. I would like to make this kind of an ongoing drive for the local church. Kelley and I have decided to try, when we are able, to donate food on a monthly basis. I encourage everyone to try and help the others in your community in some way on a continuous basis. We may not be able to do much individually, but together we can all do something. At the Youth Banquet Sis. Sharon Griffin taught a class on giving. In the class, she had us divided into groups and had us analyze a scripture passage. One of the points that we got from ours was that if we don't give when we are able, others will shut their bowels of compassion when we are in need. I would never want someone to accuse me of not giving when I was able. Hope everything is going good where you are at. God bless

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, it's been almost a month since I have posted so I figured that I better put something up, even though I don't know if anyone ever reads this. We have been busy over the past month. Since posting last I have went to Evansville and been with them for Sunday School service. Unfortunately, the new family was unable to attend, but from speaking to Bro. Loya, they have been having services with them on the weeks that I have not been going down there.
We had our regional Youth Christmas Banquet last weekend. It was good to see everyone that was able to attend. My sister Serena, her friend and I were able to attend. Serena had two other friends that were planning on attending but were unable to due to different family situations.
God has been blessing us in many different ways. I got an unexpected Christmas bonus from a supervisor that I used to work for at my work. He gives his guys a small bonus out of his pocket, and even though I have not worked for him for a while, he gave me a bonus anyway. In addition, the church has really been a blessing to us. They really take care of us. Last night we had someone give their heart to the Lord. That makes two in the past two months, and neither of them in a church setting. One sitting in jail and the other standing outside his house at about 11:30 at night. Please pray for both of them. The newest saved person normally has to work constantly, but according to what he told us last night he should be getting Sundays off. This would allow him and his family to come to church on a regular basis. Pray that we can continue to see people saved and the church growing. We believe that God has great things in store this year for us.

Newburgh, IN

I thank the Lord for the work He is doing in Newburgh, IN, just outside of Evansville. Last Saturday we had our second meeting there with the Loya family. They are members of the Church and are desiring to get a work going in their area. We had 17 in attendance with 5 visitors from Sturgis, including their pastor and their visiting evangelist. There were 11 in attendance from the Evansville area. There looks to be good prospects for the Church growing in this area. Pray for us as we are having our next services, this Saturday, Dec. 2. Pray that revival will hit this area and that the Lord will continue to open doors for us.

One more for the kingdom!

Just wanted to say, Thank you Lord, for my cousin getting saved some time in the past week or so. I have been working with her for a while and I thank the Lord that she finally gave her heart to Him. Pray for her as she begins this journey. Pray that she is encouraged and uplifted. Pray for the rest of her family as well that they would give their lives over to Him. On a second note I thank the Lord for the growth that we have been seeing in our local church over the past couple of months.

New pics

I forgot to put in my last post that I had taken pictures at tonight's service with the Loyas here. If you would like to see, just click on the My Home Church link and then click on the This Week in Picture link on our website.

God bless

Good day

I thank the Lord for a good day. We had good attendance at both our services. I also thank the Lord for the growth that we are seeing. Tonight we were blessed to have the Loyas with us. They are a church family in southern Indiana that I am working with to try to get something going in their area. If you know any families in the Evansville area that would be interested in attending church services let me know. Anyway, the Loyas drove up tonight to be in service with us. It was good to see them since it has been about a month since I have been down there. We will be holding services down there again next Saturday. There are supposed to be a number of people from the Sturgis church coming up as well as their visiting evangelist, for the revival they are having next weekend. Keep that in prayer. It is wonderful to be around people that have a desire to work for the Lord.

In other news, we had two baby showers yesterday. One that my wife's mother did and one the mine did. All in all there were around 50 people that showed up for the both of them together. It was good to see a lot of people that I don't get see very often. I know, baby showers aren't for guys, but at my in-laws, the father, grandfather, and brothers were there, so I stayed. And at my mother's I just kind of was there for a while at the beginning and end. I was glad that my grandparents came up from TN. It is good to see them, as I don't get to very often.

Well I guess that is all for now.

What a weekend!

This weekend was quite busy for Kelley and I. To start out, as soon as I got off work Friday, I had to rush straight home and take a shower to leave immediately for Ministers' Convention. We got there just in time. It was really good to see everybody and to experience the wonderful presence of the Lord that was in the Convention. Afterwards, we had a good time of fellowship with everyone. As a result by the time we left E-town and took my brother and sister home it was a little before 2 a.m. Both Kelley and I had to work Sat. so that meant we didn't get to sleep in very much. Her work had their big fundraiser of the year which is a dinner and auction. I ended up stopping by shortly before I went up to the Mission to conduct our church's monthly service there. The Spirit was very present there and I thank the Lord for the liberty that He gave me during the message. After that I went to the fundraiser and by the time we got everything cleaned up and got home it was a little before 1 a.m. Needless to say when I got up Sunday morning I felt like I had been run over by a truck. The Lord blessed in our Sunday Morning Service and in the evening service we had a visitor who was with us for the second time in as many weeks. We have launched into a food and clothing drive at church for the next month. We are small but are looking to do great things for the Lord, and to grow.

Hope everything is going good in everyone else's world.
God bless

Thank you Lord

I thank the Lord for protecting me today. While I was at work I was nearly run over by an SUV. We were tapping the gas main and my job was to stand by the fire extinguisher in case something caught on fire. We had safety cones on the road and I was kneeling/sitting just on the other side of them. As I was concentrating on the gas main I suddenly heard some noises in behind me. I thought that it was a car backfiring or something and thought that it might ignite the gas. I threw myself away from the road and sometime immediately before or after a cone hit me from behind. The vehicle went whizzing by. Only then did I realize how close it had come to hitting me. It was probably within one to two feet of hitting me. That not that close when you are thinking person to person but a vehicle going down the road at 30-40 miles an hour. I am thankful that He protected me.

Regional Paper

I forgot to mention that we received our Regional Papers in the mail Saturday. It was great to get them and see what is going on in the region. I hope to see many more wonderful testimonies in the near future.

Great things happening and great things on the way

Thank the Lord for a good weekend. I had to work for a while Saturday but had a pretty good day. Sunday was a great day. With the exception of some yellow jackets getting into the house during Sunday morning service. We live in an old house(almost 100) and some yellow jackets have made a nest under a corner of the roof. I am in the process of getting rid of it, but they have so how found a way into the house so over the past couple of days we have been finding at least a couple each day. Sunday afternoon we took Doodlebug, otherwise known as Kathryn(my cousin's little girl) to a local orchard. They have a petting zoo there, which she loved. We fed llamas, goats, and sheep. They also had chickens, rabbits, peacocks, and a donkey/mule that was as tall or taller than me. We had a lot of fun and took some good pictures. While there we picked up some apple cider donuts and pumpkin donuts for our Pastor's Social after church. I personally like the pumpkin ones better. At any rate, by the time everyone let after church, all the donuts were gone. We had hot and cold cider with them. It was nice fellowshipping with everyone, just snacking and chatting. We are looking forward to our upcoming ministers' convention.

On another note, I have found something that I didn't know that there was. Another TCOG pastor that enjoys not only contemporary music, but Christian rock. Bands like Kutless, etc. Way to go Bro. Johnny. There must be others out there. We need to find them and unite to convert others. :)

I would also like to thank the Lord for good attendance this Sunday. We are looking to win more people to Christ. I am excited by all of the good reports that I am hearing about The Church of God across the country and even in different parts of the world.

Another rainy day

This is the second rainy day in a row. So that means I haven't had to go to work. Does anyone else have the problem of having a free day with a lot to get done and seemingly getting very little done? Maybe it's just me. I do thank the Lord for the things I have been able to take care of. Also for getting to spend time with my brother and sister yesterday as they were out of school for fall break. We don't get to spend too much time together just by ourselves. So I was off and they were off so I went over to their house and spent time there. Then my brother wanted to come over here and play music. So we hopped into the cars and after two little errands came here and played music for a while. They are getting a lot better at playing the different instruments we have. It makes it nice, because then I can play the drums occassionally and not always have to play guitar or keyboard. Serena is doing good on keyboard and is picking up a good amount on guitar. The soon to be Uncle J is progressing on guitar and bass. And as always he is getting better on the drums. If my other sister was here we would have our own little family band. Well, time to get some more stuff done on my day off. I have to work tomorrow on a side job and go to a wedding reception later in the evening. So, keep working for Jesus.

Win them to Christ, Disciple them into the Church

I have taken on what I guess would be a personal motto or theme for ministry. It is "Win them to Christ, then disciple them into the Church" or a relatively close paraphrase of such. I can't remember exactly when this came to me. But, it is becoming what I desire to be and do as a minister. So many people say that they want to win people to the Church. I agree that we want as many people in the Church as will come. Yet, our main task is to win people to Christ. If we look at the disciples throughout the book of Acts, I believe that we will see that their primary goal and aim was to tell people about Jesus. After they won them to Jesus, they taught them more doctrine and they naturally became a part of the Church. I believe that if the Church will work harder than ever to win souls to Jesus, we will not have to go around telling people that "We are The Church of God". People will know because we will be doing what the Church is supposed to be doing. If we are not working for and winning souls, then we are failing in our responsibility. Church, let us fail no more. Let us win more souls for Jesus this year than ever before. Once we win people to Jesus, then we disciple them in the "all things" message that Jesus instructed His disciples to teach. If we do not first win them to Him, we will never be able to disciple them into strong christian workers for Him. Dear Lord, help us to win sinners for you!

First Kick

Yesterday I felt our baby kick for the first time. Kelley has been feeling it for a while but it is just now kicking strong enough for me to feel outside. I only got to feel it once but hey that's good enough for now.

Jesus is the Way

Cruise Control

Well, I guess God knew I needed the cruise control for that trip yesterday, because after I got home I went out later to pick up a pizza and the cruise wouldn't work anymore. Thank the Lord for it working on the trip at least. Pray for us as we reach out to people in this area that we will demonstrate and they will feel the love of the Lord.

Great Day!

I thank the Lord for a great day in Newburgh, a town just outside of Evansville. There I met with the Loyas for a good time of fellowship as well as for a Sunday School class. I know, it was on a Saturday so technically it could be Saturday School. It was good to see them again as I have not seen them since the Assembly. At the Assembly I didn't get to spend very much time with them so it was nice to sit down and relax and fellowship with them. We had a wonderful class on "Walking in the Spirit." There was a lot of good discussion. I thank the Lord for starting out my morning with a little(to me a big) miracle. For several months now, the cruise control on our car has not worked. I don't get it looked at because it is not really a necessity. This morning as I started down the road, I thought to try it again. I prayed Lord please let this work. And it did! It worked the whole trip down and back. This is a huge blessing because it is a little bit over a three hour trip. That is a long time to have to have your foot on the pedal when you are sleepy. I would have probably ended up driving 50-55 down the interstate not noticing that I was going very fast, since I was sleepy.

Another new experience today was eating cow's tongue. Sister Loya fixed a brunch today for us before we had class. They were describing that what we were going to eat was like barbeque but different. So I ate part of a cow's tongue today. Can I just say that I love the Loya's! I could feel the love that they had, and I look forward to seeing them many more times in the future. Being there with them, I didn't even think about, that I can remember, the drive home. I was totally comfortable with them other than a slight language barrier occasionally.

Hope that God is blessing you.

It has been almost a year since my last post. I don't know that there is anyone out there reading this, but anyway. I thank the Lord for the confirmation I have received from Him lately. He has and will help me to be faithful to Him even in the difficult times. I am trusting that He will give the strength that I need during this next month of ministrying as I look at my schedule and see that currently I am scheduled to preach at least three times a week and this week already have preached twice and will be preaching 2/3 more before the week is up. It is a good thing I don't have to preach during the midweek service as well, otherwise I would probably be overwhelmed. I think back to all the times in the past where I didn't preach for extended periods and think, "It is being made up for now". If anyone is reading this just pray that the Lord will help me do all the outreach and visiting for the church that I need to do as well this month. On top of my normal 40 hr/wk job I am in the middle of helping someone put on part of a new roof when I can, finishing out a good sized walk-in closet at home for my office, and in the middle of remodeling two bathrooms, one which is almost complete, for someone else. God is going to help me I am sure. Pray also that the Lord will help me with my spanish. If everything turns out as planned, I will be teaching Sunday School and preaching in spanish every other weekend on Saturdays.

God bless