Iceland Project

Continued more about new police car: true Knight Rider

More Awesome Pictures of this car! I am so pumped!!

Ok This is COOL! New Police Car - True Knight Rider

Ok, I am a big kid, and a big fan of Knight Rider. I saw this on Fox News and it was where? In GREENVILLE, SC - THIS IS AWESOME!!!!

Who Needs the Big 3? Atlanta Company Plans New Police Car
Thursday, December 11, 2008
By Jonathan Serrie

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Straight out of a Hollywood movie, the "E7" may be the police car of the future.

"You think about Knight Rider and all these fictional characters," said William Santana Li, chairman and CEO of the Atlanta-based Carbon Motors Corporation. "This car is actually real."
A prototype model of the E7 is on a nine-city U.S. tour, as Carbon Motors executives market the car to law enforcement officials and municipal fleet managers.

• Click here for photos.

Unlike conventional police cruisers, which are retrofitted consumer vehicles such as the Ford Crown Victoria, the E7 is the first car designed and built specifically for law enforcement.
"You would never send a pickup truck to go put out a fire," Li said. "Why would you send a family sedan to go take care of a homeland-security issue?"
Flashing emergency lights are embedded in the E7's frame, making the car aerodynamic and visible from all directions. The front seats are designed with extra space to accommodate a police officer's utility belt.

• Click here for video.

The rear passenger compartment is completely sealed off from the cockpit. Molded plastic seats in back allow for easy cleaning and prevent prisoners from hiding contraband.
Two front-mounted cameras automatically scan license plates of nearby vehicles and alert police when they find a car flagged as stolen or involved in some other crime. According to developers, the car's onboard equipment can also detect nuclear and biological threats.
Li said the car's 300 bhp forced-induction 3.0-diesel engine will deliver 420 lb-ft of torque and propel the vehicle from zero to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, with a governed top speed of 155 mph.
He also said the E7's engine, which can run on either ultra-low sulfur diesel or biodiesel, will have a combined fuel economy rating of 28 to 30 mpg — up to 40 percent more fuel efficient than conventional police cruisers.

Carbon Motors has contracted with a European manufacturer to supply the E7's power train, but has yet to publicize the name of that manufacturer. "Our customers will be favorably impressed when we make the announcement," Li added.
At a vehicle demonstration this week in Greenville, S.C., law-enforcement officials and fleet managers were impressed with the powerful features embedded in the vehicle.
"Everything that I have to do to put a police car in service is already done," said Jerry Farmer, the operations superintendent for maintenance with the Newport News, Va. municipal government.

"Most of the cars that we now drive were tested prior to all of the equipment going in and then probably not tested again after that," said Larry Moses, a detective with the police department in Etowah, Tenn. "This car comes equipped and meets national standards."
The leading concern potential customers express is the cost. "Can they compete with Ford? Can they compete with Chevrolet?" Moses said. "Can they compete with those guys and actually put a car out there that makes sense for us because it's competitive in price?"
Li said Carbon Motors will announce pricing in a few months and that it will be competitive with the cost of retail passenger cars retrofitted with police equipment. Depending on the options installed, current police vehicles can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $75,000.

• Click here for more news and auto reviews FOX Car Report.

The company is currently in negotiations with several states on where to locate its assembly plant. According to Li, production of the E7 will create 10,000 direct and indirect American jobs.
Law enforcement agencies purchase an estimated 80,000 vehicles per year. Carbon Motors officials project the annual manufacture and sale of 50,000 E7s, with the first models going into service in 2012.

Facebook

What is Facebook? It is a place on the internet where people can stay connected. I have a Facebook page and a Myspace page. I have been on Facebook for about a month now and it has been such a blessing. I get so much more out of Facebook than I do out Myspace. I have connected with friends of mine that I grew up with in the youth group like Talia, Kimberly, and so many more.

Another big moment I had is when I got to be connected with some kids that I helped when I was an after school counselor. Now they are in college and have grown up. Some of my best memories is when I worked with those kids. I was thrilled beyond belief to hear from so many of them.

Facebook has been awesome!

The Great Evil: Cancer

As many of you know I am dealing with a family member who has cancer. I am not going to release the name, the individual may not want it broadcast over the Internet. It has been a trying time for my family, especially for my wife. I see the effects that it has on cancer patients and see the effects it has on the families involved. It is very personal for me right now. I think one of the greatest problems that we face is the unknown. What will happen, will something tomorrow, next week, and how will I face it.

Cancer has ravaged my church family. Almost every week we have a new church member who has been diagnosed with cancer. I get emotional over the issue as I see Godly men and women and their families struggle over cancer.

Have we done enough to combat cancer? Is their something I as a pastor can do? Do I need to be talking about preventive procedures from the pulpit? What can I do? It is a struggle for me.

Evangelist Tony Alamo

What is the truth?


According to Fox News

"TEXARKANA, Ark. — Stories of alleged beatings and sexual abuse prompted Arkansas child-welfare officials to take custody of 20 more children associated with the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, an official said Wednesday.

The children — 11 boys and 9 girls ranging in age from 1 to 17_ were taken into state care Tuesday while hearings were being conducted on whether six girls seized in September should remain under state protection or be returned to their parents, Department of Human Services spokeswoman Julie Munsell said."

How do we as Christians respond to these accusations made against other Christians? Do we say nothing? Some would suggest that are against Tony Alamo that we should condemn and cut off all support from him. Is that the answer? Other who are proponets suggest that should support and pray for him. Tony on his website

says this about the latest accusations. I copied his statement at the first part of this article.

Jerry Vines John 3:16 Conference

The conference was held at Johnny Hunt's church in Woodstock Georgia. The emphais of the conference was to respond to the Calvinist movement in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Dr. Johnny Hunt - Opening Message
Dr. Jerry Vines - John 3:16
Dr. Paige Patterson - Total Depravity
Dr. Richard Land - Unconditional Election
Dr. David Allen - Limited Atonement
Dr. Steve Lemke - Irresistible Grace
Dr. Ken Keathley - Perseverance of the Saints
Dr. Charles Stanley - John 3:16 to the Entire World

The conference concluded with a time of questions and answers from the floor.

I found the conference to be very fair and unbiased in its doctrine and approach. The speakers did a wonderful job in presenting their views in a historical and biblical framework. I do not believe that Calvinists can or should critize the conference. I do wish Paige Patterson had done a better job in presenting the optional views of Total Depravity. There are some problems that I have with the view and some at the conference would agree with my position that Paige appeared to go along with Calvinists view on Total Depravity.

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New! David Bagwell Ministries E-store!

Check out David Bagwell Ministries E-store.

Everyone is always asking me, "Pastor what books and resources do you recommend", so here they are! Enjoy!

Ray Boltz: The interview that started the storm.

"I post this because I struggle with the why and understanding of how a man who could sing and write like he has could let this darkness overwelm him. I am at a loss to know how to react - anger - sadness - and a wanting to reach out to him and minister to him. I know without a doubt that Jesus Christ has the power to do all things and it is my prayer that God will intervene in his life and change it." David Bagwell

Here is the interview that caused the world to know about Ray Boltz and his coming out as a homosexual.

Key changes Gospel singer Ray Boltz shares coming out journey in this Blade exclusive

JOEY DiGUGLIELMO Friday, September 12, 2008

Ray Boltz wanted to do something nice.He’d visited the mostly gay Jesus Metropolitan Community Church in Indianapolis and liked Rev. Jeff Miner, so he decided to give him a copy of his 1997 holiday recording, “A Christmas Album.” It was one of 16 albums Boltz, 55, recorded during a nearly 20-year recording career that saw the Muncie, Ind., native become one of the better-known singer/songwriters in Contemporary Christian Music, a genre born out of the Jesus Movement of the early 1970s that made singers like Amy Grant, Sandi Patty, Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman superstars in religious music with occasional excursions into mainstream pop culture.

Boltz, with about 4.5 million LPs, cassettes and CDs sold, never made a splash outside of Christian circles but he never really tried. With a handful of RIAA Gold-certified albums, three Dove Awards from the Gospel Music Association (GMA) and a string of 12 No. 1 hits on Christian radio, Boltz is a household name in evangelical circles. “Thank You,” a sentimental song about a dream in which a Christian thanks the Sunday school teacher who led him to embrace Christ, is his signature song. It was the GMA song of the year in 1990 and has become a staple of Christian funerals. Other Boltz trademarks are “Watch the Lamb,” “The Anchor Holds” and “I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb.”

Boltz brought the Christmas CD with him to MCC-Indianapolis on that cold, sunny December 2007 day and slipped it to Miner on his way out with a note taped to it on which he’d jotted his e-mail address. Ostensibly it was an innocuous thing to do, but for Boltz it was a big step. It eventually led to him opening up to Miner, one of the first times anybody outside Boltz’s circle of family and friends knew his long-kept secret: Ray Boltz is gay. “I didn’t make a big deal of it,” Boltz says during a 90-minute phone interview from his home in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. “But I was trembling. I’d kind of had two identities since I moved to Florida where I kind of had this other life and I’d never merged the two lives. This was the first time I was taking my old life as Ray Boltz, the gospel singer, and merging it with my new life.

Emotionally it was kind of a big deal to think about that.” Ray Boltz was tired of living a lie. He’d gotten to a point nearly three years before where he couldn’t continue down the road his life had gone. His 33-year marriage to ex-wife Carol was, he says, largely a happy one. It produced four children — three daughters and a son who are now between 22 and 32 — but family life and going through the motions of being straight had grown so wearying to Boltz, he was in a serious depression, had been in therapy for years, was on Prozac and other anti-depressants and had been, for a time, suicidal. “I thought I hid it really well,” he says. “I didn’t know people could see what I was going through, the darkness and the struggle. After I came out to my family, one of my daughters said she was afraid to walk in my bedroom because she was afraid she’d find me — that I’d done something to myself.

And I didn’t even know they’d picked it up.” The Boltz family remembers Dec. 26, 2004 for two reasons: the tsunami in the Indian Ocean but also the tsunami that their husband and father unleashed when he told them what had been bothering him for so many years. He hadn’t planned a major announcement — but sitting around the kitchen table at his daughter’s house, Boltz’s son, Philip, asked him what was wrong. “I thought, ‘Well, I can just do what I always do and hide the truth or I can take a risk and be honest,’” Boltz says. “That day, with the tsunami, has become very symbolic in our family.” Nobody was sure, at the time, what the ramifications of the revelation would be, least of all Ray.

“It’s hard to say I came out because I didn’t have all the answers. I just admitted what I was struggling with and what I was feeling. It’s hard to go, ‘This is the point where I accepted my sexuality and who I was,’ but I came out to them and shared with them what I’d been going through.” Continuing to pretend, Boltz says, was no longer an option. “I’d denied it ever since I was a kid. I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, ‘I’m still gay. I know I am.’ And I just got to the place where I couldn’t take it anymore … when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, ‘Just end this.’” His family’s reaction took time.“ I don’t want to downplay it like it was just, ‘Oh, well that’s OK.’ It was a very tough time for them too, but the bottom line ...

If you want to read the rest of the article please email me and let me know. I do not want to display it because it is a gay paper and it is not appropriate for young people.

Ray Boltz has come out of the closet!

I am so saddened by the news that one of my all time favorite singers has come out to say that he is homosexual. Listen to what he writes here on http://www.rayboltz.com/.

"A few years ago I made the decision to retire from contemporary Christian music. I had won awards, performed in front of thousands of people, and sold millions of records. Still, I believed that if people knew who I really was, I would never be accepted. During the last few years I've learned that there are many people who feel the same way I did. One church in particular has helped me in many ways. The Metropolitan Community Church (www.mccchurch.org) was started forty years ago by Rev. Troy Perry in the Los Angeles area and has an outreach to the LGTB (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community. "

I honestly do not have words to express at this moment on how profound this is.

Click below links to read more about the situation.

http://christiantheology.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/ray-boltz-is-a-homosexual-shouldnt-we-be-glad-that-he-is-happy/

http://timglass.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/ray-boltz-shocks-christian-community/

Ray did an interview with gay paper and I will post that interview in my next post.

Full of Grace

As I continue to study the concept of "grace", I am finding myself humbled and defeated. I consider myself a humble man of God, but the more I study about grace the more arrogant I feel.

To think Jesus - God - humbled himself to die for me......I am not worth it. Listen to how my memory verse speaks to all of us this week:

John 1:14 (NASB)
¹⁴ And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus is full of grace, self sacrificing, unbelievable merciful, and I am undone, unjust, selfish, and arrogant. May God forgive me for not showing grace to those around me.

Oh what Amazing Grace! How Sweet the Sound! That Saved such a wretch like me....

A word from a fellow pastor...

Perry Noble, the pastor of Newspring Church, wrote this in his blog. His blog is www.perrynoble.com. As I came across this blog I spent some time and truly wrestled with what he said. I think all pastors should take a minute and think about this blog. What do you all think?


Four Questions Every Church Should Wrestle With - Part Three

Last post on this from Romans 10:14-15,

#4 - “And how can they preach unless they are sent?”
Pardon me while I go “Rick Warren” and use an acrostic on this one! S-E-N-T stands for…


S = Set On Fire!!! Personal evangelism and inviting people to church MUST be regularly taught from the stage! People have GOT to know that lost people matter to God (Luke 19:10); therefore they MUST matter to the church!

E = Encouraged!!! Anytime you ask someone to invite people to church there is some excitement…but also discouragement because they begin thinking, “I’ve already asked them a hundred times and they won’t come!!!”

Encourage them…I always tell them that I am so glad that a guy named David didn’t give up on me! Ever more specifically…I am glad GOD didn’t give up one me!!!

For those of you at NewSpring getting “no’s” for this weekend–don’t give up!!! Sometimes it takes a while! It did for me!


N = Necessary!!! It is so necessary for a church to be obsessed with personal evangelism! Heck, if the early church had been a bunch of guys who loves theology more than Jesus and had decided to get in a room with people who only thought just like them and solely focused on the “finer points of theology…” Well, we’d have all gone to hell!!!

T = Tense!!! Christians must understand that when we step out into the world and begin to invite people to church…there are going to be tense conversations! AND…that’s OK! We must remember that it should not be our goal to win arguments and distance people…but to work through the tension and allow God to use us to break down walls that people have built up.

Putting a Face on Grace

Here are some thoughts and insights from Session 2 with Richard Blackaby. Did I mention he rocks? Well HE ROCKS!!!!

• Text: Ephesians 4:29-32 & Story of how many times do we forgive people between Peter and Jesus.
• What is Grace? Is it unmerited favor? God has shown great GRACE towards me!
• Why is it that so many Christians do not show grace to others, but expect grace from others. (Sure we love the grace that Jesus shows toward us and we love that grace has no limit, but wow if our spouse do something wrong or a church member hurts someone - where is our grace in those moments?
• Is your home a home of grace? (I need to really work on this!)
• So many Christians keep a file cabinet of past sins and hurt and when someone hurts them they drop the WHOLE FILE CABINET ON THEIR HEAD! They bring out sins from 20 years ago...its unbelievable!
• Do we give GRACE as freely as we receive it from God?

God forgive me and I pray that my home would be a home of grace and that my life will be a life of Grace!

Next Session is tomorrow morning, I can't wait!!!

Going to New Levels with God!

Session 1 with Richard Blackaby. Some Highlights!

• Text: John 14:8-9 - The story where Phillip asks Jesus to show him the Father - Check the passage out!!!
• It is not about how long you been with God, but how deep is your relationship with God! (There are so many Christians who have been like Phillip and have walked with God for a long time and yet you see not depth!)
• (Speaking to a room of pastors) You can not give to people what you don't have. You cannot lead where you haven't been. (So many pastors and myself included - its hard to get people to grow deeper in than Lord if their shepherd is not! Wow...very convicting!
• As Christians we get too far satisfied with our current relationship with Christ. (Isn't that the truth!)
• Don't you just being around Christians who you KNOW HAVE WALKED WITH GOD!!! I know I do!
• How deep is our prayers....or has our prayer life gotten so superficial where we pray the same thing every day?
• "Some Christians are still riding the kiddie rides and wont take the chance to get on the Rollar Coaster, but once they experience the power of the Rollar Coaster they won't go back to the kiddie ride! Christians who have grown deeper in their walk with God have experienced the majestic power of God and will not be satisfied with a kiddie ride experience with God.

Shepherding the Shepherd 2008

I am now in Hilton Head and I want to take a few moments and share my insights about the conference for pastors. Richard Blackaby is the keynote speaker and he is well known for the Experiencing God movement. The Annie Moses Band is the worship team for this weekend.

Richard has been phenominal! Did you know that he is now living in Greenville SC, now? He children are going to my college...North Greenville University. I graduated in 2002. They have moved their entire ministry from Canada to Atlanta, Georgia. I encourage you to check out www.blackaby.org.

The Annie Moses Band have been wonderful so far...truly inspirational! Check them out at http://anniemosesband.com/category/features/.

Israel Study Trip

I am taking a team to Israel in March of next year. This trip is open to anyone, just send me an email and ill give you an itinerary of the trip.

I feel that door of traveling to Israel may be closing, so the time is urgent if you want to see the Holy Land.

Watch this video...

Be sure to pause my song while watching the video! You will want to watch and listen to this amazing video!

Life Change Event - BRYAN HESTER!

LifeChange Event

Sunday, May 25th at 7 pm

At Bethel Baptist Church

Pre-service music starts at 6:45 pm

Guest Speaker & Musician: Rev. Bryan Hester
Gifted Musician and Singer!
Inspirational Testimony!

One of the most humble and powerful Christian leaders of our day. God has empowered him with an unbelievable voice and unparallel leadership qualities.

He is the Associate Pastor at Pickens First Baptist Church, where he devotes his time to the worship ministry and discipleship in the church. Come and experience the great voice God has given to him and hear the inspirational testimony that God has laid upon his heart!

My Personal Thoughts....

“Bryan, is one of my mentors in the ministry and I am honored to call him a friend. He has an incredible, powerful, and inspirational voice. God has anointed this man of God to do many great and powerful things in God's Kingdom. You will not want to miss out on this great event and night of worship.”

Special music will be presented throughout the evening. Make plans to be here and bring everyone you know who is unchurched.

5 Thoughts for Friday

1. We are about to do a new series calles the Affair. It is a sensitive subject and a subject that has plagued our marriages like a terminal cancer. How does the church respond? It is silent. That is scary! Especially knowing all the staff of churches that has fallen to it.

2. I am still pumped when I think how well our LifeChange event went. We had over 175 in attendance! I was so proud of our volunteers who worked so hard for this event!

3. My wife has fallen in love with Bethel! She absolutely loves our people and the community of Oakway. I have the best wife!

4. Last night I met with two pastors and two deacons who are friends of mine and had a guys night out. IT WAS GREAT! Note to David I need to do that more often.

5. Have you ever wished that you could stop the sun like God sis in the Old Testament so that you could have more time with the ones you love. I know I do. Just a thought.

LifeChange Event

I have to tell you about this exciting event that is coming to our church this Sunday night! Read on!

LifeChange Event
Sunday, April 27th at 7 pm
At Bethel Baptist Church
Pre-service music starts at 6:45 pm

Speaker
Brad Kelley
World’s Strongest Bench Press in His Weight Class
Holds many World Records!
Bench presses over 800lbs!
His twin brother, Bart, will be here to support him and help him as they show great feats of strength!

His most powerful feat of strength is the incredible testimony that God has given to him.

He is the Associate Pastor at Mountain Creek Baptist Church, where he devotes his time to the families and youth in the community. Come and see the great strength God has given to him and hear the inspirational testimony that God has laid upon his heart!

“Brad, is one of the most incredible, powerful, and inspirational speakers I’ve ever heard. God has anointed this man of God to do many great and powerful things and I believe the best is yet to come. I am blessed to call this man a brother in Christ and one of my best friends.”
Pastor David Bagwell
Bethel Baptist Church
Westminster, SC 29693

Simple Church: For those you who have YET to read it! Shame on You!

I read this book when it first came out two years ago and it has revolutionized how I look at church. I have blogged about it, dreamed about, and think about it EVERY SINGLE DAY! Two years later people are still blogging about it and so thrilled about how great it is! I have taken our staff through it and now I am taking our deacons through the book. If you have not read it...YOU SHOULD! Here are some of the quotes from the book.

"Churches with a simple process for reaching and maturing people are expanding the kingdom."

• "Many of our churches have become cluttered. So cluttered that people have a difficult time encountering the simple and powerful message of Christ."
• "Great amounts of activity do not produce life change. It only gives the impression that things are happening, that there is life."
• "If the purpose is hazy, the process for making the purpose happen has not entered the picture."
• "If the goal is to keep certain things going, the church is in trouble. The end result must always be about people. Programs should only be tools."
• "The goal is to partner with God to move people through the stages of spiritual growth. Changed lives are the bottom line, the intended end result. Christ formed in people is the goal."
• "The first group consisted of growing and healthy churches. These churches had grown 5 percent a year for three consecutive years. Few churches do that. Sadly, less than 2 percent of all churches in America experience that type of consistent growth."
• "Some churches are not clear on a ministry process because they do not have one."
• "Focus does not make church leaders popular."
• "To be simple you have to eliminate the unnecessary. Most of the things you eliminate will be good things. They were started with a passionate leader and a perceived or real need."
• "People will not live out something they cannot remember."
• "When you are tired of talking about it, people will just be in the first stages of understanding."
• "Sadly, in many churches people are stuck in the same place spiritually. And there is no intentional process to move them."
• "You must begin with the process, not the programs... If the programs do not fit into your process, you need to eliminate them."
• "Choose one program for each phase of your process... Multiple programs for each phase of the process divide attention and energy."
• "Church leaders must avoid the two extremes of micromanagement and neglect. Micromanagement stifles creativity and hampers shared leadership. Neglect fosters complacency and leads to a fragmented team."
• "One would think that the more programs and the more special events that are offered, the great the impact. Our research has confirmed that the opposite is true."
• "The churches that experienced the highest percentages of growth were the churches that offered fewer programs."
• "The majority of churches choose not to change. They would rather die. Tragically, in most churches, the pain of change is greater than the pain of ineffectiveness."

Tennessee Mission Trip

What an ABSOLUTELY fantastic mission trip! 13 men from my church traveled to Hancock County, Tennessee, which is the poorest county in the state. We worked with New Freedom Baptist Church and built a porch, stairs, and a bathroom.

I would estimate from driving around the countryside that the majority of the churches and homes we saw outside of town are using outhouses! Let me stop there and say that I DID NOT use it! Haha...of course many of our men did and we even "accidentally" left one guy in the outhouse in the dark! The rest of us left for the cabin. We didn't know till later that "hey anybody see Joel"....haha I am just glad he forgave me. I have never left a person behind before and that includes taking children on trips, youth on trips, and adults to Ecuador, England, and Romania.

You could have not put a better group of guys together! The guys are already talking about a doing another trip. I am so PUMPED about what God did through our men on this trip. Because of their efforts a sister church can better meet the needs of their members and visitors and provide a better atmosphere for growth.

Here are some pictures of before and after. I can't wait till the next trip!

Do you wanna get Dunked?

The past three weeks have baptized 9 individuals! It has been a great experience! What better way to worship the King of Kings than by following through in the act of Baptism!

Baptism is the perfect symbol of obedience! It is a symbol to the world that they are not ashamed of being a Christian and a Child of God! Everytime I perform baptism I get emotional, it is a just powerful and holy event!

Would it not be great if I got to do BAPTISM every week! This should be the goal of every church!

Yard work

I worked Monday so I figured I would take off Thursday and do some well needed yard work.

Well its Thursday and it has rained all day. I guess the Lord had something else planned.

Is it not funny that God has a way of messing up our plans. And though it can be aggrivating I am sure glad God does it.

Who wants to yard work anyway...

Sunday Reflections

We baptized 7 people today! God is good! We are baptizing again this Sunday! Everyone seemed to be real receptive to the first sermon of the series called The Table. The Zion quartet did a wonderful job in our evening service...they do leave you hungering for more.

I can't wait till next Sunday!

Confessions of a Pastor

10 things I need to do...

No certain order....

10. Tell and show my wife that she is the love of my life.

9. Do my part with helping with household chores.

8. Call my parents tell them I love them.

7. Spend time in God's Word

6. Go in my room and close the door and pray to my Father in heaven.

5. Take time to look after my spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, and social well being.

4. Read a good book that has nothing to do with religion.

3. Spend time with a buddy..talk about everything except church.

2. Play with my dogs...who are my kids.

1. Do something that I love to do

Always Room at the Table

Upcoming Sermon Series! Begins March 30th

I love food, don’t you? Baptists are known for loving to eat! And eating around the dinner table with family and friends is the inspiration for the upcoming series. I’ve entitled it simply, “The Table.” As we uniquely relate different aspects of eatinga special meal to our purpose as Christ-followers, I believe we will be reminded in a powerful way that there’s always room at the table.

God Moved....

The children were great...the youth was fantastic..the choir and special music was perfect........BUT GOD was SPECTACULAR!

Lives were changed...souls were saved...& next week we will have a HUGE Baptism with many people getting baptized!

God moved in a powerful way in our service...if you were not there you have to get a tape!

Easter Tomorrow

As I sit in my office at 5:50 pm on Saturday night. I am just so burdened by tomorrow's service. Easter is huge - it is everything! I sit here in go over my notes for tomorrow and I just need God's people to pray for me and for the service! Please be in prayer for our Easter Service tomorrow!

Pray with passion!
God hears our prayers and beg you to pray on our behalf that the King of Kings will fill His glory in our church - that the Spirit of God will dwell amongst us!

Pray with urgency!
I cry out to you that you will pray as if there is no tomorrow, pray right now, where ever you are!

Pray with desperation!
Please pray with a sense that you want to crack the very walls of heaven so that God will be so moved by your prayers. Pray that the gates of hell will be pushed back by the harvest of souls!

PRAY!

Focus on The Simple Things

What should a church focus on?

Essential
1. Worship
2. Small Groups
3. Missions
4. Emphasizing Spiritual Disciplines

These next two are essential once the church is doing the previous four well or excellent
5. Children Ministry
6. Youth Ministry

The problem is that too many churches are going in 50 different directions with no goal in mind. We see in Acts 2 the founding of the early church and the early church was united in purpose and united in the process, which were the first four. Loving God through Worship, Loving people through vibrant relationships in small groups and ministering and sharing each other burdens, and witnessing to those around as they sought to save the world.

As you look at verses 44-47 in Acts 2, you see the people worshipping in large groups in the temple, enjoying fellowship and studying together in small groups (they met in homes which were 2 to 3 room buildings and were very small) and they grew in number because they showed that they loved one another.

Churches need to get back to the basics and see the big picture.