Pastor, FBC Hallsville

Divine Appointments

I had one of those divine appointments this morning.  I just had this sense that I needed to go to a certain place where I had some business to take care of.  As soon as I drove up the divine appointment was stepping out of the building and came over to my truck.  We talked right there and I had the opportunity to give some God-advice and pray with the person.  Wherever you work there are those divine appointments that God is going to give to you.  They are times when you can give some of God's wisdom from His Word.  You may not get to tell the Story but you can plant a seed.  I recently finished a book about sharing Christ in the marketplace and the author emphasized that most of what we do in our workplaces is plant seeds.  Some of the seed falls on stony ground, some seed just sprouts for a little while and then is gone, and some see falls in rich soil that produces.  Keep planting because some of the seed is going to produce fruit.

Ramblings

I talked to Blain last night on the telephone.  Well I talked and he babbled.  It was a blast for me.  As I thought about how much I enjoyed talking to Blain, even though he didn't actually say an intelligible word, I thought about how God must enjoy talking to His children.  Every conversation is special to God.  Prayer is like picking up the phone and talking to God.  How often do we forget to dial up or just decide not to dial up?  Talking to Blain on the phone renewed my passion for prayer. 

The news headlines continue to be filled with stories about the Air France plane that went down in the Atlantic Ocean.  The search for survivors continues but any hope that there are survivors is pretty much over.  The main focus is on what happened.  What caused the plane to go down?  We may never know the answer because we may never find the black box.  Anytime there is a disaster like this we all kind of take a collective breath.  We are saddened by the loss of life.  We are saddened for the families that have to deal with the loss of loved ones.  It reminds us of the uncertainty of life.  In a recent funeral message I made the point that the death of someone close to us is a reminder that we do not know what tomorrow holds so we need to make the most of today.  That means that if God puts someone in my path to share The Story with then I must do it today.  It means that I need to slow down long enough to enjoy time with the people who are most important to me.  Enjoy today because this is the day that God has made for you.

Growing

I know it has been a while since I wrote on this blog.  I read several blogs where these guys write fifteen paragraphs every day.  I don't know how they do that.  I'm finding that I am not the best blogger.  I do hope to keep the blog going so I'll keep trying and maybe I can get to where I at least write something most days.  Maybe.

Last Sunday I baptized six, a dad and his three boys and two teenagers.  It was a great day.  Coming up this Sunday I have three scheduled for baptism, a dad and his two sons.  I am thankful for what God is doing in our church.  We still have the challenge of the space issue in the second service.  Three of the deacons are meeting with an engineer to explore the possibility of adding a balcony.  That should give us some time to plan for a new sanctuary.  Every Sunday now there are three to four rows of teenagers at the front in the middle section.  Patrick is doing a great job with the students.  Ed has been doing a super job with the music in worship.  Monty has been working hard on all that stuff most people don't even know about but I can tell you that he is a big part of the growth that is happening in our church.

Becky has just two more chemotherapy treatments.  Next week and the week after that.  We are so excited.  Her counts are in the normal range and that means the cancer is in remission.  Pray with us that it will remain in remission. 

Second Service Packed Again

The second worship service was packed again Sunday.  We are still trying to get some answers on some of the options, such as putting in a balcony.  Putting in the balcony would only be a temporary solution and probably would only add about 125 seats.  At some point in the near future we need to get serious about plans for a new Sanctuary.

I baptized Priscilla Sunday morning.  I'm not sure that everyone could see her face but when she came up out of the water she was just beaming.  I could tell by the look on her face that she was really blessed by getting baptized.  As our church usually does her baptism was followed by applause.  When she heard the applause her face seemed to glow even more.  That was good.  Thank you Lord, for letting me get in on what you are doing.

Easter Sunday

Wow!  What a great day!  The storms were forecast to hit about 10 AM.  That is about the time the Easter service was to begin at the High School Auditorium.  I thought that would definitely hurt the attendance.  I was wrong.  Our best guess is that about 650 to 700 people attended the Easter service.  That is a larger number than last year. 

Ed did a fantastic job with the music.  The choir was absolutely fabulous.  The instrumentalists were great.  Martha and Sara and Rachel gave us their beautiful voices.  I am probably leaving someone out so forgive my poor memory.  The main thing is that the music was so good! 

My thanks to the behind the scenes guys running the audio and technical stuff.  Everything went without a hitch. 

My prayer is that the people who attended that are not connected to a church will get connected to some church family and that those who do not know Christ will make the decision to follow Christ and make Him Lord.

Packed House

The second service this past Sunday was a packed house.  Very few seats left in the auditorium.  I invited some to move the the early service to provide more room in the second service and I asked that we leave the back pews open for guests.  The staff is exploring some other options that might help us get some more room.  I'm thankful for the challenge that we have before us.  Growing churches always have challenges.  I am confident that the FBC Family will once again rise to the occasion.

Becky is doing very well.  She is getting chemotherapy today.  Her counts remain good.  The doctor told us that he is going to do two more rounds after this one and then we wait and see what happens.  Thanks for all your prayers.  Prayer is powerful.

Last Night

Last night we had a full room for the Wednesday Night Prayer Time.  This group is so faithful to come every Wednesday night to lift up prayer requests.  We've seen some amazing things come from our prayers.  I know that God answers our private prayers but there is just something about a gathering of God's children in prayer.  We get encouragement from each other and it increases the fervor of our prayers. 

Last night I looked in on the Mission Friends class and counted 13 preschoolers in the class.  They were having such a good time that when I stuck my head in the door they never noticed.  Carol and Melissa are doing a great job.

Last night I saw a new face.  A mother bringing her child to the Mission Friends.  This mother commented on how nice the Children's Ministry Center is.  The new building is definitely a great tool for reaching children and families.

Last night I saw this large group of ladies heading up the stairs in the Activities Building.  They were all headed for the new Wednesday Night Study, "The Frazzled Female."  The all seemed pretty excited about the study.  Since I'm not female I'm not sure exactly what a "frazzled female" is but I have three daughters so I am pretty sure I've seen a "frazzled female."  Though I would have to say that the condition of frazzlement (I just made up that word) is not confined to females.  I know exactly what a "frazzled male" is because I am that critter.

Update

Here is an update on Becky.  The CA125 (that is an enzyme that is a cancer marker.  With ovarian cancer it is a very good indication of the presence of cancer cells.)  for Becky has been stable at 34 for the past two months.  That is good because anything below 37 is considered normal.  The new regimen of chemotherapy has worked.  The doctor is considering stopping the chemotherapy for a while to see what happens.  The big danger with ovarian cancer is that it has a very high rate of recurrence.  Becky has now had three recurrences.  We are thankful that the chemotherapy worked and she is in remission.  Our prayer for now is that the cancer will not return.  We are also thankful that this new regimen is working so in the event that it does return we know that we can go back to that.  The side effects are minimal and that is another praise.

My daughter Michelle is still in Florida.  She has been clean for over two months now.  We are so thankful.  Everything is still really fragile.  We are praying that she will be able to find a job soon.  I think this will help her self esteem as well as giving her something to fill the time.  Continue to keep her in your prayers.

I'm Trying again

I've been away from the blog for a few weeks.  I'm finding that a blog takes more time and effort than I thought that it would.  Anyway, here I go with a new commitment to do more blogs.

Sunday was a great day.  We had eight people join our church.  One of those eight came by baptism and the others by letter.  That is a good day!  Thank you God!

Also, we tried having the second worship service in the Activities Building because we are running out of space in the Sanctuary for the second service.  Everyone filled out a brief survey following the service.  I was surprised to find that most people prefer having the second service in the Sanctuary.  So, that is what we are going to do for the future or until we have no other choice.  That means we need to do some other things to gain some growth space in that second service.  We got a lot of great ideas from people about things we might try.  Some of those things will require further investigation.  I thought of a few things that we could do immediately to gain some space.  One:  Let the choir remain in the choir loft for the duration of the service.  Two:  Ask for some volunteers to move to the early service.  Those who prefer traditional music are the ones who are likely to help out by moving to the early service.  Three:  Leave all the back pews open for visitors.  That way any visitor will not have to hunt for a seat.  Everyone can move one pew forward and move to the center of the pews so that we fill every seat.  if we just do these three things I think we can buy ourselves some time to review other options.

Last Sunday

Last Sunday the second service was packed again. The spirit of both services is really good.  I sense a renewed enthusiasm in the First Baptist Family.  We went through a time when I believe the devil was trying his best to do a number on us.  While we were building the Children's Ministry Center and the New Activities Building there were some tough times.  I struggled through those times.  I have to give kudos to the First Baptist Family which proved again why this is a great congregation.  When things get tough this church family pulls together and trusts God through it all. 

I'm a little under the weather today.  I ran a bit of fever last night.  Ed is sick and so is Patrick.  I'm hoping these guys did not share their afflictions with me.  They would never do that intentionally.  If they come around the office from now on with even a little sniffle I think I will make them wear a face mask and yell, "Unclean." 

Mari Lynn is having her gallbladder removed on Friday.  I'm hoping that I will be well enough to make a quick run to Oklahoma City so that I can keep Blain while Mari Lynn and Jeremy are at the hospital.  Becky has a big UIL meet this weekend and so she cannot go.  That means I get Blain all to myself.  I know.  I'm being pretty selfish.  But I really don't feel too bad about it.