Pastor, FBC Hallsville

Good Things for Students

The "Amplified" student revival meetings are going really well.  As of yesterday there have been over eighty decisions for salvation.  I don't know home many there were last night but a bunch of students went down to the front for a decision.  I noticed quite a larger number of adults from FBC serving as counselors.  My thanks to those who give up their evenings to help with the meetings.  Tonight is the last night.  I'm sure there some students who have yet to attend or have been attending but have yet to make a decision.  So be sure to lift up in prayer this last night of the meetings.

The band playing for the student "Amplified" meetings has this all grown up kid that I served as his pastor a number of years ago.  I guess since I haven't had a lot of contact with Jonathan over the last decade I still think of him as a kid.  He was a really good kid.  Comes from a great family.  He was always kind of shy and quiet growing up.  Now he plays a mean guitar and sings with the band.  What a change!  Reminds me once again that when a person lets God have control of life then God can do some amazing things. 

Ike Got Us Too

As of right now my home is without power.  I have a generator which I purchased after the ice storm of 2001 caused us to lose power for almost two weeks.  We can run a few things like the chest freezer.  I think there a lot of other people in the area waiting for the power to come on.  The church had power restored on Sunday morning and then it went off during the day and did not come back on until Sunday night.  Because of the widespread power outages we had to cancel the Building Dedication service.  Right now I am talking with various leaders in our church about the possibility of rescheduling for the 28th of September.  Dr. Hall is available for that day and that would give everyone time to get power restored.  It also gives us an extra week to publicize the Building Dedication.  Those of you reading this blog can call the church office if you are aware of any conflict. 

A Day of Celebration and a Day of Sadness

Today is a day of celebration for the Massey Family.  It is Blain's first birthday.  We had the party last Saturday when Mari Lynn, Jeremy, and Blain could be in town.  Blain did the usual.  We put his own chocolate cake in front of him and he smeared chocolate cake all over his face while trying to get some in his mouth.  There must have been about twenty cameras recording every detail of event.  Then it was time to wash off (Literally, we stripped him down and then hosed him off in the yard).  Then mom put fresh clothes on Blain and he played with a balloon while mom and dad opened his presents.  Today Blain is one year old.  What a blessing he is.

 

Today is also a day of sadness.  It marks the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.  As an American this day brings sadness for the loss of lives in those attacks.  All America felt the sadness after 9/11.  Isn't that true of life itself.  There are days that mark special celebrations for us and there are days that mark moments of sadness.  The great truth about our God is whether a calendar day marks a day of celebration or a day of sadness our God is there.  That is one of the names God reveals to us in the Old Testament.  Very simply it is "God is There."  The answer to the question: "Where is God?"  "He is There."  Wherever your "there" is then "God is There."

Building Dedication

Right now I am trying along with the other staff members to finish up the details for the Building Dedication Service this Sunday.  We are going to meet in the Church Activities Center at 10:45 AM for a combined worship service.  Dr. Ken Hall, the president and CEO of Buckner, is the featured speaker.  My level of anticipation is growing bigger as the day approaches.  I really believe this is going to be a great day of celebration for our church. 

In preparation for the building dedication I was thinking back to the beginning of our plans for these buildings.  I think it was nine years ago that we elected a Building Task Force.  We had a lot of challenges before us.  The big question:  Where do we build a new building?  With the church plant intersected by several streets it was a big issue because we knew that children would have to cross a street to get to other buildings.  At one time we thought about building where the Cullen Building and Parking Lots are right now.  Our first thought was to build on Highway 80 next to the Fillin Station.  We never could get a real peace about where to put the building or about the exact design of the building.  What we did not know was that God was at work even then making a way for us to have more than we ever imagined at the beginning.  There were some frustrating times during those years of planning.  Then God amazed us with His power and blessings.

You will remember that we hired Monty a little over five years ago.  We he came on the staff I told Monty that his main job was to help us get to the building process.  His coming to our church was definitely God's plan.  Monty was able negotiate the purchase of three properties where the new buildings now sit.  The Activities Building Burned right in the middle of our plans to begin construction of the Children's Ministry Center.  We had to go back to the drawing board and rethink the position of the buildings.  God used what was a set back to give us an even greater blessing.  Since our church had wisely invested in insurance on our buildings the insurance settlement would pay for a new activities building.  Because of that we were able to build not just one new building but two new buildings.  Isn't God good?  And now when I walk into the Children's Ministry Center and the Church Activity Center I am amazed at what God did.  It is much more than I imagined.  God did it again.  He amazed me by His wonderful blessings beyond what I could even imagine.  Thank you God!

Good Signs

This past Sunday the second worship service was definitely more than 80% full.  You've heard about the 80% rule.  Here it is: You cannot consistently fill a classroom or building more than 80%.  Numbers will eventually drop.  Right now it just feels good and looks good to have the auditorium full.  I think we should just enjoy that for a while.  (Since we are filling up the second service it reminds me of our future need for a new worship center.)

Another observation about last Sunday.  There were a lot of young families and a lot of youth present in the service.  I remember thinking several years ago as I looked at the typical crowd on Sunday mornings, "These are mostly median age adults and not very many young families."  I definitely see a change in the numbers of young adults, children,  and youth.  What does that mean?  It means we are doing a better job of reaching the people who live in Hallsvile.  Because HISD has a great reputation families with children and youth are moving to Hallsville.  I believe one of the keys to reaching these young families is the Children's Ministry Center.  I am so thankful that God built that building.  It is proving already to be a great tool for reaching young families.  The Children's Ministry Center seems so big right now but I believe that in the very near future we are going to see the building filled up.  I am so thankful for the vision of the FBC Family.