We're Baaack

Wow, I know that it has really been a long time since our last blog. I do apologize for the delay in keeping you updated on us. We praise the Lord for His goodness to us during these past few weeks. The Lord continues to show His faithfulness to us time and time again.
After a busy schedule, we have been able to spend the past few weeks at home for somewhat of a Christmas vacation. This is always a great blessing to be able to do, as we are able to attend Canaan and enjoy the Christmas season there. You don't really know how to appreciate something until it's gone they say. Well, it's true. We certainly appreciate every chance we get to spend some time with our church family and just the chance to attend a service there.
We have had several churches promise to take us on for support starting in January of next year, and that is exciting. We should be close to, if not over, 50% real soon. This is exciting because it is another mileston that we have reached, halfway. Please help us pray that we would get the second half quickly, so that we could be moving real soon.
In family news, Seth is constantly growing and doing things that amaze us. Wendy and the baby are doing well. We are excited about another addition to the family.
Again, thank you for understanding about the delay. I promise to try my best not to let it happen again. It is just so easy to get busy and forget about things and continually put them on the back burner. I am looking forward to using this as a tool in the days ahead to let you know more and more about us and the deputation trail. Until then, God bless and we are looking forward to the days ahead.

On the Road Again...

Things have been mighty busy these past few days and they probably will not slow down anytime soon. On Tuesday night, I was blessed to go over to Peoples Baptist Church and the Nationwide Independent Baptist Fellowship. It was a great evening and we heard some wonderful preaching and singing. I was blessed to hear Bro. Paul Chappell of Lancaster, CA for the first time. I really enjoyed it and the Lord blessed the message. It was a help to me. Wednesday night, we had a meeting in Maysville, GA and had a great time. Wendy and Seth were not able to travel with me again due to a virus that Seth had caught. I sure do miss them when they're not able to go. Thankfully, they are packing now to be back on the road with me this weekend. Today, we are going to be driving to Louisville, KY and spending the night and from there we will drive to Princeville, IL. Lord willing, we will be in a missions conference there next week. We are looking forward to a great time and excited to see how the Lord works in this church. I believe that this is their first missions conference. What an exciting time. Please pray for us as we make this long trip. We earnestly desire the Lord's protection.

Another bit of exciting news we received on Thursday. Wendy went to to doctor for an ultrasound appointment. They were going to tell us if we were having a boy or a girl. The ultrasound showed that it is a

Busy Days

I know that it has been several days since my last post, and I do apologize. Since the last post, we have been busy on the highways. We were blessed last Sunday to be in a missions conference in Rainelle, WV with Pastor Milton Kerr. What a blessing these dear people were. We had a great time and very much enjoyed our stay there. Rainelle, WV is in the Sewell Valley, which is a valley surrounded by several mountains. It is absolutely gorgeous. What a spectacular view, and what an awesome God that created such a great view. On Monday, we had the privilege to preach chapel at the Rainelle Christian Academy. This was a great group of young people and seemed to enjoy listening to the Word of God being preached. After chapel, Wendy and I drove to beautiful Pigeon Forge, TN for the annual couples retreat with our home church, Canaan Baptist Church. We were able to spend four days in Pigeon Forge and had a great time learning from the pages of the Word of God how to be better husbands and wives. Of course, we also had fun with things like Dollywood, go carts, putt putt, and of course, plenty of good food. This is always an exciting time and I thank the Lord for a church that has a vision for its families. Surely you understand that as goes the home, so goes the church. We must do all we can to build strong homes, thereby building strong churches. Yesterday, we were at home on Sunday morning. It was wonderful to be back at home and celebrate our pastor's 4th Anniversary at Canaan. Last night, we had a meeting in Tallassee, AL and had a great time preaching there. The Lord has truly been good to us and we are enjoying the service of the Lord. Please continue to pray for us that the Lord would get us to the field in His time, working all things out for us. We have busy days ahead, and for that we are thankful. We want to go as much and as hard as we can, doing all to stay busy for the Lord.

Answered Prayer?

Have you ever prayed a prayer, and then when God answered it you knew that it was an answer, but it wasn't the answer you were looking for. I have had times in my life when I prayed prayers only to have God answer those prayers within minutes or hours, causing me to actually wonder why I prayed as I did. Did I pray foolishly? Of course not. I believe there are times in our lives when God gets us to a point where we have to give it all to Him. Often times we go through these moments numerous times. It seems that we give God everything, but over a period of time seem to take some of it back. We have to constantly keep check, making sure that we know that we should give it all to God. Lord, use me. Many times I pray that nothing in my life would be a roadblock. I want my life to be wholly open to God and His service. I want to give it all to Him. I'll be honest, I would rather give it to Him than have Him take it. Search your life, make sure that there is nothing you are holding back from the Lord. It is much less painful for us to give it to Him than for Him to have to take it.

We thank the Lord for the missions conference we were blessed to be a part of at Southview Baptist Church Statesville, NC last week. Pray for the church as they strive to do great things for the cause of Christ. Praise the Lord, they promised to take us on a church planters and support us for the next year. What a blessing. Many of the folks there promised to pray for us and that means a great deal. Tonight, I have the privilege of teaching at Fundamental Baptist Bible College in Statesville, NC. This is the college I attended and where I earned my Master's Degree. It is a great school. Pray that we have a great class. Tomorrow night, we will be at New Hope Baptist Church in Walnut Cove, NC. We are looking forward to a great time there. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel. I must admit, with each passing day deputation grows a little more weary and I become a little more ready to get busy about the business the Lord has called us to. However, I know that God's time is not my time and we must be faithful to the task He has given us. Thanks again for your prayers and we look foward to hearing from you.

Disappointment and Recommitment

Often times while on deputation, we are only around church people. This is obviously our circle of life at this present time. We are not just around church people, but we visit some of the best churches in the world. When you are surrounded by this circle, it is often times easy to forget just how wicked the world around us truly is. Sure, we know that certain groups of people and certain areas are wicked, but to realize how bad things are close to us. Recently, it seems as if I have been reminded of this. I have watched in several different examples of things that remind me just how badly this world needs a Saviour. I am certainly not talking about religion, for you see, many times religion is involved. I am however, talking about a Saviour. It seems in recent days that I have watched as a group of people were attacked for taking a stand for what is right, and then suffered as false accusations were railed against them publicly. I have watched as people compromised in ways that I would have never imagined they would. I have watched as men of God have fallen out in the last laps of their ministry. I see these things and I have to admit, I am disappointed for our Saviour. It seems as though my heart breaks for the Lord. If these things hurt me, how much more do they hurt Him.
In spite of disappointment, I must also admit that I have been fired up. It seems that there burns within me a greater desire to do right than ever before. I desire to live above reproach, to draw closer to my Lord, and to be an example more than ever before. I am also committed to finishing strong. I don't want to fall out in the final stages of my ministry. I don't want to be a casualty in the Lord's army. Would you help me pray that my family would be strong and secure in the service of the Lord? Dear friend, there is a battle going on today, and it is one that we MUST win. Would you be my strength in the midst of the battle?

I must apologize for the delay in between posts. One thing I was afraid of when I started the blog is that I wouldn't have anything exciting to say to update it enough. We are currently in Statesville, NC at a missions conference that will last through Sunday. Please pray that the Lord would greatly bless while here. We have had great meetings in the past weeks and are excited about what the Lord is doing and is going to do in the days ahead.

Thank you Lord...

I want to thank the Lord for the great two nights He has given us during revival thus far. Dr. Haizlip has preached two tremendous messages that have helped me. I don't know about you, but sometimes it becomes easy for us to get mechanical in our Christian life. We are still doing good things and we are still busy serving the Lord, but it seems as if we do it out of habit and not a genuine love for the Lord. What a blessing revival meeting is to help us to get our focus and our affection back on the Lord and to be busy serving Him because of Him, not because of force or habit. I know that in my personal life, I deeply and sincerely desire the touch of an almighty God to help me with everything I do. I realize that nothing can or will be accomplished if I try to do it in my own might. Yet that is exactly what we attempt to do, do everything in our own might. It is all about Him. Yes, I am to stay busy and do all that I can for Christ, but ultimately, if anything gets accomplished, it is going to be because of Him and in spite of me. Thank you Lord for teaching me this great lesson.

Revival meeting has been good, but it can and will be better. I am seeking the Lord with an open heart and asking, no begging, for Him to do something great in my life and with my life. I need revival. If you are in the area, I invite you to come be with us at Canaan this week for revival meeting. If you are not in the area, would you please pray for this meeting? Would you pray that God would do something great in our church this week? Bro. Haizlip mentioned last night that he fears that the line has been drawn, that it is now time for either revival or ruin in America. I must say I agree. Dear friend, our country is in need of revival. It starts with one person, one family, one church, one community. Let's all do our part to pray for revival.

Wilt Thou Not Revive Us Again...

This week, our home church will be having revival meeting. We have been praying for many weeks and months that the Lord would do something great in our church this week. I have been praying that He would kindle the flames of revival in my own heart. So often times it is easy to grow cold and stagnant. We get into a routine of serving God and we begin to do it out of that routine instead of a committment and love for the Lord. I know that I need revival. Please help us pray that the Lord would do a great work this week in the heart of each and every member of Canaan Baptist Church, especially mine. As you can see, we have two of the greatest preachers alive that are going to be with us. If you are where you're able, make plans to come and join us. The services begin at 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and Dr. Chris Haizlip will be preaching. If you have never heard Bro. Haizlip, you will certainly enjoy this man of God. If you can't be here, please pray for those that are here. We need revival.
Please pray for my family, as we are traveling this weekend. We are leaving this afternoon to head toward Kingsport, TN. We will be in Weber City, VA tomorrow morning (just across the state line) and in Church Hill, TN tomorrow night. Lord willing, we will be driving home Monday so that we can be at revival meeting Monday night. Please pray that the Lord would give us great meetings tomorrow and that many hearts will be touched concerning the great need in southern Louisiana.

Keep Praying...

What a great God we serve! I don't know about you, but I am so thankful for the privilege to be a servant of Christ's. The Lord has been so good to us and provided us with safety and all our needs while we have been gone. We are so thankful for the folks at Center Road Baptist Church allowing us to use their prophet's chamber for an extended number of days. Sunday morning, we left New York and drove to Wattsburg, PA where we were blessed to spend all day. I preached in both the morning and evening services and also taught Sunday School. I guess that's good training for the mission field one day. Sunday night, we drove to Erie, not but about 25 minutes, and that is where we will be staying for the next few days. They are having Bible Conference services Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and we are allowed to share in those. Lord willing, I will be preaching Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday evening. Please continue to pray for us. We praise the Lord for His goodness and thank the Lord for answered prayer.

There is a God...

If you need any further proof that there is an all powerful God, look at this picture. Today, we had the chance to go to Niagara Falls. It is only about a thirty minute drive from where we are in New York. What an awesome sight. This was actually the second trip for Wendy and myself. Seth was quite amazed, as he kept talking about the water. We enjoyed it. If you have never seen it, Niagara Falls is an amazing sight. I do not understand how anyone can visit it and believe that it happened just by chance. You have to look at it and believe that it was created by an all mighty God. Only our God could create such a powerful, amazing sight. It is truly beautiful. As I watched the water flow over those edges, I was reminded of Dr. Eugene Goodman and an illustration he used to give concerning sin and the day of repentance. He would tell of a sign on the river flowing into Niagara Falls that stated it was the point of no return. Once you reached that point, there was no hope to be saved. Many people reach that same point in their lives. They reject the Lord, they reject the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, and eventually, they reach a point in their lives in which they have passed the point of no return. Never again will the Lord deal with them concerning the salvation of their soul. Do not pass that point. If you have never trusted Christ as your Saviour, do so today, before you reach the point of no return.

Eighty Years and No Regrets

This morning I had the privilege of sharing a devotion with the senior citizen's group here in West Seneca, NY. As I was preaching, I was dealing with the topic of being satisfied with the Lord, and how He never lets us down. I was using the verses found in John 6:1-13 where Jesus fed the 5,000. The Bible makes mention of the fact that the people, the ones who came to Jesus hungry and without food, were filled, according to verse 12. I was using that to think about how Jesus satisfies. You know, the world has many things to pull our attention away. Many things that we turn to in an attempt to satisfy our inner longings. Some people may try to use alcohol or drugs, pornography or other lewd behaviours. Other folks use their morals and even religion to try and fill those inner longings. They all have one thing in common, they leave you feeling unsatisifed. The only way to satisfy that inner longing is through the Lord Jesus Christ. As I was preaching, I asked for a show of hands of people that had been saved 20 years, then 30, then 40, and so forth. We had one lady in attendace who had been saved 80 years! Wow. She told us that she was saved at the age of 9 and she was now 89 years old. I asked her if she had ever been disappointed that she had gotten saved. Of course, her response was never. I asked her if she had ever been disappointed in Jesus or if He had ever let her down? She said that in spite of the fact that she had failed Him a number of times, He had never failed her. I then told the people in attendance that she had said more in that testimony than I ever could and I proceeded to close my Bible and take my seat. Imagine, being saved for 80 years. What a great blessing and testimony. Isn't the Lord good? How about you today dear friend, have you trusted Him? What are you depending upon to satisfy your inner longings? Won't you please turn to Christ today?

Dog Days of Summer...

Well, it looks like the dog days of summer continue for Pennsylvania and New York. Thankfully, we have a prophet's chamber to stay in that has air conditioning. What a blessing. On Monday night, we drove up to Franklin, PA and spent the night there. Thanks to a gift certificate, we were able to get a hotel room and enjoy the city for a little while. Wendy took Seth down to the kiddie pool and watched him frolick and play. He thoroughly seemed to enjoy his time in the big bath tub as he called it. I think one of his highlights was splashing his mom who remained on the side and did not want to get wet. He had a blast splashing and playing around. It is such a joy to watch him grow up and develop into a young man, yet such a challenge. To think, I am responsible for this precious life. I only hope that I can do my very best to point him to a Saviour that loves him and cares for him. At the end of life's journey, I would hate to think that I had worked so hard to lead others to Christ and not done the same thing for my own family.

Please continue to pray for us up here. Tonight, we are preaching in West Sencea, NY. They too are experiencing this incredible heat wave. However, good news does seem to be on the way. According to the news reports, tomorrow's highs only seem to be around 79. That will be perfectly alright with me. Tomorrow morning, I am doing a short devotion to the senior citizen's group here. I am looking forward to it. Hopefully either Thursday afternoon or Friday we will be able to run over and see Niagara Falls, considering we are only about 30 minutes away from it. Wendy and I have been before, but it is such an incredible sight I would love to go again. As always, thanks for the prayers and continue to remember us while we are away.

Great few days...

We have had a great past few days. On Friday, we drove up to Hershey, PA to visit the Hershey Chocolate World. I would highly recommend that if you are in the area, you visit it. It was a great time. Here is a picture of Seth with the Peppermint Patty. On Saturday, we left Reisterstown, MD and drove up to Franklin, PA for services on Sunday. We were there all day and enjoyed our time. We had the great privilege of preaching in both services and saw four people get baptized Sunday night. Praise God for folks following the Lord. Tonight, we are staying in Erie, PA and looking forward to being in West Seneca, NY on Wednesday night. Please continue to pray for us as we travel that the Lord would meet each and every need. Thus far, it has amazed us at how He has worked things out for us. Please continue to pray that He would be with us.

We did have an interesting time over the weekend in Franklin. When we arrived Saturday to the prophet's chamber we were staying at, we noticed that it was rather warm. We asked the young man where the switch was to turn the air on and he informed us that the church had no air conditioning. Apparently, it doesn't get hot enough long enough in Franklin for most folks to need air conditioning. Wow, that was a surprise to this boy. We used all the fans we could find and tried to keep our room as cool as possible. Who said deputation was no fun.

A Great Day

What a great day my family and I had yesterday at the Lynn Hill Baptist Church in Whiteville, NC. Pastor Schalk and the wonderful folks there just went out of their way to make us feel welcome and loved. We were there all day long. We enjoyed the great fellowship and wonderful services. I was able to preach both the morning and evening service and believe the Lord did a great work in the hearts of the people. Yesterday morning, I challenged the people concerning being a confident Christian. I truly believe that it was God's message at God's time, as it seemed to help many of the people there. Last night, I challenged them concerning the need for us to be involved in reaching others with the Gospel. There was a tremendous response. Truly, the Lord is good and worthy to be praised. Pastor Schalk has a five year old daughter, Savannah, and Seth really had a great time playing with her all day. It was just a great day and we certainly thank the Lord for lining it up for us.

Please continue to pray for us, as we will be leaving Tuesday morning to head toward Baltimore, MD. We have a meeting scheduled there for Thursday evening. While in the area, we will take a few days and do some sight seeing in our nation's capitol. We are looking forward to a great few days. Please continue to pray for safety.

Pray for Sunday

Greetings, it is Saturday morning and my family is currently in Florence, SC for a wedding of a young man that Wendy used to babysit. Tomorrow, we will be in the Lynn Hill Baptist Church in Whiteville, NC all day. Please pray that the Lord would use us there in a great way. Pastor Schalk seems to be a great man from the short time I have talked to him and I know he has a heart for the church and the Lord. Pray that we will be a help to him and his church tomorrow. I am excited about the day. Pastor Schalk has been preparing his people for it and advertising in the community. It is always a blessing when a church has a desire for missionaries to come in. I know that tomorrow will be a great day. Thanks again for your prayers and I will give you an update of what great things the Lord does tomorrow.

Also, we do have a praise to share with you all. The Lord has answered an unspoken request that my family has had for some time and we just want to thank Him for doing so. Isn't it wonderful to be able to look back sometimes and see how God has answered prayers for you. There are several that I can think of that He has answered just this week! What a blessing. God is so good.

Go to the highways...

I don't think this is exactly what the Bible means. Tomorrow, my family and I will begin to emabark on the longest trip of deputation thus far. We will be one the road for 32 days. WOW. In the course of that time, we will travel approximately 2500 miles, have meetings in six different states, and sleep in who knows how many different beds. Isn't deputation fun? Actually, it is, because in that same amount of time, we will meet who knows how many different people that will become prayer warriors on our behalf. We will see God move and work to meet and supply our needs while we travel. We're praying that we will experience God's hand of safety, that will watch over us and take care of our vehicle as we travel. Yes, depuatation is fun, because it is a time when we get to see God do great and wonderful things. We ask that each one of you pray for us as we travel. Pray for safety, supply, strength, and the Spirit of the Lord to go before us and prepare the hearts of His people. Pray that we will share the burden for southern Louisiana with others as God has given it to us. I don't know what type if any internet service we will have, so it may just be audio updates for the next few days. We'll try our best to keep you informed of how the trip is going and how God is blessing. Thanks in advance for your prayers.

God's Blessings

Isn’t it great to be a child of God?  Just to get to experience His many blessings that He has to bestow on us.  This past week we’ve had the privilege of helping in Vacation Bible School at our home church.  What a wonderful time to be able to watch boys and girls come in off the buses and hear the Jesus loves them.  They may not have anyone else to love them, but they know that Jesus loves them.  Several of them have gotten saved this week and that is great.  What a blessing to know that they have the chance to hear the Gospel.  However, we must not forget that there are billions of people around this world that have never heard what those young people are hearing in Bible School this week.  Let’s all be busy and do our part to help share the Good News with a world that’s never heard.

 

 

It's All About Him

I am amazed at how we as fundamental Baptist try our best to prove that it is all about us and our goodness sometimes. We act as if we think we deserve heaven because of our good works. We have our list of do's and don'ts down pat, as if that impresses God. I am reminded that it's all about Christ. It's all about His righteousness, how He died for us. He chose us. He loved us when we were unlovable. That amazes me. Christ first loved me. He knows me like no one else does, yet He still loves me. Yes, I believe in having a set amount of standards and living a clean life. However, I also realize that those standards do nothing to make me more worthy of the grace of God than anything else. Nothing I could ever do would make me worthy. It is only by God's good grace. I thank Him for the lesson. The way I see it, we would do well to remember, it's all about Him.

First Time

Well, it seems I am giving in and getting my own blog. I must admit, I am more than a little fearfult that I won't have enough entertaining things to say that keep this going. Bear with me, I will do my best to keep things fresh and interesting. Tonight is Wednesday night and my family and I will be enjoying the service at our home church, Canaan Baptist Church. Dr. Leon Foote is preaching tonight in place of our pastor and so I know it should be good.