...too small a thing...

Trick or Trouble

Halloween is one of those days that is a little troublesome for followers of Christ. Having a relationship with Christ is of course the most important aspect of life and should be our focus and effort 24/7.  Some who are zealous for the Lord want to condemn this day as a holiday to be satanic. Others see no harm in letting kids have some fun and for one day eat a boat load of sweets. Along comes Oct 31 once a year with its pumpkin carving (no harm in that) Trick or Treating (no harm in giving ONE piece of candy to a kid)  and dressing up  as some type of character  (no harm in this depending on the character.) The problem with Halloween is one of perspective. What is important to you? What feelings do you have about this day of celebration of pumpkins, candy, and costumes. The one sure thing about Halloween for Christians is that it is almost impossible to ignore.

There are thousands of stories that  spin around  Halloween. Horror movies have been made to scare and bring mystic to the day. One thing for sure Halloween is big business and retailers do promote the celebration of this day. Churches have gotten in the act with "Fall  Festivals" or "Pumpkin Celebrations" as they cannot quite bring themselves to say we are celebrating Halloween. That is my argument that it is troublesome as we as followers of Christ just are not sure what to do with this day.   

Water Crisis

The water we use every day is something we all take for granted. The artesian well in the photo is  on the side of the road just outside of Sulligent  AL. It was amazing to see pure clean  drinking water coming up out of the ground with no pump or means of brining it up. We all take for granted in the USA our indoor running water. Having spent time in third world countries I have seen first hand how precious water is to sustaining life. A very common problem in Nicaragua is dehydration as mothers will let the children drink and even wash some with the limited water they carry from the creek and so there is none for them to drink. Sure there is more in the creek but that can be a long walk. Water is carried in buckets, jugs, bottles, and whatever they can find to bring it to the home to be used. This is an every day task to either draw it from the well or to carry it from the creek. Water is stored and kept in a certain place and covered with a cloth to keep the bugs out. So now Georgia is faced with falling lake levels and a crisis that we cannot water lawns or wash our cars. We need rain. We need lots of rain. I think we need to make this a matter of prayer for all of us in Georgia for rain.

I do pray that this crisis will begin to make people in the USA aware of the world wide water crisis that exist in so many places  and we will begin to  be  more thankful for the blessing we enjoy in the USA.

Jim Palmer Better

The privilege of working with Jim and Viola Palmer has been a joy for me for over ten years. Jim has served on both the Pacific and Atlantic sides of Nicaragua. He has challenged me mentored me and loved me through many many mission trips. Monday I got word that Jim had fallen ill and was being evacuated by air to USA because he was fainting and basically could not sit up. I knew that many would go to the Father and I would be among the many at the throne of Grace to plead for Jim's health. Now the week has gone by and we still do not know what is wrong.We do know that his pacemaker is OK and so is his heart. Possible inner ear problems but still more test to come. The GREAT NEWS is he is doing better.

Has this always been like this?

My 13 year old daughter ask me this question last night at supper. We had the news on TV so it sort of set an atmosphere, with talk of 1 Iraq  2 Wildfire in California 3 Nuclear Weapons for Iran etc etc. She had a speaker in chapel in her school who had been to Iraq and talked of 12 year old children blowing themselves up with bombs. So she ask a question "Daddy has it always been like this?" My first response to her was yes It has been like this for a while and you are just old enough to notice it all now. But as I think about it I am not so sure. I heard a sermon by Ravi Zacharias this morning entitled Mind Games in a World of Images  from his web site Let  My People Think.

Sorry if you are offended by the Image but this is a good illustration of the power of media image and the things it is teaching our youth.

Clayton and His Chickens

A week spent walking into others lives during the time of revival sometimes has many surprises . John Nicholson mentioned the fact they had chickens early on in the week but it wasn't till the last day when he brought me a dozen eggs it really registered. When he gave me the eggs I told him wait a minute I want to see these chickens. So we jumped in the truck and ran over to the Nicholson's house to visit the chickens. I think he has a dozen or so that are laying right now giving him about a dozen eggs a day. What a great thing for a 12 year old to be doing. Clayton was proud of his business and rightly so he is working hard to make it happen. He was also proud of his chicks as they are expanding the business to 25 or more new layers.

First Baptist Sulligent Alabama

 For the second time in two weeks I am finding myself preaching a series of messages of the truth of the gospel of Jesus to some really nice folks. The First Baptist Church of Sulligent Alabama has shown me some wonderful southern hospitality for two days now. The services Sunday were full of excitement and the Spirit of the Lord was moving in a powerful way. This wonderful church has a wonderful history and is situated in downtown Sulligent. Please pray for our services as we will go through Wednesday evening but the challenges made during the Revival may take several weeks to be fully realized by the people

Expectations Influnced by Prayer

What do you expect to happen today?  What do you think will happen next week? What are you planning on happening? In other words what are your expectations? We live in a world that is moving and things are happening. Sometimes things happen to us that are way beyond our control. Sometimes these things are  bad and other times they are very good.  We also live in a world where we influence a lot of what happens. Let me give you some examples. Do you expect your car to start? It will not if you do not maintain it properly. Do you expect obedience from your kids? They will not if you do not train them to do so. Do you expect a police officer to give you a ticket if you exceed the posted speed? He will if he/she catches you in the act of speeding.  We do have expectations of what we expect to happen on a day to day basis.

What do you expect to happen when you pray?
In Orlando Florida there is a new program that people of Faith are using to reduce crime. They have named it Operation Armor All and are asking for prayer. Check it out by clicking Here.

The Birth of a Church

Northpoint Baptist Church will soon be a new mission church in Sand Point Idaho. Last week I was fortunate to see the idea of a mission become a reality. The photo is a discussion between Rev Bill Hohenstreet of Post Falls Baptist, Bart Casey of Lakeview Funeral Home, and Jacky Lord  who are making arrangements  for services to begin at the funeral home on Oct 21.Jacky Lord has been talking about this for a year now. Bill Hohenstreet's church Post Falls Baptist has agreed to sponsor the mission and Bill will be doing the preaching for the first few months. The community of Sand Point has over 20,000 people and no Southern Baptist Church. When I returned from Idaho Kathy and I have been working on a sign for the Mission and with approval from Burnt Hickory Baptist have produced and printed a 4 X 8 banner to serve as a sign for the mission.

Leaving Idaho

I have come to the end of my trip to Idaho and I am sitting waiting to leave Cathy and Jacky Lord's home to go to the airport to fly back to Atlanta. I blogged the other day how beautiful Idaho was and it still is. Now I have a  lot of friends here who last night begged me to return. And return I will try to do when I can. There is so much possibility fo future  ministry here  I will have a desire to return and bring  others with me.  This  morning  I must  go . Back to  my  family  I miss and who will be waiting for me. Thanks Jacky and Cathy for  your opening your home. Thanks Melissa for letting me have your room you are my Buddy. Thanks Mark and Melinda for the meals and making me feel at home at your house. Thanks Greg and Adrienna and Richard and Donna, and Mike and Diane for feeding me and loving me. Thank you church for your love and support for the services and Love Offering. Thank You God for allowing me to meet and know Athol Baptist Church.

Preaching Revival

The setting is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited in my life. The mountains are beautiful and the lakes crystal clear. Picture perfect scenes greet my eyes everywhere I look. The Church is Athol Baptist in Idaho and is a great bunch of people. The church is much like many small churches struggling with trying to get folks inspired, and working for the Lord. The challenge of preaching a series of sermons to attempt to break through the many needs of the church has been quite a challenge. Loving to preach and loving people is what I really what is exciting about being able to conduct revival services. I am praying the Lord will energize and excite these people to new levels of commitment. This is a week to learn and listen to God. The people here are talking of starting a new church plant in Sand Point Idaho. There is a real need for a Baptist Church in Sand Point and there is a real passion among several people here to make it a reality. I am presented with an opportunity to see if support could be located and partners in ministry can be found to help support this new work. If you are a reader and seeing this think about how you can help by praying sending a contribution or maybe planning a trip to Idaho with a team to help establish this mission in Sand Point.