WGF pics 3

August 24 2008 | General | No Comments »

WGF pics 2

August 24 2008 | General | No Comments »

WGF

August 24 2008 | General | No Comments »

6 Saved!

What a great outing, but more than that, what a great outcome! At least 5 people made a profession of faith during the challenge today and 1 more during the cleanup of our Men’s Wild Game Fellowship. Bro. Terry Chupp did an outstanding job delivering the truth of the Gospel today and challenging men to live for the Lord. There were also several other decisions made as well.

I would like to express me appreciation to Shannon Greeson, Joe Morgan and Clint Cook for heading up the best WGF to date. Thanks men for an outstanding job.

There were also many other men who helped out in tremendous ways…thanks for all of your efforts as well.

One final thank you that I’d like to make is to Bud and Kevin Jackson for allowing us to use their farm for the weekend. Both of these men were great hosts and worked selfishly. Thanks.

Of course I appreciate everyone, guest or member, who came out today…it was truly a great time.

Praise the Lord for the safety and the souls saved today.

August 23 2008 | General | No Comments »

WGF

The weather couldn’t be much nicer for our Men’s Wild Game Fellowship…nice and cool with a little breeze. The men have it all set up and are waiting the start time of 9am later this morning.

Please be praying that someone will receive Christ today as well as for safety and fun.

I’ll post later tonight how everything goes.

August 23 2008 | General | No Comments »

Wild Game Fellowship

Get your shotguns out…re-string your bows and grab your pistol!  Yes sir, the men of Victory Baptist Church are hosting our 5th Annual Wild Game Fellowship.  This is not your run of the mill, show up, sit down and listen Wild Game activity.

It starts at 9AM Saturday morning at the Jackson farm (call church for directions 770.466.4040) in Rutledge, GA.  We’ll be having fun shoots in archery, pistol and shotgunning and a couple of ponds to fish in.  In addition, we will also have some competive shooting/casting competitions for prizes.  There will also be tons of door prizes given away, so make sure you register as that could be your winning pass.

Men, this is a great time to bring out your boys and enjoy the great outdoors with other men.  Our special guest preacher will be Terry Chupp, a former professional sports angler and president/founder of Team Jesus Ministries.  He will challenge us with his illustrations and straight to the heart preaching.  Come listen as he talks of the professional fishermen he has led personally to the Lord.

Don’t forget the BBQ as we will have plenty for everyone!  Tickets are now $15 (unless you bring it by the church before Friday noon) and includes doorprizes, food and all “fun shooting/fishing”.  (There is a small additional fee for the competitions.)  There is no cost for boys 6-12 years old. (Under 5 not permitted for safety sake)

Some of us will be going down on Friday night and staying over and all are welcome to do that.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call one of the WGF directors, Shannon Greeson (770.864.6417) or Joe Morgan.

August 21 2008 | General | No Comments »

I’m back from my blogging vacation.

Some have asked if I was still alive because of the absence of the blog for a while now…just checking to see if anyone actually read them.  No, seriously, I’ve just put that to that side for a while and am now ready to keep you updated on things.

I was really surprised at the number of inquiries but it helps me to know at least some folks are reading these things.

Anyway, let me catch you up on a few things that have transpired in my life and in the life of Victory Baptist Church.

• For starters, we are officially in the construction phase of our new auditorium (you can go to our website for other pics) and it’s going very well.

Of course, we no longer have enough parking, our school carpool lines are a mess we have no playground to speak about, dinner on the grounds is actually dinner on the asphalt, there is an “orangy” dust that covers everything around here until it rains, then we have an “orangy “mud slide and sometimes we lose power, but worst of all, I can’t hardly get any work done for wanting to watch the work!

That may sound like I’m complaining to you, but I LOVE IT!  Growing pains to me are the best kind of hurt a church can have!  Besides, we’re still seeing people saved and had another baptism Sunday night.  God has been so good to us!

• Another topic of interest is that my wife and I are expecting our sixth child in late March!  This confirms are decision to try and move closer to the church than where we currently live which is a touch over 17 miles one way.  My wife is incredible and I love her so much.  She is going to be a great mother to this new addition in the Lawrence family.
• My sister has also found out she’s expecting as well, so congratulations are in order for them as well.
• School has started and is going very well.  Thanks to all the parents for working with us during this construction time.
• Our young people had a great camp (more pics and videos on web page…Teen ministry page)
• and another recent happening which I’m very excited about and which you’ll have to read about on my next post…hint, it has something to do with Missions!

August 21 2008 | General | 2 Comments »

The Lord’s Work

When God has work to do, He will never want instruments to do it with.
-Matthew Henry

August 08 2008 | Leadership Quotes | No Comments »

Anniversary Sunday

I wanted to express my appreciation for the kindness and generosity of our church for me and my family this past Sunday. As many of you may have already read, it marked the fourth year the Lord has allowed me to pastor VBC.

The deacons, once again, demonstrated their unique creativity in making it a special day for us. I have not been able to post it yet, however, the deacons created a video named “Deacons vs. Wild” (a spoof of the popular show “Man vs. Wild”) and it was hilarious to say the least. You should be able to view it soon.

After the video, they brought my family up to the platform and said some very kind words and then gave us all gifts from the church. It was very nice and we are very thankful…as a matter of fact, we are on the way to Toys-R-Us right now to cash in the gift cards.

After the service we had dinner on the grounds and the deacons’ wives had prepared way more than enough for our family to eat and it was delicious.

I have to be honest with you…we enjoy this day very much. It means so much to my family to be thanked and honored in that sort of way. To be appreciated is wonderful and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I don’t ever want to take the special days and recognition for granted. And I believe God will take care of the church that takes care of their Pastor. Thank you VBC for taking care of us.

We love you with all our hearts and count it a privilege to be at Victory!

August 01 2008 | General | No Comments »

4 Years and Looking AHEAD! (long)

If you read my last post you would understand why I am writing this post.  When I wrote that yesterday, I knew I’d be posting again today, but not focused on looking back…looking ahead.  While I am ever grateful and thankful for the past 4 years, I’m even more excited about the next several years.  I don’t know how much longer the Lord will tarry before He comes to get His bride, but until He does, we have lots of work to do.

That being said, I believe with all my heart that God has been positioning VBC to impact our community and world like never before.  I’m serious…I think the greatest and most effective years for the Victory Baptist Church are just ahead of us.  I mean, just look around at what is taking place.

On a local level, the world in so many ways is moving to us!  Subdivisions, businesses and industries are closer to us than ever before.  They are literally in our back yards…we have so much work to do.  Families are needing a place where they can truly worship the Lord and get hope for their desperate lives.  Folks, we have that Hope!

Call it “coincidence” if you like, but I call it the “divine plan of God” that our new facility just happens to come out of the ground this particular week.  To be honest with you, I didn’t think it would be 4 years before we started this building…I’d thought we’d already be in it.  But that’s the problem, “I thought”…One of the greatest things I’ve learned these past 4 years is that God does things on His timetable, not Derik’s.  Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t “see” this building the day I slipped on the pastor shoes whatsoever, but when the Lord did begin giving me glimpses, I thought it would be sooner than later.  But glory to His Name, His will be done, not ours.

The way I see it now however, is that we have right at (maybe less) than 12 months to prepare our hearts, minds, and service to be used by God like never before.  Why would God “fill the house” for us if we’re not prepared to “feed the hungry”?  Do you see it?  I don’t think we’re quite ready for all the people God could send our way.  There are so many areas that need improving upon to effectively reach the masses.

You might ask, “Pastor, do you really believe God is going allow us to minister to “masses”?  Let me put it this way, if you don’t, I’m failing to get across to you what God’s been burning in my heart.  I firmly believe, and have been faithfully preaching now for at least three years, that God loves it when His children give Him opportunity to prove Himself as a great God!  According to the verse that has been driving me, although I still haven’t grasped completely, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” – Hebrews 11:6

I think there are way too many churches and individuals that have fallen short of what God has called them to do because of fear.  I know that is stating the obvious, but when are we going to start paying attention to the obvious?  I do not want to stand before the Lord ashamed by all the many things He had in store for my life and VBC that we didn’t accomplish because we were afraid…because we couldn’t visualize it happening…because we didn’t have the money…because we got our eyes off of Him and on ourselves…because we got our eyes off the lost and onto other things…because we didn’t live by faith!

No, I refuse to do that, even at the expense of falling flat on my face and looking like a fool in the eyes of the world!  I only have one life to live for the Lord here, and I may have a good 20-25 years of ministry left, there’s no time to waste.  Enough time has been wasted.  We have people sitting on the pews of churches all across the world who are “going do something for God one day”!  VBC, that “one day” is here!  Can you hear “The Call to Victory” as proposed two years ago?  It was more than a stewardship campaign slogan, it was a call by God for us to step into the vast, unknown, less-travelled world of walking and living by faith.  Yes, few ever become experienced “faith travellers”, but my prayer and aim is to have more experience at the end of the journey than I did when I began…not the same or less.

Someone told me one time that if my wife and I waited till we could “afford children” that we would never have them…they were right.  We can use that analogy in the ministry as well.  Very few ministries have the resources (people, leadership, funds, facilities, etc) available to them before they reach maximum effectiveness, and if they are waiting for those things to fall into place before they step, the waters will never part and the river will never be forded.

On a greater level, I’m learning that we also can impact the world like never before.  Sure, we support a hundred or so missionaries, sure we pray for our missionaries, sure we operate on faith promise, but I’m asking God to help me get a heart for the world like never before.  I want to feel, hear, sense the heartbeat of God…world-wide missions!  Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”/Matthew 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”  Over this next year, I’m praying that God will burden my heart and show me ways how VBC can be more involved with spreading the Gospel on a world-wide basis than ever before.  I’m praying that God is going to call from within our church and influence, men and women to the field every year He let’s me pastor.

Right now I’m not sure the best way to lead those folks, but again, God is putting into place the resources needed.  Just within the last few months, God has put some missionary pastors and preachers in my life who are helping me develop a system to train men and women for the furtherance of the Gospel and ministry.  I can’t tell you how excited I am about it…it’s a driving force that compels me like never before.  Within just a couple of months or so, I’ll be visiting some missionaries in Peru with Austin Gardner and I’m praying that will be one of the catalysts God uses in my life.

Church, needless to say, I don’t know what or to what extent the Lord wants to use VBC, but I don’t want to be the one that hinders it, do you?  Let’s resolve in our hearts and minds to prepare ourselves these next several months to be at a point in our lives where we are “usable” when the Lord calls us to action!

Lord, may we please You with our lives of faith!  Lord, will You help us see You in a greater light than ever before…open our eyes Lord!

July 26 2008 | General | No Comments »