Archive for March, 2008
As we finish out the month of March, I praise the Lord for 5 good Sundays. The attendance was up, offerings were up and the number of visitors was up. To God be the glory. Here are the random thoughts concerning this weekend.
- You could tell the two-week Spring break for Walton County is here…we were down a little in our Sun AM services.
- Folks were very attentive and responsive to the services today.
- Finished up the Man in the Mirror Series this morning preaching on Self-Sufficiency. May I remind you of the exhortation given by the Apostle Paul in… 2 Corinthians 3:5 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
- The last two series sets will be available very soon for purchase.
- Looking forward to April’s series…Get Victory in your Finances
- Enjoyed having Rachel S. home for Spring Break…she leaves Monday morning to go back to West Coast Baptist College
- The music was really good again today…our choir and orchestra are doing well. By they way, thanks guys for playing and singing in both of our AM services. The sacrifice is worth it.
- I love that song my wife sings “The Potter Knows the Clay”
- The Reformer’s Unanimous Ministry did a great job on the BBQ lunch…I think they sold 180 plates. Great job guys!
- Our Leadership Training went will this afternoon…a few changes but ones that will pay off in the long run. If you are still unsure about some things, feel free to contact Al Blanton with questions.
- The cart of mailboxes is located in the hallway outside of the Conference Room. Please check it at every service for information, announcements, etc.
- Next Leadership Training will be on Wed, May 28th.
- God sure has blessed us with some incredible people with incredible talent.
- The evening service was all about Reformer’s Unanimous. Bro. Wayne Sosebee preached a great message on why we have a RU ministry. His guest, Larry Tilley, was some of the fruit of the RU labor. Very articulate in delivery. There are people that need to be reached with Christ that will never be reached if we don’t transition our thinking to be more like Jesus. Christ met with every kind of person and healed and ministered to them. Why wouldn’t we do the same?
- We need to put the new VBC local chapter RU promotional video on the web for people to see.
- Looking forward to see the results of the new radio promo spot that begins airing in the next few days…be praying for that.
- The number of awards given out was incredible…those folks worked hard!
- Great job to Bro. Dave Savage for completing the RU Program and graduating!
- Looking forward to praying with my new prayer partner this month starting Monday afternoon. Bro. Kevin Jackson was my prayer partner last month and he was very faithful in communicating with me…thanks Bro. Kevin.
- Let’s be very faithful in praying this month.
- Had two meetings after Sunday evening’s service…one with staff and the other with deacons…both very productive. Thanks guys!
- I’m starting a new personal ministry project this week…details to come.
- I start ripping up carpet in my living room on Monday…whoo-hoo!
- Have a great week church…I love you!
March 31 2008 | General | No Comments »
Sunday afternoon I need to meet with all of our leaders to include SS teachers and assistants, Ministry Directors and assistants, Deacons, Trustees, Staff and office personnel. We will be going over some new information and procedures that is pertinent to all. Thanks and I’ll see you at 4PM in the Fellowship Hall. As a reminder, there will be a childcare provided through grade 6.
March 29 2008 | General | No Comments »
Tomorrow after the AM service, our addictions ministry, Reformer’s Unanimous (RU) will be holding a BBQ in the fellowship hall. If you haven’t purchased a ticket, you can do so at the door. Also, tomorrow evening Bro. Wayne Sosebee will preaching the service as we celebrate the third year of our RU Ministry. My understanding is that he has a special surprise that no one is aware of…need to be there!
March 29 2008 | General | No Comments »
Thoughts from last night’s Men’s Fellowship at the par 3 lighted golf course in the Duluth area. Vision Baptist and Victory Baptist had a combined number of about 30 men who fellowshipped together last night and early this morning and we had a wonderful time…a definite “repeat” as far as I’m concerned.
- Perfect weather…I mean perfect!
- Bro. Chad put together a great outing.
- Tim Lester is still the “stuff” as he won “closest to the pin” on hole 6.
- Mark Coffey is lucky everybody didn’t get to play hole 10 where he won “closest to pin”. J
- Bro. Austin would not appreciate the way Bro. Pearson almost got taken out (TWICE!) by some of his “Visionaries” respectfully named “Kenny the Kid” and his own, Trent Cornwell.
- Speaking of Kenny…he will make a great missionary one day. I’ve never seen anyone order large chocolate milk, 5 pancakes, 3 eggs and a helping of corned beef hash at IHOP with only $5 in his pocket.
- Did I say the weather was perfect?
- Bro. Daniel Kelley got into an incredible four-some…if we were playing in a tournament! Isn’t that the way it goes, Brother?
- Patrick Henry has never played golf before…ask anybody. But let me tell you something, he had fun along with Bro. Jackson and Bro. Henson who came along just for the food!
- Shannon Greeson hooked up the last half of guys standing in line at IHOP by paying for their meals…thanks, Brother!
- I watched Bro. Brunson give himself a bath as he literally played out of a water hole.
- Bro. Pearson somehow got nixed by his own…honestly Bro. Austin, I told Coffey we needed something spiritual after that round of golf…but I guess he got the big head after he won closest to pin and called his own shot. J
- The Howeth boys sure seemed to have fun…and lots of energy!
- Bro. Al brought a co-worker with him…thanks.
- Josh Ayers, Chris Waye and Patrick Henry played too seriously for Bro. Matt Mickey to continue the rest of the game with…NOT! (All I could hear was ….FOUR!)
- It only ended up costing us $3 a person to play…great fundraiser, Bro. Chad!
- It was really neat seeing two churches fellowshipping with each other…genuinely fellowshipping and enjoying each other’s company without a lot of typical shallow conversation you might think to have. I like that…we need more of it.
- Thanks for bringing the young man “Reimer” with you, Bro. Jimmy. We missed his dad, however.
- Bro. Luke Wilkerson at least “looked” like he knew what he was doing…I don’t know how well he played, however.
- Oh yaah, Bro. Chad “conveniently” lost our scorecard about ¾ of the way through.
- I was just kidding about the cost…no one made anything, just covered the cost. (I hope)
- Should have some pictures to post tomorrow.
- Thanks all you guys from VISION Baptist and VICTORY Baptist for coming out…let’s do it again!
March 29 2008 | General | 3 Comments »
While talking to Shannon Greeson the other day, he told me about a little boy on his baseball team. He wanted to add them to our prayer line. I asked him to have his wife send me an email about the little boy. I’ve just cut and pasted her email. Please pray for the Stewart family…
Bro. Derik,
Shannon asked me to pass this along to you:
The little boy that is on our ball team with the (acid reflux) disease is Dawson Stewart. The Stewart’s have been a friend of our family since the 1980’s. They are wonderful people. Dawson has a disease which infects him from the inside of his esophagus and causes thickness and cloudiness. His insides are allergic to most 90% of foods that all small children love. He cannot have wheat or corn syrup which basically covers all of your food groups. He also was born with a heart condition and sleeps on a monitor to monitor heart rate and breathing. He is a special little man. His mother, Debra is a strong woman. She works crazy hours and takes care of her husband and 2 other boys and they all play baseball and basketball. They are strong in faith.
Dawson goes each month to Egleston as outpatient 2 day surgery for his testing and last week got a bad report the esophagus had worsened and they put him back on complete and total liquid intake. It breaks our hearts. While other children at the ballpark eat cookies and drink juice boxes, he watches. He is nourished by what he can have and his liquids must have gel to refrain from choking.
He will hear back Thursday from his last batch of testing, Debra is hoping and praying for the best. She understands and has accepted all of this and handles it so well.
Mom-Debora Stewart, Dad-Chris Stewart, Children–Dawson, Conner and Brady
March 27 2008 | General | No Comments »
We are glad to have Bro. Currington and the JoyBelles with us for Wednesday night’s service. All of our teens as well as the “T-n-T” Awana clubs (3rd-6th gr) will stay in the auditorium. If you know of someone who may could use some assistance or encouragement with a stronghold in their life, do your best to get them at church Wednesday night…it will definitely be worth the effort. Steve Currington is the founder and president of Reformers Unanimous International, a faith-based addiction program that is helping literally thousands of people all over the world. It is a real honor to have their group with us this week. As a reminder, this Sunday is also RU Emphasis Sunday. Sunday night we’ve got a great surprise for you…you have to be here to find out what it is.
March 26 2008 | General | No Comments »
As many of you know, I celebrated my 36th birthday this past Saturday and for those of you have sent cards or gave gifts, I want to thank you for your thoughtfulness and kindness. The church as a whole gave me a great gift on Sunday evening…an iPod! I never really thought I would want, much less use one of these gadgets, but after getting my wife one for Christmas, I saw how useful they really are. You can listen to all your music, listen to online training sessions and podcasts as well as many sermons all from one location…your iPod. Thank you so much church for not only providing for my “needs”, but also some of my “wants”. By the way, if you didn’t hear how they presented the iPod to me, ask someone who was there…it was hilarious! I’ve had many people say I should have taken the “iBob” instead!
March 26 2008 | General | 1 Comment »
What a day we had this past Easter Sunday. Much prayer and inviting went on by all of our members and I sure am proud of each of you. Many of you invited friends, family and complete strangers. Some had bosses and co-workers…it was a very good day. Praise the Lord for around 630 people in attendance. The Gospel was preached in a very clear fashion and the music was very honoring to the Lord. Thanks to all the extra work and sacrifice each of you put in to our Easter services. I’m excited about the fruition of our efforts through souls and members. I love you Victory Baptist!
March 25 2008 | General | 2 Comments »
Church, please pray that God will answer the following petitions…
- That souls will be saved in our Easter services.
- That our music will bring Christ much praise.
- That those who said they would come will follow through with their commitments.
- That our nurseries will be adequately prepared in hearts, minds and numbers in order to handle the services.
- That I will be led by the Holy Spirit in every word and detail in all the services.
- That our ushers and greeters will make incredible first impressions.
- That our SS teachers will have a great day.
- That our Junior Churches will be first class and children will be saved.
- That the invitation time will be conducive for decisions.
We have a great opportunity to minister to many people during this Easter weekend…church, let’s make sure we “obey every impulse of the Holy Spirit”!
I love you and hope you make those last minute invitations you know you need to make.
March 21 2008 | General | No Comments »
Congratulations to Chad and Linda Phillips, our future missionaries to Cambodia and son and daughter-in-law to Jimmy and Carmen Phillips, on the birth of their first baby girl, Elisabeth Grace. She was born last night at 8:55 PM PST (California) and weighed 7lbs and was 19.5 inches long. Mother, father and baby are all doing fine.
The funniest thing happened to Bro. Jimmy the morning Linda went into labor around 5 AM. As many of you know, Jimmy and Carmen flew out there this past Wednesday and were staying at a nearby hotel which had a security gate in the parking lot. As Bro. Jimmy was trying his best to get to the hospital as fast as he could, nervously and anxiously he was fumbling for his room key to unlock the parking lot gate. As he was fumbling around the security guard stuck her head out of the hut and asked if she could help. Bro. Jimmy told her he was trying to get out of the lot as fast as he could…the security gave him a very strange look as she matter of factly replied, “Sir, the gate is open!” Of course Bro. Jimmy went on to say he was expecting his first grandchild and was as nervous as a first time dad.
Congratulations to Bro. Jimmy and Mrs. Carmen Philips as new grandparents! Be safe and we’ll see you when you get home.
March 21 2008 | General | 1 Comment »
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