Archive for April, 2008
I don’t know how many of you read the comments on this blog, but I wanted to make sure that you were at least reading the ones Bro. Kevin Jackson, our Building Team Director, is posting concerning new construction. Here are his last two comments…
Update on Building…We have got the comments back from the city on the site plans. The engineer should have them back to the city by the end of this week 4/18 for them to look over again. I have talked to the contractor they should have the plans finished by the end of this month. We are working hard to get started with the building, but this is a slow go till we get finished with the final design and permit stage. Keep praying hard!!!!
Just another update, we are holding the site plans from the city. We are looking at different options in several areas to save money and land. Trying to find the best way to use the land we have for the best interest of the church. Just a tiny slow down but not a stop.
On a side note, Sharon from the Loganville Tribune just left the property after getting an interview and some pictures concerning our expansion. Who knows what will be printed and what won’t be. She said the article would either be on the front page or page three of this Friday’s edition.
April 30 2008 | General | 1 Comment »
Bro. Chad and I spent the day with some of our closest friends in the ministry Tuesday…Pastor Austin Gardner and his staff from Vision Baptist in Alpharetta. The Lord has blessed the relatively new friendship and relationship we have with them in an amazing way and we are privileged to be fighting in the trenches with such skilled soldiers. We were able to sit around in a “round table” like format and discuss issues relating to God, the ministry, missions and training men. The Bible is so true when it says in Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. I cherish learning from men who have “been there, done that” and want to spend more of my time around men like that. Every time we’ve had these meetings, we walk away ready to take our leadership and training and mentoring to another level. Church, we have an incredibly bright future ahead of VBC and God has His hand of blessing on our church…we must continue to follow Him and keep stepping “out” and “up” in faith! “How does this help our church?” you may ask. Well, we are praying and considering…oooh, you’ll just have to wait as I seek the Lord for guidance. That’s something you can pray about, that I will have the mind of God in all matters. I love you church and indeed count it a privilege to pastor the greatest church in the world!
April 30 2008 | General | No Comments »
I’ve got a real busy week planned…as a matter of fact, I have two really busy weeks planned. I appreciate praying for me and my family as the Lord brings it to mind.
- Tomorrow Bro. Chad and I are going to Alpharetta to meet with Bro. Austin Gardner about some future training of our young men and women here at Victory.
- Tomorrow night is soulwinning visitation and we have a lot of people who need visits. If you’ve never been to visitation or haven’t been in a long time, come meet with us in the Choir Room at 6:30 on Tuesday nights.
- Thursday my wife and I will be at the Jr/Sr Banquet for Philadelphia Christian School. We’ll be singing and preaching (her singing, me preachingJ)
- Friday night my wife and I have been invited to go and eat at a restaurant I think is called “Fishbones” or something like that…I heard it’s real good. I’ll let you know.
- Of course those are just some of the things that’ll be going on this week. Throw in four more ballgames this week, some counseling sessions, miscellaneous meetings and unscheduled, drop in meetings and you have a pretty good week. Again, prayer needed.
April 28 2008 | General | No Comments »
Here are some of my thoughts about this weekend:
- We had the weather that would make a person want to sleep in…and some didJ
- We had another really good 9:30 (first service) attendance…keep it up early service attenders and we may have more than the second service one day! Great job…thanks.
- I finished up the “Get Victory in Your Finances” series today. We really could have used another couple of weeks, but I think we covered a lot of ground.
- Looking forward to next month’s series…Get Victory in Your Emotions!
- We had our second “Road to Victory” Course on Sunday afternoon. If you would like to know more about Victory Baptist Church or me their pastor, register online or at the next service you attend.
- As it was the last Sunday of the month, one of our staff preach Sunday night. Bro. Will Atkinson did a great job and preached a powerful message on the reality of hell. Thanks Bro. Will.
- Had a great time of fellowship with our newest members following the evening service at our New Members Fellowship. A special thanks to all those men and women who help plan, prepare and clean up after those churchwide fellowships.
- Pastor’s Prayer Team members will meet after this Sunday evening service to get new monthly prayer partners…by the way, I had a great prayer partner this month. Thanks Scott Musen.
- Found out one of our newest members is a civil engineer…we could have really used him earlier on in our building process, but I think Bro. Jackson is already on him.
- We also had the hospital administrator for the newest and supposedly nicest, hospital in the state of Georgia visit us for the second time Sunday. Be praying for them as they seek a church home.
- We have a wonderful church…I love you!
April 28 2008 | General | No Comments »
Some of you may be wondering if I quit blogging…yes, it’s been several days since I’ve posted so let me catch up on a few quick things…
- We had an amazing Bike-a-thon in our school ministry last week…we received and incredible amount of money for our new facilities. (around $75,000) There’s an incredible story behind that…more later.
- We have some unbelievable school parents who work like crazy and don’t know the meaning of the word “no” or “we can’t do that.” They really are amazing and I’m really excited about the future of Victory Baptist School.
- We had a great staff meeting the other day which I think went a long way for the chemistry of our staff. I praise the Lord for the guys I work with.
- We are working on some GREAT plans for the next couple of months in many different areas of ministry. Make sure you make our www.getvictoryinyourlife.com your home page so you can keep up with all that’s going on.
- We had a great Sunday and baptized Fritzroy, a man from Jamaica who got saved last week on soulwinning visitation.
- I’m finishing up the thoughts for our first “Get Victory in Your Business” Luncheon schedule for tomorrow at 11 AM to be held at Delectable Delights in Loganville. I did not get out a letter to our many school parents as I hoped to do, but that’s probably okay so we can go through the motions once with our staff and church members that come. Anyone, male or female is welcome. Don’t forget to place your order as you arrive. Call the church office if you need directions. (770.466.4040)
- We are also going to Lake Sinclair for our annual spring Men’s Retreat tomorrow afternoon. We will have a fishing tournament on Friday and a big fish fry that evening. See Patrick Henry for more details.
- I will be finishing up the “Get Victory in Your Finances” series this Sunday and am looking forward to next month’s emphasis already… “Get Victory Over Your Emotions.”
- We will be having our second “Road to Victory” Membership Training this Sunday afternoon in the Fellowship Hall at 4:45. If you have recently joined VBC or are considering joining, this is a great way to know more about Victory and my family.
- The New Member Fellowship is also scheduled following the evening service. The whole church is invited to stay and enjoy some cake, punch and fellowship.
- Well, I need to finish preparing for tomorrow…good night!
- Oh, pray for Austin Gardner as he travels back from Ohio tomorrow.
April 23 2008 | General | No Comments »
Guys, if you haven’t registered yet for our annual retreat then you need to do so today! You can go to our website and click the event ticket on the left side and do that right now.
We are going to have a blast as always with some seriously good food. This event is one of my favorites that we do all year. Hanging out and fellowshipping by the lake laughing at each other and with each other. Come and build your relationships with the other men in the church.
You can contact Bro. Patrick Henry with more questions. 770.466.4040.
By the way, there will be a meeting this Sunday night after the PM Service with all those planning to go as well as those fishing in the tournament. See you then!
April 17 2008 | General | No Comments »
Please pray for a young man named Seth who was hit by a baseball the other evening in one of our games. He has to have surgery to drain his ear and is in considerable pain. Seth is actually the son of the pastor of Landmark Baptist Church here in Loganville. We’re very grateful that it was not any more serious than it could have been.
On the brighter side of things, my son had a great game! He moved to the 9-10 year old league this year…the league you “can steal in”. Cole has been living for the day he could steal a base and his opportunity came earlier this week. To make a long story short, he hit a great line drive up the middle which sent the tying run across the plate and put him on first base. You could see his body literally quivering with delight as he got the “steal sign” from coach. Sure enough, he took off on the next pitch and stole second base. You’d think he’d be satisfied with that, but not Cole. He ended up stealing not only second base, but third and home as well! Needless to say, he was walking pretty high after the game…but not as high as his dadJ I love you Cole and am proud of you.
I can’t say something about Cole without saying something about H.D. (Hunter) and Malia. They both did very well in their opening games and made some good plays. Hunter is 0-1 and Malia is 1-0.
I praise the Lord for my family and the opportunity to enjoy them. Dads in “blogville”, I hope you’re taking the time to enjoy the precious ones God’s given you.
April 16 2008 | General | 1 Comment »
There are times when I hear other pastors talking about “staff infection.” They, of course, are talking about the problems they sometimes have with their pastoral staff. I want to thank the Lord for the staff He allows me to work with each and every day. From our Victory Baptist School staff to our property management staff to the pastoral staff (around 27) we have a great group of men and women God has led our way. Each one brings their own unique viewpoint and character.
Today, I spent three or four hours with the pastoral staff discussing many issues that we are facing and how we can move to the next level in our leadership. I think it was a great session and I learned some things about those men and some more of their strengths/weaknesses, likes/dislikes, as well as desires and passions. I think it went a long way in developing a closer working relationship with each other and will produce greater results for our ministry. I love you guys…thanks for your hard work and effort.
April 16 2008 | General | No Comments »
It was great to be in the pulpit again today after being out a week on vacation. I would like to thank the staff guys who preached in my absence and the church for praying for our safety and rest while we were away. Here’s the summary for today’s services:
- Still several people squeezing all they could out of their Spring Break but a good congregation nonetheless.
- Had several 2nd and 3rd time guests with us as well as some first time attenders.
- I continued with the Get Victory in Your Finances series which Bro. Chad began last week…we really could use longer than just a month on this topic!
- I really enjoyed preaching today…for the first time I think since we started our second service over a year ago, I felt like I had more liberty while preaching in the first service than in the second one. I really appreciate the sacrifice so many make doing the two service thing. Wouldn’t it be exciting if we had both services full when we move into our new auditorium?
- Praise the Lord for the young lady baptized in the 11 AM service!
- Two of my children had baseball/softball pictures between the services today…why do they do crazy stuff like that on Sundays?
- I preached an “Oprah Expose” at this evening’s service. I have received several emails about the YouTube video that is going around. I felt it was necessary to let our people know of the New Age theology Oprah Winfrey embraces and how it is deceiving literally millions of people worldwide. It was the first time I really mentioned the name of a celebrity like that and preached against their belief. But I like told our people, Oprah is not our enemy, she is being deceived by our enemy.
- I didn’t know she grew up in the Baptist church till I studied it out…all the more reason to make our young people aware of why we believe what we believe versus “this is the way it’s always been.”
- We had two more baptized in this evening’s service…Amen!
- We also had a baby shower for the Banks’ family after this evening’s service…whooahh, was everybody hungry or what? When I got over to the fellowship hall, there was literally one piece of cake left from all the cakes made…and guess what, there was a lady beside me and who do you think got the last piece? Yeah, you’re right, I didJ (She wasn’t there for the cake, just a napkin)
- My prayer partner for the month and his wife did something for our family that none of my other former prayers have done just to do it…they made us supper and brought it to church for us to eat when we got home…it was great. Some homemade chicken pot pie and a big salad with all the trimmings…thanks, it was delicious!
- Well, another Sunday at Victory and another victory this Sunday! I love you church and thank God for you.
- Remember, God is good all the time…all the time, God is good.
April 13 2008 | General | No Comments »
My family and I are continuing to enjoy our time “away from it all” for a few days here with my grandparents in Oak Hill, Florida. (near Cape Canaveral) The weather has been less than ideal for fishing and shrimping but they say (who’s they, anyway?) it’s supposed to get better later this week.
I’ve heard nothing but great reports from Sunday an am thankful for the guys preaching. Tomorrow night Josh will be preaching and again it’ll be good.
Be praying for many of our people who are off on Spring Break as well.
Our floors are being done while we’re down here…can’t wait to see them when we get back!
I’m about to put a couple of my girls down for a nap…I wonder which one will go down first? Marissa, Marianna, or me? J
Have a great week, church. (Thanks for doing the prayer line, Bro. Mark.)
April 08 2008 | General | 1 Comment »
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