Not the End of the World but plenty of opportunities to share the Gospel !

Yeah Saturday came and went like I figured it would. The thought of so many people being misled was sickening. I'm sure there's a load of people that have classified Christians as loony because of Harold Camping's false predictions. But here's the thing, we are to know the Word of God for ourselves also. Obviously these followers of Camping didn't read all the scripture. But what a chance we have to tell the truth, and the truth can only be found through God and the Word He's given us. Since this has been the talk about topic it has open the door up for us to share the Word of God with a lot of people in our everyday life. Most people have a little Bible knowledge and know "that no man know the hour". But do we use these opportunities to fill in the blanks, to share and answer the questions they do have? If so we need to be in the Word daily. Yeah we may not know it all, but being speechless is not where God wants us when it comes to sharing the Gospel. Scripture is a big part in a healthy relationship with God. Where are you when it comes to knowing the plans and promises God has for you? If you're not sure, the Word of God clearly tells us and God also has placed reliable spiritual advisers in our lives such as pastors and ministers.
Dig into God's Word today and grow closer to Him.

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

Matthew 4:4

But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,

   ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

John 8:31-32

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.  And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

God We Are Too Busy For You

I probably have your attention now. As Bro Wendell spoke from the pulpit this morning I looked out across the sanctuary from the sound board to notice an empty youth section. Yeah there were a couple students there and I'm so glad to see them there. But for it to be brought to my attention by a 3 year old that the majority of our youth weren't there was just heart breaking. What is it that we have in our lives that we forget about what day it is or we're willing to place it before God? Yet God is always there for us never placing anything before us and we can't even love Him the same.

"It's the end of the world....as we know it!"

Yeah, R.E.M. should have waited 'til 2011 to put the song out "The End Of the World As We Know It"

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

Yeah a lot of people are panicked about May 21, 2011 being the end of the world. 

Well Greg Stier wrote a great blog on this subject. Check it out, I attached the link below.

http://www.dare2share.org/students/is-it-all-going-down-on-may-21st/

Check-Up

Well, today we had to bring Maddox for his 3 year old checkup. It started with him not wanting to get out of the car because he knew where he was at. Well, since this was a check up and he wouldn't be getting shots we told him that it was going to be alright that they were just going to check him. Thanks Doctors for making us liars! We distracted him while waiting until this kid came in and flew off the chain. This kid was screaming like he was being burnt alive. As for Maddox watching Thomas the Train on my phone, well that was a lost cause. He had all his attention on this kid flopping all over his dad screaming bloody murder. Even the dad commented on a phone call that his son was "flippin out." After watching this boy flop all over his dad and hang from the exit door handle they called us back. Well the episode in the waiting room didn't pump Maddox up. So there we go to checking temperature, height and weight, which didn't go good at all! I guess he thought this nurse was going to stick him with something. Well after those little things, she informs us that they will be pricking his finger to do some blood work (something they do on every yearly checkup). Well here it comes, the wrestling match with a 3 year old while the nurse draws blood from his finger. He's a strong little boy! Then it was the Doctors turn. All she wanted to do was check him out but Maddox made it clear to her that he did not want to be checked out any longer, so he hid. Well I put him on my lap and covered his face and told him he was still hiding and that Dad was going to check him out. First the heart and lungs, then the ears, etc..all being done by the Doctor while I covered his face to hide him. He thought it was Dad checking the whole time! Surprisingly, that part went really smooth and the doctor commented "In the 15 years that I've been a Doctor, that was the 1st time I've checked a patient like that." Hey, whatever works! Maddox walked out giving the doctor a high five ready to go eat at Chick-fil-A. That's our little man!

What if we could climb into our father's lap and look for shelter?
The thing is we can.
We can climb up into our heavenly Father's lap all the time to seek protection and seek His comfort.
2 Samuel 22:3-4
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom i find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.
He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence.
I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.

Too many times we just run an hide when we face troubles. But try calling on the Lord, for scripture says he will rescue, protect and save you.

Thanks K-Love

Thursday night we went to Amite Baptist Church to see Building 429 perform. K-Love put on a free listener's appreciation concert. Building 429 brought songs from their new album; which is great, and rocked the house. All of us had a blast and then went and ate at IHOP. Here's a video of them performing one of their new hits "Where I Belong" and a classic hymn "I'll Fly Away."

Holden High Graduation

Tuesday night the Seniors took the stage at Abundant Life in Denham Springs. 45 received their diplomas and many scholarships were given out. Cynthia Kirkland, mistress of ceremonies opened the ceremony and Alexa Arnett and Kaity Addison gave the Senior Addresses, both recognizing the loss of Dyllan Herring, their fellow classmate. Many took home awards and were given scholarships to advance in their education. Oh, and I can't forget the shout out to Ryan Neal from the HBC youth group as he walked in. To sit by the Juniors and see them anticipate that this will be them next year is crazy. We have a lot of youth from our church walking next year and it's crazy to see them getting ready to be Seniors. It seems like yesterday I sat with Chelsey Lemaire at camp when she was just in Junior High, held Trey's hand as he left his mommie to go to camp, and watched Blake grow up from the little boy he was. Well I'll hold my tears till next year for another graduation. 

Congrats Class of 2011!

Senior Night

Wow, another school year has gone by! Sunday night we had our Senior night at the church honoring those who were graduating. We had seven high school students and one kindergarten graduate. Our praise team led worship and Bro. Wendell brought the message from Joshua 3 talking about the Israelites going into the promise land. The scripture focused on the ones carrying the Ark of the Covenant and coming to the Jordan River and having to step into the water with faith that God would pull back the waters for them to cross. But only after they put their faith into action. Sometimes we wait for God to lay it all out with all the details. But in this case, God wanted to see if they were willing to trust in Him. Are you ready to trust in Him? As Seniors move onto the next chapter of their lives they're faced with taking that next step. Will they put their trust in God to lead them into this next chapter? Will they let God lead and guide them as they as they plan for their future? We'll continue to lift up these Seniors in prayer as they go out to become leaders in our world. God Bless and Congratulations Senior of 2011!

5 D's of Dodgeball

Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, Dodge!
Last Friday night we had 12 dodgeball teams and over 75 students in attendance at our first dodgeball tournament. With teams ranging from ages 5th grade to 12th we were sure high schoolers would dominate the tournament. To our surprise the junior high teams rocked the bracket! Zach Addison's Jr. High teams shot through the bracket to take the winner's bracket and Andrew Carlton's team battled through the losers bracket to advance in the finals. The only thing now is that they would have to beat the winning team twice. Game one of the finals, Andrew's team came back for the win, moving onto the final game where Andrew was left on the floor alone defending himself. Andrew threw some heat, but in the end he couldn't hold up against his five opponents. Zach's team came out with the win, taking 1st place. For fun, the officials "adults" challenged the winning team to a game. Erin, Courtney, Bro Wendell, Coach Kevin and myself took the win without a sweat. At the end, we played a ten on ten full court tournament for fun. Who said youth ministry isn't fun, lol! It's a blast being able to hang out with those students. Soon we'll have another dodgeball tournament, so get your teams ready and remember the 5 D's of dodgeball!

To Celebrate or Not To Celebrate?

Do we celebrate the death of someone that was not a believer of Jesus Christ?
Someone that was not saved? Is the celebration right?
I was listening to K-Love Radio as this was the question asked.
As people posted on facebook, text messages were sent out, phones were ringing, and people were running around letting the news out that Osama Bin Laden was killed by US soldiers. We turn on the news to see every news station with the same view as the country and world waited on President Obama's statement about this event. After this news was confirmed by the President, news channels tuned into the flash mob of people gathering outside the White House celebrating, chanting, and waving flags.

Wow, so the biggest terrorist threat towards the US has now been killed and captured. Are we celebrating this victory over a dead body or one less threat? A caller on K-Love came on and voiced his opinion about the images of people celebrating in front of the White House. He said it brought him back to the day of 9/11 when news stations tuned into the celebration overseas of the destruction of the Twin Towers, the plane that crashed into the Pentagon, and the other plane that was brought down in a Pennsylvania field.

The image of them waving flags and firing guns into the air in celebration of so many that died. So many deaths, approximately 2,976. So many Americans that died, some of them possibly without knowing Jesus Christ as the personal Lord and Savior.


Now flip the script. Yeah He was the leader of Al Qaeda and was responsible for the death of many men, women and children. Some may celebrate knowing that he's in Hell. But what Christian can honestly join in on the celebration of someone in Hell? God's forgiveness is available to everyone, and to watch anyone leave this world with their enternal reward as Hell should break any Christian's heart. So I'm sure not many are shedding tears of his death, but are you joining in the celebration of it?
I think the best thing is to celebrate a victory that there's one less threat to our Country and remember that if you’re a Christian, God loves everyone and so should we.