Sylvania or Bust

Tomorrow we will be heading to Sylvania, Georgia to candidate for a pastor search committee. I will be preaching Sunday morning and am excited about the great opportunity. Sylvania is about 5 hours southeast of where we live so we will get to enjoy another long trip. The good news is that we just got Casting Crowns new CD so I am sure we will wear it out.

Lord willing, on Monday we are going to take the kids to see the ocean. Sylvania is not too far away from Savannah, Georgia so the ocean will excite the kids (and Sonya) while Savannah’s rich history will catch my interest.

Please keep our trip in your prayers, not only for our safety but also for God’s will to be done. Our sole desire is God’s will but we are also eager to know the church God is called us to. We are ready to get to work in many areas of ministry and feel like we are lacking a huge part of our lives. I don’t do limbo well!
~James

Great New Music

After church last night we went to Wal-Mart to buy the new Casting Crowns CD The Altar and the Door, that just came out on Tuesday. I have greatly enjoyed their music, it has been such an inspiration to my life. Their songs seem to touch every aspect of our lives, no matter what the circumstances. It is hard to even pick a favorite, when it is easy to say that all the songs are my favorites! Songs like Does Anybody Hear Her, Praise You in this Storm, Love Them Like Jesus, What if His People Prayed, and the list can go on and on and each one has a message for your situation. But can they really get better? The answer is most definitely, YES! God has truly blessed them with wonderful talents. Their songs are so uplifting, yet convicting. It is definitely a must have to add to your collection. Two of my favorites already are Slow Fade and East to West. Buy it, you won’t regret it!
~Sonya

Non-Conformists

Today as I was surfing the internet, checking out all the news and everything that is going on in the world, I read an article about the Christian music group BarlowGirl. With all the so-called “role models” for our girls to look up to, there are those still out there who are trying to set the example that God would have them to be. It was refreshing to hear that they are not conforming to this world and it’s culture, but are setting godly standards for the younger generation to follow. On their web site they are quoted as saying, "In a world that constantly bombards us with impurity and immodesty, we feel called to take a stand against what the world is telling us is acceptable. Especially in the area of clothing and modesty." It is so important that we give our children an alternative to the pop culture of today , one that is focused on putting God first, and not compromising the truth. There are several that I recommend including Krystal Meyers, Joy Williams, Casting Crowns, just to name a few. That needs to be the motto of our lives-- God first, no matter what! Is what we are doing bringing honor and glory to Him, or are we promoting self and falling into this generation that says, “It’s all about ME.” Let us be the generation that stands for God first ~ that it is all about Him ~ and never cave in to the pressure that the world puts on us or our children to have to be like the world. God has set us apart as His children to be a peculiar people, non-conformists! Let’s live like it!

You can read the article here: http://www.crosswalk.com/music/11550361/page1/

~Sonya

Treasures in God's House

“And of the Levites, Ahijah was over the treasures of the house of God, and over the treasures of the dedicated things.” -1 Chronicles 26:20

Under the Old Covenant the treasures being spoken of in this verse consists of earthly things. In the New Covenant we still have treasures in the house of God whether we have been blessed by God with beautiful facilities or not. We are told in Ephesians 3:8 that we have “unsearchable riches of Christ.” It is a fact that today we have greater treasures in the house of God than the saints had under the Old Covenant.

Being back in our home church was a great blessing today. We are blessed to be members of a church that is rich and full of great treasure because “we preach Christ and Him crucified.” What a wonderful blessing it was to assemble with God’s people and rejoice in the grace we have in Christ.

This morning in Sunday School our pastor was in Romans 5 and we were studying all the blessing that flow from our justification by faith through Jesus Christ. Knowing we have been justified we have peace with God and access to the Father because of Christ’s redemptive work on the Cross.

Then in the morning service Pastor Marlin preached a sermon about John the Baptist entitled The Voice of One. He brought out three points from Matthew 3:3.
1. Lone Voice 2. Loud Voice 3. Liberating Voice
It was a great encouragement because many times I feel like our voice is also a lone voice. However, just like in Elijah’s case there are still many others who have not bowed the knee to Baal. But even if we are a lone voice we still have a message that must be proclaimed.

I have never had a problem with identifying with the second point. Right, wrong, or indifferent I have never sheepishly proclaimed the Word of God. I can identify with John the Baptist on this point as well.

Finally he pointed out that we should have a liberating voice because Christ is the true liberator. That is the purpose for which Christ came. Would to God our Baptist brethren would become a voice to liberate our homes, churches and civil society from the bondage of Satan.

This evening was a bit unusual. Since we are from the North we had a new experience. It is one that we will get to participate in next week. We had a guest speaker but the purpose of the evenings service was because a pastor search committee from another church was there to hear him preach. He preached a very good message from Romans 7 concerning our struggles to do what is right.

What a wonderful day as we fellowshipped with the saints, sang praises to our God and heard His Word. We hope you were able to behold the treasures of God’s house today as well. If not, make it a point next Sunday to go to the House of God.

~James

So Easy a Baptist Could Do It

We had a wonderful day in the house of the Lord today! It was our first Sunday back at Unity Baptist in about a month. God is so good!! He has blessed us with many friends from Unity, and it was good to worshp with them today! Bro. Larry preached a message on "The Voice of One" and it was about John the Baptist. When he was talking about him in the sermon, I got a mental picture of what John may have looked like and can you imagine him in 2007? This wild looking man wearing camels hair, with a big wide belt, he would probably be laughed and scorned at by even many Christians! But he was the forerunner of Christ to prepare the way of the Lord!! The Holy Spirit entered him in his mother's womb! What an awesome position this "wild" man had! I like to think he would be a pretty cool guy! He definitely would be a man with no insecurites!! Who knows, they might could have used him on the Geico commercials!

~Sonya

A Day To Worship!

"I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house

of the LORD." ~Psalm 122:1

I hope we can all say that today! He has given us another day to worship Him and to bring Him glory! What more can we ask for! It is only because of Him that we have life, let us use that life to honor Him in everything that we do. May we go to the house of worship with open hearts, ready and willing to hear His word spoken to us, and not just hear it, but be a doer of it! I don't know about you, but I want His word to be a part of my everyday life, to let it penetrate me so much so that it becomes a part of who I am. I want it to be there always reminding me to stay on the straight and narrow path, throwing out warning signals everytime I so much as stray off the line! I want Him to be first in my life; not 2nd or 3rd, or last, but #1! May that be the prayer of His children , to make Him first in our lives, every day of our lives!!

May the LORD God of Heaven be with you today as you seek His face!!

~Sonya

The Life & Times of Temporary Nomads

The last few weeks have been a very exciting part of our lives. We are presently seeking God’s calling for our next church. God has led us to the South and we feel right at home.

What makes this exciting, and intimidating, is that we are looking for God’s will for the rest of our lives. While God has called us to the South in which to pastor a Southern church, He is also calling us to find the place in which to plant roots for generations to come. We are not looking for God’s temporary placement, but Lord willing, a permanent placement.

So, there are many things involved including where our children will finish being raised, marry, and begin families of their own. It also includes planting our ministry, Baptist Vision, in a solid church from which to work and grow as well.

There is a lot to consider and a lot at stake making it exciting but also nerve-racking. But God has blessed us in this process.

We have had a lot of contact with prospective churches and we are now being considered by several so far.

Our first adventure took us to Dickson, Tennessee and Maple Grove Baptist Church. We had the opportunity to preach in the Sunday morning and evening services and to play and sing also. Our family has begun to play music together and it has been a blessing to our family. Sonya (my wife) has a beautiful singing voice and several of our children are showing strong promise in that area as well.

We stayed the weekend with the Turners and enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship and fun. Many of their family and friends came over and Sunday evening after church we played music and sang till after midnight. It was a blast.

Next, we were at Macedonia Baptist Church in Dalton, Georgia approximately 7 miles from our home. It was a very intense day as we preached in the morning service and met with a couple men from the search committee that afternoon. After preaching in the evening service it was followed by another interview with the search committee.

We had wonderful services and enjoyed the people tremendously. God has blessed them with beautiful facilities that would make any preachers eyes light up. Especially country folks like us!

The following weekend we headed off to Cullman, Alabama. That’s right, Roy Moore country. A few years ago I was in Montgomery for the Roy Moore/10 Commandments event and fell in love with that part of the country. It has a rich conservative heritage and beautiful scenery.
Although we had just went to Mission Grove Baptist Church for an interview on Sunday afternoon they were gracious enough to have Sonya sing and me preach that evening. We had another great and positive service and, Lord willing, we will be going back to sing and preach September 9th. Please keep this in your prayers as we were very impressed with the area and the church.

September 2nd, we will be in Sylvania, Georgia although we are awaiting word to make sure it all comes together. It is another exciting opportunity that God has opened for us.

We have been very blessed by God. He continually supplies our needs and sustain us. My health remains the same but God continually gives enough grace to see me through. God has given me great clarity of mind in all the places we have preached at and His Spirit has moved in all the services. We are humbled by His grace and mercy on our lives and give Him all the praise for the things which have been accomplished.

The experiences of this transformation have at times been trying but we are having a blast as we nervously, but confidently, watch God work.

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” -Philippians 2:13

~James