Pastor Preaching in Troy, AL & Sword Conference Ahead (Mar 08, 2010)

After a good week of study in the office and profitable board and budget meetings at the church, the Lord blessed with a good day yesterday.  Bus church saw three precious children pray to receive Christ in the counseling center, and our Fort Benning Bible studies this week witnessed fifteen soldiers standing to receive Christ as personal Savior.  Amen!

Visitors from Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia were in attendance yesterday.  Pray for us as we follow up with those in our immediate vicinty.

We were particularly thankful to have Harold Cleveland visit Grace for the first time.  Harold was wounded while serving with the U.S. military in the Middle East.  While he was recovering, an army chaplain was able to lead Harold to Christ, but he had no place to be baptized while overseas.  Harold visited Grace for the first time yesterday for the express purpose of making his new faith in Christ public.  What a joy it was to plunge this "soldier of Christ" under the water yesterday!  He emerged from the water and gave me a bear hug, filled with joy over the cleansing that God had brought to his soul.

Karen and I traveled yesterday afternoon to Troy, Alabama where I preached last night for Pastor Chadwick Teal and God's Way Baptist Church.  This was the opening service of their annual Bible Conference.  This year's Bible Conference is a "Family Life Conference," and it was a great opportunity to minister the Word of God in two separate sessions last night.  Pray for me as I minister God's Word three more times in this special conference.

In my absence, Pastor Powell preached a powerful message on "How to Pray for Your Children."  You can listen to his sermon again by logging on to our website.

Last night, we were privileged to welcome into membership Debbie and Jimmie Norton.  Debbie and Jimmie are the proud parents of Michael Norton, a valiant ranger and member of Grace Baptist Church who recently received the Silver Star from the U.S. Army.  Michael's story will be highlighted in the next edition of the Pensacola Christian College Update.  What a great thrill to welcome Michael's parents into our membership who transferring to this area from the great state of Michigan.

Don't forget that our annual Sword of the Lord Conference is less than two weeks away.  Dr. Shelton Smith, editor of the Sword of the Lord, will be our featured speaker on March 21.  He will be joined by Dr. Paul Kingsbury on Monday and Tuesday.  Dr. Kingsbury is the pastor of North Love Baptist Church in Rockford, Illinois.  North Love is the home of Reformers' Unanimous.

Also, don't forget that the annual science fair for Grace Christian School will be conducted tomorrow night at our third-quarter PTF.  You won't want to miss it.

Your continued prayers and support of this ministry mean much to us.  Keep them up.

Faith Promise Total over $200K (Feb 24, 2010)

Our annual missionary conference concluded on February 14, 2010.  This Valentine's Day clearly demonstrated how much Grace Baptist Church loves the world.  Missionaries to Australia, Egypt, Ecuador, Grenda, Norway, and the state of Nebraska were all added to the missions family, and faith promise commitments rose above $205,000 -- not bad for a year with our kind of economy.

Last Monday, Karen and I boarded a plane and flew to Los Angeles where we ministered at West Coast Baptist College, where our oldest daughter, Ashley, is a junior.  The Lord blessed with a tremendous time and we were well received by the student body.  It was exciting to spend time with my good friends Mark Rasmussen and Don Sisk.

We flew back on Tuesday and got a quick night of sleep before traveling to Pensacola to minister at PCC where our daughter Amy is a freshman.  I was privileged to speak Wednesday night at the Campus Church plus Thursday and Friday in chapel at the college.  I also had the privilege of conducting a ministerial seminar and preaching at the high school.  It was a great week.  The Hortons are always gracious hosts.

We returned to Columbus Friday afternoon.  The Lord blessed with good services Sunday.  We witnessed a baptism and several good decisions on the bus routes and in our Fort Benning Bible studies.  Amen!

This week we have already been to teacher recruitment looking for a second grade teacher, Junior High teacher, and High School math teacher.  Pray that the Lord will give us wisdom as we follow up with these impressive interviews.

Your continued support of this ministry means much to us.  Please keep us in your prayers.

Missions Conference 3 Days Away! (Feb 08, 2010)

Yesterday, the walk-in attendance at Grace was up by about 30 people.  Many Sunday School teachers met their goals, and we are thankful that the core attendance is starting to rise as we approach the spring and better temperatures.  Bus attendance was stable with one child praying to receive Christ in the counseling center of bus church.  Fort Benning Bible studies were down, but seven soldiers stood to receive Christ this week as personal Savior.  Chapel attendance in Lumpkin held its own.

Sunday night, however, attendance dipped a little.  Perhaps because of the Super Bowl, the Saints were marching out.

Wednesday night begins the most significant week in Grace Baptist Church's annual calendar.  Our nineteenth annual world missionary conference will take place.  This year's keynote speaker is Dr. Fred Moritz, General Director Emeritus of Baptist World Mission.  Missionaries on their way to Australia, Ecuador, Egypt, Grenada, Norway, and the state of Nebraska will present their works.  We expect to raise around a quarter of a million dollars for world evangelism this year.  Do pray with us that our faith promise commitments will be the highest ever.

During the Sunday morning service, we had a good number of visitors.  Pray for us as we follow up with these new contacts.

Also, two hands were raised for salvation during the invitation, but both parties failed to walk the aisle.  We will be establishing contact with both persons this week.  Pray that God will give us wisdom as we present the Gospel and that God will grant salvation to both by the end of the week.

Your prayers mean much to us.

Missions Conference Around the Corner (Feb 01, 2010)

We are off to a good start this year.  Numbers seem to be holding their own in early January, and we are incredibly thankful for the souls that have been saved and the baptismal waters that have been stirred already this year.

Last week we were able to lead a pregnant mother to the Lord.  We had already been able to lead her young husband to Christ a few weeks ago.  Praise the Lord!  Pray that we will be able to see them baptized and discipled in the near future.

Sanctity of Life Sunday and Relief of Haiti (Jan 25, 2010)

Yesterday, we were privileged to celebrate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday by conducting our annual baby dedication service.  Ten families of Grace were blessed with new babies in 2009, and it was our joy to parade these children across the platform and pray for their parents as they face the daunting task of raising children for the glory of God in this wicked world.  My sermon yesterday morning, from Proverbs 4, focused on the home.  There were some solid decisions by parents at the altar asking for God's help to be the right kind of mother or father.  You can listen to the sermon again by logging on to our website.

Children are an important part of Grace Baptist Church.  This is why we run buses to underprivileged neighborhoods every Sunday.  This week another three children prayed to receive Christ as personal Savior in the counseling center of bus church.  We praise the Lord for these decisions.

We also praise the Lord for another child, Uriah Barfield, who accepted Christ in Junior Church yesterday.  His mom and dad are recent new members of our church.  We praise the Lord for Uriah's sensitivity to God's Spirit.  He followed the Lord in believer's baptism yesterday and became the newest member of Grace Baptist Church.  Amen!

In our zeal to continue to help children, the congregation of Grace Baptist Church voted to underwrite two scholarships for bus kids to attend Grace Christian School each year.  Bus kids who feel called to ministry will be our first priority.  We are hoping to train missionaries from our own ranks.  Amen again!

Yesterday was also characterized by Grace taking special offerings for disaster relief in Haiti.  Numerous children and adults have been hurt by the recent earthquake, and we wanted to do our part to hurt this struggling people.  The people of Grace opened their wallets in a great fashion.  These collected funds will be sent to BIMI who will funnel the funds to veteran missionary Don Dryden who is working closely with national pastors in Port au Prince.  In addition, we showed a missionary presentation in the evening service of Don's son and co-worker, Benji, who has been a good friend to this pastor for several years.  The church voted to add Benji to our missionary family, making him the 163rd missionary of the Grace Baptist Church family.

Bob Ingram and I were able to attend the annual board meeting of the Christian Servicemen Centers last week.  This year's meeting was held in Lawton, Oklahoma just outside of Fort Sill.  What a blessing to be able to report that 1055 servicemen stood to receive Christ last year through the Freedom House here in Columbus.  As I toured the Artillery Musuem at Fort Sill, I was reminded of the power of proper weapons.  What a blessing to pack the Gospel Gun and fire away at the demons of hell.  What a privilege to be in the Lord's Army!  We have already seen 39 soldiers stand to receive Christ this year, and we are praying that God will give us 1200 before the year is done.  Pray that God will give us one new couple to volunteer to sit the center on evenings when Bible studies are being conducted and that our two assistants to Brother Ingram will grow and assume more responsibility as new Bible studies are added to our already growing schedule.

Missions Conference is just a little over two weeks away.  Missionaries to Australia, Ecuador, Egypt, Grenada, Norway, and Nebraska will be featured.  Dr. Fred Moritz, General Director Emeritus of Baptist World Mission, will be our featured speaker.  It should be a great week!  Pray that God will grant us our largest Faith Promise commitment ever!

The boys varsity basketball team concludes their home schedule today.  Is it wrong to pray for a victory?

Anyway, do pray for the ministries of Grace Baptist Church this week as the Lord lays us upon your heart.  Your interest in this ministry means much to us.