Missionary GS Nair With Us (Mar 15, 2010)

In spite of the time change yesterday, a good number of people remembered to "spring forward."  The Lord blessed with good attendance figures, and several key decisions were made for Christ yesterday.  Praise the Lord!

Visitors attended our services yesterday from Alabama, Florida, and Illinois.  We are thankful for these.

Bus attendance held its own, and two precious kids prayed to receive Christ in the counseling center of bus church.  One child received assurance of salvation.

Fort Benning Bible studies were attended by 126 soldiers this week.  21 of these servicemen stood to receive Christ as personal Savior.  Amen!

As members continue to graduate from the Soul Winners Club at Grace Baptist Church, God uses them to bring people into the family of God.  Our director, Denny Henderson, and another fellow deacon, John Rogers, were able to lead Cheyenne Gurlach to the Lord several weeks ago in her home.  Yesterday, it was my privilege to plunge Cheyenne beneath baptismal waters as she publicly took her stand for Christ and became the newest member of Grace Baptist Church.  Praise the Lord!

We were also privileged to hear Dr. G. S. Nair preach last night.  This modern-day marvel has started over 1300 churches in India.  The good hand of God has been on the Peoples Baptist Church ministries for many years now.  What a great night it was to hear this great man of God speak again.  You can hear his sermon by logging on to our website.

Don't forget that this upcoming Sunday will celebrate our tenth annual Sword of the Lord conference.  Dr. Shelton Smith, editor of the Sword, and Dr. Paul Kingsbury, pastor of North Love Baptist Church in Rockford, Illinois, will be our featured speakers.  You won't want to miss this three-day event.  The preaching will be hot and helpful.

Thanks for your continued support of this ministry.  Your prayers mean much to us.

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.