Vacation Post #2 (Day #4)

Well, yesterday proved to be better than I could have even expected and hoped for.  The day started with worship at Eastpoint Fellowship in Orlando, with Pastor Danny Strickland, who was our pastor when Stacy and I met.  Pastor Danny also ordained me to the Gospel Ministry.  At Eastpoint, we got to see quite a few old friends from the church where we all were at that time, and it was wonderful to catch up with them all.  Also, Danny gave me a wonderful welcome, and toward the end of the service, he asked me to stand up and tell the church what is going on with us.  So, I did and asked them to pray as we continue to seek God’s will for us.  One more note about the service, Danny preached a sermon called “Do not…Do not…Do not….Sounds Like Legalism.”  It was a refreshing look at the freedom that is offered to us in Christ, and how Christians should only stand on the commands of God in His Word, and not get stuck on other rules that are man made.  Stacy will be posting her sermon notes on her blog, I’m Glad You Asked, later today.  So, check out her blog later today for those notes.

After the worship service, we went to spend the day with Stacy’s dad, step-mom, and brother.  Her step-mom is the most amazing italian cook, and makes everything from scratch. YUMMMMMY!  We were at their house from about 12:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  It was great to hang out with them, and catch up on with each other.  Especially, since I only get to see them once or twice a year.

Well, that’s it for now.  Have a great Monday.  Love God, love others!

Vacation Post #1 (Day #3)

It is 8:30 a.m. E.T., and the family and I are getting ready for a morning of worship in Orlando with old friends, and then an Italian dinner cooked by Stacy’s step-mom.  It should be a wonderful day of worship and fellowship.

We have already had a great start to our vacation by spending Friday evening and Saturday morning with my parents in Leesburg, Florida.  They have a beautiful home there, and it was great to see them and spend some time with them again.  I will get to see them again on Friday when they will take me to Sanford-Orlando Airport to fly to Knoxville, and be back home in Livingston by about 10:00 p.m. that night.

I pray that all of you have a great Sunday of worship and fellowship.  Remember, love God and love others above all else.

My 100th Post!!!

This is the 100th post I’ve written for “My Life In the South.”  It doesn’t seem possible, but here we are.  I want to thank all of you who have visited since this blog was started back in January of this year.  It’s been great to share many of the experiences and thoughts that I’ve had over these months.

The only thing that I want to say on this 100th post is this:  Let’s all determine to love God and love others with everything we are and everything we have.  Worship Him!  Meet needs and connect people to Christ!

Pray for the Martin Family

You may remember the post I wrote earlier this year about 4 year old Shelbi Martin.  You can read her story on her CaringBridge site at http://www.caringbridge.com/visit/littleshelbi.  She died today (July 15) around 12:58 p.m., and is now in Heaven with Jesus.

Please pray for Shelbi’s family, that they will have strength, comfort, and healing through this difficult time.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

Celebrate the Lord of Love

“Celebrate the Lord of Love” - that is the title of the first song we worked on in the Celebration Choir rehearsal at First Baptist Church tonight, and that is exactly what we did throughout the rehearsal.  What a privilege it is to have an evening where we observe the Lord’s Supper and then have a choir rehearsal that could more accurately be described as the best worship we get to have all week long.

Thank you, God, for the awesome times of celebration and love that make up the Celebration Choir rehearsals!

P.S.  I’m also REALLY EXCITED that after only one day, there are already 9 students signed up for the Student Choir Fall Kick-Off Party on August 5.  If you are a student in 5th-12th grades at the First Baptist Church of Livingston, TN, make sure you sign up for this really cool event on the Student Ministries Sign-Up Board.

Twitter

I love the Twitter service!  It’s a great way to keep up with people I know and am interested in.  Also, they can keep up with me.

However, because of too many questionable followers who were getting my updates, I have changed my Twitter settings to protect my updates.  So, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, please go to my Twitter page and request to follow me.  The address for my page is http://www.twitter.com/sdhronec.

Thanks.  Look forward to continuing to follow and be followed by all my favorite Tweets!

50,000 People - That’s Alot

Once again, I want to call your attention to another blog that I enjoy reading, and am challenged by.  Perry Noble, pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC, wrote a post on his blog titled “50K.” I encourage you to read it and leave comments here on “My Life In The South” about what “50K” makes you think.  How does it challenge you?  Does it hit home in a particular way?  What are we going to do to reach them?  Let’s talk about the 50,000.

Click HERE to read “50K.”

Innovation In the Church (Revisited)

Back on June 18, I wrote a post titled, “Innovation In the Church.” Many of you read that post, and a couple of you left well thought out comments.  This morning I was reading joecase.com, a blog by Joe Case, Senior Pastor of Uprising Church in Nashville, TN, and Joe’s latest post deals with the issue of Innovation in the Church.

One of my passions in church ministry is to see Christians decide that delivering the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ deserves to be fueled with as much money and technological innovation as anything else we might do.  Please read “What Can We Learn From the Fireworks Display” on joecase.com.  Joe has given us something to think about, pray about, and act on.  Thank you, Joe, for how you are leading Uprising Church and inspiring us all to be the Christians that God intends for us to be.

God Is So Cool

Tonight, we had our weekly Celebration Choir rehearsal at First Baptist Church following the evening worship service.  There are 17-20 people in the choir when everyone is there, but there have been lots of sicknesses and vacations causing our attendance to be down throughout the summer.

Well, just when I least expected it, God used those circumstances to give us an amazing rehearsal with 9 choir members present.  I felt led to rehearse the song “Healing Rain” using the arrangement found in “The Worship Choir Collection - Vol. 2.”  The 9 members of the choir made up this great sounding ensemble with 4 sopranos, 2 altos, 1 tenor, and 2 basses.  I added my voice to make 2 tenors.  The result was an unexpected Praise Team that, for the time being, is called “Faithful.”  I told the 9 members of the group that it is so cool to see how God controls everything and how He had just the right people for the job in rehearsal tonight.

Praise God for His faithfulness to work all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His will!

What a Voice

Tonight, at First Baptist Church, we had our 5th Sunday Sing, which I have decided to simply call Summer PraiseFest 2008.  Whenever there is a 5th Sunday, we have a service that is entirely devoted to praising God with music.  Tonight, we had 7 different people present their musical talents, and as always, it was a wonderful time.  Then, when our final singer of the night got up, we were all BLOWN AWAY!

10 year old Tessa Bilbrey sang the song, “Call On Jesus,” originally performed by Nicole C. Mullen.  Tessa has one of the most beautiful and powerful children’s singing voices I’ve ever heard.  A standing ovation is not something I’ve seen given more than a couple of times by our congregation, and tonight they erupted in applause and stood to their feet when Tessa finished singing.  Click here to listen to the recording of Tessa singing tonight.

Pray that God will continue to use Tessa’s beautiful voice to bless lots of people and to give Him the utmost praise.  Also, I’m excited that she will be joining the Student Choir this fall!