Praise The Lord!!

We have much to Praise The Lord about.

The Lord has done so much for us in the last couple of weeks:

1

We are almost finished (I use that term loosely, this is only phase 1 of at least 4) with the remodel of the auditorium. After many, many hours of work, (including about 12 hours on Saturday for most of the men) we are almost there and holding while they install the carpet. We will make a mad dash this weekend to finish all the details before Sunday. We are all looking forward to having Easter in the new sanctuary. Praise The Lord!

2
We were able to buy a "new" van for the Church. It is a 2002 Chevy Express. It is in great condition. We are thrilled to be able to get it. The old van is....well,...old and wore out. We can still use it around town, but not for any trip. This is such a blessing. We have been praying about a van since we arrived. However, with all the remodel that was needed, the funds just weren't going to be there for awhile. Anyway, a foundation in town distributes grants to local non-profit organizations. To make a long story short, we petitioned for a grant and after much prayer and "worry" we received a check in the mail for $5,000.00! Praise The Lord!! The funny part of the story is that after about 10 days from presenting our need and proposal to the board. I told Becky while driving to church one day, "I sure would like to get a response from the foundation." It wasn't an hour later when I was in the Church discussing the remodel with my deacon when Becky tapped me on the shoulder and handed me an envelope. When I saw who it was from I was scared to open it. Needless to say I was thrilled when I opened it and saw the check. God Is Good. He uses many things to supply our needs. Well, from the grant and some other money that was given we were able to pick up the van at a good price.

3

Becky and I and our other nature lovers Paul & Betsy were able to steal away last Friday for a couple hours to see the beautiful azaelas. Tyler, a town near by, has an "Azaela Trail" that you can follow in your car and also walk through some beautiful gardens. We were a tad late in the season, due to our busy schedules, but they were still just as beautiful. Praise The Lord for His Beauty and good friends to share it with!

God has been so good. May I close with these good verses:

Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

Psalm 150:1-6 (KJV)

Hangin Rock

We got started on hanging drywall this past week. It is going well. We should have it all up by the end of the week. The men are working so hard. We are having another work day this Saturday. We still have lots to do. The time of fellowship while working has been so sweet. The folks are all thrilled about getting it all "New" again. Becky & I are thrilled too. It is fun to serve the Lord.

Anyway, here are a few new shots to show the progress:

This past Sunday was a exciting day also. We had our highest attendance since I have been pastor. We had 76 in attendance and on Sunday Night we had 58. The Spirit was good and folks have been seeing some prayers answered. This coming Sunday we will have to put out a few more chairs in our temporary auditorium and move the wall back a little. Amen!

Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies;

make thy way straight before my face.

Psalm 5:8 (KJV)

Construction Begins

Construction or should I say "Destruction" begins. We started this past week on the remodel project. Saturday we had a big work day. Most of the guys started working in the auditorium and the ladies got our "new" temporary auditorium ready. We have worked a few nights also this week on demolition. There is no turning back now!!

How Fun!

Before

During

The Temporary Auditorium (In the School Building)

We had our first service in the school on Sunday 3/8. It was really exciting. I have been preaching on our themes of Building Faith, Family and Future. I finished up last week talking about the family and was able to begin this week with Building our Future. I preached a sermon from Joshua 3:5. It was called The Future Is Bright. We had a great day. The service went great, the spirit was good and we had a family visit. God Is Good!

And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves:

for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.

Joshua 3:5 (KJV)

Our Chairs Are Here!!

Yesterday our chairs arrived!

We ordered 150 new sanctuary chairs. They are a beautiful burgundy color. We will have our last service in the "old" auditorium this Sunday-3/1. While we are remodeling the auditorium we will be meeting in the school building. There is lots to be done. There will be many more pictures to follow to show all the work being done. But this is phase one--comfortable chairs to use while in the temporary auditorium and then transfered into the new beautiful auditorium for lots of versatile comfortable seating. Praise the Lord!

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Proverbs 29:1818 (KJV)

Flags, Friends & Flowers

The city puts flags up on certain propertys for a few selected holidays. So, in honor of Presidents' Day, they put up a couple on the church property. Very nice.

We got a few flowers planted in the planter box.

We had a great time at our Sweetheart Banquet on Valentine's Day.

Here are a couple shots of a few of the games.

Not too bad looking of a couple. (She's cute anyway!)

On Monday, Paul and Betsy Robertson (a sweet couple from our church) took Becky and I to the most incredible place. It is called Ms. Lea's Garden. It is gorgeous!!! The family owns about 1000 acres and several years ago they planted a train box car load of daffodils on the property. They are everywhere. I must have taken 75 photos or so. Like I said it is beautiful, but these pictures don't do it justice.

May I leave you with these words:

O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.--Psalm 104:24 (KJV)

Chili Cook-off

Hello. Well we promised to get back with some pictures. I have a couple shots of our "Big-Texas" chili cook-off and bake-off. Also, we got our new roof finished and I have a before and after shot.

As far as other updates, we have our first church work day this Saturday. Lots, and Lots to do. Also, we have our sweetheart banquet on Valentines day. We are having the Banquet at the church. Becky and I are playing chef. We are having steaks on the grill and plenty of good fixins to go with it. (Does that sound Texan?!) I am sure there will be more pictures to follow.

Until later I want to leave a verse exclaiming how we feel, because God is Good!

Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. -Psalm 73:11 (KJV)

God Bless

The Ladies Judge the Men's Chili

The Men Judged the Ladies' Pies

The Winners

Roof Before

After

A Texas Update

Whew, a lot has happened since our last entry. First off we had family down for our first Texas Christmas. Mom, Dad, Marilyn, Will and Sara all came to visit us, (I think they brought the cold weather with them) anyway we had a great time together and enjoyed showing them our new church family. It was good to see all of them and I think we all ate way too much.

Since the first of the year we have really been busy. I had my first men's meeting with all the men. We were able to set some goals and some timelines for the upcoming year. On the first Sunday Night of January we had "Vision Night". I had the opportunity to present my vision to the church and shared with them our church goals and direction together.

Church Mission:
Faith Baptist Church, Building--Faith...Family...Future

2009 Theme:
Building Up in 2009

Also, we had our first business meeting. We got all of our officers and teachers in place and also we were able to set up one of the men here as a deacon. Bro. Steve is a tremendous Christian and is completely dedicated to the Lord and Faith Baptist Church. I am excited to get to work with him! Also, last week we had our Installation of Officers Sunday. It was great to get to pray for all these good folks and dedicate their service to the Lord this year.

This past Sunday we had the privilege of having Dr. Jerry Chaney with us in our services. He preached for us all day Sunday and this past Wednesday night. He did a tremendous job and has been very encouraging to all of us.

Also, praise the Lord, this week we were able to get the roofers started on the church roof. This has been priority number one on our projects list. It is badly needed and it already looks great. It will be a great improvement to the church building.

Becky and I also get to try our hand at cooking this Saturday night. We are having our annual Men's Chili Cook-off. Also, this year I added a Ladies Bake-off. I will follow up with results and pictures of this "World Class" event!

On the personal side, Becky and I are doing great. We feel a little more settled in and we are really loving the time we get to spend with the people. Becky started working at the church 3 days a week. She is doing a great job and I don't just say that because she's my wife. We do have a praise and prayer request--We have some folks looking at our house in FL and they may be making an offer. Praise The LORD and Pray, Pray, Pray for God's will!!!

Well, not much else to say right now. I will hopefully follow up next time with more pictures of our lastest events. We miss everyone so MUCH and Love you even MORE!!