We had the privilege of having Joey & Cynthia Colson stay with us this weekend. Cynthia's dad led me to Christ and was my spiritual mentor. I watched Cynthia grow up and we prayed as Joey battled cancer shortly after they were married. Those trials increased their faith and matured them spiritually. We also enjoyed their little miracle, Abigail.
I've c0ntinued preaching through James and moved from talking about trials (tests of faith) into temptations (opportunities to sin). Since I started this series, I've been living the trials and seemingly everything I touch breaks. I've been working a side job to help pay for my daughter's college and rather than saving... all I've been doing is spending (for misc. repairs) more than I've made! This morning, I pulled into the church, unloaded some boxes, and then my car wouldn't start. Earlier this week, I had our other car in the shop. I'm hoping these tests are almost over, so I can stop being my sermon illustrations. Regardless, Flora and I are learning that God is faithful and He always provides. My trials are small in comparison to many, but they do make you weary.
Brian Watts led the music portion of our worship service today and did a wonderful job. He opened with a trumpet solo as our call to worship. He also had his friend, Morgan Dampier, to accompany our orchestra on her saxophone. It was beautiful! We're without a Worship Pastor, but we have many talented people who are filling in. In fact, we have a special program coming up on Sept. 13 and it is all lay-led.
We had a father and son baptized this morning and it was a great way to start the service. I also had two other families tell me they are ready to join the church. God continues to bless us with visitors and we never take this for granted. There are many other churches in Hartsville they could have worshipped at, but they chose to visit with us!
We lost a dear church member this week, Mr. Walter Hartis (69). Walter enjoyed a great day with his wife, they went to bed, he told her that he loved her, and then he died. What a way to go! His funeral was today and it was a very sweet time. It was a picture of Ps. 116:15 - "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."
Tonight, I tied the morning messages of James (trials and temptations) together with a message from Job. It's still amazes me that God allowed the seriousness of the trials. Again, our trials seem so petty.
Let me close by sharing with you that we have a spirit in our church that has not been here since the moral failure of a worship leader in 2007. It is a breath of fresh air and people are really "buying into" the ministries at EBC. There is a sweet spirit and a unity that is catching the attention of many. Please continue to pray!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Emmanuel Christian Opens Strong!
Emmanuel Christian School (ECS) opened in 1963 and launched this 46th year in astounding fashion. The new Headmaster, Clark Ballard, came to Hartsville from Aiken, SC where he served as Headmaster / Administrator of Aiken Christian School for 11 years. Mr. Ballard received his Bachelor's degree from University of Alabama and his Masters degree from the Citadel. He has 22 years experience in education (7.5 in public schools and 15 in private/Christian education).
In spite of the economic recession, the enrollment at ECS continues to be strong and has nearly doubled in the past five years! ECS added over 90 new students in grades 2K-12 for the 2009-2010 school year, bringing the total enrollment to 426. In preschool through 5th grade, there are now two classes offered in every grade except fourth. The majority of our growth this year was in our Upper School and I believe it is because people are finally realizing the high quality of academic product that ECS is producing. Our average SAT scores were 137 points higher than Darlington County last year and we have classes ranked in the top 1% nationally.
ECS continued the campus renovations this past summer. ECS spent $100,000 in renovations, which included technological upgrades across our campus. The technology project included new servers, upgrades for classroom computers, purchase of brand new notebook computers for our students, a Promethean board, and educational software. The project is still underway and more improvements are planned for the future, but lacks approximately $10,000 for completion.
For more information about ECS, visit our website at www.ecscrusaders.com.
In spite of the economic recession, the enrollment at ECS continues to be strong and has nearly doubled in the past five years! ECS added over 90 new students in grades 2K-12 for the 2009-2010 school year, bringing the total enrollment to 426. In preschool through 5th grade, there are now two classes offered in every grade except fourth. The majority of our growth this year was in our Upper School and I believe it is because people are finally realizing the high quality of academic product that ECS is producing. Our average SAT scores were 137 points higher than Darlington County last year and we have classes ranked in the top 1% nationally.
ECS continued the campus renovations this past summer. ECS spent $100,000 in renovations, which included technological upgrades across our campus. The technology project included new servers, upgrades for classroom computers, purchase of brand new notebook computers for our students, a Promethean board, and educational software. The project is still underway and more improvements are planned for the future, but lacks approximately $10,000 for completion.
For more information about ECS, visit our website at www.ecscrusaders.com.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Sunday Summary 8.23.09
I just started a sermon series in the book of James. James addressed the Jewish believers who had been scattered and were beginning to lose their way and cave in to the pressures of the world. They were no longer living what they claimed to believe. I see the American church in the same predicament -- pursuing comfort, rather than commitment. Dr. Daniel Kim, a Korean pastor, was beaten by his family for accepting Christ; but he remained faithful. This week, a 17 year old girl from Ohio petitioned for asylum in Florida due to fear that her father will kill her to maintain the family's honor, because she accepted Jesus Christ; but she remains faithful. These are examples of "committed" Christ-followers. Would you cave in to that type of trial? Would you be faithful to God? Would you stand firm in your commitment to Christ?
In James 1:5-12, we discussed proper responses to trials and Paul Longnecker shared his testimony. Paul was a wayward military aircraft mechanic who was in a motorcycle wreck that changed his life. Rather than getting mad at God for taking away his ability to fully function, Paul thanked God for giving him the gift of a second chance and bringing him back to Himself. When trials come, we must stand firm and not waver! God is for us -- not against us
It was a tough morning, but God gave us a tremendous altar response and brought a family into the fellowship of our church. I was in a fog this morning, as I'm still not over sending our oldest daughter off to college. The emptiness is our house is very difficult for me right now. We had some confusion in the absences of a Worship Pastor, but the volunteers responded like champions! We had 16 lights out across our Worship Center, due to a lightning storm; but God shined bright! George Singletary shared his testimony of salvation and challenged us all. With school back in session and summer vacations over, both the attendance and the offerings were strong.
Tonight, we observed communion together and it was the first time our new Deacons had the privilege of serving. There is a VERY sweet spirit of unity and cooperation in our church family at present. You always have a few disgruntled folks; but the most of our people are taking ownership, volunteering for service, showing up at all hours to care for the facilities, starting new ministries, caring for one another, visiting, conducting home Bible studies, and more! Realizing the healthy state of our church, it really made communion a special time tonight.
In James 1:5-12, we discussed proper responses to trials and Paul Longnecker shared his testimony. Paul was a wayward military aircraft mechanic who was in a motorcycle wreck that changed his life. Rather than getting mad at God for taking away his ability to fully function, Paul thanked God for giving him the gift of a second chance and bringing him back to Himself. When trials come, we must stand firm and not waver! God is for us -- not against us
It was a tough morning, but God gave us a tremendous altar response and brought a family into the fellowship of our church. I was in a fog this morning, as I'm still not over sending our oldest daughter off to college. The emptiness is our house is very difficult for me right now. We had some confusion in the absences of a Worship Pastor, but the volunteers responded like champions! We had 16 lights out across our Worship Center, due to a lightning storm; but God shined bright! George Singletary shared his testimony of salvation and challenged us all. With school back in session and summer vacations over, both the attendance and the offerings were strong.
Tonight, we observed communion together and it was the first time our new Deacons had the privilege of serving. There is a VERY sweet spirit of unity and cooperation in our church family at present. You always have a few disgruntled folks; but the most of our people are taking ownership, volunteering for service, showing up at all hours to care for the facilities, starting new ministries, caring for one another, visiting, conducting home Bible studies, and more! Realizing the healthy state of our church, it really made communion a special time tonight.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
I've Been Scolded and Will Re-Open My Blog
Life has been busier than I ever dreamed possible, so I let go of the things I thought weren't as important. One of those things was this blog, but I have been repeatedly scolded and realize that more people were reading than I realized. After reading, they were praying, so I am reopening my blog and promise to do a better job keeping it updated.
You may be asking, "What kept you so busy?" Pastors only work 1 day per week... :-)
- I've been serving as a pastor.
- Last school year I also wore the hat of school Headmaster. (I'll tell you why at another time.) We have hired a new headmaster and there is no doubt that God sent him our way!
- I'm serving as a chaplain for Hospice.
- I'm still serving on the Board of the Greater Hartsville Chamber of Commerce.
- I'm the Vice-Moderator for the Carolinas Baptist Bible Fellowship.
- I'm Chairman and co-founder of the Carolina Family Planning Centers. A pro-life group starting crisis pregnancy care centers across SC. Our goal is to open 5 this fall.
- We just took our oldest daughter to college.
- Our middle daughter is a high-school senior.
- We took a family vacation.
- And the list literally goes on...
I'll share more about each of these and give you some Sunday updates in the days ahead. Thanks for reading and for your prayers. God is doing some GREAT things and we are still seeing people starting personal relationships with Christ! PRAY... PRAY... PRAY!!!!!!
You may be asking, "What kept you so busy?" Pastors only work 1 day per week... :-)
- I've been serving as a pastor.
- Last school year I also wore the hat of school Headmaster. (I'll tell you why at another time.) We have hired a new headmaster and there is no doubt that God sent him our way!
- I'm serving as a chaplain for Hospice.
- I'm still serving on the Board of the Greater Hartsville Chamber of Commerce.
- I'm the Vice-Moderator for the Carolinas Baptist Bible Fellowship.
- I'm Chairman and co-founder of the Carolina Family Planning Centers. A pro-life group starting crisis pregnancy care centers across SC. Our goal is to open 5 this fall.
- We just took our oldest daughter to college.
- Our middle daughter is a high-school senior.
- We took a family vacation.
- And the list literally goes on...
I'll share more about each of these and give you some Sunday updates in the days ahead. Thanks for reading and for your prayers. God is doing some GREAT things and we are still seeing people starting personal relationships with Christ! PRAY... PRAY... PRAY!!!!!!
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