7th Annual - Carolina vs. Clemson Day

It happened again in 2010... Carolina vs. Clemson Day at Emmanuel Baptist Church!

• There were tailgate parties at 9:30am on the parking lots. Tents were setup, tailgates were down, breakfast foods were abundant, and footballs were being tossed back and forth.
• There was a sea of orange on one side of the church and a sea of garnet on the other. It was a church division for the right reasons and all in fun.
• There were decorations, streamers, banners, balloons, painted faces, and more.
• There was Adrian Despres, the chaplain for the Carolina Gamecocks!
• There were 600+ people present!
• There was an amazing Spirit-filled message about Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness and all who looked to it were healed.
• There were 8 people who looked to Jesus and found healing for their souls.
• There were more who recommitted themselves back to God.

Carolina vs. Clemson Day is just a tool to give people an excuse to invite their friends to church. Did you? Was an eternal destiny changed because of your effort? I'm still rejoicing with those who filled pews with family, friends, and co-workers. I'm thanking God for the lady who sent us the names of 20+ people she and her husband wanted to invite and wanted us to pray for. I'm still thanking God for what He is doing through Emmanuel Baptist Church!

Trunk or Treat Report

Say what you will, but when nearly 2,500 people hold out their hand to receive a gospel tract... I call that a small miracle! That's what happened last Sunday night at our 8th annual Trunk-or-Treat event. Over 1400 pounds of candy, over 100 volunteers, 42 trunks, inflatables, pony rides, a Christmas bus, and of course concessions were all part of this event.

Information cards were being filled out by everyone, until we said, "Let's make it optional and only ask those interested in receiving more information about Emmanuel Baptist Church or Emmanuel Christian School to fill out a card." We had over 200 people express an interest in our church and over 300 who expressed interest in our school.

One man who had been to several events around town said, you definitely have the biggest crowed, then added... "People have come to know that Emmanuel does things right." That was a tremendous compliment and reminds us that "If it bears His name, it deserves our best."

Thanks to all who were praying, helping, and contributing in any way toward this event. Now the real work begins as we try to followup with each of these who requested more information.

Does Celebrating Halloween Send You to Hell?

The greatest opposition I've faced since moving to Hartsville has been from preachers and radical religious nuts who put opinion above Scripture. It's been quiet recently, but my phone rang yesterday and I received a voicemail from a pastor who informed me that I was going to hell (along with our church and many other churches) for celebrating Halloween.

Eight years ago, Emmanuel hosted Hartsville's first Trunk-or-Treat event. This year, there are 10-12 other churches in our community hosting similar events around Halloween. Ours takes place on Oct. 31, as we invite families to come to a safe environment, get candy, enjoy inflatable rides, carnival games, ponies, and concessions. We ask that there be no scary or evil costumes. We use this event to share the gospel and to gather names of those who might be looking for a church home. In years past, our crowds have averaged 1,200-1,300 people coming through in 1.5 hours. Remember, we minister in a city of 8,000+/-. Gospel tracts are handed out to every person present. It is a very positive event that has been appreciated and embraced by our community. It's a community outreach event, and an alternative to Halloween, not a celebration of it.

In spite of the success of the event, a preacher stated that a person goes to hell for celebrating Halloween. Is that true? Absolutely not. Sadly, in this day and time, you can't even believe everything a preacher tells you. Denominational teachings, opinions, and personal preferences have replaced solid Bible preaching. Rest assured that the only thing that keeps a person out of heaven is refusing to recognize that Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to heaven, His blood paid the penalty for our sin, and He is Lord of all.

Certainly, our church does NOT endorse the evil aspects of Halloween; but we DO endorse using every opportunity to share God's love with others. How about you? When was the last time you told someone about Jesus?

Judgement House - Sunday #2

Another amazing night at Judgement House! We had over 800+ people walk through tonight, and 108 of those made decisions for salvation. Our grand total was 2,475 people walking through in 4 nights. Of those, 256 made decisions for salvation and many others recommitted their lives to Christ. The night started slow and 3 of the first 4 groups walked out without one person making any type of decision, so we ramped up the prayer efforts and God answered!

Now the real work begins, as we follow-up with all of those decisions. Phone calls, mail outs, and visits to each one. We are partnering with the local churches who brought groups to accomplish this task. it's their job to follow-up on those who came with their groups. Our goal is not to build our church from other churches, but rather to build a partnership of churches working together to make disciples.

A special thanks to the Judgement House team... eight years and running! (They are definitely invited back next year and there are more Pecan pies where those came from.) Our thanks also goes to all those volunteers who arrived today at 4:00pm to serve and then stayed until after midnight resetting everything for school. We have an incredible church family!

Finally, a special thanks to our two amazing ministry assistants who spent their monumental birthdays serving God by serving others! Happy birthday Anna & Stacie!

Judgement House - Saturday #2

UNBELIEVABLE! We had 604 people walk through JH last night. 70 of those made first time decisions for salvation and a couple of dozen recommitted their lives to Christ. When given opportunity to respond to the invitation, one ENTIRE group exited the room to speak with a counselor!

It's been interesting as 2 of our church members and another relative of a church member have passed during JH. In addition, I truly believe we had a demon possessed man tour JH last night. He was very disruptive during the presentation of the Gospel and wrote some "crazy" things on the testimony board. Thank God, that even that man heard about the love of God.

Keep praying... one more night to go. So far, we've had 1,641 people tour JH. Should go over 2,000 tonight.

Judgement House 2010

Judgement House has become an annual event at Emmanuel. This is our 8th year hosting this event. Our first Youth/Children's Pastor, Kevin Matias, stepped out on a limb to try something that stretched our church; but has become one of our favorite events. Our current, Youth/College Pastor, Justin Facenda, has brought annual improvements to JH and it continues to grow. This year, we are hosting it over 2 weekends and had over 1000+ people walk through in the first 2 nights. The reservations for this next weekend are even more full and should result in our largest crowd ever!

Last weekend, we saw 77 people make first-time decisions for salvation. In addition, there were 20+ who recommitted their lives to Christ. In addition to the story line, each participant hears a closing that draws the story together and leads them to examine their own lives. Those who make decisions are dealt with one-on-one to make sure they understand. One of my favorite parts is that each person who makes a decision writes a brief testimony. It exciting and encouraging to read these heartfelt decisions.

So, please pray for our staff of over 100+ people serving as actors, tour guides, counselors, registration, security, nursery workers, lighting, sound, runners, consessions, and more! For more information on JH, visit http://www.judgementhouse.org.

I'll keep you posted on this weekend's results.

Sunday Summary 9.26

In the last two Sundays, we have had 3 people baptized and the Lord added 8 new members to our church family. We also have 3 more adults that have indicated their interest in baptism and another 4 who will soon be joining the church. Two of those are new believers!

On Sunday mornings, I've been preaching a new series entitled, "Who Cares?" It goes along with the billboards we have posted in our community and also our website, www.ebc-cares.com. People are being reminded of what "real" caring means and how we as the Church, must care for those around us. They are also realizing that you can't serve God, while sitting on the sidelines. By the way... what ministry are you involved in?

It's been good seeing God move in the hearts of our people, as they have been volunteering to serve in various ministries. We need all the volunteers and help we can get with Judgement House and Trunk-or-Treat coming up. I'll keep you posted on how God uses our volunteers!

Bible Doctrine Class

I started a new Life Group 2 weeks ago and it has been amazing! The class is "Bible Doctrine 101." While doctrine doesn't sound very exciting, the crowd is growing and those present are excited about having a "safe place" to ask those Bible questions that have bewildered them for years.

The class consists of various age groups, new believers, not-so-new believers, regular church-goers, occasional church-goers, and more. We started by introducing the basics of the Bible (sections, divisions, Library mentality, authors, etc.) It appears the simplicity of the subject matter has been well received, and I think the excitement will only grow as we begin to study the doctrines and watch the lights come on for new believers.

The purpose of the class is to help people gain a firm foundation for their faith. CNN recently had a survey of religious questions on their website. Sadly, atheists and agnostics answered the questions about religion more accurately than those who claimed to be "religious." Even more sadly, the survey revealed that Southerners (specifically in the Bible belt), knew the LEAST about religion.

Maybe if preachers would preach more Bible and less opinion, people would know more about the Bible. Can you imagine what the church would be like if people actually knew their Bibles, lived its teachings, and had a foundation upon which to build a biblical worldview! I CAN, so I'm teaching a class on Bible doctrine; since you can't live what you believe, until you know what you believe.

Friend Day - 9.12.10

Last Sunday was AWESOME! Whether you called it "Friend Day," "National Back to Church Sunday," or as the old-timers used to call it... "Round-up Sunday;" it was a GREAT day!

Many of our church members invited their friends and family members to attend with them. One of our newest evangelist and her 2 friends (who recently trusted Christ), had two pews of people with them! We had 2 baptized, 3 prayed to receive Christ, 3 more requested info on how to start a relationship with God, 4 recommitted their lives to Christ, and many first-time guests were in attendance! As we started following-up on our guests, another lady invited Christ to be her Lord and Savior on Monday night!

Friend Day also served as a great reminder (to me) that it is "not my our might, nor by our power; but by His Spirit" that God convicts hearts and builds His Church. On Friday night, our family went to visit our daughter in VA and on one of our biggest Sundays of the year, I left my sermon notes laying in the hotel lobby as we drove off. Imagine my surprise on Saturday night as I went to look over my sermon one more time. So, I was at the church at 6:00am on Sunday morning praying and recreating. The experience was a teachable moment reminding me to depend on God and trust Him for the results.

Thank you to all who prepared our facilities, made coffee, served donuts, cleaned up, greeted, had a part in the service, etc. Also, a special thanks to everyone who cared enough to invite a guest to attend with them. God rewarded your efforts!

Sunday Summary 9.10.10

Last Sunday, was exciting as 2 people were baptized and 2 joined the church. We concluded the sermon series regarding the process for making disciples. Our 4-step process for making disciples at EBC is:

• Share
• Connect
• Serve
• Disciple Others

Following the morning service, I had the sweetest conversation with a couple who was convicted about inviting their friends to do everything, except come to church. They made a prayer list and e-mailed it to me. We have joined them in praying. Others filled out cards asking us to pray for their friends and relatives who need to start a relationship with God.

Now that we've talked about making disciples --- let's DO IT!