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One Year Later... I was able to preach yesterday in my pastor's absence. Click here for the audio mp3 file. June 19, 2009 Update, Sorry for the 7 Month Delay It is June and I have been at FBC Long Beach for 7 months now. What a wonderful church family. This past semester, Melanie taught at a school here on the coast, but about 45 minutes away. Beginning in August, she will start at a school not too far away from our home. And speaking of homes, our house in Columbus is still for sell. But it will sell at the right time and things will work out. Of that, I have not doubt. The kids are doing great and loving the beach. Living just 4 tenth's of a mile from the beach is great! Just yesterday, I took my son to the beach and we threw the football and worked on our tan. It was really funny. As soon as I took my shirt off, he did too. We stayed out htere for about 45 minutes. I need to do it more, for him and a tan. ha. My daughter is doing great also. We had a date the other night and I took her out to eat and just spend the evening having a great time. Walking around the mall, eating dessert, looking at books at Barnes and Nobles. Just whatever she wanted to do. They are growing up so fast. More later, in a few months I'm sure. ha November 19, 2008 November Update It's almost Thanksgiving. And then my birthday, and then Christmas! WOW! This year has really flown by. Now, on the verge of new adventures and new places. Life is full of surprises and adventures. Some are fun and exciting and others are challenging and sometimes even painful. But in every situation, God is there and in control. No matter what some people think, even those who would say they have been the one that made this happen or that happen... We must understand that no matter what happens, it is never a surprise to God! You has never said, "WHAT?" ha. Just think about that for a little bit. More later... August 22, 2008 One Month Later! Our family, withouth skipping a beat, is plugged into a church in the area and it's been a great month. We quickly decided where to attend and worship with a local body of believers. Since I knew the staff already, it was easy to decide where to go, plus being invited by a friend made it even easier. Melanie has now joined the choir, the kids have had a blast in the children's ministry, and I started attending the youth worship gathering this past week. The staff is amazing. Everyone has been very encouraging and inviting. Their ministry philosophy seems to be very similiar with my ministry philosophy and therefore, making a transition like ours much easier than one might think! July 24, 2008 Ministry Direction & Life Changes Wow... Almost a year since I have updated this website. Well, life has been kind of busy I guess you could say... So, here we are, one year later, and a definite new direction for ministry. What direction might that be? College and Missions. Suprised? Well, not if you know me you aren't. Where? Well, we are asking that question ourselves. And we are waiting on God to open that door. He will. And when He does, we will step through. Okay, maybe run... but either way, we're going... Oh... Where did the old entries go? I deleted them. Why? Why not? A fresh start and a new direction. Actually it's not a new direction. It's the same direction. Just other things have changed. Well, more later... I just wanted to get SOMETHING back on here and get this going again! - John AUGUST 27, 2007, 9:00 PM Corbin's 5th B'Day & Shure Earphones Today is Corbin's 5th b'day and I was able to go and eat lunch with him in his room at school today. It was nice and we had fun just being together. Tonight, Melanie made him his "favorite dinner". He requested Mac and Cheese and Hotdogs! What an interesting meal! Ha. As
for the Shure Headphones, I
GOT THEM! And yes, they are awesome! AUGUST 3, 2007, 9:57 AM Shure Earphones These
are the earphones I am wanting.
These
should sound incredible! Hope so! JULY 15-22, 2007 M-Fuge in West Palm Beach, FL We had a GREAT time in West Palm. We took 23 to M-Fuge and saw God do some really awesome things! And even though it was a "Missions" focused trip, the group really had a blast! If you missed it, check out the photos here! JULY 7, 2007, 8:14 PM Going to Kansas City with the Acteens We are leaving with 9 girls, 3 chaperones, and 2 drivers to go to Kansas City for the Blume Conference. This is the National Acteen's Convention. Pray that things go well and for our travel. We are excited about our trip. It should be about a 12 hour trip going through Memphis, TN, St. Louis, MO, and then finally to Kansas City, MO. Pray that God uses this conference to spark a desire in each young lady to serve Him through missions. JULY 1, 2007, 8:40 PM I Shaved It Off! It's
been several years since I have shaved
JUNE 3, 2007, 8:40 PM Adopting the Taabwa People Group First Baptist Church of Columbus, MS has adpoted the Taabwa people. What does that mean? It means that our church will be praying for them that our Lord, Jesus Christ, will put a burden on our hearts for these people and that we will somehow, whether through sponsorship, sending supplies, or even going on mission trips with people from our church, help the Taabwa people. Getting to know them...
The Taabwa (Tabwa) people live in the heart of Africa. They live mainly on the southwestern shores of Lake Tanganyika, on the high grassy plateaus of the Marungu massif in extreme southeastern area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly called Zaire). Some also live in northeastern part of Zambia and along the Luapula River. Tabwa speak a Bantu language. The Tabwa number 200,000. Traditionally, Tabwa people made their living from hunting and smelting to make iron object. Today many are subsistence farmers, cultivating millet, manioc, cassava, beans, and corn, but they live primarily off fishing and hunting. The Tabwa worshipped ancestors, whose statues were the property of the lineage chiefs and sorcerers; these carried “medications” in their ears or in small cavities at the top of their heads. The Tabwa traditionally were animists who worshipped the spirits of ancestors and of nature, who lived in trees and rocks. The Taabwa live in the red area on the map below:
I received an email from a missionary who is in the Congo and has just returned from their area. Here are some of his pictures:
Please
begin to pray for these people. JUNE 3, 2007, 8:40 PM God's Word God is SO amazing in how He uses His Word in our lives. We can read a passage one day and enjoy it and learn about God and grow in our biblical knowledge, then a month or a year later, read the exact same passage and it total changes our life. That is amazing! God knows when we need to hear certain things from His Word and He knows how it needs to be applied to our life. I love reading from His Word and have it make such a connection with where I am, that when I close the book, I walk away knowing that I have heard from God Himself. APRIL 20, 2007, 9:35 PM Derek Webb Concert
Some college students and I drove to Birmingham to hear Derek Webb at the UCF House. Awesome night! ----------------------------- MARCH 28, 2007, 9:45 AM I
Will Sing Click here to listen to the song I
will sing for the meek ----------------------------- MARCH 13, 2007, 12:35 AM Skiing
in Colorado is Incredible!
While the girl's were in ski school, the guys had a blast! ----------------------------- FEBRUARY 25, 2007, 11:09 PM This morning, Claire went down during the invitation at church to make public her decision to invite Jesus into her heart. We are both very proud of her. -----------------------------
Group
Picture From the 2007 Valentine's Banquet ----------------------------- FEBRUARY 20, 2007, 2:10 PM On Sunday evening, February 18, 2007, Claire, my seven year old daughter, came to me just before the evening church service started and said, "I want to go down there tonight". The "down there" was accompanied with a point to the alter. She meant she wanted to go down during the invitation at the end of the service. I asked her why she wanted to go down and she responded, "Because I'm a Christian." As you can imagine, that was very exciting to hear, but I wanted to spend time with her and ask her questions to make sure she understood what she was saying. After we got home and ready for bed, I asked Claire if we could discuss what she meant by saying, "I'm a Christian." She proceeded to tell me that she knew she had to believe in Jesus if she wanted to go to heaven when she died. She said she understood that she was a sinner and could not be saved on her own. She said she believed that Jesus was God's Son and that He died on the cross to save her from her sins and that He rose from the grave and would come back again for her one day. Now, all of the above did not come out of her mouth all at one time. But through Melanie and I asking her what she meant and who Jesus was and what He did for her, those were the things that were covered. I was very careful to not put words into her mouth. I do not want her to have the testimony one day that she didn't understand who Jesus was and that she only went forward because someone wanted her to. We specifically told her that this was not something mommy and daddy were pushing her to do, but if she wanted to, she could? I don't want to push her into this, but don't want to discourage her either. Please pray that this is something Claire is doing because the Holy Spirit is drawing her to Him. ----------------------------- FEBRUARY 17, 2007, 12:56 PM What
IF God opened the door for our Would you go? ----------------------------- FEBRUARY 8, 2007, 10:51 PM I
read some very disturbing headlines today. Here is her picture.
Here is what happened... The father of a young girl who died of exposure had knocked her unconscious because he was angry she wouldn't go to bed, then took her outside in freezing temperatures and left her there, police said before the man's arraignment Thursday. Nyia Miangel Page, who was about to turn 2, was found dead Sunday on a wooded knoll about a 10 minute walk from the family's home. Tiny footprints in the snow suggested she had gotten up and wandered around before she died, police said. Her father, William Lorenzo Page, 23, of Braddock, was arrested on charges of criminal homicide, kidnapping, false reports and simple assault. Page told police he woke up early Saturday and found the girl awake and playing near a mirror in the hallway, according to the criminal complaint. He said he got mad when the girl wouldn't go back to bed so he hit her so hard she hit her head and was unconscious, the complaint said. Page then took her outside wrapped in a blanket and left her, police said. An autopsy determined Nyia died of hypothermia, but the Allegheny County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide because investigators said it was unreasonable to assume the child got to the wooded location alone. Her small body was found about a 10-minute walk from her home, a trek that would have included climbing 17 snowy steps up to a wooded knoll. A witness had seen Page enter his house Saturday morning from the direction where his daughter was found, police said. He was back out on the street about an hour later, saying he was looking for the girl and telling the witness, "Somebody took my daughter," according to a criminal complaint. Nyia's mother told police she last saw the girl after Nyia tried to crawl into bed with her parents about 12:30 a.m. Saturday. The mother told police she put the youngster back into her own bed in an upstairs room. Police, emergency crews and bloodhounds searched in 20-degree temperatures for most of two days before finding the little girl's body. Page, who did not have an attorney in court Thursday morning, was jailed without bond.* *Foxnews.com ----------------------------- JANUARY 26, 2007, 10:45 PM Pictures
from the Premiere ----------------------------- DECEMBER 23rd, 12:37 AM I
have posted something you need to read and listen to. ----------------------------- DECEMBER 11th, 12:30 AM I am NOT a poet, so with that in mind... here it goes... The Calling I
saw my Bible laying close beside me on the stand, “Lord,
you know that I would go, and tell them if I could, I
hear about their countries, on the TV in my room, Oh,
I think it’s time to read, I’ll thumb through in God’s
Word, “Thank
you, Lord, for speaking in that still and quiet voice, By
John Jones ----------------------------- NOVEMBER 23rd, 11:27 PM Tonight, I read the book of Titus. This is another short but great book from Paul, the Apostle. I have been reading Paul's writings to Timothy, but wanted to just spend some time reading without the "Bible Study Blog on 2nd Timothy" being part of my reading. Paul begins chapter three with this statement: "Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men." Paul says "do whatever is good." WOW! You may think, "Yeah, so what. We always do what is 'good'." But what "good" is he talking about? And "how much" good are we supposed to do? In what part of our life is this "good" supposed to be? Usually, if we are honest, we "do whatever is good" when it is convenient for us, when it will get us attention, or when we can't get around it. If we really thought about what it means to "do whatever is good", it would totally change how we see things, people, and our surroundings in general. Paul closes chapter three, and his letter, with this thought: "Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives." How are we to devote ourselves to doing what is good? How will providing for someone's daily necessities help us to live productive lives? What does God consider "living a productive life"? How will "doing whatever is good" and "providing for daily necessities" benefit us in sharing the gospel of Christ? This is totally my opinion... and God is obviously working on me in this area... but I believe that if we were really concerned with spreading the Gospel of Jesus and living our life in a way that would benefit the Gospel, then the way we live life would change drastically! If we were truly burdened with leading people to Jesus, the way we live, act, speak, and think would look totally different that our current life of self indulgence. And be honest... We are all about us. It is a daily struggle to not focus on my three favorite people... me, myself, and I. Share your thought on my "personal blog". The link is on the top menu. ----------------------------- The
NEW book study on 2 Timothy has begun! ----------------------------- This past weekend, Melanie and I were in Asheville, NC on a little vacation. Since it had been four years since we have taken off like this without the kids, we figured we better take time while we could. While there, God taught me several things. I am going to share a few things with you if you don’t mind. As we walked around the area, we began to notice a definite presence of people living an "un-Godly" lifestyle. This is not the type of environment we are familiar with or comfortable with. As you can imagine, everywhere we went, this lifestyle being lived out in front of me caught my eye. It was very hard not to notice what was going on. What God taught me on vacation: 1. Everyone needs God. Now, I haven't been called to move to the mountains and lead a ministry to this group of people, but what I did learn is this: No matter who we are; no matter where we are; no matter what our sin is… we all need God. I sat on a bench waiting for Melanie and a young man walked by and said, “Hello.” As I returned the greeting, I looked down the street and noticed a storefront sign that read, “Divine Connection.” I do not know what was in the store, but God used it to speak to me. People everywhere are looking for a “divine connection”. The question for me was this: “John, what are YOU doing to connect people with Jesus who do not already know Him?” And I continued to think. 2. Don’t live a sheltered life! The second thing I learned was that as Christians, we often shelter ourselves from the world and what is really out there. I walked into a “Christian” coffee shop while on vacation. It was a great place! Christian music, Christian books, Christian coffee! Well, not quite… but you get my point. Oh yeah… they had one more thing… A Christian!… There was a girl in the corner on her laptop drinking her coffee. But she was the only one in the store, besides the employee. Then a little while later, I walked into the other coffee shop a few blocks down. When I walked in, I heard secular music, saw people chatting, people on laptops, people in line, people drinking coffee. The place was packed! I asked myself, “Why are there so many people in this coffee shop and only one person in the “Christian” coffee shop?” The coffee was similar, both environments were cozy. I think there is a very basic answer. The Christian coffee shop was exclusive. If someone walked in and was NOT a Christian, right away, they would feel uncomfortable. My question was this: “How were the owners and employees of the Christian coffee shop going to witness and share their faith with nonbelievers if they would never come into their shop?” I think we, as Christians, are very guilty of hanging out in the “Christians Only” clubs and we will NEVER be an effective witness because we don’t know anyone who isn’t a Christian OR we think they are SO horrible because of their sin, that we don’t want to be around them. I have a confession to make. I am a sinner. If a young man had not taken time of out his busy schedule one day to ask me, “John, are you a Christian?”, where would I be today? Do you remember who shared Jesus with you? Now, go and do likewise. Remember: 1. Everyone needs God! 2. Don’t live a sheltered life away from nonbelievers! ----------------------------- missions - missions - missions In 2007, think MISSIONS! After all, why else did God leave us here on this earth after we became Christ followers? Sure, there might be several reasons, but you and I know the biggest reason... EVANGELISM! Basically, evangelism is when you share with others the message of Jesus Christ so they may have an opportunity to place their faith and trust in Him and be forgiven of their sins. Now, evangelism can be done in MANY, MANY different ways. And I really don't think God cares how we reach others for Jesus, as long as we don't go against scripture to doing it. This year, think about how you can become evangelistic in your city, state, and the world. As a Christ follower, evangelism MUST be a part of who we are! There are two links to the left that will take you to the North American Mission Board and International Mission Board websites. Look around and see what is available. Look
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