Good Friday morning to each of you. We had good services last evening and I think the Lord was glorified that we met together and put priority on His church last night. Praise the Lord for the open doors of the church and those who decided to walk through those doors! I have been thinking about what it really means to follow Jesus, and what it takes to do so. Think about being at a concert and the auditorium lights begin to dim and the curtain begins to rise, the concertgoers end their conversations and turn their attention to the stage. The conductor comes to the podium and bows in response to the enthusiastic applause. Then the conductor turns to face the orchestra. He raises his baton and begins the concert with a dramatic gesture. What follows is one of the strangest concerts imaginable. 

After one of the harmonious first minutes, only a few musicians continued to follow the conductor's lead. The others seemed to play only when they felt like it, or they played a complete different tune. A violinist tried to play a piece she had written herself. A trombonist broke into a jazz number. Chaos reigned. The audience sat for a few minutes in stunned silence, then walked out in disbelief. Now the story I just told is fictitious, skilled musicians follow the conductor's lead. They are part of a symphony, not soloists who just happen to be playing at the same time. 

Unfortunately, we who have declared ourselves to be followers of Christ can behave as the members of this imaginary orchestra did. We may not like to think so, but we all have a tendency to want to direct our own lives. We tend to focus on self-survival and self-promotion, and we think we are wise enough and strong enough to take care of ourselves. 

We may have forgotten that as part of His "symphony" - subjects of His kingdom and members in His church - we are to submit to His direction in our lives. He is the Conductor, the Head, the King who we serve. Doing what He wants us to do is what our mew life is all about. He longs to lead us through a life that will demonstrate to a "watching audience" the unbelieving world around us, that we know what it means to be his people.  Think about it. 

 It is a rainy Thursday morning in Sweetser, yet we are thankful for the "SONSHINE". Jesus is a friend that sticketh closer then a brother. He is the ONE who can make our day different in a good way. Have you told HIM you love Him today? Have you praised Him and Exalted His great name. He deserves it and delights in it, and we are encouraged in it as well. Tonight in my Bible class I am teaching a lesson entitled "There Is Nothing To Hard For God." "There is no promise God cannot keep, no prayer God cannot answer, and no problem to hard for Him to solve." In my life the longer I live the more it becomes clear to me that I do fall short and that I have plenty of limitations. But our God is the God of impossibilities! "What we need is not great faith but faith in a great God." Sunday morning , Lord willing I will be speaking from Genesis 22 and we will be looking at the name Abraham called God on Mt. Moriah just after God provided a ram for the sacrifice instead of his son Isaac. The name Abraham called God was Jehovah-Jireh, "The Lord Who Provides." Only our God is able to provide salvation for us and He is the only one who can provide all of our deepest and also basic needs. God is the provider of earthly life, eternal life, and abundant life. Nothing is to hard for Him. He can and will provide but so often believers go with out. Why, you might ask? Because God must lead us to trust Him for provision. God provides as we trust. The more we trust the more He provides. So we believers must learn to trust. Preacher how do we learn to trust? Same way Abraham did, by being given a test, passing the test and given a greater test, and passing that test. As we pass the tests of life we see more clearly how to trust God and as we do, He provides more and more. Maybe you are in a test today. Trust and Obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey!! Watch God provide as you Trust and Obey. 

 It is Wednesday morning and I haven't blogged for 4 days. Sorry about that i usually blog on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, but because of Memorial day on Monday I was out of the office and when I got in yesterday I didn't blog first thing and the day got away from me. So here I am and I noticed we have a lot of hits on the blog looking to see if we have any new blogs up. We had good service this weekend! For memorial day weekend the attendances were better than we thought would happen. We had 4 baptisms and 2 adults saved in our morning services. In the evening service we had special guest speaker Ken Meyer who represented Voice of the Martyrs . He did a great job moving our hearts to care about millions of our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted and killed for our Lords sake. MILLIONS all over the world who are suffering in many ways just because they are Christians. It sure is humbling when we hear and see such things and it sure brings back into focus my puny little complaints. It was very moving to me and I am wanting to spend more time in prayer for my persecuted brethren. Ken also shared in our Sunday School class he told a story I would like to share with you. There was a young girl who was just becoming a young adult. She still lived at home with her muslim family in a mostly muslim country. Near her home was a Christian missionary and his wife who had been starting a church. This young lady had heard the Gospel and was gloriously saved. Because of her salvation her family put her out. Her own mother walked her out the front door of their home and made her strip of all her clothes until she was naked. Then the mother said leave and never come back. This young lady began walking and praying as she knew this town was known for rape and misuse of women. As she neared a lighted street corner she noticed two men standing there. She kept walking as fast as possible and prayed like never before to the Lord God. She walked right by and the men looked at her and spoke but let her go right by. It was only a few blocks more till she found the missionaries home and knocked on the door. The missionaries were home and dressed her and listened to her story. As she shared about the two men standing at the street corner the missionary decided to go an speak with these two men. He hurried down the street and the two men were still standing in that place. The missionary asked them if a young lady had passed by a few minutes ago. They said yes and that she had the most beautiful white garment on that they had ever seen. They said it almost glowed. The missionary was then impressed in his mind that the garment she had on was the "Glory of God." You see when we take our stand for our Lord and we have to suffer for it, our God gets involved and covers us with His glory. May each of us today say a prayer for our brothers and sisters who are persecuted and misused and many killed on a daily basis. May we help them to be "CLOTHED IN GLORY as we are also "CLOTHED IN GLORY" as we partners with their plight. Have a good day! 

 It is Friday morning and has been a beautiful week of weather here in Northeast Indiana. Today is a our first day of clouds but still is a warm spring day. Had good services last evening as we met together for midweek services. Let me encourage each to be faithful to church during the summer season as there are a multitude of reasons to miss. One way you can help to keep yourself and family strong in the Lord is to come to church and fellowship and study together. Be careful this summer not to let other activities take the place of attending church faithfully. Keep your church strong! Ask yourself a question where would my church be if every member were participating in the church just like me? This weekend we celebrate the Memorial Day Holiday. This holiday many years ago was instituted to honor all our military people who have given their lives for our freedom. One of those freedoms is that we might be able to assemble in church . Through my lifetime I have witnessed a major change in how this holiday is celebrated. When I was young businesses were closed and on Sunday the only thing open was CHURCH! They didn't run the Indy 500 on Sunday but on Monday. Things have changed for sure but we believers don't have to change just because the world changes. Even if you have a few days off, if you are camping, or visiting another state you can still attend church somewhere. Honor those who died to give you that freedom, especially on the weekend set to give them honor. And above all others honor the one who died on Calvary so you could have freedom in every area of life. We have so many things to do now days but perhaps because of all these things to do we have missed setting priorities of the most important things. Have a great Friday and may the Lord be pleased with how you live it!  

 I realized early in my Christian life how powerful pride was and how detrimental it was to my spiritual growth. There can be NO room in the life of a Christian for pride. In my opinion pride is doing more to hold back revival in our nation, destroying homes, causing Christians to live in failure and defeat, and filling up hell, then any other sin. Pride is so deceitful, in most people who are infected and infested with pride have no idea that they are! Often the proud person is very proud of his/hers humility. What is pride? It is an attitude of independence of God. Tonight in my elective class I will be speaking about pride and what we can do and what we need the Lord to do for us to overcome one of the 7 things God Hates! If you don't have a class you are already attending let me invite you to this class tonight. I have been praying about this and I may teach this lesson to the whole church in a few months. We really need to deal with pride, each of have it and it does nothing but produce BIG problems in our life! 

This is the beginning of Memorial Day weekend and we have many who are going away for a few days. Others are fitting in their Summer Vacations now so they can extend a few days. We will miss them in church but we always have a good number of others who will be visiting as they are away from their home church and when they come to our area they attend Liberty. It will be good to see some folk we only see several times a year. This Sunday I will be speaking on another Hebrew name for God, Jehovah Nissi, the God who defends. It will fit for memorial day weekend as we Remember those who fought for us in the past in our national and spiritual warfare's. I am looking forward to sharing the truths our Lord has given me in the study of Exodus 17. Maybe you would like to read that chapter a few times to get ready for Sunday!  Also Liberty folk pray for Brenda Ressler today if you would. Brenda is our main secretary at Liberty and she has been ill this week. She missed work on Monday and tried to work Tuesday and ended up going to the Doctor. She has been home ill since Tuesday evening. Without her our office does suffer. We are thankful for those who have filled in and to others who stepped up to more work then normal. One last thing today I want you to pray about. I have been praying for some time for more orchestra members for all of our service. I really believe the instruments make a difference. I am praying for more faithful instrumentalist to join, and serve faithfully in this important ministry. If you play an instrument and the Lord is prompting you make contact with Pastor Chas. Please pray with me about this. Have a great day!  

 I heard a great quote a few days ago and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. It was originally said by the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers Vince Lombardie. He said to his team "BE FIRED UP ENTHUSIASTICALLY OR BE ENTHUSIASTICALLY FIRED." When I heard that I just haven't been able to get that thought out of my mind and off of my tongue. I have shared it so many times in the last several days. As you think on that you see we have a responsibility to live enthusiastically in every area. We need to get fired up about our Lord , His church, our ministries, our family,our jobs,  our relationships, our health and every other area of our lives. Oh how we need to live life enthusiastically. One of my heroes of the faith was Dr. John Rice. He was a great evangelist used of God in America in the 1940s till the 1980s. He was also the founder of the Sword of the Lord paper which went to hundreds of thousands of pastors and people all over America every week. I can remember his wife sharing her testimony in college chapel about when she as a young college student first saw John Rice. She was watching him walk from a his dorm room to class and he was walking in her terms as if "He had somewhere to go." She watched him for some time and learned about this man by the name of John Rice and when she was introduced to him and he asked her out she said YES. She wanted to know this man who lived life so enthusiastically. Of course they got married and both lived enthusiastically for the Lord till they went to be with HIM. I can remember walking with my mentor , Pastor Rickner. He was a short man in the physical realm but tall in the spiritual realm. When he would walk I had a hard time keeping up. He was living and working enthusiastically. Now the end of that quote from Lombardie is significant also. "Or be fired enthusiastically." That puts some pressure on those who are in authority of families , employees, ministries, etc. I think we need to set the standard high for ourselves and others. Our Pastors need to set the standard high for themselves and their churches. We need to set the expectation of believers higher. A quick study of scriptures will show each of us that the Lord has pretty high standards and goals for each of His children. We need to expect more from our parents and our children. Each of us need to address mediocrity in our lives and live life to it's fullest. "WHATSOEVER WE DO DO IT ALL TO THE GLORY OF JESUS CHRIST." 

 Good Monday to each of you! It was a very busy weekend to say the least. On Friday we had a full day with my officiating a funeral in Anderson, In. Got back home at about 5:15 p.m. and worked at home on finalizing our Sunday messages and S.S. lesson. On Saturday Karen and I left the house at 7 a.m. to drive to Lafayette, In. to attend a day of college graduation at Purdue University for our youngest daughter Rachel. At 9 a.m. we attended her "Pinning" as a registered nurse. Karen and I were both able to participate in the pinning as 100 nursing grads participated. It was a 2 hour service. Then we went to lunch and then at 2 p.m. we attended Rachel's main graduation ceremony where more then 6,000 people were in attendance. This was only one of four graduation ceremonies for the weekend. I don't want to brag but my heart was filled with thanksgiving and praise for the Lord's answers to our prayers through the years. As we sat there, we were sitting with all of our children and their mates along with Chris who will marry Rachel is tree weeks. Each of our children college grads and at this moment attempting to live for their Lord. I began to weep and couldn't control it. After graduation we all went out to eat and what a great moment of life. We needed to go back to Rachel's apartment and move some things home, so it was late when we got back home. I am thankful for daylight savings time as it allowed me study time in the car as Karen drove back. We got to bed and then up early on Sunday for another full day. We had great services both a.m. and p.m. Great worship, and special music, great S. S. classes and great spirit all day. We had over 700  in attendance . If you missed last night you missed a a 12 person ensemble sing so wonderfully in the Spirit! After church last evening we had a birthday party for our second born Abby. We were outside and had a little bon fire, it was fun. Hard to believe she is 27 years old. When we came to Liberty Baptist she was 5 years old. WOW! Today we have gotten to the office early and have several morning appointments and at 11 a.m I have another funeral to officiate. Appreciate your prayer support as I go and attempt to help hurting hearts and also present the "GOOD NEWS." For all our Liberty family don't forget to send a card to Tamara & Bill Crawl as Tamara lost her father on Saturday. His name was David Albright. Also if you can go and make a visit perhaps to Lupe Contreras, Lupe was one of our adult ladies who  began riding the buses years ago and now has cancer and cannot attend church now. She would love a visit. She is at Millers Merry Manor in Marion. She is in room 172 South 2. Have a great day

 It is a beautiful Friday morning here in Sweetser. I am rejoicing in the Lord for who He is, what He has done for me and mine. I would think that in my ministry that I may never have had as many difficulties. Never as many of my flock going through difficult times. Never as many demands and yet I choose to rejoice. This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice! I will give thanks for all the blessings and for all those who are sincerely walking in the Spirit not the flesh. I will praise the Lord NOW and wait on Him to turn around what only He can turn around. I will choose forgiveness ! I will choose to extend GRACE to those who hurt me on purpose or by accident. I will not be a victim but a victor. I will choose not to behave as my offenders but to be Christlike, understanding and loving. I choose to live by faith not by feeling. I will choose to seek the good of others instead of focusing on my hurt or on my pain. I choose to believe and trust my sovereign God who is using everything that happens in my life for good. I choose to look within when disappointing things happen and ask myself why did God allow this in my life, what is it that He is using to reveal to me what still needs changed in my life. That is a tough choice but one that gives me a day of faith instead of feeling, a day of purpose instead of wandering in the wilderness. Today may each of us make "Life Freeing" choices. Not choices of revenge, self pity, bitterness, depression, but faith choices which lead to freedom. Hope your Friday is one of REJOICING! 

Yesterday we decided to stay at home and study. A lot of the day was dedicated to this. We were able to prepare for tonight's elective class and for Sunday mornings message. Tonight I will teach on "Sinful Compromises and Senseless Clutter" in our lives. The text will be from Joshua 17. Sunday morning we will speak from Genesis 16 on the subject of " EL ROI- The God Who Sees." Sunday evening we will speak from 2nd Corinthians 4:16-17  on "Heavenly Reasons for Earthly Endurance." I am convinced that the teacher will always glean more from his study then even the student. I would suggest we study as if we had to always present it to a group of people. This would force us to be more serious and really work at it. We would go over it and over it. Mostly by the time to present the lesson or sermon I have it memorized in much of its content. Usually I have spent 8- 10 hours in study and preparation and then another 3-4 hours in review and thought before standing and teaching. If we all studied as if we were going to teach , I think we would put better effort into our BIBLE STUDY! Another thing that helps the teacher get more out of his or her study is they understand that the teaching of it is one thing and the application of it is another. A sincere teacher will study not only to teach but to live. When we study we should be looking at the truths in order for us to apply and heed. Looking at what we need to practice and thinking how to live out the principle. I have always found out what my people need I also need. I study for personal life change and then pour it out to others praying that what God has done in my life with the word He will do with hundreds of others. Let me encourage you to Study! And when you do take notes, Get the facts, Write down the spiritual lessons, Attempt to make a outline, Record some illustrations how this would work in life. If you begin to study like this, trust me, you will be the one who benefits most.

Hope to see all you Liberty folk at Midweek services tonight! Lot's of things can compete with assembly if we let them. Have a good day!  

It is a beautiful Tuesday in Northeast Indiana!  Sitting here in my office planning my day out so we can accomplish as much for the Lord as possible. It is His day so if He wants to interrupt it He may and I hope I will be wise enough to change up plans and follow Him. Yesterday I was able to spend some time with my mother and attempt to honor her. It was good to just talk and let her know I love her. We also had a call from a man who I had officiated his wife's funeral 14 years ago. He had called the office requesting a visit, so we went and found him at his home getting ready to leave this world. His family was there and we spent time talking and praying with this dear man and his family. He is only 61 years of age and has lung cancer. He has been in terrible pain for several weeks now. The end of his earthly life is near. We spoke to him concerning that and asked him if he had ever received Jesus as his savior? He said yes as a younger man but he had not gone to church like he should had. We spent more time talking scripture and about God;s grace. This is a man I came to be certain was a believer and will be in heaven because of God's grace BUT life should have been lived differently. We prayed for all fear to be removed and prayed for his family and of course shared God's love and gospel with them, and showed God's love to them. Jesus came to save us but also to give us power to LIVE victorious lives for Him. Yesterday we shared how we need to know the truth and let it set us free. We believers need to see who we are in Christ. Today let me share Three truths that will help us understand who we are in Christ.

First, RECOGNIZE YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. There are people reading this right now who don't walk in victory because they cannot accept the fact that they are saint's. They may say, "I'm saved but I am certainly not a saint."Who said so? Jesus died for you. Did He die for nothing? Put down, big, plain, and straight : if you have repented of your sin and trusted Jesus Christ to save you, you are righteous in God's sight and you are a saint of God!

Secondly, RELY ON YOUR RESOURCES. God has given us everything we need to live the Christian life. Let me ask you a question, do you have all the love you ned?  All the wisdom you need? All the faith you need? Well, according to Ephesians 1:3 "God has blessed you with all spiritual blessings." Now who is right God or you?  You and I respond well if I have it, why don't I experience it? Because we are like that elephant I spoke about yesterday that is being held by that little peg. It is time to be set free in the Lord Jesus Christ. BELIEVE WHAT IS YOURS IN  CHRIST. 

Thirdly, REST IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP. You are "ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED." Many don't have victory because they keep having feeling rejection. Why, because we were rejected in the garden of Eden. We come into this world with feelings of rejection and we spend most of our time looking for acceptance. Many Christians work hard to get God to love them. If you are one of those, I want to tell you something: He has already accepted you so quit working at it. The key to all of this is that little phrase in Ephesians chapter 1 " IN CHRIST." If you are a child of God, then you are in Christ. Where is Christ? He is seated in the heavenlies. Where are you? Ephesians 2:6 says that God "raised us up together,and made us sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."You are seated in the heavenlies. 

When we understand who we are in Christ, we will have a healthy, victorious Christian life. We will know the truth and it will set us free. 

 Good Monday morning to each blog reader. We had great Mother's Day services yesterday. It is always nice to honor each and every mother present. Yesterday we had over 230 mothers in our services. I think the Lord is well pleased when we honor our parents and Jesus himself while on the cross set the example of honoring and caring for His mother. This past Friday night and all day Saturday I had the privilege of going on a fishing trip our church sponsored. There were 24 of us that went to lake Erie and what a time we had. The ride up on the bus was fun and the day of fishing and fellowship was great. Just time spent together forged our friendships deeper. Each had a good time, I would recommend to each of you when an activity like this is availed to think about participating. 

I was reading in Ephesians 1:3-6 this morning, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved."  The key to living the victorious Christian life is to discover who you are in Christ. And this discovery can only take place down the pathway of truth. Jesus said the truth shall make you free, but what is truth? It is what God says. It doesn't matter how true the truth is or how many wonderful truths there are in the Bible, truth will not set you free until you let the truth transform your heart. Many Christians do not understand the truth about who they are in Christ. And therefore they aren't free. Have you ever seen a circus elephant with a chain around one of his legs? You would expect that this chain would be securely fastened to a piece of concrete or a wall, but instead it is hooked to a stake that is driven about six inches into the ground. Any time that elephant wanted, he could pull that chain out of the ground, but why doesn't he break free? Because when he was young his trainers put a chain on him, then secured that chain to a stake into the ground that was beyond his strength to move. He pulled against it and could not move it. Finally, he told himself that he could not move. WHAT HE PERCEIVES  IS NOT TRUE. BUT, IF HE KNEW THE TRUTH, IT WOULD SET HIM FREE! We need to know the truth and then we need to apply the truth. Isn't it long enough for some of us to be in chains when the Lord came to set us free. Tomorrow I will look at three thins we need to know about being set free. Until then think about it and pray for the Lord to set us free moment by moment. 

Last night at midweek service I am teaching one of our elective classes. The title of the class is "My Spiritual Stimulus PLan." Each class I am speaking on what I must do to stay stimulated for the Lord. The first week I spoke on Temptation and how every second of every day I must stand against temptation which comes from three distinct ways. First it comes from my flesh and I must use the key word FLIGHT. I am to flee lust. Second it comes from the world and the key word is FAITH, I must apply faith to overcome the world. Thirdly it comes from the devil and I must FIGHT, in the power of the Lord. Now last evening I spoke on another very important thing I must understand if I am to be spiritually stimulated and not end up on the sideline or worse yet in the backline. I spoke about BITTERNESS and if we allow it to stay in our life it will kill every ounce of our spiritual power and health. "Bitterness blows out the candle of joy and leaves the soul in darkness.' Hebrews 12: 14-15 tells us " Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fall of the grace of God;lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble yo, and thereby many be defiled". The seed of bitterness is a hurt that is planted in someone. Maybe intentional, unintentional, maybe it is only imagined and sometimes it is the very chastisement of God upon a life. We cannot escape the seed being sown in our life. Now the soil that the seed is sown is our heart. The soil of bitterness is a heart that harbors hostility and does not deal with the hurt by the grace of God. When an offense, a hurt takes place the natural thing is to become angry and resentful to attack or withdraw. The Spirit wants a better response of grace. Now if we respond in bitterness  the bitterness will grow deeper, bitterness will not go away on its own it will not subside it will grow worse if left alone. The world is filled with people who have not dealt with an old hurt. The bitter person becomes critical , fault finding, hyper critical, they often attempt to find ways to justify their bitterness. The root of bitterness is underground, it is easy to deny it and disguise it. But the fruit of bitterness reveals the root of bitterness because "THE FRUIT OF BITTERNESS IS AN ACID THAT DESTROYS IT'S CONTAINER." For the bitter person they lose fellowship with the offender and most importantly with God. Hebrews 12:14 teaches "HATEFULNESS AND HOLINESS DO NOT DWELL IN THE SAME HEART." and without holiness we will not see the Lord. If we allow bitterness to dwell or to rule our heart it is our focus, it is our king. Oh how we need to see God and hear him! But it can't happen when bitterness is allowed to stay in our heart. So preacher what is the hope? How can I get rid of it? Here is a simple three step action to eradicate bitterness. First "LET GOD REVEAL IT! Our hearts can deceive us, we may have the root of bitterness in our heart and think we don't. Ask God to reveal it. Secondly "LET GRACE REMOVE IT! By God's grace cut it down and bury it in the grave of God's forgetfulness. Just go to God and ask for power to put grace on the offense and the hurt. None of us want justice! We all are thankful for God's mercy and grace. May we extend Gods grace  to our bitterness. Thirdly, "LET GOOD REPLACE IT." Hebrews 12:14 Follow Peace, do those things that will be kind and tender to those who have hurt. Gain God's peace so that your heart is a place of peace and a place of grace so that when the bitter seed is sown it cannot germinate in your heart. My heart breaks as I think back through the years and remember many believers who have lost their spiritual vitality because they allowed bitterness to take root and spring up! And guess what they were not the only ones affected. We must daily deal with this corruptible seed with the incorruptible seed. THINK ABOUT IT!!

 It is Thursday morning and the week has flown by as usual. Always a full week and that is a good think if we can keep it in balance. I made myself take yesterday as a personal day. I spent it working at my home and as we worked there we were able to slow our mind down a little or at least try to get it off the things it has been working on and just on to some normal stuff like mowing and fixing little things in the home. We must never forget that we must "Come apart or we will come apart." A day spent alone with the Lord is never a wasted day. Last evening I had the wonderful privilege to spend a few hours with Lucy our granddaughter . She is one fast mover as she doesn't sit often, always things to do, but one good thing happen from that I slept well as I was exhausted after she went home. It gave me a renewed appreciation of all you young parents out there. I used to wonder why the lord didn't have us bear children once we got older and wiser. I KNOW NOW! It is the energy level needed. But it was fun as we built blocks, watched cartoons, counted toes, fingers, ears etc. At one point we just sat and I prayed for her for awhile. I laid my hand on her shoulder and just poured my heart out for her life. It was a great evening. Each of us need to spend time today praying for the next generation. They really face a lot and we need some young champions for the Lord. Take out your church directory and pray for each person under the age of 21. That would be a great thing to do. Well today it is back to the races. Lot's of things to do in serving the Lord.  Hope to see you tonight at church . Have a great day.

 I heard a quote the other day, it went like this "God has not called me to a ministry of success, He has called me to a ministry of service". That is so life changing, so delivering. When the Lord Jesus walked this earth, no one would have considered Him a success. He wasn't wealthy or politically powerful, didn't hold any important offices or become a celebrity. In fact, over time the number of people following Christ got smaller rather than larger. Even His friends deserted Him in His time of need. Yet no life has been more influential,because Jesus not only taught principles but He taught a new way to live. Success for Him was not wealth and power and prestige, but a deep abiding love for God which manifested itself in living and loving other people. Christ would always explain the new way of living and then model with His own life how to live those principles out. He taught that we were not only to know those truths but we were to live them out. Practically applying this new way of life on a day by day basis. His message was clear: "Love your enemy. Pray in Secret. Turn the other cheek. Forgive your offender". His listeners were stunned. They had never heard words like these before. Jesus told them not to be satisfied with knowing external Old Testament Law, but to move toward internal conformity to the character of God.  For each of us today we must move toward learning the words of our Lord and then most importantly we must obey and thru the power of the Holy Spirit , LIVE THEM , MODEL THEM, and as we do they will give us freedom and abundant living and they will reveal to a lost world JESUS! May we dedicate our lives to "Not being hearers only but doers of the word". 

 Well it is Monday again and we are finally able to blog at 2 p.m. We had great services yesterday! We had 740 in morning attendance and over 340 in the evening. In the morning service we had 1 adult lady saved and 1 baptism. In the evening service we had 1 young adult man baptized. It is always great to see believers follow the Lord in His commandment of baptism. This morning we had the funeral of a good friend Larry Brooks. The funeral was held at Liberty and there was a really large crowd. Many family members and friends from the community as well as our church family. The Lord was present and the Gospel was given along with an invitation to receive Christ. Hearts were moved on by the Lord and it was evident and visible to see many were moved by this mans life and his message of life. Larry was a man that showed each of us to walk in lowliness of mind and to always give God the glory. We already miss him and am sure the days ahead will reveal that we have lost a great brother in the Lord. 

Yesterday we preached 2 messages on Peace! I really think  they would be worth listening to again. The morning message can be listened to online. I am so thankful for the peace of God. In the midst of what ever is happening we can still be at peace. Remember last eves outline, it takes Three choices to maintain peace. First, Accepting the Things Which We Cannot Change. Second, Trusting the the One {Jesus} Who Can Never Change. And Third, Surrendering The Only Thing I Can Change and that is giving God control of our life. Have a great day!