Pastor James’ Blog

For some time the Lord has dealt with me about the need for the church to “BE” the church instead of just “doing” church. Today at our Southwest Arkansas Baptist Association annual meeting I noticed that God is little by little getting the attention of many of our churches to “step out of their comfort zones” and follow HIS direction in ministry. The message tonight was “on time” and “on target”.  For too long we’ve grown sleepy and settled in our own comfort zone of religion. We’ve decided that the only way to “DO” church is OUR WAY.  God desires to do a NEW THING in our churches. He desires to SHAKE SOME THINGS UP!  He desires to move us from the pew to the street. We all “talk a good talk” in church but in most churches it really doesn’t get past the talking stage. I’ve noticed something recently…. (this is my personal opinion – right or wrong)… but the churches who refuse to change and get out of their comfort zones are the ones who are declining in attendance and membership. There is no zeal in their church anymore. They are making no impact on their community. They simply “go to church” like they’ve always done and that’s about it. Many times the church members in that type church are cynical, critical, gripers who are never pleased about anything.  The music is too loud. The climate too cold or hot. The preacher too long winded. And the list could just go on and on.  BUT THEN there is the church who realizes that God is calling them to “get out of their comfort zone” and do things to impact their world. They begin to see their work the way God sees it – as a KINGDOM WORK. It’s not about “how it’s going to profit our little church” but rather its about “how can God use us to reach someone for Him.”.   I’ve been criticized in the past for being too evangelistic. GUILTY AS CHARGED!  Get the handcuffs out and “book” me!  As I read the Word of God I can’t help but see that that is the reason Jesus came – “to seek and to save that which was lost”. He didn’t come so we might have the “perfect choir” or “production” or the biggest Sunday School class. He isn’t concerned about our building, our budget or even our particular preferences. He didn’t come so that we might have the “hottest” “newest” Bible Study going. He came to SAVE PEOPLE and the church is called to GET OUT AND REACH PEOPLE.   That is HIS mission – that is the mission the church is called to do. To do less is to fail at the commission.  Do you desire to see God move in your church?  Do you really want God to do great things? THEN RE-FOCUS.  Fall on your face and seek the heart and mind of Jesus.  It’s about souls. It’s about Kingdom work.  OR — if you prefer…just keep doing what you’ve always been doing.  If you always do what you’ve always done – you will always be what you’ve always been.  It’s time to stop doing “church work” and begin to do the real “work of the church”. I challenge you — go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in!!  Thanks Bro. Tim Reed for the message tonight. You preached the truth and God used it in a mighty way. I’m so thankful for what God is doing in your church and others who seek to follow God in a “new” way.   I’m praying the Lord will wake up every church before it’s too late. The world needs a witness not a religious country club.  I’m praying for a revival in our churches!  Pastor James

Don’t you just love it when people say things that have no basis whatsoever?  Recently one of my friends was asked how I was doing? They replied “fine -why”. Well, the person reported that they had “heard” that I wasn’t doing so good. They “heard” I was depressed because the new mission wasn’t going too good.” HMMM….OOOOOKKKKK!   Uhhhh  we’ve seen 6 saved and we have 7 partner churches and associations. We have seen the building almost totally remodeled. We are debt free. We have seen God provide every need and MORE time and time again. Last Sunday we hit a high of 76 in only 5 months of being a church – and I AM DEPRESSED?  Hmmm….if that’s what it takes to cause depression – I GUESS I AM DEPRESSED! LOL  My friend shared with the person who was so concerned about me that “he’s happier than I’ve seen him in a long long time!”.  Trust me – I AM!  I don’t have lots of stress. I don’t have people moaning and groaning, griping and complaining about every little thing.  I don’t have to listen to whining. I don’t have to worry about tomorrow – God is taking GOOD care of us. We have seen God walk before us every step of the way in this new mission and to HIM BE THE GLORY FOR IT ALL!  So…….. for all who are reading this blog — SPREAD THE WORD – If being blessed = depressed – then i’m depressed.  Frankly I love the quote I heard just recently – “I’M TOO BLESSED TO BE DEPRESSED!”  AMEN AMEN AND AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!  Pray for me and the Life House family.  God is using this new church to touch College Hill and the surrounding areas in many ways. We have MUCH work to do. As long as there is one more lost soul out there we will be busy seeking to witness, win and teach the Word to them!  We will work till Jesus comes again!

  So the next time you hear that “Bro. James”, “Bro. Ross”, “Pastor James” or whoever is depressed just let them know – UH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  LOL    Remember God loves you and wants to bless you and your church too!  Pastor James

   The Life House family is sooooo blessed!  We are overflowing tonight with God’s goodness and blessings that we have enjoyed today.  The day began with a great time of worship.  We broke another record today with a record attendance of 76.  We also enjoyed seeing several new faces at Life House.  Pray that God would continue to save and add to the church as He desires.

    This afternoon at 3 p.m. Life House Church Family, a group from Shiloh Church and also the Dallas Avenue Baptist Church (Mena, AR) puppet team and sponsors all went out in to the community and conducted three “Traveling Kidz Bible Klubs”.  We saw kids of all ages, teens and parents come out of their homes and enjoy hot dogs, sno cones and the puppet show. Bro. Bernie even did a ventriloquist act with one of the puppets (Jasmine) and shared the gospel with the people who gathered.  There is no way to know how much food was eaten but one thing I know for sure – with every bite of physical food,  every group we encountered was fed spiritual food too. The fruit of today will come in the near future as we see more and more people come to Life House. We will see some of those we encountered get saved and see their lives changed. I’m sure that the kids and sponsors from Dallas Avenue are tired and will get home late tonight but this afternoon they sowed gospel seeds in the lives of many kids and people in our community. They were missionaries today and God is going to bless them for it. THANKS DALLAS AVENUE! Also, thanks SHILOH YOUTH – you always are a big help and blessing to Life House!  Thanks also to the Life House Family. God has really placed the right people in this ministry – you love people and desire to reach out to them with God’s love and good news.  It’s been a long day but a GREAT DAY!  Keep praying for Life House and all of the souls we encountered today.     On Mission For Him — Pastor James

P.S. SOON we will have pictures of the event on our site. Keep checking back because I’m sure they will be a blessing to view!

Just a quick note to let all of the ladies of Life House or any ladies that read this blog – we will have our first Ladies Bible Study starting THIS Thursday night, Oct. 23, 2008 at 6:30 p.m.  at Life House.  Come, bring a friend or two and your Bible and be ready to be blessed. You don’t want to miss this!  ~~ Pastor James

    I almost forgot to share that a sister church in Texarkana graciously is giving us a piano and has already given us 130 chairs for our ministry! This is a big help in our work at Life House! 

   Also, another church just sent us a missions offering of $3000.00 to help us. Isn’t it just like the Lord - He’s always on time and on target!  We were in need of a new central heat and air unit for the children’s area and now we can get it!  PRAISE the Lord for these and more blessings!!

KEEP PRAYING:  We need new water fountain, used (new would be great but we have to crawl before we can walk) church van, and money to buy the lot next door. These are just “some” of the needs we have. If you want to see complete list see our home page.  PRAY with us that God will continue to meet needs IN HIS TIME and IN HIS WAY.  We don’t want to get ahead of the Lord and we sure don’t want to lag behind. We want Him to lead us!  Thanks for reading our blogs and thanks for praying!  Pastor James

As I write this we are getting ready to go out into our community to the three target areas that we will be visiting tomorrow afternoon with our “Life House Traveling Kidz Bible Klub” trailer.  We are excited to be able to go out and touch some lives. Pray for us that we might reach someone who needs a touch from the Lord!  Come join us tomorrow around 2:45 and go with us! You don’t have to be a member of Life House to come help and get a blessing! Don’t forget to wear your Life House shirts if you have one!  See you tomorrow!  Pastor James

This past week a young man who attends Shiloh Baptist Church in Texarkana contacted me and wanted to do a project at Life House to help him achieve his Eagle Scout award. He, his dad and brother came and painted our kitchen area, some of the gym area! THANKS SO MUCH!  We appreciate all of their hard work and help for this new mission.     Pastor James

  Weight Watchers International held a “LOSE FOR GOOD” Campaign across the United States and for every pound that a Weight Watcher lost,  WW’s International donated one pound of food for every pound lost up to one million dollars.  Our local Weight Watchers Center also chose to allow their members to bring a pound of food for every pound they lost (this was optional and not mandatory) and the members that participated in this food drive brought in 260 lbs of food!  The Weight Watchers in the Texarkana Center lost over 2,250 lbs in six weeks of weight loss!  What’s so exciting about the food? Well, Life House Ministries was chosen to be the local recipient of the food to be able to give it away to the needy in our area!  We will continue to gather food and around Thanksgiving give out food baskets to area people who need it. THANK YOU to all the area Weight Watchers who gave food!  You are helping people in the Texarkana area!   What a blessing!  Pastor James

Hey to all of our prayer warriors out there…. Just wanted to give you an update after our Family night/Movie night at Life House tonight.  We weren’t sure how many to expect – but we planned for 5 or more! LOL  Believe it or not we had between 70 and 75 present for the movie night! PRAISE THE LORD!  What a blessing to see so many kids and youth present. God just continues to bring people in and little by little we are becoming known in the area as a church that loves all people.  Even one of the teen girls tonight brought a new friend (that I had recently substituted in her class) and told her, “We are a church for everybody, so you are welcome here too!” Wow – touched my heart deeply.

   Many of those in our area had never seen “Facing The Giants” and it had been so long since I had seen it I had almost forgotten the main thrust of the whole film – “GOD CAN DO ANYTHING” – “WITH GOD NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE”.  We just need to DO OUR BEST FOR GOD and leave the rest up to Him!  That speaks volumes to me and our ministry at Life House. So many times I get wrapped up thinking about “what the results are going to be” but it’s not about me or about Life House – it’s about doing what we’ve been called to do, doing our best for Him and leaving the results up to Him.  If we have FIVE – we should praise His name. If we have 500 – we should praise His name. Either way – PRAISE HIM!  We at Life House have much to be thankful for – so let’s just praise His name!!!!   THANK YOU PRAYER WARRIORS for praying.  God blessed!

NOW – get on your knees for us tomorrow and Sunday. Tomorrow a group of our people are going into the three target areas for Sunday afternoon to give out pamphlets, speak to people and invite them to show up for the Life House Traveling Bible Club.  We will have puppets, ventriloquist, snacks, crafts, music and more. Pray that we can make a positive impact in these three target neighborhoods for Jesus.  We hope to be able to hit all three neighborhoods in about three and a half to four hours on Sunday afternoon.  Get on your knees and i’ll report God’s blessings soon. Thanks for praying! Remember: “With God nothing is impossible”!!    Pastor James

Well, believe it or not the political debates are now over and we have only 19 more days to endure the commercials, telephone calls, yard signs, billboards and ect.  What should be a time of two adults and their buddies telling us the truth about their past, present and future – has simply become a media blitz to get elected to the presidency. I don’t know about you but I will be glad when it’s all over!  Who are you going to vote for? That is entirely your business.  Are you going to vote? I hope so! That’s the American way. Should you pray and seek God’s counsel before you go vote? YES, if you are a christian you should.  Should your faith make a difference in the way you vote? YES – absolutely!!  America is in need of an old fashioned revival that will call people back to the one true God, Jehovah. As a nation we have played religion too long. We have strayed from our roots as a country and now we are seeing the evidence of it.  What is tomorrow going to bring for America? I don’t have a crystal ball but one thing I do know for sure….If we dont’ turn back to God we will reap “a whippin”.  Pray for America. Pray for both candidates. Pray that we will elect the right man (whoever that is) and that they will lead us in a godly way.  One thing for sure – no matter who is elected – JEHOVAH IS STILL ON HIS THRONE!   Take care and pray!  Later …  Pastor James