Pastor James’ Blog

Tomorrow night, December 1,  (Monday night) from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. some of the group that is going on the Japan missions trip next summer will be at Chicken Express on Arkansas Blvd.  Go by and eat with them and tell them that you are there to support the missions trip. The group will get a percentage of the proceeds for the night to help them on their trip.  You and I EAT and they RAISE MONEY for mission – sounds simple to me! EAT CHICKEN and HELP MISSIONS!!   WIN WIN TO ME!!!   Pastor James

One of the goals I’ve had for Life House as a new church plant is for us to always be mission minded.  We are looking toward the future and hopefully in two to three years our church will be strong enough that we will be able to commission a group of 10 – 25 members to move to another location and start another church with the same “style” and “DNA” as Life House in the Texarkana area.  We MUST remain missions minded.  We practice missions by giving a tithe (10%) of every dollar that comes into our church to missions. It’s my hearts desire to build a MISSIONS MINDED CHURCH – one that has it in her DNA to always seek to reach the local area, state, nation and internationally as well. 

One missions blessing we had was this morning as Maya Mason came to share about her upcoming Missions Trip to Tokyo, Japan.  I had the blessing of serving as Maya’s pastor for a few years.  When I was made aware that she had applied and been accepted to go on this missions trip I invited her to come speak to our mission and allow us to take up a free will love offering to help her reach her goal of over $3,000.00.  Every student who goes on this trip must raise the money for airfare, lodging and ect.  It was a blessing to see her stand before the Life House congregation this morning, listen as she shared her heart and then know that our little mission took up over $200.00 to help her with this trip.  This was above our regular tithes and offerings.  We believe in missions!  It’s our job now to remember Maya in prayer as she works to raise the money and then as she makes the trip to Tokyo, Japan.

How can you help?  Let me suggest the following:

1. Invite Maya to come to your church to share her heart. She spoke for 3 minutes this morning and it was a blessing to our church family.

2. Ask your church to help her out by taking up a love offering. She isn’t asking for anything to benefit her personally – she just feels called and led to go with this missions group for 12 days and serve.

3. Lastly but most importantly – put her on your prayer list at your church and in your private prayer time. She desires your prayers as she prepares and makes the trip.

If you need a reference for her – call me. If you would like for her to come share at your church or group – give her a call:  Maya Mason (903- 701-4484) and she will be more than happy to schedule a time to come to your group or church.  

If our little mission can do it – then I know your church can too. Help out if you feel led and let’s make this mission trip possible.  It’s my hope that when Maya gets back from her trip that we can have her back to Life House to share information about her trip and show some pictures of it all. God wants to use people to reach people – the least we can do is help them when they are willing!

Let’s help!   Pastor James

Yea – I know you are supposed to pray with your eyes closed (is that tradition or scripture – you tell me!) but I am talking about something totally different.  I am asking all of our church family, friends and parterner churches to PRAY that God would provide Life House with a good used van (yea, new would be nice but good used would too!) for the purpose of picking up children and adults in the College Hill area.  MOST of our kids and some of our adults have to walk to church and with winter blowing in big time we realize that some of them won’t be able to make it to church if we aren’t able to get them a ride. If it was simply four or five people we could pick them up in cars but we are talking several people in several locations and a church van would be a BIG asset to us.   How can you help in this matter? 

1. PRAY – Ask God to provide the finances and the van that we need.

2. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN – look for a van and report to us if you find one and how much.

3. ANNOUNCE the need and ask your church family to pray with us about this need.

4. STAND BACK and WATCH GOD WORK!  We are believing that God has already got this need worked out and we are just going to trust Him to take care of it.

  Thanks for praying. Thanks for having FAITH with us.  By faith we are already thanking God for the van He is going to send us! 

    Hope you all have a great day at God’s house tomorrow. May God allow you to see souls saved, lives changed and people added to your church.  PREACH JESUS!  Pastor James

Christmas is almost here!! Don’t believe me? Well, we just got through Thanksgiving and it’s officially “Christmas time”!  I love what Christmas stands for but I really do hate the commercialization of it all.  I’m fine with the decorations but the fact that it seems we have to “go all out” and spend money that we really don’t have to give gifts to people to try to impress them (gotta have the RIGHT gift!)  - it’s all such a digression from the real meaning of Christmas.  I’ve said many times – if it’s my birthday, then I’m the guy who should be getting the gifts.  At Christmas it seems that everyone EXCEPT the one whose birthday we are celebrating is getting the presents.  This year, as a family, we are not exchanging gifts. If any of us wants to help out a needy child, person or family then that’s great.  It’s not about the gift but rather GIVING.  I will be satisfied at Christmas if we are all able to be together as a family, and have food, fun and laughter.  This Christmas season – why not change your perspective? Why not CELEBRATE JESUS? Why not make it about HIM and give to others in HIS NAME?  By doing something for those who need it you are really doing it for Him.   Go ahead and decorate. Go ahead and have the Christmas parties and food but in all of your celebrating remember to stop and celebrate the one who came from heaven to live, die, be buried, rise again and then ascend back to heaven FOR YOU AND ME!  That same baby is coming back again soon but this time He won’t be a baby in a manger. He will be KING OF KINGS and LORD of LORDS! 

CELEBRATE JESUS for the next month and remember IT’S ALL ABOUT HIM!   Pastor James

Just a quick note to say Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who so faithfully read my blog. Thanks for your prayers, support and love during these past almost 8 months at Life House.  We are blessed as a new mission.  Cindy and I feel blessed to be a part of a mission work that is multi-racial, open to all, simple church.  We’ve served in many great churches but this is a first for us.  We stepped out on faith last April and the mission began in May and God has been faithful to provide for us personally and for the needs of the mission. souls have been saved, a building renovated, land purchased and much, much more.  We are thankful. 

I am thankful today for a wife (of almost 29 years) who loves the Lord, loves me and loves our family. She is my “right arm” in the ministry. I am thankful for good kids who love the Lord, serve Him and seek to be upstanding moral citizens of this great nation.   I am thankful for my family and for Cindy’s family too. We have been blessed with great parents – who love the Lord and are serving Him. We are thankful for our friends and our church family.  Friends will be friends no matter where you are. We’ve seen people through the years “say” that they are your friends but when you stop serving at their church just seemily “forget” you ever existed.  Thank God for those through the years who are REAL friends – that love, pray and keep in contact. We’ve been blessed with many through the years.  I am thankful for our new church family. We are a diverse group. Many colors, backgrounds, income levels – but all who love the Lord and want to grow a church where everyone is welcome.

 I am also thankful for God’s provision for us.  When we left our last church we were well taken care of in every way. When we stepped out in faith we believed that if it was God’s will for us to be involved in this new mission work that He would provide for our every need. HE HAS!  We’ve not missed one bill payment (even been paying extra  on the house and ect.), we’ve not missed one meal, we’ve slept in good house, our beds are still comfortable, had running water (hot and cold too!), clean clothes,  gas in the tanks of our cars, good health, and much much more. WE ARE BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE! THANK YOU JESUS FOR IT ALL!

If you are reading this blog today – we thank God for you too. Keep praying for us and for the new work. Thank God for people who love souls and want to see them saved. You are a blessing to us.

SOOOOO…..from our house to yours — HAPPY THANKSGIVING….

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?…. Why not post your response today and tell us?  Pastor James

Now that we have purchased the lot next door for parking and future growth what’s next on the “NEEDS LIST”?  One item that would really come in handy for us as we seek to reach out to the community would be a good used Church Van.  Life House Church has many people who walk to church and during the winter months and at night (since it gets dark so early)  it’s hard on them to come the distance to get to church. We are praying that God would open the doors for us to purchase/have a good used church van. Do you know of one? At the present we have no money to purchase one – but then again, we had no money to purchase the land either and God took care of that.   Pray with us and keep your eyes open for a good used church van (yes, a new one would be nice but a good used one would be great too!).   If it’s God’s will for us to have a van to use to transport people for church – HE WILL PROVIDE.  We just need to ask Him to do so! 

BY FAITH – looking for a van.  Pray.  Pastor James

As of this writing Life House Church and Ministries has “paid in full” the purchase price for the lot next door! In less than three weeks after prayer walking the lot – God has given us the money ABOVE and BEYOND our regular tithes and offerings. This land will be used for many purposes for now … parking, playing and ect. Someday as God leads, provides and as growth continues we will build an additional building on it and maybe even pave it for more parking. God is sooo good!!! We praise Him for confirming His will for this work – time and time again!  Praise Him with us!!  Pastor James

The Lord is sooo good!  Tonight was our Thanksgiving Praise Service and we had a good time in the Lord. We also had the blessing of “passing out” to the community around 25 Thanksgiving Turkey Boxes (with dry good, can goods and all of the trimmings included) to our community. We have also given away 5 big boxes of canned goods and have 30 more to be given away this coming Wednesday. Thanks to a local sister church for buying the turkeys and collecting the food. Also, two “buggy loads” of the food came from Weight Watchers of Texarkana members. THANKS TO ALL for helping us be a blessing to the local needy in College Hill. God will bless you for blessing others!!  I hope all of you have a blessed THANKSGIVING and that you have plenty to eat and your family can be together.   Pastor James

Well our first Friend Day is over and we didn’t make it to 100 but we DID have one adult lady saved!   We did see some new faces and the service went great.  We experienced alot of sickness this morning (two out of three of our musicians were home sick) and one was called into work and others gone.  Am I somewhat dissapointed that we didn’t hit the number? Yes.  Am I discouraged, down and giving up? NO!  A THOUSAND TIMES NO!  In mission work it’s all about growth and stability.  Growth comes slowly and stability is something you teach and the mission grows into. We are only 7 months old and great things have happened all of the way.  How can anyone be DOWN or DISCOURAGED when a soul gets saved?  Praise the LORD!!!!

Also, two weeks ago our church family walked on the lot next door, prayed over it and claimed it. If all goes as planned I will be paying for that lot tomorrow or Tuesday. GOD HAS SENT EVERY LAST PENNY NEEDED TO PAY FOR IT IN FULL —– ABOVE our tithes and offerings!!!!  PRAISE THE LORD!  God just keeps blessing and we just keep rejoicing. 

Pray for the mission. Pray for stability, growth and for souls to be saved.   Tomorrow night is our Thanksgiving service and we will be taking 25 or more Thanksgiving boxes – complete with Turkeys to several NEEDY (not greedy) families in our target area. Pray that Life House can be a blessing to them this Thanksgiving season.      

It’s great to serve a loving and mighty God! Praise Him, thank Him and rejoice in Him for all He’s done!  Pastor James

Tomorrow is FRIEND DAY at Life House and we are “shooting” for 100 in worship. More than just a number – that number represents 100 people who will be in the service to worship and hear about God’s amazing love. Pray that we can sow some seeds for the Lord. We are praying for lost people to be present. We are praying for the unchurched to be present. We want to encourage and build up and bring those who once served the Lord faithfully but due to whatever life circumstance,  are no longer serving, back into the fold for the Lord.

We will be working later this afternoon at “enlarging” our seating area and getting ready BY FAITH for the increase in attendance tomorrow morning.  God is going to do something special and we can’t wait!

Also, we WILL NOT have regular Life Groups on Wednesday of this coming week.  We will have one service this coming week and it will be a THANKSGIVING PRAISE SERVICE on Monday night at 6:30 p.m. . Make plans to join us!  (NO boys, girls, ladies or any after school events all week due to holidays). Regular schedule resumes the following week. HAPPY THANKSGIVING – GIVE THANKS!  PASTOR JAMES