Pastor James’ Blog

…when some of the people from Life House contact you and express that they “hope the weather doesn’t get so bad we can’t go to church” or “hope the weather doesn’t get so bad that we can’t have Life Groups”. NOW that does a pastor’s heart good!  While we aren’t in control of the weather (only God is and He knows best) we are in control of our heart and our desires. We’ve been going through “The Purpose Driven Life” as a church family and some of our people are really beginning to hear the Lord and see that HE DOES have a plan and purpose for their lives.  I TOTALLY CHALLEGE anyone (and I’ve heard it from ONE radio preacher and from ONE evangelist recently in person who is associated with that radio preacher) to prove to me that there is anything unscriptural about “The Purpose Driven Life”.  So far, I can honestly attest that the daily devotions in the book have drawn our church family into a deeper walk with the Lord and a deeper desire for His Word.  It’s awesome to stand back and watch God begin to work in the lives of our people. It’s awesome to see them begin to hunger for corporate worship and fellowship with other believers. We have been experiencing some awesome times of worship at Life House and I hope we don’t have to miss out on them tonight either. Only time will tell if we have Life Groups tonight but no matter what my prayer is….”Lord, please continue to draw the Life House Family to a deeper desire and hunger for YOU and YOUR WORD.”  It’s pretty awesome!!!  Pastor James

   It’s safe to say that ANYONE who left Life House today without feeling FULL probably wasn’t drinking from the same cup I was.  The day was awesome!  God blessed us as we broke another attendance record – we had 110!!   We had several first time visitors and some repeat visitors.  What a blessing to see people of all ages, all colors, all backgrounds in worship to our God. It was awesome to hear them singing, and see them praising God, lifting hands, crying and feeling the warmth of the Holy Spirit as He passed by.  The new Life House Celebration Choir did great.  We also rejoiced as the altars were filled, one soul got saved and we had the blessing of baptizing four at the end of the service. We topped off the day with a huge old fashioned “potluck”. The Life House ladies did a great job. THANKS LADIES!  We have been blessed to just be a small part of all that God is doing at Life House.  Keep praying that God will do “something that only HE can take credit for” at Life House. It’s all about HIM!  See you Wednesday – if not before!  Pastor James

    God never ceases to amaze me!  Last Sunday HE saved a young man following our services and then yesterday (SATURDAY) God saved another young adult man! We’ve seen 14 saved thus far and we know there are many more out there that need the Lord!  We are so excited that God is saving souls, changing lives and this little mission is reaching out to the community one soul at a time.  Pray for us as there is much work to be done.  I am going to make this blog “short and sweet” because it won’t be long and people will be coming in for our service today. I am sooooo looking forward to what God is going to do in this service!!  I’ll report back later. Take care and hope you have a great day of worship!!  Pastor James

As time passes we all face adjustments in our lives and in our families.  We as a family have had to face several adjustments  in recent days. Yesterday, Cindy’s Dad, Papaw, moved into a local nursing facility, in the room with his wife, Memaw.  We know the facility takes good care of it’s patients. We know that Papaw will be safe, will be fed three good meals a day and snacks too. We know that he will enjoy being able to spend more time with Memaw on a daily basis as well as be around others. We believe that being around others will help him have a purpose (to talk to, pray with, minister to other residents) and will stimulate his mind instead of him simply staying home, eating and sleeping all day.  It’s hard to see those you love make such a transition, but we know that as life goes on we will all face some adjustments. Some adjustments are smaller than others – some larger.  We (like many families)  have had other “issues” in recent days that have  come up in  our “larger extended  family” that break our heart and will require adjustment.  Many adjustments are simply part of the  life process,  others are because of choices that others or ourselves make.  These choices sometimes affect us and cause us to have to make some hard choices.  Sometimes the choices of others cause you and I to have to make some big decisions that will effect the future  – and that’s not easy  but it must be done.  All in all – life is full of choices and adjustments.  Sometimes easy, sometimes not.

The good news is that there is coming a day that we will face one final adjustment and that is eternity. ( YES, I am a conservative, fundamentalist, old-time Christian so what i’m about to share is going to reflect that!) I am so thankful for the truth of God’s Word – that there is a Savior and that there is a heaven for those who are saved. It isn’t about church membership, baptism or even our opinion of doctrine. It’s about the truth of God’s Word, the Gift of His Son, the need for all men to be saved. It’s about security – heaven.  One of these days we will make our final “move”.  One of these days the final adjustment will be over. One of these days – IT WILL BE GLORY!  I can’t wait! No more difficult decisions, no more sin, no more trouble. – It will be heaven. Guess that’s why it’s called HEAVEN!! LOL  Hope you have a great day!!  We also hope you will make plans to be with us this Sunday at Life House. We aren’t your traditional church with all of the trappings of ritualistic and formal worship – we have freedom in the Lord to clap, sing, lift our hands, express our hearts and worship!  (Yes, sometimes we are even a little loud!!)  If that kind of worship bothers you then we aren’t the place for you. Where the Spirit of the Lord is – there is LIBERTY (FREEDOM)!!    We will have Believer’s Baptism Celebration this coming Sunday. Our new Celebration Choir will be presenting two numbers and following the service we will baptize and then enjoy a church wide meal together. It’s going to be a great day!  Pray for us and come see us. Might even be a good “ADJUSTMENT” for you to get out and experience worship at Life House this Sunday!!!  Pastor James

BTW. Thanks for reading the blog and I’m sorry I haven’t blogged in a few days. Seems that there have been some “adjustments” we’ve been dealing with!

Without a doubt the Lord was in the place this morning at Life House!  What a blessing to see and hear God’s people as they worshipped the Lord together. Even better than the worship was the fact that one young adult man asked Jesus into his heart following the service! PRAISE THE LORD!!!! Jesus still saves! 

Tonight many from the Life House Family are headed to First Baptist Church, Lewisville, AR to help with the services there. The pastor, Bro. Bobby Daniel and his family are out of town due to the death of his father.  I am supposed to preach and the music team will be leading the worship time.  Pray for us!  We are excited to be able to be with one of our partner churches in worship. Thanks also to our sponsor church, Shiloh Baptist, for loaning us one of their vans to transport our people to Lewisville.

Better go — it’s about time to head out.  Will write more later. Pastor James

    Tuesday history will be made in our country. Barrack Obama will be sworn in as our 44th president.  He will be the first African American person to be commander in chief.  Whether you voted for him or not he WILL be our president.   If you are a christian and believe God’s Word to be true then you know that we are commanded to pray for him.  His life and administration will be filled with many challenges in the next four years. Our country and government are complex at best but at this time in history he is inheriting a very big challenge.  He will not be able to work miracles but will try his best to help our country out of it’s recent recession/depression state.  Many feel he is the “answer” (but government is never the answer) but lest we become dissapointed,  let’s not expect too much. Yes, his party will have control of both houses and the presidency but they can’t work miracles either.  Much will be expected from him, many will be disappointed by him but all need to pray for him.   I pray for Barrack & Michelle and the two girls, that God will grant them safety, peace, wisdom and effectiveness as they seek to be the “first family” they desire to be. Give the man a chance and pray. Give him your support – we are in a war. Give him your prayers as he (or anyone who occupies the white house) will need them.  I don’t know if you will watch the inauguration or not but even if you don’t please stop whatever you are doing next Tuesday about noon and whisper a prayer for our new president, his family, congress, our country and for God to bless this nation once again with a revival.  Barrack Obama isn’t the Messiah – He isn’t Jesus – He doesn’t and won’t be able to work miracles but he will be our president – so pray!!  I pray that the people of this nation will not put too much stock into one man, or lift him up to high because I guarantee he won’t be able to deliver “all of the goods” for every person in this country. Some who adore and love him now will hate him in the next year. Some who thought he was “THE ANSWER” will be running him down in a few months.  No one is perfect, no one has all of the answers – EXCEPT JESUS.  Let’s elect HIM commander in chief of our hearts and lives and keep things in proper perspective.  God bless the USA and God bless our new president.  Pastor James

FOR…

1. Bro. Bobby Daniel and family – loss of his dad.  Pray for traveling grace.

2. Friend from Faith – Hershal Downs – tests and in hospital

3. Kathy Given’s great nephew.

4. Services at Life House Sunday. We believe God is about to do something amazing and can’t wait!

Thanks – Pastor James

I just got back from Life Groups and what a time we all had tonight. The Lord showed up in our worship service, Bible study time and small group time. We are getting ready to see God bust this church out in to the community like never before!  God’s people, all colors, all backgrounds, all ages – were worshipping tonight and the Spirit of the Lord was there!  We had people playing instruments that have never played together before and the Lord showered His presence down on the service.  Truthfully – I can’t wait till Sunday!  Ican’t wait to see what God is going to do in the lives of our people and the life of our church during the next 40 days (starting Sunday).  By faith, we are going to explode and make an impact on this community like never before!  PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!! Show up if you are hungry for God’s presence and His power. Show up if you are hungry for HIS Word. He has a purpose and plan and we invite you to join us as we see God move in our lives in a mighty way!!  Whew – hurry up Sunday and get here!  Pastor James

   Without sounding “religious” or “corny” — I really mean it — I am humbled by God’s blessings on the work of Life House.  In 2008, in 8 short months, the Life House Family gave 15% + of all undesignated offerings back to misson projects. We gave over 10% back to the Cooperative Program.  God has blessed every penny and given it back PLUS SOME. A friend of mine said on the phone today, “YOU JUST CAN’T OUTGIVE GOD!” and they are sooo right. We praise Him for all HE HAS DONE. We know that Life House is HIS DOING. He had a plan and purpose to begin this new multi-ethnic work. HE wanted someone to reach out to College Hill and all of the people there – and that is what HE CALLED US TO DO.  Through it all – God has blessed.  Pray that we can continue to see God’s leadership and hand on the work at Life House. We are excited about the future. There are souls to be rescued and souls to be saved. The work isn’t over until HE COMES AGAIN!  Thank you Jesus for all of your blessings on Life House.  Do it again and again and again Lord!!  Pastor James

               It was a good day at Life House today!  We were blessed to have a good crowd and the Spirit of the Lord could be felt among us. There are many visiting with us that are struggling with decisions that they need to make in the future. Some need to be saved and the devil is wrestling with them about it. Others need to follow the Lord in believers baptism and need to take a step of courage to do so. Some are searching for a new church home and need direction from the Lord.  We are seeing God move in the lives of many of the people that attend Life House. We continue to see new faces visit with us, of all colors and backgrounds.  We are a church for all people. Pray for those who attend Life House and need to make decisions of any kind.

We were also blessed today to have one of our ABSC Missions Ministries Team representatives with us in our service. Bro. Roger Guantt is such a blessing to Cindy, myself and the Life House family. He has been an encouragement to me from day one when I shared my vision for this ministry with him. He continues to be a lover of souls, encourager, and help to missions. THANKS BRO. ROGER!

Tomorrow night we will have our first “official” Life House Celebration Choir practice at 6:30 p.m. .  The choir will practice on Monday and Thursday’s at 6:30 for the next two weeks and sing for the first time in our worship services on Jan. 25th. This will be the day we have Believer’s Baptism Celebration. It’s going to be a grand day at God’s House. You don’t want to miss it for anything! Come and bring a friend or two and make plans to stay for “potluck” lunch in the fellowship area.

     God continues to move those “puzzle pieces” around that I spoke of in an earlier blog.  It seems like He has placed more of those pieces in the Life House puzzle to play instruments, sing, lead out in Life Groups and help this church grow. In coming days there will be other “pieces of the puzzle” coming together and i’m excited to see what God is going to do. Pray for us!!

Better go for now. Hope your Sunday was blessed too!  Pastor James