Pastor James’ Blog

We believe in prayer! We believe that God hears and answers prayer according to His will.  The Bible says: “You do not have, because you do not ask God.” (James 4:2) SO — we are asking God and asking you to join us in asking God to help us with the following needs as HE FEELS IS BEST.

AT LIFE HOUSE WE NEED:

1. God’s favor in winning people of all colors in our local area. We want to share Jesus with them and see them come to know HIM as their Savior.

2. A Black Associate Pastor

3. A Black C0-Worship Leader

4. Co- Youth Pastor’s – Black and White

5. A Church Van to pick up the people in our are who must walk during the bad weather and at night.

6. Funds to buy our present building (we start buying it this month for a great price – THAT is an answer to prayer.)

7. Some way to renovate the kitchen area at Life House to make it more useable.

8. Funds to turn the empty lot next door (which the Lord helped us purchase this summer) into a parking area.

9. Wisdom and leadership from the Lord for our pastor as he seeks to direct and lead this new mission.

10. God’s blessings on the Life House family as they seek to live out God’s will and reach all people in this new mission.

THIS BLOG IS SIMPLE. Would you join us in praying for these items? Would you pray for us? If so just add a comment and let us know. We need as many prayer warriors as possible to join us. ADD YOUR COMMENT NOW to let us know you will be praying with us!

Thanks for praying for us and with us!  Pastor James

Ok – just to see what happens — give me YOUR opinion VIA E-MAIL and VOTE FOR ONE  of the following:

 LIFE HOUSE…

1.  …a home for everyone…a family for you!

2. …God’s House…Your Home.

3. …Welcome Home!

4.  …There’s no place like home.

5. …a place for everyone…home for you.

6. …room for everyone…a home for you.

7. OR GIVE ME YOUR IDEA –

SEND ME AN E-MAIL with your vote (24 hour limit) – get your vote in NOW!    jross@life-house.us

THANKS!

   In the next few days our church family will begin “Purpose Driven Life” as our study for our Life Groups.  Our Life Groups are growing and we are branching out by having a Men’s Life Group, Ladies Life Group, Youth Life Group & Children’s Life Group. (Nursery coming soon!)  We will begin our Wednesday night sessions with praise and worship and then break up into our respective Life Groups. In Life Group we discuss what we’ve studied through the week, what God is saying to us and what God is showing us. No one is required to “share” or speak but all are encouraged to open their heart, listen and follow the Lord’s direction in their lives. It’s an awesome time of hearing God’s Word, hearing God speak to you on a daily basis and seeking to follow His direction for your life.

  Also, we are excited about the  Jan. 25th worship service.  We are going to have a “Believer’s Baptism Celebration” that Sunday, lunch following the service and MORE!!!!!  Invite your family, friends and loved ones to come join us….especially those you know that are lost. We believe we are going to see God do some awesome things on that day!

More later …gotta run!           Pastor James

    Just last night I was really thinking about all that we’ve seen happen at Life House in the past 8 months and then trying to think through the future for us as a church and it dawned on me – This ministry is much like a puzzle. You see many pieces, don’t know where all of them go and one piece at a time it comes together. Sometimes you don’t find the “right piece” for awhile or even until the puzzle is almost complete but little by little it all comes together.  God continually amazes us at how HE is putting this new puzzle together.  The people He is bringing together. The talents that people have that are needed in the work are coming together. The heart of the people He is sending us to help with a church that doesn’t “DO” “church as usual” – it’s all really very exciting.  One thing that is especially exciting to me is that it’s quite evident that this is all coming about and that I am nothing more than just another piece of the puzzle. I’m not able to make all this happen – but HE IS. He gave us the vision to start the new multi-ethnic work but IT IS HIS WORK and not ours. We’ve had verbal opposition from outside our target community and that was expected. When someone fights against it that is between God and them. We’ve not had ANY resistance in our target community and for that we are thankful.  The devil hates what is happening at Life House. He hates it when souls are saved, people are in unity. He hates it when God’s blessings are flowing and it appears that no matter what he is trying – it isn’t working to stop it. This is God’s work – it’s HIS puzzle. We are just pieces in it.  We won’t ever see the completed puzzle until Jesus comes again – but one piece at a time He is building it and putting it together.  Pray for us that He will continue to find, provide and use every “piece of the puzzle” that is needed to do HIS work at Life House.

I’m blessed to be just one piece of the puzzle — Pastor James

The first Sunday of 2009 saw some “firsts” and some “records” set and for that we are thankful!  We rejoiced as we saw several new faces in our crowd this past Sunday morning and even a new attendance record set.  We had several of our regulars out sick and one family of 6 had to be away to the hospital because one of them was having surgery but in spite of it all if all of our “usuals” had been present we would have reached an all time high of 92!  We were also blessed to have some special music by one of the young ladies who got saved last Sunday and her future sister in law who has been attending with her. The devil did all he could to stop them from singing (the soundtrack that they were going to use ended up in a car headed to Dallas) but they sang  anyway and did a great job!  We look forward to them singing again and even being a part of the new Life House Celebration Choir that is coming soon!  We were also blessed to have a Bridgette in our services for the first time. Bridgette is a young lady who served seven years in prison for selling drugs and while in prison met the Lord, went through the PAL program and is one of the strongest Christian ladies we know. She gave a brief testimony and then signed to a beautiful song.  We will be hearing and seeing more from Bridgette in the near future as she will be helping with our Life Groups ministry. 

We are also excited that on January 25th we will have Believer’s Baptism Celebration Sunday. We will be baptizing several who have been saved since the mission began. Following the service we will have church wide potluck lunch in the gym area.  Come join us for this special day.

God is moving at Life House and we are almost at the point of having to restructure our worship center area in order to accommodate the number of people who are attending.  That is a great problem for us! Pray that we will be wise with our “set up” and be able to put the building to it’s best use in order to accommodate our needs. We have been so blessed to have this building as a ministry center in the heart of College Hill.  We begin buying the building this month and we are believing God to help us pay it off in record time – in spite of the economy situation. We KNOW that we are where God wants us and that this is the location He desires for us to use to be a central LIFE HOUSE to this community. Pray that we can pay for this building in record time!

Keep praying for us as we seek God’s will concerning a black associate pastor, a black co-worship leader and a black and white team of youth pastors/directors. God has just the RIGHT people out there and I believe we are on the verge of seeing them revealed to us to be able to move even further into this new ministry. PRAY!

Thanks for reading the blog on a regular basis and thanks for praying for us. Cindy and I count it a privilege to be your local North American Board Missionaries in Texarkana.       Pastor James

   If all goes as planned the first Sunday of 2009 at Life House is gonna be great!  We are praying for the Lord to show up and pour out His blessings on the service like never before!  I am “privy” to a couple of things that are scheduled to happen and I can’t wait!!   For those who are regulars or those who are thinking of visiting with us at Life House – you don’t want to miss SEEING the Worship Center of the building – it’s different and a good change. 

Also, during January we will be “unveiling” the new Life House Celebration Choir!! They are going to begin working on a number or two to be presented in a future service. Get ready and join the Celebration and make a joyful noise to the Lord!! People of all ages, colors and backgrounds are going to be a part of this new choir which will bless our worship services several times a year. Their main job will be to exalt the name of Jesus and point people to HIM as SAVIOR!!

The last Sunday in January will also be our quarterly Believers Baptism Celebration.   Once a quarter all who have been saved and wish to participate in believers baptism are invited to schedule with Pastor James to be baptized on that Sunday. We already have three awaiting baptism so we know it’s going to be a great Sunday.  We will also have potluck lunch at the close of our service that day. 

YOU and YOURS are invited to get involved at Life House.  God is moving, changing hearts, saving souls and building a multi-ethnic church for His glory in the heart of College Hill. Come see what GOD  is DOING!  See you soon!

                     Pastor James

   Several of us have been working this week to get our building ready for the new year.  We’ve re-decorated, moved things around, set up some things and changed some things.  We’ve been working on the yearly calendar – making plans for outreach, inreach, upreach and more!  We are excited about 2009 and believe God is going to do some BIG things at Life House – things that ONLY HE CAN TAKE CREDIT FOR!  He’s already done more than we could have dreamed in such a short time  but we are looking for even bigger and better blessings.  We are scheduling our evangelistic outreach ideas, baptism celebrations, VBS, and much, much more.  We’ve already had some contact us about coming to Texarkana to do a mission trip and help us in 2009 so if you or your group would enjoy “doing” a mission trip to Life House – get in touch with us and let’s make plans together.  There is much work to be done and little time to do it. Souls are dying without Jesus and we MUST get busy and reach them for the Master!  Get ready – God’s got blessings on the way!   Pastor James

     The New Year is always a time that many people make “resolutions”.  They decide that they are going to “go on a spending freeze”, “lose weight”, “get up earlier”, “read their Bible daily” or whatever.  All of those are worthy goals in life but they are nothing more than empty ideas if you don’t make up your mind to stick with them.  Anyone can “sound good” but it takes dedication, hard work and perseverance to get the job done.  I’ve started a couple of “new” things for myself this year and I am going to do my best to keep them up – but it’s not always going to be easy. There will be days “I don’t feel like it!”, or “I don’t want to.” or “Maybe tomorrow.” but in reality – IT IS MY DECISION!  I can accomplish my goals if I really want them bad enough.  I can do them but the “ball is in my court”. If I don’t accomplish them then I have no one to blame but James!  UGH!!! Wouldn’t it be easier if we had SOMEONE to blame rather than ourselves?   Have you set some personal goals for the new year? Have you decided to “do” some things or “give up” some things or “change” some things?  If so, don’t lose heart – you CAN do it if you want it bad enough.  NO MORE EXCUSES!  It’s time accept the challenge and get it done!  Are you willing? Are you ready?  I challenge you to become the BEST you can be for the Lord!  Step up to the plate and with God all things are possible!  Keep up the good work and HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and yours!  Pastor James

2009 is finally here and what tomorrow will bring we don’t know. One thing we do know is that the God who saw us through this past year is the God who can and will be with us in 2009. This is a new day. A new chapter. A time to renew yourself in the Lord. I pray that everyone who reads this blog will take some time in the next 24 hours, do some inventory of your heart and then recommit yourself to the Lord and His will for your life. God has a great plan and it’s exciting to be in it.  This past 8 months for Cindy and I have been an awesome time of knowing that we are in God’s will and that we are right where He wants us. We believe that He has many more blessings to pour out on Life House in 2009 if we will only listen, follow and do HIS WILL. 

A side note:  God is “up to something” in College Hill. I just heard of an established family doctor who has moved his practice from a nice part of town to College Hill. One of his long time patients attends our church and she came right out and asked him what was up. He shared with her that God just wouldn’t let him get College Hill off his mind so he had to relocate there. AMEN!  Thank God for Christians who are sensitive to the call of the Holy Spirit and selfless when it comes to desiring the “bigger and better” things in life. Thank God for men and women who know it’s not all about themselves but rather know it’s about following God’s call for their lives.  I applaud this man and those who work with him for their dedication to helping people who need it!

Lastly – HAPPY NEW YEAR! GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS!  Pastor James