P-T Pointers!

The World is Passing Away!

2011-09-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

17 “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” 1st John 2:17 (ESV)

When I was a young man, I heard someone say, “Never deny the obvious!” I do not remember who said this, but I have never forgotten their words. It is obvious that the world is passing away. I have no idea when the Lord will return, or when this present world will pass away in fervent heat; but, I do know, because the Bible says so, that it will pass away one day. In the meantime, we are passing away! Last week my first cousin passed away. Today, I have been asked to pray for a dear Sister-in-the-Lord who is in the last hours of her earthly journey.

This world and all of us in it are passing away. In this little Book, John tells us that even though the world is passing away and though our present bodies are also passing away, those who do the will of God will abide forever! In the context of 1st John, “doing the will of God” refers to repenting of our sins and accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. If we do this, we will abide with Jesus in Heaven forever!

10 "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?" 2nd Peter 3:10-12 (NKJV)

What manner of persons ought you to be..? Beloved let us consider this word carefully! What manner of person ought we to be in light of the fact that this world is passing away?

We ought to be faithful, fruitful, and filled with the Holy Spirit! Grant it, O Lord!

NATIONS THAT FORGET GOD

2011-08-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

Psalm 9:17 (KJV) “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”

While driving to Southern Illinois yesterday to attend a funeral, I was listening to the radio. I am quickly bored with most of what is on the radio, so I was (as I often do) letting the radio receiver run on scan. Almost immediately, I noticed a funny thing… someone was saying that the President was destroying our economy and our Nation! Then… scan… it is the Republicans who are destroying our economy and our Nation! No wait! Scan… it is the T.E.A. Party that is destroying our economy and our Nation! No one could agree about whom it is that is destroying our economy and our Nation; but, whoever they thought it was, they were very passionate about it!

I began to wonder if any of them had ever read a Bible! If ever there was a Nation who has forgotten God, this Nation is it! This Nation is awash in every imaginable sin, and several that it is difficult to imagine. Oh, I know that this Nation was never a Theocracy, (it was never intended to be a Theocracy) but, there was a period of time when Jesus Christ was honored and respected in this Nation and His people were encouraged – encouraged mind you, not merely tolerated – to worship and serve Him. That is almost all over in this Nation now!

I am well aware that it is not considered culturally acceptable to say that God is pouring His wrath out upon America, but it is true if the culture likes it or not! It is not even acceptable to state this in the majority of so-called churches in our Nation. The American people have approved, or at least allowed, the killing of nearly 50,000,000 babies on the altar of personal choice… we have normalized many forms of sexual perversion… we are awash in filthy talk… calling evil good… and joyously watching these behaviors played out on our movie and TV screens!

How can this happen? We have forgotten Someone! God!

Apparently, some years ago Rev. Billy Graham said, “if God does not judge America for our sins, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah!” I do not know if he really said that, or if he quoted it from someone else; but, whoever said it… it could not be more true!

I passionately love my children and my grandchildren. I love the young people in our Church and their families. I love America and I do not want to witness the judgment of God upon her. But, judgment is coming whether I want to see it or not. By the way, the judgment of God is coming upon this Nation whether anyone believes it, or not! The answer – and I believe, the only answer – is simple: win Americans to faith in Jesus Christ, disciple them, stand against evil, and stand up for good!

In the days of the Old Testament Judges, God gave Israel opportunity after opportunity after opportunity until His patience ran out and He gave them over to their enemies. Will you join me in asking God to give US another chance? Will you join me in working to win Americans to Jesus and discipling them in the Christian faith? Will you do what you can to make sure that this Nation remembers the God of the Bible?

I pray that all of us will.

CAN GOD BLESS AMERICA AGAIN?

2011-06-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

Deuteronomy 28:1-7
1 "And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. 7 The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.”

Let me be clear, I am thankful beyond words that the sovereign God of the universe chose to place me in the United States of America. I am thankful for the freedoms we still have in this Nation, and I have happily served this Nation for eight years in the Air Force and one year in the Oklahoma Air National Guard. I served two and one-half years of that time overseas including a year in Viet Nam. I love this land, I have given over ten percent of my life to serving her, and I have put my life on the line for her.

Over our two-hundred plus years as a Nation, we have been a very pro-Christian Nation. Of course, we have never been a theocracy, or what could technically be called a “Christian” Nation, but for most of our history our government has been benevolent to those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ. Sadly, in recent years, we have seen this benevolent attitude toward the followers of Jesus Christ slipping away! Since the beginning of the Twentieth Century, America first became post-Christian; and is now becoming anti-Christian.

I tremble when I think of the kind of Nation this Nation will likely be as my children and grandchildren live out their lives. If God does not send a real revival among His people, those who determine to faithfully follow Jesus Christ are going to pay a very high price for their devotion to Him.

Deuteronomy 28, in the context of God’s promises to Israel, clearly shows the conditional nature of God’s blessings upon a people. While I do believe that Israel is uniquely a people of God, I also believe that God’s blessing upon any people is also conditioned upon that people’s obedience to God, His Word, and, upon their faithful keeping of His covenant with them.

This Sunday is July 3rd. No doubt, we, like most churches, will sing patriotic songs, honor those who serve our Nation, and give thanks to God for the blessing of living in the freest Nation on earth. But, we dare not think that we can disobey the commandments of God, scoff at His Word, and expect His continuing blessings upon us.

Let us pray that God will grant us a season of National repentance and pour out His Spirit upon us, our leaders, and our children. Let us pray that the American people will seek to be a people who bless God in all that we do.

To worship America is idolatry! We will not gather on this Lord’s Day, (or any other Lord’s Day) to worship our Nation; we will gather to worship the One True and Living God. May God forgive us, may He awaken us, and may He turn our hearts to worship Him and Him alone! May we live to see the United States of America once again as a pro-Christian Nation!

SUPER SUMMER 2011

2011-05-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

Jeremiah 8:20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”

This is one of the saddest verses in all of Scripture! It very much makes me think of the many times that we come to the late fall and think about what has been accomplished through the previous summer. Well, the summer is NOT YET PAST; so, we have the opportunity before us for a fruitful harvest!

The most famous thing is church life may be, “the Summer Slump.” Because of vacations and activities that compete for the time and affections of people, most churches suffer poor attendance during the summer months. I pray that this will not be the case with our Church this year!

We are working on several ideas that will allow us to take advantage of the longer and warmer days to increase the amount of outreach we are able to accomplish in Atwood and the TWENTY TOWNS that we have targeted as part of our 2020 VISION.

The salvation of sinners in in the hands of God, and God alone; but, He has clearly chosen to save sinners through the ministry and witness of His people, the Church! My desire; and yours, as well, is to be used of the Lord to bring many people into His Kingdom.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a celebration service this fall when we could look at dozens of new believers in our Church and testify together: “The summer is ended, the harvest is past, and MANY HAVE BEEN SAVED!”

Grant it, O Lord!

Bible Evangelism Conference

2011-05-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 55:8-11

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

In these well-known and often-quoted verses, God gives us both His perspective, “your ways are not My ways” and His promise, “[My word] shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose…” I am thinking much about both His perspective and His promise today as I consider the events of this past week.

Our 2011 Bible and Evangelism Conference was BOTH the highest quality and the most poorly attended event that I have ever planned and hosted in my ministry. I have heard some very wise counsel about why this was the case.

I am deeply thankful to those who worked so very hard to enable us to host this meeting, to those who took time to attend, and to our speakers! Drs. Ron Meyer, Tom Rains, Wes Feltner, and Nate Adams; along with Tim Sadler, Mike Wilder, Steve Diehl, and Adam Powers prepared and presented Spirit-filled and effective messages.

Power of Praise, Kim Senseney, Jim and Pam Hollis and their sons led us in great music and singing! Bill Henderson’s impromptu praise songs were a serendipitous blessing.

Certainly, the unplanned and unexpected highlight of the meeting was the testimony of Caleb Adams on Tuesday evening. How we rejoice with him and his godly parents in his salvation!

God had his sovereign will and way; His word was preached and will not return to Him empty! I look forward to seeing the future fruit of these meetings!

Our next series of special meetings will be Sunday to Wednesday, September 18 - 21 with Dr. Ralph Buckley of Dyersburg, TN and Les Snyder and Sons of the Father of West Frankfort, IL. Start praying now!

Should we love our enemies, or kill them?

2011-05-03T20:33:00.000-07:00

Judges 5:24-27

24 “Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
25 He asked water and she gave him milk; she brought him curds in a noble's bowl.
26 She sent her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workmen's mallet; she struck Sisera; she crushed his head; she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 Between her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still; between her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell—dead.”

In the time of the Judges, (1300 – 1100BC) Jabin, the King of Canaan had conquered the people of Israel and the head of his army was Sisera. When God raised up Deborah and Barak to defeat him, Sisera fled on foot and was led by God into the tent of Jael, who tricked him into falling asleep and then killed him by driving a tent peg through his head!

And the divinely-inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of the living God calls her, “most blessed of women” for the very reason of what she did to Sisera!

The death of Osama Bin-Ladin yesterday has brought about lots of questions and discussions among Christians as to how we should treat our enemies. We are told in Exodus 20:13, “You shall not kill” and Jesus said in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies.”

With these two clear passages as a background, we must confront the question of whether or not it was right to take the life of Osama Bin-Ladin.

First, almost every contemporary version of Scripture translates Exodus 20:13 as, “You shall not murder.” While the Hebrew word used here simply means, “kill” the reason for translating it as “murder” is because there are several places in Scripture where it is not only permitted, but commanded, to take the life of certain individuals. Cf. Genesis 9:6; Exodus 21:12-29 (the very next Chapter after the Ten Commandments!) and Romans 13:1-5.

I believe that it is best understood as saying that we are not to kill human beings without biblical warrant which God gives to humans in certain situations such as mentioned above. By any reasonable standard, killing Bin-Ladin was a biblically-justified act. It certainly was an act of self-defense!

So, how then do we love our enemies? We love them by praying for their salvation, by attempting to get the gospel to them, and by showing mercy on them after they are captured or defeated. This is exactly what we have always done following the wars in which the United States was victorious.

Since godless people will answer to a holy and righteous God for every sin they commit, it is not a loving thing to stand idly by and allow them to continue to commit atrocity after atrocity!

Let us pray that God will bring about democracy in the Middle-East; let us pray that the gospel will be freely proclaimed there and that many will be saved. And let us pray that every godless mass-murdering tyrant like Bin-Ladin will be either be converted, or killed.

The Storms of Life

2011-04-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

Luke 13:1-5 “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

The heart-breaking events of this week remind us of how very fragile life truly is! Over 300 people died this week in an outbreak of tornados that devastated cities and towns from Texas to the Carolinas. It is impossible to understand the level of grief felt by those who lost loved ones, friends, and property on a massive scale.

One of the towns where at least ten people were killed and massive damage occurred was Ringgold, Georgia, where I pastored my first Church and where Pat Pajak was our Music and Youth Director. The Cherokee Valley area, where the church was located, was very heavily damaged by the storm.

In the passage in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus uses two very well-known tragedies to make a solemn point. First, He uses a famous crime where Pontius Pilate had ordered the murder of a group of Galileans who were holding a worship service and he ordered that their blood be mixed with the blood that they were offering on the altar. The second illustration is that of a famous accident where a tower fell on eighteen people killing them. The Tower of Siloam was likely the tower by that name that was part of the Temple wall.

From these awful events, Jesus teaches them (and us) three very important lessons:

First, you do not have to be an evil person for bad things to happen to you. Second, it is wrong to assume that someone is being punished by God when bad things happen to them. Third, we dare not think that we are exempt from the tragedies of life because we know and love the Lord!

Each of these were very common mistakes in Jesus’ day, and they remain so in our day! It is not unusual to hear someone opine about the “judgment of God” or some similar terminology to attempt to explain that which cannot be explained.

Anyone can become a victim of a crime whether that crime is perpetrated against them by an individual or by a government. Anyone can become the victim of an accident. The point is simple. “Prepare to meet your God.” (Amos 4:12) Since we do not when the Lord may return, or when we may go to Him; it is wise to live in constant readiness to stand before Him.

The only way to be ready is to repent of your sins and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Repentance is the missing link to saving faith and the absence of genuine repentance is why so many who think they know the Lord because they have done something like praying a prayer or being baptized (or whatever religious thing they did) are still lost in their sins.

Beloved, if you want to be sure you are ready to meet God, be sure that you have truly repented of your sins!

Please be in prayer for the families of those people who have been killed in these awful storms. Pray for those who lost much and those who have lost all. Pray for those who are assisting them, and pray for those who a attempting to minister the gospel to them. Pray that the Lord will bring many to saving faith through these tragic circumstances.

If you would like to give toward the relief efforts, let me know and I can tell you the most efficient way to get the help to those who need it.

Application: Since no one is exempt from the tragedies of life, we must live our life in such a way that we and our families are ready for whatever may come our way.

Prayer: Father, bless these dear hurting people. Bless those who are ministering to them in Your Name. Teach us what You would have us to learn and use our resources to bless them. Amen.

Luke 24:1-12

2011-04-24T00:05:00.000-07:00

1 "But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise."
8 And they remembered his words,
9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles,
11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened."

Spurgeon on the Meaning of the Cross!

2011-04-22T13:03:00.000-07:00

The whole of the tremendous debt was put upon his shoulders; the whole weight of the sins of all his people was placed upon him. Once he seemed to stagger under it: “Father, if it be possible.” But again he stood u upright: “Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” The whole of the punishment of his people was distilled into one cup; no mortal lip might give it so much as a solitary sip. When he put it to his own lips, it was so bitter, he well nigh spurned it—”Let this cup pass from me.” But his love for his people was so strong, that he took the cup in both his hands, and

“At one tremendous draught of love
He drank damnation dry,”

for all his people. He drank it all, he endured all, he suffered all; so that now for ever there are no flames of hell for them, no racks of torment; they have no eternal woes; Christ hath suffered all they ought to have suffered, and they must, they shall go free. The work was completely done by himself, without a helper.

-”Justification by Grace,” delivered on April 5, 1857, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

HOLY WEEK

2011-04-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

According to the ESV Study Bible, the events of Holy Week were:

Sunday: Jesus weeps over Jerusalem
Crowd comes to see Jesus
Triumphal Entry
Curses the Fig Tree

Monday: Jesus cleanses the Temple
Returns to Bethany with the Twelve
Disciples see the withered Tree

Tuesday: Controversies in the Temple area
Olivet Discourse on the way back to Bethany
Continues teaching in the Temple

Wednesday: Continues teaching in the Temple
Sanhedrin plots to kill Jesus

Thursday: Passover / Lord’s Supper
Upper Room Discourse
Prays in the Garden
Betrayal and Arrest
Trial before Annas
Trial before Caiaphas and some of Sanhedrin

Friday: Roman trials before Pilate, Herod, and back to Pilate
Crucifixion
Burial

Sunday: Resurrection
Empty Tomb witnesses
Post-resurrection appearances

As we think of these events, we will take four specific opportunities to celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord this week:

On Thursday at 7pm, we will meet in the Old Sanctuary of our Church for a Maundy Thursday Service. We will pray, sing, read Scripture, and take the Lord’s Supper together!

On Friday at 7pm, we will meet at the Kaskaskia Country Club near Arcola to be part of a multi-Church Good Friday Service. There will be prayer and singing, Scripture reading, and a message by Pastor Mike Wilder who is planting the new church in Arcola.

On Sunday at 9am, we will gather for Sunday School...

and then at 10am we will then have our annual Easter Service! I hope that you will be in special prayer all this week that the Lord will lead several people who do not normally attend church to this service. Pray that He will speak to them and call them to salvation.

We will not have any services at the church on Sunday evening.

Here I stand, I can do no other!

2011-04-16T00:05:00.000-07:00

Jude 3-4 “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

On this day in 1521, Dr. Martin Luther stood before the Diet (Legislature) of Worms, Germany and defended his 97 Thesis and his theological writings!

Dr. Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk living in Wittenberg, Germany when he was saved while studying the book of Galatians! He began to think through the many errors of the Roman Church and finally posted a list of 97 complaints on the door of the Church.

As these “97 Thesis” were read and copied and distributed among the people of Germany, a groundswell of support began. This, of course, caught the attention of his superiors in the Roman Church and they began efforts to silence him.

The ultimate test was his trial and testimony before Emperor Charles V and Johann Eck, the Papal Inquisitor. Luther was beloved by Fredrick the Elector, who was to be used of God to save Luther’s life by having him “kidnapped” and taken to a safe place to study and continue his writings!

It was at this trial on April 16, 1521 that he gave his defense and uttered the immortal words, "Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."

While we have much with which we disagree in the theology of Dr. Martin Luther, we owe him much for his faithfulness to stand at the risk of his life to correct the false teaching and moral corruption in the Roman Church! May it please the Lord to help us be as faithful to stand up against false doctrine and moral corruption – especially among those who profess to be believers – as was this man. May God grant us another, and much needed reformation today!

Prayer: “God of our Fathers, bless us this day with conviction and courage to stand for what we know to be true. Guide us into truth and give us the grace to share it, defend it, and if need be, die for it. May You use us to change our Nation the way You used Martin Luther to change his. Amen.”

Application: Will we share that truth once delivered to the saints?

Responding to Persecution

2011-04-15T00:05:00.000-07:00

Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

On this date in 1892, Corrie Ten Boom was born in the Netherlands. She and her family were arrested during WWII by the Nazi’s for hiding Jews in their home. While she survived, most of her family died in the concentration camps during the war.

She travelled, spoke, and wrote extensively about her life after the war, and her biography, “The Hiding Place” was later made into a motion picture. Her testimony of the transforming power of the love of God is an inspiration to everyone who also loves the Lord.

Possibly her most famous quote is, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still!” You can learn much more about her at www.corrietenboom.com.

While many of us may have been persecuted on some level for our faith in Christ by family, friends, co-workers, or employers; we are just beginning to see what the future will be like in an America that hates Christ and Christians. Already today, it is not merely acceptable, but much welcomed, to be anti-Christian.

I fear that much more persecution of Christians is coming to America! Those of us my age may not feel the brunt of it, but I fear for my children and grandchildren. I believe that it is urgent that we raise them in the fear and nurture of the Lord to prepare them for the difficult years ahead for them.

We are often told that persecution purifies the Church. I have no doubt that this is true, but that does not mean that I welcome the onset of such treatment of our Lord, His Name, and His people. Oh, that we might seek to be purified by God’s Word and His Spirit without being put through the fires of persecution!

Sadly, real revival does not appear on the horizon. We have come to a time in America where in many, many Churches, (and in some cases, across entire denominations) you are hard pressed to find more than a handful of Bible-believing Christians. No wonder the Church appears so impotent and evil seems to prevail.

Prayer: “Father, I pray that You will glorify Yourself in us. If it be Your will that great persecution comes upon the Christians in America, please use it to purify Your Church. If it be Your will, we plead that You will grant us revival… that we might reach the lost and disciple Your people. Amen.”

Application: When real persecution comes, (and it is coming) will we stand up for Jesus?

An Appointment no one will miss!

2011-04-12T00:05:00.000-07:00

Hebrews 9:27-28 “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

On this date in 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States, died of a cerebral hemorrhage at Warm Springs, Georgia. FDR was born on January 30, 1882 and was the only man in U.S. history to have been elected President more than twice.

I often think about the words of one of my favorite hymns, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” by Isaac Watts. In this great work, he writes, “Time, like an ever rolling stream, Bears all its sons away; They fly, forgotten, as a dream Dies at the opening day.”

One of the realities of Pastoral ministry is being involved in lots of funerals. While it is always a privilege to be asked to speak at such a service, the serious nature of our appointment with death causes me to think deeply about what I will say to the family and friends who gather together. I almost never prepare for a funeral sermon without the words of this song going through my mind.

For the believer, this appointment marks the beginning of a truly joyous existence in the presence of Christ. Even those of us left behind at the passing of a loved one who trusted in the Lord are comforted by our certain knowledge of their eternal joy.

Most people do not know when they will go into the presence of God. We think and plan ahead as if we have all of the time in the world. I pretty much have an idea of what I will be doing for the next nine years as I lead our Church to accomplish the 20/20 Vision that the Lord has put before us. Often, when I think about what it will take to accomplish this work, I think about the fact that I may very well be kidding myself that I will be around to see it come to pass!

One day, someone will be thinking about what to say at my funeral. I hope they will remind my family and friends that all of us have an appointment with God for which we will not be late!

Prayer: “Father, thank You for the gift of this life, and the hope of the life to come. As we consider this sobering fact, let us put our faith in Your Son as our only hope of salvation. May we see that glorious day when all of your people surround Your throne and praise Your holy Name. Amen!”

Application: Are you ready to meet the Lord?

The Power of Prayer!

2011-04-11T00:05:00.000-07:00

James 5:16 “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (KJV)

On this day in 1836, English minister and philanthropist George Mueller opened his famous orphanage on Wilson Street in Bristol. (By 1875, Mueller's orphanage was providing care for over 2,000 children.) George Mueller was an amazing man of prayer. For many years, he prayed in the daily (yes, day-by-day) needs of the children!

In the opening paragraph of his biography of Dr. Mueller, Roger Martin quotes Mueller as frequently saying, “Prayer can do anything that God can do, and God can do anything!” Indeed, when Dr. Mueller said that, he was just summarizing James 5:16!

Prayer can do anything God can do, because prayer is simply asking God to act! And the God Whom we beseech to act is a God Who can do anything! We do not always ask God to act according to His will, so He does not always answer just as we desire – but He does always answer each and every prayer.

Sometimes, God answers our prayers directly! We ask according to His will, and He responds by doing exactly what we ask.

Sometimes, God answers our prayers differently! He knows what is best and what His will is. By the way, His will is always what is best for His children. He still answers, but in a way that is different from what we desire and ask.

Sometimes, God’s answer is to delay! His will may be, “OK, but not now.” We almost never like that, but we bow before His sovereignty and wait for His answer.

Sometimes, God answers with a denial! Because He knows best and always wants what is best for us, when we ask for that which is out of His will or will ultimately prove to be a bad thing for us – He denies our request.

Beloved Ones, do not be afraid to pray! If we are praying out of the will of God, He will correct our prayers. He will not give us something to hurt us, just because we asked Him for it. He loves us, and He loves to answer prayer!

Prayer: “Father, we rejoice in the truth that You are a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God. We rejoice that Your answer will always be in accordance with Your will and it will be what is best for us. Amen.”

Application: A prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian!

Truly Christian Outreach

2011-04-10T00:05:00.000-07:00

Luke 14:21-23 “So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.”

On this date in 1829, William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army was born in Nottingham England.

According to churchhistorytimeline.com, “Working first as a Methodist minister and evangelist, Booth and his able wife Catherine began tackling social evils at the same time engaging in direct evangelism. In 1865 Booth began a Christian mission in east London. By 1878 the mission and its work had evolved into the full grown organization of the Salvation Army. By the time of his death, Booth had traveled five million miles, preached 60,000 sermons and had drawn some 16,000 enlisted soldiers into his Army. At that time the Salvation Army was working in 58 countries in 34 languages.”

While I deeply regret the abandonment of sound doctrine and the ever encroaching liberalism within the Salvation Army, I am thankful that they have stayed faithful to their foundational calling of caring for the poorest of the poor and the down and out in society around the world.

One of the saddest things that have happened to our own Denomination over the years is that we have become more and more, “Upper Middle Class” in the demographic of our church members. Of course, we need to reach everyone including those who are, “Upper Middle Class” but, we (as a Denomination) have almost abandoned our efforts at reaching those who are most needy among us.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the fact that there are so few SBC Churches located in the inner cities of America. Even the very popular, “Center City” movement among Church Planters seems to be almost exclusively targeted at “Upper Middle to Upper Class” people in the cities!

Several years ago, I had the joy of preaching a week-long City-wide Crusade for the Salvation Army in Richmond, Virginia. It remains a happy memory for me. I found that two kinds of people were usually present in the services and ministries of the Salvation Army: those who were down and out, and those who were dedicated to ministering to them.

The right answer is, of course, to take the gospel to everyone, everywhere! We ought not tailor our services or ministries to reach a “certain segment” of the Community. Beloved Ones, let us, “'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes… and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.” And, everyone else!

Prayer: “Lord of the Harvest, use us to bring into Your Kingdom those who are outside. Let us not care about their social standing, but let us care about their spiritual standing before You. Use us, O God, to reach from among every race the young and old, men and women, boys and girls, poor, wealthy, and everywhere in-between. May our Church truly be a House for All People.”

Application: The Great Commission is geographically, not demographically structured! What are we doing to make sure that everyone feels welcome and wanted in our life and in our Church?

Biblical Church Discipline!

2011-04-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

Galatians 6:1-2 “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

On this date in 1988, Evangelist Jimmy Swaggert was defrocked by the Assemblies of God for his involvement with a prostitute and for rejecting the denominational discipline imposed on him.

Baptists practice the autonomy of the Local Church and therefore we do not have any way as a Denomination to discipline an individual church member. We leave that up to each church. Like most things, that is both good at times; and bad at other times!

Biblical discipline, whether it is imposed on a member, a leader, or an entire church (which Southern Baptists do from time to time) is meant to correct the behavior of the one being disciplined and demonstrate the genuineness of their faith. It also protects the good Name of Christ and the Local Church. When a member, including a minister, rejects the correction offered in love by their church, discipline must be imposed that is commensurate with the offense.

The biblical goal of imposing discipline is restoration! It must be carried out by godly, “spiritual” Christians and done as prescribed by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-17 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Beloved Ones, the Assemblies of God were (in my opinion) correct to defrock Mr. Swaggert. Let us pray that all of our members, including our ministers, will live godly and sincere lives. Let us pray that all of us will have someone, or even an entire church, that will press us to live up to Biblical standards!

Prayer: “O God, I thank You for Your indwelling Spirit Who keeps me from continually sinning. Thank You for the continual rebuke that comes from studying Your Holy Word. Thank You for a godly Church and godly Christian friends who also hold me accountable.”

Application: Do you love your family and fellow-members enough to restore them when they become an offense to God and their Church?

Sunday's Coming!

2011-04-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

Chet Daniels, Lead Pastor at Redeemer Church in Champaign-Urbana, will be our guest speaker this coming Sunday morning! Redeemer is one of three new church plants with whom we are partnering this year.

I hope you will be able to attend this service and encourage Pastor Chet; and, I am certain that you will be blessed by what the Lord lays on his heart to share with us.

Chet is the third of these Pastors whom we have heard this Spring. I am thankful that our Church loves church plants and church planters, and gives so generously to their work!

See you there!

The Living God!

2011-04-08T00:05:00.000-07:00

Today is the 98th day of the year. There are 267 days left in 2011.

Revelation 1:18 “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”

On this date in 1966, Time Magazine published their infamous cover asking, “Is God dead?” Atheist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) had written, “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.” From that time to this, Nietzsche remains a hero of atheists and nihilists everywhere.

We are reminded that one’s opinion does not change reality. If God does not exist, my belief that He does changes nothing. Likewise, since God does exist, the disbelief of a million atheists changes nothing! God is alive and well and accomplishing His divine will in the world!

Isaiah 43:10-12 “You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and I am God.”

The One True and Living God, the God of the Christian Bible, is alive; and, because He lives, we shall live also!
(John 14:19)

Prayer: Our Lord and our God, I praise You this day that You, the living God, have given eternal life to those who love you and call upon Your Name. Open the eyes of unbelievers that You may also be glorified in their lives.”

Application: Are we living as if the God we profess to love and serve really is alive?

How Valuable is the Word of God?

2011-04-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

Psalm 19:8-11 “the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”

From the Preface to the English Standard Bible: "This Book [is] the most valuable thing that this world affords. Here is Wisdom; this is the royal Law; these are the lively Oracles of God." With these words the Moderator of the Church of Scotland hands a Bible to the new monarch in Britain's coronation service. These words echo the King James Bible translators, who wrote in 1611: "God's sacred Word . . . is that inestimable treasure that excelleth all the riches of the earth."

On this date in 1978, a copy of the Guttenberg Bible owned by the General Theological Seminary in Stuttgart, Germany sold for $2,000,000.00! Of course, the fact that it had been printed by Johannes Guttenberg was the cause of this fantastic price. As late as 1987, a Guttenberg Bible reportedly sold for 3.5 million.

On a recent radio talk show, a guest described the Bible as, “a book about God written by men.” Of course, that statement is true; but, from his point of view he meant that that is all that the Bible is. This is clearly the majority view in America today, but it could not be more wrong!

We pay about $2.00 for paperback Bibles that we give away at our Church. (And we give away lots of them!) A pretty good copy can be bought about anywhere for $10.00. Really nice ones go much higher. I recently purchased an English Standard Version Study Bible, Larger Print in a Leather Cover that retails for $125.00!

But, regardless of the financial investment involved, the question is, “What is the value of the Bible to us?” David said in Psalm 19, that the Words of God “are more to be desired than gold.” Some very wise person once said, “The Bible is the most often purchased and least often read book in the World.” Sadly, that is very likely true. I certainly need to spend much more time reading the Bible, and I suspect that most Christians do as well.

Since we do love the Bible, let us commit ourselves today to reading – and heeding – every word of it this year!

Prayer: “Dear Jesus, thank You for the gift of Your Holy Word. I thank You that I live in a place where it is so easily accessible and so affordable. May I always treasure it in my heart, and may I, and we, do all we can to get Your Word into the hands, and hearts, of others. Amen.”

Application: Do we faithfully read and heed the Bible?

A Desperate Lack of Discernment!

2011-01-27T09:55:00.000-08:00

14 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.” 1st Corinthians 2:14-15 (ESV)

Two events this week have reminded me again of the desperate lack of discernment among many of God’s people. The first was Joel Osteen’s unwillingness (or inability) to clearly articulate neither the Bible’s teaching about homosexuality nor the gospel, which is God’s solution to the problem of homosexuality! The second event was an unhappy reminder of the growing popularity of the, “health, wealth, and prosperity” non-gospel gospel.

In 1st Corinthians 2, Paul comments on the easily understandable lack of discernment on the part of unregenerate people. Of course, unsaved people cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God. What troubled him, and also troubles me, is the lack of discernment by those who are regenerate people!

“The spiritual person judges all things.” The word translated “discerned” in verse 14 and “judges” in verse 15 are from the same root word in the Greek, (anakrino) which means, “to examine, investigate, or question.” Therefore it is perfectly correct to say of verse 15 that it reminds us that the child of God is to, “examine, investigate, or question” all things!

We know that the world is being overwhelmed by false teachings. Some of them are minor disagreements over when the Lord will return, or which Bible version is best; but, some of them are over serious doctrinal matters! It is the sacred duty of God’s people to make “judgments” between differing understandings of what the Bible teaches.

These two issues: homosexuality and the health, wealth, and prosperity non-gospel gospel are issues that confront us today and will do so even more in the days and years ahead. Sadly, many truly regenerate people lack the knowledge and wisdom to deal with these matters in their lives.

The answer is simple! Paul writes in 2nd Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
Again, Jude writes in Jude verse 3, “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

We are commanded in these verses to both discover and defend what the Bible teaches on these matters! Let’s get at it! Take every opportunity to listen to sound Bible teaching; and dig, dig, dig to get solid answers to every odd teaching you hear.

Beloved ones, it is always right to question unfamiliar teachings. Let us determine to discern and rightly divide God’s Word! Amen.

Friday Night... but Sunday's Coming!

2011-01-21T20:51:00.000-08:00

This coming Sunday Morning, January 23rd, we will have a great time of fellowship and Bible Study at 9am in our "Great Expectations Sunday School!" At 10am, we will sing and pray and give and study together.

I will be preaching from Acts 8:1-4 on the subject, "Acts 8:1 is Acts 1:8 THE HARD WAY!"

God had "Commissioned" and "Commanded" His people to take the gospel to all of the world... but, they were still hanging around Jerusalem.

God allowed real and terrible suffering to come into their lives to propel them out into His harvest fields! As an old song says, "He did not make them to go against their will, but He sure made them willing to go!"

Sunday Evening, I will be at Lovington teaching the January Bible Study, so Bob Eads will be leading and teaching at our Sunday Evening Prayer Meeting and Bible Study.

I hope you will not have to miss any of these blessed and happy opportunities to worship and serve the Lord this Sunday!

Central Illinois Bible and Evangelism Conference!

2011-01-18T12:24:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, May 15th, 2011 to Wednesday, May 18th, our Church along with the Tom Rains Evangelistic Association will host the 2011 CENTRAL ILLINOIS BIBLE AND EVANGELISM CONFERENCE!

Dr. Ron Meyer will be our Featured Speaker each day and we will also hear messages from Nate Adams, Steve Diehl, Wes Feltner, Adam Powers, Tom Rains, Tim Sadler, and Mike Wilder!

Sunday Services will be at 9 and 10am, and 6 and 7pm.
Monday and Tuesday Services will be at 10 and 11am, and 6:30pm.
Wednesday services will be at 9 and 10am.

Special Music for the Conference will be provided by "Power of Praise", Jim Hollis, and First Baptist Church.

A FREE Continental Breakfast will be provided at the Church on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings beginning at 9am.

I hope you will clear your calendar now to attend as many of these sessions as possible!

Yesterday's Sermon - From Vision to Victory!

2010-12-27T11:35:00.000-08:00

Next Saturday, January 1st 2011, marks the first day of the decade when we begin what we are calling, “The 2020 Vision!” As I shared with you on Sunday, August 29th, (the day you voted to call me as your Pastor full-time) I believe it is certainly possible to grow our church at a rate of 15% per year for the next ten years.

If the Lord allows us to reach this lofty goal, at the end of this coming decade we will have grown from 90 to 350 in Sunday School each week; from 140 to 570 in worship each week; and, we will have baptized 338 new believers and added another 338 people to our church by Letter or Statement!

This morning, as we stand at the threshold of this amazing journey, I want to provide you with biblical answers to the three most vitally important questions we face about the 2020 Vision: “Why”; “How”; and “Why Now?”

Why? Because of Four Relevant Realities:

The COMMANDS from Above!
Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 14:23;
John 15:16; John 20:21

The CRIES from Below!
Luke 16:19-28

The CONDITIONS Around Us!
Revelation 22:14-15

The COMPASSION Within Us!
Matthew 9:35-38

How? By Renewing Three Commitments:

Renewed Commitment to our Individual Spiritual Growth

TALK to God Luke 18:1

LISTEN to God 2nd Timothy 2:15

OBEY God James 1:22; 4:17

SERVE God Matthew 20:28

Renewed Commitment to our Corporate Spiritual Growth

MEET with One Another Acts 2:42-47

MINISTER to One Another Hebrews 10:23-25

MENTOR One Another Proverbs 27:17

MULTIPLY MEMBERS Who Meet with, Minister to, and Mentor one Another 2nd Timothy 2:2

Renewed Commitment to our Numerical and Financial Growth

BEGINNING Relationships with New People

BUILDING Relationships with New people

Bringing New People to CHRIST

Bringing New People to CHURCH

Why Now? At least three great reasons:

Why us? Because we’re the Right FOLK!

Why here? Because we have the Right FACILITIES!

Why now? Because we do not know the FUTURE!

God has given us a great vision of what we can accomplish for Him through the ministry of our Church. I hope you will join me in praying for this vision to become a reality; and participating in the thousands of things we will have to do to see this come to pass. God bless you!

It's Wednesday, but Sunday's Coming!

2010-12-22T08:45:00.000-08:00

On this cool December Wednesday, I am thinking about Sunday! No surprise there! Hopefully, every Lord’s Day and Sunday Sermon is important to your life; but, there are a few things that I believe will make this one special:

First, as it is the last Sunday of December, we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper together! This is always a beautiful and deeply spiritual time for believers as we examine ourselves, repent of sins, and come to the Lord’s Table with a renewed and refreshed walk with Him.

Second, I will be preaching an, “end of year” sermon about how we are currently doing in light of the vision God has given us for ministry in our area. I believe all of us will need to consider carefully this biblical message on what the Lord is calling us to be and to do as we serve Him.

Finally, we are in for a musical treat, (as usual)! Bill Fleming is feeling much better and he and his family will be worshipping the Lord and serving us through the songs that they had prepared for last week’s Christmas Musical.

I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and family and friends by your side!

Pastor Lanny's Schedule Changes!

2010-12-01T07:31:00.000-08:00

Beloved Ones,

I am sorry for any confusion these changes may cause, but the “Second Shift” Schedule I have worked for the last two months is not working well.

Starting today, (12-1) I will be on the field on Tuesdays through Fridays from 9am to 5pm, and I will be available at other times as needed. I will be taking Monday as my day off. I will be present each week at AWANA to help as needed.

I will be making Member and Prospect visits on two Saturdays each month during daylight hours!

Hopefully, this will be more convenient for you and more efficient for me. I am available at any time for emergencies. God bless you.

Heart-felt Thanks!

2010-11-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

Lin and I want all of you to know how very much we appreciate being appreciated! Your kindnesses over these past four years; and certainly over the past month, have been overwhelming! We are humbled and thankful for the very generous gifts you have sacrificed to give to us.

It is the great joy of my life to be your Pastor and I look forward to every day the Lord allows us to serve Him together. I need to figure out how to have a CONGREGATION APPRECIATION MONTH to let each of you know how very much Lin and I love you and how much Lin and I thank God for the joy of serving Him by serving you!

A Night to Remember!

2010-10-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15 (ESV)

What a truly wonderful experience last Thursday evening was as many of our friends from Central Baptist Association (along with notes from many who could not attend) shared their appreciation and best wishes to Lin and I. Of course, all of this was not necessary as the Association has over and over again made sure that we know that we were loved and our work was appreciated. Not necessary – but very much enjoyed!

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to pull off this “surprise” card shower and made it such a happy evening for us. It was my great joy to serve you for the past sixteen years and I pray that God will bless our efforts. I am humbled by the generosity shown to us through the check that we were presented from the Association and the many cards and gifts.

Thanks also to our dear friends at FBC Atwood for setting up the facility and managing the event; and to those from our Church who attended and also brought cards and gifts. You are a blessing and Lin and I are looking forward to the years of ministry we will have together, as the Lord allows!

Thank you!

A Beautiful Church!

2010-09-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful weekend we have shared as a Church family over these last three days! Friday was a happy and blessed time of reflection, remembrance, and fellowship. We enjoyed each other, a great meal, and an encouraging message from Don Lusk.

Saturday was exactly as advertised, "A Party!" Well over one hundred people come together to play and eat and to share our thanks to God by giving gifts to the people of our Community.

Today, was as expected, "the icing on the cake." We shared a wonderful day of music and singing, three baptisms, a great passage of Scripture, and, we tossed our copies of the original mortgage into a burn barrel and thanked the Lord for enabling us to pay off our building debt more than four years early!

On each of these special days, we had great fellowship among our faithful members and we enjoyed the presence of several visitors!

This afternoon I have been thinking about the lessons from this weekend, and one stands out more clearly to me than any other: OUR BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS ARE NOT OUR CHURCH... WE ARE!

Yes, we went into the Sanctuary to sing and give thanks to God on Friday after watching a video of it's construction; but, I realized that we had not been watching the building of a Church, but we were watching the Church building a building!

We were in and out of the fellowship hall, kitchen, and foyer on Saturday as we set up outside for the Block Party; but, I realized that we were not going in and out of the Church, the Church was going in and out of the building!

We gathered together in the Sanctuary this morning for worship; but, I realized that we were not worshipping in the Church, the Church was worshipping in the building!

Thank God for our three beautiful, useful, and debt-free buildings; but, these buildings are not the Church - we are! How we thank God for each other, for being family, and for the profuse and public love that we have for one another.

People often comment about our facilities, "this is a beautiful church!" I instantly agree with them and quickly add, "and the buildings are not bad either."

We are a beautiful Church meeting in a beautiful place. I love you, I thank God for you, and I rejoice in the happy providence of being your Pastor.

Lesson learned. God bless you.

It's Thursday, but Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are Coming!

2010-09-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! We have been thinking about, praying for, and planning the events of this weekend for several weeks. So, what's up?

It's "THANKSGIVING IN SEPTEMBER!" No, we did not move the National Holiday two months ahead, we are having an, AREA-WIDE PARTY to personally and publicly give thanks to God for the gift of our beautiful and DEBT-FREE FACILITIES! Yea!

Friday at 6pm, we will have a catered banquet featuring great food, fellowship, and some fun! Don and Ruth Ann Lusk will be our special guests and Don will share a devotional message with us. We will have special music, a video of the building project, and - did I already mention - great food!

By God's grace and blessing, we have paid off our mortgage four years early! God has blessed us and our people have given sacrifically... now, it's time to PARTY!

The party continues on Saturday from 5 to 8pm with outdoor games, door prizes, food (yup, more food) and tours of the facilities. We have run ads in the local paper and invited everyone of whom we can think! It's is an AREA-WIDE PARTY, and we want YOU to be with us!

Sunday will begin with the baptism of the Poole family! We will have great music, prayer time, and a sermon from Acts 3:1-16.

At the end of the Morning Service, we will all be given a copy of the mortgage and we'll march outside and BURN THESE COPIES OF THE MORTGAGE on the backlot! Yahoo!

Because we will be so tired... estatically happy, but truly tired... we will not have services on Sunday afternoon or evening.

IT'S GOING TO BE A THREE DAY PARTY... FRIDAY, SATURDAY, AND SUNDAY! I hope to see you there...

It's Thursday, but Sunday's Coming!

2010-09-09T12:51:00.000-07:00

We are praying for and expecting the Lord to bless us with a great Lord's Day on September 12th!

In the morning service, I will continue my series, "Understanding Acts - Body #2 Takes Over" with a sermon from 2:41-47 on the subject, "The Life Changing Power of the Gospel!" This passage is one of the clearest pictures in the New Testament of what happens in the lives of people who come to know the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord.

3,000 brand new believers filled with the Holy Spirit and turned loose on the City of Jerusalem! WOW!

Sunday evening at 6pm, International Missionaries Ravshan and Lisa Uraimov will be with us to update us on their ministry and the heart-breaking events currently going on in his native Country. We have supported them monthly for over ten years and they have proven to be faithful and effective ministers of the gospel among multitudes of athletes around the world.

Please pray about bringing a very generous love offering to share with them at that service.

I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!

Ordinary Means

2010-09-05T19:52:00.000-07:00

It was a joy today to preach Peter’s Pentecost Sermon from Acts 2:14-41. (If you are going to steal someone else’s sermon, for heaven’s sake steal it from an Apostle!) What an extraordinary servant, sermon, and number of salvations that day! Thank God for such divine intervention and blessings upon His people.

But, this has me thinking about how the Lord so often works through, “Ordinary Means” rather than “Extraordinary Means.” Reflecting on Peter’s sermon and the blessed and happy result, I am tempted (from time to time) to consider a day to be, “a down day” when we do not see immediate and quantifiable fruit from the efforts of our faithful people.

The truth appears to be that while the Lord continues to do extraordinary things in a few places, the vast majority of people who are saved and made disciples of Jesus are won and equipped one-by-one through the ordinary means of ordinary people doing ordinary things in ordinary churches.

I really don’t know quite what to make of this. I know that our job is to be faithful and let the Lord take care of the fruitfulness of our life and ministry, but I am always disappointed when we do not see more fruit from our labors.

I want all of us to do the ordinary things extraordinarily well. I want all of us to be extraordinarily faithful. I want the Lord to use all of us to accomplish extraordinary things through the life and ministry of our beloved church.

We have just experienced a great series of revival meetings. A great concert brought a great crowd of people to our church. We have just heard an update on our 2020 Vision for ministry in the future. I have just had the joy of being called as your Pastor-Teacher full time.

I want us to do the ordinary things extraordinarily well, and I join you in prayer that the Lord will choose to use us to do extraordinary things through us and for us for the everlasting Glory of His Son, Jesus.

It's Thursday, but Sunday's Coming!

2010-08-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

Beloved Ones, I hope you will be able to be part of a very special day in the life of our Church this coming Sunday, August 29th. We are, as announced last Sunday, going to have a special called Member's Meeting immediately following the AM Service!

As I continue my AM Series through the Book of Acts, I will be preaching this week from Acts 2:16-17 on the subject, "An Old Man's Dream for His Church!" This will not be one of my typical expository sermons on the text of Acts 2, but, it will be an application that will give me an opportunity to share with you a Vision for our Church that I am calling the "2020 Vision."

For the past three and one-half years that I have served as our Pastor-Teacher, we have been focused on ways to reach the 20,000 people who live in and around the 20 Towns that are within a 20 mile radius of Atwood.

We have previously referred to this as the "Tri-County Vision" since Atwood is located at the intersection of three Counties; but, since three of these Towns, Ivesdale, Sadorus, and Pesotum are in Champaign County; I thought we had better find a more accurate name!

Because our goal is to put specific plans and programs in place in order to reach many of the 20,000 people in these 20 Towns by 2020; I believe we should identify this "Dream" as the "2020 Vision!"

At 6pm, I intend to begin, (as requested) a verse-by-verse study of the Book of Daniel. I hope you will not miss this follow-up to our recent study of the Book of Revelation!

I hope you will be with us this coming Lord's Day. I pray that we will be unified in our understanding of the Lord's will for our blessed and happy Church. I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!

Growing Larger by Growing Smaller

2010-07-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

Romans 16:3-5 “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. Greet also the church in their house.”

Growing Larger by Growing Smaller!

As we look toward a very exciting future for our happy Church, I am thinking of an easily overlooked reality faced by every group of Christians. That is, the best way for a Church to grow larger is by intentionally growing smaller! Huh?

Of course, I am speaking about the phenomenal growth power and potential of involving people in small groups. Every study, every survey, and every piece of empirical evidence proves that the more people are involved in a small group of caring, sharing, and need-meeting people the more likely they are to both stay involved in their church and to bring others.

As we look to the future of small-group ministry in our beloved and happy church, we need for focus on three key things:

1) Lighthouses! This key outreach and assimilation strategy, (formerly called JOY Groups) can be the most effective and most productive source of new believers and new members in the years ahead. If you really want to reach lots of new people, you will want to be involved in this wonderful ministry!

2) On-campus Bible Study and Fellowship Groups, (also known as Sunday School) can be a truly effective small group ministry! If the people already involved in Sunday School will begin to see ourselves as a small group and begin to function as a healthy, ministering, and reproducing small group many new people will be added to our classes and to our Church over the coming years.

3) Off-campus Bible Study and Fellowship Groups must be developed in order to provide additional opportunities for evangelism, fellowship, ministry, and relationship building! These must be available to people from Youth through Senior Adults who love to get together with a small group of their peers and study the Bible, fellowship, and minister to one another.

Yes, there is a lot of work ahead. We will provide the training, assistance, and materials necessary to accomplish these worthy goals. I will have much, much more to say about this in the weeks and months ahead.

“They’re out there… let’s go get them!” Pastor Lanny

It's Thursday, but Sunday's Coming!

2010-07-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

I am thankful for everyone who turned out this evening for our TNT dinner and Bible Study! Special thanks to Bill and Shari Fleming for the meal and to Bill Kleiss for staying in the Nursery for us! BTW - Pray for Bill and Jessie as they drive out to Salt Lake City this weekend to take some of Jessie's things to her new apartment.

Our study this evening was on, "Is Jesus Christ the only way to Heaven?" Next Thursday evening will be a time of follow-up and Questions and Answers on this vitally important topic!

This coming Sunday morning, I will continue my series on, "Understanding Acts - Body #2 Takes Over" with a sermon from 1:4-5 on the subject of "The Baptism with the Holy Spirit."

We will not have any afternoon classes, activities, or the PM Worship Service due to the Holiday.

I hope to see you Sunday morning with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!

PTL: Thanks for praying for Cory Schultz, he got the job he was praying about in Champaign!

Body #2 Takes Over!

2010-06-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

Oh my, how well the Church did… at first!
41 “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Acts 2:41-47 (ESV)

Everyone I know wants the Church to do that well again, and always! So, the question is with so many good people wanting the Church to be biblical in all we do and to experience the manifest blessings of God, why do we not see the Church experiencing the manifest blessings of God?

As the Lord allows, I will explore this question over the next twelve to eighteen months in a series of sermons I am calling “Understanding Acts: Body #2 Takes Over!” This coming Sunday morning, 6-6-2010, I will begin the series with an introductory sermon by that very title.

When God determined to save His people, He did so by taking on a human body in which He lived a sinless life, perfectly obeyed the Law, died an atoning death, and three days later rose again from the grave! Body #1, the Divine Person of Jesus Christ, perfectly did His Father’s will and work in the world!

Forty days after His resurrection, Body #1 ascended back to His Father where He now serves us as our Great High Priest. Thankfully, He did not leave us without divine aid. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer to enable and empower us to finish the work that Jesus Christ came to do.

The Book of Acts was divinely inspired to instruct us (both by precept and by example) in the way by which we are to accomplish the great world-wide task of evangelization we are both called and commissioned to accomplish.

It takes an average reader about 2.5 to 3 hours to read the 28 Chapters of the Book of Acts. I hope you will start reading now. Maybe reading for 2.5 hours at one sitting will work well for you. Or, maybe 5 sessions of 30 minutes each per week will be best. Either way, I hope you will read this “Christian and Church Growth Guidebook” over and over again as we work through this series in the coming months.

We begin this Sunday! Start reading now! I hope to see you Sunday morning with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and family and friends by your side.

Sundays Coming!

2010-05-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

Beloved Ones, this coming Lord's Day morning may be sunny both inside and outside our Church! It is always sunny inside, but lately we have not seen a lot of sunshine outside.

As the Lord allows, I will continue my series of "Simple Salvation Sermons" with a message from Luke 23:32-43 entitled, "What is Essential for Salvation?" At the last night of revival last month, we named 22 people for whose salvation we are praying and we committed to try our best to get them here in May.

This is certainly not a new sermon to me! I have been preaching this message in churches for nearly thirty years. This sermon has been used of the Lord to bring more people to faith than any other message I have ever preached.

I hope to see you Sunday Morning with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!

Remember, Sundays Coming!

Revival!

2010-04-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

We have experienced a wonderful day today at "The Greatest Church on Earth!" (OK, OK, I know that is boastful... but it is not bragging since it is true). ;>)

4 Baptized, 4 bricks taken down, great attendance, singing, offering, specials, and a typically biblical and soul-stirring sermons from Bobby Boyles! It was a joy to have "Touched by Grace" with us this evening for special music!

We will have three more services this week: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 7pm. I hope you will be able to attend and bring your family and friends with you.

16:20. The End of Mark

2010-04-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

This coming Sunday, as the Lord allows, I will preach the final sermon (#66) from the Gospel of Mark completing the series I began nearly 18 months ago!

Mark 16:14-20 is about the forty day ministry of Jesus following His resurrection from the dead. There are three great controversies about these verses:

1) Are these verses actually scripture?
2) Is being baptized required for salvation?
3) Are the miraculous signs that followed still for today?

I will certainly address each of these issues, but, let me say that the great controversy I find in these verses is why Christians have not made more progress toward accomplishing the Great Commission nearly 2,000 years after Jesus spoke these words! Read the verses, pray, and get ready to learn!

I hope to see you Sunday with a Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your friends and family by your side!

Great Expectations!

2010-04-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

William Carey, (1761-1834) English Baptist Missionary, Founder of the Baptist Missionary Society, and known as “The Father of Modern Missions” served the Lord in Serampore, India. His most famous quote, (from a sermon on Isaiah 54:2-3) is, “expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”

It is from this quote that I have been meditating on the idea of “Great Expectations!” What exactly do I mean when I say that we, as the people of God, should live our life with Great Expectations?

Recently, I attended a Sunday School leadership training event led by Dale Davenport of IBSA. He gave us some great material including a booklet by David Francis entitled, “Great Expectations.” In this booklet, he lists three things that we ought to see in a “Great Expectations Sunday School”:

First, we should expect new people every week!
Second, we should expect people to say yes!
Third, we should expect classes to reproduce!

I want to springboard off of these ideas and get us thinking about several “Great Expectations” for our Church in the future:

1) We should expect (and be ready for) new people every week!
2) We should expect (and be ready for) God to save lost people every week!
3) We should expect (and be ready for) new believers to be baptized every month!
4) We should expect (and have the process and programs in place for) new members to grow spiritually!
5) We should expect (and have training in place for) spiritually growing members to serve the Lord!
6) We should expect (and provide training) to start new classes and new Ministry Teams continually!
7) We should expect (and be spiritually prepared for) opposition from the evil one and his helpers!

May God grant that we will always be known as “The Great Expectations Church.”

Beautiful Foyer

2010-03-04T18:27:00.000-08:00

The new carpet is complete in the foyer of the church. It is beautiful! Thanks to everyone who came up with the idea, picked the style and color of the carpet, and to THE SUPER-DUPER VOLUNTEER CLEANING TEAM who have worked and worked and worked to get it cleaned up and ready for Sunday! God bless you!

Sunday School Changes Beginning Next Sunday!

2010-02-28T19:35:00.000-08:00

The fastest way to grow a Church is to start new units! No doubt, no argument, and no kidding! NEXT SUNDAY, 3/7/2010, we will give birth to a NEW YOUNG ADULT SS CLASS! David and Kim Senseney will lead the new Class for Young Adults. They will be having a get together with the prospective Class Members at church on Friday evening.

Here is how it works! David and Kim are leaving the Jr and Sr High Class to lead this new Class; Jim and Lynnette Wilson are taking over leadership of the Jr and Sr High Class along with Leslie Schultz; Matt Voyles and Andy Appleby will take over the leadership of Jim Wilson's Men's Class... Got all that?

We already have over 30 prospects for the new Class, of which only about 10 are currently attending Sunday School at our Church. Please pray that God will bless our efforts to reach these young people and build this new Class; and, that He will continually provide us the workers to start more new Classes!

We currently have classes for all ages from Birth to Senior High; and, Adults have 7 Classes from which to choose:

Young Adults - Dave and Kim Senseney
Adult Men - Matt Voyles and Andy Appleby
Adult Women - Misty Appleby
Life Principles Class for Men - Patrick Curry
Mixed Adult Class - Bob Eads
Mixed Adult Class - Pastor Lanny Faulkner
Senior Adults Class - Freda Black

I hope to see you Sunday Morning at 9:00am with your Bible in your hand; a smile on your face; and family and friends by your side!

Monday Morning Memo

2010-02-25T12:59:00.000-08:00

Monday Morning, February 22, 2010

God richly blessed us again yesterday at FBC! We had 95 people in Sunday School; 155 people in AM Worship; and we were able to take down another Brick from the Wall of Debt. We had two baptisms and several visitors were present in the service.

The Lord again provided us with a generous offering, and our usual crowd of faithful folk came out for the Sunday Night study. 14 workers and young people attended Greatest Common Factor, including a first-time visitor!

REMEMBER, we are starting a new Sunday School class for Young Adults on March 7th and we are getting ready for the "Find It Here" Easter Evangelism Campaign! You will be hearing much more about that this coming week.

Also, "Life Builders" Discipleship Classes begin on March 7th at 4:45pm. Sign-up sheets are in the foyer.

WOW! Just six more days till Sunday!

Before Jehovah's Awesome Throne!

2010-02-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

Before Jehovah's Awesome Throne
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

Before Jehovah's awesome throne,
Ye nations, bow with sacred joy;
Know that the Lord is God alone;
He can create, and He destroy.

His sovereign pow'r, with-out our aid,
Made us of clay, and formed us men;
And when like wand'ring sheep we strayed,
He brought us to His fold again.

We are His people, we His care,
Our souls, and all our mortal frame;
What lasting honors shall we rear,
Almighty Maker, to Thy Name?

We'll crowd Thy gates with thankful songs,
High as the heav'ns our voices raise;
And earth, with her ten thou-sand tongues,
Shall fill Thy courts with sounding praise.

Wide as the world is Thy command,
Vast as eternity Thy love;
Firm as a rock Thy truth must stand,
When rolling years shall cease to move.

This is sung to the tune "Old 100th" (All People Who on Earth Do Dwell)

It's Friday, but Sunday's Coming!

2010-02-18T19:19:00.000-08:00

Friday, February 19th

Yesterday was an exciting day! Sunday School lesson done; AM Sermon (The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus) and PM Sermon (Profiting from the Prophets - Introduction) done; and, while I was counseling a young woman about her upcoming baptism, one of her friends who came along with her accepted Christ!

We should have three or four to be baptized in the AM Service, and that always makes for a great Lord's Day!

Thanks to one of our very generous members, another brick is coming down!

Sunday is going be a great day! I hope to see you with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side…

ACTS 2 PART 2 - THE SERMON

2010-01-14T19:12:00.000-08:00

ACTS 2 PART 2 – THE SERMON
“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
Acts 2:37

What is the “this” that upon hearing cut them to the heart? It is either the specific declaration, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (2:36) or, (and more likely) it is the entire sermon Peter had just preached! (2:14-36)

Acts 2:14-37

(14-21) Peter preached that Jesus of Nazareth was the focus and fulfillment of the Old Testament Prophets!
14 “But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 " ' And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'”

(22-23) Peter preached that they were personally responsible for the murder of Jesus!
22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

(24) Peter preached that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised from the dead!
24 “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

(25-35) Peter preached that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of David!
25 For David says concerning him, " ' I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.' 29 "Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, " ' The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.'”

(36) Peter preached that Jesus of Nazareth is both Lord and Christ!
36 “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."

(37) When they heard that Jesus of Nazareth was the focus and fulfillment of the Old Testament Prophets; they were personally responsible for His murder; God had raised Him from the dead; He is the Son of David; and, He is both Lord and Christ, they were cut to the heart!
37 “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

Beloved One, have you considered these five facts? Have you considered Who Jesus is? Have you considered your personal responsibility for His murder? Have you considered the implications of His resurrection from the dead? Have you considered what it means that He is the Son of David? Have you considered the biblical fact that He is both Lord and Christ; and not just the Christ?

Have you?

NEXT TIME: ACTS 2 PART 3 – PETER’S ANSWER

ACTS 2 PART 1 – INTRODUCTION

2010-01-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

Acts 2:37-47 37 “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 38 And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

I am quickly coming to believe that reading, praying through, and meditating on Acts 2:37-47 is a very dangerous thing for the comfortable Christian! This passage reveals how the New Testament Church reached their world in a single generation. Every place and every way in which the modern Church has deviated from this pattern is why we may well lose our Nation in a single generation! In the days ahead, I want to take this passage apart piece-by-blessed piece and make application to us, our world, and our churches.

Some years ago I heard one of those sermon outlines that never leave you: “Why not Us, Why not Here, and Why not Now?” As I read these verses, these three questions come again and again into my thinking. The writer of Hebrews tells us in 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” With that being so, our failure to see anything like this move of God is not because Jesus has changed, the Word of God has changed, or because the Holy Spirit has changed.

The heart-breaking truth is that in most cases our churches have changed! Another great statement that bounces around in my head is, “God made the Church the way He wanted it; now, He wants it the way He made it.” I do too! And I believe that an important step in bringing about these needed changes in our lives and our churches is to carefully and prayerfully examine this passage and come to fully understand what it was about these one-hundred and twenty people that caused the Lord to be willing to use them in such a mighty way.

Next time, in PART 2, we will begin that examination.

Weather and Weekend Update!

2010-01-07T04:52:00.000-08:00

The Church office is closed today, 1-7, and tomorrow 1-8, 2010. If you need anything, call me on my cell phone.

The Saturday Morning Seminary Class has been canceled due to the weather.

Sunday, as the Lord allows, I will continue my series on "Revelation for Rookies" with sermons on "The Great White Throne" in the morning; and, "The Battle of Gog and Magog" in the evening!

Remember! If you have unsaved or unchurched family and friends, Sunday Morning will be a great time to bring them with you to church! The passage on "The Great White Throne" is one of the most powerful and convicting in the Bible.

I hope to see you with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side...

Sunday's Coming! (1-3-10)

2009-12-29T13:54:00.000-08:00

It is only Tuesday, but Sunday's coming! And I want you to be ready...
In the AM Service, I will begin a series of six sermons (AM and PM) that will close out my thirty-week study of the Book of Revelation entitled, "Revelation for Rookies."

In the morning, we will work through 19:11-21 on the subject, "The Second Advent of Jesus!" In the evening, we will work through 20:1-6 on the subject, "The Millennial Kingdom." I hope you will begin now to prayerfully and carefully read through these passages. These are among the most exciting passages of Scripture and you will not want to miss these messages.

The AM Message on "The Second Advent of Jesus" and next Sunday's AM Message (1-10-10) entitled, "The Great White Throne" are great opportunities for your unsaved family and friends to come to know Jesus! I hope you will work hard to get them to attend these services with you.

In the AM Service, we will continue to receive our Lottie Moon Offering for International Missions! We have already exceeded our all-too-modest goal, but I am hopeful that this will become our largest special offering of the year! I hope you will join Lin and I in giving a sacrificial gift to this worthy cause.

I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side... God bless you!

Sunday's Coming! (12-20-09)

2009-12-17T19:06:00.000-08:00

Well, it is Thursday evening, but Sunday's coming! And, it is Christmas Sunday, 2009! Our Adult and Childrens' Musicals last week were very well done and well attended. We had 205 in the morning service and something over 100 in the evening. Two of the families who have been regular visitors lately were in attendance and they both shared with me that they really enjoyed themselves.

This Sunday, I will be speaking from Matthew 2 on the subject, "The Reason for the Season!" I know - this is not a very original title... but, it is theologically correct and a deeply profound truth.

I hope you will invite all of your family, friends, and co-workers to this service. You will have a higher percentage of people who will accept your invitation on this coming Sunday than any other Sunday this coming year.

I hope to see you Sunday Morning with a smile on your face, a Bible in your hand, and your family and friends at your side!

"Give, and it shall be given to you..."

2009-12-03T18:50:00.000-08:00

Luke 6:38 tells us, "give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you." (ESV) Since the Word of God is true, and God gives to giving Churches, we must have blessings headed our way!

Over the five Sundays in November, we gave nearly $1,100.00 to the Retired Ministers and Missionaries Offering; and last Sunday we gave $720.00 in a special offering for the Klay family, over $3,000.00 to the general fund, $700.00 in the special offering taken for "Les Snyder and the Sons of the Father" at the Christmas Concert, $500.00 toward the cost of a new engine for their motor home, and enough "Tearing Down the Wall of Debt" funds came in to take down another brick this coming Sunday Morning!

WOW! If I could think of something more profound to say, I would! WOW!

And, this coming Sunday morning we will begin receiving our Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions! Lets all pray and sacrifically give each Sunday in December to make this our largest missions offering of the year!

Oh, by the way, we will be voting on the proposed 2010 Annual Budget this coming Sunday morning which will be the largest budget in the history of our Church; and when passed, it will double the amount of missions support we give to Central Baptist Association and to the Cooperative Program!

WOW!

Flu Season Precautions

2009-10-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

As flu season has arrived, and especially in light of the threat of the H1N1 virus; I wanted to remind you of some very "common sense" precautions to help protect you and your family. Remember these are hopefully, "common sense" precautions coming from a Pastor and not a medical professional:

1) Pray that the Lord will keep us from an outbreak of flu, (H1N1 or any other kind) among us!

2) Please do not come to church if you are ill. If you have cold or flu symptoms, or if you have had a fever in the past 24 hours, please stay home and seek your Doctor's advice about your situation.

3) Please do not bring children who are ill, or who appear to be ill, to church or to church related activities. If they have cold or flu symptoms, or if they have had a fever in the past 24 hours, please keep them home and seek your Doctor's advice about their situation.

4) We have put lots of hand sanitizer around the church, including dispensers on the foyer walls by the main doors. Please use it regularly. (Especially after shaking so many hands).

5) If you have a cough, please cover your mouth and use hand sanitizer before shaking hands with anyone... especially the Pastor! ;>)

I HOPE YOU WILL ATTEND YOUR CBA ANNUAL MEETING THIS SATURDAY!

2009-10-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

I hope you will take time out of your already too-busy schedule to attend the 60th Annual Meeting of YOUR Association this coming Saturday!

The meeting is being held at the First Baptist Church of Atwood, 231 N. Illinois Street, Atwood. The church is located one block west and one block north of beautiful downtown Atwood. (From US Highway 36, turn North on Atwood Road and go to the bank; turn left (west) on Forest Street and go one block to Illinois Street and turn right (north). The church is in the middle of the block on the left!

We have had an overall "UP!" year this year and we will recognize several of our churches with "Excellence in Ministry" Awards! It appears that the weather will be lovely, and I know the meeting will be a source of great encouragement to you!

Power of Praise will provide pre-session music beginning at 2:45pm. The meeting will begin at 3pm, and we will have dinner together at 5:45pm. There is no charge for the meal, which is being provided by the members of the church. Following the meal, we will have a second session and we should be done by 8pm.

We will have great worship led by Power of Praise, Bill Fleming, and Mike Rutledge. Chris Granda will provide special music in the evening session. You will be blessed by our Annual Bible Study led this year by Pastor Adam Cruse of FBC Mt Zion, and our Annual Sermon by Pastor Doug Davis of Arthur Southern Baptist!

Oh yeah, we'll hear reports, vote on the budget, and all of our usual business; but, we will also have a great and encouraging time of fellowship. Pat Pajak, Associate Executive Director of IBSA will bring us a special report on the new SBC Evangelism initative, "Across Illinois".

The God-Man Who Gives Sight to the Blind!

2009-09-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning, 9/27, as the Lord allows; I will be preaching from Mark 10:46-52 on the subject, "A Blessing for Blind Bartimaeus". It is, of course, the well-known story of the healing of this blind beggar on the outskirts of Jericho on the Friday before the Triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

It is easy to focus on the man Bartimaeus, or on the miracle itself; and, we briefly will do so. But, the passage is really about Jesus the Messiah, God in human flesh Who has the power to give sight to the blind. Of course, He can do this both physically (as in this case) as well as spiritually, as in the case of everyone who comes to faith in Him.

The GOOD NEWS is that Jesus is still alive and still present to intervene in the physical and spiritual realities of the universe! He still loves people, He still takes time for people, and He still meets the needs of people.

Let us pray together this evening that our Lord will be pleased to pour out His Spirit on us tomorrow and demonstrate His "anointing" presence among us! God bless you and yours.

I hope to see you in the morning with a smile on your face, a Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!

Stand Still, and see the Salvation of the Lord!

2009-09-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

They were out of Egypt, but they were up against the Red Sea and Pharoah and his army were in hot pursuit! Great fear had come upon them. In Exodus 14:13, Moses said to them, "Do not be afraid, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord..." You and I stand today, as we do on every Saturday, on the edge of our own challenges waiting to see whether or not God will move.

We, like they, are totally dependent upon the grace of God! If He delivers, they will be delivered; if He does not deliver, they will be defeated. Well, we know what Paul Harvey called, "The rest of the Story". God did move, and they were delivered!

The same God Who dried up the Red Sea can remove the great challenges and giants that stand between us and "The Promised Land". They were worried and discouraged not realizing that they were just minutes away from a mighty move of God that would bless them beyond measure...

I pray that the Lord moves on this Lord's Day! I pray that He mightly moves the obstacles and challenges before us; and the enemies that oppose us. I pray that we, like they, see the miracle-working hand of God in all of our services tomorrow and on every one of our services to come.

We at FBC Atwood, and our brothers and sisters at FSBC, Boody, are beginning revival services tomorrow. I pray that God's mighty deliverance will be seen this coming week in the salvation of many, the calling of many to ministry, new members added to our number, and a real spirit of revival in our churches. I pray for all of our churches, all of our people, and for all of our pastors that God will move on all of our churches in the days ahead.

We stand on the edge of the Holy Land of God's blessings! God can part the waters and move us over together this week, I pray that He will. God bless you!

We’re about to pop!

2009-08-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

What a day! The dear Lord has given to us another happy and blessed day "At the Woods!" Our day began with a great attendance in Sunday School and Church; a great lesson from James; a special little someone visiting with us; lots of visitors; Kathy White accepted the Lord; lots of prayer; great singing; we dedicated our AWANA Team; we heard "God's Simple Plan of Salvation" from Mark 10; and, celebrated the Lord's Supper!

I commented that our dear Church is so filled with the Holy Spirit that it feels like we are about to pop! Others picked up on that line and the more I hear the phrase, the more I like it – and the more and more I expect it any moment.

Speaking of our SS lesson from James: just after I finished teaching the lesson and ended with notes on “praying for one another that you may be healed” I walked past Misty’s Ladies Class and (guess what?) they were gathered around a lady praying for her! WOW, I am back in the old Sanctuary talking about it – while they are in the fellowship hall actually getting it done!

Attendance at our Sunday Night study, “Revelation for Rookies” continues to grow! Tonight was a blessing: more visitors; Revelation 13; two beasts; ten horns; ten crowns; seven heads; and one tired preacher! Whew… we got about half-way through the Chapter!

Remember that our Fall Harvest Revival begins on September 20th and goes through the 23rd. Pray for our speaker, Roger Ellsworth and our folk who will be bringing special music!

Great burdens; great blessings; bright future! Pop?

Well GLORY!

2009-08-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

What does one say about a day like today? One word: Glory! I wanted to take the opportunity to join several in our church who have shared with me, posted notes on Facebook, and given testimony before our church today about the great blessing of God we experienced in our service this morning!

I knew that we would have several visitors with us today because of the Elder and Deacon Ordination service. I felt impressed of the Lord to drop the planned sermon and preach a simple presentation of the soul-saving gospel of Jesus Christ. It was in the fall of 1976 on the island of Guam that I first heard Missionary-Pastor Bruce Wring preach from Luke 23 about the thief on the cross and how his salvation was a model of how everyone who is saved comes to faith in Jesus.

Over the years, I have tweaked it, added to it, and preached it over fifty times! It is still the greatest presentation of the gospel I have ever heard or preached. So, I shared this sermon again this morning. Many have shared how they and their family and friends were touched by the message and one man indicated that he prayed to receive the Lord during the invitation.

The Ordination service was a real blessing as well. By the grace of God, He has given us six men to serve our church as Elders and eight men to serve us as Deacons. We also celebrated the retirement from the Deacon ministry of Bob Fleming and Ralph Hanner. These two men together have served our church as Deacons for over sixty years!

Power of Praise did a great job on “I am just a sinner saved by grace” which is the favorite song of many in our church – including me!

The concert on Saturday night by Ivan Parker was a smash hit with nearly 400 in attendance and some of the most joyous worship I have experienced in a long time. I thought the closing number, “Carried Away” which Ivan did with Power of Praise was one of the most exciting and happy moments I have had in a long time! You can check out photos from the concert at: www.firstbaptistatwood.org.

Several were in attendance for our evening service as I continued our study in the Book of Revelation! We continue to thank God for His blessings and look forward to every opportunity He gives us to worship Him together!

Serving Jesus by Serving Us!

2009-08-15T18:42:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning, 8/15, following a wonderful breakfast provided and prepared by Bill and Shari Fleming, we had our first Deacon training with the eight men elected to serve under our new Constitution. All eight men were present and Elder Bill Fleming sat in with us.

These men are Andy Appleby, Max Beals, Craig Chapman, Kelly Clough, Steve Dietderich, Gene Greek, Doug Walk, and Jim Wilson.

Jim Wilson was elected as Chairman of Deacons, Gene Greek was elected as Assistant Chairman of Deacons, and Andy Appleby was elected to serve as Clerk of the Deacons. Thanks to each of these men for accepting these additional responsibilities.

We will have our Elder and Deacon ordination service on Sunday, 8/23 in the morning service. I hope you will be able to attend and support these men who are giving so much of their time and work to serve each of us.

Our Constitution states that these men are "gifts of God to our church" and that we ought to recognize them as such. They are... and we do!

Update: Downtown Decatur

2009-07-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

In a speech at Rice University in Houston Texas on September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy gave us those immortal words, “we choose to go to the moon (and do the other things) not because it is easy, but because it is hard.” This speech, more than any other single statement is credited with being the impetus for the successful NASA programs that culminated with the Apollo 11 Mission that landed Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon forty years ago last Monday.

With the resignation this week of Pastor Mitch Flesch as our Downtown Decatur Church Planter, I wanted to remind all of us that we had chosen to plant a church Downtown, “not because it is easy, but because it is hard.” In my opinion, no one could have done more work or better work than Pastor Mitch, who poured so much of his time, prayers, and effort into reaching this community for Jesus; or Tom Miller, who first led this work.

Men and women have come to know the Lord as a result of these efforts, and several Bible study groups have been planted in the apartment complexes in and near Downtown Decatur. We have not accomplished the goal of planting an autonomous Southern Baptist Church in Downtown Decatur; but, our passion for reaching lost people and having a church Downtown is unabated.

We have learned some very valuable lessons that will help us in all of our future church planting efforts. May God use these lessons to shape us and equip us for the great work ahead. Mitch Flesch and Tom Miller have been two of our most effective men at reaching lost people and growing churches in Central Illinois. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue in their present ministries.

Pray for the lost people of Central Illinois, and for our New Work Team as they seek the will and wisdom of God to reach them with the gospel. Pray that God will bless all of our CBA Family of Churches as we continue His Kingdom work.

God bless Mitch and Linda Flesch; God bless Tom and Pauline Miller; God bless our New Work Team; and God bless you!

Great Day - all day today!

2009-06-28T19:54:00.000-07:00

What a blessed and happy day to be present at FBC! We were blessed today with good attendance in Sunday School and Worship; great music in the AM Service; (as always) I had a blast preaching on the Transfiguration of Jesus; and, we celebrated the Lord's Supper together!

Speaking of the Lord's Supper, praise the Lord for raising up from among us eight men willing to serve us as Deacons - and that four of them served us the Lord's Supper for the first time today. Gene Greek has served the Lord's Supper in other churches many, many times; but, it was his first time today as a Deacon of our church. Andy, Craig, and Kelly served the Lord's Supper for the first time ever!

How I thank the Lord for the six men now serving us as Elders and all eight of the men now serving us as Deacons!

And how about "Super Jessica" leading our VBS Team this year! She and Jason are real blessings to our church. How we thank the Lord for bringing them to know Him last year and for leading them to be part of our Church.

Oh, I could go on and on; but, I am in danger of leaving someone out. Thanks to everyone who made this Lord's Day so very special - and to the Lord for blessing us with His anointing presence. Amen!

Thanks for Praying!

2009-06-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday afternoon, we voted to adopt the new Confession of Faith, Covenant, and Constitution! Then we approved the recommendation of the Executive Committee for our new Officers. We elected Bob Eads, Ron Eagan, Lanny Faulkner, Bill Fleming, David Senseney, and Matt Voyles to serve our church as Elders; and we elected Andy Appleby, Max Beals, Craig Chapman, Kelly Clough, Steve Dietderich, Gene Greek, Doug Walk, and Jim Wilson to serve our church as Deacons.

Bob Fleming and Ralph Hanner retired as Deacons and were honored with the title of "Deacon Emeritus".

Charlotte Kleiss was elected Church Clerk and Caroyln Fleming was re-elected as our Treasurer.

Many, many thanks to everyone who has agreed to serve in all of these vitally important positions!

We will schedule Elder and Deacon training in the very near future, and we are already planning for a "Ministry Fair" to enroll members for our Church Ministry Teams!

Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven!

2009-06-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

This will be (as the Lord allows) a weekend of big decisions for our church! After Sunday School, Worship, and a Fellowship Meal we will have our long anticipated Special Business Meeting to discuss and vote on the proposed new Confession, Covenant, and Constitution for our church. If these are approved, we will be voting on the Executive Committee's recommendation to elect six men to serve as Elders and eight men to serve as Deacons.

The Constitution Revision Committee has been working on this for nearly two years. Much prayer, much reading, much work, and much discussion have gone into their recommendations. They have read over and worked through several Covenants and Constitutions from several great churches. Much of what you will be asked to approve is taken (with permission) from the Covenant and Constitution of the Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. We are greatly indebted to them for allowing us to use many ideas from their many years of hard work.

So, how do we pray about this? Easy. "O, God, Thy will be done in this matter just as it is in heaven!" This is not about me, or what I want; it is not about the Committee, or what they want; and, in all honesty, it is not about you and what you want! This must be about what the Lord wants and therefore what is best for His church as we move ahead into the 21st Century, and as we seek to fulfill the Tri-County Vision.

Let me encourage you to study over the materials you have been given, pray for wisdom and clarity about God's will, and then vote your conscience. I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!

The Best Way to Decorate A Church

2009-05-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

We are very fortunate indeed to have so many gifted people who do so much to make our church facility so beautiful! Charlotte Eagan and many others design and display all kinds of decorations that fit each season perfectly and demonstrate a personal care of God's House that honors Him and blesses us.

But, after this past Sunday I have decided that the most beautiful decoration a church can have is the smiling faces of visitors in the services! Now, I am not for one moment overlooking the happy and familiar faces of our many faithful people whose presence (and presents) make our work possible; but, I do want to thank the Lord and those of you who invite family and friends to come to church with you. Over the past few weeks, we have had many of your family and friends in the services!

Last Sunday - between the Ard and Fornshell families and several others who brought family and friends - we had about twenty visitors in the AM service! Of course, some of them are out-of-town family and not prospects for membership in our church; but, several of them do live in the Tri-County area and may very well someday be part of this happy and blessed Church.

Thanks to everyone who takes the time and effort to invite people to our services, and may the Lord lead more and more of us to do the same!

Sunday's Sermon

2009-05-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

While every pastor believes every sermon we preach is important, it is obvious that some sermons have more potential impact on a congregation than others! This Sunday, as the Lord allows, I will be preaching on the subject, "Leadership Matters" as I continue the "Church Matters" series in preparation for our discussion and vote on the proposed new Confession, Covenant, and Constitution.

I am well aware that the words, "Confession of Faith", "Covenant", and "Constitution" make most people's eyes glaze over - BUT, these are really important documents and we are about to make some really important decisions one way or the other. Our Confession is a statement about WHAT WE BELIEVE; our Covenant is a statement of HOW WE BEHAVE; and our Constitution is a set of principles and rules that determine HOW WE DO BUSINESS!

All three of these documents are tools that have a great impact on how we "do church" and how effecitvely we accomplish the mission and ministry to which God has called us. I am asking you to read these documents carefully, pray over them faithfully, vote on them responsibly, and DO NOT MISS THIS SUNDAY'S SERMON!

God bless you! I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!

"Happy?" Mother's Day

2009-05-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

It was an amazing scene last Sunday when our beloved Sister, Vivalee Smith, walked up on the platform at church and asked me to share a few thoughts! Vivalee and her husband, Bob, were in church on this Mother's Day in spite of the fact that their only child, Dr. Bob Smith, MD, had passed away two days before and will be buried tomorrow afternoon.

And there she stood - a mother about to bury her only child - giving testimony to the goodness of God in their lives; and, in the life of her son. She said she wanted to be sure that our people knew something more about Dr. Bob than just the fact that he had died. Many of our people have known them for many, many years; but since he had gone away to college and medical school and then practiced for years in Decatur some our people did not know Dr. Bob very well.

What a moment, what a family, what a faith! God bless and comfort Bob and Vevalee, their daughter-in-law, Cathy, and their two grandsons. Thanks to all who came over to them, laid hands on them, and prayed for them.

Lots to Pray About!

2009-05-08T14:43:00.001-07:00

Beloved Ones,

We have several things going on this week that require our sincere prayers:

1) Bob and Vevalee Smith's son, Dr. Bob Smith, passed away unexpectedly yesterday.

2) Edna Anderson passed away Wednesday.

3) Gayle Lewis is not well and has been in and out of the hospital this week.

4) Max Beals is not well and is hospitalized in Champaign. He may have suffered a light stroke.

George Mueller said, "Prayer can do anything God can do; and God can do anything." Much more importantly, the Apostle James said, (5:15-16) "And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power in its working." (ESV)

Take time today and pray that our merciful Lord will minister grace to these who are hurting and to their families.

Another Revival is past...

2009-05-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

Well, we have had a great week. Tom Marsh prayed, prepared, and preached. Our musicians played, our singers sang, and we gave over $1,600.00 in the love offering! Sunday was a terriffic day and both services were well attended. Monday through Wednesday those who came were truly blessed.

Thank you so very much to everyone who took part and played a part in these services! God bless you. We have heard the Word of God this week... now let us become (more than ever before) doers of the Word.

Remember, Sunday is Mother's Day. I hope to see you in church with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!

Spring Revival is On!

2009-05-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

Our Spring Revival is off to a great start! We had very good attendance in both services yesterday; and the music and preaching were fabulous.

Baptizing Liz Shipman and Cindy Norton was a great way to start the meeting, and I am praying that the Lord will continue to save and add people to our church this week and in the weeks ahead!

Services are this evening through Wednesday at 7pm. I hope to see you there with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and a friend by your side.

Revival Time!

2009-04-27T11:43:00.001-07:00

As hard as it is for me to realize it, May 3rd is NEXT SUNDAY! And, May 3rd is REVIVAL TIME FOR OUR CHURCH! Our Spring Revival begins next Sunday morning and will continue on Sunday Night and Monday through Wednesday evenings. I hope you are planning now to attend every service.

This promises to be a great series of meetings! I have asked Tom Marsh, recently retired Pastor of FBC Casey, Illinois, to be our speaker for these meetings. Tom is one of the best men I have ever known and ANY MAN who completes over twenty years in God-honoring ministry at a single church (as Tom has) deserves to be heard!

I simply asked him to preach what he thinks are the most important five sermons that a church needs to hear. He told me, that the first Sermon would be, "You Must Be Born Again!" AMEN - that is good preaching!

Set aside the dates, set aside a generous love-offering, bring your family and friends. This can be a great week in the life of our church, and I do not want you to miss any of it.

"THE REVELATION" FOR ROOKIES!

2009-04-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

Beginning on Thursday Night, May 14th, and continuing on BOTH Thursday and Sunday Nights, I will be preaching through the Book of Revelation in a series that I have titled: "The Revelation for Rookies!"

This will be a verse-by-verse exposition of the most mysterious of Biblical Books. This study is designed for people who are not experts in Bible Prophecy, but who have a desire to learn more about what God is doing and will do in the future to bring about the fulfillment of the Covenants and promises He has made to His people!

This series of sermons will be simple enough for every Christian to grasp, yet deep enough to grow your faith! I hope you will set aside time for this study, start reading through the Book, and mark your calendars now!

Your family and friends will be more intersted in this study than anything else I could teach! I hope you will bring many of them to these services.

Update: Sherrie Wolfe

2009-04-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

Sherrie is doing much better today, and MAY go home this afternoon! Please be in prayer for her and Joe as she begins the process of recovery at home.

She was very much enjoying pictures of Hudson this morning!

Welcome to the World Hudson Blaine Wolfe!

2009-04-23T04:21:00.000-07:00

Hudson Blaine Wolfe has arrived safely at 8 pounds and 1 ounce! He and his parents, Alicia and Jason Wolfe, are all doing well.

Please be patient with Hudson's grandparents, Joe and Sherrie Wolfe and Jay and Barbara Adrain, they won't have much else to talk about for a while!

Thank the Lord and thanks for praying!

More Good News!

2009-04-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

Sherrie Wolfe came through her surgery very well and is beginning her recovery in DMH. Hopefully, she will be home in a couple of days!

Ralph Hanner is doing much better and was out and about town for awhile today!

Alicia Wolfe was induced this morning. I will let you know when HUDSON arrives on the scene!

Very Good News!

2009-04-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

Dorothy Otto reports that her medical tests reveal that she does NOT have cancer! She asked that I pass on her deep appreciation for all of your prayers for her.

We do not know why God heals one and not another; but all of us who know and love Jesus can rest fully in His promise that He, "is working all things together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purpose." - Rom. 8:28

We rejoice this day with Dorothy and continue to pray for everyone we know with health issues.

As the Lord allows, I will see you in the morning!
Pastor

New Sermon Series - "Church Matters!"

2009-04-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

Since our Constitution Revision Committee has just about completed their work, I am going to take a few weeks away from our verse-by-verse study of The Gospel of Mark to bring five sermons that will explain biblically the changes we will be suggesting in the structure and ministry processes of our church.

The series of five sermons, which will begin next Sunday (4/19) includes: "Understanding the Gospel" - "Membership Matters" - "Leadership Matters" - "Discipleship Matters" - and "Ministry Matters".

Following these sermons, (and our Spring Revival and Mother's Day) I will move back into The Gospel of Mark and hopefully complete the Book by the end of November.

I hope you will listen carefully to each of these messages as I explain why the Committee and I believe that the changes we are suggesting represent a more biblical stucture and approach to ministry than we have under our present Constitution.

God bless you, yours, and all that you hold dear!
Pastor Lanny

New Name, New Purpose!

2009-04-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

Since you are reading this, you have realized that my BLOG has a new name, "P-T Pointers!" "P-T" (of course) stands for, "Pastor-Teacher" which is the Office to which our Church has called me. After struggling for some time about how to best use this tool, I have decided to focus it specifically as a primary tool for communicating news, updates, commentary, my personal reflections, and articles by me and othes that I think will be useful to the members and friends of our Church.

I hope you will bookmark this Blog in your favorites and that you will look at it often to keep up with all the latest about our Church.

God bless you and yours! As the Lord allows, I'll see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and a friend by your side!

Pastor Lanny

Saturday Morning Seminary

2009-03-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

Beginning on April 11th at 10am, our next SMS Course will begin. The Course is "Ecclesiology: 9 Marks of a Healthy Church". This will be a ten-week study of Mark Dever's very helpful book on a biblical understanding of the purposes and structure of the local church.

Classes will be held on the second and fourth Saturday mornings of April, May, June, July, and August. Each class session will begin at 10am and continue through Noon. Cost for the Course is $25.00 per person, or $40.00 per couple (if they share a textbook). To be part of this Course, you must sign up and pay the fee by Tuesday, March 31. Registration forms are available in the Church office.

All members of FBC are encouraged to attend, and non-members are also welcome. If you have any questions, please contact Pastor Lanny.

JOY Groups Update!

2009-03-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

God continues to richly bless our JOY Groups! We now have three groups actively meeting. Over the past few weeks, these Groups are averaging 55 in attendance, and about 20 of those are people who have never attended our church!

God is using these Groups to allow us to share the gospel with several people who have not yet attended our church. Last night in Tuscola, I had the joy of teaching 10 people including 2 "first timers". Three of these dear folk have not yet attended our church.

We are praying that the Lord will raise up several more people in our church who will host and, or, lead one of these Groups. We have a teacher ready for Atwood right now! Please pray that the Lord will burden one of our local families to host a JOY Group very soon. There is a reason we call them "JOY Groups!" Why not get involved and see for yourself?

Where was God?

2009-03-10T06:59:00.000-07:00

During the 8am worship service yesterday at FBC Maryville, a gunman walked into the sanctuary and shot and killed the Senior Pastor, Dr. Fred Winters. Our thoughts and prayers are with Cindy, their two daughters, all of their family and friends, and the members of this great Church.

In light of these horrific events, I want to provide biblical answers to two of the theological questions that are on the hearts and minds of many. I hope you will take the time to look up and read these verses carefully and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you through them.

First, “Where was God?”
1) God is, of course, everywhere present! Psalm 139:7-12
2) God is always present in the midst of His people! Matthew 18:20
3) God was both in and with Fred Winters! John 14:16-17
4) Because God was with Fred Winters yesterday, we also know that Fred Winters is with God today! 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Second, “If God is both all-powerful and completely good, why does He allow things like this to happen?”
1) God is all-powerful! Jeremiah 32:27; Mark 10:27; 14:36
2) God is completely good! Psalm 119:68; James 1:17
3) God is completely sovereign! Psalm 115:3; 133:5-6; 139:16.
4) God is not the author of evil, but He allows the existence of evil in the world to accomplish His greater purposes! Genesis 50:19-20
5) God tells us in His word that these kinds of things are going to happen to His people! John 15:18; 2 Timothy 3:12
6) Fred Winters was a Christian man. He was among those who are described as, “those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) God does not say that all things are good for those who love Him; but, that He is working “all things together for good.”

Please continue in prayer for these beloved ones who are hurting in ways that most of us cannot imagine. Pray that God will be glorified; His people will be edified; and that lost people will be saved as a result of this heart-breaking tragedy.

"Baptizing them..."

2009-03-02T16:58:00.000-08:00

As the Lord allows, we will be baptizing in both of the next two Sunday AM Services! The Lord has blessed us in recent days with several people who have made professions of faith, and ten of them have presented themselves to the church as candidates for baptism. This coming Sunday we are expecting to baptize five or six, and the following Sunday we are expecting to baptize four or five more.

We thank the Lord for His blessings on our church. Please be in prayer for these new believers. Pray that many of their family and friends who come to witness these special events will come to know the Lord during the service!

WOW! (That's the Hebrew word for "I am thrilled at how richly God is blessing us right now!")

2009-02-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

WOW, indeed! Last Wednesday Misty was impressed to take the AWANA teaching time and share her testimony. She emailed many of us for prayer - and we prayed - and God answered. Sixteen young people prayed to accept the Lord at the invitation! (That is a lot of follow-up to do and a lot of potential to touch their family members as well.) Pray that we will be able to have an exciting baptism service for them soon, and that many others will come to know the Lord at that service.

WOW! We are only three weeks into our "Tearing Down the Wall of Debt" Campaign, and God has already moved on our hearts to give over $13,000.00 toward the goal of being debt free by 12-27-2009.

Last Sunday, we gave over $4,500.00 in the general offering; $830.00 in a special love offering for a family with an immediate need; $850.00 for VBS through the dessert auction; and, we gave $2,900.00 to "Tearing Down the Wall of Debt!" If your are counting... and I bet you are... that is $9,080.00 on a 3rd Sunday. WOW!

It was great to have so many of you and so many visitors with us for worship; especially to have a dear family back with us for the first time in a while! I am not absolutely sure, but I think we had about as many people last Sunday in worship as we had last Easter... (Yup, you guessed it) WOW!

Please pray for God's richest blessings to be continually poured out upon us. God continues to bless us with his "anointing presence!" I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL SUNDAY! WOW!

We're Tearing Down the Wall of Debt!

2009-01-31T19:26:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow morning, Sunday, February 1st, we are kicking off a forty-eight week campaign to pay off our building debt! As of December 31, 2008, our balance was about $143,000.00. During 2009, our regular mortage payments will reduce that amount by $48,000.00, leaving a balance of $95,000.00.

The "Tearing Down the Wall of Debt" Campaign asks every actively attending family in our church to sacrifice each week by giving additional funds over and above our regular giving and designating that money to pay off the debt several years early. Over the next forty-eight weeks, our seventy active families only have to average $28.27 per week each to pay off this debt by the TARGET DATE OF DECEMBER 27, 2009! Some will be able to give more than this and some will give less - but if everyone gives what they can, this God-glorifying Goal will be met.

As I write this note, we are thirteen hours away from our first offering, and we already have received $4,000.00 toward this goal! We will have a display of 95 bricks on the altar of the church representing $1,000.00 of debt for each brick. Each week, we will remove the number of bricks that represent the amount of money that has come in to that date. Tomorrow morning, we will already be able to remove four of the bricks!

Lin and I have decided on a sacrifical amount to give toward this exciting goal and our first check will be in the offering tomorrow! I hope you will join with us in this church-wide effort to glorify God by paying off this debt!

A godly man in our church commented to me last week, "It is just like God to lead us to do this in the most financially difficult year since 1929." Yes, God's timing is always right on time! Beloved ones, we are going to sacrifice together, honor God together, save lots of interest by doing this together; and, BEST OF ALL - WE ARE GOING TO WITNESS AND CELEBRATE A MIRACLE!

Becoming a fully-devoted follower of Jesus Christ!

2009-01-19T18:03:00.000-08:00

The Purpose Statement of our church is, "Becoming and Bringing Others to be Fully-devoted Followers of Jesus Christ!" This is not an original statement, but I believe it is one that clearly states the two-fold goal of the Christian life: we are to become fully-devoted Christ-followers; and, we are to bring others to know Him and to become His fully-devoted followers as well. Obviously, we cannot undertake the latter until we have accomplished the former!

I have been working for the past two years to come up with an effective and yet simple process to enable us accomplish these bibilcal goals. Next Sunday morning, January 25, 2009, I will unveil to our church a three-part process to accomplish this.

Beginning at 4:45pm on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month, I will lead a one-hour class designed to move us toward this goal of spiritual maturity. These classes will cover three practical levels of spiritual maturity:
(1) The "Discovery" Series will consist of six classes designed for newer believers and newer church members; as well as others who desire to study again the basics of Christianity and Church life.
(2) The "Foundations" Series will also be six weeks in length and will cover the basic doctrinal truths taught in the Bible.
(3) The "Journey" Series will feature six classes designed for Christians who desire to begin or continue the process of spiritual growth in their personal Christian walk.

Some of these subjects were taught last year during the "Thursday Nights Together" classes. Therefore, not everyone will need to attend every class. Many of these classes will feature new material, so I want to encourage you to sign up for as many of these classes as your schedule will allow. Sign-up sheets are available now in the foyer for the first class, "Discovering Jesus" which will begin on Sunday, February 8th. Everyone is welcome to attend, but especially those who have come to know the Lord, or have joined our church within the past year should attend.

God bless you. I hope to see you Sunday morning with a Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and a friend by your side!

January Bible Study!

2008-12-31T10:13:00.000-08:00

Each year January Bible Study is an exciting and profitable time for us. This year, the Study Book is "Exodus". I have entitled our study, "Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb!"

Pastor Glenn Baker of the Hammond and Lovington churches will share teaching duties with me. We will meet at Atwood on January 4th and 18th at 6pm; and, we will meet at either Hammond or Lovington Church on January 11th and 25th. All studies will begin at 6pm and close at 7:30pm. We will have a break time with snacks provided at the mid-point of each evening's session.

Let me encourage you to start reading through "Exodus" now! I look forward to sharing this time with you and our brothers and sisters from the Hammond and Lovington churches!

The Tri-County Vision

2008-11-29T16:40:00.000-08:00

Our beloved town, Atwood, Illinois, is located at the intersection of three Central Illinois Counties: Douglas, Moultrie, and Piatt! Therefore, our "Regional Church Growth Strategy" for reaching the 20,000 + people who live in and around the twenty communities located within an approximately twenty mile radius of our church is called, "The Tri-County Vision!"

These twenty communities include: Arcola, Arthur, Atwood, Bement, Bourbon, Camargo, Cerro Gordo, Chesterille, Garrett, Hammond, Ivesdale, LaPlace, Lovington, Milmine, Monticello, Newman, Pesotum, Pierson, Tuscola, and Villa Grove!

Our primary strategy is to plant reproducing evangelism and discipleship Home Bible Studies that we call, "JOY Groups" in each of these towns. We presently have one very successful JOY Group up and running with another one kicking off in January.

Our beautiful facilities provide us with space for over 350 in our worship services and we have education space that is adequate for about 250. As the Lord blesses our efforts to reach new people with the gospel and continues to add new people to our church, we will provide training to the leaders of other churches who would like to implement this type of strategy in their church.

The "Tri-County Vision" is off to a good start! Why don't you come next Sunday (a little before 10:00am) and see for yourself what God is doing at our church?

Welcome to the P-T Pointers Blog!

2008-11-22T19:14:00.000-08:00

Grace to you and thanks for taking time to check out our blog! The purpose of this blog is to provide an effective means of providing information and facilitating two-way communication with the members and friends of First Baptist Church, Atwood, Illinos!

The rules are simple:
(1) No personal attacks.
(2) No inappropriate language.
(3) No anonymous postings.
(4) Be brief.

I hope you will check out this site often and join in the conversation with your questions and comments!