A Faith Full Marriage

Posted on April 18, 2012 | Leave a comment

Friday and Saturday, from 11am to 8pm, we will be set up at the Utah Valley Women’s Expo. In addition to conducting a drawing for a gift basket, we will be giving away free copies of A Faith Full Marriage by Paul Chappell. In a day when attempts are constantly made to marginalize marriage, we are excited to provide this great resource that upholds God’s original plan! “No matter what the condition of your marriage, this book will give you biblical advice and practical help in weaving faith into your relationship.” Be sure to stop by our booth and pick up your copy!

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Posted in My Bookshelf

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Step Away from the To-Do List

Posted on April 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

I have learned firsthand that in ministry there is always something more to be done: another street of doors to knock, another message to study for, another visit to make, another piece of literature to design. You can always be doing something. I have also learned that it is important to step away from your list of tasks, close your calendar, and reflect not on what there is to do but on what God has already done. As I look back over the past couple of weeks, God has certainly blessed us on all fronts.

I received our financial statement several days ago and was pleased to see that March was the strongest month we have had in a while–with six new givers! I cannot express my appreciation enough to those who support our ministry in such a way.

Over the past two Sundays, including Easter, we have had five first-time guests at our services! I’m particularly excited that these guests were people we had spent time with before and will have opportunity to spend time with again outside of church.

This past week was encouraging as we hosted visitors from North Carolina. John and Allison Sinkhorn, from Immanuel FWB Church in Winterville, and Bryant and Maggie Rouse from Emmanuel FWB Church in La Grange, were a huge help. While they were here we took church invitations to just over 500 houses. I later got a phone call from someone who had received one and wanted to know more about New Morning Church!

Finally, Grayson played guitar in our service for the first time yesterday. We have been looking forward to this for months! Her guitar instructor even came to accompany her and stayed for the whole service.

God certainly has been good! Have you stopped lately to thank Him for what He’s done in your life or ministry?

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Sermon Summary (April 8, 2012)

Posted on April 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

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Sermon Summary (April 1, 2012)

Posted on April 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

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Going Out of His Way

Posted on March 31, 2012 | Leave a comment

Sunday after church Grayson and I headed to Las Vegas, Nevada where we would attend the regional Striving Together Conference at Southern Hills Baptist Church. Since neither of us had been to Vegas before, we were arriving a day early so as to take in some of the sights. We had dinner at Hash House a go go, walked up and down the Strip, saw the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop from Pawn Stars, and rode the zip line downtown.

The conference started Monday evening. Dr. Paul Chappell of Lancaster Baptist Church in Lancaster, California and Dr. R.B. Ouellette of First Baptist Church in Saginaw, Michigan each preached and conducted sessions during the two day meeting.

That first night, Dr. Ouelette spoke from Matthew 15:21-29. This is a baffling passage in that Jesus’ behavior seems uncharacteristic of what we see elsewhere in the Gospels. To be blunt, He appears rude bordering on mean. Dr. Ouellette shared five truths from this passage that really helped put it in perspective:

  1. Jesus wants us to be persistent with Him.
  2. We worship Jesus because of who He is, not because of what He gives us.
  3. We must accept Jesus view of us.
  4. We don’t need a place at the table, we just need a crumb.
  5. Even when it seems Jesus isn’t helping us, He may have gone out of His way to do so.

The fifth point really jumped out at me. This is the only recorded account of Jesus’ going into “the coasts of Tyre and Sidon” (v. 21). And even though He seems to deal roughly with this Canaanite woman, immediately after healing her daughter, “Jesus departed from thence” (v. 29). It’s as if that was the only reason Jesus made this journey.

How often do we as Christians assume God isn’t going to answer our prayer or come to our aid and thus stop praying and perusing Him? He may very well be orchestrating the circumstances and events in our lives in ways we can’t comprehend so as to help us in our time of need. Just because we don’t see anything happening, doesn’t mean God is not at work. What a powerful and timely reminder as we minister here in Provo!

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Sermon Summary (March 25, 2012)

Posted on March 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

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Saved by Grace

Posted on March 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

Grayson and I greatly appreciate everyone who made an effort to come out and support us on February 26 at Faith FWB Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina. If you were unable to attend, the entirety of that service, including the special music, our video presentation, and my message “Saved by Grace”, may now be viewed here.

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Posted in My Day

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