Wow! Let me say that again, and backwards if I may, WOW! We had an amazing service Sunday morning. I met Buddy Mullins in June of 1989. He was traveling in ministry with his family and my family had just started traveling together in evangelism. Buddy's family held an annual Jubilee at their home church in Hillsville Virginia. We went and they let us sing. That began a long friendship. Although we lost touch with each other for almost 15 years, it was great seeing he and his family again.
Some of you may remember Buddy from his time with Bill Gaither and the Gaither Vocal Band. He was the lead singer after Michael English. Buddy has been and continues to be on many of the Gaither Videos.
Anyway, if you missed Sunday you missed a blessing and treat. God was all over HGBC, and it was a very refreshing and encouraging time. Many of you were greatly blessed by Kerri's testimony of dealing with cancer. What an awesome God we serve!!!
Many have already commented that we should have Buddy back again very soon. Just to let you know, it is already in the works. Don't miss out. And for that matter, it's never the same when you aren't here. You are a part of this family and we need you.
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Thursday/Friday WC 07
What a week it has been. Naomi Evans' house was completed yesterday (Thursday) by lunch. We were then assigned the task of painting classrooms at SHS. We painted one completely, except for a few minutes of trim work, and taped off 3 more rooms. It was a great day.
Thursday night was amazing. We had a powerful service and invitation time. I truly believe God is working in our students and the others here also. It has been a privilege being here. I would encourage anyone who is able to to come next year and see for yourself what God can do during a week like this.
This morning, the last work day of the week, got off to a great start. Although there was a little hick up on sight with some other crews, we were able to complete the other 3 rooms we had taped off. The crew did an excellent job; I am so proud of them. "Job well done!" After we completed our assignment at SHS, we took our crew and went back to Ms. Evans house to present here with a WC bible, crew picture, t-shirt, and a poster the crew signed. She was so grateful, it was a very humbling experience. I thank God that He allowed us to meet and help her. I pray that God will use what we did here to draw her friends and neighbors to Himself.
Supper is in an hour. We are having our last meeting tonight at 6:45, then worship, then celebration time, and then our final crew meeting to say goodbye, exchange info etc... It will be a happy/sad time. Then it's up at 5:45 AM again, load up and hit the road by 6:30 AM. We should be back in GCS by 4:30 PM or so. I can't wait to see Morgan and Melissa.
We are going to have an amazing service Sunday morning at HGBC. Buddy Mullins, longtime friend and formerly lead singer of the Gaither Vocal Band, will be singing in the AM service. Bring a friend or twelve and enjoy a blessing. Until next time:
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
Thursday night was amazing. We had a powerful service and invitation time. I truly believe God is working in our students and the others here also. It has been a privilege being here. I would encourage anyone who is able to to come next year and see for yourself what God can do during a week like this.
This morning, the last work day of the week, got off to a great start. Although there was a little hick up on sight with some other crews, we were able to complete the other 3 rooms we had taped off. The crew did an excellent job; I am so proud of them. "Job well done!" After we completed our assignment at SHS, we took our crew and went back to Ms. Evans house to present here with a WC bible, crew picture, t-shirt, and a poster the crew signed. She was so grateful, it was a very humbling experience. I thank God that He allowed us to meet and help her. I pray that God will use what we did here to draw her friends and neighbors to Himself.
Supper is in an hour. We are having our last meeting tonight at 6:45, then worship, then celebration time, and then our final crew meeting to say goodbye, exchange info etc... It will be a happy/sad time. Then it's up at 5:45 AM again, load up and hit the road by 6:30 AM. We should be back in GCS by 4:30 PM or so. I can't wait to see Morgan and Melissa.
We are going to have an amazing service Sunday morning at HGBC. Buddy Mullins, longtime friend and formerly lead singer of the Gaither Vocal Band, will be singing in the AM service. Bring a friend or twelve and enjoy a blessing. Until next time:
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Wednesday WC 07
Today was another good day at World Changers Durham. All the crews worked until lunch, and then we had the rest of the day off. Our group went to South Point Mall and walked around for a little while, then we went to my sister Mia's house and hung out there. After that we went to Golden Corral and gorged ourselves on the buffet, good food. When we were through eating we went to my sister's church, New Horizon Church; she and her husband Greg lead worship there. We hung out in their youth room shooting pool, playing air hockey and fooseball, and an assortment of video games. We had a great time.
We are back at Southern High School now. It's about bed time. We have two more full days of work ahead of us and then it's back to good ol' Green Cove Springs. My crew will finish up our original assignment tomorrow morning and then we will be coming back to the school to do some painting in the classrooms, PR work for World Changers and the school. It will be nice working in the AC for the next two days.
It has been a great honor to work on the home of Naomi Evans. She is a precious 91 year old woman who loves Jesus. We have seen her community and neighbors open up to us this week. The last two days at lunch they brought snacks over for us to eat. One or two of the kids have come over and eaten with us. The bibles says that "Jesus always attracts children." And our goal this week has been to "Let Jesus live all over again!" Try it some time. You just might like it.
I hope you are blessed as your read these babbling's of one preacher. I pray you are encouraged and strengthened.
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
We are back at Southern High School now. It's about bed time. We have two more full days of work ahead of us and then it's back to good ol' Green Cove Springs. My crew will finish up our original assignment tomorrow morning and then we will be coming back to the school to do some painting in the classrooms, PR work for World Changers and the school. It will be nice working in the AC for the next two days.
It has been a great honor to work on the home of Naomi Evans. She is a precious 91 year old woman who loves Jesus. We have seen her community and neighbors open up to us this week. The last two days at lunch they brought snacks over for us to eat. One or two of the kids have come over and eaten with us. The bibles says that "Jesus always attracts children." And our goal this week has been to "Let Jesus live all over again!" Try it some time. You just might like it.
I hope you are blessed as your read these babbling's of one preacher. I pray you are encouraged and strengthened.
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Tuesday WC 07
Today has been a long but great day. Some of our youth are doing amazing things like leading bible study for their crew each day and working very hard. I am very proud of them, and I want you to know that they are representing Christ and HGBC exceptionally well. Pray for them and us "old" people too. We miss you at home. "God bless us every one."
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
Monday in Durham
Today has been a good day. I have heard, only, good reports of the beginning of the weeks work. Flexibility was definitely put into practice today. Most of the work sites didn't have materials for work this morning.
My crew started the day with prayer. We prayed that Mrs. Evans' neighbors would see Christ in us this week. Then we went to work. We had to take down the gutters first thing. The next task was to scrape the old paint off her house so we could paint. The materials needed for this part of the job are scrapers and plastic. We had the scrapers but we didn't have the plastic, so we couldn't get started right away. So I organized an on the spot prayer walk. We divided the group in two and started walking and praying. When the group returned still no plastic. There is another job site about a block away so I sent several from my crew to beg/borrow some plastic so we could work. God provided plastic, some from the work site down the street and some from HGBC. I found plastic in the materials you supplied (I told you God was good!!). So we got to work scraping. About 11 AM the rest of the plastic was delivered to the site. We got half way through with the scraping and it was time to head back to SHS. We should finish scraping tomorrow and then paint Wednesday and Thursday.
Tonight's supper was very good, NC BBQ. Jeth was even pleased with it. I was so relieved (LOL). Worship was great also. God is moving and I can't wait to see what He does, how He does it, and who He does it to and through. It may even be you. (Pray!)
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
My crew started the day with prayer. We prayed that Mrs. Evans' neighbors would see Christ in us this week. Then we went to work. We had to take down the gutters first thing. The next task was to scrape the old paint off her house so we could paint. The materials needed for this part of the job are scrapers and plastic. We had the scrapers but we didn't have the plastic, so we couldn't get started right away. So I organized an on the spot prayer walk. We divided the group in two and started walking and praying. When the group returned still no plastic. There is another job site about a block away so I sent several from my crew to beg/borrow some plastic so we could work. God provided plastic, some from the work site down the street and some from HGBC. I found plastic in the materials you supplied (I told you God was good!!). So we got to work scraping. About 11 AM the rest of the plastic was delivered to the site. We got half way through with the scraping and it was time to head back to SHS. We should finish scraping tomorrow and then paint Wednesday and Thursday.
Tonight's supper was very good, NC BBQ. Jeth was even pleased with it. I was so relieved (LOL). Worship was great also. God is moving and I can't wait to see what He does, how He does it, and who He does it to and through. It may even be you. (Pray!)
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
Sunday, July 08, 2007
World Changers 07
Well it is Sunday afternoon in Durham, NC. We arrived safely yesterday and had an uneventful evening, meaning no tragedy's, etc... We had several meetings and a worship service. (There are 336 people here this week serving others in the Durham area. What a privilege it is to "allow Jesus to live all over again this week."
We got up about 6 AM this morning, got ready for church and had breakfast. We had one big group photo at 8:45 and then each church had a picture taken. We met our "crew members" for the week. At World Changers they separate youth groups to "stretch" them and help them to learn to adapt to different situations, which is a hard but good thing for teenagers. We went to church this morning with our crews. It was a good experience and a time for us to get to know each other before we start working in the morning. We went to the church who is sponsoring our crew for the week. This basically means that they are providing us with lunch every day. They had lunch for us today, and it was good!!! Can't wait to see what the rest of the week has in store.
After lunch each crew went to its job site to check things out. My crew is working on Naomi Evans house this week. (We are working through the Durham Housing Authority.) The materials we need aren't there yet, but I know God will pr0vide all we need to get the job done; that's just the kind of God He is. You ought to get to know Him, it could change your life. We finished there and are now back at Southern High School in Durham. There are several meetings today followed by supper and worship, and then it's off to bed, the day starts at 5:30 AM and we leave for work by 7 AM. Pray for us, not many here are already on that schedule. Pray that God will teach us "flexibility."
Until next time:
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
We got up about 6 AM this morning, got ready for church and had breakfast. We had one big group photo at 8:45 and then each church had a picture taken. We met our "crew members" for the week. At World Changers they separate youth groups to "stretch" them and help them to learn to adapt to different situations, which is a hard but good thing for teenagers. We went to church this morning with our crews. It was a good experience and a time for us to get to know each other before we start working in the morning. We went to the church who is sponsoring our crew for the week. This basically means that they are providing us with lunch every day. They had lunch for us today, and it was good!!! Can't wait to see what the rest of the week has in store.
After lunch each crew went to its job site to check things out. My crew is working on Naomi Evans house this week. (We are working through the Durham Housing Authority.) The materials we need aren't there yet, but I know God will pr0vide all we need to get the job done; that's just the kind of God He is. You ought to get to know Him, it could change your life. We finished there and are now back at Southern High School in Durham. There are several meetings today followed by supper and worship, and then it's off to bed, the day starts at 5:30 AM and we leave for work by 7 AM. Pray for us, not many here are already on that schedule. Pray that God will teach us "flexibility."
Until next time:
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
VBS 2007
Well Vacation Bible School has come and gone here at HGBC, but what a great VBS it was. We had kids comin' out our ears, and God blessed beyond measure. First of all we had record attendance each night. On Sunday night we had 80 kids and over 50 workers. Each night after only saw an increase in the attendance of the kids, to the point that on Thursday night we saw 120 kids come through the doors. We had to average over 110 kids for the week, doubling our attendance from a year ago. "And all God's children said 'Amen'!"
But that is not the greatest event of the week. The family night on Friday was a huge success. Most of the kids came back and brought their families with them. They sang great and we laughed, ate and just had a wonderful time. There were some amazing prizes given away: tickets the Jacksonville Suns baseball games, tickets to Adventure Landing, etc... (Karen Brown did an amazing job of getting the prizes together and organizing VBS this year. Thanks Karen for a job well done.)
But Friday night was not the greatest event of the week, it wasn't recreation, music time, craft time, or snack time. The greatest thing that happened during VBS last week was 10 precious kids prayed to receive Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. "And all God children said, 'Amen'!" What a privilege it was for me to be able to present the Gospel to the kids from each class and see them respond to the invitation of eternal life through Christ Jesus.
I would ask that you pray for these kids, we will be going into their homes this Thursday night to talk with them and their families about this decision and about baptism. Pray that God would guide these conversations and that Jesus Christ would be exalted beyond measure. God bless you.
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
Rom. 5:8
But that is not the greatest event of the week. The family night on Friday was a huge success. Most of the kids came back and brought their families with them. They sang great and we laughed, ate and just had a wonderful time. There were some amazing prizes given away: tickets the Jacksonville Suns baseball games, tickets to Adventure Landing, etc... (Karen Brown did an amazing job of getting the prizes together and organizing VBS this year. Thanks Karen for a job well done.)
But Friday night was not the greatest event of the week, it wasn't recreation, music time, craft time, or snack time. The greatest thing that happened during VBS last week was 10 precious kids prayed to receive Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. "And all God children said, 'Amen'!" What a privilege it was for me to be able to present the Gospel to the kids from each class and see them respond to the invitation of eternal life through Christ Jesus.
I would ask that you pray for these kids, we will be going into their homes this Thursday night to talk with them and their families about this decision and about baptism. Pray that God would guide these conversations and that Jesus Christ would be exalted beyond measure. God bless you.
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
Rom. 5:8
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
