Up on the Mountain

Not too many weeks ago, we got to spend a couple of days in the mountains. These pictures were taken on our way up to Klingman's Dome in the Smokey Mtn. Natl. Park. It does me good to get away, go out into nature & enjoy God's creation. I always seem to leave better for it. I am refreshed. Energized. Stirred in my thoughts about God. I get a sense of the bigness of the Creator.

Funny thing though. I don't live on the mountain. On the long drive up to the top, we did not pass one house. There were many visitors from all over the country there that, but at the end of the day they were all going to come back down. Do you see what I see? We are not meant to live on the mountain, not at the top. We can go & ought to go as often as we can. We must always come back down to get back about living our lives. We come to the top to see God. But we go back down to serve God. Some try to live an isolated, hermits life away from people & supposedly serving God but strangely never seeking others for Him. He commanded us to go. The command is definitely to go after them, but it also has an element of leaving Him at the top of the mountain.

Moses had to come down. Joshua came down. Peter, James & John came down. Let's go to the mountain of the Lord & get what we need. Then let's come down ready to seek the souls of men, women, boys & girls. Then let's teach them & take them back up the mountain with us. God bless.

Happy New Year

Wow! 2009 breezed by & we find ourselves at the lip of a new year. 2010. No doubt this is a year full of possibility & even some adventure. Those of you that prefer the quiet life, hang on because the noisy, troublesome life will find you hiding under the covers. Life happens & it will happen to you.

Oh, I'm not a pessimist that says this next year is going to be bad. But I would say that some bad things will weasel their way into our lives. Look though, this may not all be as awful as it might seem at first. Tough situations give us an opportunity to see God's hand at work in the very fabric of our day to day life. You may be surprised by the strength with which you handle some difficult problems. Take heart, our heavenly Father is watching, concerned & ready to intervene on your behalf. He can open the storehouse of Heaven & bestow grace, strength, discernment & the much needed virtue of patience.

Ask & ask again when your back is pinned to the floor of life. When you have painted yourself into the corner with no way out - look to the One who has an ear to hear. Jer. 33:3 is still one of my favorite verses, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." If you are ever in trouble, I hope you would seek me out. You ought to also know that sometimes I am out of reach. The Lord Jesus Christ is near every moment, of every day & is waiting for you to turn to Him. May the Lord bless & keep you in 2010.

Christmas Travel

During our Christmas travel back home to Indiana, we were able to see family & two different churches. On Sunday, I was able to give an up date of our work to the Dupont Baptist Church during their SS. (Dupont is my sending church.) We left & caught the morning service at the Harvest Baptist Church in North Vernon. This is the first church that we started. Pastor Hadley is the man that took the work when we made plans to start another church. They have bought new seating and have also dressed up the platform area. Things looked nice and it was good to see many new faces there.

On our way north, I realized that I'd forgotten my suit and then the boys couldn't find some of their Sunday duds either. Most everything I have on in this picture is borrowed. Life with the Jones family, never a dull moment.

Thanksgiving at Heritage Baptist

We recently enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner at Heritage. Great food is always a highlight: deep fried turkey, dressing, deviled eggs, fried okra, broccili cass. and much more... The midweek service before Thanksgiving Day is a special for us each year. I had a short message and then sat down in front of the congregation & it was their turn. We worked ouor way through the crwod & each person had the chance to share what they were thankful for this last year. Even some who are typically quiet got involved.

A common theme was that someone had a problem, struggle or tradegy & they could see how God was there for them. They also were thankful for how God used the people in the church to help meet many of those needs. The Lord showed me again something that I probably knew but needed to be reminded of again. People remember what you do more than what you say. Not one person mentioned a particular message I had preached. (A great blow to my ego. haha) I told our people all of that & that we need to continue to rise to the occasion as we face a new year ahead of us.

What Will the Gospel Do?
This picture was taken on the first night of our revival a few weeks ago. Pastor Dan Boatman is on the left & one of our men, Tommy Thrower is on the right. Bro. Dan preached a powerful message on Faith. Both of these fellows have been friends for several years. I thought it was funny to see them both in their team gear. The gospel can make bitter enemies the best of friends!

Fall Revival at Heritage

What a great revival meeting we had this last week at Heritage Baptist Church. Pastor Dave Noffsinger was there with his wife Jane for 3 of the 4 nights. He preached some powerful messages and she sang a couple of songs each evening. Wonderful is all I can say. We had 1 young man saved, another person got assurance of their salvation. Others renewed commitments to walk closer to Christ, be a better witness, begin to tithe, greater faithfulness to church, on & on the list goes... Our people were stirred by the Lord.

Yesterday we had the largest attendance we've ever had on a Sunday Night! 45 people, many of those were 1st time visitors. Pray for the work of God here in Opelika, AL.

Things Are Heating Up

Things are heating up here in the South. Yes, I know it's Fall, but you have to know this is football country down here. We live in a football crazy state and we certainly have a deal deal of fun with it all. Alabama is our team of choice! Roll Tide! They look like they are headed to a showdown with Florida in the SEC Championship game the first Sat. in Dec. It could be a war.

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Things are heating up at the church & we have seen some excitement. We have had visitors almost every week for the last 6-7 weeks and had 2 saved. Pray these that trusted Christ recently, a young man & woman. May the Lord help us with their Christian growth. The second week of Nov. we have our Fall Revival with Dave Noffsinger & Dan Boatman. I'm looking for a refreshing from the Lord those 4 days.