Family Church Beach Trip!

It's Wednesday afternoon and everyone is having a BLAST!!! A little oil showed up this morning on the shores but Family Church isn't allowing that to stop us from having fun and connecting with each other! This afternoon we are having some family games with teens and parents! This outta be interesting because we have some very competitive families!

Chillin in the condo with the girls so momma could go down to the beach and catch some sun! You know your at the beach when your 3 year old wakes you up in the middle of the night saying, "Daddy, there is a seagull in my bed!". Fun!

Family Church Trip Fun!

So after church Sunday we grabbed a quick bite to go and we were off to the races! The Collies caravaned with us since we all have young children (which means we stop alot). We arrived and ate at the "Barrel" then unloaded at the condo. The lady folks went off to Wal-Mart to do the grocery shopping and us boys watched the kids and tried to find the local Outdoor Channel.

Yesterday families got settled and chilled at the beach. Families arrived most parts of the day and just got settled. We had the Calhoun's over last night for a killer supper then a card game afterwards.

Today we have hung out again at the beach and played some volleyball. My kids are loving the beach and my wife is "Super Woman" taking care of all the so many things that moms take care over. Thank you Jodi!

I love my Family Church Family!

Orangeology

Jodi and I are in Atlanta, Georgia at the 2010 Orange Conference with about 4, 000 other Pastors, Youth Pastors, Family Pastors, Etc. What happens when you blend Family (yellow) and Church (Red)? You get Orange! Enjoying some great speakers like Doug Fields, Mark Batterson, "Rev. Run" (the Old Run DMC), and others! Just got through putting down some PF Changs and topping it off with a Starbucks coffee!

Haman in tha House!

We had some cajun style preachin up here in northeast la these past few days. Pastor Mike Haman of Healing Place Church shared with the students of C.C.S. during a spiritual emphasis week!

Last night we packed the house in E3 Student Ministry as Mike brought a strong word on forgiveness. We were all certainly blessed by the ministry of Mike Haman and were privilidged that he made time for us this week!

Thanks Mike!

Spring Fling!

Even with baseball season in full-swing we have over 70 students and families show up at the Lewis home this past Saturday. Instead of having parents drop their teens off we encouraged them to stay! We desire to help bring families together! The Lewis' are such great hostesses! It was a great afternoon!

White in my yard!

I woke up last Friday morning and thought I had awaken in Saschatchawan! Friday's are my days off so I enjoyed it with the family! Here are a few pics!

Through His Eyes

My wife Jodi and friend Alicia Hinton have a blog entitled, "Through His Eyes", that you can view by going to www.ajimages.blogspot.com

These two girls are super talented, creative, and take FANTASTIC pictures!

Check it out!

Beck

Around midnight

In Acts 16 we read that Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison. What led up to their imprisonment was Paul casting a demon out of a slave girl that was a fortune-teller who earned a lot of money for her masters. So in verse 24 we read that the jailer had Paul and Silas put into the inner dungeon where their feet were clamped into the stocks. Simply put, these boys were in a dark situation and weren't going anywhere! Now these guys weren't in prison because of some foolish decision they had made. No, they were here for advancing the Kingdom of God and coming against darkness! They were here by doing good to a young woman who was possesed by the enemy of her soul!

What amazes me is verse 25 which says, "Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening." There are a few things that really stand out to me.

#1 It was around midnight.
-It was dark and they were in no situation that any of us (at least our flesh)would want to be in.

#2 They prayed.
-Even though they were in a dark situation they believed God. They stood fast and trusted in the one that could/would deliver them.

#3 They sang hymns.
-They could have mumbled and complained but instead-they sang!

#4 The other prisoners were listening!
-The other prisoners were listening to what the men of God would say. Would they hear them doubting the God they said they believed in or would they hear the voice of faith and praise?

You may find yourself in a "midnight" time, hour, or place in your life. I would encourage you to let their be a song of praise on your heart and lips! I would encourage you to stay on your knees praying and believing! Lastly, there are people around you watching and listening to how you will respond to the dark hour in your life! What will they hear? What will they see!

Oh yea, by the way God showed up and delivered Paul and Silas!

Renovations, Additions, and Services in the Gym!

Below are some pictures of the renovations taking place across the street in our old santuary. It will be completely renovated/remodeled along with additional seating, lobby area, etc.

This past Sunday was our second service in the gym that was totally transformed so we could hold services there for the next 7-8 months! People were blown away at how well it looked! We have had two of our largest attendances the past year just in these past two weeks in the gym! We are having to order an additional 100 chairs! Praise the Lord!

Generations Underway!

It's been almost two years now since that "First Fruits" Sunday where over $600,000 was recieved to begin a two year "Generations Building Campaign". Two years later, this Sunday, will be our last Sunday service in our existing Sanctuary! A week from now we will begin our complete renovation of our parking lot, sanctuary, and many other things. I'm sitting here in my office and can hear the construction taking place in the gym now, that will be our temporary worship center for the next 8 months or so while construction is going on across the street. I am so excited about the future of Family Church! We praise God for the giving that has continued the past two years to get us where we are today. Praise God for people's willingness to hear God and to continue to be faithful until we see this take place!

For video footage go to www.familychurch.org, click on "church information, and there you will see "Generations".

Pray for us as we enter this new phase at Family Church!

Celebrating Ten Years of Scrooge

Family Church's big gift to the community each year is the presentation of the "Gospel According to Scrooge". This takes months of planning, LOTS of money, sacrifice, and dedication from the people. We invite the community, free of charge, to come view this powerful presentation for two weeks here at 320 Laird Street. This year we had over 8,000 attendees come and view how the life-changing power of Christ can transform a person! We have already had so many wonderful testimonies from people within the community that was touched through "Scrooge".

Thanks Arvil and Cheryl for doing such a great job leading this each year!

Scrooge!

I'm sitting here in my office waiting to walk across the street for the second night of "The Gospel According to Scrooge". If you haven't seen this yet then you need to go to www.familychurch.org and get your tickets! General Admission is free and Reserved Seating is only $10.00! Invite family, a friend, a co-worker and come hear the life-changing message of Christ!

Youth Deer Hunt

We had three of our youth and the chariman of our deacon board come out to the house this past Saturday for a deer hunt. Richard Richardson Jr. took Taylor Moore on his very first deer hunt ever. Richard and Taylor saw a total of seven deer (two bucks) but couldn't quite pin one down. I took Danny and Kyle Phillips with me to two of my other stands. Kyle saw a doe about 30 yards off but got by him. Danny's time came with only about ten more minutes until we had to get down to head to the house for a big breakfast. Danny took a shot at a spike that was about 100 yards away at about 9:15 A.M. We went down and saw no sign of blood. We met up with the other boys and headed to the house for a big breakfast Jodi had prepared. Bacon, biscuits, sausage, eggs, cheese grits, orange juice, coffee, and I'm making my self hungry all over again! We broke bread and read out of James chapter 1 about how we deal with difficult times in our lives. We all saddled back up and headed to the woods in search for Danny's deer. When all hope seemed to be lost we came across the young buck and the smile on Danny's face was priceless! It was a great morning for a group of young men!

The Whole Armor of God

We had our "Family Nite" this past Tuesday. "Family Nite" is our time each week where my family comes together to pray, worship, and study God's word. This past week we read out of Ephesians 6:10-17. We talked about putting on the full armor of God. I was able to get a hold of some toy armor. We had fun explaining each piece of armor to Gracen as she put them on (the breastplate of righteousness is a bit too big as you will see!). I'm sitting here explaing to my daughter about the armor she will one day need to put on herself to fight the enemy of her soul. There is something very special and very powerful that takes place when we gather together with our family to worship God in our homes.

God, help us raise a family that will pass the faith on for 1,000 generations to come.

Fall Fun!

From now until the end of December is by far my favorite time of the year! Cooler weather, change of colors, Thanksgiving, Christmas, DEER HUNTING! It just doesn't get any better than this! This past weekend was opening weekend of hunting season so it was off to the woods (as if I haven't been spending time there). Loved watching the four-legged creatures but am still waiting for the granddaddy of em all!

Saturday night we loaded up to head to 320 Laird Street for some Fall Festivities! Good thing I already had my costume on! Gracen dressed up like a bee and Addelyn a little duck. I had to eat fifty bowls of gumbo to get filled and Gracen went through the giant jumper a hundred times! Loved it! Claiborne Christian did a great job putting it on!

28 Reasons Why I Love My Wife

Today my wife Jodi turns 28 years old! So I thought I'd list 28 reasons why I love her.

1. She is in love with God!
2. She hears the voice of God. (scary sometimes!)
3. She is a wonderful mother!
4. She takes great care of our home!
5. She takes great care of me!
6. She is a wonderful friend to so many people!
7. She is wise!
8. She is absolutely beautiful!
9. She is a "country gal".
10. She is an "off the chain" cook!
11. She is all about family!
12. She is very creative!
13. She is a whole lot of fun to be around!
14. She has an awesome smile!
15. She is very giving!
16. She is a wonderful partner and support in ministry!
17. She is super kind!
18. She is sacrificial!
19. She is content!
20. She has beautiful eyes!
21. She is a respectful and submissive wife!
22. She has a tender heart!
23. She loves animals!
24. She loves to travel and go to different places!
25. She loves sports!
26. She is Godly!
27. She is very helpful!
28. She is a great listener!
and #29 for one to grow on...She has an unbelievable husband!

I love you Jodi and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
27.
28.

Family Worship Time

"Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

Last night we had our weekly family worship time where we came together as a family unit to sing, pray, read God's word, and have a blast! I understand now more than ever that God has given me, the husband/father, the responsibility to lead my family towards Jesus Christ. I have been passionate about many things in my life. One in particular is evangelism. Through the years I've been involved in jail ministry, street ministry, missions, etc., etc., etc., but none comes close to the evangelization of my own kids. God gives us, no commands us, as parents to evangelize and disciple our very own. I am understanding more and more that truly the heartbeat of God is family. The very first "organization" in his word is just that-family. When we describe the trinity the wording is -family. "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When God illustrates his relationship with the church he uses "Bride of Christ and the Bridegroom". Again-family. The best way to evanglize the world is again-family, through multi-generational faithfulness. Jodi and I are very early in the journey with our kids but I thank God he has placed within us passion, placed around us mentors, and placed us in a church that bleeds family. With Hell having an all out assault on the family until it will take a strong spiritual gameplan and the power of the Holy Spirit to raise our sons and daughters to walk with God in a world that does just the opposite.

Last night we sang a few songs together, prayed, and then taught Gracen the story of Noah. Gracen has a Noah's Ark with alot of animals so we used that as an object lesson. We then acted out animals and let her guess which animal we were acting out. It was a lot of fun and seeds from God's word were planted in her heart. I want her to be raised knowing it is normal for a family to worship together in their home just as normal it is for the body of Christ to worship together in the house of God.

Enjoy some of the pics Jodi took!

Life's Disappointments

In over eighteen years of deer hunting I've only missed ONE opening morning of rifle season (the first year I ever hunted) and never have missed an opening morning of muzzle loader. Well..that first morning came this past Saturday. All day Friday I had sighted in my muzzleloader and did prep work to get me ready for Saturday morning. The weather was to be PERFECT! I was so very excited! Earlier in the week I spent all morning and night taking care of Jodi and Gracen who had a horrible stomach bug. Thankfully I hadn't gotten it! After coming in Friday night from a squirrel hunt down by the house my stomach started making funny sounds. The rest is history. Hugged up by the toilet at 3:30 AM I knew my hopes of the morning hunt were done. For six hours my best friend was 7-UP, a wet rag, and the toilet (not to mention my good wife). I woke up about 8:30 walked on the porch and was again sick (this time emotionally) as I watched the gorgeous morning and knew the deer had to have moved by my stand. As the day grew I began feeling so much better. About 4:30 PM I grabbed the "smoke pole", my camo bag, and my NLT and headed for my "Church Stand" as I call it. About an hour in I had two doe come out and one had my name on it. After going back to the house to pick up "Champ" my old trusted Yellow Black Mouth Cur we went in to retrieve the deer. After what seemed to be such a disappointing morning turned in to a "dream" fulfilled.

The Bible says in Proverbs 13:12 "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life."

So many folks hopes and dreams have been put off due to life's situations. A promise of God that seems to go unfulfilled. A God given vision that seems to go unfulfilled. A "turn" in life that was unexpected. All of these have a way of "making our heart sick" at times. You never know when that "hope" to be fulfilled is waiting around the corner. When that promise of God is just days from being fulfilled. When that "unanswered prayer" is only hours from being answered. When that God given vision is only an arm length away. Learn a lesson from the deer hunt.

Small Group Outreach

I took my 8th grade boys small group down to the corner of Desiard and 6th Street in downtown Monroe yesterday afternoon to hook up with Ricky Nolan. Ricky is the founder of Hope Street Ministries and has served the poor now for over 28 selfless years. We met under the I-20 bridge and preached from a "dirt pulpit". I opened it up reading out of Isaiah 53:6 sharing about how we all like sheep have left God's paths to follow our own. I then shared the different parables in Luke 15 about the lost sheep, lost coin,and the lost son. Bro. Rick followed me up reading out of Romans 15. We were able to pray and minister to the needs of the people afterwards. Flo Worster also brought down her 8th grade girls small group who helped feed the people a nice warm meal. I'm so proud of our young people and them being active in serving the poor. This is always my boys favorite small group activity!

You can read more about Hope Street Ministries by clicking the link to the right of this blog.

"Life Lessons from Deer Hunting"