Commission Service

On Sunday night we had a commission service for those of us going to Pascagoula, Mississippi with the Youth Mission Trip. We were also given a preview of some of the skits they will be performing while we are there. The dramas were such a riveting picture of how the enemy has us bound in sin, but how Jesus will totally free us if we repent and call on Him! I am very proud of all of these kids and am so blessed to be able to go with them and help them do some back yard Bible Schools while we are there. Please pray for God to be glorified in all we do and pray for us to be light and salt, and to grow closer to God and closer to each other through our service to Him.

LOVE ME TENDER

OK so when Tony was about 13 my mom (who loved Elvis Presley) started telling him he looked like Elvis. Well, he was a huge Elvis fan too, so this thrilled him and made his head swell. He started practicing in his bedroom mirror the "Elvis Look". Roger told him one time that no matter how much he looked like Elvis, it wouldn't do him any good until he took a bunch of singing lessons because he could NOT carry a tune in a bucket!! Of course the beard had to go...my mom gave him $50 to shave it off!! Boy did he know how to work her!

Better Times with Tony

The last blog I did was really a testimony of how good God was to us when Tony was sick and how He took care of us and sent wonderful people to encourage us but today I want to post some pictures of Tony before he got sick. Here are a few great memories of my son Tony...with his baby sister Christie...valentine dance with Cassandra...playing video games with Stephen...and with the car his doting grandparents got him when he was 16!

UK Wildcat Mark Pope: a wonderful witness & encourager

The time between December 18, 1994 and March 25, 1995 was the darkest time of my life. My son Tony was at Central Baptist Hospital, dying. Well of course, we didn't know he was dying at first. Just thought he was sick. He had about 10 doctors (seemed like anyway), and went through about every test you can imagine. It was a month before they diagnosed him with cancer. After that he had radiation treatments Monday through Friday and chemo on weekends. He was so sick. People were so good to us and we never lacked food, money to pay our bills, visitors, prayers, support of all kinds! Tony knew he was in God's hands and his faith was strong. As we prayed and talked together I had no doubt that should the LORD choose not to heal him the way we wanted Him to, that He would heal him completely and take him to Heaven. During that time, God was good to get me back in the relationship with Him I had neglected for so many years. I praise Him for that and for many other ways He worked in people's lives during Tony's illness and death.
Tony loved the Kentucky Wildcats and his step-brother Scott arranged for some of them to come visit him in the hospital. He was so excited when he found out they were coming!! The visit was not made known to the media and they came up the back elevator so as not to attract alot of attention...they just wanted to visit Tony. One of the players visiting that day was one I will never forget. Mark Pope. When they came in, I had been reading Tony's Bible to him and Mark picked it up and told Tony he wanted to share his favorite scripture with him. He had come to Kentucky from Washington State and this particular scripture had brought him courage and comfort so many times. He read from Joshua 1:9. "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." It became Tony's favorite scripture from that moment on.
What a wonderful encourager he was to Tony and I think of him often.

I AM A SOLDIER

On my first Disater Relief/Rebuild trip to Pascagoula, during our devotional the first night we were there, our DOM Hamp Valentine read this to us and I want to share it with you.
I AM A SOLDIER
"I am a soldier in the army of my God. The Lord Jesus Christ is my Commanding Officer. The Holy Bible is my code of conduct. Faith, Prayer, and the Word are my weapons of warfare. I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity, and tested by fire.
I am a volunteer in this army, and I am enlisted for eternity. I will either retire in this army at the Rapture or I will die in this army. But I will not get out, sell out, be talked out or pushed out. I am faithful, reliable, capable and dependable. If my God needs me, I am there. If He needs me in the Sunday School, to teach the children, work with the youth, help adults or just sit and learn, He can use me because I am there!
I am a soldier. I am not a baby. I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up, or pepped up. I am a soldier. No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me or lure me. I am a soldier. I am not a wimp. I am in place, saluting my King, obeying His orders, praising His name and building His kingdom! No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards or candy or give me handouts. I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for or catered to. I am committed. I cannot have my feelings hurt bad enough to turn me around. I cannot be discouraged enough to turn me aside. I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit.
When Jesus called me into this army, I had nothing. If I end up with nothing I will still come out ahead. I will win. My God has and will continue to supply all my needs. I am more than a conqueror. I will always triumph. I can do all things through Christ. The devil cannot defeat me. People cannot disillusion me. Weather cannot weary me. Sickness cannot stop me. Battles cannot beat me. Money cannot buy me. Governments cannot silence me, and hell cannot handle me. I am a soldier. Even death cannot destroy me. For when my Commanding officer calls me from His battlefield, He will promote me to captain and then allow me to rule with Him. I am a soldier in this army, and I'm marching claiming victory. I will not give up. I will not turn around.
I am a soldier, marching Heavenbound. Here I stand! Will you stand with me?"

This is the way I want to serve Him every day!

Tyler couldn't be 9 years old!!

My oldest grandson Tyler had a birthday yesterday. He turned 9. Doesn't seem possible!! He is so big and I am so proud of him and I know his Papaw in Heaven is proud too. Hard to believe we used to play hide and seek with Papaw and Tyler always had to look in the cookie jar for him..."Papaw's not in the cookie jar" he would say and then grab a cookie! I love the memories we made together and thank God for all the memories we are going to continue to make!!

God's Word will never change! Prayer is the Hope of our Nation!

Yesterday was the National Day of Prayer. "America's Hope" was the theme. So many people didn't even know what day it was. So many people knew it and didn't care. So many people NEVER pray! A group from my church went to the capital for the ceremony there. One of our children from church was asked to read a quote from one of our founding fathers. I didn't get to go because I had to work but I was told that even though there was a good group from our church there the total number of people attending was disappointing. I get discouraged about things like that. This morning when I was reading a devotional from Open Windows, my God was so good to give me a scripture to encourage me. I pray daily for our nation and our leaders and for revival to come to America...but even if we don't turn from our wicked ways, God's Word will still stand. God is still in control.
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will by no means pass away." Mark 13:31
Praise Him!

"GO THEREFORE AND MAKE DICIPLES OF ALL NATIONS..."

The Tates Creek Baptist Association is praying about beginning a new partnership in Panama! My pastor, Brother Kenny, along with Brother Hamp (our DOM) and several others from the Association went on mission there this past week. I wanted to share these pictures Brother Kenny took while they were there. He will be giving a presentation in the near future to share how God used them during this trip. The date will be posted on the Bethel Baptist Church web site and you can assess that web site from this blog. Please remember us in prayer as we serve God by praying for missions, giving to missions, and going on mission!
Matthew 28:18-20 " And Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, " All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

YARD/CRAFT/BAKE SALE!

The Bethel Baptist WMU, Youth Group and CiA are teaming up to have a combination yard/craft/bake sale on May 23, 2009 in the parking lot of the Dollar General Store on the strip in Berea across from McDonalds. We are raising money for the Youth mission trip to Pascagoula, Mississippi. We have a great group of guys attending our church from the Bluegrass Career Development Center and one of them, has made quite a few things for us to sell. He is very talented as you can see from the pictures and we are just so grateful to him and all the guys from the center! They have all been a blessing to us and we are praying for them that God would be guiding them throughout the rest of their lives!

"Joy Comes In The Morning"

Psalm 30:4-5
"For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning."
Today I got an email devotional from Annette Herndon with this scripture. It took me back to high school when I first found it in God's Word and got so much comfort from it. My best friend was mad at me and I really don't even know why now...but it absolutely broke my heart. My heart hurt! I was devastated, it was the end of the world! You remember how it is when you are 15...Then God revealed this scripture to me and I was FILLED with JOY! My life was not over! Jesus still loved me even if my friend didn't! No matter what dark storms we may go through in this life....JOY comes again because Jesus loves us! My friend and I made up the next day.

"Everything"

One night at our revival our Bethel Baptist Youth performed a powerful drama "Everything". They have done it several times and it never fails to bring me to tears. It is a beautiful portrait of just how much Jesus loves us even when we turn our backs on Him and how He fights powers and principalities to get us back where we belong.

CiA (Children in Action)

Last week we had our spring revival at Bethel with Brother Scott Witcher and were very blessed to have the word of God preached straight and true! One night Brother Scott presented a slide show of his trip to Myanmar (Burma) with Brother Tony Horn who is a missionary in the Philippines and one of our dear brothers in Christ. Our children (CiA) were heartbroken to see all the people praying to thousands of different buddas at a temple there and they gave Brother Scott the money they had been saving to help him share the Word of God with them when he goes back to Myanmar. They are burdened for the people there to know and understand the the buddas do not hear their prayers! Only the Living God of the Bible can hear prayers! The Children in Action are such a blessing to me!

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER • MAY 7TH

"May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in You"
Psalm 33:22
Please pray for revival in America and for our leaders!

SPRING CLEAN-UP AT BETHEL

Saturday we had our spring clean up at church. We had a great crew including some of the youth, some of the guys from the BGCD Center and some of us "senior" people! We had a great time and our church is so spiffed up and smelling good!! Now if everyone would just come to my house and help Daffy and me clean up there! God blessed us with a beautiful day to clean and we are so grateful for Bethel Baptist Church, Pastor Kenny and for all our church family!
"Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you." 1 Samuel 12:24

So young!

I was looking at some old pictures last night and came across this one of....you guessed it! Just my sister and me! This was taken at least 30 years ago because I know Tony was just little. He would be 34 years old now. This was taken after my sister married my first husband's (Tony's dad) brother Floyd. The four of us used to get together alot and had so much fun! Look how skinny we both were!! Oh well...

EASTER CELEBRATIONS!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend!
Beginning with our Good Friday Service at Bethel, our community Easter Egg hunt at the church, our Easter drama "Believe In Him" during the morning worship service yesterday, and Keven Spencer and Friends last night at evening service! God blessed us with beautiful weather Saturday and Sunday both with a little rain Friday night that didn't deter anyone from coming and worshiping with us! Also very special was my time with my family at our Easter dinner and egg hunt at Nancy and Gordon's after church! While the daddys were out hiding the eggs, the kids helped me tell the story of Christ's Resurrection using Resurrection eggs! It is a great way to share the true story of Easter with children that may be too young to understand all of what is preached at church. Our Associate Pastor, Larry David Freeman also used them to tell the story to all the kids that came to our community Easter Egg hunt at church on Saturday. My Easter was just incredibly blessed this year and I am full of the Joy and Peace that comes only from knowing Jesus Christ as my personal Savior! If you are reading this and you don't know Him and wonder what all the excitement is about, please leave a comment and I will share with you!