Sunday Night Worship w/ Students @LongHollow
Sunday Night Worship w/ Students @LongHollow Baptist Church. They’re on a Spring Break mission trip to the Glades. #advancethegospel
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Thankful In Everything
It has been a very busy season around The Glades this fall. Sugar cane harvest, sweet corn and vegetables are being planted and harvested, fall sports of every kind, and of course, lots of activities at church. When things get so hectic, I know I tend to slack off on my relationship with Christ. You know the drill (or maybe you are one of those “disciplined” people, and therefore you don’t)…late getting up and around in the morning because I was up too late the night before because I was trying to finish up the things I didn’t get done during the day. Rinse and Repeat. This turns into a cycle of loneliness and isolation from the Father. I have to be very careful or I end up in “a funk.” Read more
Monday is for Missions :: Typhoon Haiyan
Please pray for the Church and missionaries in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan devastated many parts of the island.
Former members of First Baptist Belle Glade, Mike and Marti Foster, lead a ministry there called “Word of Life Philippines.” Here is some correspondance that I just received from Mike asking for prayers as well as a few updates and praises.
It is interesting how we had just talked about prayer in our services yesterday. Ironically, I believe it was preparing us to put into action what Jesus taught us in Luke 11. We need to boldly approach God with our prayers for our brothers and sisters all around the world. We also need to pray for the devistation there in the Pacific. We pray for God to be glorified in every situation, much like the raising of Lazarus in John 11.
Here is a link to the letter Mike sent on Sunday evening…
Here is an email update from Mike early this morning…
How You Can Help:
Many of you have written asking about how you can help! When things are under control and roads clearer we plan to send an evangelistic relief team. The biggest need will be trying to rebuild shelters for those who have lost their entire homes and possessions. We hope to bring a generator, rice, canned goods and roofing materials along with other supplies. Financial help is going to be needed to purchase these things. Please let people know!
There is so much looting and chaos right now. One pastor who was able to buy food for his family was robbed before he could get back to them. Our fellow believers need protection from the Lord! We want to make sure funds go to help the ones who lost everything. Please pray that we will have wisdom and discernment! Thank you for your care and for being willing to get involved!
How to Give:
Project Name: Philippines Evangelism Trip Funds Project 07036C
Online – https://give.wol.org (use the project name above)
Check – mail your gift to:
Word of Life Fellowship – Donations
PO Box 600
Schroon Lake, NY 12870
Please include the project name with your check!
Phone – call our NY office at 1-800-965-7177 to give with a credit card, debit card, or check
CentriKid Camp–2nd Full Day
Just got a call from Taylor boy from CentriKid Camp again tonight…2nd full day of camp! He is doing really well…along with the rest of the kids and leaders. He was “a little bit homesick” last night…but “not homesick at all” now! How funny…and how sad all at the same time! Our baby boy is growing up so fast!
We had a girl commit her life to Christ last night and the kids are really growing in their faith. It is really cool to see them having morning devotionals in the room…I think it looks a lot like heaven!
Keep all the kids in prayer as they have one more full day of camp programming left tomorrow and they head home Friday morning.
Centrikid Camp this week!
Taylor is at Centrikid Camp this week with our Kids Ministry. He is having a great time…just called us from Pastor Tim’s phone a few minutes ago. He said he was “a little home sick.” I said I was too! Check out some of the goings on at Pastor Tim’s tumblr site at kidspastor.tumblr.com. I am really thankful for such a good leader to have my kids being poured into their lives. 
This is a picture of Taylor and Patrick during devotionals…very cool.
Egg Drop 2013
Wow, what an awesome day for our church and the Glades community! Our first ever Easter Egg Drop was a HUGE success!
We had several hundred kids come through and EGGchange their plastic eggs for a big bag of candy at The Great EGGchange! (Get it, EGGchange?! Pretty pun-y, huh?) Our children’s pastor, Tim, says that by his best count, we gave out 1153 bags of candy! (That’s a LOT of candy!)
We think we had close to a thousand kiddos who attended the event for sure. (There may have been a few that made a couple of “EGGchanges,” if you know what I mean.)
A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped us pull off this massive event!
A HUGE thank you to Phil and Sugar Cane Golf Club hosting us.
A HUGE thank you to John Kandel and his piloting skills.
A HUGE thank you to our church staff who served for weeks in planning and implementing the vision for this community event.
A HUGE thank you to all of our volunteers who gave up their time and energy to show the love of God to our community!
YOU ALL are the BEST!!
Here are some pictures and a very short video taken by Chuck from the helicopter as they were dropping eggs.
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Laughter is the Best Medicine
Our church had Taylor Mason in for a concert last month and it was AWESOME! I absolutely love being able to just take some time and laugh. What was so wonderful about the concert was that laughter doesn’t have any barriers. When a great comedian can make all races and ages laugh, that is truly a gift from God! I am so thankful for Taylor coming and blessing our community with the gift of laughter. Take a look at the concert on our church’s website! Enjoy!
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Philippians 4:4
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Ed Stetzer – SBC 2011 Statistical Realities & “Encouraged and Hopeful”
I really love what Ed Stetzer has to say about the realities of the Southern Baptist Convention–though they are not realities we like to look at for sure. I have never been to an Annual Convention on the national level (numerous state conventions), but his “encouraged” approach to them might bring me to attend an Annual Convention sometime soon.
Check out a couple of posts on both his personal blog and the “Between The Times” blog. The post on edstetzer.com is about facing the facts of the statistical realities of the SBC and another post on “Between The Times” talking about both those findings as well as 6 reasons why he is encouraged about the SBC as we meet in New Orleans next week for the annual convention.
The 6 reasons he is optimistic are:
1. The Election of Fred Luter as President of the SBC
2. The Growing Ethnic Diversity of the SBC
3. We’re Getting Honest About Calvinism
4. We Are Still a Convention of Churches That Love the Lord and Love the Lost
5. The Beginnings of a Renewed Focus on Church Planting and Evangelism
6. Young and Experienced Leaders Working Together
Another great synopsis quote from the post on the “statistical realities” (decline) of the SBC is . . .
We stand at a key moment and my sermon-in-a-sentence is this: A denomination perpetually at war with itself cannot survive, but a denomination focused on engaging new leaders, reaching out to other ethnicities, and reaching others through evangelism and church planting will thrive.
As a pastor of a church that might be living out the “realities” that the statistics show, I am encouraged too at what God might do through us as a people–all for His Glory. Let it be so!
via Ed Stetzer – SBC 2011 Statistical Realities– Facts Are Our Friends But These Are Not Very Friendly Facts and via Between The Times – Heading to the SBC, Encouraged and Hopeful.
Collaborate is just around the corner
Please be in prayer for Collaborate 2012 on June 24-29 here in Belle Glade. It is a collaborative mission effort here in Belle Glade (hence the name!) that will bring in several hundred students and adults to do local missions. We will be doing painting and construction projects as well as VBS and activities for the kids all across our city. Then, the students will come together in the evening for a worship service.
We are really excited about the potential of almost 700 students and adults on mission here in Belle Glade! Will you pray with us?
Here is a recap video from a couple of years ago. This year should be bigger and better than ever before!
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Now Hiring–Worship Pastor
Our church is now hiring a Worship Pastor! Our search committee is really sharp and a great cross section of our church family. There is a great spirit of unity on the team and we have now began taking resumés. If you know of someone who would be a good fit for our church, please send a resumé as well as links to video of the pastor leading worship.
Here is a copy of the job description that we have for the Worship Pastor position. I believe that this a very critical hire and integral part of the team that we are putting together to lead this church into the future.
We have began advertising the opening on seminary and college websites as well as churchjobfinder.com. You can find that posting here.