It's All in The Way You Look At It

Today my wife and I attended Belle Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, FL. Since the end of April, the church has lost their pastor & his 13 year old son in a plane crash, and then lost their Pastor of Worship to a heart attack. They, like many churches these days, are experiencing a decrease in giving due to the economy. (by doing the math, I determined that they are @ $200K behind) However, instead of scaling back, they are aggressively moving forward in evangelism and missions. Oh, and they have just moved into a beautiful new worship center.
We were so impressed by how they went about voting for those who will serve on the Pastor search and pulpit supply teams. Before the vote, they asked the nominees to come to the front of the church where 100's of church members gathered around them, laid hands on them and prayed for them.
Since the untimely death of their pastor, they have seen an 1100% (not a typo, that is eleven hundred percent) increase in professions of faith compared to the same 4 month period last year. It was so very refreshing to see a church that refuses to allow circumstances to dictate how they do ministry. May their tribe increase!!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Man's Way vs God's Way

As I watch on C-span the Glen Beck rally in Washington D.C. I'm struck with the contradiction between man's approach to change and the plan that God gave us in the Bible to bring about lasting change. While man opts for "events" such as this rally, God's emphasis is on the individual; each one reaching and discipling one (Matt. 28:18-20) The result of disciple-making is that each disciple is then empowered to make disciples, and a movement is set in motion, not just an event. Jesus set the example for us in that He spent the majority of His time discipling and equipping a small group of men. Although He did, on occasion, speak to multitudes, the bulk of His time was invested in His disciples. If the money and man power that went into this rally were expended through disciple-making churches to train, equip and send out disciples of Jesus through our nation, lasting change would result. Once this rally is over, it is over. However, a disciple-making movement
Read more

Waiting for Christmas sermon, Waiting for Christmas sermon by Brian Bill, Luke, Luke - SermonCentral.com

Waiting for Christmas sermon, Waiting for Christmas sermon by Brian Bill, Luke, Luke - SermonCentral.com : If you are like me, you are always open to hearing new sermon ideas for Christmas.  I found one that I encourage you to examine.  Just follow the link above and find a fresh message for Christmas. My prayer for all my readers is that you will encounter Christ in a fresh way this Christmas and be drawn closer to Him as God continues His work of conforming you to the likeness of Christ.
Read more

To Whom Should We Pray?

Last night I had one of those rare instances where I actually had a mental conversation with God.  As with many my age, I frequently wake up in the middle of the night, perhaps several times.  On one of those instances last night I was thinking about the upcoming Prayer Meeting the next day.  As I thought about this, I also thought of how some people always address their prayer to the Father while others pray to Jesus.  Mentally I said to God, "To whom should we pray?"  Amazingly enough I got an instant answer.  In my mind God clearly said, "It depends on what you're asking for."  That thought had never entered my mind, so I asked God to elaborate on it...and He did.  "If you are asking for protection, provision or blessing" God said, "ask Me.  But If you are asking for redemption, healing or guidance, ask Jesus who died for your redemption, who was known as The Great Physician and who said that He was the Good Shepherd.  However, if you are ask
Read more