Kids Kamp

• We returned today from Kids Kamp. We had a GREAT week. Here are some highlights:

• Seeing students pray accepting Christ as Savior is always amazing. A girl that went with Lifepoint was SAVED. Thank you God.
• I loved watching/listening to 300+ kids sing How Great Is Our God with all their might.
  
• The stage/set design was incredible.
• The atmosphere of the camp was really neat.
• Nice aftershock activities for the kids after the evening services - hayrides, mechanical bull, and puppet show.
  
• Great video work by Cliff Hawkins and team. Can't wait to get our videos in the mail.
• Collin and I moved two bunks together and stayed on the top and called it the "Man Cave." Aaron just like last year slept below us. At night Collin's buddy Shawn who is also 5, and a couple other guys would hang out in the man cave before lights out.
• We swam every day. I hurt my shoulder throwing boys across the pool. They thought they could dunk me so I had to show them what's up. I'm paying for that decision.
• One of our boys fell running across the the mini-golf course. That meant a trip to Weatherford Regional Hospital for an x-ray. Nothing broken just REALLY bruised and scratched up. When we got back from the hospital I was informed I was voted in as camp director for next year...we'll see how that goes. Good I hope.
  
• Rode the mechanical bull again this year. I don't think I made it 8 seconds but longer than last year. However long it was, it wasn't pretty.
  
• I loved sharing the gospel with some students one-on-one, the class of 5th graders and during the devotional time in the dorm.
• Here are some pictures from the week.

Vacation

Monday we returned from our trip to Springfield, Missouri and taking a few days vacation in Branson. It was a great trip!! I love going to the ABA National Meeting and it was great to spend a couple days as a family having fun. I'm slightly sunburned, tired, and glad to be back in Owasso.

Here are a few pictures from our time in Branson.

National Meeting - Day 4

I'm a little late getting this out but here are a few things that happened the last day of the meeting.

• The Mission Offering was $10,933.75 (this actually happened on Wednesday night during the missions service.

The Baptist Sunday School Committee gave their report. Four line items were approved by the messengers:

• A 5% literature price increase to keep up with rising costs
• A 10% increase in salary for the writers
• A 3% salary increase for Wayne Sewell, the Business Manager, and Larry Clements, Editor in Chief. Both men work at The Baptist Bookstore.
• An increase of 5 cents per literature unit sold to establish an equipment fund.

Next Year (2010) the meeting will be in Charleston, West Virginia, June 21-24. Reservations can be made beginning August 1st.

• Terry Parrish, Bryant, AR was elected to preach the Annual Sermon next year with Barry Carter, Vivian, LA as alternate.
• Alvin Dickerson, Scotland, was elected to preach the Mission Sermon with Eddie Williams as alternate.

The officers will remain the same:

• President: Roger Copeland
• Vice Presidents: Darrell Owens, Jim Crane, James Calhoun
• Recording Secretaries: Lonnie Wiggins and Terry Parrish
• Parliamentarians: David Robinson and David Buttimore
• Music Directors: Steve Allbritton, Bill Crouse, and Mike Paulk
• Director of Meeting Arrangements: Edgar N. Sutton

You can check out abanews.info or Pastor Matt Gholson's Blog (a good friend) for more information about the 2009 American Baptist Association of Churches Messenger Meeting.

National ABA Meeting - Day 3

Another action packed day in Springfield. Here is the low down:

• I attended the morning general session dealing with the mission report.
• Marnie, Collin, and I went to lunch with some great friends from Norman, Oklahoma. We ate at Lambert's Cafe.
• I'm on the Memorials Committee so I made sure I was back for the afternoon session. There was a lot of extra discussion about a few topics so the report was hours behind schedule.
  
• Talked to lots of people at the booth today.
• I always love the missions presentation. 6 Different missionaries spoke about their continent and the need for more churches and more missionaries to share the gospel. The continents were North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Really good information was shared. They shared some staggering statistics about the sheer number of souls and how we have very few missionaries working some of these mission fields. It make me want to cry when I think about the people who have never heard about Jesus and how few missionaries we have not in a city, or country but on a whole CONTINENT.
• A missionary in Kenya talked about going across the border to Sudan against the advice of the U.S. Embassy. While in Sudan they were restrained from returning to Kenya for a certain amount of time. He talked about how the churches in Kenya are now sending missionaries to Sudan doing foreign missions on their own. One word... AWESOME!!
  
• Twice during the day all the missionaries came up front and a prayer was prayed for them.
  
• The evening session was OUTSTANDING. I heard an incredibly challenging missionary sermon. It was delivered by Gerardo Carrion. He is a Missionary to Mexico. He kept coming back to how we don't need more churches in Arkansas and Texas. He talked about the need to plant churches in China, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, and Africa. He also talked about reaching cities in the U.S. like San Francisco, and New York. He gave an invitation for men who were being called to foreign mission fields. IT WAS AWESOME!!
• All in all a great day. Here are some pictures.

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Psalm 2:8

ABA National Meeting - Day 2

The Messenger Meeting for the American Baptist Association started this morning. Here is a summary of the day:

• Went to the MBSF (College Ministry) Workshop this morning. Since I used to serve in college ministry it was exciting to see such a good crowd at the workshop. At least 2 churches were there to get information about launching a campus ministry at their church.
• Attended the Missionary Committee Meeting. By Missionary Committee I mean every church has one vote. I don't know how many churches are in attendance....but that is one big committee.
• Went to lunch with some good friends from Norman and Oklahoma City.
• Collin hit the pool in the afternoon with his Papa. Life is always good when swimming is involved.
• We set up the Lifepoint booth at 2:30 p.m. Talked to LOTS of people before and after the evening session.
• During the general session tonight Pastor Roger Copeland (Texarkana, Arkansas) gave the President's Address and Pastor Robert Myer (Gambrills, Maryland) gave the annual message....very challenging.
• Worked the booth again after the general session until 10:00 p.m.
• Met with some church planters from Arkansas, Texas, and Pennsylvania at Applebee's. Awesome conversations about what God is doing in these different fields. God is good!!
• Stayed up WAY to late.
  

ABA National Meeting - Day 1

We traveled to Springfield, Missouri today. It is the location for the American Baptist Association Messenger Meeting. After we arrived and grabbed some dinner we attended a couple events I really enjoy.

Reception Welcoming Messengers & Guest
The event is sponsored by Missionary Baptist Seminary in Little Rock, Arkansas. I love the reception because it gives everyone time to get together before everything begins tomorrow.

Missionary Share Time
There is also a time for any missionary who would like to speak to share a report. In Acts 1:8 we see the scope of outreach each church should have. God's vision is for churches to carry the gospel to the entire planet. However, every year I stand in awe of all the wonderful places the gospel is going. I left 2 hours into it and missionaries where still sharing stories of churches planted and people responding to the gospel. Please pray for the missionary families.

I'm praying for a great week of meetings and general sessions.

Sunday In Review

Great Sunday today. Here are the highlights.

• Took a break from our message series in 1 John. Preached a sermon titled, 4 Reasons God Made Dads.
• At first it didn't look like attendance would be very good. 10 minutes before 10:00 a.m. cars started rolling in. If we would have one more person we would have tied our attendance record - maybe next week.
• Showed a great video before the sermon.
• We had more volunteers in the children' environments - big help.
• 6 first-time guests in the service.
  
• I saw a couple of kids walking across the parking lot. They found our church website and walked to church. They came in and sat on the front row. I love their enthusiasm.
  
• Here is the sermon if you missed it.
• Received some positive feedback from a grandma about how much her granddaughter enjoyed her class.
• LIfepoint Kids made picture frames and pictures for all the dads. We also gave gift cards to QT to all our dads.
  
• Marnie Collin, and I took a guest out to lunch that has been attending the last few weeks.