And the Lord Met Us There
Today was a whirlwind. I thought I allowed myself enough time this morning to do the final preparations before the day's events, but I found myself running from the word GO! Morning services were great with 180+ in attendance. A brother from Pennsylvania offered a beautiful (but much longer than we are accustomed to) communion meditation. When I got up to preach, there was only five minutes left. I disregarded the clock and presented my lesson anyway! I felt good about it, and received lots of positive feedback. I preached from Jeremiah 18, going to the Potter's House.
Following class we had a wedding. I wish Vivian and Jeff a lifetime of happiness, along with Eric, Vivian's grandson who lives with them. As a surprise, Vivian's daughter, granddaughter, and great grand daughter came down from Oklahoma. Jeff and Vivian's theme song is "Broken Road", and they identify with the heartaches and life struggles they have overcome to be together. Vivian was our church secretary for many years, but since the storm we likely will not have a secretary for a long time.
After lunch we were blessed to help James Maxwell to be baptized into Jesus Christ. James has 
an incredible story. He was raised by atheist parents, but he loves the Lord so much. In 1986 he was working as a surveyor and a truck came over a hill going too fast. James was able to make two steps before the truck hit him. At 44 years of age, he has been fighting pain, legal battles, alcohol, and other demons ever since. I will say that since I have known James, I have seldom seen him without a smile on his face. Today, however, his joy became nearly childlike as he was so happy in the Lord. When James was putting on the baptism garment, he asked me, "what is this, a body bag?" I told everyone what he said and we laughed. Then I pointed out that it really is ... dead man going down, live man coming up!
This afternoon we had an orientation and the college kids headed out to do some yard work down the street. They did an incredible amount of work in a very short time. We have people here from Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Massachusets, Texas, and other places. It's going to be an incredible week. To the left is a group of students from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Also in the picture is Campus Minister Dean Owens. I enjoyed spending some time with Dean last night. There is no restoration church at Chapel Hill. An acappella church and an instrumental church are talking about getting this church planted. Amen to cooperation and unity between brothers! These students wanted to be on the blog. How could I say no? Thanks for reading, guys! Now you owe me comments!
Tonight Jeremy Rush spoke. He and his wife Laurie are the Campus Ministers at the University 
of Wisconsin, Osh Kosh. They began this work four years ago. The students they brought are enthusiastic and from a variety of religious backgrounds. Jeremy brought a rich lesson from Colossians on who Jesus really is. I appreciated his thoughts and hope that we all had our hearts open ... he was preaching the truth!
Tonight was also the first Area Wide Teen Devotional since the storm. We used to have these monthly across the Coast. We had teenagers from Orange Grove (Gulfport), Ocean Springs, Picayune, and Mobile (Port City). We missed some of the other teens who usually come, but we 
had a great time. Bill Collins (Orange Grove, left) led singing, along with his praise team 'Power of Praise'. They are all good friends of mine and I appreciate them so much. Power of Praise really hasn't done anything since camp last Summer ... so Bill pulled some strings and begged a bit to get Rhonda Stohldrier, Ryan Stohldrier, and Steve Martin to sing with him. Of course Sabrina, Bill's wife, is the backbone of the group and is always with them. Bill and Sabrina are an awesome couple who do most everything together. Steve didn't make it, so Chris Lockhart was on hand to fill his shoes. And Chris did an excellent job. The praise team helps a lot when we are singing unfamiliar songs.
Another group from Texas arrived late tonight and we will meet them tomorrow. It's going to be a good day full of great things. I look forward to the adventure of it all. I have about 50 pictures from the past few days on my WEBSHOTS PAGE. Check out the folders and enjoy the pictures.
I just saw this link on Tommy Stewart's blog: KATRINA COTTAGES
I already have some neat stories to tell for this week, but I'll save them for later. This is a pretty full post! I appreciate the interest you have to come back day by day and read what's happening on the Coast. We know we can make it because God and His Big Family are holding us up the entire way. Worship, a wedding, a baptism, a teen gathering, a telling of the truth, and the Lord met us there. Awesome.
Following class we had a wedding. I wish Vivian and Jeff a lifetime of happiness, along with Eric, Vivian's grandson who lives with them. As a surprise, Vivian's daughter, granddaughter, and great grand daughter came down from Oklahoma. Jeff and Vivian's theme song is "Broken Road", and they identify with the heartaches and life struggles they have overcome to be together. Vivian was our church secretary for many years, but since the storm we likely will not have a secretary for a long time.
After lunch we were blessed to help James Maxwell to be baptized into Jesus Christ. James has 
an incredible story. He was raised by atheist parents, but he loves the Lord so much. In 1986 he was working as a surveyor and a truck came over a hill going too fast. James was able to make two steps before the truck hit him. At 44 years of age, he has been fighting pain, legal battles, alcohol, and other demons ever since. I will say that since I have known James, I have seldom seen him without a smile on his face. Today, however, his joy became nearly childlike as he was so happy in the Lord. When James was putting on the baptism garment, he asked me, "what is this, a body bag?" I told everyone what he said and we laughed. Then I pointed out that it really is ... dead man going down, live man coming up!
This afternoon we had an orientation and the college kids headed out to do some yard work down the street. They did an incredible amount of work in a very short time. We have people here from Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Massachusets, Texas, and other places. It's going to be an incredible week. To the left is a group of students from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Also in the picture is Campus Minister Dean Owens. I enjoyed spending some time with Dean last night. There is no restoration church at Chapel Hill. An acappella church and an instrumental church are talking about getting this church planted. Amen to cooperation and unity between brothers! These students wanted to be on the blog. How could I say no? Thanks for reading, guys! Now you owe me comments!
Tonight Jeremy Rush spoke. He and his wife Laurie are the Campus Ministers at the University 
of Wisconsin, Osh Kosh. They began this work four years ago. The students they brought are enthusiastic and from a variety of religious backgrounds. Jeremy brought a rich lesson from Colossians on who Jesus really is. I appreciated his thoughts and hope that we all had our hearts open ... he was preaching the truth!
Tonight was also the first Area Wide Teen Devotional since the storm. We used to have these monthly across the Coast. We had teenagers from Orange Grove (Gulfport), Ocean Springs, Picayune, and Mobile (Port City). We missed some of the other teens who usually come, but we 
had a great time. Bill Collins (Orange Grove, left) led singing, along with his praise team 'Power of Praise'. They are all good friends of mine and I appreciate them so much. Power of Praise really hasn't done anything since camp last Summer ... so Bill pulled some strings and begged a bit to get Rhonda Stohldrier, Ryan Stohldrier, and Steve Martin to sing with him. Of course Sabrina, Bill's wife, is the backbone of the group and is always with them. Bill and Sabrina are an awesome couple who do most everything together. Steve didn't make it, so Chris Lockhart was on hand to fill his shoes. And Chris did an excellent job. The praise team helps a lot when we are singing unfamiliar songs.
Another group from Texas arrived late tonight and we will meet them tomorrow. It's going to be a good day full of great things. I look forward to the adventure of it all. I have about 50 pictures from the past few days on my WEBSHOTS PAGE. Check out the folders and enjoy the pictures.
I just saw this link on Tommy Stewart's blog: KATRINA COTTAGES
I already have some neat stories to tell for this week, but I'll save them for later. This is a pretty full post! I appreciate the interest you have to come back day by day and read what's happening on the Coast. We know we can make it because God and His Big Family are holding us up the entire way. Worship, a wedding, a baptism, a teen gathering, a telling of the truth, and the Lord met us there. Awesome.
posted by JD @ 3/12/2006 08:24:00 PM
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