Back To School Days

There is a feeling in the air that summer is rapidly fading away! No, the temperatures are still in the high 90's and upward with the heat index, but still, what with school back in session, football season already upon us,the baseball world series coming in a short while, and the new church year coming soon, there really is a feeling that good things are going to be happening in the next few months. We are excited around our church because we have a World Missions Conference coming our way the first week in October. This is where a number of missionaries come to our association and visit the churches, with a different missionary each worship service. Lots of good teaching and preaching, and seeing a 'real live missionary'!
More details about that a bit later.
We are having a local TV news person come on Friday, September 9, 2005 at 7:00PM to speak to us. This is Hannah Nelson, a very familiar face to most all of the TV watchers, as she is on the news reports daily. Hannah is a committed Christian and we are looking forward to having her.

We have been working on the new church directory all summer long, and finally have the proof set ready to be sent to the printer for final print. What with my sickness and hospital trips and such, and with having to correct many mistakes in the proof copy, it just seemed to take time. Anyhow, I will be glad to get it back to the directory people. At the moment, I am working on a tri-fold brochure about our church, and this will also be in color and printed by the directory people. We will ge a 1000 copies of the brochure, which we can use to witness to others about our church.

The Nominating Committee has completed their task of finding willing workers and officers for our church programs for the coming year. We will vote on their nominations at the September church conference. We will also be selecting new deacons for the next two years at that meeting. Plan on coming and participating in the business affairs of your church.

More later, have a great day, and pray for the soon coming of our Lord!

FELLOWSHIP MEAL PLANNED

A reminder to all our church family and friends, that tomorrow, Sunday, August 13, 2005 we will have the after church fellowship meal to officially welcome Adam and Ashley Stich to our church family and staff. As you know, we have called Adam as our music man and worship director, and he is already doing a great job. The meal will be a covered dish luncheon furnished by the members of the church. Everyone is invited to attend.

Of course, you are all invited to the regular Sunday worship and Bible study activities in our church. We have a Bible class for every age group, and a place for the children. Be sure to invite a neighbor or friend to come with you. Let us see how many we can have in Sunday school and worship services each Lord’s Day.

I would like to report that I came home from the hospital last Tuesday, was able to go to the office and do some work on Thursday, and had to spend a good portion of Friday in the doctor’s office getting my blood tested. But, and praise the Lord for this, I am feeling much better. Thank you for your prayers and concern.

HOSPITAL REPORT

Well, as I write this blog spot today, I am in the Richland Hospital in Columbia, SC, where I have been since last Thursday. Seems as if my problem for the past several weeks has been a pulmonary embolism, or blood clot in my lungs. By the grace of our Lord, I am doing well, and should be able to go home on Tuesday. The clot is still there, but the medications, which they are pumping into me, have made a great deal of improvement, and I feel very good today. The doctors claim that I “missed a bullet” this time, but I know that it is the healing power of the Lord in response to many prayers and much faith. I should be back on duty at the church soon, but will have to go back and forth to the lab for many days to keep a close check on something they call the INR which tells how the clotting is doing. Thanks for your prayers and concerns, and I do really appreciate it very much.

On hold right now is the finishing up of the Church Directory, which I should be able to get to the first of the week. It only needs to be sent to the printer and we should have it back in final form in a few weeks or so. I appreciate having a good pastor, as Pastor
Shull has visited with me several times in my stay here in the hospital. You know, us pastors are not used to having a pastor, and I am blessed to have a gooood pastor! And I am also blessed to have two pastor sons, Donny and David, who minister to me also. Of course, Miz Carolyn takes such good care of me. She wouldn’t take no for an answer when she insisted that I come see the doctor last week. As usual, she was right. Once the doctor saw me, I was hustled off to the hospital!

So, that is it for this time, will add more later from home and the office. Will look forward to seeing many of you next Sunday, if not before. Depends on the doctor’s instructions, of course. But, praise the Lord, I feel much much better.

AUGUST IS A GREAT MONTH!

Yes, August is a great month, one that I have come to love and appreciate for nearly 73 years, since I have been in the world since August, 1932. Imagine, being that old! And the Lord is still using me! And I have found myself in a church family like this! I am so blessed, and praise God for it. You are my church family, my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I love you all. You have really blessed Carolyn and me with your expressions of concern, love and fellowship during these past 5 years. God is soooo Good! All the time!

What a fresh spirit we felt in our worship services last Sunday. Having Adam Stich come on board as our worship director has really been a blessing for us. You could just feel that the congregation was enjoying the singing, and the choir did an outstanding job. We are blessed to have Adam here, and he and Ashley are the answers to the many prayers we have made over the past year or so.

Pastor Donny and the Children's Spot during the morning worship service received an ovation of applause as he led them in marching forward for the Lord. You had to be there to appreciate it. Donny has brought a sense of excitement to our church also, as he leads the Children and Youth.

Looking ahead to August 14, all church members and friends are reminded that we will have a covered dish luncheon in the Fellowship Hall immediately following the morning worship hour to officially welcome Adam and Ashley Stich to our church family. You know us Baptists, we celebrate everything we do by eating! Come and bring a friend.

That is all for now, remember who loves you....
Bro. Don

Music Is In The Air!

OUR NEW MINISTER OF MUSIC IS ON THE JOB:
Adam Stich has accepted the position of Minister of Music for our church, and will be starting immediately. Adam and his wife Ashley will be sharing in our ministry and we are very happy to have them come here to serve.
Adam is a graduate of Rollins College, Winter Park, FL, and has a Masters of Music degree from USC. He will be teaching music at the Pelion Middle School this year.
Ashley is a student at USC majoring in elementary education. They live in Lexington, SC, and will be commuting back and forth to work with us. Adam’s family lives in Georgia, where his father is a Baptist minister. Adam most recently completed serving the St. David Lutheran Church as coordinator of music ministries for three years. Please join the church family in welcoming Adam and Ashley to our church.
NOTE: Adam pronounces his last name as “Steek.”

Many thanks to our Personnel Committee as they have worked so hard in searching for the right person for this job. We now have a full staff of ministers and are praying that the Lord will allow us to grow a greater work here in North.

The church family is involved in listening to the Old Testament these days. We have a large group who have committed to listening to the OT for 20 minutes each day until Christmas day. I have had many good comments from folks who say, "I didn't know that was in the Bible!" What a joy to listen to God's Word, read by someone with perfect diction and proper pronunciation of the names and places. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Try it. If you need cassette tapes of the OT, I have some available for you to use. Just let me know.

Speaking of cassette tapes, I am sure that many of you are aware of the ministry we have in our church of taking cassette tapes to our homebound and shut-in members, or to those who miss Sunday School from time to time. We are blessed to have Mrs. Iris Cade and Mrs. Nellie Lu Reed to pick-up and deliver the tapes each week. They usually deliver about 30 or so tapes, of the TEL Sunday School Class, the Sunday morning and evening services, and other special tapes that we make from time to time. We have a cassette duplicator that has worked very well for a long time, but last week it gave out, so we had to order a replacement copier. We are now back in business with a brand new machine. If you need copies, please let me know and I will try to get them for you. We save the master tapes for about six months, so if you want to find a particular sermon, we probably will have it.

Pastor Donny has really been doing things with our Youth and Children these days. What with a trip to Atlanta to a Bible Conference, to the Braves baseball game, to the Six Flags Over Georgia park, and just yesterday, a large group went to Carowinds park for the day. And what a hot day it was! We have a place for everyone and invite all the Children and Youth of the community to come and enjoy the fellowship and fun. The Youth Building is also open each weekend for games and such, so check it out!

That's all for now, please pray for me as I continue to fight the anemia which the doctor's say that I have. What we called "tired blood" years ago. I do feel it too!

Summer is here and is it HOT!

Hello to the FBC family and our friends. Summer is here, and wow, is it hot!! Just a few posts ago, I was writing about how cold it was, or how rainy, and now, is it hot! Are we ever satisfied with the weather? No. But the only thing we can be satisfied with is Jesus, or Lord and Savior. And how He is working these days in our church. Of course, we are in the summer slump, with lots of vacationing members, in the mountains and at the lakes and the beach. But, we are still having exciting worship services and good attendance to the activities of our church. It is good to have faithful church members who continue to come and support the ministry of our church.

Our pastor brought two outstanding messages to us last Sunday. We are privileged to have such a good preacher and pastor to lead us. Please continue to pray for Larry and Brenda as they lead us during these days. We are blessed!

Pastor Donny has taken over the Sunday Morning Seminary Class which I started several years ago. This is a great discussion class, and he is a capable leader. If you are not involved in Sunday School, or just looking for a change of pace, visit the Fellowship Hall classroom next Sunday morning at 9:45 AM and check it out. We want you to be involved in Sunday School, and if you would like to change classes, you are welcome to do so. We just want everyone to be where they want to be.

And speaking of Sunday School, Michael Ann Bolin will be the new Sunday School director for the coming church year. Please pray for Michael Ann, and support her with your attendance each week. One of her desires is for each class to have an active outreach program, to seek out new members and involve them in the life of our church. Invite your friends and neighbors to come to Sunday School with you. I believe they will enjoy it, and have a good time with us.

I covet your continued prayers as I have been having some very difficult health problems lately. It seems that, even though I am as big as a house, and healthly looking for a man who is coming up on 73 years in August, that I am anemic! Can you imagine? With all the red meat that I consume, I still am not getting enough iron in my system. I take heavy doses of iron each day, but my body does not absorb it, so all the blood tests show that I am anemic. Thank you for your prayers; that the Lord will give me an infusion of spiritual iron and I can get back to doing the work that He has called me to do.

What a Great Time to Be ALIVE!

Here it is, the middle of July, and it is hot, and humid and rainy all this week, but what a great day to be alive and serving the Lord! I trust that you are doing well and all your problems are small and insignificant these days. I pray for you, and for your health problems, and also for the other areas of our lives that press us so hard.
our church family is doing well, most of our sick are home from the hospital, and the biggest problem we are having now is in the summer slump! Vacation, beach, mountains, golf, travel, all sorts of interruptions and our attendance really shows it. But we realize that we all need to get away from time to time for recreation;re-creation.Check that word out, it means a re--creation...a renewal, and that is what recreation is supposed to do for us. But you know, I feel re-created each time I enter the house of the Lord for worship and fellowship. There is something special about being with my church family.
Had a nice interview with a young man and his wife that we are asking to be our new minister of music. He is much in prayer now about this part-time position, and is actively seeking God's will in this matter. Please join the personnel committee in prayer about this need. When we fill that space, we will have a full staff, with senior pastor, min. of education, min. of youth and students, and a minister of music and worship. Surely the Lord is blessing our church and getting us ready for something exciting to happen! I cannot wait to see what the Lord is doing each day here in North. We have so much to offer the North community, with in-depth Bible preaching and teaching,worship services filled with God's music; great buildings and facilities, outstanding leadership, all sorts and types of activities for all ages. And, we have a church family that is eager to see God work here in our place of service. Talk up our church. Invite folks to come and see. Be a witness for our Lord and urge them to come and visit with us.
Don't hestitate to call on anyone in the church family or on the staff for any need that you might have. We care for you, and want only to help you. Please pray faithfully for each member of your church staff that we will be able to do the work that God would have us to do.
And for those who are away and read these words, remember that our thoughts and prayers are with you and know that each time you check into this Web Blog you will be reaching out and touching us in a special way. God loves you, and so do we!

CELEBRATION OF INDEPENDENCE

WOW! Is it really the weekend of July 4th already? What happened to the spring? Now we are here in the hot summer days and anxiously looking ahead to the cooler days of fall. Are we ever satisfied with the weather?

Well, we finished VBS with a good turnout, and now we are looking into the summer activities for our youth and children, and a continuing program for our church family. As I mentioned in the last post, we are in the process of interviewing a prospective minister of music, and are praying that the Lord will send us the right person soon.

We have been having some great discussions in both the Sunday Morning Seminary class which I lead during the Sunday School hour, and also in the Adult Discipleship Training Class which we have on Sunday nights at 6:00PM. Both classes are discussion type programs, and we really teach one another. We have covered all areas such as other denominational beliefs, what we believe as Southern Baptists, the end time prophecies, the rapture, Spiritual Warfare, and on and on. We are especially interested now in the creation account in the Bible, as opposed to the worldly view of evolution. I have been praying that the Lord will lead some of our church members who are not coming to Sunday School of Discipleship Training to come in and join with us, and perhaps we will see some new folks coming in from time to time.

We are living in exciting days! There seems to me to be a sense of impending activity in the spiritual realm, an excitement that the day of the Lord is drawing closer and closer. We can study the Scriptures and make a pretty good case that the Lord is coming soon. I am waiting for the rapture of the church with great anticipation. Looking for that "Blessed Hope." How about you? Are you Ready??

The proof copy of the Church Pictorial Directory is in, and I am asking several of our church family to come, take a look at it, and help correct the inevitable errors and typos that are there. Come by the church office and either Joan or I will show you the book and let you eyeball it. As soon as we finish the corrections and mail it back, the finished directory will be sent to us.I believe that it will be a real treasure and keepsake for our church members, and a historical document as well. The directory is in a loose-leaf notebook format, and we will be adding pages from time to time in order to keep it fairly current.

Ramblin' Road Trip

We are in the midst of VBS this week, and having a great time. We have been having more than 100 students, both children and adult, and enjoying a great time of fellowship and fun.
Time does move right along, doesn't it? Here we are halfway through 2005 and wondering where the time went. Did you realize that it is almost football time again? The season starts in August for some schools, and that is just around the corner.Then our annual rivalry around the church is between the Clemson Tigers and the SC Gamecocks. As always, us SC supporters are hoping that THIS WILL BE THE YEAR!
Joan and I have been busy trying to put the finishing touches on the Church Directory which will be distributed soon. We are making some corrections, adding some pictures, and trying to present a beautiful, as well as historical, document. I think the pictures look very good, and it will be a keepsake for many of our church family. More details later. Each family who sat for the pictures will receive one Directory for free. If you would like to have an extra, they are 5 dollars each, and must be ordered ahead of time. Once we get the Directory, it will be too late to order more. Will have more to say about this in the church bulletin each week.

As many of you know, we are still searching for a part time minister of music. We did have one applicant who called this week, and our Personnel Committee is in the process of setting up an interview, and also having the young man come and work with our choir and lead in the worship services perhaps on the 10th of July. Please be much in prayer for this person, that he will be the man the Lord has prepared for us.

With our new Minister of Students and Youth, our church seems to have a more exciting attitude these days. Our young people are stirred up and eager to go and do and we are eager to help them. We will be having special activities for the younger children also. Our Youth will be leading the missions action at the nearby Santee State Park for one week in July. God is so good to us!!

"PRAYER WORKS....HAVE YOU TRIED IT?"

Good day to all the blogspot readers. Here it is, Friday again, and lots to things going on in North First Baptist Church. We are getting excited about Vacation Bible School which commences Sunday evening at 6:00 PM with a light meal. We have classes for all age groups, and are expecting a good crowd of students. I am teaching the adults again this year. A special thanks to Lori Creech and to Sarah Wannamaker for all the work they have done, and for those willing workers who helped them. You know, VBS has developed into a theme based emphasis, and this year, we are going on a "Rambling Road Trip". So, the fellowship hall and the classrooms are decorated with road signs, travel signs, traffic lights and such, to really give you an impression of going on a trip. Sounds like a fun week each night next week through Thursday.

Pastor Donny and the Youth got away to their conference on Thursday morning. Donny called me from Gainesville, GA in the PM and said the brakes on the church van had gone out, so he was at a Firestone store waiting for them to repair the brakes. He was able to safely deposit the Youth at their motel before the repair job was necessary. Sondra had followed along behind the van on the trip, so they had transportation until the van was repaired. I did not hear back, so I am assuming they were all able to attend the night session of the Youth Conference last night. Now today, according to his schedule, they will spend from 10 AM to 4 PM at Six Flags over Atlanta, and then from 6:30PM until 11:00PM at the Conference again. Tomorrow, Saturday, they will check out of th motel and go to Turner Stadium for the Braves baseball game. Following that, they will be on I-20 heading back to North. I know some folks who are going to be tired out, but won't they have a good time!

We are into the first week of Listening To The Old Testament audio tapes, and having a good time in the Word of God. We will be doing this for six months at 20 minutes each day, but most listeners are already so far ahead of the planned schedule that they will finish much sooner. What a great way to spend 20 minutes each day.

Pastor Larry and wife Brenda are returning from the annual Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville this weekend. We are looking forward to seeing them, and hearing all about the Convention activities.

Well, that is about all I can think of for this post, just a few announcements and thoughts concerning our church and the programs we are trying to enjoy. We are looking ahead to Sunday and the great time of worship we have. I always try to say that "we are God's people, in God's House, doing God's things, in God's way." It all should focus God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Someday, soon perhaps very soon, we will hear the voice and the shout and the trumpet, and we will be changed and raptured? What a day that will be!

GOD IS SO GOOD....ALL THE TIME!

HELLO ALL: I pray that you are having a great day in the Lord and that you are praising the Lord for it. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

I just wanted to post a few comments about the activities of the FBC of North and help to keep you informed of the things that are either going on or that are planned. Of course our big interest now is this coming Sunday, which is Father's Day. We are thankful for our Fathers and for the leadership they provide in their Christian homes. I will be preaching the morning sermon in the absence of our pastor, who will be away to the SBC convention in Nashville. The title of the message is "A man is a man. . ." and is using the text of Psalm 8:1-9 to get us started. A man is really a man,and only a REAL man, when he is a man in Christ. For the evening service, Donny will be speaking for his first time as our minister of children and youth. We look forward to that.

Donny will be taking the Youth on a trip to Atlanta this next week, with a Youth Rally in Gainesville, GA, followed by a visit to see the Braves baseball team play, and an exciting day at Six Flags over Georgia. After three days of that, the youth will be ready to come home!

I am still seeking Bible Listeners as we start our Old Testament Listening program on Father's Day, and extend it through the Old Testament at twenty minutes each day until Christmas Day. What a blessing it will be to hear the Old Testament come alive with the narration of skilled and eloquent speakers reading each precious word. I hope that you will participate along with the others who have committed to do this. Let me know if you need to purchase the tapes, or if you have tapes already. Don't wait too long to start, because it will be difficult to catch up.

More later..don't forget to pray for your church family, and remember that God loves you...and so do we!

BUSY SUMMER APPROACHING!

Yes, we are planning an exciting summer of activities for our church family, especially the Youth. Now that Donny is on board, the children and youth can expect a busy summer. Already this month a trip is planned to Atlanta to see the Braves baseball game with the Baltimore Orioles, and then to an all day trip to Six Flags. Of course, there is also a Youth Bible Conference going on that they will spend most of their time attending. Sounds like a great time for all.

Our new roof on the Fellowship hall is still in progress. The shingles should be installed soon, and then the leak problem will be solved, we pray! Plans are to add a storage building to the rear of the Youth building to hold the sports equipment and such.
We are getting ready to start the Faith Comes By Hearing Bible listening program as we listen to the Old Testament each day for six months. The program stretches from Father's Day, June 19th, to December 25th and asks that folks listen to the Bible for 20 minutes each day. We just finished the New Testament, and now we can get deep into the Old Testament. Not as many of our church family are committing to this program, probably because it requires such a long period of time. I try to encourage our listeners to try each day, and not get behind, because it is easy to do. The main interest is in listening every day, at work, at home, on the way to work, etc.

Also, Vacation Bible school is here again, starting June 26 and going through the 30th. We had a great time last year, and pray for an even better VBS this year. If you can come, please do. We have classes for every age, and I will be teaching the Adult VBS section again this year, and am looking forward to it very much.

Please remember to pray for pastor Larry and his wife, Brenda, as they attend the annual Southern Baptist Convention this month in Nashville, TN. In our pastor's absence, I will be preaching the Father's Day sermon and Donny will preach in the evening service. Come and share with us. This will be the first time most of our church family has heard Donny preach.

Thank you for taking the time to read these ramblings from time to time. I just wanted you to be kept fairly up to date about the activities of your church, and remember that as I write these notes, I have you in my mind and heart. You are a grand church family, and I do praise the Lord that I am able to serve you in some way as your staff member. And I do especially want those who are away from North to know that we love you and pray for you. Let us know how you are doing.

By the way, you can leave a comment on any of these pages by clicking on the red star beside the minister of education tag on these pages. Try it and send me a note.

Thanks again, and my God Bless you in special ways.

SUNDAY MEET, GREET AND EAT!

A special notice to all our church members who might check this site from time to time. Next Sunday, June 5, following the morning worship service, we will have a covered dish luncheon in the fellowship hall to celebrate the addition to our church staff of Rev. and Mrs. Donny Royster, our new Minister of Youth. All members are urged to bring covered dishes and we will share in this great time of meeting, greeting and eating! You are urged to attend this important event in the ministry of our church.

Work is coming along very nicely on the new roof building on the fellowship hall. This will be a nice addition to the appearance of the building, plus it will stop the frequent rain leaks we have been having in the building.

As for the covered walkways, the new cement walkway between the church building and the educational building is in, and now we are waiting for the installation of the covered walkway. Soon you will be able to go from building to building and stay out of the rain. There will be a drive-in arrangement also so that a car can drive under the covered walkway and discharge passengers out of the rain.

We do praise the Lord for all that He is doing for the First Baptist Church and the church family.

REVIVAL REPORT

Just a brief note to share with all that the Drawing People to Jesus revival was a great four days of renewal for many of us. Rev. Dan Gardner, and his wife Judy, brought a powerful word picture and also an artistic picture to our meetings and it was outstanding. We had a number of our church family and friends who responded to the public invitation, and I believe that many hearts and lives were touched. I do heartily recommend Bro. Gardner to any church group that is seeking something different.Check out his web page at www.drawingpeopletojesus.com for his schedule and look at some of the pictures he has drawn.

WELCOME TO OUR NEW MINISTER OF YOUTH!

It is our joy and privilege to announce that the Reverend Donald P. “Donny” Royster will be added to our church staff beginning on June 1. Donny will be the new Minister of Children and Youth, and will be working in this area full-time.

He has stated that his desire is “to develop and lead a well-organized, high energy, exciting, growing educational program for children and youth at a large church. He offers maturity to lead, yet young enough to get on the floor with the kids, enthusiasm, and modern training to bring about a relevant and cutting edge program.”

Donny has been the bi-vocational pastor of nearby Fellowship Baptist Church for the past eight years, and served the First Baptist Church of Cope for four years prior to that. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, and Columbia Biblical Seminary and Graduate School of Missions and has a Master’s degree in Christian Education. His most recent position was on the teaching/administrative staff at the Seminary.

Donny is the son of Rev. and Mrs. Donald R. Royster, and is retired from the US Navy as a Master Chief Petty Officer after 21 years of active service. For most of his early years, he was active in his dad’s churches, working in a number of positions, and while in the Navy was active in the chaplain program.

He and his wife Sondra, live in the Pine Hill community.
Sondra is a teacher in the Edisto Primary School, and has a Master’s Degree in early childhood education. They have two children, Michelle and Rebecca, both of whom live in Cope, and have three grandchildren.

Please add them to your personal prayer list that the Lord may bless our church with Donny’s faithful leadership in the years to come.

A PERSONAL NOTE: As a proud parent, I am thankful and excited about the opportunity to work with my eldest son on the staff here at FBC. What a rich blessing that promises to be.

REVIVAL

Spring means REVIVAL....and it is here, along with Mother's Day! Sunday morning, May 8, we will recognize our mothers in the morning worship service,we will dedicate three babies, and then start our revival in the evening service. The revival will extend each evening from Sunday through Wednesday, with Rev. Dan Gardner, chalk artist and evangelist as our speaker. We are looking forward to having a great time, and urge you to attend if you can, and bring some friends. Casual dress, informal services, and good fellowship.

We are getting ready to begin our Old Testament listening to the Word. The plan is to get all our tapes or CDs ready, and start listening to the entire Old Testament on Father's Day, going through Christmas Day. Six months of listening, at 20 minutes each day will do it. Sounds like a lot, but ask those who did the New Testament for 28 minutes a day how easy it is, and what a blessing it is. If you are not a part of our church family, but would like to participate with us, let me know. Reember, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing the Word of God. More on this later.

I have been asked to return to a former church on Sunday morning, May 15, for their annual Senior Adult Sunday. What a blessing it is to go back to my former churches and meet with old friends once again. I served as pastor of the Bethany Baptist Church for nearly nine years, and it does seem as if we are going home again. The only thing is that for those years I had the duty of asking old ministers to come and speak, and now I am one of the old ministers!! Time has a way of marching on, doesn't it? I used to be one of the youngest men in the church, and now I am one of the oldest. What happened? All my friends sure do look old now these days. Oh well, God is so good to allow us to live these many years we have.

I notice that a few folks check into this blog each day, according to the counter, and I do appreciate them coming by and checking out these ramblings. We are just trying to make our presence known by this blog, and hopefully to keep our church family computer users informed about church activities.

Pray for us....

Spring means busy around North FBC

Yes, spring does mean we begin to get busy around our church. Summer plans are being made for Vacation Bible School, children's activities, Youth trips, a revival meeting in early May, and just so much to do with so little time to do it!
Well, not that busy, but it is keeping us going.

We are in the interview process of seeking a Minister of Music and Youth, as you know from reading the past posts on this page. We have had a large number of applications, but so many have failed to respond to our emails and phone calls. Nevertheless, we have had successful interviews with some good prospects, and we are waiting for the Lord to direct the right one to us, and us to him/her.

Our church directory is in the final production process, and we should have the completed Directory back within the next few months. I do appreciate all who took time to get their photos taken, and for those who helped in the directory program.

A special thanks also to those who participated in the Faith Cometh by Hearing program which we completed on Easter Sunday. We are blessed that a good number of our people committed to listening to the New Testament for 28 minutes a day for 40 days. BUT NOW....soon I will be asking you to listen to the Old Testament! I don't have the details yet, but this promises to be a great time of Bible Listening as you hear the Word of God spoken by the outstanding narrators on these tapes. And for those who choose the dramatic versions, it is just like being on the scene in Bible times. Will have more details later.

In our services this next Sunday, May 1, we will have a Gideon speaker in the morning service, and I will be speaking for the evening. Our pastor will be away that weekend performing a wedding for former church members.

REVIVAL: On Mother's Day evening at 7 PM, we will begin a three day revival with a bit of a different method of preaching the Gospel. We will have Rev. Dan Gardner, a chalk artist, who will be speaking and drawing. Using colored chalk on a large chalkboard, and using blacklighting techniques, the message is presented in a powerful way. Please plan on coming, bring some friends, and enjoying this time of revival. May 8-11 at 7 PM each evening.

ANOTHER HAPPY EASTER AT NORTH FBC

What a great day for the Lord! Though it was raining very heavily, windy and cold, we had a wonderful time of Easter Sunrise services, followed by a very filling breakfast, and then by our Sunday school classes, and finished up with a powerful Easter message from our pastor. The fellowship of several different churches and the sharing around the tables gave us all a sense of Christian love and fellowship. It is especially wonderful to see the little children and how they enjoy being with all these people.
Our worship services were filled and all were stirred by the moving of the Holy Spirit as Mr.Will Richardson responded to the invitation by receiving Christ as his Savior, and asking to be baptized and become a member of the church. Of course the vote to accept Will was unanimous.
Reminder:Next Sunday, April 3rd, will be the time change as we set our clocks ahead one hour before going to bed on Saturday night. Please do this, or you will be late for the morning activities. Also, our evening service times will revert to the summer schedule, as we begin Discipleship Training at 6 PM, and evening worship services at 7 PM. The days are getting longer, and we are rapidly approaching the long daylight of summer.
Please remember to pray for me as I go to Fellowship Baptist Church for both services next Sunday. As you know, my oldest son, Donny, is pastor there, and he and his wife are taking a weekend off to travel to Florida, so he has asked Daddy to preach for him, which I am always happy to do. The Fellowship family is a sweet group of people that I was privileged to work with for about six months a few years ago.
So, that is all for now. Thanks for reading these ramblings, and please pray for our church at North First Baptist.
God bless,
Bro. Don

SPRING HAS SPRUNG AND ALL IS WELL!

Well, it was a beautiful day last Sunday, the first day of spring, and we had a great time of fellowship, Bible teaching and preaching, and just being together. There is something wonderful in Christian fellowship. I cannot imagine how much greater it will be in heaven when all this is over.
Now we are looking ahead to Easter Sunday, with the sunrise service, a fellowship breakfast, then the regular services moved up one hour. Remember, Sunrise service at 7:00 AM with Rev. Sam Warwick as guest speaker, breakfast to follow, and then at 9:00 AM we will go to Sunday school, followed at 10:00 AM by the morning worship hour. And, there will be NO evening services on Sunday night, so that you can enjoy being with your family and friends that afternoon. Sounds like a great day, huh?

The 40 Days of Faith cometh by Hearing listening finishes up this Easter Sunday. I am so proud of all who participated in listening to the New Testament Bible tapes for at least 28 minutes each day for 40 days. I have heard nothing but good reports from many who did this program, and I know they have been blessed by hearing the Word of God. Some time later on we will challenge you to listen to the Old Testament for a period of time. And, if you would like to go back to the beginning of the New Testament tapes and do it all over again, you will certainly be blessed. Consider it "spiritual" exercise for the soul.

Time changes the first Sunday in April, the 3rd, and since it is the spring of the year, you must "spring" your clocks and watches ahead one hour before going to bed on Saturday night, April 2nd. Here is where we lose that hour we gained last fall!
Don't forget to do this, or your Sunday morning schedule will be dramatically altered.
Prayer needs are many in our church family. Don't fail to pray daily for the situations that surround us each day. There are so many needs, so many to help, and about all that most of us can do is pray. You would be surprised at the number of calls and visits we receive at the church office each day from people hunting for financial help. It burdens our hearts to turn them away, but that is all that we can do, that and prayer.

We are still searching for a minister of music and youth, and a summer youth worker.Keep on praying that the Lord will send us the right person soon.

Remember that you are loved....God loves you, and so do I...
Bro. Don

Finally, A picture inserted!

Well, after trying for a good while, I finally got a picture inserted in the blog. The picture is of me, in the center, left is eldest son, Donny, pastor of Fellowship Baptist in North, and on the right is David, my youngest son, who is pastor of the Double Branch Baptist church in Orangeburg. The Lord has blessed us in His work, and I also have my daughter, Susan, who is a teacher in Fairfax, SC. Now that I can do this, I will begin to add church pictures from time to time.Stay tuned! Also, check out the attack cat.
Bro. Don