Independence Day

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? 

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.  Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. 

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. 

 What kind of men were they

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

• Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his Ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. 

• Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward. 

• Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. 

• At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. 

• Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. 

• John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

  Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and thank God these patriots and our freedom in this nation.  It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!

Big Tour 2009

June 27th - July 3rd - Rick and Robin R co-lead a team of soon to be 10th graders to Solola, Guatemala on a mission trip. Rick and Robin have been small group leaders for this group of young men for the past 4 years. Our mission included:

• A Pastors Conference for 21 pastors with Robin R, Spencer M, Tom M and Paul R sharing the sermon series, LifeBlood

• Rock the Block with the pastors children and other from the orphanage during the conference.

• Precept Study Bibles, Holman Bible Dictionaries and How to Study the Bible books were given to each Pastor.

• Tyler N and Austin B shared their testimonies at the Pastors Conference.

• Tyler N and Crawford R shared their testimonies with the Church on Sunday morning.

• Rafael Tellez School - 100 bottles of tempra paint was provided for the classrooms

• 60 pair of rubber boot for boys were given away

• Rafael Tellez School - 6 Toilets were repaired or replaced at the school.

• Four Onil stoves installed in local homes. The homes to receive stoves were selected by the teachers at the school.

• Rafael Tellez school kitchen was cleaned out, painted, new shelving, and put back together

• Roof, window frames, screen, door and chicken boxes were completed for Chicken Coup II

• National Hospital in Solola, Guatemala - 360,000 doses of antibiotic was given to hospital as well as visitation and prayer with many patients.

How glorious it is to be able to share Christ with the Nations! Our Father in heaven get all of the Glory - great things He hath done!

Scatter Seed

We plough the fields and scatter

the good seed on the land

But it is fed and watered

by God's almighty hand

He sends the snow in winter,

the warmth to swell the grain

The breezes and the sunshine

and soft refreshing rain

All good gifts around us

are sent from heaven above

He is our only Maker,

O thank You Lord for love

The winds and waves obey Him

By Him the birds are fed

Much more to us, His children

He gives our daily bread

We thank Thee, then, O Father

For all things bright and good

The seedtime and the harvest

Our life, our health, our food

No gifts have we to offer

For all Thy love imparts

But that which Thou desires

Our humble, thankful hearts

360

Rick and I are so humbled to have been selected by the board of ThreeSixty Ministries to become the houseparent's for the inaugural class. The house that God provided for us in 2004 will become the home of four young men entering college at Jefferson State in August of 2009. Thank you Father for allowing us to be part of Your plan as we share Christ with the Nations.

To Please GOD

From James MacDonald

Who You Are

You ought to live . . . to please God . . . For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:1-3

As a pastor, I often hear questions about God's will. "What does God want me to do?" is the most common, but there are others: "Where does God want me to live?" "Who does God want me to marry?" "What job does God want me to take?"

This may come as a surprise to you, but the Bible doesn't spend any time on that stuff. God's focus isn't so much on the externals; He wants to change the inner you.

God's will is 98 percent about who you are. Need evidence? Check out 1 Thessalonians 4:1-3: "You ought to live . . . to please God. . . . For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification."

The word "sanctification" comes from a root word that means "to make holy." Sanctification is the process by which God takes sinful people and makes them holy. Holy is a great word; it means "set apart" or "distinct." It means "different from the sinful world around us." It means being like God.

Next time you are struggling to know what God could be doing, just say to yourself, "He's changing me," and you'll be right. Next time disappointments or heartaches come, try to recognize that God Himself is holding the hammer and chisel.

But why? Here's the hard truth that sets people free: God does not exist to fulfill our purposes; we exist to fulfill His purposes. You and I are here because God wants to demonstrate His power and splendor through our lives, and if you realize that you are not doing that very well, then you truly understand why He wants to change you. He wants to get you to the place where no matter what happens to you or what you go through, you trust Him and follow Him and are committed wholly to His goodness. And so He's coming after you, and He's trying to change you. Let Him do His work in you, and watch Him display His awesomeness through you.

Car Wash James

James is a homeless man who lives in downtown Birmingham. He is the kindest street person I have ever met with a great personality. James' favorite question is, "how is your pocketbook today". James has been homeless for years and years. He says he has a college education from up north and he ended up in Birmingham with the circus. What? Yes, he worked as an animal trainer/cleaner for Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus. James cleans cars during the warmer months for money. He carries his buckets, soap, tire shine, and rags with him all day, hoping that someone will let him wash their car.

Today, James stopped me and wanted to know if I could get him some tire shine and car wash stuff. Sure, I left downtown and traveled south looking for a Dollar Tree or Dollar General for some cleaning supplies. I exited the 21st street exit, came to a complete stop, nothing coming, turned right on red and the car behind me did the same thing. All of a sudden a policeman is speeding up beside me on a two way street. I slowed but didn't pull over. Of course, your mind is running through a list of things like; tag expired, speeding, light out, red light, etc.

Yes, I got a ticket for turning right on red at an intersection where this was prohibited. I waited months before it was entered into the Birmingham system (i was hoping maybe he torn up the ticket). Six weeks later there is not record of my ticket. I went to court - no ticket recorded. Courts told me to come back in another month. This is crazy. Yep, my ticket was 153.00 and because I didn't pay it within 10 days from the day it was posted, I was fined a penalty of 26.00. I had cash money to pay 153.o0, but not 189.00. I left courthouse and went back the next day after getting additional cash from the bank. Another penalty had been added in the amount of 10.00. 199.00 for turning right on red...... and James did NOT get his car wash supplies. I am pretty upset that I let this upset me enough that I didn't follow through with helping this homeless man.

Sponsored Students

Spencer and Wesley sponsored one child each in Guatemala. They are so precious. Rick and I had the opportunity to meet Rebecca and Donis (Donald) and their mother, Emilia while we were there. Their father [husband] was killed in a hunting accident last November - He feel off a cliff to his death. Mom and the children have been traumatized by the whole ordeal, but as Christians, they know that God is with them every step of the way and He is in control of all things.

Donis Israel Yax Balux

Primer grado

Fecha de nacimiento 12/3/2002 (March 12)

Edad 6 años

Madre Emilia Floridalma Balux García Padre fallecido en el 2007

Yoselyn Rebeca Estefania Yax Balux
Tercer grado
Fecha de nacimiento 11/12/99 (December 11)
Edad 9 años
Madre Emilia Floridalma Balux García

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Pinecone

Everyday we live and breathe on this earth we learn something. I learned today that Pinecone was very angry. I learned that my Sudanese children (Snowman and Manga) have lived their whole life with persecution - mostly for being a Christian in their country, but they take persecution only to God. They do not retaliate like most of us in America. They take their differences to the Lord in prayer, obeying whatever commands they are given by mortal man. They usually do not argue or tell their side of the story. Pinecone was evidently having a bad day. At the first phone call of "where are you"? until the arrival on the job, he spoke his opinion, thoughts, and commands to our Christian brothers in a harse and unloving way.

When I called this evening to check on my students - one was crying and crushed, one was dismayed and praying.

Here is the story as I understand - I do realize that I only have one side of this story and there are always two:
When snowman and manga arrived back at their dorm this past Sunday from Birmingham - there phone was not working. They called SS to report the problem. One of their friends in the dorm told them that he could fix the problem with the phone and made plans to come over in the evening. Snowman went to church with a friend, while Manga stayed home to study. The friend came to help work on the phone and they used the phone once it was operational. Class began the next morning at 8am - they left for breakfast at 7:30 - class ends at 9:15 - Snowman arrives back in dorm room around 9:25 - Andrew is still in class working with the teacher - Snowman does not know what time they are to leave for work, so he placed a call to Pinecone - no answer - Snowman is changing clothes - the phone rings - Pinecone wants to know where they are - He is waiting outside and has been for 20 minutes. Snowman rushes to the car - get in backseat - Where is Manga? - He is still in class - GO get him NOW (with finger pointed in face) - Snowman gets out of car and walks to classroom - Manga is still talking with teacher - Snowman urgently tells Manga come, come - Namlley is waiting. Manga rushes out the door - Both return to back seat of car - Namlley begins to tell them: they are irresponsible - they do not want to work for their education - he is paying alot of money for them - they are unappreciative - Stephen was the only one who deserves an education - they are NOT going to be blessed by the Lord - all they care about is their families back home - they do not work hard enough - they do not follow instructions - they do not finish a job started - they are not studying well - S4S is doing them a favor - they used his telephone in the apt - he will send them back to Sudan and they will never ever get another opportunity for a good education - this list goes on and on and on. He was angry because they hadn't checked their email at 7am for his message - he was angry because their phone was busy the night before (it was broken and being worked on).

As I am really crazy upset about this conversation - Snowman and Manga begin to fast and pray for God to show them what to do. They both very confidently tell me that God brought them here for school and he will provide it or maybe take them home to Sudan - but whatever God wants them to do is OK. I am amazed by their faith and they are great examples of how all of us should live each day for Christ!

Article by Rick Warren

Here's a great interview with Rick Warren.

He wrote the Purpose Driven Life

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren,
'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life?
And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity.

We were not made to last forever and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity.

This is the warm-up act-the dress rehearsal..

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.
We were made by God and for God and until you figure that out -life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort;

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life.

The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest,

with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth.. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track,

and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life,

there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life,

there is always something good you can thank God for..
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,

which is my problem, my issues, my pain.'

But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself

and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people,

God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character,

given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony,

drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder.

For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies,

it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before.

I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease..
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence.

He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do,

II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit..

We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church,

and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism?
Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better.

God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list.

He's more interested in what I am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings..
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

There are so many people who are hurting, seeking, and desperately searching for life.

Daniel Willingham - 19 yrs old, Vestavian - lays in a coma on life support at UAB after a heroin overdose and his mother sits and waits to see him every four hours hoping he will take one more breathe.

Mr. McGill's son - a Montevallo student - was still in a coma and unstable after 8 hours in the emergency room at Shelby Baptist this morning from a drug overdose.

Sue Tatum's family removed her life support today - she has been in a coma since a boating accident on Lake Martin on August 9th, 2008.

There are so many trials in this life - We must live each day for Jesus!

Seek, Show, Share and Serve HIM!

Thank you Jesus for every moment of life, my mate and my family!

Six Stoves Installed

Ron sent an email today - Pastor Neri says he has 6 estufas installed, six to go. He says the ones left to be installed are in our neighborhood and they are waiting for the road to open(end of February). Here are some pictures he shared of two installations. Thank you Jesus for providing these stoves for Guatemala.