Monday, January 30, 2012

BPBC / Jones family update 1-30-12

It has been a very busy couple of weeks at Bryant Pond Baptist Church! It is a blessing to be busy in the work of the Lord! As the video below attests to, we had a very fun youth ministry event on Saturday the 21st. We had a good time of games, Bible jeopardy, eating and of course preaching of the Word of God. All in attendance had a very good time. We were very happy with the results, and I believe the Lord was pleased.
That next morning the devil began working. He managed to freeze our well that feeds the church and the parsonage. We had power but no water to either building. This resulted in the difficult decision to cancel services. I worked outside in the -10 degree temperatures to see what could be done about the well, but it was beyond my knowledge. This same morning we also lost heat to half of the parsonage / prophets chamber. The Lord was working at BPBC and the devil was not happy.
Early Monday all the problems were fixed with minimal charges (praise the Lord!) We are very happy that our well pump was fine, as well as our heater. As it turns out we had multiple members that had their water freeze that same morning. I guess that's what -20 at night (not counting the wind chill) will do.
I set in my mind that I wanted to give the devil a black eye for the rest of the week, and the rest of my life. Paula and I had the opportunity to do just that on Monday as we led my 88 year old great aunt to the Lord. She had "the faith" but did not know for sure she was on her way to heaven. She said she was baptized, but when I read her the Bible to show her why we need salvation and what it takes to be saved, she bowed her head and trusted Christ! Hallelujah! The Gospel of Jesus Christ still works!
Tuesday night I had the pleasure of attending my first class of the semester at Heritage Baptist Bible College. "Bible Doctrines 2" covers the doctrine of Jesus Christ and the doctrine of the Holy Ghost. What awesome topics! It is great to see all my classmates.
Saturday we had our first ladies ministry event. My wife was nervous, but from all reports it went very well. Paula has already started working on the next event, Saturday the 25th of Feb.
Sunday services this week were very uplifting. The Lord gave me a hard message on Sunday morning, but it was truly received very well and the Lord helped many a folk. I preached out of Ezekiel 8 and 9, with the key point being in verses 4 and 5 of chapter nine. Would I have the mark or would I have been slain. Tough stuff that causes us to look inward. I was very convicted.
We had a great evening service as well.
We have also been busy visiting many folks in our nursing homes and at their homes. It is great to get to know these precious people.

Sunday night I received an email from the First Baptist Church of Cape May, NJ inviting me to preach there on June 3. They are celebrating their 300th anniversary this year and it just so happens that my great (six times) grandfather, Nathaniel Jenkins, was their first pastor. This is something to look forward to.

I guess that is all for now. Thank you all for your prayers. We love you all!

Browns to Montana