We've been "pounded"!

What a surprise! Our blessed Church Hill Baptist Church family "pounded" us today! In the north that would mean we got the tar beat out of us. "Pounding" is a southern term for filling the house with groceries. As the pictures above show, we now are well stocked to say the least. There was even a $100 gift card for the purchase of meat of our choice. To my Church Hill Baptist family: THANK YOU! WE LOVE YOU! To the God that called me into the ministry: I PRAISE YOUR HOLY NAME! THANK YOU! To any of you that God is speaking to about going into the ministry: let this be a lesson to you. God always, always, always, always, always, always, always (7 times, of course) takes care of his man.
Mat 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Amen! God is good, so good! We have been blessed!

Praise God, what a great Lord's Day!

I praise the Holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ! What a day he gave me today! It was fantastic. It did not start out that way, though. I awoke at 4:50 am to have some time of study and prayer. What a great way to start out the day. I was about to jump in the shower @ 7 when we lost power. Neither Paula or I had showered yet and it was approaching 8 am. At @7:15 I had texted Pastor Wiley to see if we could shower in the missions house. When he called back @ 8 we hurriedly loaded up the truck to go shower. When Paula noticed she had forgotten her blow dryer, she went back inside to retreive it. The power came back on while she was inside. She motioned for us to go back inside and then the power went off again..... only to come back on within seconds. This time it was for good. The devil had gotten an early start on me. We did get ready in time and drove off to church, happy to be showered and clean. We had a great time of study in Sunday school. When it came time to sing, I could not be more off key if I had tried. The devil was attacking my ability to sing, but we pushed through. When it came time to preach, the devil was wreaking havoc with my voice. The Lord pushed me through. I preached out of Psalm 142 on the deliverance available to us through Jesus Christ. During invitation time we had two young men (probably in their 20's) come forward to get saved. I had the pleasure to lead a man named Mark to the Lord. It was a genuine case of Holy Ghost conviction. I had noticed throughout the sermon that he seemed to be very fidgety. I wrote it off as him being bored. It was conviction. When it came time to raise hands, his shot up like a bullet. When it came time to come forward, it was as soon as I asked. There was no hesitation at all. He was ready. The other young man had trusted Christ as his saviour on Saturday but needed assurance. Wow! This is the first time that I have ever had someone come forward and get saved under my preaching. Glory to God! Now, I want to do it again and again and again and again...... you get the picture. The service tonight was also very good. I praise God for the blessings he gave me today. What a great God we serve!

Revival season!

It's summer in Maine and what does that mean? Revival season has begun. This week it is Barter's Island Baptist Church. At Barter's Island Baptist Church it is Dr. Ronnie Simpson preaching the revival. What a great service tonight! After some hearty singing we heard some good old-fashioned "hell-fire and damnation" preaching! At the close of the service, after an old-fashioned altar call (Praise God there are still churches that do altar calls!), a lady came forward and trusted Christ as her savior. The message, which was titled "When God leaves town", was the kind that made you want to go forward and get saved again. The text was John 12:31-41. In this passage the Lord Jesus Christ left them and hid himself. What a scary thought. Praise God for this preaching.

Next week it is Bible Baptist in Unity. The revival services run Sunday to Wednesday and Pastor James Wiley (my preacher!) will be preaching each service. This revival week is in preperation for the chartering service on July 11. What a blessing to see Bible Baptist in Unity charter! Bless God it excites me to see churches planted in Maine! This also means that I will have a chance to preach Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night! Praise the Lord! God is good all the time!

We are on our way to Barters Island Baptist Church! I know its going to be shoutin' good time! Praise God!

God is moving

What a great week! God is so good! We just had a very powerful mid week service tonight. How I praise the Lord for Pastor Wiley, our Man of God. He is a preacher's preacher and tonight was a very powerful message. I praise God for Church Hill Baptist Church!
I am looking forward to my second run as a Pepperidge Farm route owner. In fact, 3 am comes early so I should be sleeping instead of blogging. This route is a ministry tool for me and I praise God for it. What a blessing to meet people all the way from here to Greenville.
Well, I am looking forward also to beginning our Saturday morning visitation program. It is a joy to be able to tell others about a saviour that bled, died and rose again for them. Oh, how I wish to see souls saved through this ministry! Augusta is our Jerusalem. We need to seek and to save that which is lost. Amen.

Pictures of the tomb of George Whitfield

This is directly under the current pulpit.

Inside video of Old South Church

The Old South Church in Newburyport, MA was founded in 1742. George Whitfield preached many sermons at this church. Before his death on September 30, 1770, Whitfield asked that he be buried below the pulpit at the Old South Church. Upon his death his body was buried as he requested. In 1829 the church was remodeled and the bodies (of Whitfield and two others buried below the pulpit) were moved to their current resting spot. I will post some pictures of the tomb below the pulpit. You may ask why the big deal for a Baptist to research George Whitfield (a Congregationalist)? The reason: the Lord used Whitfield not only to lead tens of thousands of people to Christ, but to also re-awaken the churches of the colonies. With all of these hearts set ablaze, people started to dig deep into God's Word. Upon digging into God's word, many, many people were submitting to believers baptism in obedience to the Bible. Upon seeing so many non-Baptists convert to Baptist, Whitfield quipped "All my chickens have turned to ducks."