It Is Natural To Pray

Amanda's mother is still in the hospital and had a pretty bad seizure yesterday. They decided to do a CT on her this morning. We haven't heard back from them on that yet, but Amanda and her sister decided to stay with their mother at the hospital last night. They got about an hour and a half of sleep, but Amanda said she wouldn't trade that time for anything in the world. They just had a slumber party together. Since she stayed there and her husband had to be at work early this morning, I kept the girls for her. If Bruce is anywhere in the house, Carissa will be wanting to be with him. So when he's on the couch, she's happiest snuggled up next to him.


Celine is happy all the time. She was so excited to find out she was spending the night. She told Kelly Turner, from church, "Pray for my mommy, her eyes are so red."


T-R-O-U-B-L-E


Now tell me, is this a peaceful picture or what? Like I said, she's happiest snuggled up next to Brother Bruce.

Last night's revival service with Brother Beckum was on why it is natural for a Christian to pray. So here are those notes.

1. Galatians 4:6 "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father."

It is natural for a Christian to pray because the Holy Ghost dwells within. If you don't have a desire to pray, the Holy Spirit does not live in you, and if the Holy Spirit is not in you, you are not saved. Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." You might say you don't pray because you don't know how. But the Spirit helps our infirmities. When we don't know what to pray, He does.

2. Luke 9:23 "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Not yearly, monthly, or weekly. But daily. It's natural for a Christian to pray because we follow God. We need to swallow our pride and deny ourselves. We need to repent and PRAY! I John 2:6 "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." Jesus preached. Jesus was a soul winner. Jesus was a teacher. But Jesus also prayed. If we're going to walk with Him, we must pray like Him.

I John 2:4 "He that saith, I know him and keepth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." We are commanded to pray. If you're not praying, you're not keeping His commandments. If you're not keeping His commandments, you're a liar. John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:" The church is hearing His voice, but we're not following it. If you're not following it, you're in rebellion. There are goats in the sheepfold. Are you a stubborn goat or a humble sheep? Are you following Christ in prayer? When we follow Him, we want Him to teach us to pray. Hebrews 7:25 "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Christ lives to pray for us. He prays for us continually.

3. It's natural to pray because we love the Lord. John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments." You say you love God, but do you really? John 14:21 "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him." If you don't keep the commandments, you don't love God. Are you keeping the commandments or just bringing them to church? Where in the Bible are we commanded to pray?

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Matthew 6:6 "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Matthew 6:9 "After this manner therefore pray ye:

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Luke 18:1 "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;"

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Ephesians 6:18 "Praying ALWAYS with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

I Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing."

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

I Timothy 2:8 "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting."

The Sin of Prayerlessness

I'm going to share my notes from our Prayer Revival, but I wanted to tell you about our visit with Uncle Tommy today.

Uncle Tommy missed our family reunion yesterday because he was in the hospital for a procedure he had done recently. Uncle Tommy is hilarious. He has such a sense of humor and we enjoyed our visit with him, although he was sick on his stomach.


Anytime you get around Uncle Tommy, there's a guarantee for laughter. Those poor nurses don't know what to think of him, I'm sure.


And he's always up for a hug! We love him bunches and are praying he gets to come home soon.


After visiting Uncle Tommy, we went to another floor to visit Celine and Carissa's grandmother. Amanda was there with her sister-in-law. She was so tired. Bless her heart. Her mother has been dealing with cancer and the doctors told the family today that there is nothing more they can do. They just want to make her comfortable. Please remember this family in your prayers if they cross your mind. They're really going to need those prayers in the days to come. Mrs. Wanda is on her way to Heaven. We can praise the Lord for that. But the family being left behind is bearing a heavy burden.

We began our third service of the Prayer Revival with Brother Benny Beckum.

He really knows his Bible on prayer. It's amazing what he'll point out in verses you've probably read a hundred times. Anyway, here are tonights notes:

I Samuel 12:19-23 "And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king. And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain."

James 4:17 "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

It is a sin not to pray. It is this sin that is destroying our churches, our homes, and our lives.

Our churches are doing everything but praying. We have numerous ministries, but we're not praying. A church, a home, and a nation without prayer will be weak, regardless of how many outreach ministries they have. When you neglect the very thing that is the most important thing, you have no strength. Prayerlessness is a sin against our fellow man.

You cannot be an effective soul winner, Pastor, Sunday school teacher, etc, without a prayer life.

I Timothy 2:1 "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men: For kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godlines and honesty."

We are to pray for our leaders. It's a sin not to.

Pray for the unsaved. We are not commanded to pray for them, but it is God's desire that we pray for them. Romans 10:1 "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." Do you believe in Hell? When is the last time you prayed for someone going there?

Pray for other Christians. Ephesians 1:17-19 "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power." It's OK to pray the Scripture for your church and other Christians. What better words to pray?

Ephesians 3:14-17 "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole familiy in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye being rooted and grounded in love." Are you rooted and grounded in love? Let go of bitterness. You cannot have a prayer life if you are harboring bitterness.

Brother Beckham was saying that in every church he goes into, he'll read the church covenant, which is usually hanging on a wall where anyone can read it. He'll go through all the "dos and don'ts" of the covenant and it's "do this, do that" and "don't do this, don't do that" but no where on that covenant does it say you must pray. Pastors are telling their choir members that they can't sing if they have a one inch split in their skirt. They can't teach Sunday school if they go to movie theaters. They can't work a bus route if they don't have hair cut above the ears. They are church disciplining members for living in open sin, but the sin of prayerlessness is evident in "good members" lives and yet no discipline is taking place.

Something to think about, huh?

Family Reunion

Now, don't let your jaw drop when I tell you this, but I only have one picture to share from our family reunion today. I thought it wasn't over until 4:00, but people were leaving at 2:30 and I knew I had better get at least a group pic. So about 40 people are in this one, but several had already left and some hadn't even gotten there yet. You know who you are!


It's always good to see family and fellowship for a while. We missed Aunt Bertha, of course. And we missed Aunt Marcel and Uncle Tommy. Uncle Tommy is in the hospital right now. Lord willing, Bruce and I will be going up to see him in the morning sometime with my mother-in-law.

We started our prayer revival with Brother Benny Beckum today. He'll be here through Thursday. We're looking forward to hearing more from him in the coming days.

This morning he preached on leaving our first love, which of course, is Jesus Christ, and what we lose in our prayer life when we leave our first love.

Revelation 2:1-4
"Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things saith he that holdest the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love."

When we leave our first love,
I. We lose our prayer life
Having standards does not mean you love God. It's a good testimony, but it's what is on the inside that God sees to be truth. Just because you have good standards doesn't mean you are in love with God. When you leave your first love, your prayer life will suffer and more than likely become nonexistent.

II. We lose our Christian Joy.
When you leave your first love, you lose the joy in serving the Lord. Service becomes a chore instead of a pleasure. Is it a pleasure to serve the Lord?

III. We lose our interest in the work of God.
You may be busy in the bus ministry, the rest home ministry, regular visitation, teaching Sunday school, etc. But if you don't have a regular prayer life, praying for those ministries and for those involved in those ministries, you don't have an interest in those works of God.

IV. We lose our burden for souls.
How long has it been since you've prayed for lost souls. Family, friends, people you don't know, people you haven't even met yet? When was the last time you touched the throne of God for someone who is dangling over Hell?

And when we leave our first love, the world will creep in and destroy you. You can not have sweet fellowship with God if you don't have a consistent prayer life.

SIGMA OUTING

Tonight our youth group was invited to the Parker home for an outing. We had such a wonderful time and I was so glad we had a good turn out. I think the kids had a great time. I know my kids did.

Jesse


Evan....that's me in his glasses. :)


Mrs. Michelle


The girls rode on the trailor down to where we were having our outing. Justin got to ride too, because one of the boys tripped him and he messed up his knee....again. He has pretty weak knees. Bless his heart. We had just got to the farm and it happened. So he was in pain most of the evening.

He was faking this smile.

Hannah and Jesse had fun on the swings.

We had a pumpkin carving contest. They were each given a pumpkin and some tools. Surprisingly, no one cut their fingers off.

Monica eating raw pumpkin. EWWWW!!

Justin

Katherine

Parker, in front, decided he was carving a pumpkin on his pumpkin. OK?

Justin C has the "ewww" look on his face. LOL

Crystal and Elizabeth

Evan in front, Dustin and Ricky in the back.

Dustin and Ricky

Michael and Garrett

Bruce by the tractor

LeAnna after the doughnut eating contest

There were three team members on each team. Two members held a string with a doughnut on it while the third member had to eat it without touching it. Jeremy kept wanting to touch his doughnut.

Evan did a great job getting his doughnut.

While the kids were doing their contests, Brother Jeff and Brother Chris were cookin' up the grub of hamburgers and hot dogs.

Mrs. Dana serving drinks to the hungry mob.

hungry mob!

Mrs. Carolyn Parker and Brother Jeff were judging the pumpkins.

After we ate, we had a time of devotions and singing

Then we broke into prayer groups

After devotions and prayer, we had a pie eating contest.

There were several pies to choose from...pecan, pumpkin, cherry, and apple. Brother RJ counted down and they were off!

I'm proud to say that my Justin, who has been practicing for this event all of his life, won the pie eating contest. Way to go, Justin....you did your dad and me proud!

Brother RJ announced the winners of the pumpkin carvings. Jamie C won with his carving of a cat. It was really good. He won a $20 gift card to Wal Mart. Congratulations, Jamie!

Michael won second place with a $10 gift card. Congratulations, Michael!

A great big THANK YOU to Mrs. Carolyn and her husband, Hoot, for opening up their land to us. We had a blast and hope to do it again sometime.

This video is for all you cat owners. This is our Harley at 4:30 AM.

:)

Coincidence?

A couple of weeks ago, our church was told about Brother Cohen, director of our Rest Home ministry, having cancer. We were all sad to hear that news.

This Sunday night, Brother Cohen stood up and said that it didn't matter what happened, he was going to praise God through it all. Several men in our church gathered around to pray for him at the alter and Pastor Goodman looked at Brother Ken and Brother RJ and said, "It wouldn't surprise me one bit if they just prayed that cancer right out of his body." He said you could feel the Holy Spirit all around them.

Well, tonight at church, Pastor announced and Brother Cohen testified that when he had gone to see his surgeon Monday afternoon, there was no cancer to be found.

Coincidence? I think not!

Brother Cohen said he shouted all the way home while his wife continually had to say, "Keep your eyes on the road, John!" LOL

Praise the Lord for His hands of healing!!!

"Heal me, Oh LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved:
for thou art my praise."
Jeremiah 17:14

New

I have several new recipes posted. A couple of them will be good for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. So check 'em out!
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Rain, Rain, Go Away.....

NO! What is it about the rain that beckons a child to play outside in it?

Hannah and Harrison are happy and content to be running and playing in the rain today. Why, you'd think it was Christmas out there! I remember our mother allowing us to play in the rain too. We always had fun. Until it started thundering and lightening. Then we'd head straight for the house!

The rain is a blessing. We've desperately needed it in these parts.

While Hannah and Harrison play, Bruce and Justin are on the porch playing guitars together. Right now, they're playing That's Him. One of my favorites. I love that one.

Bruce is playing a guitar he's fixing for Justin C, a young man in our church. It looks completed, but he's going to hold on to it a couple of days to see if it'll keep tune. The guitar was in REALLY bad shape. Bruce pretty well had to take it apart and remake it. He was able to use original parts, but there was a lot of work that needed to be done to them before putting it back together. But it looks great. You can't even tell how bad of shape it was in. I think Justin C will be happy with it.

Our kitty is going crazy trying to get outside with everybody. Poor thing. I should probably just throw him out there, but I don't think he would appreciate me throwing him in the rain. Then again, if he doesn't quit clawing and climbing over me to get to the window, I might just do it anyway.


ETA: This is not my kitty, but it was a cute pic of a wet cat. So.......:)

Bruce and I went to a local pawn shop today that he likes to frequent. Mainly because he has a childhood friend that works there. Anyway, his friend's dad (Big John) was there and we stood around telling jokes for a bit.

Big John asked if I had heard the Love Story. I told him no and so he told it to me.

Once upon a time there was a man that asked his love to marry him.
She told him no.
He lived happily ever after.


Oh, come on ladies.....you thought it was funny too!

Daddy called this evening and asked me to join he and mom for supper at Swooger's, which is a local owned ice cream parlor. So we enjoyed a spaghetti dinner and of course a few laughs. Please don't ask me to tell you what we laughed about because my mother couldn't handle it again. Anyway, we had fun.

After we ate, daddy and I walked down to the Dollar General to look around while mother went home since her legs were tired from working all day....so we THOUGHT she went home.

After 15 or 20 minutes, daddy and I said our goodbyes and parted. I went one way, he went another. Just as daddy got home, his cell phone rang.

"Hello?"
"Larry? Where are you?"
"Well, I'm at home....where are you?"
"I'm still in the parking lot. I was going to follow you home."

Bless her heart. Mom was going to follow daddy home, but somehow missed seeing both of us pull out of the parking lot. I have no idea how she managed that.

They celebrated their forty-second anniversary yesterday. Isn't that wonderful? They say the divorce rate is going down, but that's because people aren't getting married. They're just playing house. I'm so thankful my parents have been true to their vows and true to each other all these years. The secret ingredient really isn't a secret. They'll be the first to tell you that only the Lord has kept them from killing each other. LOL Seriously though, Christ has helped them build their home and I'm so glad I've been a part of that home. I pray they will have many more happy years together.

When I got home, I changed clothes and headed to the funeral home. Sadly, some church members had a grandchild to pass away at just 12 days old. Little Jacob was born a fighter, weighing just barely over a pound. He fought a good fight, but just couldn't fight any more. Please pray for his heartbroken parents, the grandparents, and the extended family. They'll need a touch from Heaven in the days and weeks to come.

Fall Festival and Rest Home Ministry

Saturday, our youth group worked our Fall Festival for the bus kids. They had such a fun time!
I don't know the girl's name on the left, but she came with LeAnna (on the right) and helped us with the festival. Kendra was our clown passing out balloons.


Hanging around waiting for the bus kids to arrive.


Brother RJ and Mrs. Liz reprimanding Mark. Just kidding...


Mrs. Liz and Brother RJ....finest youth Pastor and wife in these parts!

We had hair coloring and face paintings.....

A place to do sand art......

Clayton filled the balloons and tied them to the bucket. Next thing we knew, the bucket was in the air.....whoda thunk it?

And here come the bus kids! Ready for games, candy, and hayrides.

At this station, the children had the opportunity of milking a cow.

They also threw a bean bag into apple baskets.

And who can't resist a game of PLINKO!!!!

I don't know what this game is called, but they seemed to enjoy it.

Not to mention the bouncy thingy.

See how many bottles you can knock down.

Cork shooting

Balloon Darts

Hannah painting Celine's face. She wanted to be a kitty cat.

I believe the sand art was the most popular table

Horseshoe Throw!

Katherine painting hair

Photo shot with Celine, Mrs. Janet, Mrs. Amy, and Mrs. Marla under the candy apple, cotton candy, and popcorn tent.

Pastor Goodman and Mrs. Ava. We were all happy to see Pastor come in. He just returned from preaching in the Philippines where over 500 souls were saved. Praise the Lord! We'll be watching his video presentation this Wednesday night. Can't wait!

Fall Festival ended for the bus kids and the youth were left behind, clean up, and get ready for more activities.

We ate lunch and headed outside for a game of kickball.

The little ones enjoyed time on the swings.

After a couple of hours, the kids freshened up, changed into clean clothes and we headed out to eat. Todd is beside Justin, but you can't see him. And I'm not sure what Spencer is looking at, but doesn't he look interested in that cup while Justin is talking....as usual? HA!

From left to right is Ethan, Mark (smiling) Nathan, and Tyler.

Parker in front with Clint, Clayton, and John in the back.

Dustin and Ricky couldn't wait to dig in!

From left to right...Monica, Elizabeth, and Crystal. TROUBLE LOL

From L to R...Jessica, Cassie, Hannah, and Katherine.

Clint, Clayton, and John eating a HUGE brownie sundae.

After we ate, we went to the rest home to sing.

Singing, I Remember The Day.

The residents lit up like Christmas trees to see the youth walk in. They really enjoyed the service. The room was filled with standing room left. I believe there were about 75 people there.

Sons Of Faith sang. This was the first time Justin and Mark played guitars for their group and they did really good.

The time spent at the rest home was so precious. There were some of our kids that didn't make it that night. I hope they make it next time.

Sunday afternoon, we opened the fall festival to our church kids. Bruce just HAD to play the Horseshoe Throw. He was disappointed when they wouldn't give him candy though.

Again, the sand art was a popular table!

Brother Allison and his grandson, Titus. Brother Allison is a brother to a sweet little lady we went to church with at our former church. He and his wife are ALWAYS a blessing to be around.

Little Emily was having fun at the ring toss.

As you can see, the little ones can't hold on to their balloons unless they're tied to the wrist.

It was a nice weekend and we had a great time. Hope your weekend was a good one too.