There was a special group of people that I want to recognize ... those folks who served in our Children's Worship and Extended Session. They graciously volunteered to forgo hearing Don to serve our young parents by caring for their children. Laurie, Jessica and Claudine do such a wonderful job and are such a pleasure to work with.

And what about the music/worship today? I really believe that we have the best worship week in and week out of anywhere. And it is more than just singing and playing instruments ... it is true worship where the focus is on God not the one doing the singing or playing. 

I continue to hear from people who accepted Bill Fay's challenge and shared their faith with someone. I received a text the other day that a whole family had each shared the gospel with someone this past week ... how awesome is that! Last time I looked almost two-thirds of the people who attended the Share Jesus without Fear seminar have shared the the gospel with someone over the past two weeks.

God is so good ... 

Don Piper will be speaking at First Baptist this weekend! I read his book 90 Minutes in Heaven while I was on vacation this summer. Wow! His descriptions of heaven were breathtaking. But the thing that really moved me was his account of his struggles and God's faithfulness to him since then. I hope if you are in are near Lake Charles, LA this weekend (September 6th) you will make it to one or both of our services. It is going to be amazing!

I got an email today from someone who forwarded me a link of someone who claimed to present some "facts" he had discovered from his "study" of Jesus' statement in Luke 10:18 about seeing Satan falling like lightning out of heaven. He claimed that the Hebrew words for lightening and heights sounded like the name of our president. He suggested that Jesus may have given given us the name of the antichrist.

This guy sounded very authoritative claiming to be presenting "facts." He even cited some reference works. The problem is that this verse (Luke 10:18) has nothing whatsoever to do with the antichrist. But that didn't stop this guy from doing the worst kind of mishandling of Scripture. Folks, just because a guy sounds good, claims to have the "facts", and cites reference after reference, that does not necessarily mean that he knows what he's talking about. Be like the Berean Christians - check them out by reading and studying the biblical text yourself!

Bill Fay was at FBCLC last weekend. Bill preached a powerful message "The Sin of Silence" on Sunday morning. Then he taught his Share Jesus Without Fear seminar. He challenged everyone to talk to someone about the gospel over the next week using the five introductory questions. To date over 50 people have shared some or all of the gospel with someone this past week. 11 people have told me that this was the first time they ever shared the gospel with anyone! 

This Sunday will mark my seventh anniversary as pastor of FBCLC. What a privilege and joy it has been to serve such a wonderful group of people! God has done some wonderful things. We have the best staff team I've ever served with. God has added to our church family dozens of families and individuals. FBCLC has been involved in dozens of local mission and ministry partnerships. One of my favorites has been our partnership with Barbe Elementary School. Our mission giving & support has never been stronger. Per capita, FBCLC is one of the strongest mission supporting churches in the state ... not just in giving but in getting members actually involved in missions, especially local missions.

There have been some bumps along the way too. But the funny thing is even the bumps have turned out to be blessings. Our church spirit is sweeter than it has ever been thanks to God giving us a church membership that cares more about Jesus and His purposes than they do about getting their own way. I cannot think of anything I had rather do than pastoring this great church. Its nice to finally find a church you can believe in ... where truth and grace still matter!