Greater Vision came out with a song about 10 years ago that went like this: “If just one more soul were to walk down the aisle, it would be worth every struggle, it would be worth every mile. A lifetime of labor is still worth it all if it rescues just one more soul.” Yesterday morning, Brother Jason Parham led a 90-something year old man to Christ. His wife, who passed away a couple of months ago, was saved last year. She was also in her 90’s. After years of faithful preaching and witnessing in that retirement home, it was a blessing to see one more soul reached for God. I want to publicly thank those families (the Parhams, the Gazaways, the Townsends, the Backers, and several others) that go weekly to the retirement homes and preach, witness and sing to those precious people. God will continue to bless you for your faithfulness! Bloom where you are planted for God’s glory!!!
Yesterday was another wonderful day in God’s house. Praise the Lord for several first time visitors yesterday morning. Let’s keep Bringing Them In and trust God to save. It was a blessing yesterday after the morning service to baptize 10 precious people. I’d love to do that every month!
Last night, we continued our series on End-Time Prophecy and dealt with the Demise of the Dragon. What a blessing it was to be reminded of the final end and destruction of that ole Deceiver! AMEN! We also was thrilled to have Brother Harmon Rutledge and his family with us, missionaries on their way to Thailand.
Tonight, if you get the opportunity to come, we’ll be meeting for the Christian Leadership class at 7:00 PM here in the sanctuary and continuing our study on leadership qualities and characteristics.
The Romantic Escape was a lot of fun this year. We enjoyed some great fun and fellowship, as well as some soul-stirring services. The preaching and teaching caused our married couples to thank God for their mates and for another opportunity to draw closer to them. I appreciate those couples that came this year. I look forward to hearing how God is blessing their marriage in the days and weeks ahead.
Saturday, we buried Grace’s uncle G.W. Young. Keep his family in your prayers as they mourn his passing.
Today was another good day in God’s house. The morning service was blessed with some old fashion worship, testimonies and a message the Lord gave me yesterday at the funeral out of John 21. Jesus reminded Peter of the fact that now he was young, but one day he would be old and feeble and be carried places he didn’t want to go. I preached on “Do It While You Still Can” and used several passages in Acts to show the changes that Peter made in his life in order to capitalize on every day. He became Involved in the Sanctuary (Acts 1), Intoxicated in the Spirit (Acts 2) and Instrumental in Soulwinning, (Acts 2, 3, and 4) It was a simple message, but God blessed us with great liberty and a great response to the altar. In the evening service, we had Brother Ronnie Smith and his family, missionaries to Northern Ireland. They sang and he preached a challenging message.
Don’t forget to mark your calendars (members of PVBC) for March 6th as we go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in. We had a wonderful turnout last month and passed out probably 1,000 bags of tracts and literature, even though it started raining. I’d like to do twice that many in March, so let’s go ahead and be praying for good weather and a great number of God’s people to hit the streets on that day. I need a lot of help getting those bags stuffed, so stop by and give us a hand.
The Lord’s day was a blessing. In many ways. His presence was so real in both services. How many ways can a child of God express their appreciation for His love and His mercy? The Lord met with us today, beginning in the prayer room this morning. I really enjoy that time of sharing prayer request and making our burdens known to the brethren. The service this morning was an encouragment to God’s people with a message entitled, “So He Made It Again” out of Jeremiah 18:1-6. I’m so thankful that when my vessel is marred in His hand, He doesn’t give up on me, but keeps on working in my life. What a blessing!
The evening service was blessed tonight with many testimonies of God’s people sharing how God has blessed them and how He has worked in their lives. We picked back up on the Prophecy Series with the second part of the message on the Battle of Armageddon. Wow…what a blessing it was to hear how we are not going to be on the receiving end of God’s ultimate wrath and judgment, but will be on the WINNING SIDE! AMEN! The day was topped off with two men joining the church that have been coming for some time. God also let us raise almost 50% of the funds needed for the piano. What a wonderful day in His house.
We are having Open House in the school this week, so if you are interested in visiting the Upstate’s Best Kept Secret during school hours, then stop by for a packet of information. The Romantic Escape will be the end of this week, so don’t put it off any longer - sign up today! We’ll have a blast for sure!
What a blessing it was Sunday to experience the overflow of a refreshing and a renewing in the hearts of God’s people. There are those that deny the need for a revival in these last days. I’m afraid they are either deceived about their own spiritual condition, or they are so frustrated and bitter that they don’t believe it is possible. I want to bear witness that if Revelation 2:5 tells us to “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”, then revival is not only POSSIBLE, it is COMMANDED! Remember, Repent and Repeat - that is the key to revival. Do the first works - the same first works that you did when you had your first love. Not rocket science - just not very appealing to the flesh!
Seeing God work in the lives of our people this past week has been a huge blessing to me. Sunday was evidence of the “overflow” that follows a move of God in people’s hearts. Sunday morning, I didn’t even get to preach as God’s people stood and testified with tears and rejoicing at God’s working in their lives. What a blessing to see people that are focussed on “seeking the Lord with their whole heart”. Sunday night, I had more liberty to preach than I’ve had in a while, and that’s saying something. I thank God daily for the great liberty to preach His word here at Pleasant View. But for the past several week, it’s been unreal. I believe the hunger and thirst of God’s people for His word and His will has attributed to the great liberty to preach, and I praise His name.
This week, Lord willing on Wednesday night, we will pick back up with our series on the Home. I’ve had a message on my heart for several weeks out of Proverbs 14:1. Pray for God to give me the green light to preach that tomorrow night.
We are gearing up for the Romantic Escape next week. I’ll be preaching twice, Sister Grace and Sister Chris Raynes will each take 30 minutes in a split-session with the ladies on Friday morning, and Brother Doug will have an hour with the men during that time. We will have a blast, so if you’ve not made your mind up to come, do it now!
Dr. Bearden made it in Sunday afternoon in time for the evening service. The weather prevented him from coming in on Saturday. God began working Sunday morning and on Sunday evening, He continued in a wonderful way. Dr. Bearden preached on “Revival According to Asa” out of II Chronicles 14. The service last night was touched by an amazing spirit of brokenness and soberness that resulted in a full altar of God’s people doing business. With prayer around the clock and several people fasting, the service tonight was an overflow of the previous services. God’s people rejoiced in the singing and there were many testimonies of how God had worked in hearts and lives. Dr. Bearden didn’t even get to preach, but rather followed up with some Biblical admonitions and a review of the unofficial theme, which has been seeking after God. The service tonight closed with the church in the altar praying for God to continue doing what He’s been doing for the past several weeks. We are all still amazed at how faithful He’s been to meet with us in spite of our unworthiness. He is so good! We are all looking forward to the service tomorrow night. This revival has been one of the best attended revivals we’ve had in a while with the large majority of God’s people being so hungry for God to work. I praise Him for all He has done. He is so worthy!
We went ahead this morning and had church, though many of our people were iced in. I’m glad we did! Wonderful service this morning. The Lord moved during the song service and our hearts were blessed by several sweet testimonies. I preached from Rev. 2 on “Falling In Love With Jesus All Over Again”. My desire was to prepare our hearts for the revival with Brother Bearden, who will begin tonight. If we all could just fall in love with our Savior again, that would solve most of our problems!
Looking forward to some great preaching by Dr. Bearden. If you can make it out one night, we’d love to have you visit with us. Services begin at 7:30 nightly (except for tonight, service begins at 6)
After a busy day at the church, I’m sitting here in my recliner looking out the window at a blizzard (South Carolina version). The boys and I just split a load of wood and we’ve got a roaring fire in the fireplace. Friday nights are always a lot of fun here at home with the family. The snow just adds to the excitement. The girls are collecting snow outside in big bowls so Mama can make some snow-cream. That’ll be good after our homemade chili and baked potatoes (that don’t look right. I’ll have to call Dan Quayle and see if I spelled potatoe right…. : )
Brother Bearden called this morning and is trying to figure out how to navigate around this winter weather. He’s still planning on being here for the Sunday morning service. Either way, we’re kicking off our revival Sunday. Let’s pray hard for a real touch of God. We are still planning to have baptism after church Sunday (outside!!) The baptismal candidates insisted on having it and not putting it off any longer. Thank the Lord for a water heater!! I went ahead and got it started today, just to play it safe!
Pray for revival and bring them in. Compel - that’s Greek for “hog-tie and haul”. Let’s get there early Sunday and spend some time in prayer before the service. God’s going to do great things … I can just feel it! Begin now asking God to reveal whatever might be hindering your relationship with Him. His promise: Draw nigh to God, and He’ll draw nigh to you! Claim that verse this week.
After a relaxing week at Hilton Head for our family vacation, we are glad to be back in the saddle. Our hearts go out to Brother Patrick and his family at the loss of his brother. The funeral on Saturday provided us with some opportunities to pass out some tracts and invite some people to church. Pray for these dear folks that need the Lord.
The services yesterday were a real blessing! I never cease to be amazed at the wonderful liberty to preach and the attentiveness of God’s people. The altars have been getting a lot of use lately! It’s always a joy to see God’s people doing business and making committments. I have been amazed at the number of visitors and rejoice in the goodness of God in bringing in people. Yesterday’s message was “Cash The Check!” and dealt with our riches in Christ found in Ephesians chapter 1 and 2. I definitely want to experience ALL OF IT! Last night, we looked at Proverbs 11:1 and Job 31:6 and preached on “The Balanced Church”. Lord help us be not be guilty of a false balance!
This week is CRUNCH time getting ready for revival and the first day of Operation Saturation (Feb. 6th). I’ve still got one more tract I want to write and get ordered before then, so I’d better get on the ball. I’m amazed at the number of people that keep coming up in our path that needs help in the area of rehab or addictions. I have had a burden for almost 5 years to work with alcoholics and drug addicts. I’m praying for God’s leadership in branching out and ministering to these needy people. When we do, I’m confident that God’s hand will be in it. Help me pray for committed workers and laborers in this area of ministry!
For the third week in a row, we haven’t been able to have Sunday school! I had a funny feeling that Sunday school was going to be like that when the “breeze” blew through the men’s prayer room. It’s amazing at how real God is from git-go. I began to realize just how special it is to have brothers in the Lord to share my prayer request with and to bear one another’s burdens. The goodness of God was so sweet while Brother Danny sang “Unseen Hand”. I felt a nudge from the Lord to get Brother Holden to preach for a bit, and was blessed immensely by his message on Avoiding Shipwreck. What a sobering message. I told Grace yesterday afternoon as we headed up the road to Brother Chad Watson’s church that I had more liberty to preach Sunday morning than I’ve had in weeks. God has been so good to us to make His presence known.
We had a wonderful service last night at Glory Land Baptist Church. I couldn’t get settled on what to preach, so Brother Watson just asked me to preach both! We had a good service, and it was good to spend some time with Pastor Watson and his family.
Please pray for Brother Patrick, one of the men in our church. His brother took his own life yesterday and was unsaved. Please pray for the family during this time. I’ll post more later.
I find myself on Friday getting excited about the upcoming Sunday. I can’t help it. I love church! I enjoy the fellowship, seeing my people coming in with their families and those they’ve invited to church. I enjoy the prayer room, hearing the men praying together for God to manifest Himself. I enjoy the music from the first note played before the service, all the way through. I look forward to the testmonies of God’s people; standing and sharing with us how He’s answered prayer, provided their faith promise, and all that He does. I enjoy the time in the Word of God, learning more about Him, His will and how we can draw closer. I had a dear lady that was visiting on Sunday comment that she was glad to see that we still had an old fashion altar call. I told her that sometimes, we have several! I remember just a few weeks ago while preaching on the Judgement Seat of Christ, God led me to stop preaching about 10 minutes into it and have an invitation. The church swarmed into the altar at the reminder of the seriousness of dead works. After everybody got finished praying, I finished the message and we had another one! If a person can’t get right with the Lord at church due to an opportunity to respond to a message, something’s bad wrong!
I had a great opportunity last night. After spending all day here at the church and then going on visitation last night with my family, I dropped my family off and drove up to Spartanburg to ride shotgun all night with Brother Danny Blackwell, a Deputy Sheriff. I don’t get to go as much as I’d like, but when I can I slip off for a “night on the town”. Brother Danny heads up the underage drinking enforcement task force. There were about 10 of us, hitting the bars, nightclubs and college student housing, looking for underage drinking. While the officers on the team ran breathalizer tests and wrote out citations, I had the wonderful privilege to pass out some of those 21 page “Where Are You Going When You Die?” tracts and witness to those young people. We raided one apartment that had probably 15 or 20 kids in there. We pulled them out from under the beds, out of closets - everywhere. One was passed out on the bathroom floor. My heart ached to see the effects of sin. We arrested one man for public disorderly conduct outside a bar downtown and escorted him to the police station and booked him. He was one year younger than me and looked old enough to be my dad. I was reminded of Brother Doug’s testimony some time back when he commented, “My Father doesn’t treat His children that way!” Young girls in tank tops and mini-skirts were walking barefooted on the streets last night in 20 something degree weather. How sad! We didn’t call it a night until around 3:30 this morning. I slept a few hours and headed back up here to the school, my heart heavy at the effects of sin. Again I was reminded of the need to get the gospel out. Those kids kept asking me who I was. Everybody else was in full police gear; bullet-proof vests, mace, flashlights, weapons and ticket books. I had a suit and tie and several pockets full of dynamite!! The men joked about me looking like I was from Homeland Security, but I was really representing Eternal Security!!! AMEN! Pray they read those tracts and get saved. By the way, it was because of a tract that dear soul in South Africa got saved last week, so God can do it again over here.
Let’s get out this weekend and find someone in need and “compel” them to come in. Hog tie them if need be. Get them to church. Who knows; God may save another one this coming Lord’s day!