Ok.  I know I preached just a few weeks ago that it was, but really.  Is it OK to be excited?  I’m kinda starting to worry.  I’ve been getting more and more excited over the past several weeks, and I can’t help it!  When I think about how good God has been to me, and what all He’s doing, I get thrilled all over again.  I hope that the joy and delight of serving God is contagious.

I’m excited about Stetson Zane.  Our new baby is doing great.  He’s eating like a champ, sleeps a lot and never cries.  He’s been a perfect baby so far.  I can’t thank God enough for being so good to our family.  When he’s not sleeping, he just sits and looks around at everybody, enjoying being the center of the attention.  Grace is getting around much better and is doing great.   Thank you all for your prayers!

I’m excited about the Pastor and His Men Conference next week at Brother Chad Watson’s church.  That’s going to be a blast. I just talked to Pastor Watson and he’s expecting a maximum capacity crowd.  We’re taking a crowd down, and combined with all the other churches that are coming, we are anticipating a great meeting.  If you can make it, it’s February 10-11.  Services start Friday night at 7 PM.  The services on Saturday start at 9 AM and go through 4 PM.  They will be providing lunch on Saturday.  We’d love to see you there if you can make it out.  Some of the other preachers will be Pastors Bo Wagoner, Bryan Treadway, Chad Bailey, Stephen Williamson, and Brother Danny Blackwell.

I’m excited about starting a new series on Sunday mornings entitled Christ In The Tabernacle.  That will begin February 12th.

I’m excited about starting up the new semester in the Bible Institute with two classes on Tuesday nights, beginning February 14th.

I’m excited about the Romantic Escape week after next.  We’re looking forward to the largest group of couples we’ve had since we started holding this annual couple’s retreat several years ago.  If you can come, we might still be able to make it happen, but you need to hurry.

Lastly, I’m excited about church tomorrow.  Who knows what God will do?

Pastor

PS.  Here are a few pictures of Stetson Zane.

5:25 am  Arrived at Greer Memorial Hospital.  Checked into room 287.  The hospital is very nice and the nurses are so friendly and helpful.  We are looking forward to having a baby in a hospital that is not an emergency situation.  Both Stuart and Callie were emergency C-sections.  The panic, the hurrying and the scurrying was unnerving to say the least.  Hopefully this time we don’t have to  kick into overdrive.  Stetson Zane is in no hurry to discover America, so we’ll just relax and do this right hopefully.

5:37 am – Grace is in bed, the baby’s heartbeat monitor is hooked up and he is doing great.  Mama is beautiful.  My scrubs are all laid out.  I’ll put those on at the last minute.

6:26 am – Grace is resting, the nurses are tapping away on their computers, and I just read Proverbs 24.  On the way to the hospital this morning, I reminded my wife that honor begins at home.  Raising godly children must be a home-based practice.  Teaching our children to treat each other with honor, their parents with honor, their God with honor and themselves with honor MUST begin at home.  Imagine my delight when I found these 2 verses in my Bible reading this morning.

3 ¶ Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

God, please help me and my wife to have an honorable home; help me to be an honorable dad and husband.  May our new baby boy grow up in a home where honor is normal; not just something that is pulled out of the closet for guests or special occasions.

7:42 am  They came and got Grace and took her back to begin prepping her for the surgery.  They will come get me any minute and we’ll have a baby.  I’m in the “daddy scrubs”.  Wouldn’t you know it, they are XL.  The good news is they are way too big.  I’m feeling better already!

8:18 am  Stetson Zane was born weighing 7lb and 9 ounces  He is 19 inches long and healthy as can be.  Mom is doing great.  The baby is beautiful with a head full of black hair.  Thank you for praying!

2:00 pm – Zane is nursing like a pro.  He loved his first bath and is sleeping quietly.  He took the pacifier on the first try.  What a blessing!  Mom is resting also and just tried eating some broth.  She is experiencing some nausea, but is doing great otherwise.  Please keep her in your prayers.  Thank all of you for the enormous amount of emails, texts and phone calls.  Sorry we can’t spend a lot of time on the phone, but thank you for caring so much for our family.  God has been so good to us, and we magnify and glorify His wonderful name.  We love you all!

Pastor

Day 2 (1/25/12)

God was good to let me sleep last night, and He was good to give Grace some great nurses to see about her and the baby throughout the night and LET me sleep!  I woke up this morning and the nurses were scurrying around and tending to mother and child and I felt so bad that I had slept through whatever it was Grace was needing help for.  Then it occurred to me that I was paying those nurses good money to see about my wife, and I relaxed.  She got some rest last night (in segments) and then this morning got up and walked around a bit.  She’s improving, slowly but surely.

Baby Zane is kicked back now taking a nap after having his breakfast.  He has no idea how awesome he is, even though I keep telling him.  Here’s a few more pictures of him.  Some of these are from yesterday and some are this morning.

Pastor

Carson Joel Waycaster and his new second cousin, Stetson Zane Shiflett (born 12 days apart!)

Grace’s parents, Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Young holding their grandson (on the left) and great-grandson (on the right).

Taken 1/25/12 @ 10:45 am

Mama and baby Zane

A very grateful and overwhelmed Mama and Dad.

Jan. 26

The doctors agreed that Mom and baby Zane were ready to go home today!  After all the routine checkups, exams and new parent lectures on safety and nursing and car seat laws and washing procedures and doctor visits and….. we were finally released around 2:30 in the afternoon.  After a quick trip to Walgreens to fill a prescription for some pain medicine for Mom, we were headed home with our new family member.  Thank all of you for your prayers and phone calls and texts and emails and gifts and cards.  We appreciate all of the love and affection showered on our family during this time.  Here’s a few pictures of today’s activities.

Pastor

This morning while he was sleeping in his little monkey outfit (that was too little, but too cute not to wear at least once!)

His first experience in a car seat.  He loved it.  He folded his hands and went to sleep.  We put him in at 2:30, and he didn’t get out until he got home at 3:45, and he never made a sound.  I hope that is a sign of things to come!

Callie couldn’t wait to show Zane his new room!  This used to be her room until a few weeks ago, and now it’s his.  He didn’t seem too impressed.

After his first home cooked meal, Zane just lay in his bassinet and looked around at his new home.

The suspense is killing me!!  I can’t remember being so excited about a baby being born.  So far, it appears Stetson Zane will be arriving on schedule (January 24th).  I kind of hoped he would come earlier, but it looks like we’re going to have to wait.  I covet your prayers for Grace during the next few days.  I can say with all honesty that I haven’t heard her complain ONE SINGLE time over the last 9 months.  She has been unbelievable!  She eats right, she exercised, drank water, cleaned the house (every day), cooked our meals, went soul winning with me, taught Sunday School and never missed a beat.  God has been so good, and I want to publicly thank Him for giving me such a virtuous woman for a wife.  Baby Zane has no idea what a good mama he has.  I do though, and I’m madly in love with her!   I love you Grace!

Grace and I will be going to the hospital in Greer on Monday for a pre-op visit, and we are supposed to be at the hospital on Tuesday at 5:30 AM.   Her C-section is scheduled for 8 AM, and we should be able to receive visitors sometime after lunch.  Please pray for her and the baby.  And me too I reckon.  I will post news here on the blog of the birth as soon as I can.  I will also put pictures up here, so make it a favorite and stay tuned.

We are praising God for the wonderful services last Sunday.  God let 2 more families join the church.  Amen!  We also were able to have a special baby dedication for Carson Joel Waycaster in the morning service.  It was a joy to have Brother Rodney Waycaster, the grandaddy join us in the altar for prayer as we dedicated his first grandchild to the Lord.

We are looking forward to seeing God continue to work this year.

Pastor

PS.  I think I’ll leave the football analysis to the pro’s.  I’ll make a point to keep my predictions to myself.   With the SC Primaries tomorrow, I believe I’ll keep my political predictions to myself also.  I’m not a prophet or the son of a prophet.  We’ll just see what happens.

Well, it’s the 10th day of 2012.  I’ll have to be honest.  I’ve had a wonderful 10 days.  This new year has been great.  I’ve experienced such a profound peace in the divine will of God for my life, that the joy is literally bubbling.  I have experienced a renewed zeal and God has refreshed my spiritual man, and I am so very grateful for it.  Then new year has started well, and I’m excited about it.  We had the wonderful joy of baptizing 7 precious souls Sunday, and God sent us 12 new members.  Sunday night during the Lord’s Supper, His presence was so real it was amazing.  Bro. Rodney Waycaster, our missionary in Australia preached “Why Missions?” and the altar was full of people asking God for a greater burden for the lost.

I’m going to make a point to mention that the underdogs sometimes come out on top.  Ask the Denver Broncos.  And ask Alabama.  I love it.  When Baltimore Ravens Terrell Suggs made the statement that they didn’t pray and they didn’t need God to win, I predicted that the Broncos would win.  Do I believe it’s right to play football on Sunday?  No.  But that remark reminded me of the Titanic and the blasphemous statement that God himself couldn’t sink that ship.  Uh huh.  I will be shocked if the Ravens beat Houston this week, simply because of that arrogant Suggs’ remark.  We’ll see.  I just hope he doesn’t get his neck broken for his comments.  Anyway, the Broncos won, and John 3:16 has been Googled by more people in the last 48 hours than ever.  So it can’t be all bad.    Changing the subject, I was hoping that Alabama would beat LSU 30-0.  I missed it.  It ended up being 21-0.  Ouch.  I always pull for the underdog.  I personally love upsets.  I love it when the little guy who doesn’t stand a chance comes out on top against all odds.  It happens. Remember David and Goliath?  The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Enough carnality.  We are still waiting for this baby to arrive.  Grace is doing great.  She has amazed me with how well she’s done.  God has been so good to us.  We finally decided that Stetson Zane Shiflett will be his name, and we’ll more than likely call him Zane.  Help me pray that everything continues to go well.  We have another member of our family due any day now.  Caleb and Charity (Young) Waycaster is due the 10th, so pray for them also.  For now, we just wait.

Pastor

Those thinking and praying about joining us for our 5th Annual Romantic Escape had better decide pretty soon if they are coming or not.  The deadline is looming, and the reservations are filling up.  The meeting is more than a marriage boost.  The fellowship with other couples is one of the highlights.  No time crunch; no busy schedule; just a lot of time with each other and other godly couples.  Grace and I are looking forward to this year’s meeting, which will be slightly different for us.  We will be bringing our newborn son along with us.  He is due January 24th, so leaving him with the other children will not be possible.  Last year we had several couples that wanted to come but had nursing infants, so we allowed them to come.  If you are thinking about coming but were concerned about that, it’s OK.   We will have a great time, baby and all.

I can guarantee that when you pack up to go home, you will not be sorry you came.  The spiritual help, the fellowship and the quality time with your beloved spouse will be tremendous.  Reserve your spot quickly!

Pastor Shiflett

In II Peter 3:18, the Bible says “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”  For months, God has impressed upon my heart the fervent awareness of the need for spiritual depth and growth in our lives.   He has also stressed to me the need to grow, not only in knowledge of Him, but to grow in grace.  Many times we focus on what we know and do not emphasize the importance of how we incorporate it.

John 1 tells us that Jesus was the perfect balance in “truth and grace”.  Knowledge is the truth; what we do with it should be exercised with grace.  God has laid it on my heart to preach and teach on the importance of growing in grace – living out what God has put in – but doing it with godly grace and true Christianity.

We will deal with growing in many areas;  all of them seasoned with grace.  Let’s pray that God will bless our efforts to become more like Him this year.

Pastor Shiflett

I preached a message earlier in the year entitled, “Just Use What You Have!”  Yesterday I received an inspiring email from a friend of mine here in Greenville, Will Pender.  He is a financial/real estate guru and has been a great contact to have when you have a financial or real estate related question.  He sent the following thought that was a blessing to me, and reminded me of the message I had preached earlier.  Here it is.

Thanks Will for that inspiring nugget!  By the way, if you need to get in touch with Will Pender, he can be reached a www.willpender.com

The truth of the matter is that many of the great Bible stories are about people with limited resources that did amazing things.  Noah built the ark with just the help of his 3 sons probably.  David used a sling and some smooth stones to destroy a giant.  The widow of Zaraphath used a handful of meal and little oil in a cruise to survive the famine.  Moses used a rod to overcome Pharaoh.  The little lad had 5 loaves and 2 fishes and was used to feed over 5,000 people.  We could go on and on.  The moral of the story could be summarized by Peter’s answer to the crippled man.  ”Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have, give I thee.”  It’s not what you don’t have that’s limiting us.  It’s our disrespect and disparaging remarks about what we DO have that’s killing us.  Quit worrying about what you CAN’T do, and what you DON’T have, and start using what you DO have.  Let God do His thing with your thing, and be prepared to be surprised!

I just made a pot of that new Christmas blend coffee from Starbucks.  Not bad!  Woke up this morning to weather in the 20′s.  The Upstate has to have the wackiest weather patterns of any place in the country.  Short sleeves one day, ski gear the next.  I have always picked on my sweet wife for her infatuation with the weather.  She’s our resident weather guru.  She knows what is going to be the highs and lows on any given day, the chances for rain and so forth, and I have always picked on her about it.  My idea of checking the weather is walking out on the porch. If it’s cold,  I go back in and put on more clothes.  She can plan ahead by simply checking the weather on her website.  Walking out on the porch is faster though.  Anyway, we won’t be wearing short sleeves today.

This weather thing is kind of like the times we live in.  If you will just open the Book, it will predict this craziness that makes up our modern day news headlines.  I have gone to DrudgeReport.com for years for news.  But I’ve noticed lately its like reading a tabloid.  The things people do.  We live in a weird, sick world.  You can just walk out on the porch and see it.  Or you can read the Bible and get a detailed description of the last days in II Timothy 3.  Perilous times shall come – you can bank on it.

Why don’t we make a renewed commitment to letting our light so shine in these dark days.  Let’s make much of Jesus and help make come sense of the chaos around us.  Let’s go out today and be a witness; an ambassador for Christ; a living, breathing example of God’s saving grace.  And don’t forget to wear a coat.

Pastor

There is a phrase that you hear from time to time that I have grown to appreciate more and more the older I get.  Lifelong friends.  What a sweet concept.  When I hear somebody introduce me to someone with that preface, I marvel.  Friends for life?  Is it possible in this day and age to actually have friends for longer than a few months or years?  David said in Proverbs 17:17  “A friend loveth at all times…”   That is a blessing to me.  Friends whose love is not affected by storms, gossip, rumors, distance or time.  This Thanksgiving, I’m giving thanks for my friends.

Last night our family had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of Pastor Gene Rowell’s special service at Gantt Street Baptist Church in Cayce, SC.  Their church hosts an annual Pastor and Pastor’s Wives Appreciation Banquet and they lavish God’s men and their wives with gifts, love and honor.  What a blessing it was to see friends there that I’ve known for over 30 years.  We are older.  Fatter.  Battle worn and battle scarred, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the look in their eyes when we see each other across the room.  Months of separation, miles of distance and years of ministry-inflicted pain and hurt has done nothing to kill that spark of love and appreciation that is kindled in that instant when two friends see each other.  I believe God is delighted when He looks down and sees His children loving one another – their strongest common bond being their love and faith in Him.  The blessing of re-connecting with friends, showing off the kids and their expecting Mama and getting updates from their ministry and church labor is such a joy.  Seeing people that you pray for, but don’t necessarily talk to every day, and discovering that they are still in the fight is such a thrill.  I can’t help but mention the unspoken message that just a simple hug can convey – a message that says “I’m still praying for you.  I still love you and your family.  I’ve missed you.  I’m glad to see you.  I’m glad you could make it.  I’m glad you and your wife are still holding the line.  I’m glad to be your friend.  If you ever need me, just call.”   Is is possible to convey all of that in a simple hug?  Oh yes.  And much more.

Why don’t you take a moment and thank God for your friends this year?  And be a friend.  A real friend.  Not a fair weather friend.  Not a selfish friend – only friends with people that make you look good or do everything your way.  Not just a friend to those that have never done anything to you to hurt you or offend you. But a friend like Jesus is to you.  That’s what He wants.

Last night’s service was worth the 2 hours it took to drive there and the 2 hours it took to drive back.  It wasn’t the delicious BBQ supper or the tremendous message by Bro. Barry Rackley that was the highlight of the evening.  It was just the simple fact that a preacher that I have known since I was 8 years old took the time to send me and my family a personal invitation to be a part of their life for a few hours.  That meant something to my family.

I think we would be better off if we demonstrated the faith in our Master that my animals had in me.  I’ve got a dog, a cat, and a horse.  The dog is a German Short-haired Pointer named Boomer.  The cat’s name is something, I don’t know what, and the horse’s name is Cinammon.  She’s a Tennessee Walker paint.  I didn’t name her; its on her papers. Anyway.  Every morning when I get up, they are waiting for their food.  Well, the horse is.  And whatshisname is.  Boomer just lies there.  But not once have I ever failed to give them their breakfast.  Boomer just watches me scoop out his food out of that huge bag I got on sale at Tractor Supply.  The cat eats some pretty good looking food out of a really nice bag. (Grace buys the cat food.)  Then the boys or I will go down and give the horse a pitchfork full of nice, coastal Bermuda hay and a scoop of sweet feed that smells like molasses and oats.  (It actually tastes like horse feed.  Don’t ask.)  This is our morning ritual.

The animals don’t worry.  They don’t fret.  They’ve never panicked.  The horse paces up and down, but that’s not worry.  That’s just what horses do at gates.  The cat.  Well, she doesn’t worry.  She does climb on the window screen and jump up and down when we’re pouring the food, but she’s not worried.  Just stupid.  Boomer is just too lazy to do anything.  I’m thinking the discounted dog food at Tractor Supply has something to be desired.  He just looks at me.

My point is – why can’t we act like my animals?  Why is it that we panic and act like God is going to forget about us and not take care of us?  Do we actually believe in our hearts that our love (or duty) toward our pets is greater than God’s love toward us as His children?  Do we really believe that our fretting and anxiety is what is keeping God on track and keeping God on schedule with what we need to survive?

Philippians 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Quit worrying.  Just wait. And pray.

Gotta go.  Whatshisname is on the screen again.

Pastor

Callie Bear and Cinnamon