Nursing Home Caroling

There will be full posts on the teen Christmas party and Sunday's caroling at the nursing homes within the next couple of days. Sorry for the delay but schedules are busy this time of year! Stay tuned for full updates!

Teen Christmas Party

Thanks to all those who came to the Christmas party! It was a great time! I will update with pics and details in the next few days!

Happy Thanksgiving

Psalm 26:7 "That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works."

For most people, today is a day to get together with family and friends and have a big meal and celebrate family traditions that have gone on for years and years. But, let us not forget, Thanksgiving is first and foremost a day for giving thanks to God for all the wonderful things that he has done and will do for us. Let us remember that Thanksgiving started with a group of people whom God had protected and provided for as they endeavored to start a new life and spread the Gospel in a new and dangerous world. With that being said, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and may the Lord bless you as we endeavor to spread the Gospel throughout the world!

Don't forget--it's the little things that bring the most joy!

Union Corn Maze and Bonfire 2008

On Saturday, November 1, we took our second trip to Union, KY, to the same corn maze that we went to last year. This year, we more than doubled the number of people who went from last year. We spent a couple of hours wandering through the corn maze, going on a hayride, paddle boating, feeding some farm animals, and just having good fun and fellowship. Afterwards, we all met up at church for a cookout and bonfire. This year's activity was even better than last year's. We had good food, played a rousing game of wiffle ball, and shared some heart-felt testimonies around the fire. We also shared in an incident involving a bolo, the church van, a hose, and large piece of PVC pipe, a tree, Gary van-surfing, and Cheryl's brute strength. For more information, please see Gary and Cheryl or use your imagination on the pictures below. All in all, everyone had a great time and we are very much looking forward to next year's festivities. Thank you to all those who were involved and participated in the activity and a special thank you to Jim and Nancy Bradley for the organization and food preparation. If you didn't come this year, please come out next year! You will not be disappointed!

Joey riding the pony

"A horse is a horse, of course, of course..."

Feeding the animals

That's right--we know exactly where we are!

I hope this is the right way!

Out for a cruise

Enjoying the hayride

Cheryl's favorite part

It began like any other church picnic...

We were all eating and having great fellowship...

We played a rousing game of wiffle ball...

What in the world is Wayne doing?...

Oh! There's something stuck in the tree! I have an idea...

Let's put Gary on top of the van?...What?!!! This can't be good...

O, by the way, we're driving on sand...

Problem solved...back to what we were doing...

Let's give Gary a giant piece of PVC pipe and see what happens...

Eventually we did get it down, with the help of Cheryl, who eventually grew tired of all the male chauvinism and pulled down half the tree with her bare hands--what could be referred to as a "reverse Samson" moment...

This is where you get to use your imagination...

Afterwards we shared some testimonies around the fire...the Lord has truly blessed us!

Old Fashioned Service and Baptism

It has been quite a long time since anything was updated on this blog. As the "keeper of the blog", the fault is entirely my own and I apologize to all those who are and were regular readers. Setting all that aside, Bible Baptist Church celebrated its first annual (we hope) Old Fashioned Day. It was a time to reflect upon "the old paths" and get back to the way that things used to be, complete with old fashioned attire (somewhat) and dinner on the grounds. We also held our first ever baptistmal service in our own baptistry, which, thanks to several men of the church and all of their dedication and hard work, is finally in working order. The Holy Spirit moved during the service and one man walked the aisle during the song service and got saved. Another young lady got saved after the service. It was also a wonderful blessing to see Bro. Manuel and Sister Bernice Colwell be baptized along with Hope Whitson's son, who made a decision to be baptized during the invitation. Bro. Jim Bradley preached a great message during Sunday School on the old landmarks and was followed during the main service by Bro. Leon Richardson, who preached on the old paths. The Lord truly blessed the day and he deserves all the honor and glory for what went on! May we see many more days like today at Bible Baptist Church! Praise the Lord!

A few of our more "vintage" members

Bro. Jim Bradley preaching on "The Ancient Landmarks"

Bro. Leon Richardson preaching on "The Old Paths"

What a blessing to see Bro. Colwell get baptized!

Bro. Colwell--always smiling!

What a looker!

Bible Baptist Church 15th Anniversary Service

Fifteen years may seem like a long time for a church to be around, but, for one reason or another, some churches don't make it that long. But, by the grace of God, we the fine people of Bible Baptist Church celebrated our 15th anniversary today. This was our second attempt at an anniversary service (the first had been cancelled due to the snow) and it was not without its "hiccups." On Friday night Brother Phil Gabbard, the guest speaker, had called and said that he was very sick and would be unable to come and preach on Sunday. In light of this, the preaching duties were turned over to Brother Jim Bradley, our long-time deacon and "go-to guy." Pastor Baker preached a great message on "Why We Are Bible Believers" for the morning service. Following the morning service we had a pot-luck lunch provided by our "in-house catering service." (Thanks to all the ladies for the wonderful food!) The afternoon service began with a congregational hymn followed by a slide show of various pictures of the church and its members taken throughout the years. We had several music specials and a time of testimonies before the preaching including a rousing rendition of 'Ship Ahoy" by our resident troubadour Brother Leon Richardson. Brother Jim preached a rousing, heart-felt charge to the church about moving forward and what it will take for us to grow and be fruitful and effective as a body. It was obvious why God had allowed him to preach today. The Lord certainly knows what he was doing! All in all, it was a memorable day for those of us at Bible Baptist Church. We look forward to many more years of serving the Lord in our community and hopefully watching our church grow into a great light in this dark world.

Some of our fine young people

Wayne Curry doing what Wayne Curry does best

The food and the fellowship were both excellent

Professional rascal and aisle runner Preston Ervin

A rare picture of Wayne NOT eating

"Thank you, Lord, for your blessings on me!"

"Take Me In Your Lifeboat"

"I Want To Know More"

"Ship Ahoy" by Brother Leon Richardson, our "spiritual sunshine" and Master's champion

Sweetheart Banquet

On Friday, February 15, 2008, we celebrated Valentine's Day with our annual Sweetheart Banquet. Each banquet we have had has been very entertaining and this year proved to be no exception. The night began around 6:30 with good conversation over chips and homemade salsa (thank you Mrs. Baker). At 7:00 we began the main course of chicken or beef fajitas and salad. Following the main course was to be a video of Christian comedian Jeff Allen, but it was postponed due to "technical difficulties." Instead we went directly to the "Me, Him, Me, Her" game in which three couples answered a series of questions about who is more likely to do this, or who is better at this, or who doesn't do this. What followed was nothing short of hilarious! Despite some "controversies," all marriages remained intact. Thanks to Brother Gary Elam, we were able to get the video up and running through the projector. Everyone enjoyed the comedic anecdotes about marriage--"Do you want to be happy or do you want to be right?"--"Happy Wife, Happy Life!" Following the video was the Battle of the Sexes where three men were asked questions regarding feminine things and three ladies were asked questions regarding more masculine things. Although the men were thoroughly defeated, it was encouraging to know that the men knew nothing about anything feminine, and the ladies knew what kind of fuel that a two-stroke engine took. At the end of the evening, Pastor Doug Rea brought a tremendous message on marriage from the book of Malachi. Thank you to all those who were involved in the planning of this event as well as to Pastor Rea and his wife for both their presence and participation.

The food and fellowship were excellent

Pastor Baker and his wife seemed to be on the same page...

Brandon and Suzy came in last :)

Our resident experts on all things female

The ladies were extremely good guessers

Pastor Rea bringing the message

Various other attendees

Caroling at the Nursing Home

A group of us went to the Nursing Home on Sunday, December 23, 2007 and sang some Christmas carols for the elderly folks there. We had a great time! It was a joy to see their faces light up as we sang and to watch them sing along with us! Afterwards, Bro. Leon Richardson preached about the C-H-R-I-S-T in Christmas! There were a few visitors there that got to hear the Gospel as well as all of the regular attenders. Thanks to Brother Leon for his faithfulness and all of his hard work he puts into the Nursing Home ministry!

There were many who came out to sing--it was a blessing!

Many of the folks sang along and enjoyed themselves very much!

Brother Leon has been the right man for this job!