Wow, what a day. With the deadline being tonights service, the crews were driven non stop by the pastor to complete the building or at least get it functional for the service tonight.
The pastor told me that the crews would be there early today to work their prospective areas and that we could show up around 1:30 or so to move in our equipment. If there was any hold up, he would call, he said.
We arrived on time and there had been multiple difficulties that caused delays so we ended up not being able to move in equipment until after 5 p.m. We managed to get things up an running.
There are still several things that need to be addressed and the crews will be in bright and early tomorrow to work handle some of these things. We will be there around 6 p.m. to make sure we are up and running and ready to start around 7 p.m.
The service went pretty well tonight with only a hiccup here or there mostly with the musicians but things were fine. We had a good crowd and the altar filled at the close as I challenged the church to look beyond the beautiful new sanctuary and look to serve! Desperate times demand desperate measures.
Thanks for the prayers!
John
Please continue to pray for Earle

Wow, what a last few days. Hadn’t had a chance to blog so thanks for checking in. We began our journeys on Saturday heading to Hogansville, GA, where I did a banquet Saturday night, participated in the a.m. service then gave a concert that night. We headed to Monroe, LA. on Monday morning to do a senior adult banquet at North Monroe Baptist Church. We made it fine, although it was a really long day. The banquet went well. We left Hogansville at 8 a.m. eastern and arrived at 4:00 central time. Yep, that’s 9 hrs with as few stops as possible. We moved in equipment and had things ready to go by a touch after 5. Changed clothes and had the banquet at 6 p.m. There were 195 senior adults so it was a lively night and the crowd was very responsive and they actually loved Gladys too. ha
After a brief night, we headed up to AR this morning at 9 p.m. We arrived 6 hrs later but are settled in the hotel now and will move in equipment tomorrow. If there was one prayer at this time here’s what it would be. 3 years ago, this church was totally destroyed by a tornado. The pastor has been determined that the revival will be held in the new auditorium giving a signal to the community that Earle Baptist Church is back. Well, the construction people have been working hard. Today there were 5 different crews working doing everything from installing stained glass to the sound system to painting to……..well, everything.
Things have not been tested because they are just now being installed. Pray for the audio and visual equipment. Obviously, the pastor prefers using all the churches new equipment and no “extra speakers like mine”. I understand, this is a big event and even bigger given the circumstances.
Thanks!
John

The services begin tomorrow (Wednesday) night.

Well, it’s been a short stay home. We pull out tomorrow for another 10 day road trip. We appreciate your prayers as we head to Hogansville, GA, First Baptist for a banquet tomorrow night and Sunday services. On Monday we will pull out from Hogansville and drive to Monroe, LA, for another banquet before heading up to Earle, AR, on Tuesday. We will begin revival services where I am doing both the preaching and the music on Wednesday and will go through Sunday.
Thanks again for the prayers and I will try and keep you posted on day to day ministry prayer requests.
Blessings,
John

Hi friends. Well, the day began with everyone’s eyes on the doplar radar watching the winter storm headed our way. The church was hesitant to cancel the closing service of the revival but as the weather began to move in, we made the decision to load up. We drove to the church (40 miles north of Yazoo City) after loading our luggage and saying goodbye to our folks. We finished loading at 2 p.m. and headed home. It was pretty nasty quickly but we had home folks praying for us and we really felt that we would eventually run out of it.
We did, finishing with rain but made it home around 9:15 p.m. Thank you for your prayers during our time in Cruger, MS. Now, we will begin focusing on the upcoming banquets, concert, and revival.

Blessings,
John

It was another good night with a pretty nice crowd. Again, no movement but the people are so gracious and are really “with me” during the service. I’m continuing to do both the preaching and the music so your continued prayers are appreciated.
On that note, there is currently another winter storm warning for this area scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and night so things are kinda on the “iffy” list. Here’s the plan….if it begins to get a little bad, the pastor is going to call me to notify me and I will drive the 40 miles north into the weather to pack up my equipment then hopefully get back to Yazoo City before the serious stuff moves in. Please pray for clear direction as decisions are made.
Blessings,
John

Ok, a funny thing happened on the way to church tonight. At 4:30 we were getting ready to pull out to head to the church (supper for the revival team at 5:30) when I got a call from the pastor. The guest preacher had a severe case of the flu and was heading back to TX. Would I preach, he asked?
So, I would appreciate your prayers as I continue the week. We didn’t have any public movement at the conclusion of the service but the people were responsive during the service and I claim the promise that God’s Word will not return void.
On the weather front…….they are predicting snow on Wed with up to 3 inches accumulation. ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGG!! PLease pray. We really need to get home Thursday in order to do household business on Friday.
Thanks for checking in!
John

It was a pretty good start to the revival although attendance was a bit down. There was little movement so we would appreciate your prayers that the Holy Spirit would be freed up and allowed to move in the midst of Cruger Baptist Church.
We followed the service with a lunch in the fellowship hall. After a brief afternoon, we met again at 4:00 for our evening worship. It was well attended but again no movement.
We’ll do evening services at 7 p.m. Mon-Wed so we thank you for your prayers.
Blessings,
John

It was a cold, wet, somewhat frozen day! Didn’t get any higher than 35 degrees with rain/mix. Boy, I’m tired of this stuff. This morning dad decided to take a walk without his walker and that proved to be a poor choice. A little battered, bloody, and bruised, he’s much better this evening and hopefully won’t go that way again.
I’m finishing up the revival service line-ups for the upcoming meeting in Cruger, MS, then will head there tomorrow afternoon to set up the necessary equpiment. I will be commuting this meeting as Cruger is approximately 35 miles from Yazoo City.
Thank you for your continued prayers!
John

Great service! It was Youth Night and there were about 250 students present as well as the “normal” attenders. I led in worship then headed to another building to be with the AWANA group of 120 kids. Lots of fun and energy in that group. We went for about an hour while the big service was going on.
The last report for the Youth service was 23 professions of faith. Thank you Lord.
Tomorrow morning we will head back to the church to pack up and load before heading back to Yazoo City.
Appreciate the prayers!
John

Wonderful service as we worshipped tonight. The congregation was a bit smaller than we hoped but the cold front is brutal. This morning, as 8 a.m. it was 60 degrees and raining. Then the wind picked up and by 3 p.m. it was 28 degrees with a 28 mph wind. As I right this, the wind is still blowing and the temp is somewhere around 17 degrees.
Oh yeah, did I tell you that Patty and I both left our winter coats in Enterprise? Seriously, we did. Traveling for 25 years, planning using internet weather reporting, and knowing there was some really cold weather headed to Shreveport, we got so busy loading everything else in the 65 degrees of Enterprise, we simply forgot. Geez
But I digress…it was a great service and we appreciate your continued prayers.
Tomorrow morning, I will head to the church to do the preschool chapel service and get things together for tomorrow night. It will be a very busy evening. It’s Youth Night and I will lead in worship again then when I finish my portion of the service, I will head over to another part of the facilities to do a program for the AWANA kids. Eastwood has a rather large program and I was asked to use my friends and music for the evening. It will be fun.
We will be breaking down all the equipment and loading it up before coming back to the hotel tomorrow night. On Thursday we’ll head on to Yazoo City.
Blessings,
John