Thursday, July 31, 2008

Where Are All the (Reformed) Black Men?


Xavier Pickett will be joining us this Sunday (August 3rd) to preach God’s Word and stay after the service as a part of our Strategic Perspectives Q&A Luncheon series. Xavier will be commenting on “The Church, Race, and Diversity.” The Q&A time will last approximately 35 minutes. All are welcome!


Xavier Pickett is the co-founder of Reformed Blacks of America http://reformedblacksofamerica.org/, a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary, and a Master of Theology candidate at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Pastor Jim met Xavier through our involvement with Atlanta's New Church Network that seeks to plant hundreds of churches in and around this strategic international city.
This is a great opportunity for our church - that desires to be more diverse - to wrestle with our calling to love one another as Christ loves us and to build bridges of biblical reconcilation over racial barriers.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Which is Better? Prayer for the Sick or for Missions?

Hey all
Ever wondered how praying for 'all those sick people' really mattered? We have been praying for the Caputos and Laurie and Jan Smith and all our missionaries and the new Hispanic ministry so here’s the latest:

[Ed. Note: We had prayed that God would heal Laurie Dixon. Our prayers were answered by Him taking her on home to heaven a few weeks after this posting. We are now praying for healing in the grief as the family adjusts.]

Mission
Robyn Lucas returned from ‘East Asia’ and we’ll be hearing an update from her this Sunday during our Mission Moment!
Troy and Teri Coons have finished the project in South Africa are will be making their way back over the next weeks. Pray for safe travel for them.
Héctor and Cecilia Guzmán have begun their first week of ministry here in Smyrna among Spanish speaking people. We will be hosting a Parenting Seminar with them on Sunday July 20. Pray that many folks will come and that Héctor and Cecy will be encouraged in the work of the gospel here among us!
And pray for your friends that Jesus loves and died for this week. He has come to seek and save those that are lost!

Health
Caputos are in a new place. Mostly moved in. The girls and Laurie each have a room. They have a new phone number but I don’t know it…. So they have a place for Laurie to come home now! Thanks to all 15 or 20 of you who helped move and settle them in. Keep praying for emotional strength and for patience because…
Laurie’s still at the hospital. She has an infection in her leg that they are watching. She’d due for another round of chemo soon. But more than that, she’s ready to go HOME! Pray for healing from this infection and cancer too!
Jan Smith had hip replacement surgery last week and quite an overreaction to her pain medication. I won’t spoil her telling of the story, but she did make it home this week. She’s feeling good and pain free. Pray that she can make it to church. (Also, Ron and Jan’s daughter Angel is going to have her baby any day now. Pray for a safe delivery! Pray for Angel’s salvation too)

If you are still praying or reading, here’s where mission intersects with health. People are noticing how well you are loving each other and serving each other. The stories are spreading word of mouth. Glory to God for HIS indescribable mercy and love that we can pass along to each other!

Hope to see you Sunday at 10am!

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Laurie's Fight with Cancer

Hey all,
It has been a while since I blogged on. There has been a huge effort to get Mike and Julie and Laurie's girls into a new house so she can come home from the hospital. Finally they are moved in and should have everything ready tomorrow.

Laurie's condition seems to be the same. The doctors have been great, but they are still vague with her about what is going on. I don't think they have much hope. But I do.

God has reminded me over and over that He can defeat anything, including cancer in Laurie. I'm not in la-la land, but I am putting my hope in Him until He either heals her or heals her completely. Either way, she's good to go!

- So pray for Laurie's healing. Keep asking. Keep seeking, Keep KNOCKING!
- Pray too for our missionaries in North Africa (behind the Muslim Curtain) and in Durban South Africa, in London and back from East Asia.
- Pray for unity in our diverse church.
- Pray for inner-family reconciliation. Several families are just stressed. I wish I could be more specific, but I can't. We ALL need Jesus to heal us deeply and strengthen our faith in His gospel and His Kingdom!

I'm hoping Robyn L will be ready to catch us up after her trip to East Asia. She was in church on Sunday. Good to have her back!

That's it for now.
Love you all and thanks for praying!