These come from an email from John Cannady.

“A penny saved is a government oversight…”

“If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.”

A little preface to the scriptures - The true children of God were be persecuted by those who claimed to be children. “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. And their worship of me amounts to nothing more than human laws learned by rote” (vrs. 13). But when the Lord begins His acts of destruction, He always watches out for and protects His kids.

When you are going through some tough situations here is God’s promise. “Soon-and it will not be very long-the wilderness of Lebanon will be a fertile field once again. And the fertile fields will become a lush and fertile forest. In that day deaf people will hear words read from a book, and blind people will see through the gloom and darkness. The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord. Those who are poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.”

Notice who will receive the promise:

1. Those who are blind. This is not talking about physical blindness.
2. Those who are deaf.
3. Those who are humble (does not have pride).
4. Those who are poor (poor in spirit).

As a friend of David, I am happy to see him following after God in a new adventure. As a coworker, I hate to see him leave. So this morning when I get the chance, I’ll let the air out of his tires as he begins to box things up.

If you missed Sunday Mornings service, you missed a great service. When people come prayed up and ready to worship, it sure makes my job a lot easier. God shows up when we are on our knees. We need God. He provides every breath of air we breathe. Our own strength, our own wealth, and our own hard work cannot get us where we need to go. We need God every moment.

And we also need each other. If one stumbles, the other is there to pick him up. I am glad to be a part of the worship team at Faith.

Thanks for all you do.

Looks like we need to pick out boy’s names again. What are a few good ones?

I had a wonderful time at the music conference this last week. It was inspiring to see believers from all over the country gather to worship God. The conference was highly educational with the multiple number of classes to take.There is one message that I would like everyone to hear. God cares more about your character than your craft. God cares more about who you are than the talent that He gave to you.But the problem is, there is only one way that God can build character. Romans 5:3-5 says: “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”Problems come up in our lives. Trials and sufferings happen to anyone who is living. In fact just because a person is saved does not give them a “get-out-of-bad-stuff card”. We all must go through trials. And this is the only way that God teaches us character. Many times we want to dodge and get out of the bad situation but that is not God’s will. God’s will is for us to go through, completely through and see the end of the trial so that He can develop Godly characteristics. God gave Joseph a dream. But Joseph wanted the dream to happen right then. So God spent the next several years building the character that He wanted in Joseph. Then when Joseph’s dream finally comes true, Joseph’s character was totally transformed. Instead of wanting his brothers to bow before him, he desired only their presence. Instead of having his brothers killed for their evil actions, he stated that it was God who had him sold into slavery in order to save them all. Joseph was totally changed.Each one of us are challenged to build character but this will only come by being patient through the tribulations. 

Here is a letter that I had received a long time ago. Some of the choir members had forgotten about the letter so I have decided to post it.

“I attended Faith Baptist Church this past weekend while visiting my Mother in Texarkana. I was so inspired and blessed by the song service. Thuly, the Faith Choir is developing into a joy. No longer just a group of volunteers but a true choir. Blended voices lifted in Praise to GOD ALMIGHTY (Bless His Holy Name). Lovely, that takes dedication and work.

“I noticed while reading the weekly Faith newsletter that Pastor Ross is calling for folks to dedicated themselves to GOD’s service. Since I love singing, I, personally, can’t think of a better service3 to commit to His Holy Name.

“Without a doubt, I felt the Holy Spirit in our presence!

“Presenting ourselves to Him in Service! Praise His Most Holy Name!” – Denice – Aug 19, 2006

I am so very proud of our choir. There was a lot of work and a lot of extra rehearsals that everyone put in just so they could freely worship this weekend. Faith, you have a great choir and music team. They didn’t perform, but they worshiped. They didn’t fight over solos or try to out-sing others, but they sung together.

For the last few months, we went from one rehearsal per week to two. During the last two weeks we had additional rehearsals. I appreciate all the additional work that these volunteers put in. They gave up their time from their busy lives and from their families. There was a lot going on behind the scenes as well from people whom others never saw. From the lights, to the sound, and to the videos. I’m proud of everyone who was involved.

“It is good to give thanks to the lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by the harp and lute and the harmony of the lyre. You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done” (Psalm 92:1-4). God searches for those who will worship Him (John 4). I believe you made your Father proud. He delights us singing to Him and ministering to Him.

Great Job this weekend.