Category: News from the Road

This morning I preached at the Central Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, Kentucky. Pastor Mark Eaton grew up in Mount Vernon, and God called him to pastor this great church in his hometown. It was exciting to see the LORD work this morning in the services and to see the people respond to the preaching at the invitation. Tonight we are looking for an even greater crowd as they will have a Sunday school service for the bus kids at 5pm.

What is exciting about Pastor Eaton is his vision for what the LORD can do through this small town church. Bro. Eaton did not let the small town scare him away from God’s will, and he is doing a great work here. It is the small town churches that are making a great influence for Christ in this country. When many would rather choose growth paths instead of the old paths, there are men of God like Pastor Eaton all over this country in small towns who are still standing for truth.

Please continue to pray for this meeting as we continue through Tuesday night, that the LORD will work in the hearts of individuals.

This morning I had the privilege of preaching at the Faith Baptist Church in Margate, Florida. Pastor Bill Gorman and his church have worked hard in the past year to grow the church, and the results are obvious. This morning we had a great crowd with the altars filled.

This morning I preached at the Faith Baptist Church in Bakersfield, California. God was good this morning as he gave us a full house. Pastor Joe Grande started this church over 20 years ago and the church has yet to find a place that they can permanently call theirs. For the past several years they have met in a tent, but God has finally given them a place they can hopefully make theirs. I appreciate a pastor and a church who don’t give up on God. I look forward to the rest of the week to see what the LORD is going to do in this revival meeting. If you are in driving distance of Bakersfield, I invite you to the Monday and Tuesday night services at 7PM.

This week I am preaching at Agape Baptist Church in Stockton, Missouri. I woke up this morning to several inches of snow. It was quite the endeavor to take the short trip to the church.

Bro. Jim Clemensen started the Agape Baptist Church and boarding school over twenty years ago. He and his wife have been dear friends to this preacher. It was exciting to see a few people from the city brave the snowy roads to come to church. I preached on Setting the Pace. I talked about the importance to setting the pace for your day and year is to start your day off finishing something. God blessed us with one young man receiving Christ as Saviour and the altars filled. I will be joined tomorrow by Bro. Tim Trieber as we continue the meeting through Tuesday night and Bro. Trieber will be closing it out on Wednesday.

I thank God for people like the Clemensen’s who have a vision for troubled young men. Their vision has certainly saved many young men from heartache. It is great to be around people who never lose that vision, and in the years when most people retire, the Clemensen’s are still doing their best to help turn troubled lives around.

Thank you to the Clemensen’s and the staff of Agape for making me feel at home. I look forward to the rest of the week.

Yesterday, I had the privilege of preaching for Pastor Paul Calaway at the Fundamental Baptist Church in Alvarado, Texas. God blessed us with an amazing day. Pastor Calaway planned a special day that he called, “Friend Sunday.” He was going to give out a large trophy to the person who brought the most friends. We had a total of 24 visitors for the day. Pastor Calaway’s young boy brought 10 of those visitors. It is always encouraging to see the youth excited about bringing people to church. We had one saved, and the LORD blessed with the altars filled.

One special blessing was meeting Mrs. Sue Garner. Mrs. Garner, as a child, was a member of the First Baptist Church where J. Frank Norris pastored. She told me she still has the graduation certificate that he signed when she graduated from one Sunday school class to another. She also told me some wonderful stories about J. Frank Norris and his influence on her young life. That influence caused her to serve the LORD and eventually marry a man who would pastor for many years before the LORD took him to Heaven. What encouraged me about Mrs. Garner was that she is still serving the LORD after all of these years. Her standards have not dropped and her spirit of serving the LORD is contagious. What a great lady! What an example to all of us that our influence can live on many years after we are gone.

I want to thank Pastor Calaway and the great people of this church for making me feel at home while I was with them. I certainly expect to see great things coming from this church. It’s good to see that soul winning, old fashioned preaching and standards still make an influence in our day.