Choo Choo!

I am leaving today on vacation to North Carolina for a while so I will post more on that trip when I return…I am doing something I have never done before and that is riding the train! I heard its a load of fun so I’m looking forward to it! till next week, adios

A Charge to my congregation to go back to our roots

hey everyone, I am printing this article I wrote yesterday in our churches newsletter. Hope you enjoy it.

DEAR BRADENTON,PLEASE READ 2 CHRONICLES 7:14

You might have noticed some bold statements to our community on our church sign lately. The Bayshore Community needs to hear bold statements about God, The Church, Faith, etc. Why can’t we as a church, that back in 1957, saw a need in the Bayshore Gardens area to plant a church that’s purpose was to reach the lost, care for the hurting, disciple the believers, and glorify Christ in all that they did return to our roots? Why can’t we return to being the church of this community since it was this very community that needed us 52 years ago? Do we even know our community? Does our community know who we are? What does the community know about us? Is it good? Is it bad? I have had some opportunities to get out in the community and get to know some people in the last few weeks that have really said some things about this church that broke my heart. I met with someone who is involved with the Bayshore Gardens Recreation Center and has been for some time now. I mentioned that our church held some of its first meetings in their facility. She had never heard of Bayshore Baptist! And another (by the way I am not mentioning names) stopped by the church a week ago because they were told that Bayshore Baptist Church had shut down and they wanted to see if it was true! They heard this information from a local hotel they were staying at while on vacation. This hotel is within walking distance to our church! I met a man just last Thursday that when I asked him if he knew anything about our church, he replied “isn’t that the church with the big sign?” We have lost touch! We have lost the connection! We have lost the passion for reaching this community for Christ! So what do we as a church body do? I am not pleading a case to do what we did back in the 50’s 60’s 70’s 80’s 90’s or even recently. It seems that every time the discussion about getting serious as a church arises, someone always brings up the “we use to do ________” and granted some the programs, activities, ministries do need to be revisited but for the right reasons. I am not desiring to look back at what this church did to grow, how many people were once attending services, the daycare we used to have, the buildings that needed to be built, the pastors and leaders in charge, because those days are gone! You can definitely learn from past failures and successes, but if you keep looking back you can never look ahead! What I am pleading is that we go back to our roots in that we see the need around us in the Bayshore Community and ask God to lead us in ministering to those needs. There are elderly people in our back yard who are lonely or might need help around the house, there are young families struggling to get by in today’s society, there are single parents working two to three jobs, there are the wealthy who are finding no worth in their lives and earthly pleasures, there are drunks and drug addicts, there are homeless and prostitutes, there are black, white, hispanic, and asian, there are youth having sex and getting pregnant or diseases because the Godly principle of marriage is not being taught in the classroom and more importantly the homes, there are college students learning secular humanistic ideas from their professors, there are businesses around that would benefit from knowing that this church is praying for them to succeed and provide income for this community, there are businesses that this community has allowed to enter that destroy the very teachings this church holds dear like strip clubs and gambling halls, there are teachers, doctors, law enforcers, politicians, cooks, car salesmen, janitors, car mechanics, mailmen, and grocery store baggers, THERE IS A COMMUNITY! This community needs Jesus so badly so what may I ask is keeping Bayshore Baptist Church from exploding Christ’s love upon them? It takes more than a couple of services being held here each week and an occasional event to reach a community. It takes a commitment to follow Christ COMMANDMENT in Matthew 28:18-20 which says “Go!” “Make Disciples!” “Baptize Them” (reach the people). I have personally committed to be a pastoral figure in this community. I am being blessed with opportunities from different places to come and teach the Bible and even hold The Truth Project where it needs to be held…in a public setting! Can I get some help? Ask yourself right now if you even care about what I have just written. If you don’t then that is between you and God and I still will lovingly serve you at Bayshore Baptist. If you have read this and perhaps a tear was shed or your heart was broken for what this church needs to be doing, then I encourage you to first examine your own life and service to God, secondly pray for ways you can help reach the community, and third encourage other church members and friends to join you in this higher calling of building God’s Kingdom! Let us not be like the Church in Ephesus that had “lost its first love (following Jesus totally)” but let us do the things it says in Revelation 2:5 in that we “remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent.” Our church sign asks Bradenton to read this verse: “if my people, who are called by name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

This land needs healing, this community needs healing, this church needs to begin now in prayer for God’s direction. Let us repent for our past mistakes and look ahead to the future ministry God has in store for us!

The Rental “car”

Ok so since thursday, my car has been getting its A\C worked on by the Ford Dealer (it’s under warranty or I wouldn’t have gone there). I was told it would be ready Friday. Friday I was told maybe Saturday. Saturday I was told to check in on Monday…Yesterday they called and said they are having some major problems with the wiring of the unit. They have replaced every part but it still doesn’t work! (hey..all new parts for free is worth the wait for me) they told me they would pay for a rental car until it is fixed. Well, thinking and hoping for a nice car to my surprise, Enterprise showed up in this Cargo Van! For some reason…every car\truck was rented out over the weekend and this was all they had left! I can switch it for a car if I need to, but I am finding the humor in this to be quite enjoyable!

More ways I’m getting involved in the community through bayshore baptist

My ministry here lately has been focused on the getting involved in the community around the church. I am hoping to establish myself (not for selfish reasons by the way) as being the Pastor of the Bayshore Gardens Community. I have had some great relations with the ALPHA & OMEGA CAFE  and they have opened their doors for me to host THE TRUTH PROJECT for the community. This is going to be a 13 week study on Christian Worldview and I hope that there might be some that just show up for lunch\coffee and end up listening in on the conversation and come back. I also got the great idea to turn our church sign (which is probably the largest in Bradenton) into a community outreach message board instead of the typical cutesie sayings that plague so many signs I have read. We had a non-believer actually call the church here a few days ago saying our sign message didn’t sound Christian. Here’s what is on our sign now! Pastors…be your community’s pastor!

getting involved in the community

I attended a Pastor’s Luncheon today to learn about different areas of ministry in Manatee County, Fl. I’ve talked with Dan over at Jesus and Java about how churches should be focused more on the community around them than the inreaching that always occurs within the body of believers. To make a long story short…I signed up to pray the invocation for our City Council Meeting in March! What a great opportunity to really get involved and make a name for the church in the governing body of this town! Churches should be involved in what their government is doing. I preached a sermon once that raised the question that if our church had to close it doors…would the community around it mourn the loss of the church as being a vital part of their city? county? state?