Richland

Had  good week in Richland, MO.  James Messer did a great job preaching and there was a good spirit.  The town of Richland was hit with tragedy while we were there however.  On Tuesday there was a car accident that took the lives of an 80 year old man and a popular teenage girl there in the high school.  The girl’s sister was also badly injured in the accident.  Richland is a small town and was hit very hard by this tragedy.  Please pray for Richland and for FBC that they’ll be able to minister during this time.

Got to meet some great people there in Richland.  That’s one of the blessings of what we do is meeting brothers and sisters all over the Unites States. 

 Concerts this weekend in IL.  Good to be home for a while. 

CELEBRATION note:  Clayton (Chris’s son) has accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.  He’ll be baptized at Grace on Sunday, April 6th!!  Way to go Clayton!!!

Revival Time

Starting a revival Sunday with James Messer.  James is the “Mel Tillis” of Evangelism.  He’s tongue-tied and was born with a lot of excuses not to succeed.  But he’s allowed God to use him for His glory and has a great testimony.  People tend to listen to him closer because he’s tongue-tied but he’d be a GREAT preacher even if he could be understood perfectly.

Pray for the folks at FBC, Richland and Interim Pastor Jim Wilcox this weekend.  We’re hoping they weren’t too affected with all of the rain and flooding.  Our town was hit fairly hard, with some homes just two blocks down the street being lost.  There is still a new “lake” down there as the water is just today supposed to “crest”.  Pray for the folks who have lost their homes and had so much damage.

Thankfully, we’re on a hill and were able to stay ahead of the water collecting in the basement.

In His Grip,

Brent

Good Weekend/Revival Coming

Wow, didn’t 08′ just begin???  Hard to believe March is here and Spring is on the way.  Spring for us brings more Revival meetings.  We’ll be heading to Richland, Missouri soon for a revival with Evangelist James Messer.  James is a very close friend of ours and God is really using him.  For those of you that have followed our ministry, James is the one who hosts bible conferences all over the south and uses us for all of them.

 We had a good Sunday.  I know what you’re thinking but we don’t always say that.  Jonesboro FBC is doing well and there was a great spirit there, did two concerts in the morning.  Then, in case you haven’t heard, there’s something going on in Perks, IL!!!  I know you probably have no clue where that is.  I’m not sure I do and I’ve been there several times.  Maple Grove Baptist is growing and reaching people.  They were packed in the auditorium like sardines last night and were a very excited crowd.  They know it’s God moving in their midst and using them and they’re happy about it!!

Have a great week.

 More to come this week on the personal front….

In His Grip,

Brent

Home Again Home Again….

Sons of The Father had a great time at the training conference.  It was Next Level Leadership training being led by Pastor Bill Hulse of Parkview Baptist in Tulsa, OK. He was a natural at leading the conference and did a super job. We had a great time and learned a lot there, I’d recommend it to anyone who has a chance to go to one. It was great to see several pastor-friends that we’ve known for years there also.

 We spent Sunday morning with the folks at Golf Road Baptistin Des Plaines, IL.  It was our second “Round Up Day” with them and fun as always.  Went from there to Wilmington, IL and did a concert for Island City Baptist.  They had a great crowd and were a lively bunch.  Dad got to see a blast from the past there.  Someone from his youth group when he was on staff in Springfield, IL in 1969 was there.  Not only that but she had married a guy who was saved at a crusade during that time where dad was doing the music.  He is now the DOM in that association.

SOOOOOOOOO glad to be home again. Always good to go but ALWAYS good to come home to our families. It gets harder and harder to go leaving little ones behind. Getting a little taste of what dad went through, but on his own, for all those years (13) before we joined him.

I’ll try to continue to write some as we’re home also. So continue to check back.

In His Grip…..

No Snow ;-)

Overall it was a great meeting at Waterloo.  Pastor Jones and the staff were great and had prepared well.  Unfortunately they’re closing out the week of revival with two funerals in their church family.  Be sure to say a prayer for them.

We had a lazy driving day yesterday after getting things torn down and loaded at the church.  We’re in Joliet at a rest stop at the moment.  It looks like all that snow we were supposed to get here is just going to be a few flurries throughout today and not much else for the weekend.  It it cold however.  Back at home though there’s talk of 4 to 6 inches of snow before day’s end!!!   Oh well. 

Sons of The Father will be singing at Fairfield Baptist Home today.  It’s sort of a nursing home facility but it ranges from nursing home care to assisted living and even just apartments for seniors who want to be close to others.  We’ve sung there 4 or 5 times before and always have a great time.   Pray that we’ll be a blessing to the folks there.

Tonight we’ll head to First Southern Baptist Church in Waukegan for an Associational study.  We’ll be with them all day tomorrow also.

Thanks for your prayers.  Be sure to keep an eye on our schedule to see when we’re coming close to you.  You can join our email newsletter also if you want to keep updated.

Baby News….

Of course we (Brent & Ola) are excited about the new baby.  For those of you that don’t know, Ola’s sister Dasha (in Moscow) is also expecting.  Their baby is due in early August I think but I’ll have to re-check that.  Anyway it’s fun for the sisters to share what each other is going through.  This will be their first.  Dasha is married to Alexander (Sasha for short) and he is the head of Fires of Revival in Moscow, an organization supported mostly by the Billy Graham organization.  Dasha is a DJ for a Christian radio station in Moscow.

Neither Rain, Nor Ice/Snow, Nor Stomach Flu…….

Well it’s been an interesting revival to say the least.  The rain, the snow, the ice, none of it has been able to keep people from showing up.  There have been people at the altar in every service praying for the lost and praying that God would bring revival in their lives.  Not every week is like this unfortunately.  The people here were ready to hear from God and came expecting it to happen. 

 The crowd should be up a little tonight as the snow here is quickly melting away.   Most of the inch-thick ice that was covering our bus is finally disappearing.  That should make things easier for us getting out of here.  We haven’t been able to open up the bays underneath until today to get more water, etc.  It was going to be hard getting out of here if things didn’t warm up a little.

 We’d appreciate your continued prayers for the end of the week.  We’re heading up to the Chicago area and at my last look they were expecting snow all weekend.  They’ll be used to it so we’re not worried about that, but it’s hard enough to get around up there in a big RV without snow and ice to worry about. 

More to come under the family heading…….

The View From Here

Thankfully, this morning I woke up finally feeling better.  I sang last night and then slipped out and went to bed.  Here’s what we woke up to:

We already had ice last night but the people still came. We even sang for a Senior Adult breakfast this morning. They’re either very serious about revival or tired of letting the snow and ice keep them from things.

It’s supposed to be a little warmer tomorrow but hopefully it won’t stop the crowd for tonight too much. 

Two Words “Stomach Flu”

Ever try to preach, sing, work, do anything while you had the stomach flu.  I’ll save you the wonderful details but I’ve got it.  Brought it from home, my little girl has it.  I was able to get though singing yesterday morning, good services by the way, and last night.  There were several people at the altar in each service praying for revival.   Continue praying for FBC and also pray for me if you would that I can get through tonight’s service.  We’re supposed to sing in the morning also for a Senior Adult breakfast. 

 That’s all for now, I’m going back to bed……..

Road Update

Hello from the road.  Now that we have internet while we’re traveling, I thought I’d start updating folks on where we are and what’s going on in our ministry.  We’re starting a revival today in Waterloo Illinois with Evangelist Phil Glisson.  Starting today we’ll sing in 14 services in the next 8 days.  Pray for God to move in this congregation and to use us how He sees fit. 

 More to come…..