On my mind today

I've had some time this week to consider what our church will look like in 2020. Thinking that way made me reflect on the last decade, what's changed and what I've learned in my first 10 years as a pastor. In 2000: - I had no idea what a text message was. - I had dial-up internet - and was proud to have it! DSL / high speed internet was just too expensive. - Until May of that year, I was still a single guy with no concept of the joy of a loving, committed relationship with my wife. - I had a beeper. Cell phones were too pricey. - My email address (I only had one - now, I've got three) was with AOL. - I had done exactly one wedding and one funeral. - The church I pastored then had less than 75 people. They passionately taught me about loving the Lord and how to serve Him. - I thought being in PhD work was the most important aspect of my life. - I had no idea how to leverage a website, a Facebook account, a Twitter account and a blog for the sake of the Gospe...

- Welcome to Stefanie Robison, our newest CBC family member! We're so pleased to have Stefanie join us yesterday through her profession of faith in Christ! We'll baptize her in the next few weeks. In the meantime, do what you do best CBC - make her feel at home. - What a turnout for the Thanksgiving celebration last night! To those who thought they could bribe Steve Edwards into calling your table next, apparently, your offer wasn't as good as someone else's offer! :-) - I got a forwarded note from our friends in Germany, listening to us (via the internet) from their side of the Atlantic! Thanks for the encouraging words and kindness! - It's Thanksgiving week, so that means no Wednesday activities and an unusual schedule for most everyone this week. Before you sit down to your meal on Thursday, spend some time with the Lord thanking him for the last year. While not everything in the past year is necessarily good, the very fact you're here to be concerned...

This Sunday is a rare occasion - we'll start the service with Baptism and end it with the Lord's Supper. I LOVE it when that happens! We didn't necessarily plan it that way but clearly the Lord did! Our message this week, "Remember", hopes to give you a reminder of what these two remembrances are about. As for this video clip, you've probably seen it before, but it's worth another look if only to hear the congregation laughing!

Proverbs 27:17 - "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." That's the idea behind CBC's new men's ministry we're calling "Iron Men." As men, we've been taught we don't need anyone. It's a lie! As men we've been taught not to rely on anyone. It's a lie! As men, we've been told we can stand forever on our own. It's a lie! It's a frightening thing to consider how many men are confused about what manhood means. Our hope is that we can work that ought together under the banner of Christ. We're launching our new ministry on Sunday night, Nov 8 doing something most of us would do anyway - eat and watch the Cowboys play football! They're playing the Eagles that night on NBC. Although it wasn't my idea, I heartily endorsed it! We'll meet in the Fishin' Hole (the Youth Building). If you're not a Cowboy fan, you can play pool, ping-pong or foosball. Anyway you stack it, it's ...

I love going to church on Wednesdays! If you've never been (or can't get here), let me tell you about it. Our format on Wednesdays is decidedly casual. We meet in the chapel. We'll pray for the needs on the prayer list and then discuss whatever our topic is for the night. Whereas on Sundays it's much more formal and lecture-type, Wednesdays are much more free-flowing and gentle. Coming on Wednesdays is something I've always done as a means of "topping off the tank" between Sundays. Even as a pastor, however, I find I still need that fellowship and love that you can only find when the church meets together. Put it down - Wednesday nights are cool!

We begin, as I always like to, with a hearty welcome to our newest members! Welcome Lex Ticer, Jack and Melinda Lewis and the Ansley family! We're thrilled the Lord has brought each of you to be a part of our fellowship! We're going to welcome you to Central by saying what we always say: "Welcome HOME!" - Our first of two Deacon messages - "Deacons and why they deac!" - was a blessing for me as I got ready for yesterday. You won't want to miss this Sunday. We've got a skit to emphasize how a deacon is supposed to look and act (assuming we can get all of our actors well!). - Sunday School is a GREAT way to get to know people at Central! If you're new to us or are planning to visit, plan to come to to Sunday School. Remember - the church is the church only when there are people inside her walls! The people ARE the Church! - It's true we were down yesterday with the heavy rain we had. But it's amazing to me what people will get out ...

- Welcome Jacques and Temica Gooden, our newest members! We're thrilled to have you with us! It's not often we have people join at the BEGINNING of the service, but special people demand special arrangements. (For those who didn't hear it earlier, Temica's work schedule requires her presence before the end of worship, thus we made the special arrangements. - Special thanks to Doug and Tim for their hard work in the technical arena yesterday - I asked a LOT and they delivered! Thanks fellas! Here's the video I used yesterday if you want to see it again. - I was blessed by those of you who came to worship yesterday! I never bother to count, but we had a full house again. - We'll finish our "How Great is Our God" series this Sunday with "A worship service of ONE!" Whereas yesterday we talked about how BIG God is, this Sunday we'll talk about how intimate our relationship can be! - Believe it or not, this Sunday will be our one month ...

Many of you knew Keno. He was a congenial, warm-spirited man who somehow never married. With a host of friends, Keno was a wonderful part of our community. Yesterday afternoon, the Lord took him home, too soon in many eyes, at a young 35 yrs of age. Please pray for his family during these difficult days. Pray for his friends. Pray for our community. VISITATION - Autry's Funeral Home in Frankston, July 10, Friday evening from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. FUNERAL SERVICES - 2 PM on Saturday at the United Methodist Church's Family Life Center here in Frankston.

A word of congratulations is in order! Twice a month, several members of FBC work at the East Texas Food Bank in Tyler. Under the leadership of Charles Garner, our workers bag rice and beans for distribution to those in need. It's a tedious job. A literal TON of rice and a TON of beans are sitting on pallets. They must be bagged into 2 lbs. sacks to be distributed. There are 12 bags to the case. In a four hour time span, they bagged and boxed 117 cases of rice and beans! WOW! Now that's a lot of work! Thanks for taking Jesus' command to feed the hungry so seriously!

By now, you've probably heard Shelley went home tonight around 7 PM. There were simply too many issues for her to overcome. Thus, the Lord gave her rest. Please pray for Greg, Alyssa and Reed during the difficult days that lie ahead.

The news from Shelley this morning is not good. Overnight, she had a massive brain hemorrhage inducing a stroke. She was rushed back to Baylor Hospital (she has been at a rehab center the last week or so). The family has been called in. Please pray for Shelley, her husband Greg, her daughter Alyssa and her son, Reed. I'll update this as soon as I know more.

Here's the latest update on Shelley Burks-White. Thanks for remembering to pray for her on this National Day of Prayer. "Shelley is now in the Baylor Specialty Hospital. She was moved Tuesday afternoon. As you might expect, Tuesday was a very difficult day - she was so frightened and anxious as well as being in so much pain. The goal for this hospital is to get her off the ventilator and further along with physical therapy so that she can be moved to Baylor Institute of Rehabilitation. Our hope is that that will happen within another four weeks. Please pray specifically for that. Shelley seems to be doing well from the transplant prospective. Her liver has not shown rejection and her "numbers" continue to improve. The best thing so far - her kidneys seem to be acting again. Coming from a woman who kept her babies's diapers dried, did not allow puppies in the house, and has encouraged her sweet husband to "lift the lid", I have never been so ha...

Here's the latest update on Shelley received this morning. Remember, our blood drive for Shelley is Sunday, May 17th from 9:30 AM - 2 PM. "As I believed it would, today went so much better than the week-end. Shelley was kept very busy today with physical therapy, etc. She got a good assessment from the Transplant Team and plans are still underway to move her to the Speciality Hospital either tomorrow or the next day. I hope it is tomorrow so that she will be settled in before her birthday which is Wednesday. The best thing today was that she got to get her dialysis line removed. The doctor said that didn't mean that she might not have to have dialysis later but for now he does not plan it. Her kidneys are beginning to activate! When she is kept busy she has less anxiety, so, overall, today has been a better day. Tonight, pray that Shelley will rest and that her move to the other place will not be too stressful. Continue to pray that our move there will be the perfec...

Below, you'll find our latest update on Shelley White's condition. Please continue to pray for her as she continues her healing. Another week-end has passed and as usual, not much was accomplished. On Friday, Shelley was able to stay down to "5" (which is very good) on the ventilator for 2 hrs, but today was not able to withstand any reduction in settings. I think this is partly because the week-end nurses come in not knowing much about what she is able to do and don't work with her very much. She has not received any physical therapy since Friday. I look forward to Mondays when the routine starts over and we see progress. Shelley has been in a lot of discomfort today and it has been very difficult to watch her suffer. She has had a lot of bloody mucous from her throat which the doctor thinks is old blood coming from her stomach (something they are watching). She is becoming increasingly frustrated over not being able to speak or swallow liquid. I had exp...

Below is the latest update from Judy Burks regarding her daughter, Shelley. Please remember to sign-up for the blood drive on May 17th from 9:30 AM-2:00 PM. All blood received that day will go toward Shelley's account. If you can't be here that day or you'd rather give another day, go to any Carter Blood Bank facility and tell them you'd like to donate for Shelley White - 047775. They'll get it credited to her. "Today has been another busy Monday, but thank goodness. Shelley did not pass the swallowing test today, but just the fact that they gave it showed that she had improved enough to be tested. She is so very anxious to swallow well enough to have liquid. Physical therapist (three of them) sat her up in bed again today and held her there for 9 minutes. She had to have a Cat Scan because of belly pain, but the report came back as "good". The doctor said is showed fluid but nothing serious. She continues to have swelling in her right leg an...

Yesterday morning, our Lydia Ladies Sunday School class came to stuff Easter eggs for this Saturday's egg hunt. I think they had more than they bargained for. When Duane and I counted them on Monday, we stopped when we got to about 2,500. There were still several hundred loose eggs in a box. Wow. What's that old saying about "be careful what you ask for. . . "? Thanks to each of you who brought the eggs they stuffed yesterday and those who brought the candy to stuff them with. Now all we need are people to hide them and CHILDREN TO FIND THEM! We're hoping for around 200 children. Imagine what that would look like and ask the Lord of the harvest to bring it to pass.

Shelley White is about to begin a 10 hour surgery for a liver transplant. Overnight, a donor was found and the doctors believe Shelley is ready. Please pray for the operation to go smoothly and quickly. Please ask the Lord of all healing to touch Shelley today in a powerful way. Please pray for strength for her husband, Greg, her 12 yr old daughter, Alissa, and her 6 yr old son, Reid. Please pray for Judy and Johnny Burks, her parents, and the rest of her family. I'll update her as soon as I receive word.

So many of you have called about Shelley White, Judy and Johnny Burks daughter, I thought I'd give you a heads up. The news is better today. Shelley is doing better although still desperately in need of prayers. She is a candidate for a liver transplant so please pray one will come available.

Do you have an artistic flair? Do you have a desire to be used by the Lord? Do you have a paint brush and/or a roller? We're looking for some PAINTERS! We need some PAINTERS! Did I say we need some PAINTERS? Several months ago, we discussed the need for the inside of the church to get painted. It's been 10 years now and it's well-past time. We're hoping to get the church painted on the inside before Easter (April 12). If you'd like to help, we're planning a work day for April 4th (that's one week from Saturday). We've got rollers, brushes, scrubby things and the paint. We need PAINTERS! If that includes you, look for details in this Sunday's bulletin.

We're looking for some special people! They don't have to be especially skilled or exceptionally talented - just willing to be used by the Lord for some special purposes! Perhaps you're one of them! Here's your chance to get in the game. - NEED 1 - We need some additional Children's church workers. As it stands, our children's minister, Barbara Railsback, and her assistant, Mary NeSmith, never get to attend worship. Each and every week they are in the children's service, leading worship for them. They do a great job and we're not trying to replace them. Rather, we're trying to add to their number. We're looking for people who would be willing to serve a Sunday per quarter in Children's church to allow our leaders to participate in the adult Worship service. I'll be visiting with the church about this, but please pray with me about the people we need in this role. - NEED 2 - Like to work with technology? We need some help there...