News

Singing At Jellico Highway Church Of God

We had a great time, and especially enjoyed going somewhere local and close by! It was great getting most of the whole family to be there for it; for sometimes you never know when you will have another opportunity to get together to enjoy church together!

We had a variety of denominations in the crowd, but it did not matter for the service whatsoever. I have found (and can testify to) that no matter where we are scheduled to go that as long as everyone has the love of God in their hearts that everyone is usually fixed upon the true purpose of a church, which to me is the reaching out to those that need the relationship with Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life.

You know it seems silly, but there have been more times than not that people will want to know your specific doctrines before they will ever even give you the time of day. When we get in that place in our lives we cannot enjoy our own worship let alone the offerings of others. Irregardless of how you practice religion, you should always stand for Jesus Christ everywhere! And I can speak on behalf of our ministry and say that whether we get inside, outside or somewhere in between, it will always be about bringing out the message of the love of God and salvation of Jesus Christ!

On another note, I’m so proud of everyone working in the ministry directly and indirectly. It’s great to see how far that God is bringing everyone that is involved and how quick it is transpiring! There is no telling where we will be soon from now! We look forward to another opportunity to get back over to Jellico Highway COG! Thanks for the freedom and liberty!

Singing At Calvary Worship Center

We had a great time coming and singing at the revival at Calvary Worship Center!

I had been there at least once before when they were in a smaller facility and it was so great to see how far that they have come with the new place that they have now. This was our first time coming to sing there as a group and we were definitely welcomed and made to be as free as we wanted. I say that (as always) because I’m getting to a point. When you are being a host to people, always make sure to make them feel welcome! It’s not always safe to assume they do!

It was wonderful to receive the encouragement that we did from the pastor and the great support we did from all that came. It’s always great to be able to go from church to church and come together no matter where you are. We enjoyed the speaker for the night and will definitely be back soon and look forward to another opportunity. Check back on the calendar for any new dates coming up!

The First Book Has Begun!

I write today with some very exciting news. After much reading, writing and research….the pursuit of the first Heart of Grace book has begun! So far we are now laying out pages and content and trying to make it as useful as possible! The only hints we’ll share today is that we will begin releasing a series of books based on topics that we feel are very “right now” for people that are in need of a simple yet fulfilling word of the Lord!

On a related note to this (just to testify a little), I remember growing up in school and going through it always thinking “I’m not good at writing”. The truth is, when it came to writing about things I wasn’t fully knowledgeable on, I was probably right. When we first started out the web site, I remember thinking about “how are we going to offer something to people that they can use?”, and no sooner than that God began to help me and lead me into things to begin to write and speak on. There has not been a day that when I have sat down to dedicate time to work for this dream that God has not helped me with it every step of the way.

We will be making this available in paperback and on the iTunes book store (and maybe amazon) when the first volume is finished. I’ll try to keep the rest a surprise until we get it complete! Pray that we have the time and resources to pull it together by the end of this calendar year! My goal (and prayers to God) is to have our first release of a book by Christmas!

Singing and Speaking At Heaven’s View Worship Center

First of all, I want to thank each and every one that came out to help support us at Heaven’s view. It was a true blessing to us (and to me personally). I have to give a shout out to Jamie and J.R. (they attend our home church and we work in the praise band together) for coming and blessing us in song! They did such a wonderful job and it is exciting to see what God is doing in their lives!

Rebekah wasn’t able to be there, but her girls came up and sang and picked up the slack in her honor. They are so sweet and such a blessing. It does make me feel old though to already see them singing and growing up so fast! Mona, Kay and Regina sang for us (and didn’t sing enough) but did a great job too! We’re gonna keep getting onto them until they start doing at least 2-3 songs!

With that said, I was amazed with how God adjusted the direction of the message that we preached. I’m sorry to say that we were not able to catch any audio, but I will be sure to post the notes in the Small Thoughts category and put as much as I can remember! As someone said after the service, it felt like such a strong power was there at first but then a sweet presence was there for anyone that was in need of coming up for prayer. Those are my favorite kind of church services: seeing a group of people willing to get in when God bids to tear down the strongholds of our flesh so that God can work through us to reach those who need a move in a great way!

We hope to be back soon, and we will work on figuring out a way to capture audio for now on! We have been getting so much lately that it’s been hard to get all of it posted the past couple weeks! We hope to have something new on by Sunday! If you would like to be notified, be sure to get on our sermons list by clicking the Email Subscription link in the top right hand corner!

Singing And Speaking At Oneida Church Of God

What a great night! It is always worth making the trip to be over with Oneida COG! There is always great love and fellowship and most importantly the freedom to be able to be who God has called you to be! I cannot always say that it is everywhere you go that you get that vibe! I hope they continue to make that something that people are able to grab a hold of and enjoy. That’s what I was thinking about as people were coming up and speaking with me and the family: how wonderful to reach out to those even if you think they already “should know” that they are loved. Sometimes the continual pursuit for encouragement of those around you is the very thing that keeps the foundation of a church super-strong!

We preached a message about prayer and where it stands in our lives. We hope to get it on the site in the near future, so be sure to check that one out! There were people that came to the altar for prayer but in my heart I always know there is more that are in true need of a touch from God. Please, please, please do not ever forsake the value of your altar service! We lingered for quite a while and it was more than enough of an ample opportunity for people to consider coming up for help. Sometimes we miss that because we don’t want to keep people too late, etc. My advice is…don’t worry about it! If people are still there, they want to be, and if they need to go for a reason and circumstance then simply be understanding to it! Then, when you have done all that you can do you don’t walk away from a service wondering if you reached out all that you could, for it is better to reach out with all your might than to not reach out at all!

The church blessed us greatly, and we hope to see them again sometime soon!

Singing At West Robbins Missionary Baptist Church

What an experience for Heart of Grace at West Robbins! It was quite the haul to find it, but luckily we did safely and with no detours (inside joke).

We always love to go to homecomings, for it is a wonderful opportunity to see a church making a good attempt at coming together to try and reach out in as many ways as a church can. It was great to be able to come in and to be of help to those who were there. Each and every time that we go forth now, we go with a little more excitement. I realize that it might seem a little overwhelming to some, with questions that may linger about where the excitement comes from. I guess you could say there is a continual motivation as we all (as a ministry) constantly keep each other spiritually encouraged and leave no room for any downtime.

If I could say any encouraging words today (and as I did to that church on that day), it would be to never let too much downtime happen in your joy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Continually stir up the joy in your life. Think yourself happy! Enter into the gates with thanksgiving! Surprise somebody with that overwhelming joy that the love of God in you encourage them! I picture the church as a body that is as God, with open arms and ready to receive all that would come in need. Let’s never forget that love is refreshed by how we keep it each and every day! Don’t forget the things God does for you!

We hope to be back in the future, and love each and every one that we came into contact and fellowship with. God bless you and your church!