What have you forgotten?

Let us never forget.

2010 Indy 500 Ministry Preparations

This evening, I find myself eagerly waiting for another chance to go and spread the Gospel and to serve the Lord with gladness WAY out of my comfort zone. Tomorrow morning at about 4:30 am I will depart from my home and drive to Indianapolis, IN for evangelistic work with No Greater Love Ministries (http://www.nogreaterlove.org) at the Indy 500. This year I’ve been afforded the privilege to preach to our assembly of men on Sunday morning, and to me there is nothing greater than to be with this group and have my own life refined, sharpened, and strengthened so that I can return a better husband, father, and pastor. I will be posting pictures to my Twitter account (located at http://twitter.com/revconwell) throughout the weekend. If I could though, please allow me to give a small preview of the trip so that you can pray as the Lord leads.

On Friday night we have some fellowship time, then an opportunity to go out into the streets and minister around the track. Saturday has a great parade in Indianapolis and we get to work the crowd with simple clown skits, one on one witnessing, and passing tracts. Truly, the time spent at this parade has been my personal favorite for years because of the incredible family environment we get to experience as well as the inhabitance of the Holy Spirit in the ministry work.

Saturday night we see a totally different crowd out on Georgetown Road, which is located directed outside of the race track. This crowd is meaner, tougher to talk too, and is really only there to party all night and wait for the race the following day. I’ve always described this to be a totally different crowd than we see at Mardi Gras for one primary reason: in New Orleans there are literally hundreds of distractions to go along with our preaching the Word; but at the Indy 500 there is the party crowd and their alcohol … and us. However, this gives us an incredible opportunity to be bold in the Lord and to deliver unashamedly to all that will hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul writes in Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” This one verse always makes me ponder the question, “If we won’t go and proclaim the Gospel, then who will?”

I ask very humbly for your prayers this weekend for traveling mercy for all men that are going and of course that the Holy Spirit would be working in and amongst the crowd to provide fertile ground for the Word to land on. Let us be ministers of the Gospel, let us be representatives of Jesus Christ, and always remember that it is NEVER about us … but ALWAYS about Him!!

God bless you always,
Bro TJ

County Line Baptist Church Website

Good evening! This is just a short post to announce the launch of the County Line Baptist Church website!! There is still some data being loaded on a few pages, but the framework is built and everything is working just fine. If you have a few moments and wish to check it out, the website can be found at: http://www.countylineforchrist.org

Also, as an added bonus the ability to subscribe to our service's podcast is also operational. For those who know how to subscribe, the RSS file can be found by clicking HERE.

Update: You can also listen to the podcast files here on my blog. The "last 5" podcast links are located in the navigation area.

Have a good night!!

In Awe on Mother's Day

Wow. I am totally and completely in awe of God this morning.

Today, I had the honor and privilege of stepping into the pulpit at County Line Baptist Church as their Pastor; and even though God had given me a sermon this week I found myself simply without words. Being a Pastor is the fulfillment in my life of God's promise when He called me into the ministry and of Philippians 1:6 ... and I stand in awe that God has allowed me, a sinner saved by Grace I did not deserve, to serve Him in ministry. Wow ... just wow.

Today being Mother's Day the message the Lord laid on my heart was from 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, and the main concept for us to remember was/is: Just as our mother's loved us by giving us life, God loved us so much more by giving us the greatest gift of Life, His Son, Jesus. We must love in all things friends ... willing to love in all circumstances ... and give to Christ our full and total obedience. He is so worthy, and loved us so much, that He freely died for us (see Romans 5:8) so that we could live forever. This my friends, is love.

I pray that today is a blessing for all mom's, and that you are being loved upon by those around you whom you have cared for with a never-ending love. God bless you always and may you feel the joy of the Lord around you each and every day.

God's Timing is Perfect!

Note: Most folks have seen this news on either Twitter or Facebook, but I thought I would make it official and post it here on the blog.

This past Sunday, May 2nd, County Line Baptist Church in Deatsville, AL, voted to call me as their new Pastor. To say that Lisa and I were in shock is an understatement; but more correctly stated would be to say that we were in awe of how awesome our God is!! When the Lord sent me there several months ago to fill the pulpit, the prayer of my heart that morning was that God would make it completely clear if my family was to serve at this church, and in His perfect timing we feel that He has done that very thing.

I can say, though, that this is a bitter sweet piece of news for us. You see, we absolutely love the church that we are serving in now (New Vision Baptist Church), and more importantly we adore the folks that we serve alongside.

Yet, when I was called into the pastorate almost 10 years ago I told God that I would go anywhere He sends me, and so that covenant I made with Him as well and standing on Philippians 1:6 as my life's verse ... we have always had peace in our hearts that the Lord would one day see fit to use me again in the pulpit, and allow me the privilege of serving Him in the capacity as Pastor of a congregation. And so, this coming Sunday (Mother’s Day) we begin a new journey anxiously looking forward to seeing how God will reveal Himself in this new endeavor; and we await with joy in our hearts at the opportunity to watch Him grow our church and our community. God is so good my friends … and we are rejoicing today!!

May God bless you and keep you always …

In His service,
Bro TJ