Heritage Baptist in Georgetown, TX

Yesterday I was in Georgetown, TX where Don Ledbetter is pastor. It was good for several reason:

1. There was one young lady who accepted Christ during the evening serivce. For that I am rejoicing.

2. The pastor and staff have been long-time friends and it was great to be able to minister together with them. (more on this later)

3. My wife and daughter were able to attend with me. Since this does not happen very often, it was a special treat for me.

Bro. Ledbetter has been in Georgetown since Noah came over on the Ark. This is the church he started back (I believe) in the early 80's. They started in a converted Funeral Home and carved out a church there. During lunch we reminisced a little about those early days. There is always an element of fondness as you look back on difficult times of trying to get something new off the ground. Not that you would rather go backwards, but there always seems to be elements that are missing later on as you are struggeling, crowded in tight quarters, finances are low and all of the other things that accompany a new work.

Today, the Funeral Home is no longer standing. The church has relocated to some prime property about 10 miles North and they are not only alive and well, but exciting and growing. Heritage Baptist is now holding 2 morning services and averaging around 400 a week. There is a great spirit in the church and you can tell that the people really enjoy being there. If you ever get a chance to get down near Georgetown, be sure to stop by Heritage Baptist - You will be glad you did.

Shawnee & Gardner, Kansas

I had the honor of being in two completely different, but equally great churches this weekend. Let me start by saying that on Friday I woke-up with my stomach churnning something terrible which resulted in Montezuma's Revenge. :-( This stuck with me the whole weekend. The one good thing I did was on Friday night, I got online and checked-in for my flight, then made a last minute change in my seating on one of the legs of my flight. I moved back one row to the last row on the plane because no one would be seated next to me (at least I hoped - and it worked). The good part about it is that it was directly across from the lavatory - Yes!!!

On Sunday morning I was at Clear Creek Baptist in Shawnee, KS. Danny is meeting in a theater. I was impressed. He has taken over about half of the theater for church on Sunday morning. Morning service in one theater room, youth in another, children in another, two others are used as classrooms for Sunday School. I will admit that this was the first time I had been to church where they were popping Popcorn in the lobby between SS and church. :-)

I made a quick observation as I sat down in one of the seats at one point before the service started - whatever it is I do or say, it had better be good or these folks are going to go to sleep - those theater chairs were comfortable.

This is also the first time I had my PowerPoint presentation on a H-U-G-E screen. I have a 9'x12' screen that I have used in the past, but this screen was the real thing and their projector filled it great.

The worship was really, really good. Even though I felt bad, it was great to watch this 18-year old young man masterfully play the guitar. I talked with him after the service and he told me he was headed to Australia in the fall to pursue a degree in musical worship. This kid not only plays very well, but he also writes music. It was just the guitar and a man on two floor toms. The man on the toms could really get the needed sound (read: different tones and volumn) out of those two instruments. Together, they could make the average band a little green with envy. They were good. A young lady also sang a special and she really rang the bell. It was an all around great time of praise and worship before I got the floor.

You will have to ask Danny about the rest. ;-) But I will say that there are some really great people in the baby church in Shawnee, KS. BTW-I think they had somewhere between 150-200 there. I didn't really count, but the place looked great with lots of excitement all around.

From Shawnee, I met up with Marty Bush to be with him at Liberty Baptist on Sunday night. Marty also has a new church - a really new baby church. Marty doesn't have the crowds, the exciting music program, all the varied ministries - YET! But he will. Just give him time. Heck, they haven't even organized yet! :-) They have just aquired the building they have been meeting in with a 5-year lease. Currently they are subleasing half of it until the time they need it. This is a great opportunity for them.

Gardner is a booming town just outside of the KC area. I believe Marty said that it is one of the top, if not THE top growing town in Kansas at the moment. This is the only Independent work in Gardner.

Sunday was a down day for Marty and in the PM service we had 10 (and that includes adding 10% for halls and bathrooms if you count the way Buddy Wade counts) :-) In reality, I really enjoy being with these small groups of people simply because you get to know them a little more on a personal level.

He has a retired police officer in his church, the man is 6'5" if he is an inch and towers over everyone in the place. Yet he is what I call a Gentle Ben. One thing I noticed as I stood in the back of the church as Marty was closing in prayer was two of the older couples standing and holding hands. I love that stuff.

During the message, the Lord laid an illustration on my heart that was not part of my notes. I used it, even though I wasn't sure how I was going to tie it all in. After the message one of the men came up to me with tears in his eyes and thanked me for that illustration. I simply told him the truth and did my best the direct praise the to rightful owner.

On Monday, Marty picked me up to take me to the airport and handed me a poem that this man had gone home and found on his computer. It was a real blessing to me. BTW-this man's wife was in a automobile accident the night before. She was bruised and battered a bit, and doing as well as can be expected, but still unable to be at church.

Needless to say, I had a blessed weekend in spite of illness. I thank God that I didn't have to make a mad dash for the restroom during the messages, or worse, just keep on going and endure it. :-( I actually felt great during both messages. I love it when God does that stuff.

By Monday I was feeling much better and headed home.

I also want to publicly thank Whitey Koons for allowing me to park my truck at his church over the weekend and providing transportation to the airport for me. That saved me a lot of money. I flew out of DFW because I got a great price on the tickets. So that meant I had to drive from Austin to Dallas to catch my flight. Anyway, thanks to all of you guys for making my weekend a really great one.