Locusts and Wild Honey

Rebuild Lakeshore site redesign

Wednesday, November 29th, 2006 | General, Hurricane Katrina | 2 Comments

When I dove into the blogosphere in January of last year, I had little anticipation of making much of a splash. Little did I know that in God’s providence my blog would serve as a tool to bring thousands to Lakeshore in the wake of the worst natural disaster to ever hit the continental United States.

For the past 15 months, I have used my blog to chronicle the relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts in Lakeshore. The overwhelming task has kept me from doing little more than offering brief snapshots into the ongoing miraculous outpouring of God’s mercy.

Shortly after the storm, our friends created a web site to aid in communication of ongoing needs. Hundreds of teams continue to flood Lakeshore with their generosity, yet so much remains left to do. God has given us a passion to see the work through to completion - a task that will take years. Knowing that information fuels interest and efficiency we have re-launched our Rebuild Lakeshore web site. We pray that the the newly designed site will benefit groups wanting to help with ongoing needs and projects, teams making mission trip plans, and individuals wanting to keep up to date with the progress in Lakeshore. Check the Rebuild Lakeshore blog often or subscribe to the rss feed. Keep us in your prayers as we strive to Rebuild Lakeshore to the glory of God and see the fame of His name spread through our community.

Lord willing, I plan to continue posting to both sites. My Locust and Wild Honey blog will probably revert to some of its pre-storm flavor with devotional thoughts, personal opinions, information of interest, book and web site recommendations, historical tidbits, and miscellaneous musings. The Rebuild Lakeshore blog will serve as a news outlet for the ongoing relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts.

That man is blessed who stands in awe

Sunday, November 19th, 2006 | General | No Comments

That man is blessed who stands in awe
Of God, and loves His sacred law:
His seed on earth shall be renowned;
His house the seat of wealth shall be,
An inexhausted treasury,
And with successive honors crowned.

His lib’ral favors he extends,
To some he gives, to others lends;
A gen’rous pity fills his mind:
Yet what his charity impairs,
He saves by prudence in affairs
And thus he’s just to all mankind.

His hands, while they his alms bestow’d,
His glory’s future harvest sow’d;
The sweet remembrance of the just,
Like a green root, revives and bears
A train of blessings for his heirs,
When dying nature sleeps in dust.

Beset with threat’ning dangers round,
Unmov’d shall he maintain his ground;
His conscience holds his courage up:
The soul that’s fill’d with virtue’s light,
Shines brightest in affliction’s night,
And sees in darkness beams of hope.

Ill tidings never can surprise
His heart that fix’d on God relies,
Though waves and tempests roar around:
Safe on the rock he sits, and sees
The shipwreck of his enemies,
And all their hope and glory drown’d.

The wicked shall his triumph see,
And gnash their teeth in agony,
To find their expectations cross’d;
They and their envy, pride, and spite,
Sink down to everlasting night,
And all their names in darkness lost.

- Isaac Watts, 1719

1 Billion Dollar Spurgeon

Friday, November 10th, 2006 | General | 5 Comments

Last night the Silver Slipper Casino opened its doors in storm ravaged Lakeshore. Thousands of cars stretched for miles down Lakeshore Road crawling at a snails pace in front of our church property. Instead of bemoaning the traffic, we decided to seized the providential evangelistic opportunity. Our friends from Riverside Fellowship Church lined the street handing out 1 Billion Dollar bills and “Stop sign” tracts to the Casino bound traffic. The almost realistic looking bills boast the image of Charles Spurgeon on the front and a short gospel presentation on the back. Folks looking to win big on opening night gobbled up the good news currency.

Jamie and I went for higher stakes and ventured into the Casino itself. Strolling through the 26 table games, nine poker tables, and 1,000 slot machines, I offered 1 billion dollars to anyone interested. Only a hand-full of people declined. Most grinned, laughed, and thanked me for the “souvenir.” Several people even chased me down and asked if they could have one. The ATM line seemed especially eager to cash in. I distributed about 800 billion dollars before a Slipper employee requested I cease and desist.

The back of the bill reads:

The billion dollar question: Will you go to Heaven? Here’s a quick test. Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything, or used God’s name in vain? Jesus said, “Whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already with her in his heart.” Have you looked with lust? Will you be guilty on Judgment Day? If you have done those things God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. The Bible warns that if you are guilty you will end up in Hell. That’s not God’s will. He sent His Son to suffer and die on the cross for you. Jesus took your punishment upon Himself -”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Then He rose from the dead and defeated death. Please, repent (turn from sin) today and trust in Jesus, and God will grant you everlasting life. Then read your Bible daily and obey it.

October Overview

Wednesday, November 1st, 2006 | General, Hurricane Katrina | No Comments

If you have not been to the gulf coast, and even if you have, you can not imagine how much clean-up and rebuilding remains. Check out Jamie’s blog as she highlights some of the work accomplished in the past 31 days and asks, “Where did October go?”

I wish I had time to blog about every team and every project. God continues to flood us with His overwhelming mercy and grace through the sweat and tireless efforts of so many folks.

Over 30 different groups worked with us in October alone. I thank God for the great people last month who came from Immanuel Baptist Church - Louisville, Ky, Mt. Harmony - Riceville, TN, First Baptist Church - Tullahoma, TN, Midway Baptist Church - Meridian, MS, Highlands Fellowship - Abingdon, VA, Sixth Street Baptist - Alexander City, AL, Oleander United Methodist - Arab, AL, Tammy’s team from KY, Trinity Baptist Church - Baton Rouge LA, Kyle Jefferies and his group, AL, Hillsboro Baptist Church – Hillsboro, MS, Grace Bible - Southern NJ, Hagood Baptist - Barnwell, SC, Lineville Baptist Church - Lineville, AL, Heritage Hills Baptist Church - Douglasville, GA, Oakhurst Baptist Church - Clarksdale, MS, Providence Presbyterian Church - Hilton Head, SC, University of Mississippi – Oxford, MS, Sierra First Baptist Church - Alta, CA, Harvest Community Church - Charlotte, NC, Schriever Baptist Church - Schriever, LA, Northgate Baptist Church- Beckley, WV, New Beginning Family Worship Center - Northport, AL, Grace Bible Church - Canton, GA, New Life Church of Baton Rouge LA, Lima Baptist Temple - Lima, OH, Heritage Fellowship - TN, First Baptist of Natchitoches - Natchitoches, LA, First Baptist Church - Altamont, KS, Jeff Gardner, MI, First Baptist Benton – Benton, AR, Reunion Church - Chicago, IL, and I probably overlooked a few.

With most of these groups working on multiple projects, you can see why I have a hard time keeping up. Someone might feel the temptation to think that with all these folks that we have all the help we need. Nothing could be further from the truth. Come play your part in an overwhelming ministry of hope. Call us at (228) 469-0110 to plan your mission trip to Lakeshore.

Sola Fida and the Storm

Tuesday, October 31st, 2006 | General, Hurricane Katrina | No Comments

Over the past 14 months, I have been asked the same question hundreds of times. When people discover that the eye of hurricane Katrina passed right over Lakeshore, they ask, “Did the storm destroy your church?” Our answer remains, “No. The storm did not destroy the church. It did demolish the buildings, but the church still stands strong.” While the winds and water wiped our structures completely off of the property and left our entire congregation homeless, the storm could not rip apart the community of faith God established in Lakeshore.

On Reformation Day, as I think of churches being demolished or standing strong, I’m reminded of Martin Luther’s bold assertion: the church stands or falls on the doctrine of sola feda (Faith Alone). I preached Romans 1:17 this past Sunday.

The body of Christ in Lakeshore shows strong resolve to move forward for God’s glory. As we begin to make plans to re-build our church buildings we want to hold onto the five solas of the reformation by standing solidly on scripture alone, proclaiming salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. We set our feet on the sure promise that Jesus made, “upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

btw, in celebration of Reformation Day, check out the audio from today’s “Renewing Your Mind” broadcast. “Martin Luther’s Here I Stand” hosted by Max McLean.

Northside Baptist Mission Trip Video

Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 | General, Hurricane Katrina | 3 Comments

I think it was last November when Northside Baptist Church of Charlotte, NC sent a team down to Lakeshore. This wonderful energetic crew helped in so many ways. In the video you can see them pouring the footers for our metal quanzet hut that serves as our temporary church building. The pictures encouraged me this morning because many of the homes they were doing preliminary work now have families living in them. For example, you see them hanging sheet rock in the Ward’s house - the Wards now have a beautiful home. They worked in the Nesome’s - the Nesomes now live back in their spacious house (FEMA campers get mighty cramped with 6 kids).

We could not have made a dent in the progress over the last 14 months without teams like Northside Baptist and hundreds of others giving of their time and talents to come down to lend assistance. Plenty of work remains to be done. Thousands of people still live in campers and need your help to rebuild their homes. Videos like this give you a glimpse into what a mission trip to Lakeshore feels like. Why not plan your trip today? Call our church office at (228) 469-0110 for details. If no one answers, it means we are probably all out working on houses. Please leave a message and we will return your call asap. We would love to see you come help rebuild Lakeshore to the glory of God.