Category: Praises, Requests, & Updates

Wednesday

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

therefore the child to be born[e] will be called holy–the Son of God.”

~Luke 1: 35, ESV~

Jesse Dean’s sister, Patsy, is doing better.  A diagnosis is getting closer.  Plans are being made to transfer her to rehab.  Continue to pray for her.

Pray for Andy and Betty Taylor as they return to the doctor.  Andy hopes surgery will be scheduled to remove the rod in his right hand.  Pray all goes well with them.

Mike Moore of West Monroe learned last week that he has a melanoma behind one eye.  Yesterday, a doctor told him the melanoma usually travels through the blood to the liver, but this hasn’t happened yet with Mike.  Surgery to remove the melanoma has been scheduled for the first week of January.  Pray for the family.

FBC, Kentwood will make a schedule change tonight.  Prayer meeting will begin at 6 P.M. to fit better with the youth schedule.

I broke my arm at the shoulder one year ago today.  Since then, my life has been a whirl of doctors, tests, and hospitals because of my broken arm, Momma’s sickness and death, and my brain tumor.  I thank God for bringing me through this year and walking each step with me and my family.

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®

Every penny given to Lottie Moon is used to support Southern Baptist missionaries as they share the Gospel overseas. The offering represents 57 percent of the International Mission Board’s total income.

Thought for the Day: Did You Remember to Light Your Candle?

A circus owner walked into a restaurant to see everyone crowded around a table watching a little show. On the table was an upside down pot and a duck tap dancing on it.

The circus owner was so impressed that he offered to buy the duck from its owner. After some wheeling and dealing they settled for $10,000 for the duck and the pot.

Three days later, the circus owner runs back to the restaurant in anger, “Your duck is a rip-off! I put him on the pot before a whole audience and he didn’t dance a single step!”

“So?” asked the duck’s former owner, “did you remember to light the candle under the pot?”

Well, that might be one reason that someone would put a lighted candle under a pot, but that’s not what candles are for! As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, candles are meant to “give light to all who are in the house.” In like manner, our Christian lives are to “shine before men.” (Matt. 5:16-17). The reason is that we are to be a positive influence on others around us.

We sometimes speak of a “secret Christian” as if that’s a possibility. The truth is, unless our lives are reflecting the light of Jesus Christ, we’re not living Christian lives at all. If we don’t influence the world around us for Christ, the world will influence us.

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth).” (Eph. 5:8-9)

Did you remember to light your candle?

Have a great day!

Alan Smith

Jesus is the reason for the season!  Let your light shine for Him!

Anna Lee

Tuesday

“Be friendly with everyone.

Don’t be proud and feel that you are smarter than others.

Make friends with ordinary people.”

~Romans 12:16 CEV~

 

CaringBridge: Caroline Cutrer

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/carolinecutrer

Carol New is looking forward to getting her new knee in two weeks.

Baptist Press: Missions-minded grandma confronts thief — and wins

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=36774

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

What is the average cost to support an individual missionary?

• $46,700 a year
• $3,890 a month
• $900 a week
• $128 a day
• $5.30 an hour
• $.09 a minute

Reported April 2011. Support includes housing, salary, children’s education, medical expenses, retirement and more.

http://www.imb.org/main/give/page.asp?StoryID=4426&LanguageID=1709

Devotional: Is There Room?

You may have heard the story about Wally. Wally was big for his age — seven years old. Everyone wondered what role the teacher would give him in the annual Christmas play. Especially considering the fact that he was also a slow learner. Perhaps he could pull the curtain. To everyone’s surprise the teacher gave Wally the role of the innkeeper. The boy of course was delighted. After all, all he had to learn was one line: “There is no room in the inn.” He had that down in no time.

Then came the night for the program. The parents took their places. Every seat in the auditorium was filled. The children entered singing “Oh come all ye faithful.” The lights dimmed. A hush moved over the audience. The curtain opened on Scene One. Mary and Joseph entered the stage and walked up to the inn. “Please sir, my wife is not well. Could we have a room for the night?”

Wally was ready for his line. He had rehearsed it all night. He began, “There is…” and he hesitated. He started over again, “There is…” and again his mind went completely blank. Everyone was embarrassed for him, but poor Wally just didn’t know what to do. Joseph thought he would improvise and started walking away toward the stable on stage left. Seeing him walking away, Wally called out in desperation: “Look, there’s plenty of room at my house, just come on home with me.”

The important question — not only at this time of year but all year round — is, “Do we have room in our lives for Jesus?” Our lives are so busy — with things that are good and things that are not so good. By the time we’ve filled our lives with time at work, time with the family, going to football games and the children’s recitals, shopping, watching television and the latest movie, our lives are so very crowded. I don’t know anybody who has “spare time” on their hands. The cry I hear from all around me is, “I wish I had a few more hours every day to get done when I need (or want) to get done.”

Looking back, we may find ourselves thinking that if the innkeeper had known that Mary was about to give birth to the Savior of the world, he would have made room. But I’m not so sure. The reason I question that is because I see what happens when we are faced with a question similiar to one that was asked of the innkeeper. Jesus wants to know of us, “Do you have room in your life for me?” And I see how often in our busy, hectic lives — even though we know who Jesus is — we allow other things to crowd Him out.

Will we open our hearts to Jesus, or will we allow the busy-ness of life to crowd Jesus out? The answer we WANT to give is easy to come up with; the answer we give by the way we live is sometimes disturbing. May we have a heart that desires to speak with the tenderness of Wally’s heart when he said, “”Look, there’s plenty of room at my house, just come on home with me.”

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev. 3:20)

Have a great day!

Alan Smith

Jesus is the reason for the season!  Does the season make your heart warm with love, peace, and joy?  Share Jesus with others today!

Anna Lee

Monday

“They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph,

and the baby who was lying in the feeding trough.

After seeing [them], they reported the message

they were told about this child.”

~Luke 2:16-17, HCSB~

Yesterday morning at church, Bro. Joey said Walter Dykes had been taken to the ER with symptoms that sounded like a heart attack.  Last night, Bro. Butch said a heart attack was not the problem.  Additional tests are being done.

Jesse Dean’s sister, Patsy B., is in North Oaks.  She seems to have symptoms of a stroke.  Pray for the Patsy and her family.

Bro. Joey and Karen both seem to have a cold or some other winter problem.  Pray for them and all the others with similar problems to get well as quickly as possible.

Chloe Neyland had her little procedure to complete the last surgery last week and is doing well.  Everyone is home and glad to have that behind them.

The movie, “Christmas with a Capital C”, was very good.  I hope it puts us in the correct mood for the Christmas season.

The Third Thursday share group will meet this week at our cabin.  I hope some of you will come join us at 6:30.

John Leeston Smith
(October 27, 1937 – December 10, 2011)

John Leeston Smith was born October 27, 1937 and passed away after a lengthy illness at 6:55 p.m., Saturday, December 10, 2011 surrounded by his loving family.

He was 74, a native of Brookhaven, MS and a resident of Roseland. Mr. John was retired from LP&L after 40 years of service and he loved to shop at Wal-Mart.

He is survived by his wife, Marie Wachtel Smith, Roseland; 4 daughters, Dr. Christina B. Givens and husband Waylon, Amite, Dr. Angela B. Lyle and husband Matthew, Rogers, AR, Lisa B. Cambre and husband “Tee”, Orlando, FL and Marie B. Landry and husband Lance, Metairie; 2 sons, Warren A. Buonagura and wife Tara, Metairie & Kirk Patrick Smith; 9 grandchildren; 2 great-grandchildren; 2 brothers, Jimmy Glenn Smith and wife Faye, Brookhaven, MS & Jack Randall Smith and wife Dorothy, Union Church, MS; also numerous nieces, nephews and extended family.

Preceded in death by his parents, Garland Lee and Julia Vivian Waldon Smith; son, Brian Ashley Smith and a grandson, Warren Buonagura, Jr.

Visitation will be at First United Methodist Church, Amite, on Friday, December 16, 2011 from 5:00 p.m. until Celebration of Life Memorial Service at 6:00p.m. with Rev Brady Whiddon officiating. Interment will be in New Hope Church Cemetery, Lloyd Star, MS on Saturday, December 17, 2011

Family request Memorial Donations be made to First United Methodist Church, Amite, 800 N. Duncan Ave., Amite, or New Hope United Methodist Church, Brookhaven, MS.

McKneely & Vaughn Funeral Home, Amite, in charge of arrangements.

An on-line Guestbook is available at http://www.mckneelyvaughnfh.com

McKneely & Vaughn Funeral Home, Amite, is located at I-55N (Exit 46) and Hwy 16 W next to Hood Automotive and behind Mr. Tom’s Car Wash, Bond Eye Clinic and Holiday Inn Express.

 2011 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering – His Hands, His Heart, and His Voice

 If you are a follower of Jesus, you are part of the task to fulfill the Great Commission.

Paul says, “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). Jesus has commissioned us to be His heart, His hands, His voice. Through praying, giving, and going, Southern Baptists have fulfilled this legacy for more than 160 years.

Yet billions remain lost and time may be running out for them. We must pray more intentionally and give more sacrificially than ever before. Our churches must take direct responsibility for helping reach the nearly 3,800 unengaged, unreached people groups that missionaries may never be able to get to.

And, since most unreached people groups likely are represented in the world’s urban centers, we have unique challenges and opportunities to reach the world through the cities, as illustrated in this year’s week of prayer features.

What can you do, individually? Start by being “Southern Baptist missions” through your prayers to be an extension of His heart, hands, and voice through unprecedented giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®.

Have a great day!  Jesus is the reason for the season!

Anna Lee

 

Sunday

“Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.” ~Psalm 54:2~

Mrs. Ruby Dillon is better.  Pray for continued improvement.

Mrs. Laura Lee Robertson had double knee replacement and is now is rehab. Pray she continues to improve.

Carol New is still in rehab.  She will be released after two more weeks.

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions

Day 6

-http://www.imb.org/main/pray/page.asp?StoryID=9343&LanguageID=1709

Day 7

http://www.imb.org/main/pray/page.asp?StoryID=9344&LanguageID=1709

Day 8

http://www.imb.org/main/pray/page.asp?StoryID=9345&LanguageID=1709

Jesus is the reason for the season!  Today is the Lord’s Day.  Let Him into your time and you heart today!

Anna Lee

Saturday

Jadon’s Story

http://jadonsisstory.blogspot.com/2011/12/1-month.html?spref=fb

I know I’ve skipped the LMCO the last couple of days, but I will catch up when I get off this laptop.

Find a church to worship in tomorrow.  That will get you in the mood for Christnas better than any mall!

Remember the movie tomorrow night at FBC, Kentwood.  It will begin at 5:30.  It is “Christmas with a Capital C”.

Jesus is the real and one and only reason for the season1

Anna Lee

Thursday Afternoon

The following request us from Jeanne Bond Tate  of Gillsburg.

 

Prayer request for a large family with the father possibly dying at any hour.

From our friends:

  • We have just gotten back home from being with Allison and seeing Tim.  The outlook is so very bleak.  The surgeon was clear that folks do not survive an aneurism… most of the time.  He said Tim probably won’t live past the next 24 hours, and if he does, then he won’t likely live for the next 24.  He said, they will follow this pattern of one day at a time for 2 weeks, and if there are no complications then Tim may survive, but there is no way to judge what his level of physical or cognitive function will be.  Heart broken!!!!  Allison invited the surgeon to pray with us b4 he left and he did, even wrapping up in a plea for a miracle in Jesus’ name.  After this we were told Tim would be moving to ICU, and we could see him there. So we waited another 2 hours and finally got to see him. Of course Allison and other family members went first. We went in to see this very gregarious, funny, intelligent friend of ours lying there with tubes up his nose, a ventilator, iv in his neck, tubes in his arms, wraps on his legs…  very swollen and stomach very distended. We wept.  They had to give him 20 units of blood in surgery, and have had to continue to give him blood since. We gathered our emotions and prayed there for Tim, aloud so he could hear our voice.  As we were leaving the hospital to head home, Allison was heading home to tell their older children as much as she could of the situation.  Please remember the children, too, in your prayers: Sylvia, 12; Peter, 10; Nick, 8; Tommy, 7; Samuel, 5; Dan, 3; Robbie, 22 month; T-Rex, 3 months.
  • Pray that they will not have to give him anymore blood, and that the internal bleeding would stop. That his blood pressure would level off.  Pray for PEACE.  ~Jeff Young and Family

Latest Prayer request:

  • Specific prayer right now is that he can be weened of the Ventilator, and that his body will process nutrients.  The scan after surgery showed that his right kidney showed no function and we are praying that his kidneys, liver, gall bladder, spleen, etc, will function and process.  Allison is concerned about his brain function since there was a period of time when his brain was not getting oxygen.

Thursday's Early Edition

Beginning next Wednesday, prayer meeting will begin at 6 P.M. at FBC, Kentwood.

Surgery has been scheduled for Mrs. Mickey Cade.  Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Dr. Stan Statham is now home, but may need another surgery soon.  Please continue to pray for him.

Virginia McKenzie said her granddaughter, Chloe Neyland, will probably need another surgery to correct a minor problem from the last surgery.  Pray for this family as they face another hospitalization for Chloe.

Please continue to pray for Taylor Breeland (14) and her family.  She is having five more days of testing before having her surgery.  She will be in Children’s Hospital in New Orleans.

Penny Mapes, daughter of Andy and Betty Taylor, has been hospitalized for tests.  She out of the hospital now, but will have several more tests as doctors try to determine her problem.

Renee Deck will have rotator cuff surgery on her right arm on Thursday, December 22nd.  Begin to pray for her now.

Lottie Moon Week of Prayer – Day 5

http://www.imb.org/main/pray/page.asp?StoryID=9342&LanguageID=1709

Isn’t it great to learn of the Lord’s work being done all around the world. Don’t you know Lottie Moon would be amazed and very pleased as well as anxious and determined the work would continue to spread around the world?

Jesus is the reason for the season!

Anna Lee

 

Wednesday Afternoon

From James Rimes

Susan

Susan has a 1:30 appointment today–a follow-up visit on the last procedure,  Will probably schedule the surgery to remove the remaining large stone.

Cutrers

Caroline Cutrer is at home as of Sunday.  Treva is doing well as far as I know.  I’m told that the doctor stopped labor.

Caroline’s great grandmother said she is beginning to eat a little now.

From Betty Taylor

PRAYER REQUEST
TAYLOR BREELAND 14 year old has been diagnosed with Ewing Sercoma cancer She is scheduled for surgery tomorrow. Please pass this on to all of your friends. This is a gift you can give this christmas spend some time in prayer for her and her family. Thank you and God bless you

From Betty Lupo Kuss

Hazel Jane Nichols arrived in Fort Collins, CO on Monday, December 5, 2011 at 1:08 MST to Mary Kathryn and Justin Nichols!! Everyone is doing fine…  Colorado is very c-o-l-d right now!!

They named her Hazel Jane Nichols… after Mrs. Kathryn’s mother and Justin’s great grandmother.

FBC, Amite

Christmas program coming soon!!! “The Ornament” Dec. 10th and 11th!! Doors open at 5:30 with a ticket! 6:00 without! Tickets are free, contact church office for more info.

Wednesday

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?

Even sinners love those who love them.”

~Luke 6:32 NIV~

Eva Smith (89), my aunt in Alabama, fell  and has a compacted disk.  Pray for her and the family as they learn more today.

Mr. Kenneth Felker’s wife has been down due to her broken hip.  Now, he is also sick.  Please pray for this family.

Caring Bridge

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/adriannacavanagh

A project suggested by a member of my Sunday School class Sunday and now by Baptist Press:

This Christmas, give a Bible

http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=36731

Week of Prayer for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering – Day 5

http://www.imb.org/main/pray/page.asp?StoryID=9341&LanguageID=1709

Volunteers Needed for Victory Baptist Mission Church

The slab is poured and material is on order to start building a 12,000 sq. ft. multi-use facility for Victory Baptist Mission Church in Walker, Louisiana. The building will include an auditorium, education space, and fellowship hall. Volunteers of all crafts, from carpenters, roofers, brick masons, electricians, plumbers and HVAC people are needed to help assemble the building starting in January 2012.

Volunteer groups are needed for the weeks starting:

Jan 23, Jan 30, Feb 20, Feb 27, March 19, March 26, April 9, April 16, April 23,
April 30, May 7, May 14, May 21, and May 28.

To volunteer, please contact Jim Wyble at ljwyble@bellsouth.net  or 225.939.6842. He is the associate project coordinator assigned to the project and is responsible for coordinating the volunteers for the project.

To learn more about Victory Baptist Mission Church, visit:www.victorybaptistwalker.com.

Thought for the Day: Neither poverty or riches

Linda was on vacation, playing the slot machines. It was her first time in a casino, and she wasn’t sure how the machines operated.

“Excuse me,” she said to a casino employee. “How does this work?” The worker showed her how to insert a bill, hit the spin button, and operate the release handle.

“And where does the money come out?” she asked.

He smiled and motioned to a far wall before saying, “Usually at the ATM.”

That’s the trouble with gambling and other “get rich quick” schemes. There’s only one person getting rich, and it’s not you! The lure is strong, though. The temptation to come away with that big jackpot, to go home with your pockets full without putting forth much effort. It’s easy to see that Paul was right when he said, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare….” (I Tim. 6:9a)

Considering the constant temptation of money, it’s not surprising that Jesus had much to say about the subject. It is significant, though, that Jesus didn’t talk as much about what to do with our money as he talked about the right kind of attitude we ought to have toward it.

Agur, in his pearls of wisdom contained in Proverbs, also had much to say about our attitude toward wealth. One of my favorite verses on the subject is this one:

“Give me neither poverty nor riches — Feed me with the food allotted to me; lest I be full and deny You, and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.” (Prov. 30:8b-9)

May you be sufficiently blessed. But may your riches (or your desire for them) never diminish your sense of need for God.

Have a great day!

Alan Smith

Jesus is the reason for the season!

Anna Lee