It is Wednesday eveing here at the Carr household and that means on this: church. We have the privilege to gather with the saints of God this evening for the corporate worship of our amazing Lord. I praise His name that I have this opportunity. I will go to His house, meet with them men in the prayer room to pray, sing a song or two, listen to our children quote Bible verses and sing, then we will gather for prayer at the altar, and I will finish the service by preaching a message from the word of God. What’s not to love? I pray that you will have a great time as you gather at your places of worship this evening.

I would ask that you pray for Brother Ron Cooper. Brother Cooper is Pastor of El Bethel Baptist in Morganton, NC. He had five by-passes last Thursday and is recovering. Brother Raymond Spann, Pastor of Grandview Park Baptist in Lenoir, had a heart attack on Sunday and stints on Monday and Tuesday. Please pray for Brother Raymond. Brother Rodney Millsaps, Pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist in Newland, NC has a 24 year old daughter named Brooke. Brooke has been in ICU in Boone, NC for several days and is at the point of death. Please remember this family. Brother Donald Lovelace, Pastor of Missionary Ridge Baptist in Morganton is being treated for two aortic aneurysims. Please pray for him.

Lots to pray about, but an all-sufficient God to pray to! Thanks for praying!

Alan

The annual Bible Conference at West Lenoir Baptist Church is underway this week. The Pastor of the church is Brother Rick Safriet and Brother James Lockee is the moderator. The main speakers are Evangelist Brian McBride from Indiana and Evangelist J.C. House from Joshua, TX. These men are doing the night preaching. Preachers are being called from the floor in the morning services. Thus far, is has been a great week. Last night, Brother McBride preached from Ruth 3 about Ruth’s relationship with Boaz. It was a powerful, soul-stirring message. Dr. House preached from 2 Kings 5. He preached about Elisha’s servant Gahazi and Gahazi’s choice to take money from the Syrian general Namaan, who had been healed of leprosy by Elisha. It has been a long time wince I heard such a convicting and challenging message. I enjoy hearing both of these men preach. they always have something vital to say and they feed me. So, I am going to get ready and head over that way ion a few hours. I look forward to the preaching I will hear today. If you are in the area, it would be worth your time to come out for the meeting.

Alan Carr

I haven’t blogged in a while, but here is what I have been doing. I preached in Spartanburg, SC last week at the El Bethel Baptist Assembly. I was a very good meeting. The meeting was well attended. The singing was great. The fellowship was wonderful. The preaching, well, it was me, what can I say? I am never satisfied with my delivery or content. At any rate, they enjoyed the preaching and I enjoyed preaching the preaching. Lots of people seemed to get some spiritual help in the meeting. So, we will leave the actual results in the hands of the Lord.

It’s too bad that many churches and church people seem to have so little desire for campmeeting, revival and other special meetings these days. What a great thing it is to gather together with the people of God for singing, preaching and corporate prayer and worship. In our day people seem too busy and too disinterested in old-fashioned meetings. If the trend continues, I will be surprised if revivals, campmeetings and Bible conferences suvive the apathy that has gripped the heart of the modern church. As for me, I will keep preaching meetings as long as God opens the doors, and I will continue to attend meetings as long as preacher keep planning them. I, for one, happen to enjoy old-fashioned meeting!

That’s what I was thinking about this morning. I have cleared my calendar today. I plan to spend the day at home with my dear wife and our grandson. Their here, so I’ve got to go.

Alan

So, we had a minor snowfall last night. It didn’t amount ot much, but it is here nonetheless. We drove in last night and there were a few spots where the roads were covered with snow , slush and ice, but mostly, they were clear. If you are a student at West Lenoir Baptist Schiool of Ministry, there wil be school today! Be careful, because there will be some slick spots here and there, but we will have school for those who can make it in.

Now, I started meeting last night at the El Bethel Baptist Assembly in Spartanburg, SC. This meeting has been going on since around 1949 or 1950. We had a great service last night. The Lord met with us in a great way and spoke to hearts. I appreciate His presence and His blessings, don’t you? Please pray for the meeting. Ask the Lord to have His way in the services. We need Him, His power and hIs touch in these days. Got to go now and get ready to teach my classes.

Alan Carr

A lot, it seems. Things are getting kind of hectic in my life these days. But, that seems to be situation normal. Anyway, I would like you to pray for Brother Hughes Kincaid. Brother Kincaid is 91 years old, and he is getting ready to cross over into glory. Brother Kincaid was saved in 1946 and has been preaching the Gospel ever since. He pastored several churches in our area, and enjoyed great success as a pastor. The Lord blessed his life and has used him in many wonderful ways. Brother Kincaid is one of the greatest prayer warriors I have ever met. He loves the Lord, he loves to talk to the Lord and he loves to pray for people and their needs. His greatest burden, however, is the souls of lost people. He has always been faithful to share the Gospel and he has been used of the Lord to lead many people to faith in Christ. Brother Kincaid is at our local Hospice now, just a short time from going home to glory. Pray for Hughes Kincaid and his family. Heaven’s gain is about to be earth’s loss.

The annual Jubilee begins tonight at Hibriten Baptist Church here in Lenoir. Please pray for the meeting, for Pastor Douglas Cox as he leads the meeting, and for this preacher as he tries to preach the meeting. I am looking forward to it, but I do not feel prepared physically or spiritually. God knows about those things and He is more than sufficient to overcome my inadequacies. This meeting begins tonight and continues through Thursday. Then, on Friday, I will preaching at River Valley Baptist in Morganton, where Brother Kenneth Shew is Pastor. Brother Jobie Borders, the Pastor of Blairs Fork Baptist in Lenoir, and I will be preaching there. Please pray for the service.

Well, it’s time to go teach my class at the Bible College. Then, I will make a couple of visits before returning home to prepare for the meeting tonight. God bless you folks and thanks for stopping by our humble corner of the Internet.

Alan Carr

So, I am a few days behind. That is the story of my life these last few years. I am up on this Monday morning, about to head off to teach my class at the Bible college. I thought I would stop by to thank the Lord for His blessings, His grace and His goodness over the past year. I have been blessed and I am grateful to Him for those blessings. If I were to try and list all the blessings I have received from His gracious hand, I would leave far too many out. So, I will thank him for saving, keeping, sustaining grace, for my family, for the Bible, for the Holy Spirit, for the church I try to Pastor, and for calling me to preach His precious Word. God is so good and I praise Him for it!

We had a good day yesterday at Calvary. I preached in the morning service from Ruth 1:1-7 on the dangers of going to Moab. I was strongly impressed to preach that particular sermon and the Lord honored it. Last night we came back to His house and experienced a manifestation of His presence. There was no sermonizing from the pulpit, but there was plenty of preaching in the testimonies of the precious saints of God. I praise His name for His willingness to bless people like us! 

Well, I had better go for time is fleeing away. I hope your week runs well!

Alan Carr

I have been home nearly two weeks now and have not taken the time to blog. The last two weeks were a blur of activity as we made the fuinal run up to Christmas. We had a good Christmas this year. I hope you did as well. My family gave me a Kindle this year. If you don’t know what a Kindle is, you can read all about it at amazon.com. Basically, it is an e-book reader that allows you to wirelessly download books from Amazon. Cool huh? Reading on the Kindle is nothing like trying to read from a computer screen or a PDA. It is actually like reading from a book. Anyway, I like it. A lot!

So, I just wanted to pop in a wish you all a belated Merry Christmas. I will go ahead and wish you a heppy New Year as well. And, since I am not known for blogging on a regualr basis, I will go ahead and wish you a Happy Resurrection Day (Easter) as well. But, I will try to get back to the keyboard before then.

Alan

The meeting at Beech Avenue Baptist in Gastonia, NC ended on a high note. The Lord met with us on Thursday evening in a great way. I appreciate everything the church did to make the meeting a succes. I appreciate Pastor Jeff Cook and his friendship. Most of all, I appreciate the Lord helping us and blessing us with His presence. He sure is good to us! 

Yesterday, we ordained Chad Carswell at Calvary. Brother Chad is our Associate Pastor and is a great blessing to the church. The Lord is using him at Calvary in a great way. Brother Chad works with our youth. He preaches the Word of God to them, and he spends time with them, which is an important component of his ministry to them. Brother Chad is also active in visiting other members of our church, such as the shut-ins and those who are sick and in the hospitals. it is a blessing to have someone available who can step in when I am out of town.

I am looking forward to meeting with God’s people this morning. We have the amazing opportunity to gather together in His house for worship. We will pray, praise, sing and preach and I am confident that He will meet with us, as he always does. Wherever you meet today I pray that He will meet with you there. Let’s determine in our hearts that we will worship Him and give Him the praise, honor and glory that He deserves.

Brother Alan