We went to church on Sunday and the Lord gave us a special day. He met with us in power and glory and He stirred the waters around the house of God. I appreciate Him doing that for us! I did not get to preach on Sunday morning and I barely got to on Sunday evening. It was another good service.

On top of that, Sunday was a rather big day for our family. First, our son Jesse, was called by Bethlehem Baptist Church in Morganton, NC to be their next Pastor. Pray for Jesse as he assumes his responsibilities at Bethlehem. He may be my son, but he is a gifted young preacher and I am proud of him. He will feed his flock in the green pasture of the Word of God. I am excited for him and for them. Then, our church called Chad Carswell, who is also my son-in-law, to be our next Associate Pastor. He will begin his duties on May 4th. Our current Associate, Brother Josh Hinson, is moving to Brunswick, GA to begin a church plant there at the end of May. Please pray for Josh and his family as they make the move south. We will miss them at Calvary, but we are sure the Lord has big things ahead for this fine family. Remember to pray for Chad as he begins his work at Calvary. There will be challenges, but I am looking forward to what the Lord has in store for Chad and for our church.

I am preaching this week at Bethel Baptist Church in the Vashti community north of Taylorsville, NC. The service last evening was great! The Lord gave us great liberty to preach and He moved at the end of the service with several people coming forward to bow around the altar in prayer. Please pray for us as this meeting progresses.

Well, it’s about time to go preach. I will try to update you folks about the meeting this week. Take care!

Alan Carr

The past few weeks have been incredibly busy and filled with one trial after another. Just when it seems that things couldn’t get any better, Satan, or someone who works for him, throws a monkey wrench into the machinery. Oh well, I guess that’s how you know you are on track. If you aren’t attracting any persecution, you probably aren’t doing anything for the Lord. That being said, please pray for me as I have to make a few critical decisions over the next few days and weeks.

Our meeting at Harris Chapel Baptist Church here in Caldwell County is going pretty well. The services have been good, but I felt as though the preaching was sort of flat tonight. Sometimes you have it and sometimes you don’t. Those matters rest in the sovereign hand of Almighty God. Pray for the meeting as we bring it to a close on Friday night.

I am thankful for my Baptist heritage today. I praise the Lord for those who laid the track that I run on in these days. I appreciate those who “stayed by the stuff” and didn’t jump onto the bandwagon of modernism and worldly, flesh-centered worship. A lot of the great men men who paved the way for us have already left this world. Many others will make their crossing soon. I am not ready to chuck them to the curb. In fact, I am growing more resolute each day in my commitment to the Word of God, biblical preaching and the power of God in His church. No, it’s not time to change lanes; it’s just time to put the pedal to the floor and go somewhere for the Lord.

Your’s in Jesus,
Alan Carr

I hope all of you faithful readers are well. If, that is, anyone even bothers to stop by here any longer. I have been very slack in my blogging lately. I suppose it is like many others things; at time a lack of interest develops. At any rate, I am at the keyboard today. I do have a busy day today, with some hospital visits to make and cottage prayer meeting to conduct tonight. It should be a great day, however, because any day spent in the Lord’s service is a great day! Amen?

I wanted to share a book that I have been reading lately. It is called The Secret Key To Heaven by Thomas Brooks. It is published by The Banner Of Truth Trust as part of their Puritan Paperbacks series. This book was first published in London in 1665 under the title The Privie Key Of Heaven.  This book is a treatment of our Lord’s command that His people should engage in times of “closet prayer“, Matt. 6:6. The author suggests that God’s people are guilty of neglecting their “indispensable duty” of spending secret, private time in the presence of God. This book is very convicting and challenging and I recommend it to every believer who feels that their private time with God is lacking and could be energized. I found my copy at Amazon.com, and I am sure they have a few more copies.

May the Lord bless you today. I will try to do better about dropping by to blog. God bless you all!

Alan Carr

As I mentioned in my last post, I was sick on Sunday and unable to attend church or preach. I was better enough by Monday evening to begin the revival meeting at Belview Baptist Church in Cranberry, NC. The first two nights were especially tough because my voice was not completely better. I was preaching on two cylinders. At any rate, the Lord blessed us in our week up there, and the Pastor, Brother Douglas Bare, has asked me to come back for five more evenings of preaching. So, pray for the services this week and ask the Lord to move among us in power to the reviving of His saints and to the salvation of sinners for His glory.

Preacher, not every sermon you preach is going to be a blessing to those who hear you. Not everything you say will be received as the oracles of the Lord. Sometimes your words will offend people who are not interested in following the Lord with their whole hearts. Let me encourage you to preach the truth in love and let the chips fall where they may. As long as you are in the Word, preach it Brother and stand your ground for that which is right in these days. By the same token, not every member of your church is going to like it when the Lord starts blessing and growing His church. There will always be a few who liked it “the way it used to be”. Let them hold to the past if they will. Preacher, you just keep preaching the Book. the Blood and the Blessed hope. Leave the addition, subtraction, division and multiplication of the church in the hands of the Lord. He alone is able to grow His church. Preacher, just keep on preaching!

Have a blessed day in the Lord’s house tomorrow!

Alan Carr

We had a good meeting at Grandview Park Baptist Church here in Lenoir last week. They did, however, have a death in their church family and we cut the meeting short. Still, it was a blessing to be there and preach. Their Pastor, Brother Raymond Spann, is a precious man of God. He has great wisdom and God is using him to touch many lives for the glory of the Lord.

I woke up sick this morning. I can’t talk, therefore I can’t preach today either. That is a problem. First, I love to preach. Second, I feel a strong obligation to the folks at Calvary. Third, I am supposed to start a meeting the mountains of North Carolina tomorrow evening. I would appreciate your prayers. So, it’s back to bed for me today. I hope the rest of you have a blessed Lord’s Day.

Alan Carr

We had a good day at church yesterday. The Lord helped this preacher greatly in both services. He allowed me to preach with His touch and I appreciate that.

I am still preaching in the Gospel of Mark. Yesterday, I was in chapter nine and I simply preached the next paragraph. I am preaching through the book expositionally, and it never ceases to amaze me just how timely the preaching texts are in the life of our church. It is just another confirmation of the sovereignty of God. I know some preachers think they have to discern the perfect will of God for every sermon they preach. And, I believe in praying over the text and over the message, but I just believe God is big enough to bless His Word as it is preached paragraph by paragraph. Call me crazy, but if the Holy Ghost can inspire it that way, then surely God can bless it when it is preached that way. Just a thought. Anyway, I don’t have to fret all week about what to preach next Sunday. I already know, and I can begin my reading, my praying and my preparation way ahead of time. Of course, I am always open to the leadership of the Lord. If He intervenes and lays something on my heart, I will put my series on the back burner and preach what He gives me.

We are beginning our last week of classes at West Lenoir Baptist School of Ministry this week. I always miss school when it ends. So, I had better get ready to go and teach my class today. God bless you all and please keep me in your prayers.

Alan Carr

These are hard days for the church of the living God. It seems that there is a spirit of apathy that occupies the hearts of church members. Most seem satisfied with their present condition and with the condition of the church. Sadly, the present condition of most churches is far degraded from what the church used to be. There was day when the power of God rested on the church. There was a day when prayer and holiness were the order of the day. There was a time when revivals swept the nations as the church prayed, witnesses and lived out the Gospel in the power of God. Those days are gone!

The church needs to rediscover the ministry of prayer. We have forgotten that the power of God does not come through polished preaching, upbeat services or through our modern organizational techniques. The power of God falls on people who humble themselves before the Lord. The power of God falls on people who seek His face. The power of God falls on people forsake their sins. The power of God falls on people who pray.This truth is made abundantly clear throughout the Bible. Of course, 2 Chron. 7:14, is the preeminent verse. It says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

The church needs to rediscover the power of holiness and separation. One person said, “I looked for the church and I found it in the world. I looked for the world and I found it in the church.” God has commanded His people to be a clea, separate people. 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” As long as there is sin in our lives and in the church, there will be no power from Heaven poured out on us. We need to get holy before the Lord.

The church is in trouble! She is under attack from without. The world as a whole, and certain political elements in particular, would love nothing better than to silence the voice of the church. The church is also under attack from within. As more and more preachers and church members abandon the Word of God as the sole authority and the sole standard for truth in the church, the church grows weaker. The modern church more resembles a social organization than it does the awesome powerhouse that was the early church.

Can we recover the glory? Can we experience the power of God once more? Can the church have the power of God on her once again so that she is a force in the world and a mighty weapon in the hand of God? Yes! But, we can only have those things when we humble ourselves before Him, seek His face in prayer and change our ways. If we want God and His power then preachers need to get back to preaching the undiluted truth of God. The church as a whole must forsake this modern attitude that worldly ways will make us successful. The church must return to old fashioned praying, preaching and praising the Lord. Until we seek the old paths, we will never recover what we need the most: the power of God.

Well, that is what is on my heart today. Pray for me that I will live my life in the right way and that I will lead the church I have been called to Pastor in the right paths, in the old paths for the glory of God.

Today is a busy day, as usual. I need to make four hospital visits. I need to attend a funeral. I need to study. So, I had better get about it!

Alan Carr

Yesterday, Feb. 15, 2008, our grandson, Clayton Avery Carswell was born. He weighted in at 8 lbs and 2 oz. He is 21 3/4 inches long. Both he and my daughter are doing just fine. Please pray for this young family as they begin this new adventure. Oh yeah, I just happen to have a few pictures of young Master Clayton. I will share them with you now.

Alan Carr