Joan and I are in Carrollton, GA at Central Baptist Church for their annual Campmeeting. Brother Doug Bearden is the Pastor. The meeting is going so very well this week. The Lord met with us yesterday in a very special way. Brother Milton Martin, Dana Williams and I preached yesterday AM. Last night Brother Ruel Fox preached and Brother Tom Hayes was to close out the evening. That all changed when the Central Baptist Choir began to sing. The Lord fell on the service and some people got some real help from God. While I cannot speak for others, I can tell you that He settled a few issues in my soul. He gave me peace that passes all understanding. I praise Him for that! They sang that song The Anchor Holds. While they were singing, I realized that the waves were crashing and the winds were blowing against the ship of my life, but I could not feel the ship move! I am anchored in my Savior and all is well. Thank God for His ministry of grace to His people. I bless His name. Please pray for the remainder of the meeting. Pray that His will might be done among us for His glory.

Alan

Jesse, Chad and I returned home last night from Louisville, KY. We spent the last three days under powerful, profound Bible teaching and heart-searching music. I mentioned in my last post a few of the men we heard. I will post the entire list today. We heard: Mark Dever, R.C. Sproul, Albert Mohler, Thabiti Anyabwile, John MacArthur, John Piper, Ligon Duncan, C.J. Mahaney, and Matt Chandler. Anyone who reads this list will see the names of men they have read after and learned from. They will also see the names of men with whom they do not agree on every point of theology. While that is true, and while I do not agree with every man and everything he preaches and believes, there is much profit in the ministries of these men.

I am sure you know that one mark of maturity is the ability to eat fish. What I mean by that is this: when you eat fish, you have to pick out the bones and eat the meat. Some people, especially the very young, lack that ability. they have to depend on others to pick their fish for them. When you grow up, you learn to pick your own fish, eat your own meat and grow from the experience. Of course, every now and then, when you are eating that fish, you will still find a bone in your mouth. what do you do then? You pick it out and keep eating! Even when a bone gets stuck in your throat, you work at it until you get it out and carry on with life. The goal of eating a fish is not being focused on the bones, but on the meat you are after in the first place. There’s truth in that analogy that we need to take to heart!

So, I ate fish this week. I didn’t have to pick out many bones at all. In fact, what I received in the meeting was solid in its proclamation of the Gospel of grace, profoundly spiritual, and deeply theological. I was challenged. I was fed. I was helped. I was strengthened. And, I was drawn to love my Savior in a deeper way. I am glad I went to Together For The Gospel 2010. I have marked my calendar for April 11-13, 2012 for the next meeting.

Pass the fish!
Alan

I am in Louisville, KY this week for the Together For The Gospel Conference. Today we heard from Mark Dever, R.C. Sproul, and Albert Mohler. the Bible teaching and music have been stellar. I came here needing some help from the Lord, and He is providing me with just what I need. I praise HIm for His impeccable timing and for His infinite love to His people. Tomorrow, we will hear John MacArthur, John Piper, and Thabiti Anyabwile. It should be a profitable day. Pray that God will continue to meet with us during these special days set aside to reaffirm the Gospel of God’s Amazing Grace.

Alan

After a good week at Corolla, NC on vacation, Joan and I headed home yesterday. We were supposed to come home today, but me being the brilliant deducer of amazing things that I am, decided that we needed to come home a day early. So, we left the coast at 9:30 AM headed west right into the teeth of the worst winter storm predictions in several years. Things went well for a while, then we encountered snow around Greensboro. The farther west we traveled the worse the storm became. We made good time and had little to no trouble navigating the roads until we reached Hickory, NC.

When we got there, just 20 miles from home, we found our way blocked by a wreck on the Catawba River bridge. We sat there for an hour, then turned around and sought a different route home. We struck out down Connelly Springs Road and did well until we came to Castle Bridge, which also crosses the Catawba River. We sat there in traffic for nearly an hour until a wreck was cleared away. We drove for about 5 miles and had to wait again, this time for over an hour and a half because of some wrecks up the road. I contacted a church member, who is also a fireman (Thanks Sam!), and he suggested an alternate route. We took his advice and were making great progress until we came to a hill that had been rutted out by big 4×4 truck tires. I couple not coax the Camry up the incline! So, I called Sam again and his wife Sherry rolled to our rescue. Sam and a few other guys helped push us up the hill.

We finally made it home around 11:00 PM, followed all the way by Sam and Sherry. (Thanks a lot guys!) Did I mention that we were in the midst of a snowstorm? Did I mentioned that several inches of the white stuff fell while we were spending 7 hours trying to travel twenty miles? Did mention that 14 hours in a car is a long time? Did I mention that I am glad to be home? Did I mention that I regret trading the ’05 Yukon 4×4 we had for the 2-wheeled drive Toyota Camry? However, the Camry did great! It cruised along and rolled past several 4×4’s that were stuck in the snow.

Anyway, I thank the Lord for watching out after us as we traveled. I appreciate the friends who called us along the way to make sure we were OK. I appreciate the folks who came to our rescue.

So, due to the snow there will be no church at Calvary tomorrow. I know that some folks will have it, but I tend to err on the side of caution. I try to think about the people who would come if the doors were opened, people who could be hurt badly if they slipped on ice and fell. I try to remember that God is not up in Heaven waiting to see whether or not we will punch the clock this Sunday. I try to remember that He knew Sunday was coming when He sent the snow. Anyway, I will miss my fellow church members tomorrow, but we will meet on Wednesday and go to meeting. I can’t wait!

Alan

Today was kind of a lazy day for us. We slept in and then we read until lunch time. After lunch we rented a Jeep and drove up the beach (Yes, you can drive on the beach here.) looking for wild horses. There is a herd of wild horses just north of Corolla that numbers around 100. There are several small herds actually and we saw two of those herds today. We saw wild horses in Swan Beach and we saw more in Corova. Driving on the beach was a new experience. It was especially fun when we left the beach, went behind the dunes and drove on some of the so called roads in the area. After we finished out Jeep expedition we went to Corolla Park and took some sundown pictures while we nearly froze to death. At any rate, I am posting some more photos from our adventures today, along with a few from yesterday. I hope you enjoy them.

Alan

I thought you folks might enjoy a few photographs I took yesterday here on the Outer Banks. I want to apologize for the shots of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The sun was in the wrong location for shooting the lighthouse. It wasn’t the sun’s fault. I was just there at the wrong time of the day.

Alan

For my wife and me that means it is vacation time. In the past we have visited places like Key West, the Caribbean, the area around Myrtle Beach, among others. This year we are on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We rented a house in a place called Corolla. It is about as far north as you can go on the Outer Banks. There isn’t much here in the way of entertainment, or people, for that matter. This place is desolate! Joan and I are staying in a house that sleeps about 17 people. There are 2 king sized beds, two queen sized beds, two twin beds, a set of bunk beds, and a couple of sleeper sofas, and we have the whole place to ourselves. This house in a beachfront development containing dozens of houses. As far as I can tell, there may be one other house that is occupied this week. Most of the stores and restaurants are closed for winter, and it is deathly quiet around here. In other words, it’s just like I like it! No noise and no crowds of people. For me, this week is about rest. It is about reconnecting with my wife. It is about getting my head together after a busy summer and fall. It is about just getting away for a few days. It has been just what I needed so far.

It is a foggy morning here on the coast. When the fog burns off, we may drive a couple of miles north and see if we can find the famed Corolla wild horses. These horses are survivors of Spanish shipwrecks that occurred some 500 years ago. The first recorded sighting of the wild mustangs on this spit of land was in 1523. Then, we might drive down to Kitty Hawk and check out the Wright Brothers Museum and Monument. Sorry Ohio, they flew here first! After that, well, who knows? Perhaps I will check in later this week. Perhaps I won’t.

Alan

The Lord helped us at Friendship Baptist Church here in Perry, FL last night. I preached from Hebrews 4:14-16 about Jesus Our Great Hugh Priest. The Lord honored His Word and I praise Him for that. Please continue to pray for the meeting as we meet again tonight and tomorrow.

As I studied the text I preached last night, I meditated on the phrase “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities”, Heb. 4:15. The text is telling us that He sympathizes with us in our trials and our temptations. The phrase “touched with the feeling” literally means to “sympathize”. He knows how we feel. It dawned on me, as I studied the text, that whole God knows everything because He is omniscient, there are many things that God only knows by observation. In other words, He does not know how it feels to lie, to let someone down, or to have to burry a spouse or a parent. Think about that. God, Who knows all things, knows many of them by observation. But, when God became flesh and walked in this earth, John 1:1, 14; Phil 2:5-8, He experienced many of the things He had only observed before. He knows what it is to have no money. He knows what pain feels like, He knows what it is to be abandoned and betrayed. He knows what it feels like to die. He knows these things, not only by observation, but by experience. That means that He can sympathize with us when we face similar trials. He is able to give us grace. He is able to help us through our times of brokenness, pain and suffering. When I think of what He suffered for me; when I think about Him condescending to become a man; when I think about Him going through all the things He endured, just to redeem His people from their sins, I want to praise Him, thank Him and worship Him. He is a wonderful, loving Lord! Think about that and let me know what you think!

Alan

When I left home Sunday evening, it was a pleasant 60 degrees. When I arrived in Florida yesterday at 3:00 PM, it was a balmy 85. I like the cool temps better in North Carolina.

I am here to preach and not complain about the weather. We had a good service last night at Friendship Baptist Church here in Perry, FL. The crowd was down because they had a death in the church and many of the people were at the funeral home. We had a good service nonetheless. If you have a moment, please remember to pray for the meeting and for the Pastor, Brother Ed Taylor.

I would also appreciate prayers for several folks in our church. We have three ladies battling breast cancer, a man with several forms of cancer, a little girl with H1N1, and lots of folks with many other ailments. I don’t think I have ever seen a time when so many people are sick. I look forward to the day when we get to leave this world and all its pain and problems behind. I look forward to the day when all God’s children will be home in His presence in Heaven. I praise the Lord that we have a better place to go!

Alan

Today is Thursday, so that means we have reached the end of the meeting here at Magnolia Baptist Church in Crossett, AR. It has been a good week. The church is very friendly and loves preaching. Since I love to preach, we have gotten along very well. The Pastor, Brother Michael Griffith, is a fearless protector of the truth. He gladly embraces and preached the great doctrines of grace. He is a man of the Word, who loves the Lord and the Lord’s church. It has been a blessing to be with them in these days of meeting.

Lord willing, Joan and I will fly home tomorrow. We will not leave Greenville, MS until around 5:00 PM Central time, so it will be approaching midnight when we finally make it home. Please remember us in your prayers as we travel from place to place.

Alan