KICK - - - We when to the Greenville Zoo this morning. We had so much fun. The kids were very well behaved. I am so proud of them. I think the adults that chaperoned had as much fun too. Just ask Larry Martin about the bear. Ask big Daddy about the monkeys. Getting the kids together outside of church has been good for them. They are getting to know one another. Not just recognizing a face with a name. But really getting to know each other. It has been fun for me to watch them too. Just think in four years we will lose three or four of these kids to the teenagers. That is not long. And we still have alot we want to teach them. And a short time to do it in. Four years equals 208 Sundays. That is less than a year. That is why it is so important to be involved in your child's life. Teach them and guide them in the correct ways so they do not depart from it. They may waiver but will come back. Help us in teaching your children basic things they need to know. This will make them stronger christians down the road. See you tomorrow.

Prayer Meeting-----I sent out an email about having prayer meeting on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. We have had a good response to that email. I have about 13 people that wants to come. I think that it great. Can you imagine, a group praying for our church, our services, our people, and a presence of God to show up. That can change a service and change a city. I can remember when we done prayer meetings before and a few showed up how things changed. God hears us when we praise Him, then he wants to do for us, so whatever we ask God can give more than we can imagine. God answers prayer in Wal-Mart on third shift. Been there, seen it. Thank you to all who are willing to give of yourself and time to pray. We need this badly. Not just individual but for the church as a whole. I believe God is going to do something great through our time spent in His presence. I pray God's fulness in each person's life so strong that it will effect the lives of people we see just in passing. That we all lock arms in unity to press forward in the Lord to do His will in all we do. I can hardly wait. God Bless you.

Is it Fair, Right, or Wrong?

Have you ever seen a boss pick out one person and pick on them constantly? The boss will hound this one person til they actually break down and cry. Find something wrong with everything they do or say? This has happened at work more than once lately. I see this and wonder why? The person they are picking on is not mean. They come to work and do their job. The majority of the rest of the workers have noticed what is going on. Everyone trys to help this person, just so the supervisor will leave them alone. A couple of individuals have made comments to the big boss about the situation, but nothing has changed. This person come to me crying last night and asked me if I would pray for her for strength to go through this. Of course I did. But, do you say nothing and keep watching this take place every night? Does a large group need to go to the big boss? How can someone be so cruel to someone else in front of people? Any suggestion? I would love to hear them. I have prayed about this. It is disturbing to the rest of the employees. One person said, "Who will be the next person that is picked on." I know the Bible says we will be persecuted but this seems to go past the normal. I would literally break down if I had to work under conditions has that EVERY NIGHT. Please pray about this situation with me and email any suggestions. God Bless.

LIVE AND LEARN

Have you every wondered why God is letting certain things happen in your life? Boy, I have. When you pray you ask God "why." I do. We, as christians, expect our road of life to go so smooth, like this ____________________________________________________. When actually it is like ___- - - /~~~~\<^>//\\~~~~~~______/ / / <>~`',_-----^-_????.
BUT what we fail to understand is God is taking us down a road to use us for someone else's benefit. Things that happened in my life years ago, I am using to help someone right now go through it. I am basically not a whiner. My parents did not allow that as I was growing up. So I have always tried to find the good in everything. When things were at their worst for me no one ever knew it. Now, we can be happy in our situation or we can whine. Which one do you think God is going to show up in the most? Where you can find happiness. God was there to form and make us and He will be there during our bad times as well as the good. I don't like going through stuff. But, if going through something makes me a better person by changing me to be more Christlike and teaches me something I am willing. God knows already what I am going to do five years from now and how I am going to react to it. Because He knows my future He leads me down certain paths so that my life will effect others and hopefully draw them to the Lord. Look for the good and the happiness in all your situations. When you do God will be there to help and guide you. God loves you and He would NOT lead you wrong. God Bless You.

This morning I taught a lesson on the Fruits of the Spirit in children's Church. It was good. I gave the kids something to think about. I gave them examples of each fruit and used a light stick to demostrate the fruits in our lives. As I was talking to them, I explained that every Fruit of the Spirit is shown in our lives through every thing we do, say, act, feel toward another person. We can show love, kindness, goodness, gentleness, peace, happiness, and faith at some point in our lives. And self-control. But the self-control covers such big areas- - - it is a hard one to show and develope. Even as adults, sometimes don't we talk more than we listen- - - Self-control. Don't we eat more of the wrong foods- - - Self-control. I could keep on and on , but, you get the idea. Each child got to pick one of the Fruits to work on this week and report back next week. I can not wait. It will be exciting. When you have to teach something like this it makes you look at yourself more closely to see where you need to make changes. I know I sure did. And I saw one or maybe two things I need to work on.(ha, ha). Truth be known I can work on all nine in my life. The Pastor is going to be teaching on this in August I think. Now the children will know a little more about what he is talking about on Wednesday nights. Please pray for our children in our church and the teachers. If the Lord does not come soon, these children will be our leaders soon. Pastor Tyra and I are really working on planting something in each child that will stay with them for life. Thank you for the opportunity to teach your children. It has been a delight and a pleasure. You just don't know. Love you all.

Praise and worship Sunday was wonderful. Just wanted to let everyone know that, especially anyone that was not there. You just missed IT.
I am so excited about this coming Sunday. I am teaching in children's church about the Fruits of the Spirit. It will not be boring. This is something the children need to know and examine their selves to see where they stand. As we all do.
I want to send out a BIG congratulations to Noah McAbee for being the first to say all the books in the old testament in order. Great job Noah, I am so proud of you. Now, I wonder who is going to be the first to know all the books in the new testament? To all the others in children's church, it is not too late to learn the old ones. Get busy, most of you know about half of them already.

It is so amazing to me how kids grasp things. I help teach in children's church and the Sunday's when I think it really did not go as well as I thought before hand, I hear how some of the kids really took in what I had to say. It gives you this warm happy felling inside to know that you have positively and effectively touch a child's life in such a way. It may mean a big change in that one child's life forever. I thank God for the opportunity in teaching the young people. I have been helping in Children's Church almost a year now, and have seen such a big difference in the lives of the children. Each week is so exciting to me just to see how they are going to react to what we have planned for them. I have prayed for creativity and ideas but the most simple things I have done - - they have remembered so vividly. Please encourage your children. Ask them questions about whaat they learned and done in Children's Church. You might just be amazed yourself and even get a laugh. I do and I love every minute of it. God Bless you and your families.

I just want to let everyone know just how much CIOC means to me. It does not matter what happens, my church family will be there to support, encourage, and push me. I am so thankful for all the people in CIOC. Members as well as visitors. We can lock arms and love on each other, help each other, lift each other up, pray, cry, and laugh with each other. You just can not get that at just any church you go to. And to top it off- - - - our pastors do all of it with us too. Our pastors are involved in our lives. We are important to them. They love and care very much about each and every one in their church. Some people may not like that. But as for me. I love it. If my pastor did not love me and care about me, they would not care what happened in my life, or what I was doing. That would make me feel as if I might be in the wrong church. The Bible says love is the greatest gift. And LOVE is at CIOC. Looking forward to Sunday. See you there.

Hey everyone. It has been a few days since I blogged. I have been doing some reading on first fruits. We all know that is when you give to God the first part of all you have or get. What about the first part of you day. With your lips you give your first fruits of your day. You can praise him for a good nights rest, and for being able to see, hear, speak, walk, smell, and being alive. Just to name a few things. I don't know about anybody else, but I have alot to praise God for. Sometimes when we thank and praise God for the things we Don't see, God moves things so we can see those very things. This has happened for me more than once. And it can happen for you. Never give up - - - keep on keeping on. God bless.

MAN!!!!! If you were not in CIOC Sunday morning you MISSED the best service to honor our military. The church was packed, it was decorated, had men in uniforms, and had a movie. It was GREEEEAT. Thanks to Creative Ministries for putting that together. You all done a wonderful job. We have got some kind of talent in our house of God.
Tomorrow is Independence Day. Let's remember what it really stands for and not just fireworks and partying. We have our freedom as we know it because of the duty some young men gave their lives for.
I met a couple from Ukraine last night at work. She was not felling well, and I helped them get her in the car. But, I got to talk with her a bit. They have lived in the U.S. for 10 yrs. now. She said they have alot more freedom here. Keep that in mind. What if we had to live like others in another country? We would be more thankful for the freedom we have.
Have a safe 4th.

I am so excited about tomorrow. We are honoring the VETS in our church. It will be exciting just to see the 5 King brothers together under one roof. Now days, it is so hard to get families together unless it is for a funeral or something. We are going to have a lot of visitors in church tomorrow. So, put on your red, white, and blue and come celebrate with us. Don't forget--your worship can and will impact someone's life---and Someone WILL be watching YOU.
Have a happy and safe July 4th. God bless you all.