Porto, Portugal Mission Trip Information Meetings

Did you see the earlier post about our mission trip to Porto? Porto, Portugal
Or this one about the people of Portugal? Faces of Portugal

In the first post I mentioned that we would be traveling to Porto in July. For various reasons that date will not work. Instead we are going in September. This will make it a little trickier for our school teachers to go with us, but we are going the week of Labor Day, so there are only four days of work to miss, the weather is better then, and the plane fare was $300 less!! So... win, win, win!

We will have an information meeting about the mission trip on Sunday, February 13, at 4:30 in the Administrative Office building - which is over across the parking lot from the main campus. At this meeting I will try to answer any questions you may have and we'll get on Skype and talk to the missionaries we will be working with, Andy and Michelle Milam. How cool is that?

We've talked about helping one of the local churches throw a block party, we're going to help that church with some English classes they are teaching, but a really fun thing we've talked about is an English Camp for teens or college students. We'll do some fun things together and then we'll break up into smaller groups and either teach cooking or music or art or whatever - all in English (with an interpreter of course.) But the whole idea is to reach out to the community using English as a way to get their attention. Then we will be able to take advantage of opportunities to share our faith and the local congregations will follow up with those who come to classes or to camp.

This is probably a perfect mission trip for you to join in on. Haha! Please ignore the couple kissing by the river.

Stained-glass Crosses 2011

Back by popular demand - our stained-glass cross class.

Many people have taken our stained-glass cross class over the years. It is a lot of fun and not as hard as you might think. I'm not saying it's easy, but with some good instruction (if I say so myself, hahaha) you can make a cross just like one of these!

We will meet for three Tuesday nights - Feb. 8, 15 and 22. We'll meet each night from 6:00-8:00 (and probably stay a little after that each night).

The cost is only $40 - which is a great deal! I have all of the tools you will need.

Let me know (call Donna in the church office) if you are interested. I need to order glass soon!

Music for Sunday, January 30

Holy Holy Holy
Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord


Fellowship song – Prince of Peace (You Are Holy)



When We All Get to Heaven
I Will Rise

Special Music – Your Grace Still Amazes Me - Bro. Lyndel

Message – Dr. Larry D. Robertson

Invitation – Whiter than Snow

Offertory – Don McElroy

Good for the Office, Maybe Not the Choir Loft

I was checking the news when I saw a link to "Winter Grooming Do's and Don'ts" for men. Being the - hopefully - well-groomed man that I picture in my head, I thought I should check it out. Grooming Do's and Don'ts on Fox News

Here is one of the "don'ts"

Don't: Use understated aromas



Light fragrances are too flimsy for the cold. Take advantage of the season by swapping your citrusy cologne for something a bit bolder. Spicy, woody ones with base notes of tobacco, oak, vetiver, and patchouli are your best bests for weathering the winter months in scented style.

Vetiver? Really? Thankfully I have a link to Merriam-Webster on line.

vet·i·ver noun \ˈve-tə-vər\

Definition of VETIVER

: a tall perennial grass (Vetiveria zizanioides) of southeastern Asia cultivated in warm regions especially for its fragrant roots which are used especially in woven goods (as mats) and in perfumes; also : its root

Too bad you can't get scents on line.


and Patchouli? I am so out of the fragrance loop.

patch·ou·li noun \ˈpa-chə-lē, pə-ˈchü-lē\

Definition of PATCHOULI

: a heavy perfume made from the fragrant essential oil of a southeast Asian mint (Pogostemon cablin); also : the plant itself
 
So... I'm all for you all smelling really pretty this time of year. But on a Sunday morning you might hold off gettin' all perfumed up until after you've sung in the choir. It makes it difficult when you take a nice deep breath to hold out the last note of a songe -for instance - and you take in a big mouthful of tobacco, oak and vetiver. hahaha.
 
You know if schools close tomorrow we don't get to have choir tomorrow night. HOpefully I'll see you, but it looks like we'll miss our mid-week pick-me-up.

A Pro-Life Argument You Can't Disagree With

I have a feeling I'm about to say a whole bunch of things that are politically INCORRECT!

After trying to think of how to ease into the conversation I'll just jump in.

Last Saturday, January 22, was the anniversary of the start of a terrible genocide - the Roe v. Wade decision that made abortions legal and turned killing unborn babies into a bad version of birth control.

Last Friday I heard former Senator Rick Santorum. He was explaining that his remarks about President Obama supporting abortion rights were NOT racist. The liberal media has called him all kinds of names because - well, I'm just paraphrasing and I hope I say all of this correctly - anyway, what I got out of the whole interview was that Mr. Santorum, knowing that there is a disproportionate number of black babies aborted, said he couldn't belive that President Obama, as a black man, could support abortions rights. And so now the liberal media is calling Mr. Santorum a racist bigot.

It seems to me that the racists are those who are happy with the fact that the African-American community has more abortions than other races.

Over the weekend I had thought of a bunch of things to say here but now that I'm typing I don't think I will. I figure most of the people who read my blog are against abortion anyway and those who are for it won't care what I have to say.

But I do have two wonderful reasons why I am against abortion. Both of these children could have easily have been aborted and no one would have thought anything about it. One of them was born to a woman who was living in a hotel room with two of her other children with a man who wasn't the baby's father. The father had ten other children - most not living with him - and he couldn't afford to care for another child. But both the mother and the father loved their baby enough to give him life and then loved him enough to give him a chance at a wonderful life that they knew they couldn't provide.

So here is a picture of me with the two best reasons of why I am pro-life and totally against abortion - two of my grandbabies, Benjamin and Hannah. They will be 4 and 5 years old next month and have filled our lives with love and joy and color!

You can't argue with that even if you are a pro-abortion person.

D'now Music for Sunday

it's DiscipleNow weekend, so I've asked the youth boys' band to play for our services at the main campus. They really sounded good Wednesday night when we rehearsed.

I'm typing this on my phone so here is the basic info for Sunday morning.

Mighty to Save

Choir - hear the Call of the Kingdom

How Great Is Our God
Breathe

Andrew & Calli - You're Love Is Extravagant

See you in the morning.

Family Art Project - Coming Again This Year.

It's hard to believe that it was two years ago that we had our first "Family Art Project."
It was a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures from the first one.

 The Muñoz Family

The Hobson Family

The Winn Family

Last summer Bro. Tim asked me, (be sure and use your fancy Sunday morning going to meetin' voice when reading the following conversation.)

 "Bro. Lyndel, When are we going to do the Family Art Project again?"

"Well, Bro. Tim, I think we should do it again this winter - perhaps in February."

"I think that's an excellent idea. Put us down to attend."

Cheryl and I plan on having all six grandkids help us with our painting this time around. That should make for a very fun morning!

Here are the details.

Date: February 5

Time: 9:00-11:30

Place: Old Gym - Main Campus

Cost: $45

What: As a family you will paint one large canvas that you later will want to proudly display in your own home. You can see the size in the pictures above.

Wear old clothes and come prepared to try something new and learn a little about yourself and your family through a fun art project.

Contact the church office for more information or to sign up. There is a limited number of spots available. Sign up begins this week!

A New Year - What Should We Sing?

I used to do my own little joke for myself on the first Sunday of the year. (and I know this Sunday isn't the first Sunday of the year, but I was out of town last Sunday, so let me pretend it's the first Sunday of 2011) Anyway, I would sing "I Am Resolved" because I thought it was a funny joke to sing about being resolved on the week most people were making New Year's Resolutions.

Well, I gave that up several years ago. Seemed a little corny. But I do think it is good at the start of a year to reflect on how God has brought us through the year before and to sing with great assurance knowing it is by Him and through Him that we will make it through the coming year.

Actually, I hope to do more than just "make it through" the coming year. I want to do great things for His Kingdom. I don't want to just coast along with the same old things. I want to look back at the end of 2011 and say, "Wow! Look at the great things God has done in me and through me and with me! To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus!"

Here are the songs we'll be singing Sunday. I hope you'll be able to sing them as a testimony of God's work in your life.

O God Our Help in Ages Past

Choir - Your Name

Friend of God
His Eye Is on the Sparrow
Made Me Glad

Larry Interviews Sarah

Faces of Portugal

Hilldale will take a mission team to Porto, Portugal next July. Should you be going with us?

This is for Brentwood Baptist's Choir, but it would have been for us if I had thought of it earlier and if Perry had made it and if Hilldale people had been the ones in it and if it said from Hilldale Baptist Church instead of Brentwood...

Worship Choir Promo from Brentwood Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Anyway... we'd love to have you in our choir if you live in Clarksville.

Porto, Portugal

Copied from offbeattravel.com
"Porto, Portugal, is a city with soul, populated with a genial and supportive community. The unhurried pace of life in Porto mirrors the graceful flow of ocean waves rolling on her shores and makes the strife in the world seem distant and remote. Brilliant blue skies set against red tile roofs and the sun glittering on the Douro River summon the anticipation of summer and the promise of adventures to unfold. Northern Portugal is a remarkable oasis for travelers in a destination-saturated planet."

 

 

"Old Porto is the hub for sightseeing, cuisine and river tours. Amidst the narrow streets that wind their way through town lie several stretches of pedestrian-only cobblestone streets. These quaint thoroughfares are lined with shops and cafes, bistros and wine bars."

 

"The public squares in Porto are filled with ornate fountains and Portuguese statues, overlooking grand stone churches and the multi-colored tiled fronts of old buildings; the structures contain shops and businesses on the ground level and apartments and small pensions on the higher floors. It is common to see the city's residents gazing from their small balconies down on the colorful and busy streets."

 

 

This coming July I will be leading a group from Hilldale Baptist Church to work in Porto with Andy and Michelle Milam. Check them out here The 4 Milams Their January Newsletter is posted below. (We are one of the groups mentioned coming in the summer.) Andy is a friend of mine who was a Worship Pastor here in Tennessee until a few years ago when he and his family answered God's call to full-time mission work in Portugal. They are very excited about us coming to join them in their work.

Here are a few of the opportunities that await us in Porto:

• teaching English classes at some of the churches (notice the English classes in the newsletter below)
• helping with a block party
• encouraging the congregation of Igreja Batista de Antas and helping equip them for future church planting
• prayer walking

We can add to this list if you have experience in other mission activities and want to join us. Let me know if you are interested in going. If you feel God calling you to go I know He will help you with the funds to make the trip possible.

Click on newsletter to enlarge it so you can read it.

Hanging Around Lookin' Purty

The old man worked for months on his project. He had purposefully chosen a beautiful piece of wood. He carefully cut out the curves and planed the surface to just the right thickness - a little thinner here, a little thicker there. The rough, oil-stained hands made sure the pieces were glued tightly together, gently sanded, stained and polished...

Holes were drilled, pegs were made, a bridge was set, strings were strung and tuned...

The bow was tightened and rosined...

The old man was very pleased with his handiwork and the beautiful sound that was made when the bow pulled the strings.

Grandad Kay was a metal machinist by trade and an old-time fiddler by night. In his retirement years he decided to use his skills to make fiddles. He made several and I'm proud to have a couple of them myself. He's the man I was describing at the beginning of this post.

Fast-forward to 2011.

I was at my in-law's home in Tulsa this past week. I went in the front bedroom closet to look for some wrapping paper - or something - I don't really remember right now - and behind some shirts on a shelf leaning against the wall was one of Grandad Kay's fiddles. "What a shame to have this pretty fiddle hidden in the closet" I thought to myself. "Someone should be playing it."

Before I could get to judgemental, however, it dawned on me that the two fiddles I have from Grandad may not be in a closet, but hanging on the wall in my guest bedroom isn't really what they were intended for either. They may be pretty to look at, (and if I was home I would take a picture of them and post it here) but even though guests in our home can see the fine workmanship, these fiddles still aren't being used for their intended purpose. Someone should tune them up and play them!

Sermon illustration.
So I won't try to pretend I wasn't already headed to a little New Year's Day sermon. Haha.

Many of us are just like the fiddle tucked away in the closet. God intends for us to make beautiful music - and I don't mean just singing in the choir. He created us for a higher purpose than just hanging around looking pretty or being hidden away in a closet (or church building).

We love to quote Ephesians 2:8-9 (Wonderful verses!)
8 For ²¹by grace you have been saved ²²through faith ; and that not of yourselves, it is ²³the gift of God ; 9 ²⁴not as a result of works, so that ²⁵no one may boast.

But we should keep going. Look what verse 10 says
10 For we are His workmanship, ²⁶created in ²⁷Christ Jesus for ²⁸good works, which God ²⁹prepared beforehand so that we would ³⁰walk in them.

We were created for good works. God prepared before we were saved that we should walk around doing good works!

Just like those pretty fiddles were created to make music, God created YOU to do good works. That's why you were saved by grace.

I'm not going to tell give you any ideas of what those good works are. I know you want me to. "Like what?" you ask. That's the Holy Spirit's work in your life - not mine. If I give you an idea you won't bother trying to listen to His voice in your life.

So...

I thought this would be a good post for New Year's Day. Many of us are reflecting on what we did (or didn't do) last year and many are making resolutions for the new year.

Let me challenge you to start the year off by asking God if you've been hanging around looking pretty (so to speak) or if you've been hiding yourself and then ask Him what good works He created you for..

Oh... and then why don't you make a decision to DO something for the Kingdom in 2011.