Strange, new topic

[Anon]

So us being all IFB and such like...I thought I'd start a fairly foreign topic...

Let's say something GOOD and POSITIVE about a church member or pastor! Seems like lately everyone's demonizing everyone...lousy church members, lousy preachers who steal members, lousy christians with no standards, lousy parents who can't raise kids.....

Surely...SURELY we IFB peeps can think of something NICE for a change....

Okay so I'll go first. Tonight we are having Christians over to our house that are not from our church (rather from the church to which my kids attend school) and I'm happy to say we can fellowship with other people without "stealing" them or gossiping about church...but just having a nice time because we're Christians. Its a blessing.

Next?

[John81]

There have been several positives among those negatives but I do agree a thread for positve comments is a good idea!

Our pastor has been leading us through the book of Luke and he never fails to preach what the Word says. We have taken on more missionaries this year as well as projects to help those in need. Monies we raised are currently being used to drill two new water wells near churches in Afica.

Two of the missionaries we support in India were here last week and gave an excellent presentation. We will likely raise additional money to help with a couple projects for Christians in India this year too.

[PreacherE]

We just finished our week of VBS tonight. It could not have been accomplished had not several people helped out. I'm thankful that I didn't have to try and pull everything together myself. I think total we had about 15 different church members which helped out and made it possible.

[OFIB Preacher]

So us being all IFB and such like...I thought I'd start a fairly foreign topic...

Let's say something GOOD and POSITIVE about a church member or pastor! Seems like lately everyone's demonizing everyone...lousy church members, lousy preachers who steal members, lousy christians with no standards, lousy parents who can't raise kids.....

Surely...SURELY we IFB peeps can think of something NICE for a change....

Okay so I'll go first. Tonight we are having Christians over to our house that are not from our church (rather from the church to which my kids attend school) and I'm happy to say we can fellowship with other people without "stealing" them or gossiping about church...but just having a nice time because we're Christians. Its a blessing.

Next?

I praise the LORD, for our pastor, Brian Durden! He's the greatest pastor, I've ever had! He preaches God's word to us, guards the fold, cares for us, straightens us out when we need it, all in love!!! The LORD is using him, in our family and the whole church! I look forward to what He's got in store, for all of us, as long as we're right with Him and His man!

[chev1958]

Well, our pastor is a pretty-good looking guy, even if I say so myself!

[John81]

Well, our pastor is a pretty-good looking guy, even if I say so myself!

And humble too!

[OFIB Preacher]

Well, our pastor is a pretty-good looking guy, even if I say so myself!

Vanity, vanity! To each his own.

[HappyChristian]

Some friends of ours are in town for a week or so. They are missionaries to Estonia. My hubby went to college with him, and I babysat three of their kids. Their daughter came here to college and is now married to one of our staff, so will be staying here. Their second son is starting college this year. I'm excited about that.

We took them (and two of their 5 kids) out to lunch yesterday and were able to spend about 2 hours fellowshipping. It was very enjoyable. We were thinking about all the missionaries that we have been privileged to know, whether sent out from our church, graduates of the college, or from having gone to candidate school ourselves for several years (or other ways - like meeting Katie and her husband because of meeting her here on OB!). It's such a blessing! And it's so great to be able to share a nice meal and conversation time with them.

[JAHinton]

What IFB not complaining about something! That is a novel approach. but a refreshing one. We have a tendancy to look at the negative. Yesterday one of the preacher boys in our church brought a message from Phil 4:8 and entitled it the power of positive scriptural thinking. His main emphasis was that we so often use that verse for the things we are not to think about but dont apply it to the things we ought to be thinking about.

The thought just occured to me what about a forum "I was blessed by ..." The only thing allowed in it is how you were blessed. My pastor brought a great message yesterday about ... Our teen choir was so good yesterday they sang a song ";;;" what a blessing. Our church does something that is a blessing to me ...

I am not real bright and don't know how to start that or I would.

[John81]

Our Associate Pastor preached yesterday and he preached it like it should be preached! He challenged us to examine our own lives and really see where our priorities are. Is Christ really our priority or is it sports, TV, fishing, anything else? Has there been a real change in our lives so we can see the fruit of our repentance or do we need to examine that too? Are we steadily growing in Christ or are we trying to coast? Compared to our other interests how much time do we make sure we have for them and how much time do we devote to Christ in prayer, Bible study, witnessing...?

The message was very challenging and straight from the Word. Great sermon!

[OFIB Preacher]

Our Associate Pastor preached yesterday and he preached it like it should be preached! He challenged us to examine our own lives and really see where our priorities are. Is Christ really our priority or is it sports, TV, fishing, anything else? Has there been a real change in our lives so we can see the fruit of our repentance or do we need to examine that too? Are we steadily growing in Christ or are we trying to coast? Compared to our other interests how much time do we make sure we have for them and how much time do we devote to Christ in prayer, Bible study, witnessing...?

The message was very challenging and straight from the Word. Great sermon!

Sounds like some great preachin'! Praise the LORD!
Peradventure, that message available anywhere on the net?

[JerryNumbers]

If one wants only positive preaching, no negatives, its all about love, they might try Joel Osteen and or Norman Vincent Peale. Of course the latter one is deceased.

The thing is, man is sinful, he has to deal with his sin everyday, some do not want this, they want only positive and love messages, or as I call them, feel good messages.

Of course many pastors and churches are headed in that direction.

[HappyChristian]

If one wants only positive preaching, no negatives, its all about love, they might try Joel Osteen and or Norman Vincent Peale. Of course the latter one is deceased.

The thing is, man is sinful, he has to deal with his sin everyday, some do not want this, they want only positive and love messages, or as I call them, feel good messages.

Of course many pastors and churches are headed in that direction.

Jerry, that's not the point of this thread. The point of this thread is to write blessings: positive stuff. There's no sin in that! I know God's blessed you, so what do you say? How's Linda coming along?

[JerryNumbers]

Linda is doing great, thanks for asking.

I was just pointing out where people can get only positive stuff, and not hear nothing negative, in fact with them one will never be under convictions for any sin. Like the one church advertized on TV, come worship with us, we promise not to make you uncomfortable.

We have a lady in our church, she wants everything positive. I suppose many churches have many people like that within them, even Baptist Churches. Yes, sad to say in many Baptist Churches all you will hear is positive stuff.

[Brother Rick]

I love my little girls, they're the highlight of our lives so I'll talk about them.

Kiera, my four year old, wants to "ask Jesus", but she has no idea about anything right now so she can't. She does know how to pray, and I have her pray over the meal sometimes and she always asks God to help her be good and OBey. She's learning how to read, and can handle most one syllable words by herself.




Lily, our intense child, is two. Every emotion with her is extreme. If we're happy, she's the happiest in the house, if we're all bummed out, she's the saddest little girl in the world. She's also a bit of a contrarian, something she OBviously gets from her mother. Take for instance, her nickname is "little buddy". I asked her the other day, "Are you my little buddy?" She answered, "No, I Mommy's little buddy..." The other day she snuck out of her room during naptime. I couldn't find her anywhere, until I looked in our room. She had decided to take a nap in our bed.




Charlotte, is a year old next month. She is the complete opposite of Lily. She's laid back and never really gets riled up, unless she's hungry. One time, being the horrible father I am, I teased her and just touched her lips with the baby food instead of feeding it to her. She cried, and I felt terrible. I will never do it again. When Lily got her ears pierced, she experienced drama for about 30 minutes. We timed Charlotte, she got over it in 45 seconds.