Event: Benefit for Brooke

***PLEASE HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD***
We are having a fundraising benefit for my good friends Kevin and Bobbie Ann Wellborn Haygood from the The Hallsville Bikers Church. Their daughter had a terrible car wreck and is in the middle of rehab. Kevin and Bobbie have incurred a tremendous amount of financial stress as they are by her side for recovery. PLEASE share this information and by all means, come buy a plate of Bro. Brisket's amazing BBQ! It's a win, win for you because the BBQ will blow your socks off and the family you will be helping is absolutely amazing!
==Pastor Matthew Butler==

Hitting Bottom...

I have found that the most generous people are the ones who are most in need. That is why I have a heart for the homeless, the drug addict, the lost, those on the streets, those who've "hit bottom".

I KNOW how it feels. Once you've hit bottom, there is no way up accept that you grab someone else's ankle as they climb...

Once you've gone up a few feet and can look down, you realize that that person below you used to be you, and you remember how much a bread crumb meant. Bread crumbs don't cost anything, but they are sure appreciated...

I KNOW.

I praise Jesus every day for where I am now. But, that's because something inside me is still down there on the bottom reaching up...

Once you've ever been on "the bottom", then you know that, no matter how far up you climb from then on, you will always be "on bottom".

Matthew 11
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

If this has inspired you, please share it!

Sometime I wonder if He gets tired of hearing from me...

I'm always asking for stuff: little things, big things, life things, health things, pleasure things, trinket things, friendly things, stuff I want, stuff I need, stuff I wish would happen, stuff other people need -- you name it. If it comes up in the course of my day, I pray for it.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

I rarely say "Amen" because I am always going from one prayer to the next. I depend on the Lord in every aspect of my life, from what to have for breakfast to how well I sleep at night. I don't get down on my knees to pray, because if I did, I'd stay there all day. I am in constant communication with my Lord.

I can have a bad experience with someone and hear myself saying something like, "Lord, I KNOW You want me to be kind, but I'm just not feeling it right now. Please get in the way!" or I can receive a box of clothes from a friend that they no longer want and I'll say, "Thank You, Lord, for giving me the opportunity to look good, or to help someone else look good!" If I sit down to eat, you might hear me say, "Lord, this is some great stuff going in my stomach! I thank you for giving me the pleasure of eating it! I ask that you use it to nourish every part of me, from my mind to my spirit!"

I am addicted to talking to God. I even make a list of little things I want, from a pizza cutter to a new TV set, and I watch as the list dwindles before my eyes. As much stuff as I've asked for in the past couple of years, that list should be a mile long, but I keep erasing the answered prayers as I add more. It's barely a page long.

I've learned that God answers all my prayers, no matter how big or how small, so I am not ashamed to ask Him for anything.

Every day is a gift, but God likes to be asked.

Matthew 7:
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

I was talking to some co-workers about my list the other day. They responded as if I were nuts. I told them, "I believe God likes to be asked for everything, even the little things. If you can't trust God to help you with the little things, why would He expect you to trust Him with the big things?"

I wonder, sometimes, if He doesn't get tired of hearing from me. I asked Him today, "Lord, are you tired of hearing from me yet?" Then I was reminded of a parable Jesus taught:

Luke 18
1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

God knows that each answered prayer is met with praise from my lips; and, as I marvel at the many prayers He's answered, I begin praising Him for even the prayers He's made me wait for.

He knows that I love Him no matter what, because I know that He knows what's best for me.

He deserves ALL the praise for THAT!

Featured Ministry: Church Under the Bridge (Texarkana)

Church Under the Bridge is a community of friends dedicated to loving God and loving each other.

We value God and His glory above all and we believe that we must love, cherish, and value people as image bearers of God.

Church Under the Bridge ministers to the homeless in Texarkana, as well as anyone else who wants to join them. This is truly a place where the hands and feet of Jesus are at work in our community.

To learn more, visit their website by clicking HERE

Please don't send me to Africa...

LOL...thought you might enjoy this:

Featured Ministry: USA Church

Pastor Steven Andrew helps people know God and God’s plans. He teaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the Holy Bible. As president of USA Christian Church, chairman of the National Day of Prayer Revival Force and an author of Christian living books, he shares God’s hope and love. To bring Christian liberty, abundance, security, peace and strong families, he is uniting the USA in Christ.

Pastor Steven Andrew is pastoring the USA to make a strong Christian nation where Jesus Christ is exalted and Christians are honored, and to have a covenant Christian nation government like our founders believed. All glory to God, there have already been over one million people who have prayed to become a Christian or rededicated their lives to God.

As a Christian leader he is frequently in the news and on radio, TV and other media making disciples as Jesus said in the Great Commission.

To visit the USA Church, pastored by Steven Andrew, click HERE

Atheist Group Appeals Decision to Allow 40-foot Cross to Remain on Public Property

An atheist organization is appealing a lower federal court’s decision to preserve a 40-foot cross which is part of a memorial in Maryland.

According to The Christian Post, the American Humanist Association (AHA) filed an appeal in federal court this week, seeking to overturn a ruling on Nov. 30 by U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow who ruled that the cross did not violate the Constitution's Establishment Clause as the AHA claimed.

“Although the Latin cross is undeniably a religious symbol … Other courts have recognized that displaying a cross to honor fallen soldiers is a legitimately secular purpose, and does not always promote a religious message," Judge Chasanow wrote in her decision.

Read more about this by clicking HERE