Our Declaration

Give ear, O heavens, and let us speak;
And let the earth hear the words of our mouth.
Today we make this declaration as your Church.
We let go of the past and shake off the dust of yesterday.
We reach forward towards our destiny.
We are resuming our journey to take possession
of what you O God have given us.
We will not stand still or shrink back.
We will lay hold of our future.
We are led on this journey by God and are protected by Him.

Our enemy is defeated and our children
and possessions are safe.
We receive the strength of the Lord for this great endeavor
So we gather up our courage and gird up our loins
for what is ahead. We commit to finishing the journey as one, promising never to leave a wounded fellow soldier behind on the battlefield.

We will not grow impatient or become agitated.
We will see every obstacle and pitfall
as a temporary light affliction
and we will embrace the weight of glory
that comes in its place.
We will live out this adventure with
a deep consciousness of God.
And because His presence is with us,
our crossing will be a success.

Amen!

A Very Important Message from Pastor Don

Awesome, incredible, unbelievable! These are just a few words that I would use to describe our first two weeks. Janice and I are thrilled to have a new spiritual family and cannot wait to see where God leads us in the next few months. We know that many are out of town for this holiday weekend. Be careful, have fun and we will miss you on Sunday.

So here is my first blog attempt. I welcome any comments.

The past two weeks, we've been talking about the baggage we carry around. It ranges from hurt, depression, anxiety, abuse, disappointment, to addiction. It is easy to recognize the need for Christ to heal us from our hurts, habits and hang-ups, but few recognize that most of the time it also takes a process. It can be so frustrating for someone to hear that the answer to the pain that has been driving their life straight through hell can be solved if they just pray the right prayer.
What people without these issues don't understand is that there are underlying causes for the pain that can't always be answered with just a prayer. God certainly can and has miraculously healed people from their baggage but many times He wants us to work through the things that got us there. It can be chemical, emotional, physical, or circumstantial. It can also range from depression, to peer pressure, to abuse. The list is endless. Ultimately we have to trust Jesus to remove the hurts and heal the pain but sometimes it's hard to lean on Him. He really is our garbage dumpster where He willing desires us to unload on Him all the trash that accumulates in our lives.

Someone made a great comment to me after the worship experience that despite having a relationship with Jesus Christ, their issues and choices makes them too ashamed to pray. It reminded me of a lie I've told myself or had told to me many times before, I'm too ashamed to go to God. The idea is that in my shame, God is actually ashamed of me. I remember so many times that I wanted to be different but couldn't. I wanted to do what was right, but willingly chose to do what I knew was wrong. At the point of no return, I was ashamed.

God ashamed of me? That is a lie. My shame is my own and it is not from Him. There is an unspoken list out there of sins that are really bad, bad, and not so bad. The not so bad and a few of the bad still make us ok with God. BUT, the really bad, well that's another story.

Paul said he regularly does what he knows is wrong, but he was still the strongest force influencing Christianity in the first century and even today. The Bible says that we are accepted by God when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. It's called grace and it is completely undeserved. The very thing we trust about God as we begin a relationship with Him is almost completely forgotten when we continue to fail.

God's grace extends into our lives forever. The truth is, God loves it when we come to him for the answers to our problems. David had an incredible relationship with God but failed big time. This king that God had blessed with wealth, success, and a growing kingdom willingly chose to abandon the principles he lived by because of his relationship with God by having an affair and sending his mistresses husband to be killed on the front lines of battle.

The consequences were steep but at the point of his shame, sorrow, and brokenness he called out to God with this prayer:
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
-Psalm 51:3-4,7-10

If David could pray that prayer, we should be able to do the same when we fail or have done what we know is wrong. I thank God for his love and grace and live and dwell in it every day and I believe that God can build a great church on it!

Community Welcome House- UPDATE!!

Dear Church Family,


We have an update from the Community Welcome House! We posted information on our site based on needs made aware to us by Mrs. Ellen Channell- Volunteer Coordinator, Community Welcome House. Since then, they had someone from our congregation see that need and step forward to lend a hand! How about that!?? That is AWESOME! Below is a statement from Ellen about what the Welcome House is currently in need of! Please contact her and see where you can help out!

Ellen is the Volunteer Coordinator for the Community Welcome House here in Newnan, it is the shelter for battered and abused women and their children to seek refuge from their abusive relationships and get back on their feet again.

Current Update: 8/31/08-

"As of Friday, there were 11 women and 7 children at the house. We have plenty of canned goods but are running really low on tea, flour, sugar, and coffee. If we could possibly see if people would bring donations to the church starting next Sunday, September 7th, I will have a basket for the items."

They have an ongoing need for volunteers that would be willing to give a day, an hour, or whatever they have to help out the Welcome House. We currently need men, women or older teenagers to serve as mentors to the children that are currently living at the house. These mentoring positions really need some prayer put into them because we need a little stronger commitment to these kids to not drop them after a couple of months of mentoring, you would only have to commit to one day a week but anything extra would be welcomed. Also, the women here have been beaten down physically, mentally and spiritually and we are trying to create some "life classes" for these women... cooking, how to keep a check book, how to plan for meals, etc. any ideas would be welcomed. The women are tutored on Wednesday nights and we need someone that would be willing to come to the house to answer phones, make sure the women are doing their Bible studies, etc. from 6-8:30 pm.

Lastly, the Welcome House runs a thrift shop behind the Dairy Queen and volunteers are always needed to help out, and donations are always accepted.

Ellen Channell- Volunteer Coordinator, Community Welcome House / email: dougorellen@bellsouth.net

Ellen also says that you can just catch her at church and she will be glad to help you get involved.

My Dad had an understanding of helping the needy at an early age. I never knew growing up WHAT he did for people in need. He never said a word. He just helped. He always said, "Just do what's right, son and all will be taken care of-my job is to teach you right from wrong. Always help those in need without question." As I grew up (and am still doing) I began to realize what he meant by that lesson.

Matthew 6:2-4 teaches us this about giving to the needy: "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

A Very Special Baptism Sunday with Pastor Don

Before we ever met as a church family with our new beginning, we asked Pastor Don if he would be willing to honor our family by Baptizing our two oldest Children. He said YES! We told family members and friends, and before we knew it, people were lining up as they were so moved by Don's return to us as our spiritual leader! Here you see Caroline being Baptized, we could have done this another time, but it just would not have felt right. God knew the timing, and we had a Sunday afternoon at the home of some very dear family members in Christ at their pool behind their beautiful home. There was a stone waterfall going into the pool, the sun was brilliant- It was God's time to SHINE! We just HAD to share this with our new church family! We are glad that we were patient and waited on God to show us His plan of how He wanted this to happen! Enjoy the slide show below!

Steven Curtis Chapman Family - Maria

This is a photo of Steven Curtis Chapman and his Daughter, Maria. I didn't know much of the Chapman family, other than his music, until I heard of their tragedy in March of this year. This precious girl you see is now with Jesus due to an accident with a vehicle in her own driveway. It is hard to grasp. Why? How can this happen? The Chapman family had those questions and still do. I am sure you can relate to what I am about to say, we hear news about tragic things that happen to families, and see how they relate to an event in our own lives, which makes us want to pray for them, and move on so we aren't reminded of our own pain that was similar to theirs. Sound familiar? Let me get to the point, there is a blessing in this story of tragedy. 2 1/2 years ago I was on my way home from work. I was in no hurry, in fact, I was coming home earlier than usual and wanted to surprise my wife and children. I drove a small SUV. I came up a long incline and atop of the incline there was another small rise in the road. Along the side of the road were several mailboxes as is usually the case in rural areas. As I approached the rise in the road a small child was in between those mailboxes. He didn't see me and I didn't see him. The child sprinted to get across the busy road toward his home which was several yards away from those mailboxes. My vehicle struck this child, there was instant impact as he didn't see me and I didn't see this child as he stepped into the road. I swerved left into the oncoming lane to attempt to avoid contact but it had already happened. I pulled back into my lane and it took me a few seconds for my mind to grasp what had just happened- It couldn't have been. I will never forget the view as I looked in my rearview mirror to make sure and reality hit hard. I sprinted to the child's side. An ambulance came and helicoptors were above and my mind was numb. I knelt beside and prayed alloud for God to spare this young life. They took him away, assured me of my innocence as they saw how shaken and broken I was. It was unavoidable, and no speeding laws were broken, but lives were broken. I tell you this now, because I have not been able to find a way that I allowed to help me feel free of this burden that I now felt as I learned the next morning that this precious child did not make it to his home in Newnan, Georgia but had made it to his home by Jesus' side. For two and a half years, I have not been able to find myself again. It is like I forgot who I was and had to start over again. This child was only 5 years of age, and I my son was 5 at this time also. We celebrated my son's Birthday that same week after the accident. Where and when will I ever find peace in this? People kept saying, God will use this to bless you one day through this experience, and God chose ME as someone else may not have been able to handle this type of tragic event. Nothing made sense- Until recently. There was a Braves game at Turner Field a few weeks ago. Beth, my wife, wanted to go because Steven Curtis Chapman was playing after the game. So many things almost made this concert not even happen. It was as if something didn't want this to happen, but God had other plans! First, we learned that just getting into the game didn't get you into the concert, so Beth had to go buy tickets for it while we watched the game. After the game, the band got set up, the sun went down, and as the band was tuning up and announcements being made, as HUGE storm came in. Lightening, heavy rain and 70 mile per hour winds blew. Several people left, but we hung out. I was there for the game, and wanted to go, but Beth said stay. So, being a good husband, I obeyed my wife's orders. The lightening stopped, the rain stopped, the wind stopped, and a beautiful sky appeared. John Smoltz came out to pray, and Steven Curtis Chapman stepped up by himself with just a microphone, a stool, his guitar, and his bible. I felt like something is going on here! He opened his heart with wounds still fresh from his loss of Maria who was adopted from China. He played some songs and we had church right there at Turner Field. The things he said about how he looks at what happend to his 5 year old daughter, and he was able to explain things in a way that only God could have given him the ability to do. It was meant for me to be there, and I came for the game and wanted to leave. Wow, what a mistake that would have been. God made that storm so strong that we had no choice but TO stay or walk and drive in dangerous weather with my entire family. There are other people who were there by God's design, I am sure, but I am certain that he wanted me there with my family. I left there with the best feeling that I have felt in over 2 years! Steven reminded us "Knuckle-headed" moms and dads that we need to cherish the time we have with our special children, because as his song "Cinderella" says, if the clock strikes midnight, they can be gone. Do they, the Chapmans struggle with this today? Of Course they do. They admit that. Do I still struggle with my experience, of course I do. BUT, with a peace that was not there before that God has provided us. I wanted to share this with you and it is the FIRST time that I have actually put into words any aspect of this event in my life. Please pray for the families that have lost their children who don't have a relationship with God and don't know of the peace that only He can bring in the darkest hours of our lives. God bless and keep you.