My dear Saints of God

I just want to thank many of you for going to the CE conference in Marianna Saturday.  We left much richer for having gone.  Was it inconvenient? Yes.  Was it out of our way? Yes.  Did we have other things to do?  Yes.  But the pursuit of  wisdom and understanding and the ongoing quest for excellence must be aggressively captured.  Many things will keep you from excellence and it is usually the mundane.  The enemy of “Great” is “good”, someone once said.  For Christians trying to Thrive and reach new heights we must make choices and sacrifices.

For those that didn’t go, maybe next year.  We want everyone to get all the training they can get and this is a quick, cheap and easy way.

Wasn’t the Women’s Service yesterday fantastic?  I was so blessed and moved by the amazing testimonies.  They all did such a fantastic job.  I am very proud of our women here at this church.  They are growing in the Lord so much and more than that, they are growing closer to each other.  Something special is going on here and I hope more people

Women will take advantage of it. 

     Jesus said he came for the “sick” and not the “well”.  We need to see ourselves as Nurses in a hospital.  People come to church to get well but to look at them you’d think there was nothing wrong with them.  That’s why we need to go to church to help in the healing process.  By all of us doing our best to get people into small groups, coffee hour, WM’s, XYZ’s, Base Bible study or one of our traditional small groups we are helping people into the right O.R. or  X-ray/ imaging center, or the cath lab for treatment.  We need to be doing more “proselytizing” on Sunday Morning.  Invite, Invite, Invite, till your blue in the face.

Well, gotta run,  love you all and keep up God’s work.

Pastor Skipper

Hello Saints of God

 

Welcome to the last week of the Daniel fast.  I hope all is going well and you are drawing closer to the Lord.  Each year of the Daniel fast gets a little easier but still not easy.  Not eating your favorite foods take a lot of discipline.  It really helps to have a supportive family doing the fast with you.  It wouldn't be easy smelling meat or eggs, and see your kids eating such delicacies in front of your face.  I am seeking God and making the most of these first fruit days. 

 

I'm excited to see what God is going to do the rest of the year.  He has been blessing all that we do around here for so long I'm also greatly encouraged to see all the people take up the challenge of the Daniel fast.  With so many of the faithful wanting to go to the next level and putting their food on the line gives me encouragement that what we are teaching is being "caught" by our people.  We  will all reap a great reward.

 

We also need to be in prayer for Alvin Broxson's family today as he passed away last night at 11:55pm.  Julie and I brought food over to his house and encouraged the family.  The viewing will be Thur. 5-7 at Lewis Funeral home and the funeral service at our church 11am on Fri.

 

Well I love you all and pray that you finish strong.  Pray hard this week.  Your miracle is just around the corner.

 

Pastor Skipper

Hello my brothers and sisters in Christ

 

Have you seen the commercial about "the most interesting man in the world"?  It's a Doseky's beer commercial and he always says at the end, "stay thirsty my friends".  Well, that's kinda how I'm feeling today; thirsty. And a little hungry.  Aren't you glad you have an honest Pastor.  This is our fourth day of the Daniel fast and I'm doing great.  I'm grazing on plants, nuts and whole wheat stuff and am actually feeling realy good.  My morning devotions were extra early and very good. 

 

Last nights service was fantastic.  So many people were there and the worship was supercharged.  I am so happy that so many are doing the fast.  What a great change we'll see in our church and in people's lives.  God is going to break out in this place.

 

Several of the folks have quit smoking and need our prayers.  I'm proud of them.

 

Let's really go after God in a big way and pray for His Spirit to be poured out in our services.

 

Love yall and call if you need encouragement

 

Pastor Skipper

Good Morning Saints of God

I sure love to see God moving in the lives of people. As things in our country go from bad to worse, it's great to see people reaching out with acts of love and kindness to others. I am certain that revival is happening all around us. This, however, is not a typical revival as some understand one to be, but is a group of people that have recently been changed by the Holy Spirit and are "doing" the gospel. I often preach that believing in Jesus is not enough to get you to heaven; after all, even the demons believe. James the half brother of Jesus said that. . "Faith without works is dead". So there seems to be a revival of spirit inspired works going on at Navarre 1st. This is happening at the right time because Christmas is upon us and although this is a time of great joy, it is for many a time of loneliness and despair.



I had the privilege of helping a gentleman today jumpstart his car in the Wal-Mart parking lot. That's why I always carry a jumpstarter and cables. I love helping others. I invited him to our Live Nativity Scene and I said, "you can bring your family and drive through. . ." He said, "I recently lost my family. My wife just died"

I said I was sorry and he could come and help us set up and meet some great people. You just never know who's going through what and how God brings them into your life for a divine appointment. He was very appreciative and thanked me. Hopefully I was a blessing for him.



Tonight is our chance to give the sleeping bags that Sam's group donated to the homeless of Ft. Walton beach. I am looking forward to blessing people in the name of Jesus. People always say that they don't go to church because they need a day for "family time", well I have plenty of family time and I need to have "ministry time" as well. One of the mysteries of God's kingdom is that when you take care of the lost, lonely and hurting (basically his work) he always rewards you with plenty of "family time". Just like when you give to God's church money he always gets more back to you. In fact, the more you give the more he sees returned to you, with interest. It's called the principle of sowing and reaping. Sow little you get little. Sow much and you harvest much.



Let's keep our lives pure of sin and put our backs to work because there is so little daylight left to do the Lord's work. The end of days is near and our Lord will be cracking the sky soon so let's let him find us working with clean clothes on.



Love yall
Pastor Skipper

Merry Christmas everyone

My favorite time of year is finally here.  Merry Christmas everyone.  There is so much evil being done in this world it almost seems overwhelming.  Be this as it may, we must double our efforts to DO good.  It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.  There are many who curse and complain, but let’s be a part of those that bless others in practical ways and thereby advance the kingdom of God right here in Navarre.  Are you one of the cursers or Kingdom advancers? 

It was great to hear from our team that went to Atlanta.  They are part of the Kingdom Advancers and I have a sneaking suspicion that they will spread the fire to others.  Remember  our ministry called, “Blanketing the Streets” and lend a hand to Donna and Charley on Monday nights.  That will change your life and bless the heart of our Savior Jesus.  “If you’ve done it unto the least of these you’ve done it unto me” he says.

And he goes on to say, if you not done it unto the least of these you’ve not done it unto me.  Wow.  Makes me want to be more deliberate in his work.  More concerned and more thoughtful. 

Love yall and let’s make this Christmas season a real blessing for our community.

Don’t forget; Decorating tomorrow at 10am and the live nativity scene.  See Jay G.

Or Greg C.

Love Pastor Skipper

Hello Saints of the Most High

God is doing great things through us. We just handed out 6,000 pnds of sweet potatoes and tons of canned food. People were streaming in off the highway to get free food. What a great time to bring joy and goodwill to men. People really need to see God's love in action these days that are full of crime, poverty and joblessness. There seems to be a spirit of cynicism and skepticism permeating our society. Good will is in short supply and violence and abuse seem to be more commonplace than ever before. Our TV society has changed the norm from the world of “Norman Rockwell" to the immoral lives of the Jersey Shore crowd.

Let me fill you in on a little secret: people don't live like that and they don't talk or dress like those hoochie mammas either. Well, in the real world, that is. On the left coast and the right coast they are living in a post-Christian Zoo. Not a society- but a zoo. Only animals act so vicious and immoral.

Thank God for the rest of us. We actually have standards, morals and a deep sence of propriety. We have clearly defined standards of decency and moral public conduct that are a part of the American ethic. As much as Hollywood would like us to act like there are no standards we refuse to acquiesce. Let's not let the left and right coasts redefine who we are and how we act in society. As children of God and those expecting a future judgment we must always act decently and with dignity. We must never lose sight of the ever watching eye of the creator who expects us to represent him well.

I love all of you and hope you have a happy Thanksgiving.

To Him we give thanks

Pastor Skipper

Hello GP (God's People)

I missed last week because I was on a mission’s trip to Cabo San Lucas. In case you don't know, that's on the very tip of the Baja peninsula of California. The sea of Cortez connects with the Pacific Ocean just off the coast and the depth drops to 3,000 feet just off the beach. I was joined by 25 men and women of God for four days of fund raising. We all showed up to make a pledge for Convoy of Hope. This is a food distribution ministry that is second to none on the planet. Our speaker was fabulous and spoke about all the great ministry Convoy is doing in the U.S. and around the world. One phrase he said just stuck with me: "it doesn't matter that you have a big church but how are you impacting your community" In other words, what are you doing to make a difference.

We also got to minister to the local people of Cabo through our one on one witnessing and our generous tips. I would leave a tip each day for my made with a little note with a Christian message on it. I'm sure my spelling was off but I hope they got the message. One little boy we prayed for had a latex allergy and was unable to play with balloons. The family called the hotel the next day to say that the boy was healed and played with a balloon all night.

I was very impressed with the caliber of people that I hung out with. They were from A/G churches all over the country and were committed to ministry. Although we were strangers, we laughed more in three days than I can remember. God's people are so loving and easygoing that we bonded in no time as if we had known each other for years. Some of the guys would ask the mariachi bands to come over and tell them that it was their friend’s birthday. The band would start playing a birthday tune for the embarrassed friend, since it was never anyone's birthday. They just loved to play tricks on each other.

Our "Cardboard Testimony Service" yesterday was so wonderfully anointed. If you didn't get to see it you will definitely want a video of the service. The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord was powerfully moving on hearts. Grown men were weeping and people were wonderfully touched by the Spirit of God. Leslie Cox gave a tremendous testimony and there wasn't a dry eye in the place. When I got up to speak I just opened the altars and people flooded down. We took our time and layed hands on everyone. I know God is touching many people.

Don't forget that we have a giant Thanksgiving dinner after the second service next week. We have rented a tent and we want everyone to come and bring a friend.
Let's blow the doors off this church.

Love

Pastor Skipper