A few weeks ago I preached a message on partnership based on Philippians 1:3-6 NIV, which reads, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel…” I described our 3 part partnership. There’s God’s part, our part (the church staff and pastors) and your part (the church).

I ended with an action step or call to action. Since it was Palm Sunday and Easter was the following week, I encouraged all present to invite someone to church on Easter Sunday. I want to be clear in my intent. We don’t just invite people to church on big Sundays (like Christmas and Easter) - I hope you’ll invite people regularly.

We had over 500 people on Easter Sunday. Job well done! However, we’ve been down to just over 300…

God is moving in our midst almost daily at Forest Park Carthage. I can’t begin to tell you all the God moments, God stories and God miracles that I’ve seen and keep hearing about. We are seeing lives changed. In the last month, we’ve seen 9 people baptized on a Sunday morning. What you may not realize is the story behind each of those precious people. You wouldn’t believe what some of our people have been through and been set free from. God is moving! One day we hope to show you more details through a video, but for now - just take my word for it. It’s amazing to see how God is touching and changing lives.

We have a simple, but potent prayer that we pray every Sunday at FP Carthage. We close our services by praying Ephesians 3:20-21. You know it well. It goes like this:…

Tomorrow we kick-off our Simple series and I can’t wait! We live in a wild society. Fast food, rush hour, express lane - you get the point. We live at the speed of life and life is busy. It’s time we all took a step back and paused for a moment to “be still” and focus on what matters most. Is Jesus on the throne in our hearts? Is He first place in our lives? Does He sit at the top of our world and everything else flow out of our relationship with Him?

The Bible instructs us to “seek first His Kingdom” (Matt. 6:33). Let’s take a look at Matthew 6:33-34 in The Message Bible - it reads, “Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is…

Once again, I have laid down the gauntlet - this is The October Challenge. Once before I challenged you to get 300 people on one Sunday, but it was tough because it was Summer and people were out of town and on vacation. Now I’m offering this challenge one more time, except this time it’s Fall and it’s much easier to reach this goal. It’s simple: You invest and invite and get 300 people to attend Forest Park Carthage on a Sunday in October and if you reach this goal, I’ll get a blue mohawk (Carthage blue color, of course). You’ve got 4 Sundays left to accomplish this. You can do it!

300. it’s the perfect score in a game of bowling. It’s the name of a great action movie. It’s also the goal we’ve been shooting for all summer. It all comes to a head this Sunday, August 28. I have laid down the challenge. You invest. You invite. You bring a friend and if we reach 300 people THIS Sunday, you we will see me get a mohawk in front of everyone at church. I’m writing this blog because I sincerely believe you can do it. If each of you just invites one person, you’ll knock this out easily and my head will be shaved. Let’s do it Carthage! 300.

Tomorrow is a great day for Forest Park Carthage as we go out as a church and bless all 5 elementary schools in our city. We’ll be bringing 150 gift bags to give to each of the teachers of the 5 schools, as well as special gift bags for all 5 principals. I hope you’ll join us as we show these teachers and faculty our love, support and respect for what they do in our community.

If you’d like to join us, come out to the church at noon tomorrow (Monday) - wear your FP Carthage t-shirt and come with a smile. We’re going to be the hands and feet of Jesus to our schools.

Also, don’t forget we’re collecting supplies to bless our school nurses. We’re giving them the 3 things that they usually have to pay for out of their own pocket (tissues, wet wipes and…

Saturday Morning Report
Today is Saturday. The kids are out of school, so we’ll play with them all day. We get to go to their church tomorrow! We’ve heard it’s quite the experience.

Saturday Evening Report
We had a great Saturday. Went to town and went shopping, then played with the kids most of the day. We had a true African lunch cooked on pots from a fire outside. We’re freshening up now and then headed to town to eat dinner in a restaurant. Should be interesting. All here are well/healthy.

Back at our guest home after a full day. We shared the Gospel at a school and played with the kids there. Then we walked back to the orphanage and played with the kids. We had ugali for lunch (imagine eating paste) - no flavor, but a fun life experience. The orphans ate it up like it was the best food in the world. This I know: God loves Africa and Africans.

The photo below is of Noah, George and Lucy eating their lunch.