Another Busy Week!

Neat things have been going on around here...

***~***

Friends Steve and Cathy came for a visit.

They are in from the

United Arab Emirates.

While they furlough they'll be staff missionaries at

Union College in Tennessee.

It was great the see them.

***~***

We celebrated birthdays for 2 of the

granddaughters - Hunter, 10 and Harley, 4.

***~***

Eleven more volunteers were trained last Saturday

for prison ministry.

God just keeps on blessin.'

***~***

Our choir has started working on music

for Christmas.

I love the holidays!

I usually load Christmas CDs in the car

in October, and no,

I don't get tired of them.

***~***

We had great services at the

county jail last night.

A full house!

***~***

I had the opportunity to speak to the

Fellowship of Christian Athletes

on our campus this morning about

prison ministry.

I'd say there were close to

50 faculty and students.

They plan to be involved in a couple of our

Seed Sowers projects this fall.

A real blessing!

***~***

Our pastor

is doing a book signing tomorrow

morning

for

Live Forgiven.

Soon there will be nearly

200 small groups

from our church

doing the 6 week study simultaneously.

Be sure to click on

Pastor Jeff Warren

under my favorites for details.

***~***

Things are in the works for

Sierra Leone 2009.

We can't wait!

An Evening With Michael W Smith

What a privilege it was to hear

"my American idol"

Melinda Doolittle

Wednesday at the Meyerson

(Dallas Symphony Orchestra)!

Michael W was great, as well as the Katinas,

but hearing Melinda was the fulfillment of

one of the "desires of my heart!!"

Her humility is so refreshing!!

And what talent!!

Thank you, Lord!

~***~

We have experienced such

Christmas excitement

the last 3 Sundays at church.

"Deck the Halls" was so fun, then last Sunday

the choir had the chance to sing

at one of our

satellite locations.

Today the theme was "swing."

So neat!!

We still have a

gospel theme and a more

traditional service to look forward to plus 6

Christmas Eve services

to choose from.

~***~

Tom nor I participated in

THE CHRISTMAS JOURNEY

(17 outdoor scenes dramatized with full sets, etc...),

but 700 of our church family did.

10,000+ people witnesses the event this week

on one of the 4 nights.

~***~

I completed training yesterday

at the Bonham jail

with the

Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

I am now able to enter

any state prison to minister.

I will also make contact this week

with the chaplain

for the Grayson County Jail.

Each county has its

own training

and/or requirements.

~***~

Our GRAYSON GIRLS

(ladies small group)

meet tomorrow night for

Christmas dinner.

And Tuesday evening I'm having dinner

with 4 of my dearest,

longtime friends. I have been

truly blessed in my life to know some of the

greatest women on the planet.

God is good!!

Irish/Texas Night in McKinney

Two of the 5 Ireland mission teams met with Alan and Rosemary last night. It was pot luck dinner with a Texas theme, so "Mexican" dishes were everywhere! :) Everyone was chattering with excitement. They shared a combined result from the summer of over 1000 homes receiving a one-on-one contact. The Irish/Texas night that our team participated in is still being talked about by the locals, and it set the stage for a full gospel concert later in the summer in 2 locations with 180 attending one and over 300 the other. We were all praising the Lord together and giving Him the Glory!!

~***~

This week marks the 135th anniversary of our church. We are thankful that there continues to be VISION for the future! "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed." Prov 29:18 Msg http://www.fbcmckinney.com/

~***~

We were privileged in our service this morning to hear briefly from a former Muslim who came to know Christ in 1991. He is now ministering in Baghdad. What you will NOT hear on the news is that prior to the war there was ONE evangelical church in the city. Now there are 17 in Baghdad alone! The smallest has 200 attending, the largest has 2000! Only GOD!!

~***~

Work is going so well this year. There are 10 of us teachers who are committed to meeting early each Tuesday morning for a devotional and prayer time. No doubt, God is working!! We believe that acknowledging God is the key, thus our name - TAG, Teachers Acknowledging God!