Wow - I always knew Christmas was a busy time but this year seems like it's even more so than before.
Join me in praying for our last weekend of Christmas Pageant. Many will attend, many will be hurting, many will be ignorant of the real reason for the season, many will be satisfied with "Happy Holidays," when it really isn't, and many will be in need of a "Merry Christmas" - pray for God to do what only He can do.

Some of you have heard by now of the movie "The Golden Compass" being released this Christmas season. I have read a lot about this movie. I had begun to put together some information to help you understand the concerns that I have about this movie. The more I read, the more I realized that this blog couldn't contain all of my concerns. This is a movie written by a man totally committed to eliminating the Christian worldview.
Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has written a lengthy blog that adequately expresses the Biblical concerns that every believer should know. Read it at http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=1065

Wishing you a MERRY CHRISTMAS,
rp

He's Faithful...

I am rejoicing in another wonderful week. So many things are happening that I feel the hand of God so powerfully a part of it all.
As a church, we have struggled this year with our budget giving primarily because of the economic down-turn here in SW Florida.
Another article in the paper of record unemployment, yet still below national averages. But I hear from our business men that things are getting better and looking up. God is faithful.
I still hear about many of our people who are struggling financially – I pray regularly for the ones I know about and many that I don’t know about.

Still, so much to rejoice about. I am so happy to be able to share that God has quickly brought to us a new High School pastor. Ben Fleming is a huge answer to our prayers.
Our students don’t need a long period without great leadership and that’s exactly what Pastor Ben will bring to us. Pastor Ben led our Middle school summer camp (SPASM) and did a fantastic job. Then, in God’s perfect timing, God led Jeremy to a new and exciting ministry in NC as we began our search. The Lord ordained our circumstances and search to focus on Pastor Ben. The more we prayed and talked, the more it was very obvious that he is God’s man for us.
Many of our students have met and heard his speak at Backstage, and many of our HS adult leaders have met and talked to him. We are all very excited to welcome Ben and his wife, Maggie, to our staff. We’ll introduce him to our church family as soon as they move here to Ft. Myers. I’m so excited to have him on our staff team. Welcome Pastor Ben!!!

Christmas is almost here, Pageant is really close, Thanksgiving is already here. God is good all the time. I love being His follower.
Praise Him today – just for who He is!!

rp

And Who Shall Go for Us? David & Tracy...

Ok, I still get a lump in my throat whenever I'm around missionaries. My mom and dad just instilled that in me a long time ago.
Tonight, I got a huge blessing being in Springfield, Illinois as we commissioned 82 new missionaries. All of these new Southern Baptist missionaries are very committed and sacrificing so much to go all over the world to tell people about Jesus.

The blessing was mutiplied by the fact that one of the couples being sent to the mission field is one of our families from McGregor. David and Tracy Delac were a part of this service. They are preparing to go as SBC missionaries to South Africa in the Spring. What a blessing. Unbelievable. Awesome.
To see David and Tracy with tears in their eyes as they respond to God's call on their life to share the love of Jesus was wonderful.
David and Tracy, I love you guys and I'm so proud of you, and happy for you. God will bless you richly for your obedience to follow His Will for the rest of your lives. You are my heroes!!

It reminded me that we are all called to be missionaries. Some as full-time missionaries (like David and Tracy), some as teachers, doctors, home-makers, businessmen and women, or wherever God has called you to serve. Remember, our primary calling is ALWAYS to share Christ no matter our vocation.

So, on behalf of David and Tracy, let's join them and tell someone about Jesus in Ft. Myers and they go to South Africa to do the same. They are being faithful to God's call on their life - I hope and pray each of you are too.

rp

October...

Unbelievable month of October (and we’re not done yet!)

- Many, many decisions in our services. New members, new believers, tearful rededications – awesome.
- This Sunday will be wonderful. Dr Gary Frazier will be preaching. He is the primary speaker with the “Left Behind” series of conferences around the nation. Dr. Frazier has been an evangelist for 30+ years primarily speaking on eschatology, our Biblical relationship with Israel as a nation and as a Christian people. He is also the owner of the company that we are traveling with to Israel in the Spring. The last time I took a group from our church to Israel, he preached for over one hour on Sunday morning as we over-looked Jerusalem – unbelievable time of inspiration. You will be hugely blessed.
- New staff – what an answer to our prayers. Cynthia Turner, our new Preschool Ministry Director, will be here for our Family Fest and begin her ministry then. And – wonderful news here – we have extended a call to our new Single Adult minister. He is one of our own – Arthur Keeley. I am so excited about Arthur, he is a wonderful and deeply committed man of God and many of our Single Adults already know and love him. Welcome aboard !!
- Pageant is on the way (tickets selling fast!!), Family Fest will be awesome, the Thanksgiving fellowship time (tickets are selling fast to that too) and concert with Mark Harris will be a great time of worship and inspiration. I love Mark’s voice (he used to be in 4HIM and TRUTH) but I also love his heart. He truly loves the worship that happens when the family of God gathers. He will bless us

So much going on – so much yet to do – so many people praying – such a great God and Savior.

Let’s stay radically committed to Jesus.

rp

Getting Away with God...

I started a routine several years ago that just gets better with age.
Preaching is such a "drain." Don't get me wrong, I love to preach, but it is so draining spiritually.
It is the single most important reason that my devotional time is easy for me to protect.
Several years ago I started a routine of getting away for several days twice each year to pray, plan and prepare to preach.
No phones, no people, no razor - really, I seclude myself as much as possible and just "do business" with the Lord.
I love these times. I cherish the "wilderness" experience with the Lord.

I'm there right now. I check emails for about 15 minutes twice a day and have received dozens of emails from people who knew this was my study week. People praying for me, asking God to speak clearly to my heart - what a blessing.
I've experience many "mountain-top" experiences in my life and ministy and I hope many more yet to come.
Yet, few will ever rival this time of just getting away and focusing on the Lord and His Word.
What a blessing.
Want to come join me? Sorry, I forgot - no people. So play your time away with the Lord. Maybe in segments like me or in smaller times each day so God can set the agenda for your day.

Be blessed. I am.

rp

Human Resources...

We say this often, and it is very true. One of McGregor's greatest assets is our very strong and spirit-filled staff.
We have one of the finest church staff teams that I know of anywhere in the country. Because they are so strong, sometimes they are called of God to other places of ministry and service. Thinking big picture and "Kingdom perspective" means that's OK, but then God keeps bringing us incredible new staff leaders.
We are blessed with a couple of newer staff ministers in Shawn Bergen and Tod Tanner. I hope you are getting to know these two men and their wives and children. Both are great additions to our "team."
I have some wonderful news on two fronts.
First, I am so glad to share with you that God has answered our prayer for a Preschool Ministry Director. Cynthia Turner will join our staff at the end of this month in this position. She is a newly wed (four weeks!!) who comes to us with a wealth of experience from two wonderful churches. She has a heart for preschool ministry and a great vision for leading our preschool volunteers and encouraging preschool parents. Can't wait for her to get here.
Also, I'm so happy and excited for Hank Garner and Dawn O'Neal. These two staff members are getting married this Saturday. I've never had this to happen before but it has been so fun to watch. These two team members are very gifted in their ministry area, and then to see them sense and follow the Lord's lead into marriage is awesome. Dawn and Hank, I love you both and am so happy to see you getting married.
I"m so grateful for the ministry of Jeremy Emory as our High School Minister. He and Sharon came here as "Interns" and have progressed in the staff arena. Jeremy has done a wonderful job with our students and they love him so much for his personal care and his caring personality. Jeremy will be greatly missed (and Sharon and Brayden) but I really believe God has great things in store in Jeremy's new ministry that lies ahead. I will miss them both greatly.

Please continue to pray for our staff - the best of the best!!!

rp

Praise Him in the Storm

Tornadoes hit our area.
We have hurricane threats in Southwest Florida nearly every season. I never say this publicly, but I fear tornadoes much more. Tornadoes were a regular part of the weather pattern in Mississippi, where we lived for almost 10 years. They are unpredictable, stealthy and deadly.

Join me in praying for opportunities to turn this sudden tornado tragedy into a witness for the Lord.

Much like tornadoes, the threats of unchecked temptation pops up like an isolated thunderstorm – unpredictable, stealthy – and that temptation leads to sin. We can sometimes see and hear the warnings that a personal tornado is coming if we give in to that temptation, and we choose to ignore it. Unfortunately, the damage can be devastating for our lives, our homes, our families: people that we love and care about – all because we ignored the warnings. Ask the Lord today to show you areas of your life where temptation could lead sin, confess it to Him, and ask him daily to deliver you from it.

In other news…
I am so excited to see God at work in our PEOPLE.
I talked to one friend, who sent me his friend who was asking serious questions about the Lord. And, I talked to four prospect families who are new to the area and praying about joining McGregor.
We’re gearing up a comprehensive evangelism strategy to launch soon. It’ll be so exciting because I love seeing new “soul winners” head out into the harvest fields – and the fields are white in our “Jerusalem.” Shawn Bergen, our new Minister of Evangelism, is already working hard on the details.
Pray with me (as I hope you already are!!!) about a new Preschool Ministry Director and a Single Adult pastor. It’s unbelievable that so much goes
on behind the scenes to make Preschool Ministry and Singles Ministry happen, and we’ve been praying for quite awhile for just the right people to take the lead in those ministries. God may be about to answer both of these prayers!

Pray for two people I have come to love and appreciate who serve on our staff - Hank Garner and Dawn O'Neal.
Both a super ministers here at McGregor, but beyond that, God has brought them together for an even greater purpose -
to begin a life together as husband and wife. They will be getting married on October 6.
I love to see God's BIG picture. Yes, God brought both of them here to serve with us, but also to find each other for a lifetime.
That is a blessing to me in a huge way.

The winds of change are blowing at McGregor. I am excited even as I deal with the personal side of the change - it knocks me out of my comfort zone.

God is good -- all the time...

Be blessed in Jesus.

rp

Until He Comes or Calls Us Home...

I don't like to travel. I love to serve the Lord, so sometimes I have to.
I'm one of the Trustees of the International Mission Board of our convention and we're meeting in Ashville.
We have 5200 missionaries around the world. Awesome
At this Trustee meeting, we have invited over 2000 recently retired missionaries to come to Ashville North Carolina so we could worship together and share our appreciation for their service.
I am so humbled to be around these incredible people who have literally given their entire life to go all over the World to tell people about Jesus. They have sacrificed so much for the sake of the Gospel. They are my heroes.
Last night, after the worship service, one of the retired missionary couples (I can't remember their names) was heading to their hotel and had a terrible accident. He was seriously injured and she was killed.
Unbelievable. So disheartening. Until I am reminded by the Lord, that they gave their life to get people ready to die - and they were so ready.
It just reminds me of why I do what I do. God called me to give my life to sharing Jesus in the local church.
We are all missionaries where God has called us to serve. Some of you are missionaries at your office, or school, or plant, or neighborhood - or wherever you are called to serve or work. Your calling is as much from God as is mine or any missionary. We are to share Jesus at any time and with anybody.
Pray for God to use you to lead others to Christ.
Pray for the family of this missionary couple so devastated by this accident.
Pray for all our missionaries as they minister all around the world.
Pray for God to use YOU in the same way.

rp

To Everything There is a Season

My parents always told me that the only things that never change are death and taxes. That includes church.

Recently, we shared with our folks about a change in our worship schedule. Many, many people have shared with me how excited they are about the new schedule.
For me, it's change -- a change in what I've been used to for a LONG time. I have really wrestled with this one.

Here's the deal… I am so excited about what this will do for our church's ministry for years to come. More importantly, I absolutely believe God will use this to increase our effectiveness.
Sunday night for several years, has been a tough time to come back to church for many of our young couples and senior adults. And attendance on Sunday evenings has gradually dwindled, even while this service has been a great time of worship and praise for all who came. In many ways, it is my favorite time of worship. I LOVE gathering with the family of God.
In these days of faster-paced, hectic lives and heavy traffic all over our area, so many of our people travel from so far that returning for Sunday night services is tough, and we know that our families with young children have a hard time getting the little ones back to church AND ready for school the next morning.

Our Wednesday schedule has become far better attended by young and old alike.

Our purpose as a church is to reach people and disciple believers. Reaching people is the primary purpose of Sunday morning. Discipling believers has always been the purpose of the second service. For decades, Christians have used the Sunday night service for that purpose. There's no real Biblical reason, it was merely tradition that served the church well for a long time.
Now, the needs of our church family have changed. Our Biblical purpose hasn't changed, but our schedule needs to shift in order to better meet this need to disciple our believers.

I can foresee our Wednesday night service growing for years to come. Hundreds can gather for worship and Bible study and discipleship. We’ll continue to have children’s programs for kids of all ages. I can see many believers gather for that mid-week spiritual feast from the Word of God. What a great way to hear from the Lord and fellowship with the church family in the middle of each week!

Change is beneficial, even if it takes some getting used to.
Many years ago, most church (practically ALL churches) only had one service each week. I'm so glad years ago somebody stood up and said, "let's have a second worship service, especially designed to teach the Bible." So they planned a second service in the evening. Very few could come mid-week. Most members were farmers and worked sun-up until sun-down. But their lifestyle and schedule allowed services Sunday morning and evening. Nothing has changed - really. Only that the lifestyles and schedule of our members lends itself to a second service that is mid-week instead of Sunday night. This will actually INCREASE our effectiveness in doing what God has called us to do - disciple our members through that second service.

As you pray, please pray for our Sunday night services through the rest of this year. We have some AWESOME services planned - you don't want to miss them. Then, after the first of the new year, we will have an incredible, God-anointed service that includes some great praise and worship and Bible teaching aimed at challenging and discipling the believer.

Pray that God will always challenge us to be more effective than ever in reaching people for Jesus and making disciples.
Remember, we do "whatever it takes" to help people become fully devoted followers of Christ.

rp

OK, OK, I know, it's been a while. My bad. I'll do better in the future.

I have always been a big fan of "landmark" moments in life. I've been blessed to have many. The day I was saved, my wedding, the birth of our kids, and many more. Recently, the birth of our grandson who turns ONE on October 20, the wedding of our two oldest to wonderful mates. Kayla continues to provide them.
This one is different. I won't ever forget this one.
Last Friday morning, about 4 am, Lu and I were awakened by a police officer yelling at our front door, "Police, anyone home?"
Frightened yet trusting of officers, we answered and were told that someone had stolen a car, and after a high speed chase, had rammed through the gate of our subdivision, parked accross the street from our house and fled on foot.
That's scary enough but it gets worse. I had left the garage door open and the police were afraid that the theif might be in our garage, or worse, perhaps in our house somewhere.
They came in with several officers and a K-9 officer (dog) and looked in every nook and cranny of our house.

It was my fault and I have changed some long overdue habits about security yet there is a bigger issue here.
In Christ, there really is no such thing as luck or coincidence. God is in total control. I believe that and love believing that. I find peace in trusting my circumstances to my God.
Yet, even though we live our lives rather transparently, it shocked me to the core to think of someone having been in our house.

No real deep spiritual stuff going on here - for me, it's just a reminder that in the good and bad, God is always in control. That's easy most of the time, it was hard last Friday. I like my house, I like my stuff, I love my wife. I'll keep praying for God's protection, according to His will.
By the way, I pray for you too. I want you to be in the center of God's will - in everything. The good times and bad. Even at 4 in the morning.......

rp

A Life Lived for Jesus...

I like living! As a matter of fact, I love life!!
I’m a “cup is half full” kind of guy. One of my mentors in the ministry told me one time that the key to effective pasturing is to “love Jesus and love people.” I got those cover with change to spare.
But, everyone faces sad times -- including me. In fact, I’m facing a really sad time right now. One of my closest friends here at MBC (or anywhere) passed away Saturday night. Warren Wilkin was one of the greatest Christians, one of the greatest leaders, and one of the sweetest friends I’ve ever known.
I know he is in Heaven and that is a GREAT comfort. His sweet wife knows that. Yet, it’s tough to lose a man of that depth and closeness – anytime.
When I picked up my wife at the airport, when I saw my daughter Sunday afternoon, when I called my dad – all of these moments meant just a little more than ever because I am reminded that in this wonderful “rat race” called LIFE, it’s people and relationships that matter most.
Jesus tells us over and over in the Bible, that God loves us and wants a relationship with us. I preach that all the time. And from time to time, life reminds me of how true that really is.
The last time I saw Warren before he went home to Heaven, we prayed together. I told him how much he meant to me and my family. I rejoice in his homegoing, and in him memory, I’m desiring to establish more relationships with more people as we live each day for Jesus.

rp

Landmarks

All of us have milestones in life. People, events, situations that are "markers" in life for us. Our wedding, the birth of our kids, certainly our salvation, etc. There's a verse in the Old Testament that talks about remembering the "landmarks" in life.
For me, here's a partial list of "landmark" events for me: My salvation, my baptism, my public and significant rededication, my ordination to ministry, my first sermon, my wedding. There are others but those are pretty important events that God used to help shape my life.
ALL THOSE LANDMARKS happened in ONE PLACE - really, one room. Yesterday, on vacation in Spartanburg, my home town, I visited my home church with Heather and Kayla. I opened that back door of the worship center at the First Baptist Church of Spartanburg and stepped inside the sanctuary (that's what we called it back then.)
I stood there - motionless, speechless, - all I could do is just stand there in awe as my heart smiled.
I wasn't in awe of the building or the room, just in awe of how God has blessed me and my family in so many ways.
So much of it is because of commitments and decisions I have made in that room. They have defined my life even until today.
Often, we forget that the decisions we make largely define the course of our life. God chooses to bless us or remove His blessings from us largely because of the decisions we make either to commit to Him or not to. My life has been far from perfect - but I am overwhelmed by His blessings and I am tremendously grateful that I have chosen HIM as the focus of my life - my total focus. His blessings have been worth it by a mile.
Make your choices - for Jesus, in little ways and in big ways. A devotion time each day is a little thing - a life commitment is a big thing - each is a "landmark" that pays big dividends of blessings from Him.

Be blessed today - landmark this day for Christ.

rp

Anyone who knows me (and perhaps even those who don't) knows that family is very important to me.
I pastor a wonderful church family, but my primary responsibility is my own family. I take BOTH very seriously. These last few days have been days where I have had the joy of having my whole family together.
Heather (our oldest), husband Andrew, and grandson Aidan are here from Virginia. Alan (only son) and his wife Brycie are here from Los Angeles. Kayla (youngest) is with us for the whole summer from college. LuAnne and I have all of our family together for a few days. Awesome!
We are at Myrtle Beach - all of us, together, in one house, a very small house, all of us - together!!
It is WONDERFUL.
It simply reminds me of one of God's best blessings - the gift of life, the gift of love, the gift of family.
I grew up in a large church where -- remember this was many years ago -- we used to sing the Doxology every Sunday as the ushers brought the offerings back down the aisle and put them on the Lord's Supper table for everyone to see. I guess the Pastor and church family were thanking God for the offering. I get that.
But for me, I break out in a silent doxology of the heart for this blessing of being with my most precious human blessings - my wife and kids, and now spouses and grandson.
I believe I am one of the most blessed of God men that I know - God is WAY too good to me. I'm reminded of that often - especially these last few days.
Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow.

rp

I was sitting in the den at my house with my wife and youngest daughter, Kayla. My oldest daughter, Heather, and our grandson, Aidan, were arriving that day for a visit. Sitting there in that moment I was really overwhelmed with God’s goodness to me and my family. I shared this feeling with LuAnne and Kayla – how God has been and is so good to us.

I know some of you may be having bad days or tough times to go through, and I’m dealing with some personal things too, but, I am constantly amazed at God’s goodness. I love my wife (even more today than the day I married her 27 years ago), we are blessed with three awesome kids, and two “in-law” kids – all who love and serve the Lord. We serve along side one of the best church staffs at one of the greatest churches anywhere – I’m almost ready to shout!! Thank you Jesus. I am so totally grateful for His awesome blessings.

But I am scared!

I am concerned.

Not in a “I don’t have enough faith” kind of way. But in a “I don’t want to do anything to mess this up” kind of way.

I want to see God do even MORE in the days to come in my life and in our church’s ministry.

I have a pastor friend who challenged his church in this way – I think it’s right for us too. Would you pray and believe God with me?


Let’s pray that, as a church family we will…….

- NEVER be satisfied with where we are!

- Always be thankful for what God has done!

- NEVER limit what God can do!

- ALWAYS dream big – and take bold steps of faith!

- NEVER stop reaching people for Jesus!

- ALWAYS spend money for Great Commission ministry!

- NEVER let the critics and skeptics silence us!

- ALWAYS be willing to make time for Christ in our lives!

- NEVER forget where our source of strength comes from!

- ALWAYS celebrate where we are going – even before we get there!

- NEVER allow creativity to supersede Scripture!

- ALWAYS show the world how relevant the Gospel is!

- NEVER lift up personalities!

- ALWAYS lift up the name above all names – JESUS!!



We are so blessed here at McGregor. And I think the greatest blessing is that God’s greatest blessings are yet to come!!

dRP

I was just thinking...

...about the irony of what the next few days hold for me. Today I'll experience the culmination of a tremendous week of VBS. Our whole staff acts and play like kids because we are playing with kids - hundreds of them. Check out the crazy pictures on Mark's Blog. It's been a great week. So far, at least 42 children have asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior this week. I'm praying for a great harvest tonight. Precious young lives are being changed right in front of our eyes. Some will never be the same - only time will tell. It is up to us as a church family to make sure that McGregor is always a fun and safe place for kids so that, when they're older, they'll remember their church experience fondly and long for their children to experience the same.

This Sunday night's VBS Family night is huge. Many families, many who would normally NEVER go to any church will be here. I LIVE for these moments. We have a real chance to introduce them to Christ and our church - and some will be drawn to both. THAT is what I am so excited about. I'm more than praying for this; I'm begging God to show up, touch hearts, bless as only He can. Lives are on the line.

Then, Monday I leave for the Southern Baptist Convention. I love my convention. Sometimes, as a Christian at my age, I feel very alone in my love for this great old convention. So many are bolting for less bureaucratic lines of church development and Kingdom growth. The convention grows........old. Every year. I pray that the SBC's influence isn't diminished among younger believers in the future.

There are numerous Baptist distinctives that I believe are very important guidelines for applying our theology and doctrine, as well as church polity (the practice and governance of "church"). Additionally, the SBC has what I believe to be the most extensive network of missionaries and mission endeavors of any other evangelical organization -- all supported by Cooperative Program gifts of our church and the 42,000 other member churches. Read more about what we believe in the Baptist Faith & Message. It's an incredible story of God's faithfulness, where we, as Southern Baptists, have come from and where we're going.

All of that being said, I was just thinking about how I absolutely love these young, innocent, growing, maturing VBS kids and their families. And, I also love our old, somewhat tiring, somewhat outdated Convention. I think BOTH are absolutely crucial to the advancement of the Kingdom. Yet, they are so.......different.

I love both the kids and the Convention. They seem sometimes to have so little in common and so little respect for each other.

I was just thinking...

dRP

I'm Not in Management...

...just in sales. As a pastor, especially at McGregor, I have a lot of great pastors and "teammates" who help me make a lot of decisions that affect a lot of people. That keeps my prayer life very current: "Lord, give us wisdom that we might not mess up today..."

Sometimes, though, "decisions" get made for me. At the Pastor's Golf Challenge this weekend, things were taken completely out of our control and it was a real mess -- not due to anyone's planning; rather, it was Tropical Storm Barry on the FIRST DAY of hurricane season! The weather, the timing, the conditions, the effect on the tournament - it was all a mess.

Rain soaked the Friday round - some guys just quit (including me) and some fought on through. I'm sure for them, it was way less than an enjoyable round of golf. Saturday was canceled and re-scheduled for next Saturday (June 9). Any teams that didn't finish on Friday because of the weather can join us on Saturday and complete the tournament.

I really want this to be a GREAT tournament - and lots of folks want to beat me - bad! That's ok because my only real desire is to raise as much money as possible for the students going on mission trip. Everything we make from this tournament goes to help our students go around the world to share the love of Jesus. That's really important to me. Remember, I'm in sales. If you love Jesus, you are too.

I'm reminded of Paul's encouragement to the Christians at Thessolonica: "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Especially when we can't control the outcome, we need to recall God's faithfulness to us and praise him through every situation, whether the sun is shining on the golf course or you're playing through the storm.

dRP

I Know What You're Thinking...

...all preachers do is play golf (and we only work on Sundays and half-a-day Wednesdays, too, right?)! This weekend, I'm playing a lot of golf -- for a life-changing cause. On Friday and Saturday, I'm playing in the PASTOR'S GOLF CHALLENGE. We use this every year to raise money to send middle school, high school, and college/career students on their mission trips. This changes lives. Not the golf, but the trips. I've seen so many kids have their lives and hearts transformed dramatically through these mission opportunities. That's why I'm playing golf this weekend. Call Cary if you want to play this weekend, or e-mail me.

MY FIRST BLOG POST
Yes, this is my first venture into the blogosphere. I'm just a pastor musing on life together with the family at McGregor Baptist Church -- the best people anywhere. Check back for updates. I probably won't have something new EVERY day, but definitely often.

dRP