Saying Good-bye to a Good Friend.

Jay Akin, Associate Minister and his family said goodbye to us on Sunday, July 15th. The staff here held a final dinner in honor of him on Wednesday the 18th. Next Jay and I, Larry Vierling and Bob Stoker had to play one a final round of golf. Here Jay stands wearing a new shirt and holding his new Taylor-Made R5 Driver given to him by the Elders and myself on his departure.

I want to thank so many of you who came out to Jay and Crytal's open house held at my home on the afternoon of the 15th. I know they were thrilled by your expressions of love.

I will miss Jay! But what a pleasure it is to know that in the Lord Jay will be accomplishing more for the Kingdom of God as he preaches for another Georgia congregation. Blessings to you my friend!

Christmas in August!

I want to invite you to share Christmas in August this year! Patti Saylor, of our congregation, who lost her son in the Iraq war two years ago and myself want to ask you to give to something very special.
"Soldier’s Angels", an organization in Georgia supplies Christmas stockings for our armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. We want to partner with them to provide some necessities and goodies this coming Christmas. We need to collect items at this time of year to achieve the goal of sending our Christmas gifts on time for the end of the year.
Therefore, in August our congregation wants to collect toothbrushes and lip balm for serving soldiers. Each toothbrush or lip balm needs to be in an individual package.
Look for a collection box placed in the main Family Life Center entrance for any drop off. You may decide to make a financial gift and you can do that by writing your check to “First Christian Church” and earmarking it, “Solder’s Angels”.
Further information about Solder’s Angels can be found at www.soldiersangels.org. There theme is ‘May no soldier go unloved.”

Friendships grow through rafting trip.

24 men from our congregation reported recently great fun and fellowship from rafting and camping together in Tennessee. Sharing a meal, doing something enjoyable and spending time with God in worship always does the heart good. Thanks to Micheal Tribble in our congregation who worked to put together the trip.

The Heavens declare the Glory of God.

This picture was take from the Hubble Telescope spacecraft of the new tenth planet beyond Pluto nicknamed Xena.

Picture of a dying star.

An image taken from earth of the surface of our Sun.

The Psalms tells us that the vast heavenly creation is a testament to the power of a God who has designed the universe. Psalms 19:1-4 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."

In our modern age we seldom look to the atmosphere above us to relish this concept. We are intoxicated with our own selfish pursuits and we have lost the skill of meditation. We have forgotten God. I stumbled upon these marvelous pictures recently and as I pondered them closely I think I can see our God's great power.

These photos were taken by the Hubble Telescope now in space. For more amazing photos go to http://www.space.com/.