Luau Tonight!

Join us tonight as we have our monthly fellowship. This month's theme is LUAU! Come and hang out with us as we roast a pig and sample each others fares. Wear you best luau gear and bring a covered dish to share. The services start at 6:30 with the luau following. Hope to see you here!

Movie Night

Join us on Friday for our monthly movie night. Starting at 7pm we will be viewing the movie Left Behind. This movie gives the fictional accounts of those left behind after the rapture and the beginning stages of the Tribulation Period. Seating is limited so get here early to reserve your space. And, as always, visitors are welcome!

Who Do You Want For President? New Poll

Place your vote for who you want to be our next President in our online poll. Scroll down on the left side of the page to vote.

We had another great Sunday...

We had another great Sunday Service with visitors in both Sunday School and the Morning Worship service. We explored the very difficult area of sexual immorality and what God had to say on the subject. Sunday evening we finished our study on Spiritual Battles. Our teen girls performed during the morning service. Those who were absent missed a true blessing. See you on Wednesday!

Ronald Reagan and the KJV Bible

Below is a transcript of one of Ronald Reagan's famous radio addresses. In this address (which aired September 6, 1977), Ronald Reagan, the great orator, eloquently gives his thoughts on the "Good News Bible" (also called the Good News for Modern Man and Today's English Version) in comparison to the Authorized Version or the King James Bible. Enjoy!


What would you say if someone decided Shakespeare’s plays, Charles Dickens novels, or the music of Beethoven could be rewritten & improved?

I’ll be right back. . .

Writing in the journal “The Alternative”, Richard Hanser, author of The Law & the Prophets and Jesus: What Manner of Man Is This?, has called attention to something that is more than a little mind boggling. It is my understanding that the Bible (both the Old & New Testaments) has been the best selling book in the entire history of printing.

Now another attempt has been made to improve it. I say another because there have been several fairly recent efforts to quote “make the Bible more readable & understandable” unquote. But as Mr. Hanser so eloquently says, “For more than 3 1/2 centuries, its language and its images, have penetrated more deeply into the general culture of the English speaking world, and been more dearly treasured, than anything else ever put on paper.” He then quotes the irreverent H. L. Mencken, who spoke of it as purely a literary work and said it was, “probably the most beautiful piece of writing in any language.”

They were, of course, speaking of The Authorized Version, the one that came into being when the England of King James was scoured for translators & scholars. It was a time when the English language had reached it’s peak of richness & beauty.

Now we are to have The Good News Bible which will be in, “the natural English of everyday adult conversation.” I’m sure the scholars and clergymen supervised by the American Bible Society were sincerely imbued with the thought that they were taking religion to the people with their Good News Bible, but I can’t help feeling we should instead be taking the people to religion and lifting them with the beauty of language that has outlived the centuries.

Mr. Hanser has quoted from both the St. James Version & the Good News Bible some well known passages for us to compare. A few thousand years ago Job said “How forcible are right words!” [Job 6:25] The new translators have him saying “Honest words are convincing.” That’s only for openers. There is the passage [Eccl. 1:18], “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow”. Is it really an improvement to say instead, “The wiser you are, the more worries you have; the more you know the more it hurts.”

In the New Testament, in Mathew, we read “The voice of the one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way.” [Matthew 3:3] The Good News version translates that, “Someone is shouting in the desert. Get the road ready.” It sounds like a straw boss announcing lunch hour is over.

The hauntingly beautiful 23rd Psalm is the same in both versions, for a few words, “The Lord is my shepherd” but instead of continuing “I shall not want” we are supposed to say “I have everything I need.”

The Christmas story has undergone some modernizing but one can hardly call it improved. The wondrous words “Fear not: for; behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy” has become, “Don’t be afraid! I am here with good news for you.”

The sponsors of the Good News version boast that their Bible is as readable as the daily paper – and so it is. But do readers of the daily news find themselves moved to wonder, “at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth”? Mr. Hanser suggests that sadly the “tinkering & general horsing around with the sacred texts will no doubt continue” as pious drudges try to get it right. “It will not dawn on them that it has already been gotten right.”

This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.

God is not in the peach business

A young Christian was attempting to get into the peach growing business. He had worked hard and invested everything he had in a peach orchard which had blossomed beautifully, but then came a frost, and it destroyed his entire crop. He did not go to church the next Sunday nor the next. So his pastor went to see him to find out why. The young fellow said, "Pastor I’m not coming to church any more. Do you think I can worship a God who cares so little for me that He would let a frost kill all of my peaches?" The preacher looked at him for a few moments in silence, and then said so kindly, "Son, God loves you better than He loves your peaches. You see God understands that while peaches can grow without frost, men cannot grow without trials. God is not in the business of growing peaches. He’s in the business of growing Christians.”

Recommended Book Of The Month

Trials of Today, Treasures for Tomorrow is an amazing book written by an amazing woman. Jan Eckles gives us an intimate look into her life and the trails that God has used to make her what she is today. Jan is a living example of the promise that God gives us in I Corinthians 10:13 that he will never give us more than we are able to handle.

I have had the privileged of spending time with Jan and can attest to the fact that she is not only a gifted author but someone who truly loves the Lord. I hope you enjoy her book as much as my family has.

Mary Getting Baptized!

In the name of the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit



Buried with Him in His death...



...raised again in His resurrection!



Congratulations Mary!

Teen Carwash Pictures!

Here are some pictures from the teen carwash on Saturday. More to come later.

Why won’t God just take me home?

Why won’t God just take me home? This is the question that was asked of me by a man, Ray, who is facing a minimum of 15 years in prison for a recent string of bank robberies in the Central Florida area, including two in our town of St. Cloud. I have pondered that question in the past and while the Bible does not directly say it does tell us that we each have a path or race that must be run. Ray was focused on the impending prison time and not the path God has for him. I don’t believe God is done with Ray.

The prison system is full of people desperately seeking the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have finally reached a point in their lives where it is obvious that what they are doing to run their own lives is not working and many are ready to finally submit to Jesus. In that respect they are wiser than most in this world who still think that they can run their own lives, without Jesus.

I also believe that there are people in this world that only Ray can reach with the gospel. We all have our circle of influence, those people who will listen to us and value our opinion. In many cases the only person that they will listen to is you. The problem is that statistics tell us that only 5% of those who profess Jesus Christ as their savior ever tells anyone else about Jesus. How sad that someone took the time to tell you about Jesus but you are either to lazy, selfish, or hateful to tell anyone else. Please pray today that God will eliminate these satanic characteristics that you are clinging to and show you the person that He would have you share Him with. By the way I was able to share the gospel with Ray and he accepted Jesus as his Savior, please pray for Ray as he works to make Jesus His Lord as well. Pray for me as I pray for you, Pastor Jay.