Wild Game Dinner

PTL Success!



When our  team first started talking about having a wild game dinner many people asked what kind of games we were going to play. I would often say that we will play blindfolded twister, Pachisi without using your hands, etc. In reality, we wanted to create an outreach event that would connect men and the outdoors. This venue would be an opportunity for men to get together to see some nice mounts from hunts, hear hunting stories, eat some great food.


Let me give you a small overview of the evening. Upon entering the CLC doors, our guests were greeted by two ATV’s, a duck blind, and the sounds of duck calls and elk bugling.  Continuing down the hall, they received a ticket for the evening and their choice of many styles of pocket knives. Walking toward the banquet room we had name tag table and different animal skins for touch and feel.


The banquet room had tables for the 120 men, nicely decorated by Carol Hanna and her friends. There were center pieces with a duck decoy on every table. The front of the room looked like a wild life museum. We had elk, buffalo, mountain lion, deer and antelope. Set up amongst the wildlife mounts was the podium.


There were elk sausage appetizers cooked out front on the grill, and we enjoyed wild fish tacos for dinner.  Over 70 door prizes were given away during the evening. The men enjoyed some fellowship time before the men were challenged by Pastor Jeff Beltz who spoke on predators. Predators are prowling around looking for what they can devour and destroy. The predator can do damage and devour your wild game if you are not alert and quick to your prize. As men, we have to be alert and quick to defend ourselves and our families from spiritual predators that are looking to destroy. Satan the devourer is out to destroy our spiritual life, testimony, joy and peace. We have to ask ourselves if we are prepared to stand against those attacks? If not, our men’s ministry would like to help you develop a strong defense against your predator.  

We had several men attend this event that do not go to our church. The best part of the evening was that several men checked a box on their response card that said that they had prayed to receive Christ.  Hallelujah!


Thank you to all the men who had a part in this event. All the hard work and time you put into this event was rewarded by the response by our visitors, especially those who prayed to receive Christ.  We had an extraordinary team that put it all together--thank you!  We also appreciate all the men who attended. The fellowship was great. We had men arriving a little after 5:00 and staying until almost 10:00. We look forward to the next Sportsman dinner.

- Pastor Leon

 


18-38 year olds--we need your opinion

Take the Gen2Survey and you could win an i-Pad mini.  For any person 18-38--parent, single, married this survey will ask about how you were raised, your beliefs and your current lifestyle.  Salem First Baptist is participating in this national survey for the purpose of sharpening our discipleship of families and our children.  Thanks for participating. 

 

                            First Baptist website: www.fbcsalem.org

go to SFB prayer wall

Everyday Extraordinary

Everyday Extraordinary
My mom would tell you that she is not unique or different from lots of other moms. She would tell you that she just loves her family and wants to see us happy. Even though I have learned many times not to disagree with my mom, I am going to have to disagree with her on this point. It’s not the tasks that make her special; it is her relentless, persistent, day-in day-out commitment to doing those things that makes her so extraordinary.
                My mom had 3 boys, 3 BIG boys. Growing up we were about as rough and hungry as 3 boys can be. She stayed at home rather than work which was a financial sacrifice, but one that she wanted to make because she wanted to spend as much time with us as possible. She did so many things for us; here’s a small list of the amazing things she did as she raised us:  She cooked big dinners for big boys, went to thousands of games (and she doesn’t really enjoy sports), kept the house standing and looking good, picked us up from school, helped with homework (mom is the smartest, sorry pop), washed our stinky clothes, loved our stinky friends, knew where to find everything we lost, gave us hugs, asked how our day was, showed us a loving marriage, gave us an example of a confident woman, protected us from girls, laughed with us, laughed at us, loved our animals, and, oh yeah, she beat cancer like it was a dirty rug. That’s a special list, she is a special woman. With those things being said, here are the top 5 things my mom has always done for me:
1.       She prays for me. Every. Single. Day. You know how I know she does? She tells me all the things she prays for me and how God is going to do something. I have long joked that God answers my mom’s prayers first because when she prays something, it always seems to get done. I know that her prayers have brought more blessings on my life than I can count.
2.       She speaks Truth into my life. She seemingly knows the perfect Scripture for every situation because she reads her Bible every day. When I was 18 I was hanging out with a girl who my mom had a bad feeling about; one afternoon I walked into my bedroom to find a note card with a verse written on it. It said this, “Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion,” Proverbs 11:22. I couldn’t believe my mom would think this about a girl I liked. I was offended. I was also wrong. Like with most everything, she was right about the girl. Moms are smart like that.
3.       She believes in me. My mom has always told me that when she was pregnant with me, she would pray for me and God gave her a special feeling. In fact, she has told me since I was young that God made me to be a Pastor and she would list all the things she saw in me and made her believe so. If ever it were suggested to my mom that I would be something less than great, she would scoff at the notion because her boy is special. It’s that kind of confidence and support that makes me believe that God created me to do great things.
4.       She has always listened to me when I have things to say. There have been lots of times when I have said things she didn’t like to hear, and she still listened. She has always been safe to talk to because I know whether I’m saying something smart or stupid that she will respond with compassion, grace, and my best interest at heart.
5.       I think my mom did the hardest thing a mother can do. She let me go. She let me move away to live in a city 2 ½ hours away rather than 10 minutes away. It would have been easy to encourage me to stay close to home but she knew that if I stayed home, I would never reach the potential she so believes I have. It was hard but it needed to be done. Who better than a mom to take on that kind of task?
I love my mom very much. I haven’t always expressed that love to her very well. I mean, I am a boy and a lot of boys just don’t quite know the right way to say “I love you” or “Thank you” to mom. Many of you are moms who are in the midst of raising your children and, even if they don’t tell you this often enough, I want you to know something: your children love you more than they can express and God is so pleased with you. You might not think that your prayers are being answered, but they are. You might not think your kids hear what you’re saying, but they do. You might not think they care what you say about them, but they do. You might not think they want to talk to you, but they do. You might not want to let them go, but sometimes it’s what’s best. Keep doing those things that seem mundane and ordinary; because if you do those ordinary things consistently enough, they become extraordinary.

-Patrick Frost, Middle School Pastor

Making the rest of your life the best of your life.

A 50+ ministry of Salem First Baptist Church


Many of us look forward to the age of 65 when we can retire, take it easy and enjoy what we’ve worked for in prior years.  It’s not the age that we want, it’s the benefits.  From an early age we are encouraged to prepare for and put aside for retirement as if that magic experience is the fulfillment of our lives.  It used to be that this was the “beginning of the end”.  Now, however, we would like to see it as “a whole new beginning”.  George Burns once said “I still had pimples at 65”.


The generation called “Boomers” began in 1946 with a huge growth in post-war birth rates and wraps up generally around 1964, with ages 50 to 68 or 69 years.  Every day in the USA there are 8,000 people turning 65, that is 330 people per hour!  There are approximately 78 million “Boomers” in the US today.  The American Church has, generally, ministries for pre-school & children, youth and college, young adults or newly married and senior adults. But, what do we have for those who are mature adults but not yet seniors? 


A new ministry of Salem First Baptist kicks off on Friday night, May 9.  ENCORE presents the Finishing Strong dessert with John Coulombe, InterGenerational Pastor at Evangelican Free Church in Fullerton, CA, where he and his wife, Jacque, have ministered for the past 26 years.  His focus this evening will be “Living Sensibly in the Coming Age.”  ENCORE is a ministry to assist the post-retirement generation to utilize their past experience, knowledge and love of the Lord in order to Finish Strong.  Few will remember our life for what we did in the first fifteen years.  However, the final fifteen (or thirty, or forty) years of our life will be the years that our family, friends and church will remember.


Paul gives us a Scriptural foundation for such a ministry: “ I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us”. Phil. 3:13, 14


The name of the ministry, Encore, is defined:  “A second achievement especially that surpasses the first.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).  This seems fitting to our purpose. The ENCORE mission is “Making the Rest of our life the Best of our life. It is not only a ministry to the Boomer generation, but a ministry by the Boomer generation that has such a great potential in today’s church.
For more information, or to RSVP for the Finishing Strong Dessert contact: Gene & Pat Taylor derraldgene@gmail.com or Pastor Edwards  eedwards@fbcsalem.org.  (503) 364-2285


                            First Baptist website: www.fbcsalem.org

go to SFB prayer wall