​Our Grace Baptist Church family is 100% all into Vacation Bible School. This week has been a clear and powerful demonstration of the character and commitment our church has in teaching children what “Jesus is Our Strong Foundation” is all about. Our church loves children. Every night our adult leaders came early to prepare the sound and video systems for the worship service. Teachers were in place to lead the children in their Bible studies. Volunteers helped the kids with crafts, games and snacks. There were as many adults involved this year in Vacation Bible School as there were children. Our adults believe in doing the best job possible for the children. The quality of a church can be judged by the time and energy given to lead its children to know and love Jesus.
 
Our teenagers showed up in great numbers to lead in worship. They danced, sang, and did all the hand motions, with great joy and enthusiasm. Our young people assisted in activities, teaching, craft creation and overall oversight of the schedule each night. They are in the mountains on retreat this morning continuing the “Jesus is Our Strong Foundation” motto. They will be back this afternoon to join us at the Church Picnic and Baptism Service.  We all love our students and know that God is working in them and through them to advance His kingdom here at Grace.
 
How about the backdrops, classroom décor, and overall atmosphere established inside our church during this year’s VBS?
 
All of the decorations were donated to us from other churches. Following this year’s event, we will pass them on to other churches in the area who will be having their Vacation Bible School’s later on. The “Concrete and Cranes” theme has brought churches together helping each other. We have saved a good amount of money by just participating with other churches this year.
 
Saving money, creating a visual atmosphere, enlisting volunteers, teachers, leaders, as well as getting children to participate is largely due to the way God has led and used our two Vacation Bible School directors – Carol Childers and Phyllis Simmons. These are extraordinary ladies. They are both called by God to minister to children. They are tireless leaders. They go the second and third mile. They get the job done. God has blessed Grace with these two women who have answered the call of God to reach a new generation with the truth of the gospel. Praise God for Carol and Phyllis along with all the adults and young people who made this year’s “Concrete and Cranes” a week to remember.  

It is Wednesday, July 14, at 8:53 am, and I am in my office at the church getting ready to begin decorating the stage area which will result in the entire church being set up and made ready for this year’s Vacation Bible School event. I am praising the Lord this morning and rejoicing in the strong recovery of our church from one of the most difficult year’s I can remember in my 52 years of ministry. We have been through 2 separate shutdowns in our on-campus worship and work since the beginning of the pandemic. We have endured a national debate and disruption over mask wearing and shot taking. People have been at odds over presidential politics, fake news, and conspiracy theories. There has been a general feeling of negativity, fear, and anger in the air throughout the land. Our people have endured sickness, loss of jobs, and economic hardships that have taken their toll. It’s like our church has been under siege from an outside enemy which has sought to bring us down.

 
Sunday 91 of our folks worshiped in-house here on our campus. There were guests present along with several families returning that we have not seen in a while. Robbie commented to me after the service that the people were happy to be back with a spirit of joy and excitement permeating the service. Then, today we are putting up decorations and getting everything ready for a return to Vacation Bible School. We are coming out of a dark time. We are on the road to recovery.
 
Last week I learned that a dear widow lady, well into her eighties, posted on Facebook that she was being evicted from her apartment. The complex had changed hands and she was a part of the new owner’s plans to renovate the property. She only had a month to find a new home and move all her possessions. She was desperate.
 
This lady had attended our church in the past a couple of times. One of our members saw the post she made and felt a strong tug from the Holy Spirit to get involved in helping her. Sandra Pace began immediately to reach out to the lady and make contacts throughout Hall County and our church family to find ways and resources to help. Through Sandra’s loving ministry, the lady now has a new home in which to live made available by one of our own church families. Men of our church have volunteered to help move her. Our church members have visited, in her apartment, offering encouragement, love, and support. Folks from Grace have helped her get rid of old unwanted items from her home. She now has a church family loving on her and helping with her needs all because one member saw her post on Facebook and became active in her life.
 
This is just one example of the presence of our Savior, or redeemer and our Lord Jesus among us. God never gives in. He never gives up. The Lord is always working and using His people to do His work. Praise God, Grace is back and is on its way to full recovery. We are going to be better because we have endured hardship together and we have made it through. Listen to God’s word: “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” (James 1:12)
 
I praise God today for a church family that has persevered through a year of trials and is now in position to reap the “crown of life” which God has promised.

I love hot dogs. I’m sure we ate hot dogs at home before 1965. That year is when one of my best friends and I went to the Baptist World Alliance between our sophomore and junior year to carry the American and Christian flags in the parade of the nations. My friend’s dad worked at the Baptist Sunday School Board in Nashville, Tennessee and had arranged for us to carry the flags in the parade that was to be a part of the opening ceremony in what was then the Orange Bowl stadium. It was the biggest event I had ever been to except for a Billy Graham crusade in Vanderbilt Stadium when I was 10.
 
The thing I remember most about my carrying the flag was not how many were watching, or the feelings of representing our country in that massive display. I remember the hot dogs we practically lived on during our stay in the hotel where the James Bond movie Gold Finger had been filmed. I had never eaten a hot dog loaded down with mustard, ketchup, and sweet pickle relish before. I couldn’t get enough of them then, and I love them now 56 years later. I’ve eaten Piking Duck in Beijing, China. I’ve had Kim Chee in both North and South Korea. I’ve eaten Borsh with a dollop of sour cream in the dead of winter in downtown Moscow. Nothing anywhere beats a fire-roasted hot dog on the 4th of July. One thing I love about America is hot dogs.
 
I love waking up in the morning in America. I have woken up in the morning just after our military took back Panama City, Panama in 1989. I have been awakened in the dead of winter in Yanji, China and Ragin, North Korea. Of all the places where you can wake up, having your eyes open and your mind come alive in this country is by far the most wonderful. Every morning is a new morning no matter where you are but waking up in these United States of America is the best. I wake up here every morning without wonder who is watching me from some secret vantage point. I wake up here without thinking somebody will be listening to me today through a hidden device. I wake up here and read my Bible without any thought that I am doing something wrong or breaking a law. I can wake up here and listen to whatever new channel I choose without worry that the truth is being slanted or abandoned toward some lesser or even some outright lie. I love waking up free—free to think--free to believe—free to speak—free to do whatever I am led to do without being made to do anything. I normally, wake up, drink by coffee, read my Bible, pray to my Lord who leads me to do whatever He chooses. That’s pretty great!
 
I love being with my family!
I love pastoring my church!
I love being the son of John Frack and Maxie Lee Williams!
I love washing dishes!
I love vacuuming the floor!
 
I love being a Born Again, Bible Believing, Southern Talking citizen of these United States of America.