December 2011 -
Dear Church family and friends,
It is the Christmas season once again. WOW! It seems like only yesterday when we were purchasing gifts, and preparing for the Christmas of 2010, and now here we are at Christmas of 2011. And, a New Year is close as well.
It is the season of giving, but when does that season really end. We all who are in the grace of God through His only born Son Jesus Christ, and His cross, are given grace fresh and new every day; even every moment of every day. At this time of year we can reflect on the giving of God and return a bit of what God has blessed us with.
I want all the people of Carr Lane Baptist Church and the world to know about Jesus; and I want all to know of the generosity of the people of our church. I am amazed every Sunday we meet. We may be small in number but we are certainly large in heart, and faithful to the service of our Lord. Blessed be the name of our Lord.
We had our campaign to provide gifts for the children and youth of the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home at the Mount Vernon, Missouri campus. We have provided gifts for 30+ children; and it was because of the blessings of our God. We have a goal of 300 dollars for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, and have already nearly reached it. I am believing that we will exceed that goal.
Let me challenge you to begin setting a goal for our church in the coming New Year of being more effective witnesses of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I will become a part of that challenge, meaning that I will endeavor to be more aggressive in my witness for Christ. We are in a world where everyone is speaking out about what they believe and Christians are cowering in the corners, because when we speak we are called “Narrow minded”, “Bigoted”, “Fear mongering”, and “Intolerant”. Well, I do not know about you but I am near fed up with the labels. They should not, and by the Spirit of Christ in me, I will not allow them to keep me silent any longer.
Let us speak the gospel of Christ with the heart and love of Christ; and depend on God to do the saving, and the cleaning. It is after all, His work.
Be strong. Be faithful trusting the Lord in all things.
If we do not see you in church; we will see you HERE, THERE, OR IN THE AIR.
Brother Tim.
August 2011 -
Dear Church Family and Friends,
Here it is mid Summer of 2011, School is not far from beginning a new year of education, and I am just now getting around to posting in the Pastor’s Page for the year.
God has blessed Carr Lane Baptist with some good and godly people. I didn’t say perfect, just godly and that’s a good thing. I thank God for all of you every day. You all have been a blessing to Madge and me.
We have all noticed the heat. It has been extreme for the area, being at least 30 years and maybe more than fifty since seeing temperatures like we have had. As I write this I am thankful for the rain we received last night. I even went outside about an hour ago, and it was still sprinkling some. So Thank YOU Lord for the rain. Please send more; at least to Southwest Missouri.
I want to express my apologies for not getting around to visit like I should. Of course, my distance in driving has increased since moving into our own home, and land; but that is no excuse. When Madge and I first came we wanted to find a home on the church field, but it seemed never to work out. I have even thought of trying to find some way to come and spend weekends down on the church field so we could make visits, and have guest for meals and such.
Dennis and Karlene Gould came and visited Madge and I one day back in the Spring. We enjoyed their visit that afternoon. He has even offered to bring is skid steer and move the mountain of dirt at the East side of our house; using it as fill dirt for some holes and such as that. We haven’t got around to him coming yet.
The preaching of God’s Word is an important part; if not the most important part of the worship or our Lord and Savior. One thing I can promise is that when you are at Carr Lane Baptist you will hear the message of God’s word; and I pray that every message is full of the whole counsel of God.
I thank you for your prayers. You are an encouragement to Madge and I. On June 18 of this year we had been your pastor for 5 years; we are now in our sixth year with you. What a journey and blessing it has been.
May we all pray to be faithful, and continue in the fight of faith that is before us; and becoming more and more of a struggle. By our faith in the Lord we will triumph, and He will be glorified. He will see to that.
Be strong; endure to the end.
Until we meet again. HERE, THERE or IN THE AIR.
Brother Tim.
December 2010 -
Dear Church Family and friends,
Again, it has been a few months since updating this page and many things have occurred since the last letter.
Madge had her surgery on the aorta of her heart on September 21; we signed papers on our new house on September 20. I had planned on attending the Missouri Baptist Convention in Springfield, but did not due to the fact that our home was being set up and needed to be around while the workers delivered and set it up. We moved into our house on October 29, and have enjoyed it very much. The Lord Jesus has been really gracious and good to us; but then, that is what He wants to be for us all who will trust Him and believe.
I pray God’s richest blessings have been on all of you through this year of 2010. It seems it has been so short, and full of blessings.
I am awed by the work God is doing at our small church with a big heart. There for a couple of years following the “falling away” we were wondering if we were going to make our bills; we kept trusting the Lord, looking to Him, praying, Preaching the Word, loving one another as we have been commanded by our Lord, and He has poured out on us all exceeding abundantly more than we have expected.
For 2011 we will be sending monthly support to Soul’s Harbor in Rogers, Arkansas. Souls Harbor is a shelter for homeless men, and is a great ministry for the less fortunate around us. For Christmas this year we once again bought gifts for many of the children of the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home in Mount Vernon. There were 27 children which we had received names for the purchase of gifts. Those gifts have been delivered to the Home, and they have been so grateful.
We are greatly looking forward to 2011. Could it be the year that Jesus Christ returns in the clouds? Wouldn’t that be great!
Here is praying that you have a very Christ filled Christmas, and wonderful, blessing filled New Year in 2011.
Until next time. Hoping to see you HERE, THERE, OR IN THE AIR.
Brother Tim
August 2010 -
Dearest Church and Friends,
It has been several months since updating this page and offering any words of encouragement. As I write today the year is more than half over and the School year is about to begin again. As the year has gone we have been blessed as a congregation, a small congregation, but with a huge heart, and spirit.
It would be difficult for me to try and write down all the events which have taken place in the past seven months; and they have been numerous; at least world wide and locally. We lost one of our dear members – Gerald Thompson – a charter member who has been here since the church began. Now Gerald has gone home to be with our Lord for all eternity where we shall all one day soon see him with our blessed Savior Jesus Christ. And what a day that will be.
I have had a different kind of Summer. Sickness has plagued me with some breathing problems, foot problems, and has hindered me from doing work on our old house. That has been changed to us trying to now get into a double wide manufactured home. We are looking forward to living down near the creek, listening to the water as it flows over the gravel and stones at the place where an old dam once turned to water for a mill to operate.
We want to thank all our church people for your tolerance and patience toward us, one another, and for your out pouring of generosity you have shown us.
May the next few months find us all greatly blessed, even more than we already are.
God bless you all. Praying to see you all real soon.
HERE, THERE, OR IN THE AIR.
Pastor, Tim
January 2010 -
Dear Church and friends,
The 2009 year is over and we have entered a brand new year of 2010. It is great to be the pastor of a loving, growing and giving church.
I am utterly amazed by the people of our small congregation with a large heart. When I hear of many churches whose offerings are falling, due to economic hardship of its membership, it seems that our offering has increased in the past year. And that without really growing in number. There can be no other answer than it being a blessing of our Lord.
Let me give you a good example. We began our annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering drive in November, with a goal of 250 dollars, and by the last Sunday of December 2009 we had reached 335 dollars. Our offerings for the year seems to have increased as well. I thank our gracious Lord for His wonderful blessings.
The love and generosity which is in our church is due to the love and generous grace of our Lord. We are all growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are not without our faults. We each know that. We all know that all are sinners and have the heart of Paul when he said, “Of whom I am chief”. We are learning to see our sins as greater, and our neighbors as lesser than our own. In doing that we pray to become more like Jesus.
Let us pray for more grace in the year of 2010, and that we will grow in that grace. Let us pray for revival in our hearts, lives, our church, and neighboring churches; for a harvest of lost souls coming to faith in Christ Jesus; for growing peace with God, with one another, and a growing love for others.
May God our Savior and Lord add to His kingdom daily those who will be saved.
Praying to see you soon.
HERE, THERE, OR IN THE AIR.
Pastor Tim
October 2009 -
Dear brethren and friends,
The year of 2009 is quickly approaching its end. It won’t be long and Thanksgiving will be here, then just around the corner Christmas. We are collecting gifts for the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home children; for Christmas through the first part of December. The Children’s Home needs them there by December 15 and unwrapped. A list is available from the Children’s Home paper, and you may find a list at the Children’s Home web site.
We have a great small group of people at Carr Lane Baptist Church. We love one another, and we love those around us. It grieves my heart to see professing believers who cannot get along with one another. How can we not get along when we have such a wonderful Lord and Savior who died for our sins, and lives forever and we will live forever with Him, and one another. Many of us will have much to answer for when we stand before Him in that day, and He asks us “Why did you not get along with Joe/Jolene on my created earth?” I assure you that those matters will be meaningless when we see Jesus.
When we see ourselves for who we are [sinners], and Jesus for who He is [Lord, Savior, God, Redeemer, Shepherd, Friend, Creator, Lamb of God who took away our sins,]; you get the picture; then we can get along with one another. When we lift Him up, exalting Him, honoring Him, loving Him; we will be loving and enjoying one another’s presence.
One thing is for sure God loves you. That love is shown in His Son Jesus Christ and His death, burial and resurrection. Experience His love today by calling on the name of Jesus (Romans 10:13), and be saved.
Hope to see you soon at Carr Lane Baptist Church.
HERE, THERE, OR IN THE AIR
Bro. Tim
September 2009 -
Brethren and friends,
It is great to be the pastor of a growing congregation. We have a wonderful time of worshipping our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ every time we gather together to ask, and seek the Lord’s blessing.
If you haven’t been partaking with us you have no idea what you are missing, and we pray you will come join with us soon. There are not too many congregations who can say that they have the same people, and number of people returning for Sunday evening that they had on Sunday morning. We also have a large portion of them returning on Wednesday evening for Bible Study and prayer.
For example this past Sunday, August 30 we had more on Sunday evening than we did Sunday morning, then Wednesday evening we had 13 in Bible Study. One and one half years ago or so we were only having 7 or so on Wednesday evening. Look what our Lord has wrought. Praise the name of Jesus.
We are learning and growing in our Lord. We are learning to love, learn and listen to Him as He teaches us His Word. Then in these things we are learning to live for Him, so that, others can see Him in us.
I make no boast in anyone, concerning this work of God, but God Himself. Let any boasting be toward Him. He, in love, sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for us, He was buried; carrying our sins away; then He rose again bodily from the grave and He ever lives to make intercession for us; and He is returning soon. Are you ready for His coming.
You are not ready for His coming if you are harboring a grudge, are unforgiving toward a wrong doer in your life, and you cannot fellowship with your brethren in the Lord. May you allow God to search your heart, and try you and know your thoughts to see if there is any wicked way in you; and then lead you in the way that is everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).
Do not wait and find yourself unprepared and ashamed when He comes again.
Come soon Lord Jesus; come soon. See you HERE, THERE, or IN THE AIR.
Brother Tim
August 2009 -
Church Family and Friends,
On June 18 of this year I began the fourth year of ministry of Carr Lane Baptist Church. I cannot think of another congregation where God has placed me where I have felt so much at home, loved and where I have been told, “You didn’t preach long enough”, or “You quit preaching too soon”. Now what pastor has ever been told that 
. Not very many for sure.
I love the fellowship we have in our church. Wednesday evenings during Bible Study we sit around a table discussing the book of Exodus right now, drinking coffee ( at least some do), eating goodies, snacks and such. Sometimes one of our good ladies of the church bring in a freshly baked cake, cookies, or some dessert like that, and we enjoy that while we study God’s Word.
Though the fellowship is sweet and great we are living in tough and perilous times, even here in Southwest Missouri. It is tough due to the economic situation, and people around us losing their jobs, and investments. It is perilous because of the times we live. The coming of Christ Jesus is drawing nearer every day, and men’s and women’s hearts grow cold and hard toward God. People who have professed faith in Jesus previously are turning from Him, going their own way, and denying the One who loved them so much that He went to the cross to die for their sins.
It is perilous because those who have chosen to stay out of church, and not attend put their hearts and souls in the perilous path of the enemy whose sole purpose is to maim, kill and destroy your personal witness and the testimony of Christ in you. The writer of Hebrews says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25 (KJV)
With these uncertain days we certainly need to support one another in faith, doctrine, and living as we are enabled to do so. How many of us realize how fragile we really are? Without Christ we will fail. Without the strength of family we will fail. Without the strength of church family we will fail; and especially fail in our walk with God.
Let me invite you to Carr Lane Baptist Church if you have gotten away from faithful attendance of the worship of our LORD. Come and join us on Sunday morning for Bible Study at 10 a.m.; worship at 11 a.m. and evening worship at 6 p.m. We do not entertain. We sing hymns, pray and preach God’s Word. We even have the hymnal for you to hold in your hand. And this pastor will preach nothing but the Word of God.
By these things you will be growing into a vessel that glorifies our God and Savior Jesus Christ for ever. That is your responsibility; to grow to be more like Jesus.
See you HERE, THERE, or IN THE AIR.
Brother Tim
June 2009 -
Church Family and Friends -
Let me begin by telling you all what a joy it is to be your pastor. I am looking forward to the Summer months, and being away from driving the School bus. It will give me time to make visits, in your homes – you and God permitting of course; and in the homes of possible prospects for salvation, and becoming a part of the Body of Christ, locally.
We lost a dear member of our church in the month of May. Brother Raymond Alter went home to be with Jesus 05/08/09. We will miss him greatly. He had returned to our fellowship a little over a year ago, and had been participating in worship, Sunday School, Bible Study, and our Men’s Breakfast on the first Saturday of each month. Raymond was a charter member of our church; helping establish it as a church, and building the building we worship in each week.
We have a great fellowship here at Carr Lane Baptist. Although the worship of our Lord Jesus is the reason for our gathering together each time; we still enjoy the company of one another, and give praise to our Lord for the peace we have in Him, and enjoy that peace with each other.
On May 31 we had the Lord’s Supper in the a.m. worship as we are commanded to by our Lord; to remember His death until He comes. That is always such a blessed remembrance, and He does remind us that He is coming again, and soon. In the evening worship we gave the service to singing praises to Him, through specials, offered by our Music Director Lyle Thompson, Pianist Carolyn Navarre, Ed & Barbara Wood, and myself. Following the singspiration, we me together in the basement for fellowship with food, and some good old homemade ice cream. It seems I can never get enough of that good stuff; even though one of my favorite preachers of the past referred to it as “frozen greese”. Following that we went outside, and the men played two games of Crochet.
We thank the LORD for His bountiful blessings on our congregation, and community. It is He alone who blesses us so abundantly. We invite you to come and join us on Sunday for our Bible Study/Sunday School at 10 a.m.; worship at 11 a.m.; and evening worship at 6 p.m.
We look forward to seeing you, and pray that you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Praying we see you soon. HERE, THERE, OR IN THE AIR.
Pastor, Tim A. Blankenship
March 2009 -
Church Family and Friends -
It has been almost three months since writing here, and it is great to know that our God is at work in Carr Lane Baptist Church and the surrounding area. God is so very good. Jesus Christ His Son is and forever shall be our God incarnate, who died, was buried and rose bodily the third day. We praise Him, the One who alone is worthy of praise and worship.
Though it is with great joy I see God, through His Son moving in hearts and lives it is with sadness that I must say there is still very much that needs to be done in the hearts and lives of God’s people. There are many minds and hearts of Christians who are dwelling on the past harm that another brother or sister did to them; rather than seeing the beauty and joy and peace that God gives through Jesus Christ.
If there is a lack of forgiveness there will come into one’s heart the bitterest of bitterness, and it will kill you dead. It won’t be immediately, but it will be gradual, until you have truly received the forgiveness that only Jesus can give. When you realize how much God paid for your forgiveness then you will forgive.
The devil is out to rob you of all that you possess in Jesus Christ. When we allow anger to rob us of forgiveness, we give way to bitterness, bitterness gives way to death. The devil is a thief who loves taking away what we have in Christ; but he cannot take it unless we let him have it. You are letting him have your blessings when you let what someone did to you yesterday or 20 years ago keep you from attending worship with a brother or sister in Christ.
We have been given commandment to love one another. Let us love as Paul writes in the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians. Love cares and thinks of others before one’s self, or at least as one does self, on equal par.
Love the Lord Jesus, His work on the cross for our sins, and there will be no problem loving one another.
Come and join in our worship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit each and every Sunday, and Bible Study on Wednesday evenings.
May God bless you all.
SEE YOU SOON.
Your Pastor. Tim A. Blankenship
November 2008 -
Dear Church and Friends,
I hope you are looking forward to the days ahead for the month of November. One of the things for which I am looking forward is the day of our USA Elections. It will finally mean the end of the political ads, and commercials. Don’t you get tired of them too? Another thing is the celebration of Thanksgiving Day on November 27th. While we should remember to be thankful to our God, and His Son Jesus, everyday; I enjoy Thanksgiving Day each year.
I am thankful for the faithful members of Carr Lane Baptist Church, and their kind and gentle hearts toward my wife and me. We have been greatly blessed by the generosity, prayers during a time when we were frightened because of a diagnosis concerning Madge’s heart; and that so far is doing great, to the glory of our God and Savior. She is strong and seems to be improving all the time.
During the month of October we had two people, Ed and Barbara Wood, become members of our congregation, and we are looking forward to the day to have a baptism from two more people. God is so good and wondrous in all His glory. We are all praying for one another, and growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ everyday. Thanks to our Lord.
During this month let us all practice thanksgiving everyday. This will give us a habit of thanksgiving. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful habit to have?
God bless you all and if you havn’t worshipped with us in a while, come and join in the work God is doing.
See you soon.
Your Pastor,
Tim A. Blankenship
October 2008 -
Dear Church and Friends,
We are having a wonderful month at Carr Lane Baptist Church. If you haven’t joined with us in worship for awhile, I want to let you know what you have missed out on. God is moving and working in all our lives and His name is being glorified.
In the past two to three months or so we have had two couples who have started coming to our Sunday School/Bible Study and being a wonderful blessing to us, that is in addition to the members who have been ever faithful in attendance. Praise the Lord for the faithful.
On Sunday October 12 one couple joined our membership by promise of a letter from an SBC church in Arkansas. Ed and Barbara White are a blessing from the Lord to us all, and they have come in with the joy of the Lord in their lives.
I want to thank the Lord for all our members who are faithful, and who continue serving Him in our church. Lyle Thompson continues in faithfulness in leading our singing; Carolyn Navarre is faithful in playing the piano every Sunday morning and evening – and Lyle and Carolyn sing a special every Sunday – and we are ever blessed by their singing.
Some of the men of the church have been faithful all Summer long keeping the grass mowed, and the lawn looking spectacular; those men are Dennis Gould, Clint Thompson, and Lyle Thompson. These men have been always faithful in receiving the morning offering – Dennis Gould, and Clint Thompson when Dennis is away.
Thanks to the ladies of the church for the good meals on our Fellowship Meal Sunday; Jean Thompson, Karlene Gould, Debbie Grimaldi, Sharon Thompson, Madge Blankenship, and if I have forgotten anyone please let me know.
Every local church is a church because of its active people who joing together, praying, in Bible Study, Worship, Fellowship, Outreach and Ministry. A church grows only by the work of the Spirit of God. He alone gives the increase that endures to the end.
Come and join in the blessing.
Your Pastor,
Tim A. Blankenship
September 2008 -
Dear Church,
Summer is nearly over, and it is time to return to the Lord, and be renewed in faithful membership of His Church. Your local church is a place of encouragement, strength for the week ahead, and growth in faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When you are not faithful to your local church you are sadly missed. The Church does not operate in power and the glory of Jesus when the Body is not functioning fully with each part cooperating, and obeying our Lord together.
We hope to see you in worship, and Bible Study Sunday morning, evening and Wednesday night. God bless you, and thank you for your faithfulness. God will bless you abundantly.
Your Pastor
Tim A. Blankenship
July 2008 -
Dear Church,
It has been several months since I wrote on this page, but I have a burden on my heart I desire to share with you.
We all suffer from heart aches, and grievances from time to time. They come from family, friends, work associates, and neighbors by what they have said, or did, or maybe left something unsaid, that could have been said. We are all so fragile at times, and subject to hurt and pain. There are times and it is really everytime that we just need to forgive, and move on, with our family, friendships, and work associates and neighbors; brush off our sleeves and sever the hurt; not the relationships.
Some time ago a church member told me, and told me several times, “Tim. I don’t want to see you get hurt.” Now did that member mean by that that they were goin to stay away from chuch so as not to be there when I did, or did they mean…, and that they didn’t want me to be hurt by the actions of members or certain members of our congregation? That is a question only that member can answer.
It hurts me when our church members are fussing with one another. It hurts me when the members who have been charter members since the beginning of the church start pulling away because something has been said, or something was done, or family members are in disagreements with one another, so they cannot worship together. I am grieved to my heart when people pull away from the church because the church and the pastor believes the Bible gives clear directives and qualifications for deacons and pastors concerning marriage and divorce. It grieves my heart and pains me greatly that we forget that the reason for our gathering together is to glorify and worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is about Him; not you or me. It grieves my heart that I have been a source of others hurts and griefs; if this is the one which has affected you please forgive me, and come and tell me what I have done.
In writing this letter to you, Church, I am sharing my heart, because i sit here grieving and praying that God will some how open our hearts and our eyes to see that in Christ Jesus through His local church we are one. Yet the Body is divided, because of hurts, pains and grievances.
When we stop and think about some of the things for which we pull away from our church, they are always for the most insignificant reasons, they are usually not Biblical, nor right. They are petty things which have to do with “Me” or “Mine”. It is time to grow up. It is time to slap the junk of pain off our sleeves and worship and serve the Lord together. Together we get more done than by ourselves. When we get our eyes back on Jesus Christ, then the petty things of life won’t seem so large.
When we behave in such ways we grieve the heart of Christ and pain Him most of all. Like Haggai the prophet writes, “Consider your ways.”
YOUR PASTOR,
Bro. Tim
