It's hard to believe that it's November already. The year has flown by! Speaking of flying by, it's hard for me to believe that Tyler (my grandson) will be turning 1 year old on November 16! There is a part of me that thinks that I can't believe that he's only been here a year and then another part of me that seems like he's been with us a lot longer than that. No matter how it feels, however, I am so thankful for the incredible blessing of being a grandpa!
There is little doubt that being a grandfather is one of the most amazing experiences a person can have. I can have a really bad day and if I see Tyler, I immediately feel so much better. I am working on spoiling him in anyway I can. It's so much fun to not have to say "no" to him. After all, that's his mom and dad's job!

We have been into "Losing to Win," our theme for the fall for over a month now and we are learning so much about how losing can make you a winner. On Sunday mornings, during our morning worship at 10:00 a.m., we have been looking at the Book of Philippians and seeing how our Christian lives are reflected through the victory we have in Christ Jesus. God has spoken to us in some awesome ways through His Word, through videos, and especially through our youth drama on Sunday, September 27. If you haven't seen the drama, be sure to check it out on our web site in the media section. It's tremendous!
Our "Losing to Win" classes on Wednesday evenings have also been incredibly powerful as we look at how we can lose debt, lose weight, and lose some worldly attitudes to become winners in the game of life. Each class has not only been well attended, but have also had an amazing impact on the lives of those who attend.
I'm so thankful and honored to be the pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church. This is a place that is filled with a "bunch of losers" who are winners for Jesus Christ! If you haven't been able to be with us over the last several weeks, I hope you will make plans to join us in the near future. It's never too late to learn how to "Lose to Win!"

All for HIS Glory!

Bro. Kyle

Our "Road Trip" at Emmanuel came to an end on Sunday, August 30th, as we looked at our final destination...heaven. It was a great trip this summer as we traveled through God's Word looking at how He directs us in the paths He wants us to go (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Speaking of road trips, I passed the "50 mile marker" on Sunday, and our church let me know it! Almost everyone was dressed in black! What a crazy bunch of folks I serve with here. I am so grateful for their special observance of my birthday. My wife Angela had several things, and I do mean several things, during the week to remind me what 50 looks like. One day I had 50 starburst candies on my desk, the next day I had 50 golf balls and tees, and then another day I had 50 party horns. She did a amazing job or letting me know that I am now 50 years old. That's ok, though, because she turns 50 on January 7, 2011! Can't wait!
Since our road trip is over, we will begin a new series this coming Sunday, September 6, called, "Losing to Win." It will be based off of Philippians 3:8 which says, "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ." I know the Lord will use it tremendously to remind us that we are always winners with Him!

Last week (July 27-August 2) Angela and I took some time off and headed up to northern Arkansas for vacation. We were in a cabin near Jasper on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then our kids (Thomas, Katie and Tyler, and Corey and Katie) joined us on Thursday - Sunday. It was one of the best week's of my life! It was relaxing and so enjoyable.
One of my top 5 movies of all time is "A Field of Dreams." Towards the end of the movie, Kevin Costner's character (Ray), is given a gift of seeing his dad who had died years ago. They were on a baseball field that Ray had built in his cornfield in Iowa because the voice had said, "If you build it, they will come." Ray's dad asks him, "Is this heaven?" To which he responds, "No, this is Iowa." Then Ray asks his dad, "Is there a heaven?" And Ray's dad says, "Oh yes. It's a place where dreams come true." Ray then looks around, sees the baseball field, looks at his wife and daughter swinging on the front porch swing at their house and says, "Well, maybe this is heaven." Angela and I talked about how that was the way we felt in northern Arkansas last week. Our family was with us. God's creation was amazing. And everything was perfect! We felt like we experienced a little bit of heaven. Was this actually heaven? No, it was Arkansas. But it was definitely a place where dreams came true!

Our road trip at Emmanuel is going great! We have chosen our route, packed our bags, unloaded some unnecessary items and are now ready to head out on the road. This coming Sunday, June 28th, we will find out what to do when we come to a cross road and have to decide which way to go. We will look at God's "GPS" and see how we can know for certain how to make the right choice every time!
Be sure to pray for our students and sponsors as they head out to Student Life camp in Cleveland, Tennessee. They are scheduled to leave on Friday, June 26, and will return on Wednesday, July 1. I know the Lord has some powerful things in store for each of them. I can't wait to see what He will do!
Have a great week!

We headed out on our Road Trip at Emmanuel this past Sunday, June 7th, and we got off to a great start! We learned from the Word that Jesus taught there was a map from God that has two roads in which you can travel in this life...The Wide Road and The Narrow Road. One leads to destruction and the other to life (Matthew 7:13-14). I hope you have already made the decision which one you are traveling on.
We also had our first Cross Point worship on Sunday evening and it was amazing to see how the Lord is already using this in our church and in our lives. "South Gate," which is our worship band that will be playing each Sunday evening, did a great job leading us in praise songs and Bro. Zach brought an incredible message from God's Word about the cross of Jesus Christ.
If you weren't able to be with us this past Sunday, I hope you can join us this week. On Sunday morning for our Road Trip, we will be looking at what we need to pack for the journey ahead. Then on Sunday evening, Thomas Smith will be bringing the message during Cross Point.

See you Sunday!
Bro. Kyle

On Sunday, May 31st, we concluded our study on "Living by Faith." It was an incredible journey over the past nine weeks of seeing how we are people of faith. Beginning next Sunday, June 7, we are going to start a new trip in God's Word. As a matter of fact, we are calling it "The Emmanuel Road Trip 2009." Be sure to check out the video that Bro. Zach put together for us that we showed at church yesterday to get everyone excited about going on the trip with us this summer. You can find it when you click on our Road Trip logo on our front page. It's really cool.
Each week during the summer we will be looking at how to join in on the road trip we are taking and eventually end up in our final destination....heaven! It's going to be a lot of fun!
Another thing I am really looking forward to is our Sunday night worship this summer which also begins on Sunday, June 7. It will be held in our gym area and will begin each night at 6:00 p.m. We will have some incredible worship through music by various groups and then have the Word shared with us by either Zach (our student minister) or Thomas (our children's minister). I know the Lord is going to use this tremendously to bring us closer to Him and reach out to others in our community.
So be sure to join us for a great summer in 2009! It's going to be a great trip!!!!