Preaching and Teaching

2015 has been filled with fruitful labor!

Hello, dear friends! Please forgive me for the long silence since our last newsletter. The days and months have flown by! The last several months have brought many opportunities to travel and spread God’s word. Jim has preached all over Florida including many local churches, Michigan, Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia. He got to surprise his friend Sean Doyle in Essex Fells, New Jersey for his commissioning as Senior Pastor and had the privilege of preaching a charge to the congregation. Jim went to Panama on a basketball mission trip in May. Next month will see Jim returning to Panama joined by several family members (son AJ, brothers Jeff and John, sons of John – Christopher, Corey, Casey and Caleb) for a basketball mission doing clinics and sharing the gospel. Jim will also be speaking in Alton Bay, NH, Gainesville, FL, Galax, VA, and Essex Fells, NJ among other places this fall. Be sure to check out his speaking schedule on our website.
Jim’s Bible Study that meets locally on Tuesday nights has been growing by leaps and bounds. Calvary Chapel Surfside was so gracious to allow us to use their facility for about a year and a half, but we had to find a new place to meet that could accommodate all our folks! We heartily thank our brothers and sisters at First Baptist Indialantic for opening their fellowship hall to us on Tuesdays. Meeting there has been a blessing. We will be taking a short break in August after Jim concludes Colossians, and when we start back in September, we will be adding a second Bible Study on Wednesday nights in Palm Bay! Thank you also to our brothers and sisters at LifePoint Church in Palm Bay for opening their facility to us. Jim will be beginning a study of the book of Revelation at both locations. If you are interested in attending either study, please go to our website, click on Bible Studies, and sign up to receive our weekly Bible Study email.

Our 25^th wedding anniversary is next Monday, but Jim and I already had a wonderful celebration in May with a trip to Hawaii. We had an amazing time, and we are so grateful God provided the means and opportunity for us to go.

Jim recording his radio program, "Challenge for Today."

If you haven’t visited our website lately, check it out! There you will find Jim’s latest audio recordings of Tuesday Night Bible Study, Challenge for Today, links to the latest cruise videos, and a link to donate online through Paypal. Many thanks to Chris Wilson for making our website so terrific!

Family Update:
This spring God provided a great temporary job for Nicole by allowing her to fill in as a Speech Language Pathologist Assistant for a lady who was on maternity leave. It paid well and gave her great experience in her field. The job was quite far from home, though, and during those weeks, Darryl and Candy Stanford graciously welcomed Nicole into their home which was just a half hour drive from work. Thank you, Darryl and Candy! The job provided funds for Nicole to apply to her tuition this fall as she starts Graduate School at UCF.
God gave Elise a terrific first year at FSU! She got amazing grades, made great friends, and grew spiritually as she got involved with the BCM and First Baptist Tallahassee. She is excited to go back this fall, and will be leading freshman Bible Study, singing in the Praise Team at church and on campus, and continuing to work on her Retail Merchandising and Product Development degree. She is drawing commissioned portraits to make a little extra cash, and she is really excited about a costume design class she will be taking in the fall.
AJ is 16 and going into 11^th grade. The Lord has gifted him with an upbeat attitude and great sense of humor. He enjoys playing golf and baseball and is a terrific singer. He is taller than his dad at six foot two and a half. He is working at the Palm Bay Road Chick-fil-A, along with his cousins, Jamie and Alyssa, and several friends. He is dual enrolled at Eastern Florida State College for the fall, and will also take a couple of courses at home.
Jim and I are so blessed by the Lord and we are so thankful for our family!