July 24, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, July 24.

On this day in 1725, a boy was born in England. His father was a ship's captain. His mother died when he was six, and at the young age of 11, his father took him to sea. He, too, eventually came to captain a ship, a slave ship. Later he would share the testimony of a storm on the sea that came one night, a night when John Newton experienced a life-changing spiritual conversion.

July 20, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Thursday, July 20.

We continue this morning with a brief series on the subject of heaven. Tomorrow, a thought about "heaven on earth". Today, we give the Word of God the opportunity to teach us about the world to come. Heaven is mentioned in 54 of the Bible's 66 books. Christian author, David Jeremiah, puts it like this, "To visualize heaven accurately, study the Bible!"

What heaven will look like -

July 18, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Tuesday, July 18.

This coming Sunday, our pastor will start a sermon series focused on the subject of heaven. And so, for the next few days, that will be our focus as well.

Have you heard it said that Eskimos have hundreds of words for "snow"? I don't know if that's true, but it's an interesting idea, and I guess it's safe to assume that, when something's important to you, you spend a lot of time and effort describing it.

Here, off the top of my head, are some words for "heaven".

July 14, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Friday, July 14.

Do you know the name Cicely Saunders? She was born in England in 1918. During World War II she became a nurse, and then later a doctor. Her work put her into contact with many terminally ill patients, some of whom were her own loved ones. As a result of her experiences, and her personal grief, she developed a new type of care for those facing their final days, a system that we now know as hospice.

July 12, 2023 - Good morning! It's Wednesday, July 12.

I'm sure you'd agree that it's a good idea to begin and end each day with prayer. Well, on Wednesdays, that's exactly what happens at First Baptist Center. At 6am, a group of about 20 men meet at a local restaurant for a prayer breakfast. Our leader shares a brief Bible passage before we pray, and he always ends it by saying, "That's pretty good stuff!". And then at 6pm, our church, like many churches, has a mid-week prayer service that includes a Bible study.