A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words

Jesus sees each one of us as beautiful.

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We are all familiar with the cliché, “a picture is worth a 1000 words.” The understanding is that sometimes nothing needs to be said in order to communicate a thought. I think this is absolutely appropriate when describing this year’s first “Hope Portrait” event at Living Word Baptist Church in Lebanon, Ohio. 

The purpose of this event was to provide the financially challenged around Living Word Baptist Church with a professional portrait of themselves. We have found that many families don’t have the extra money to have their portraits taken. This event gave us the opportunity to share with our community something that could not be expressed with words – a beautiful photograph of themselves and in turn provided an opportunity to speak to them about how Jesus sees each one of them as beautiful. One of my favorite things about Jesus is He is willing to demonstrate how He feels about us. In fact, He demonstrated how much he loved us “that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) This Hope Portrait event went beyond words and demonstrated to many people that we really do love them.
A very special thank-you to everyone who helped to make this a huge success. Most importantly we praise King Jesus for allowing us to love others for Him.

Passive Spectators or Active Participants

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The Lord has galvanized the body of Christ with one mind and one purpose
—to make disciples of all the nations and to preach the Kingdom of God. 



One of my new favorite phrases is Today counts forever.  This means that the decisions we make today have eternal value. In James 1:22 God warns us to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” In God’s eyes faith is followed by action. It’s not the action that proves our faith, rather our faith should motivate us to action out of our love for Jesus and for others. Urbancresters this year demonstrated their beliefs by mobilizing and helping others less fortunate. We are not satisfied being passive spectators when the Lord has called us to be active participants.

 Less than 30 days from our Thanksgiving Baskets of Hope event, we turned around and hosted our Christmas Baskets of Hope for the community. This year we gave baskets and toys to 309 needy families. Most importantly we shared the hope of Jesus at two church locations where 11 people responded with professions of faith. Many others asked for prayer. The encouragement to our community was far reaching and the impact will count forever. Many people expressed their heart-felt thanks for these baskets and we even had two people contribute to this event as we were checking out at the grocery. I suspect that we will never know how many lives we have touched through this ministry—all for the glory of God.

This year, as you enjoy Christmas dinner with our family and open gifts from loved ones, remember that 309 families in the Lebanon area are doing the same because of your efforts. The Lord has galvanized the body of Christ with one mind and one purpose—to make disciples of all the nations and to preach the Kingdom of God. Thanks again to all who actively participated and thank you Jesus for bringing Hope to us all.

Jesus Still Feeding the Thousands

Thanksgiving Baskets of Hope
Caring, sharing, and loving our neighbors
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Our God is alive and continues to perform miracles today for the entire world to see. Thanksgiving Baskets of Hope was just one of these modern day miracles where the Lord provided for His creation through one act of faith. If you’re like me there are some historic events of the Bible that really stand out to you. For me, it’s the recording of Jesus feeding the five thousand. I love this recount because of the number of lives it impacted. Next to the idea of how crazy in love Jesus is with us, is the idea that he would use one childlike act of faith to set into motion a miracle of such magnitude that it made it into the Bible for generations to read. I believe this account is a call to all believers in Jesus Christ to apply faith into every day, in every way. This is exactly what one person, moved by the Holy Spirit, did at Urbancrest Baptist Church by initiating our “Baskets of Hope” program. 

This year we had several church congregations. These were Urbancrest Baptist Church, Iglesia Bautista Hispana de Urbancrest, Living Word Baptist Church, and Central Baptist Church. All participated in feeding those in need with an emphasis on evangelism. In total, there were about 400 families served (roughly 1,000 souls).

One Lord + one small act of faith = thousands of lives touched with the Gospel.

Thanks so very much too all the many workers who donated time, energy, talents, resources, and financial support to make this event such a success. The church acted as the Lord intended by becoming His hands and feet when they shared a love that reached way beyond a basket of food. A very special thanks to the leaders, assembly, registration, security, pastors, prayer counselors, and food carriers. We have so much to be Thankful for this year, and I am especially thankful for you.

There is more to the Great Pumpkin Give Away than getting a free pumpkin.

GreatPumpkinGiveAway_Oct13 2012

There are few who would argue that spending a crisp fall day on a farm is an enjoyable event. Urbancrest Baptist Church and Iron’s Fruit Farm have join together to provide this experience with their annual Great Pumpkin Give Away. A flurry of activity is witnessed each year as many volunteers scramble to set up a bounce house, popcorn machine, and face painting station. This year, by God’s grace, everything came together seamlessly. Many people who visited Iron’s Fruit Farm with their families participate in many of the activities and possibly left with one of the many free pumpkins. This effort is just one more way Urbancrest Baptist Church is working to engage people in our community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

During the Great Pumpkin Give Away, 42 volunteers manned their event stations in from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. As always, face painting was a huge hit. Children showed up in droves to employ the creative abilities of the volunteers – and did they deliver! The popcorn stand and bounce house had never ending lines of children which kept their afternoon lively. Hundreds of pumpkins were given away to visiting families as one more practical way to show the love of Christ. Nearly one thousand Challenge Newspapers were distributed with the Good News of the Gospel.

One highlight of the day was watching David Cain, the Juggler for Jesus as he performed two routines packed with the salvation message. He finished by inviting the crowd to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ. We thank God for allowing us to help assist the Iron family in their Great Pumpkin Give Away. There is no question that people were impacted by the no strings attached service of our Urbancrest volunteers. If you missed the fun from this year’s Great Pumpkin Give Away, make sure you mark your calendar for next year so you won’t miss out on joining this family fun event.

Challenge the Hood: Share the Gospel, and Collect Food for the Needy!

Click Here for photos from August 22
Click Here for photos from August 29

The Challenge the Hood event is a partnership between Urbancrest Baptist Church and Challenge, the Good News Paper. This event combines collecting food for the Lebanon Food Pantry and sharing the Gospel by handing out Challenge Newspapers in conjunction with the Food Pantry collection bags.

The first Challenge the Hood took place in Garfield Park subdivision on Wednesday, August 22. Dewayne Jeffers was our host and everyone gathered at his place before going out. After prayer and some basic instructions, our team of adults, youth and children were deployed throughout the Garfield Park subdivision. Special thanks to our youth pastor, Aaron Taylor, who recruited almost 40 youth to help out! We had 2 pickup trucks cruising through “the hood” picking up the donated food. Later, teams of youth drove to the food pantry and unloaded the “bounty” of food donations.

Our second Challenge the Hood food drive was held on Wednesday, August 29 in Revere’s Run subdivision. Rhonda Kuntz hosted for her neighborhood. Once again, the youth rallied with 25-30 in attendance. These valiant “foot soldiers” knocked on resident’s doors, handed out Challenge Newspapers, and invited folks to help us by donating food goods to the Lebanon Food Pantry.

This year, Andrew Trezona from Challenge Newspaper and his family joined in this ministry endeavor. He learned first-hand how much fun and work this effort has been for us each year. During the Challenge the Hood at Revere’s Run, Pastor Tom partnered with the Trezona family by knocking on doors and sharing the Challenge Newspaper. Oh yeah, and may we go on record, that Pastor Tom flagged down the ice cream truck…and you guessed it…that team cooled off eating delicious ice cream! Hey, where’s the ice cream for the rest of the folks who served? All the other teams got were Twizzlers and cold bottled water! Guess everyone will want to be on Pastor Tom’s team next year!

A Few Testimonials
Pastor Tom and Andrew called on a family that had recently moved to Lebanon and they invited the family to attend Urbancrest. Also, one family mentioned that they could not contribute food since they were unemployed and in need of food themselves…so we gathered some emergency food the following day and Rhonda Kuntz delivered it. Praise God!

Thanks to everyone who helped us plant Gospel seeds through distributing the Challenge Newspaper that always contains the Plan of Salvation. Thanks for helping needy folks in our own community. May this serve to remind us of Jesus’ teaching: “Then the King [Jesus] will say to those on His right Hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave me food…” Matthew 25:34-35a, [NKJV]

It’s Showtime! Men and Their Shiny Polished-Steel Cars, Trucks, and Cycles!

Award for the Top 25 winners

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Blog update: August 29, 2012

Summer Jam 2012 Tour came to a dramatic crescendo with a big crowd, roaring engines, awesome cars, free food and Gospel singing!  97 cars, trucks, and motorcycles registered for the car show, with a few more that arrived later, so we hit our goal of 100 registrants. That was my prayer… I wanted God to bring 100 vehicles. What an awesome turn out!  In addition, God truly blessed us with great weather, clear skies, and temperatures in the 70’s. That’s unbelievable weather for the month of August!

The quality and variety of cars that were entered were absolutely incredible! One winner, for example, was a Barrett Jackson car which was specially designed and created as “one of a kind” by the notorious car guy of the same name. We had some of our own UBC winners, too: Jess Wilson won a trophy for his cameo truck and Tom Leach for his 2012 Harley CVO Power-Glide motorcycle. Many UBC “car guys” brought their cars, too, so they could share their stories and testimonies with others.

We gave away 25 car award plaques, and additional trophies for motorcycles and trucks. All participants received Urbancrest Car Show magnetic dash plagues too. In addition to all this, we had drawings throughout the day and many folks were awarded additional prizes like caps, tools, Christian DVD’s, and other “guy” awards!  With all the sponsorships and donations for our concessions, we raised enough money to give $1500 to our local Lebanon Food Pantry. Barb Gregory, our UBC Food Pantry coordinator, was ecstatic!

Ellis Amburgy from UBC, who showed his 57 Chevy and “Amburgy custom truck with frame-off restoration”, partnered with me on this event. He rallied many local sponsors for donations that benefited our Lebanon Food Pantry. Thanks, Ellis, for all your hard work!

The Gospel was proclaimed three times during the show – once by Pastor Tom, then by Youth Pastor Aaron Taylor, and finally by Noel Grace. Noel showed his ‘67 Corvette and was featured in the Challenge Newspaper that was distributed during the show. Noel stepped out of the crowd to share his personal testimony and the Gospel. Join us in praying for the Holy Spirit to bring a harvest from the Gospel seeds that were planted!

All of our volunteers, like Disaster Relief leaders Wanda and Mick Lovely, deserve recognition for their hard work. Serving out of the Disaster Relief Truck, Mick and Wanda supplied coffee and pastries for our earlier arrivals that began showing up at 7:30 a.m.

 Steve and Julie Hendrix spearheaded the concessions and served free hot dogs, popcorn, and snow cones for the crowd. Them Bowman’s band entertained our crowd with many secular songs rewritten with Christian lyrics. Julie and Jim Reutener supervised the inflatable “race [obstacle] course”, Craig and Rhonda Miller took charge of the “kiddie” bounce house, Jennifer Marbach painted kids’ faces with fun designs, and Ron Turner operated the gospel “kiddie” train, along with Andrew Trezona, who partnered with me to distribute the Challenge Newspaper. Our “prayer station” was located near the concessions for a lot of walk-in business. Sandy Huddleston led the ministry in this booth where guests could visit and have prayer. She and her team prayed with the show participants, too!

I invite you to put Urbancrest’s 2nd Annual Car, Truck, and Motorcycle Show on your calendar for next year on August 17, 2013. Invite your friends, bring your family or show your own car! We’re shooting for 150-200 registrants next year. The more guests that attend, the more who hear the Gospel message!

The Car Show was a great way to conclude our Summer Jam Tour 2012 (SJT12). Thanks again to Rusty and Jill Young for helping us lead this new community outreach initiative where lives were touched by the Gospel.

I’m reminded of the power of the Gospel in what Paul shared in 1 Thessalonians 1:5, “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and the Holy Spirit”… We joined God in His work, proclaiming and sharing the gospel here in our community of Lebanon. May God bring a harvest of new believers!

“If you confess with your mouth that ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved!” [Romans 10:9-11]. This is good news!

Overall Winner in the Summer Jam Tour [SJT] Dog Fun Show Hard to Choose, Best Prize of All Was The Gospel!

To check out photos from Dog Fun Show, click HERE.

The Summer Jam Tour 2012 went to the dogs August 1, with a Dog Fun Show. Many families came with their best friends and over twenty-seven dogs entered the contest. There were a multitude of small dogs, some large dogs and one very large dog or maybe it was a small horse, I couldn't tell! The one thing they all seemed to have in common was how much they were loved by their families.

Everyone started to arrive about 6:00 p.m. to register for one or all of the categories. The categories included smallest dog, largest dog, best trick, best costume, and best owner/dog look alike. It was surprising to see how well behaved the dogs there were as they greeted each other. Across the street from the Dog Show we hosted a food trailer, drink station, face painting, and a small children’s bounce house. Hot dogs and chips were served along with popcorn and cold water. At the face painting station, many children had their faces painted like their favorite pet. Dogs were given “dog treats” too! That’s a first!

The judging began about 7:00 p.m. and each category of dogs was paraded before the judges. After the last category was seen the judges began deliberations while Darrell Coley, along with his dog, prayed and then shared the Gospel. God moved and blessed as two children recommitted their lives to Christ!

 Prizes awarded included gift cards to the winners from each category. Everyone who participated was entered to win additional door prizes of Summer Jam Tour t-shirts and candy.

The smallest dog was won by a tiny Yorkie-Poo named Karmen. I've never seen so many small dogs! It was the most attended category. The largest dog category should have been called the “Massive Dog Category” since the winner was a Great Dane named Hurley, and boy, was he big!

The best trick was won by Koda, an Australian Cattle Dog. Koda entertained us with a few obedience tricks. Some of the dogs had a little stage anxiety so some tricks didn't go over well. However, they were still given a hand by the crowd and a treat from their family. The best costume was won by a white Jack Russell Terrier named Natty. He was dressed as a pig while his teenage owner was dressed like a farmer. They were so cute.

 The best dog/owner look alike was Morgan and Mariah, brother and sister Siberian Huskies and their owner. All three had silver and black hair and the owner wore black and silver sunglasses that match the Huskies. It was amazing how much they looked alike...

 Oh, how we love our dogs (no offense to cat lovers!). They greet us when we come home, they comfort us when we are sick, and they make us laugh when we are feeling low. They may be a lot of work and they may get into more trouble than they should, but we love them because of the unconditional love they give us.

Even with all the love they give, it isn't enough because it is temporary. Once they are gone, we again may feel lonely, judged, and wanting for a love that will be with us forever. Jesus offers us that kind of love, an eternal love. He will love us unconditionally and all He asks is that we repent of our sins, and accept Him as our Lord and Savior. He sacrificed His life for ours. He paid the price for our sins so that we could stand before the Father, pure and with a clean heart. That is way more than what the love of a dog can ever do. Look to our Lord Jesus and you can be saved and experience His unconditional love.

Confess with you that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved [Romans 10:9]

Please plan to join us at our next awesome SJT ministry venue, our Car/Truck/Motorcycle Show, at Urbancrest on Saturday, August 18th from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. We will award prizes to the owners of the show vehicles and show registrants can win additional prizes too!

 We will have music by a DJ, The Bowman’s [Southern Gospel Group] and our own UBC youth praise team! Free food, our new inflatable obstacle course, and our “gospel” train ride for the kiddies will be there, too! Bring your friends!