Day 36- Tifton to Ashburn to home (temporary that is!)

We woke up, ate some pancakes that my uncle cooked for us, then headed out to the church. Once we got to the church, we spent some time in prayer before going in. At the church we heard Cory Thompson and Rebekah West speak, then ate some lunch and talked to some folks there. Our messages were right after lunch and we all thought they went great. Brad talked about the three different transformations that occur to a Christian in life: regenerative transformation or conversion, sanctification (daily transformation of the saint), and final transformation of our bodies in Heaven. I talked about the first transformation or conversion by simply sharing the gospel with everyone and Clay talked about sanctification and transforming the world around you by sharing the gospel. After us a few more people spoke, so they had a total of 9 speakers at that little church! God definitely provided for them. We had a great time talking to Rebekah's sister-in-law who was so thankful for us and for what the Lord had done at the church. We had to leave early to make it to Clay's house and see his family, so we left the evangelism shirts, books, and plenty of gospel tracts for them to sell (If you'd like a shirt, books, or colored tracts, let us know :) ). We left for Clay's house where we ate supper and hung out with his family and on the way we spent time thanking the Lord for the awesome trip. We then went to our own houses and said goodbye for now. The trip was awesome and God taught us a whole lot. Hundreds of people were able to hear the gospel message and a few openly confessed they would give their lives to Christ! I will be like David in nearly every one of his Psalms and tell you to praise the Lord! Give glory to our great God for all He has done, is doing, and will do. Praise the Lord!

We have talked about another trip and will see if the Lord provides for this, but for now we will each serve the Lord where He has planted us and we pray that you will do the same.

Day 35- Montgomery to Tifton

We woke up, ate some breakfast at the hotel, then left for Tifton to stay with my aunt and uncle. We ate at Sonic on the way and I had a chicken salad because by now I felt like the guy on that "Supersize Me" movie who ate way too much fast food. I think I gained about 10 pounds! Anyway, we finally got to Tifton where we had a great time talking to my aunt about the Lord and what He had been teaching each of us (always an encouragment talking to the saints!) My uncle soon got home from work and had brought some ice cream for us, so we stayed up and talked with the both of them. We washed all of our clothes and played with the three dogs, then headed to bed. We spent some time in our rooms working on what we would talk about the next day at Dakota Baptist Church.

Day 34- Jackson to Montgomery

This morning we all ate breakfast at the hotel, then headed out to Montgomery. Clay called the missions guy with the Southern Baptist Convention of the area and he got us a hotel room for the night in Montgomery. When we got to the hotel, Clay got to talk with the front desk worker about the Lord and the man openly admitted to his need for the Savior. It is such a blessing to see people show godly sorrow that will ultimately lead them to repentance and salvation (2 Cor. 7:10) Once we put all our things in the room, we watched some TV with Tammy Faye Bakker on Larry King Live and they had a spritual advisor who was Buddhist giving his opinion about what Tammy Faye was experiencing (it was sad to see her and her son going along with some things he had said that went against the Bible). Then went to eat at the Captain D's across the street where we had a great time talking about how the trip had been so far and discussing what God had been teaching each of us through it. We then went back to the hotel and updated blogs and worked a little on our speech.

Day 33- Shreveport to Jackson

Today we woke up and headed out to Jackson, Mississipi. Clay called the local Baptist association and got connected with First Baptist Jackson, a megachurch with its own health club, workout rooms and giant sanctuary. We went to the church and talked with the activities pastor and the evangelism pastor, who bought us a hotel room at Hampton Inn and gave us free supper at the church that night. We checked in the hotel, then went to church and ate and got to listen to a sermon and fellowship with other saints. The college group met in another city that night, so we went to the regular service with the older folks but it was fun. Ya never realize how much fun it is to talk to older folks that have been in your shoes and are now more mature. We then went back to the hotel and stayed up till pretty late preparing our message for the youth in Tifton where we'll speak in a few days. Our message is on transformation and what it means to be transformed. We finally got some rest. Pray for our message this Saturday please.

Day 32- Shreveport

Today we woke up and took showers at Bryan's house where we also got to have some really encouraging discussions with him about Biblical evangelism vs. modern evangelism. One of the main differences we noticed was that modern evangelism gives the good news first and tells people what God did so they wouldn't be guilty, while Biblical evangelism gives the bad news first so that people become convinced of their need for the good news. If we tell people Jesus died on the cross for their sins without their fully understanding why their sin deserved such a radical step from God, they will be either insulted by your assumption they are sinners or they will consider the cross foolishness. Paul urges the Corinthians to not receive God's grace in vain, so we cannot give people the good news of God's grace until they are first convinced of why they need it. When people realize how holy and just God is and know they sinned against Him, they will realize they deserve His just punishment and will hunger and thirst for His righteousness found in Christ. This creates disciples and not just decisions. Okay, off my soap box now :) We then went to the Louisiana Boardwalk and had some amazing conversations with people about the Lord. Clay talked to a few folks, while Brad and I went together and talk to some others. We had an amazing conversation with a girl with a beautiful name (which I don't remember) who said she had a good heart and would be innocent before God, but soon, as we revealed that God's Word says even our hearts are deceitfully wicked (Jer. 17:9) and out of them flow evil thoughts, adultery, murder, etc, (Matt. 15:19-20) she became convinced that she needed a heart transplant by the Great Physician. This was a wonderful conversation that really challenged her to consider who God was apart from her and who she was apart from God. We got to encourage Sean who said he was a Christian but wasn't living like it to examine himself and see whether or not he is in the faith as Paul commanded (2 Cor. 13:5) and to check out Romans and 1 John on what a true disciple of Christ lives like. We also talked to a guy named Matt who had never thought about what he would tell God on judgment day if God asked him, "Why should I let you into My Heaven?" (great question to ask folks!) He was sobered at the thought that his life actually wasn't just about the here and now but that he has to answer to God. We went and ate lunch at IHOP and had a great time encouraging our waitress. Clay had a conversation with the cash register woman about the Lord and our need for Him. We then shared with each other about the awesome people we talked to and how the conversations went. There were so many and I don't remember all of Clays, so he can tell ya later if ya wanna know. That night we spent the night at Waller Baptist again.