Voice of Hope

As 2011 ends, we look forward to a new year filled with anticipation of the great things God will do for His people. The Church of God of Prophecy is entering 21 Days of Seeking. I invite you to join this world-wide movement in prayer for a fresh outpouring of God's Spirit. From my family to yours, Happy New Year!

As I write this, the clock will soon strike midnight in the Eastern Time Zone. By the time you read this, Christmas will be here and hopefully you will be surrounded by people who love you. This Christmas has me doing what I've done for so many Christmas days of years gone by. I am thinking of my father and mother who died too young and after too many years of struggle and heartbreak. It is during the special holidays that people often think back and not only reminisce, but also wonder, "what might have been." Surely by now you are wondering, "why so melancholy for a Christmas day post?" Well, it was during my daydreaming that I looked around the room at my family. Children and grandchildren gathered around me laughing and enjoying the holiday season. I saw a brightly decorated Christmas tree with presents piled around it and the smells of the holidays wafting through the air. Through the years I've thought about my parents and even said to Debra, ...

You can't help but notice the heavy traffic in front of the malls. The people are in a rush running to and fro and wearing themselves out. Nerves are frayed and it isn't uncommon to see tempers flare among shoppers and store employees. It was pretty much the same way in Bethlehem that night...everyone was gathering back to their ancestral homes and the traffic was heavy with all the crowds coming home. As we coast into the last hours until the celebration of Christmas, I pray that we will all take a deep breath, relax and remember the real reason for this season...Jesus! He is the Prince of Peace and I pray that His peace will rule in your hearts. God bless you.

Revival, January 8th-11th Evangelist Johnny Carver Service schedule: Sunday morning 11am, Sunday night 6pm, Monday - Wednesday 7pm Lebanon Church of God of Prophecy 1001 West Spring Street Lebanon Tn. 37087 Pastor Larry Meadors

Children’s Ministry Training coming to your area in January! January 14th: Sparta Church: 9am to 3pm 213 Lum St. Sparta, Tn. 38583 $10 per participant. Every 4th member of your team will be free. Lunch will be provided. January 21st: Jackson: 9am to 3pm Harvest Fellowship Church: 237 Jack Exum Lane, Jackson, Tn. 38305 $10 per participant. Every 4th member of your team will be free. Lunch will be provided. There will be no charge for Pastors to attend. To register, please contact Kim Batson at kim.batson@comcast.net Hope to see you there.

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Pastor Brian Sutton to serve as the new Senior Pastor of the Peerless Road Church in Cleveland, Tennessee. Brian comes to us from the Cliff Haven Church in Sheffield, Alabama. We welcome Brian and his wife Renee and their two children, their daughter Tayler and their son Will. I know you will give a warm Tennessee welcome to them.

From time-to-time, I have used this forum to share death announcements of ministers (active or retired) and their families. So, it shouldn't be surprising that I am making another death notice. So here it is.... Last Sunday night, six-days-ago I died, and it couldn't have been a more welcomed event. Now, before you think I've lost my mind, let me explain to you about my death. For the last ten months I have struggled with multiple problems in churches and faced situations that I simply did not have the answers for, and could not solve. I struggled so desperately with these issues that I found myself drawing inward and dreading the rise of the sun each morning. I went to sleep with these problems on my mind and I woke up with them on my mind. All through the day I thought of nothing else, and that made me unproductive and distracted. You might say there was an internal storm that was raging which didn't seem to have an end in sight. All through this time, people w...

I received a copy of an email that Pastor Mike Jennette sent to David Bryan, Global Outreach Director. Pastor Jennette is always so kind to copy me with such correspondence and I have received his permission to share this with you. ===== Hello Bro. Bryan, I hope you are doing well and I wanted to share the great mission experience we just had @ Empowered going to Haiti. Myself and 9 other men left for Haiti Nov. 5th to meet up with Bro. McCaleb. I believe I was the only one who had been on a foreign mission before and I had only been to Kenya in 2004. The trip was absolutely amazing and life changing for me and the others. We started preparing in July of this year and raised money several different ways. Also, we scheduled Bro. McCaleb to speak one Sunday morning and everyone who was committed to going went to lunch with him. He prepared us for our arrival into Haiti, which was a very different experience, told us what tools we would need and how much money it would take. This luncheo...