Do yourself a favor and listen to Doug Carver’s sermon from Sunday night of Veteran’s Day.  Just click onto the audio sermons and you can hear it.  He really “rang the bell” for us as he preached on John 15:13.  I knew that everyone present was touched by the things he said because, long after the service was dismissed, hardly anyone had left the building – people just stayed and stayed, basking in the afterglow.

 And the Jubilee Singers, our senior adult chorus, have never sounded better!

 I even baptized in the evening service.  When you miss a service at First Baptist, you miss a lot!

 Next Sunday,  November 18, I will be speaking on a question that God is especially directing to our church – maybe the most crucial question He has for FBCA at the beginning of the 21^st century.  Read Isaiah 6:1-8 before you come to worship and be prepared to give your answer… to God.

 A team of the able-bodied and the willing is needed Sunday afternoon (and Monday morning) to build the Living Christmas Tree.  If you have the time and want to contribute something to this greatest of outreach ministries – plan on being part of the construction crew.

 The Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV), our State convention, is meeting in Richmond the first part of this week.  Several of our staff are there, with me, representing our church.  First Baptist, Alexandria, is the leading church in our convention  so our influence really matters.  Three years ago it was my privilege to serve as President so obviously I care about the proceedings!  Pray for our gathering, and for the decisions being made.

 I am proud to be a Virginia Baptist, and extremely honored to go to this meeting as your pastor.

 Late night reading:  In my suitcase is an autographed copy of the just released prequel, parallel novel to “Gone with the Wind” – Rhett Butler’s People.  The author was in our city last week, and I had lots of questions for Donald McCaig.  Butler has always been one of my favorite characters from literature.  This new book fills in the gaps about his life as Margaret Mitchell wrote mostly about Scarlett.  There’s always two sides to every story, you know.

 Have a blessed week yourself!