I will be preaching in supply tonight (Wednesday) for my pastor Rusty Womack at First Baptist Church of Lake Butler, Florida. The service will begin at 6:30pm. First Baptist Church of Lake Butler is located at 195 East Main Street.
Brother Rusty will be concluding revival services tonight for Eastside Baptist Church in Lake City, Florida.
Please be in prayer for both of these services.
Pastor Ron Thompson of First Baptist Church of White Springs has asked me to fill the pulpit for him on Sunday, June 19th at 11am. I always enjoy worshipping at FBC White Springs because I have so many friends there and my brother, John Croft, is the Music Director.
First Baptist Church is located on Camp Street in White Springs, Florida.
Dave & Sherrie will be in concert at my home church, First Baptist Church of Lake Butler, this Sunday, March 6th at 6pm. The service will be held in the Union County High School auditorium in Lake Butler, Florida. The "Sherrie" in Dave & Sherrie is my sister Sherrie Davis. Her singing partner is David Godwin.
Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend the service as I will be traveling to Pensacola, Florida to speak at a recycling conference.
Please be in prayer for Dave & Sherrie and the service, and for me as I travel.
I received an e-mail today with the following "Christian One-Liners". I thought I would share it with you.
"Christian One-Liners"
Don't let your worries get the best of you. Remember, Moses started out as a basket case".
Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited - until you try to sit in their pews.
Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisers.
It is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one.
The good Lord didn't create anything without a purpose, but mosquitoes and sand gnats come close.
When you get to your wit's end, you'll find God lives there.
People are funny, they want the front of the bus, the middle of the road, and the back of the church.
Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your front door forever.
Quit griping about your church; if it were perfect, you couldn't belong.
If the church wants a better pastor, it only needs to pray for the one it has.
Some minds are like concrete, thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.
Peace starts with a smile.
I don't know why some people change churches; what difference does it make which one you stay home from?
A lot of church members who are singing "Standing on the Promises" are just sitting on the premises.
We were called to be witnesses, not lawyers or judges.
Be ye fishers of men. You catch them - He'll clean them.
Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.
Don't put a question mark where God put a period.
Don't wait for 6 strong men to take you to church.
Forbidden fruits create many jams.
God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
God grades on the cross, not the curve.
God loves everyone, but probably prefers "fruits of the spirit" over "religious nuts!"
God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.
He who angers you, controls you!
If God is your Copilot - swap seats!
Prayer: Don't give God instructions -- just report for duty!
The task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.
The Will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not protect you.
We don't change the message, the message changes us.
You can tell how big a person is by what it takes to ........ discourage him.
The best mathematical equation I have ever seen: 1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given.
This Sunday, February 27th I will be preaching in my home county, Baker County, at First Baptist Church of Glen St. Mary, Florida. I will be preaching in supply for Pastor Tim Patterson at 11am & 6pm. First Baptist Church is located on George L. Taber Blvd. in Glen St. Mary, Florida.
This past Saturday I attended the wedding of my niece Krystle and her new husband Curtis. The wedding was held at First Baptist Church of White Springs (Florida) with the reception at Stephen Foster Memorial.
I took almost 200 photos of the festivities and I wanted to share one with you and ask that you join me in praying for this new family. Both Curtis & Krystle are professing Christians. Curtis is in the US Coast Guard and they will be living in Virginia.
The revival services at Brinson Baptist Church (Georgia) ended last night. These services were really a blessing to me. It was great to minister with Pastor Ellis Hardwick, Minister of Youth Avery Hutto and the congregation. Lisa Donalson led the music and done a wonderful job. Not only did I enjoy the services, but I had a great time of fellowship with various families in the church.
I hope you will say a prayer for everyone at Brinson Baptist Church and ask the Lord to use them in a mighty way to further His Kingdom.
I received a call yesterday (Tuesday) from my friend Terry Elixson to schedule a revival in May. Terry has just started as pastor of First Baptist Church of Winter Springs, Florida. He had been the pastor of Attapulgus (Georgia) Baptist Church.
I will preach revival services in Winter Springs beginning Sunday, May 15, 2005 at 10:45am. The services will continue at 6:30pm nightly through Wednesday, May 18th.
First Baptist Church of Winter Springs is located at 817 East State Road 434 in Winter Springs, Florida. You can call Pastor Terry Elixson at (407) 327-5626 for more information.
The revival services got underway this morning at Brinson Baptist Church in Brinson, Georgia. The morning & evening services were well attended. The meetings continue at 7pm through Wednesday. Please continue to pray for these services and my travel back home on Thursday.
Revival services begin at Brinson Baptist Church in Brinson, Georgia this Sunday, February 20th. Please be in prayer for these services.
The Valentine Banquet at New Home Baptist Church in Perry on Saturday night was a great time of food, fellowship, laughs and Bible study. It was nice to visit with some friends that I have not seen in quite some time. We played a biblical game of Hollywood Squares that featured some of New Home's own "stars". It was a lot of fun and a lot of laughs too!
The next day (Sunday) I preached the morning & evening services at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Mayo. It was great to worship again with Pastor Ted Rushing and all of the fine folks at Pleasant Grove.
I hope you will remember both of these churches and their ministries in your prayer time.
Tomorrow (Saturday) I will be traveling to Perry, Florida to speak at the New Home Baptist Church Youth Valentine Banquet. I spoke during this banquet a couple of years ago and really had a good time.
On Sunday I will be returning to Pleasant Grove Baptist Church near Mayo, Florida to preach during the morning & evening worship services. It will be good to see my friends there again.
Please be in prayer for all of these services and for safe travel too.
I have just added Columbia Baptist Church's Homecoming to my schedule for September 2005. The service will begin at 11am on Sunday, September 25th.
I have preached several times at Columbia Baptist Church over the past few years. I remember preaching services for them when they were meeting in a house. It was interesting bringing the message in the living room so close to the front row you could reach out and touch them. I often joked that if the people on the front row felt like I was "steppin' on their toes" it was probably because I really was stepping on their toes! Now the church is located in a beautiful new building.
Columbia Baptist Church is located on State Road 47, south of Lake City, next to Columbia City Elementary School. For more information call Pastor Daryl Tomlinson at (386) 752-5199.
Pastor Terry Elixson, Sr. of Grace Christian Fellowship in Worthington Springs, Florida contacted me today to set up revival services for the church. The revival will begin on Sunday, April 17, 2005 with services at 11am & 6pm and will continue Monday-Wednesday evening at 7pm.
Grace Christian Fellowship is located on County Road 238A off of County Road 18 near Worthington Springs. This will be my first time to minister at this church. I hope you all will be praying for the services and the preparations over the next two months.
"Friend Day" at Pinetta Baptist Church in Ocilla, Georgia has been rescheduled. The special service mentioned in an earlier post on this site was scheduled for March 20th, but has now been changed to Sunday, May 22nd at 11am.
My pastor, Rusty Womack, has asked me to fill in for him on Wednesday, March 9th at First Baptist Church of Lake Butler. The service begins at 6:30pm at 195 E. Main Street in Lake Butler, Florida.
Today I've added two new preaching engagements to the schedule for next month. The first is on Sunday, February 13th at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, 816 SW CR351, in Mayo, Florida. I'll be preaching the morning & evening worship services at 11am & 6pm. I preached revival services there last September and we had a wonderful time of worship & fellowship. Pastor Ted Rushing and the congregation made me feel like part of the family.
On Sunday, February 27th I'll be preaching in supply for Pastor Tim Patterson during the morning (11am) and evening (6pm) worship services at First Baptist Church of Glen St. Mary, Florida. I gave a devotion during a senior's luncheon several years ago at this church but this will be my first time preaching there and I'm looking forward to ministering to them.
Please be in prayer for these services.
A very good friend of mine, Mark Spradley, has recently been called as the Minister of Youth at Forest Grove Baptist Church in Alachua, Florida. Today he called me to schedule a youth revival beginning Sunday night August 21st and ending on Wednesday night August 24th. I'm looking forward to ministering to the youth at Forest Grove. Please be in prayer for these services and for the Lord to give me just the right messages for them.
This is Mark's first full-time ministry position. He has previously served bivocationally as Minister of Youth at First Baptist Church of White Springs (FL) and Wellborn Baptist Church (FL). Please pray for him & his family as they move into full-time service for the Lord.
Pinetta Baptist Church in Ocilla, Georgia will be having "Friend Day" on Sunday, March 20th at 11am. Pastor Jeff Wells has invited me to preach this service. I'm looking forward to making a lot of new friends in Ocilla on "Friend Day"!
I spoke with Pastor Ellis Hartwick of Brinson (Georgia) Baptist Church last night and final preparations are underway for revival services next month. Lisa Donalson from Fellowship Baptist Church in Brinson, Georgia will lead music & worship for the services. Posters should begin appearing in the area within about two weeks.
The services will begin on Sunday, February 20th at 11am & 6pm and will continue Monday-Wednesday night at 7pm.
Please be in prayer for these services and all of the preparations.
My home church, First Baptist of Lake Butler, Florida, will begin "40 Days of Purpose" the last Sunday of this month. Each week will have a special emphasis as believers seek God's purpose for their life.
On Sunday, March 13th we will hold a Mission Fair before and after the morning service. I will be coordinating the fair which will feature information booths about our church's mission projects in Honduras, Montana, central Florida, Ghana, West Africa and local efforts in Union County. You will be able to see photos of activities, learn how you can assist, and even taste some food found in the region.
I'll add more info on this as it becomes available or you can call Pastor Rusty Womack at (386) 496-3704.
I received a call from Glenn Luttrell, pastor of Riverside Baptist Church in Mayo, Florida, to lead revival services in March. The series of meetings will begin on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 and will continue at 7pm nightly through Saturday, March 26th. The final service will be on Easter Sunday March 27th at 11am. Not only will this service be the final revival service and an Easter service, but it is also the church's homecoming service.
Riverside Baptist Church is located on County Road 151 off State 27 near Mayo. Please be in prayer for this series of meetings.
I was contacted today by New Home Baptist Church Minister of Youth Bill Lawhon about speaking during a youth valentine banquet this year. It will be on Saturday, February 12, 2005 at 6pm. New Home Baptist Church is located in Perry, Florida.
Please be in prayer for all of the preparations for this banquet and for the message that I should bring to the youth.
I normally spend New Year's Day at my dad's annual cookout; however, this year my brother, John (pictured above), and I attended the 2005 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. John received a couple of tickets for Christmas and invited me to go. We both missed the great food that is always enjoyed at the cookout, but we really enjoyed the game too. Both of us are Florida State Seminole fans and the Noles beat West Virginia 30-18.
I really had a great time watching the game and the fellowhip with my brother. I hope that the start of 2005 was a great time for you too.
Praise the Lord for a new year that will be filled with opportunities for each of us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's make the best of every opportunity.
I have been asked to help conduct a children's camp in August for New Oak Grove Baptist Church in Alachua, Florida. The camp begins on a Sunday night and ends on Wednesday night and is held at Camp Kalaqua in High Springs, Florida. I'll be teaching the children during morning & evening chapel services. I did this camp last year for the church and we had a great time of fellowship & worship.
Please be in prayer for the church's preparations for this camp and for me as I prepare a series of lessons for the camp.
Curtis Richards was one of the 2004 Ghana Mission Team members that attended a fellowship dinner tonight in Lake City, Florida. Pictured with Curtis is his wife Malinda. It was a night of good food and good fellowship at the Porterhouse Grill. This is the second time the team has gotten together since our trip in October.
I will be preaching at Athens Baptist Church on CR240 in Columbia City (south of Lake City, FL) this Sunday at 11am & 6pm. Pastor Mike Divine and his wife will be away visiting with relatives for a few days.
Please be in prayer for these services and for safe travel for Brother Mike & his wife.
I will be filling in for my pastor, Rusty Womack, at First Baptist Church of Lake Butler, Florida this Wednesday night at 6:30pm. Brother Rusty will be away conducting a wedding.
Please pray for this service as well as the wedding service and safe travel for Brother Rusty and his family.
I ended my supply work at Orange Heights Baptist Church tonight. We had some great services today with one man getting saved in the second morning service! I have really enjoyed my time with the folks at Orange Heights. Pastor Lonnie Broome will return to the pulpit next Sunday.
I also was able to preach a service at North Florida Rehabilitation & Specialty Care Center today in Gainesville. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and ministry with the residents. It was also exciting to have Ken Crenshaw playing the piano for the service. Ken is a musician for Shiloh Baptist Church in Ft. White, Florida and was a member of our 2004 Ghana Mission Construction Team.
I hope that all of you have a wonderful, Christ centered Christmas!!!
Remember, without Jesus Christ there would be no Christ-mas!
This Sunday, December 26th will be my last scheduled services at Orange Heights Baptist Church in Orange Heights, Florida. Pastor Lonnie Broome is scheduled to return to the pulpit at the first of the new year. I will be preaching at 8:30am, 11am & 6pm.
I will also be conducting a service for the residents at North Florida Rehabilitation & Specialty Care Center in Gainesville this Sunday at 3pm.
Please be in prayer for all of these services.
The High Springs Herald has a front page story about our 2004 Ghana Mission Trip today. The newspaper is located in High Springs, Florida where Ken Crenshaw resides. Ken was a member of the construction team and also is a musician at Shiloh Baptist Church in Ft. White, Florida.
You can view the story at: http://www.highspringsherald.com/articles/2004/12/28/news/news05.txt.
I will be preaching this Sunday at Shiloh Baptist Church in Ft. White, Florida. Pastor Mark Driskell will be on vacation and I will minister during the 11am & 7pm services. Please be in prayer for these services as well as a safe, fun & relaxing time away for Brother Mark and his family.
The Christmas float for New River Solid Waste Association took second place honors in the annual Starke Christmas Parade this morning. The parade is sponsored by the North Florida Regional Chamber of Commerce.
This is the second award this float has won this month. On Friday, December 3rd it won First Place in the Commercial Division during the Lake Butler Christmas Parade (see earlier post for details). The float was also entered in the annual Macclenny Christmas Parade on December 4th.
I will be preaching both morning services at Orange Heights Baptist Church in Orange Heights, Florida this Sunday. The services begin at 8:30am & 11am. Please be in prayer for these services.
I completed my interview for our video about the 2004 Ghana Mission Trip tonight. Now the real work begins... choosing which photos and video clips to include in the project. Our prayer is to have the video completed after the first of the year.
The City of Lake Butler Christmas Parade was held last night and the agency that I work for, New River Solid Waste Association, won First Place in the commercial division. I am the Assistant Director of Recycling & Education, so I get to do a lot of public relations events. The Christmas parades are a lot of fun and they give us an opportunity to remind the public about recycling too.
The theme of the parade was "A Storybook Christmas", so our float featured a recycling igloo in a rocking chair reading a book to little igloos. Of course the book was the Bible which contains the REAL Christmas story. Everything on the float is made from recycled materials.
A special "thank you" goes to my staff that spent quite a few hours building the float: David McKinney, Donnie King, Paul Johnson, Bartow Lee & Darrell Williams.
We will have the float in the Macclenny Christmas Parade tonight and in the Starke Christmas Parade next Saturday morning.
I think that my "day" job is very closely related to my ministry in that God expects Christians to be good stewards of His creation and recycling is one way to do that. I often say that I am a "total environmentalist" because my secular job is to see that your environment on Earth is the best it can be and my ministry is to see that your "environment" in eternity is the best it can be.
I'll be preaching the two morning worship services at Orange Heights Baptist Church tomorrow (Dec. 5th) and next Sunday (Dec. 12th). The services begin at 8:30am & 11am. I'll also be preaching the morning & evening (6pm) services the Sunday after Christmas (Dec. 26th). Orange Heights Baptist Church is located at 16700 NE SR 26 in Orange Heights, FL.
Kristie Fletcher adjusts the lighting prior to Ken Crenshaw's video interview on Thursday night. Crenshaw and fellow 2004 Ghana Construction Team member Curtis Richards were interviewed for the 2004 Ghana Mission Video. All of the team members have now been interviewed except for me. I'll add my narration of the trip next week. Kristie is the wife of photojournalist Jon Fletcher who has made the trip to Ghana with our team for the past two years. Kristie will be producing this years' video as she did last year.
Completion of the video is expected by the end of this year.
I'm preaching the 11am & 6pm worship services today at New River Baptist Church, 16703 SW 144th Ave., Brooker, FL. Pastor Jason Reid is away for a holiday rest.
Our 2004 Ghana mission trip video is making progress! We held an interview session with four of the team members last Friday night. The session took about 5 hours but went very well. We will conduct more interviews tonight and hopefully we will complete them in the next two weeks. We will then be able to proceed with the rest of the project. I'm still praying that we will have a completed product by the first of the year even though the holiday season will slow things up.
Another article about the trip appeared in last Saturday's (November 20th) edition of the Lake City Reporter; however, the story is not in their online version.
It has been a while since I've made a post on this site. It has been a busy time for me working on some new & cool stuff for the website.
I'll update this site as all of these things are updated.
Revival Services at Raiford Road Church in Macclenny begin Sunday and continue through Wednesday night.
The Bradford County Telegraph has a story about our 2004 Ghana Mission Trip. Here is a link to the online version of the story: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13286107&BRD=2150&PAG=461&dept_id=411073&rfi=6.
The Baker County Standard also carried the story and the online version is here http://www.bcstandard.com/news/2004/1104/Front_Page/003.html.
The Baker County Press also carried three photos with a caption but it is not available online.
I praise the Lord that I live in a country where citizens have a voice. I praise the Lord for the citizens that took their responsibility seriously and voted in our general election. I praise the Lord that I live in a country where this process takes place without military force, mass revolts or loss of life.
Now that the election is over we must all come together and pray for our president. We should also pray not only for all of the winners in the election, but also for those who gave their all in their race even though they were not successfull. I personally know how it feels to win an election and how badly it hurts to lose an election, so please pray for all of the candidates and their families. Let's also make a daily effort to pray for our leaders to have wisdom, compassion, and humility as they make decisions that impact US citizens and the rest of the world. Let's also pray that if they do not know Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior that the Holy Spirit will convict them of that need. Let's pray for God's perfect will for our country and leaders!
Here is an interesting website about praying for our president and leaders: http://www.presidentialprayerteam.org/.
This is the day that United States voters will elect the man that will serve as President for the next four years. I hope that every eligible citizen will take this responsibility seriously and let their voice be heard by voting. I pray that the result will reflect God’s perfect will for our nation.
The youth service at Orange Heights Baptist Church went very well tonight. A good crowd of teens and young adults were on hand for the event which featured games, food, music and the Word. The Saturday service begins at 6pm. Please be in prayer for this service.
I was contacted late yesterday afternoon by the pastor of Orange Heights Baptist Church to conduct a youth revival tonight & tomorrow night. Pastor Lonnie Broome said they had a last minute cancellation and needed a speaker. The services begin each night at 6pm. Orange Heights Baptist is located on SR26 just off of US301 in Orange Heights, FL (south of Starke & Waldo on US301).
Please be in prayer for these two services as well as the revival that begins at Athens Baptist in Columbia City on Sunday.
The 2004 Ghana Mission Team returned safely yesterday (Monday).
We had several challenges during this trip, but God richly blessed the effort. The crusade drew approximately 800 people the first night and over 2000 each night thereafter. Friday night over 2700 people came to the grounds. We showed “The Passion of the Christ” movie on Saturday night on the large screen and 4,892 people were in attendance. The construction team was able to complete their task and now Zion Evangelistic Ministry has a meeting place for their organization and a community center for local youth. Please continue to pray for the Lord to bless Evangelist Ralph and the members of this organization as they continue to minister in Teshie and surrounding areas.
The greatest blessing of all: 593 souls were added to God’s Kingdom during the crusade!!! Over 600 were saved when you add in decisions made in local churches where I preached. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!!!
I want to sincerely thank all who prayerfully and financially supported this trip. May God richly bless you for your investment in His Kingdom.
Photos from the trip will be added to www.jamescroft.org in about 2 weeks and video preparation will begin soon. I will post notices as details become available.
We have arrived in Amsterdam safely. After our "interesting" experience just trying to check luggage an uneventful flight was actually nice. I think we may have all slept a few hours on the flight. We begin boarding for Accra in about 35 minutes or so.
I talked to Ralph last night and they are all excited and so are we. I'll try to post a new audio tonight or tomorrow night.
Keep praying!!!
Here's an updated list of dates for you to pray for:
Saturday, October 9th: Construction Team and I depart for Ghana.
Sunday, October 10th: Construction Team and I arrive in Ghana.
Monday-Friday, October 11-15th: Construction begins on building for Zion Evangelistic Ministry.
Thursday, October 14th: Ministry Team departs for Ghana.
Friday, October 15th: Church Leader's Conference.
Friday, October 15th: Ministry Team arrives in Ghana.
Saturday, October 16th: I will be preaching during a Ghanaian wedding.
Sunday, October 17th: Ministering in Deliverance Evangelistic Ministry Church.
Tuesday, October 19th: Vacation Bible School at Teshie Orphanage Centre.
Wednesday, October 20th: Vacation Bible Schools at Teshie Orphanage Centre and two local schools.
Friday, October 22nd: Vacation bible Schools at two local schools.
Monday-Friday, October 18-22nd: Gathering of the Clouds Crusade.
Saturday, October 23rd: Showing of the movie "Passion of the Christ".
Sunday, October 24th: Ministering in local church, dedication service for new building and both teams depart Ghana.
Monday, October 25th: Mission teams arrive in Florida.
Also, please be in prayer for all of the preparations and finances for this trip along with family members that will be waiting at home.
The crusade itinerary will be updated as info becomes available at this site: http://www.jamescroft.org/Ghana%20Crusade%20Itenerary.htm.
Information about financial contributions for the Ghana mission trip is available at: http://www.jamescroft.org/Ghana%20Crusade%20Contributions.htm.
God really blessed our revival services at Riverside Baptist Church in Gilchrist County, FL this week. The meetings ended tonight, but decisions that were made will last for eternity. I pray that the Lord will bless Pastor Alwin Pflueger and the congregation as they minister in the community for Jesus.
Revival services begin today at Riverside Baptist Church south of Fort White. Please pray that God will move mightily in the hearts of His people during these services and that those who do not know Him will be convicted and will respond to the Holy Spirit.
Two days have been set for our mission team to minister at the Teshie Orphanage Centre during our upcoming Ghana, West Africa trip. We will present two sessions of the “Far Out Far East Rickshaw Rally” Vacation Bible School to the children at the orphanage. The dates for this ministry will be Tuesday & Wednesday, October 19th & 20th at 2:30pm GMT. Please pray for these opportunities and for the children of Teshie.
A dear friend of mine has moved on to a new job. David Dinkins has left Bradford County as County Extension Director to assume the same position in St. John's County. I had the honor of being a part of a reception in his honor recently. You can read about some of the accomplishments of this devoted agent in this article in the Bradford County Telegraph http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12978292&BRD=2150&PAG=461&dept_id=377017&rfi=6.
Bradford County's loss is certainly St. John's County's gain. God bless you David!
Visa applications have been submitted to the Embassy of Ghana in Washington, D.C. Please pray that this process goes well and the documents return with time to spare. Almost 1,000 posters were also shipped out today to Zion Evangelistic Ministry. These will be used to promote the upcoming crusade. The construction team will be meeting on Thursday to discuss the building process and tools needed.
Please be in prayer for all of these preparations. October 9th is the departure date for the construction team and October 14th is the departure date for the ministry team.
Thanks to Hurricane Jeanne I, along with many, many others, am temporarily without electricity at home. The power went off around 5pm Sunday afternoon. It is interesting that it went off at about the same time two weeks ago with Hurricane Frances and on a Sunday too!
I tried to post an audio blog last night with my cell phone out on the front porch with all of the wind blowing and stuff like that, you know for that real reporter sound; however, when I checked it today only about half of it was understandable. I guess the wind was creating problems for the cell signals too.
The New River Solid Waste Association landfill was closed today as is a lot of other agencies. A day off is good, but without electricity there isn't a whole lot you can do. I'm able to post this thanks to having a full battery charge on my laptop and the telephone service still works.
The last time the power was out with Hurricane Frances it did not come back on for five days. I certainly hope that is not the case this time.
Please be in prayer for the upcoming 2004 Gathering of the Clouds Crusade dates:
Saturday, October 9th: Construction Team and I depart for Ghana.
Sunday, October 10th: Construction Team and I arrive in Ghana.
Monday-Friday, October 11-15th: Construction begins on building for Zion Evangelistic Ministry.
Thursday, October 14th: Ministry Team departs for Ghana.
Friday, October 15th: Ministry Team arrives in Ghana.
Saturday, October 16th: I will be preaching during a Ghanaian wedding.
Sunday, October 17: Ministering in local church.
Monday-Friday, October 18-22nd: Gathering of the Clouds Crusade.
Saturday, October 23rd: Showing of the movie "Passion of the Christ".
Sunday, October 24th: Ministering in local church and both teams depart Ghana.
Monday, October 25th: Mission teams arrive in Florida.
Also, please be in prayer for all of the preparations and finances for this trip along with family members that will be waiting at home.
The crusade itinerary will be updated as info becomes available at this site: http://www.jamescroft.org/Ghana%20Crusade%20Itenerary.htm.
Information about financial contributions for the Ghana mission trip is available at: http://www.jamescroft.org/Ghana%20Crusade%20Contributions.htm.
Florida is once again in the direct path of a hurricane. This has become an all too familiar drill for Floridians. This time our area of the state is expected to have some severe weather conditions Sunday, Sunday night and Monday morning in the form of 40-45mph sustained winds, 70mph wind gusts, threats of tornados and rain sufficient to cause flooding. Please be in prayer for all who have been and will be affected by this hurricane.
We completed revival services at Sardis Baptist Church in Worthington Springs tonight. The services were well attended and there was a sweet spirit in the church. I would like to thank Pastor Paul O'Steen for allowing me the opportunity to minister to his congregation.
Mark Lowery, 2004 Ghana Construction Team Leader and officer with the Baker County Sheriff's Department, will leave today for Pensacola to assist law enforcement officers in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan.
Team member Sonja St. John, also a member of OPT (Olustee Praise Team), and I will begin revival services at Sardis Baptist Church in Worthington Springs this morning and continue through Thursday night. OPT will be leading the worship in each service. If you have never heard them minister in song you have missed a blessing!
Please continue to be in prayer for these and other 2004 Ghana Mission Team members as we move into the last few weeks of preparation for our trip.
Planning for using a digital projector during the 2004 Gathering of the Clouds Crusade was in full swing late Friday night. David McKinney and I met with Jon Fletcher at his home to discuss how the screen should be constructed for the crusade in Ghana, West Africa next month.
A video camera will be used to capture the activity taking place on stage and in the music area during the crusade. This will then be projected live onto a large 20' x 25' screen near the stage for the crowd to see. This will help everyone present have a good view of the music and preaching service.
On Saturday night the plans are to show the hit Mel Gibson film "The Passion of the Christ" on the giant screen. There is no admission charge to the movie or the crusade.
Pictured above discussing the test image projected on a much smaller version of the screen are (left to right) James Croft, David McKinney and Jon Fletcher.
More information about the Ghana Crusade can be viewed at http://www.jamescroft.org/Ghana%20Crusade.htm.
Three members of the 2004 Ghana Mission Construction Team received their immunizations for international travel on Friday at the Alachua County Health Department in Gainesville, FL. Mark Lowery, Ken Crenshaw & Curtis Richards sat through a required presentation by an International Health Nurse before receiving several shots. These immunizations included Yellow Fever, Tetanus, Hepatitis A and Typhoid Fever. They were also given prescriptions for Malaria pills.
The government of Ghana requires the immunization for Yellow Fever and the others are recommendations from the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
When I spoke with Curtis this afternoon he said he was feeling "stuck up".
This is the poster for the 2004 Ghana Crusade in October. It was designed by Jon Fletcher.
Revival services ended last night in Mayo, FL at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church. We had a wonderful week of services in spite of rain and the threat of Hurricane Ivan. There was a sweet spirit among the congregation. I pray that the Lord greatly blesses the church, each member and visitor. A special thanks to Pastor Ted Rushing and the congregation for the wonderful fellowship and hospitality.
I begin leading revival services on Sunday at Sardis Baptist Church in Worthington Springs, FL. This will be my first time preaching at this church. I'm also excited about OPT (Olustee Praise Team) leading the worship in each service. I hope you will be in prayer for these services.
This is a new audio feature for my blog. When you see the icon above all you have to do is click the arrow. You will then be asked if you want to open or save the file. This is your choice. If you save it will be downloaded to your computer, if you choose to open it will download and then begin playing through Windows Media Player or whatever program you have installed that will play MP3's. You will then hear the post that I have recorded. The files can be as large as 600kb so it may take a couple of minutes on a dial-up connection for it to download.
This will be a great tool for me to post to the blog on the move with any telephone - even my cellphone! This will also allow me to post more frequently and have more up-to-date info on the blog for your review. I think it will be a great tool for updating you from Ghana, West Africa in October!
Let me know what you think about this new feature.
The electricity to my home and some others in Olustee was restored around 10am today. Praise the Lord!
We all still need to be in prayer for those that are still without power and those that have lost homes, property, etc. due to the storm. We also need to be in prayer for the state of Florida as Hurricane Ivan now approaches our shore.
Even in the storms God is still in control!!!
I just learned that the weekend conference that had been planned for Huntsville Baptist in Lake City on September 17 & 18th has been cancelled. It may be rescheduled at another time.
I traveled to Quitman, Georgia last night to preach during a meeting of the Mercer Baptist Association at Evergreen Baptist Church. There was a great spirit during the service and a great time of fellowship afterward.
It was great to see some friends that I haven't seen in a while, i.e. David Cook the Director of Missions, Charlie Scarborough the Interim Pastor at Barney Baptist and Jerry Sapp from Morven Baptist. Of course, it is always good to make new friends too.
The trip went very smoothly in spite of all of the west bound traffic on I-10 and US 90. Apparently I-10 is under water in a few locations between Lake City and Jacksonville and traffic was being detoured onto US 90. I have never seen so much traffic on US 90 coming through my hometown of Olustee! It took a considerable amount of time to cross US 90 in Olustee, something that we are not accustomed to.
Electricity has been restored to some parts of Olustee, but NOT the part where I live. You would think as small as our town is that one switch would cover everyone. 8-)
Maybe a little wet and windblown, but still riding out the storm.
A lot of us in Florida lost power on Sunday due to the impact of Hurricane Frances. Thank the Lord that no one around me has suffered any major damages. I did venture over to my office in Raiford at New River Solid Waste Association this morning. Power is on at our building and that is where I've held up for a while even though our operation is closed until tomorrow (Tuesday).
We can all be thankful that the storm has not been as bad as it could have been and we can especially be thankful that God is in control even in the storm!!! Who knows, I may just have the message for the Mercer Baptist Association meeting on Tuesday night in Quitman, Georgia. 8-)
Jon Fletcher and I met on Friday night to work on posters & information handouts for the upcoming Ghana mission trip. Jon also designed a beautiful new poster that can be used for upcoming revival dates, etc. It looks much better than the one I was using. He is a very talented man. I pray that God richly blesses his efforts.
On Saturday night we met again to test out possible materials to use for a projection screen while in Ghana. Our plans are to have a 25' wide x 20' tall screen to project on to with a digital projector. We will use a video camera to feed to the projector so we can show events on the stage and music area on the large screen. This will tremendously help visibility during the crusade and may draw even more people too. We will also use the screen to show a movie to the crowd one night. This should be very exciting.
I hope you will join with me in praying that all of the technical equipment arrives safely and works as it should. We certainly want God to receive full honor & glory with every thing we do to enhance these upcoming ministry opportunities.
Members of the 2004 Ghana Mission Team for James Croft Evangelistic Association are: (left to right): Curtis Richards; Sonja St. John; Ken Crenshaw; James Croft (Evangelist/Team Leader); David McKinney; Jon Fletcher; Angela Lowery; and Mark Lowery (Construction Team Leader).
For more information about the 2004 Ghana mission trip visit http://www.jamescroft.org/Ghana%20Crusade.htm.
Photo by Jon Fletcher.
Many churches are cancelling worship services for tomorrow (Sunday). I received word this afternoon that Parkview Baptist Church in Lake City will be cancelling all services tomorrow. I was scheduled to fill in as teacher for the Sanctuary Class for Bobby Clark.
The services at my home church First Baptist Church of Lake Butler (http://www.afn.org/~fbcoflb/) have also been cancelled.
I'm just thankful to the Lord that Hurricane Frances has weakened. Let's all be in prayer for those that have been affected and for those that are still in its' path.
Visitors since September 6, 2004
