Videos from our youth group

This is a skit that many youth groups are currently doing across the country. Our youth recently performed this at our Texas State Youth Convention. The Song is "Everything" by Lifehouse. It's a powerful skit and I never get tired of watching as I'm reminded of God's love that seeks after us and is faithful even when we are not faithful and wooed by lovers less wild. Thank you Jesus for not giving up on us. You are truly amazing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nFKavdC_GA

The Lyrics are below

"Everything" by Lifehouse

Find Me Here
Speak To Me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
You are the light
That's leading me
To the place where I find peace again.

You are the strength, that keeps me walking.
You are the hope, that keeps me trusting.
You are the light to my soul.
You are my purpose...you're everything.

How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

You calm the storms, and you give me rest.
You hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall.
You steal my heart, and you take my breath away.
Would you take me in? Take me deeper now?

Cause you're all I want, You're all I need
You're everything,everything
You're all I want your all I need
You're everything, everything.
You're all I want you're all I need.
You're everything, everything
You're all I want you're all I need, you're everything, everything.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!  Sorry we are unable to get Christmas cards out to ALL of you, but we are thankful for each and every one of you and hope that you and your families have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year this year!  God bless you all!

A Lady In Need

My brother George helping a lady in need this past week on the local news in Cleveland
Double click the link below, copy and paste and then click the hugging picture under videos
http://www.myfoxcleveland.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5212004&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.1.1

The Gift of Giving

By Pastor Jer

What was the greatest gift you ever received for Christmas or what is the greatest gift you have ever given? The second question may be a little bit harder to answer than the first, but one thing I know, giving is contagious. A lady in Pennsylvania this week going through the Starbucks drive-thru paid for the car behind her. This nice gesture at Starbucks went on for 2 hours as one person after another paid for the person who was waiting behind them.

Several things I am learning about giving is that it is easy to give when you realize who it all belongs to. Whenever I get possessive of things or people I do not enjoy them the way God intended me to enjoy them. Another lesson I am trying to grasp is learning the value of the gift. It is so easy to take God, family and friends for granted. The loyalty, love and memories shared are precious.

Luke 6:38 reads, “Give, and it will be given to you.” I can be more than generous when I know that God is my provider. God wants to use you this week to show His love to someone in need. Ask the Lord how you can be used as His gift. Merry Christmas!

Over due update!

Sorry for the delay in the updates! Here is a picture of Sabrina and baby Graydon at 24 weeks, (six months). At this point this picture is even a bit outdated! Sabrina is almost 30 weeks now and baby "G", as we lovingly like to call him, is continuing to grow just as he should. We had a check-up this afternoon and everything looks good and everyone is healthy, PRAISE GOD! Now that Graydon is getting bigger (weighing about 2.5 lbs), he's moving a lot more and his kicks are getting much stronger which has been a lot of fun for Sabrina, and myself, to experience! I'll try to get the most recent "belly" picture up soon for those of you who are interested. Thank you again for all your prayers as we continue on this exciting adventure!

Let’s work on this some more

I have been keeping a journal for the past 6 years. Journaling has been such a blessing to me as I go back and relearn what I have forgotten and to see how far God has brought me and how far He has yet to take me. I came across an entry from last March about getting upset over little things in my life, which is something God has been speaking to me about lately. Sometimes I just get upset or frustrated for no reason at all, but at the time I feel like I justify my reactions. I feel the root of that is peace and learning that I can’t be in control of everything even if I want to and that is ok.

God’s patience is incredible and I love how He continues to allow us to work on issues so we become more like Him. I was struggling with this issue almost a year ago and this past week it came back up again. It was almost like God was telling me, “Let’s work on this some more Jeremy”. Most of the time we don’t just surrender something to God and never have to deal with it again, but it’s a process as we continue to rely on God’s strength to overcome.

So what is your issue or issues that keep on coming up? Instead of getting all frustrated, thank God that you have been given another opportunity to work on this. If it is sin don’t try to justify it and just agree with God that this it is sin and you need His forgiveness with it. I want to come to a point where I desire God more than I do holding onto my struggles and sin. So let God work on it some more.

Living a life Christ died to give

When the Sonagrapher told Sabrina my wife and I that we were having a boy, of course we were both excited and the news made things even more real, especially for me. I experienced great joy and I also had a sense of overwhelming responsibility in thinking about trying to raise a young man in this world today. I thought about the issues and personal struggles that still linger in my life and how I wished the Lord had gotten rid of those before my first child is born. This however, is not reality and we are all a work in progress and our Creator and Savior is patient.

A question I came across this week was, “Are you living the life that Christ died to give you?” 1 John 1:6 says, “If we claim to have fellowship with God yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth”. Christ has not only died and risen to forgive us, but has died to set us free from sin in this life. I no longer have to live as a prisoner to sin, but can live the life God has always intended me to live by being in fellowship with Him. God will continue to refine His children and I know my soon to be son Graydon will not always see his dad live a perfect life, but I hope he can see God’s love through me as I strive to live a life Christ died to give.

We Know What We're Having!

For those of you who can't tell what your looking at...it's our SON! We're having a boy! This is a profile of Graydon Robert White. His head is on the right and his belly is on the left. You should be able to see his forehead, eye, ear, nose, mouth, and chin pretty clearly. We are very excited to know that everything looks good and he is developing just how he should! Only 18 more weeks to go until we get to meet our little man. Please continue to pray for the healthy development of our baby and we'll continue to keep you updated! We appreciate all of you and all your prayers.

Half Way There!

My wife is at 20 weeks and we are half way there to delivery! Sabrina is looking cuter everyday. I haven't felt the baby kick yet, but Sabrina says she's feeling him or her move all the time, so it's probably hyper like their daddy:) We think it's a boy from our last ultrasound, but the baby wasn't quite cooperating with us. We should be more sure with this week's ultrasound. Stay tuned!

Close

You are as close to God as you want to be. What is your first reaction when you read that? Does that pierce your heart? Do you want to instantly disagree with that statement? Your response may come from how close or distant you feel from God, but even more than that your response may come from where your desires are right now.

Being in ministry I get to learn a lot about people from all over the country and even the world. I read or listen to fellow believers in the faith and how God is moving in their lives. Often times I admire a persons faith they have in Christ and the personal intimate relationship they have in God. I at times may even envy how close some people are with God when I compare my distance from Him at times.

When I think about the distance between God and myself, I cannot blame anyone or any circumstance I have been through. I am realizing more and more that I am the one that dictates how close to God I want to be. No one can stop me from thinking about God in all that I do, no one can stop me from praying, no circumstance can stop me from praising God, nothing is stopping me from learning more about who God is through scripture or growing in my faith.

We do not want to take responsibility for a lot of things in our lives and one of those may be our distance from God. Thankfully God is not the one that has distanced Himself from us. It is what we have or have not done and where our hearts are that dictates what our actions will be. So how close to God are you and how close to you want to be? -Jeremy

Change by Pastor Jer

Many people probably want a change in someway or another. Some may want a change in a situation they find themselves in, others may want a change in their job, place where they live, friendships, and even their marriage. Change isn't necessarily bad if we keep things in perspective and ask ourselves why we want the change to happen. Are we wanting something to change because we just don't want to deal with it anymore, are there selfish reasons, and is this change going to be best for everyone involved including yourself?

One thing I think we need to be careful of is fleeing too quickly when times get tough and forcing a change that may not need to happen as quickly as we think it does. Often times instead of learning and growing through difficult times we just want to pack up and run. The most important thing I believe isn't always for our situation to change, but for us to change. If God desires me to become more like Jesus Christ it takes the difficulties and trials of life for that to happen. What is happening in your life right now that God is using to help change you to be more like Him, and are you more concerned about changing your situation, than you are about your attitude or faith in God? God may I never forget that the most important thing that needs change is myself above everything else.


Many of you have never heard me preach before, so if you would like to listen you can click on the link below and listen to last Sunday's message I gave about Marriage and love. The message is about 45 minutes long, so you can download it and save it for later or save it to your MP3 or Ipod player and listen to it in your car or wherever else. Thanks for your support-Jeremy
http://www.nlbf.org/html/body_this_week.php

Missions Trip to New Orleans

Putting on a new roof with youth from Minnesota, Alabama and Georgia. It was a privilege and an honor to help the people of New Orleans get back into their home. It also made me appreciate my job a lot more:)

Notice the church steeple that had broken off the church building from the hurricanes. Amazing at the damage still there 2 years later, but a lot of hardwork has been done. One lady commented that she sees church groups from all over the country working so hard to restore the city. That makes me proud to see Christians putting their words in action.

The Superdome, home of the Saints!

My kids who I am so proud of. They worked so hard and set such a great example to everyone down there. You guys are awesome!

Convinced

I was at a conference the other week and the speaker said, "You cannot love God until you are convinced that God loves you". This convincing I believe is a lifelong process. When I feel I don't deserve God's love, I am embraced by His love anyway. When I feel unworthy, God lets me know I'm worth it. I think about the past and how God has seen me through every situation in my life and nothing has been able to separate me from Christ’s love.

Are you convinced today about how much God loves you? What is hindering you from embracing that crazy love? Nothing has captivated me more in this life than the love of Christ. If God has given me His Son, is there really anything else He would hold back from me? Nope, and that includes His love. Be convinced today!

Yep, I'm going to be a daddy! Sabrina and I are super excited about this new blessing God is preparing for us. The baby is due sometime in mid-February. Stay tuned for more info:)

My wife Sabrina has started her own photography business. Check out her blog at SabrinaWhitePhotography.blogspot.com
I'm so Proud of her!

Some of my youth, I love those kids!

Our new house we bought in November