RUSSJONES.US

Where does the term black friday come from? There seems to be some confusion to its origin ranging from a famous clerk named, Mr. Black to traffic jams in Philadelphia. Personally (my wife too) we stay as far away from Wal-Mart and the mall as possible on this day. Crazy doesn't even begin to cover it. If you are one of those shoppers who venture out at 3 a.m. to get those great deals on that something - you don't need God's favor, you need and extra platoon of angels to protect you! So for your benefit I am including the following link for your benefit. FYI - Some of these are online deals only! It's the least I could do! Now that holiday season is officially here! Let's look at a few things that can make this season better! - Traditions - Tradition is a great thing if it gives something back. Don't just do something, "just because." When Christmas becomes a ritual is devalues it's quality of faith. Put your faith in Jesus back into Christmas!! -

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Today is a great day to honor God with all your heart, soul and spirit. Remember all the great things that Jesus has done and give thanks for all the great things He is going to do. If this year hasn't been all that you hoped it would be - don't give up! God is at His greatest when life is at it's worst. Celebrate His goodness - call a friend or family member you haven't heard from in a while - share your day with a neighbor. Choose to make this day different from all the rest and see what the Lord will do!! God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving!

On my facebook there is a piece of flair that says, "Come to the dark side, we have cookies!" Being that my daughter is a BIG Star Wars fan, she likes to quote that line from time to time, usually with a cookie in her mouth. But as I was thinking about that saying the scripture came to mind - 1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. Have you ever been on a diet and get caught with a cookie in your mouth? Then someone says, "Hey, aren't you on a diet?" Eating cookies and being on a diet would seem to be a conflict of interest. Have you ever sat down in front of the TV with a glass of milk and "some" cookies? Then later that evening someone shouts from the kitchen, "Where's that new bag of cookies I bought today?" Oops!! The point here? You can have a cookie and not cross over to the dark side? But then again, if you're the person who can't eat just one cookie (that's me) then your probably best fr

Four weeks ago I made one phone call - it changed 49 lives. That was the point of making the phone call. From one vision team meeting we went from, "How are we going to fit them all in here." to "Who do we know that has a tent?" From one ministry team meeting we went from "How are we going to do this?" to "This is how it's going to get done!" Each Sunday the vision was cast again and again. It was, "Invite anyone who wants to attend, but bring people who need to hear the Gospel and experience Jesus!" The people who came forward yesterday were all here because someone from FFWC invited them! Most of them don't have a church home! If you invited someone who came forward to receive Jesus yesterday, please talk to them TODAY!! This is important! Many thanks to On A Hill Far Away Ministries who brought the tent. Abundant Life Ministries who let us borrow their platform. Highpoint Community Church who let us borrow their 22 passenger

I will blog more tomorrow. But for now I wanted to share these images with you. 35 adults and 14 children made a commitment of faith today! 160 in attendance!

At 9 a.m. staff will show up. They have done such an outstanding job this weekend. Then we expect people to being coming. We have no idea how many, but we are prepare to seat 273. Wow! This is going to be something else. I am really excited about Reinhard Bonnke preaching. But more importantly I am crazy about the idea that people are going to give their heart and life to Jesus. Miracles are going to take place and lives are going to change. I'll let you know how everything goes later. But for now, if you can't be here in person, please pray!

The BIG day is tomorrow! Tents are up, chairs and tables are being delivered today. The church is being prepped. Sound checks will be done. Everything is being made ready for a great day. The youth are at youth convention right now, they will be back this evening. Angel Food is preparing to pick up food and distribute it today. WOW! God is really doing great things today!!! Pray that the Lord will bless each and every person who has a part in making tomorrow a success. Pray that those who don't now Jesus and even those who have given up on Him will be there. Pray that peoples lives will be changed forever by the Gospel. Pray that all goes well!

When vision becomes reality - people stand in awe! Well someone said it I'm sure. But the big tent went up last night. First of all THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who made this possible! It did have a lot of fun, even though I feel like a train just hit me. When we were done people just stood around underneath it and envisioned what was going to happen this Sunday! (Wait a minute I have a phone call, be right back). That was Mike Escoe, one of our Pen Fla. Missionaries. He was asking what we were doing this weekend! He wants you to know that they are praying for you, that he believes this will be a tremendous turning point for this church. That great things are going to happen here on Sunday! WOW!! Vision is contagious isn't it? Today the tent gets inspected. Tomorrow the chairs and tables show up. We set up as much as we can. Then Sunday will be here! Have a few last minute invitations to make? Is there someone who you now should be here

We all have heard this statement before. "Keep the main thing the main thing." Or "Don't get bogged down in the details." "Don't major on minors." "The devil is in the details." Pick anyone of them and you get the point. Why are we doing what we are doing this weekend? The BIG tent, the Thanksgiving Dinner, hosting Reinhard Bonnke, Angel Food, Youth Convention, and everything else that comes with it? What is the main thing? Souls!!! People accepting and committing their lives to Jesus. Helping others discover what we already know! Jesus is the way, the truth, the life and the only way to get to God!! Welcome your unchurched or dechurched friends and loved ones to come and experience God, His church and the graces of being part of the body of Christ. Let me go about this a different way also - just so that we are all on the same page. We are not doing this to make the church grow. Churches grow because they are healthy, not

Perry Noble over at Perrynoble.com wrote this, this morning. If you aren’t willing to fight for your vision…then you have no vision…all you have is a daydream that you are begging God to make come true. This is part of his post that has to something to do with playing Rugby. Something that I don't have enough health insurance to do. But this phrase jumped out at me when I read it. He's right - you have to fight for vision and many people I know are only begging God about daydreams. So what do you have to fight to see God given vision become reality? Yourself - You will have to fight your own logic that wonders if you need to check yourself into the psych ward. I'm sure that Noah had that thought once or twice. You will have to fight your body which will not cooperate at times with the stress that vision will put on it. You will have to fight your "demons" which, as Paul says, will have to DIE daily. (Yes, I am talking about our carnal flesh.) Family - Someone, who

I'm up at 6:30 a.m. (which some of you know is a miracle). It's 49 degrees outside (BRRRR!) and am wondering what God is up to. Reading Mark Battersons new book "Wild Goose Chase" he talks about how Jesus can open and close doors. It comes from the book of Revelation where Jesus speaks to the city of Philadelphia. I have tried to beat doors down that I wanted to go through, but to no avail. Then God has opened some doors that when I have looked through them caused me to wonder what I did to deserve this kind of punishment. Well what I have learned about this (so far) is: - If God keeps the door shut, thank Him. Later you will probably discover why. - If you don't like what you see, that means that God will be God through whatever it is. But don't walk out the door without Him at your side. - If the door doesn't open, don't cheat and try to make your own door. It just doesn't work. - Don't try closing a door that God has opened. Regar

Last night a dinner Anneka was having a little trouble eating her chicken nuggets. Afterwards her mother asked her why? She opened her mouth and showed us a front tooth that is just hanging in there. Well, we had to tell everyone about her first loose tooth. Phone calls were made, emails were sent, facebook was lit up! What was my first thought when she showed me her tooth? That an adult tooth will be coming in to replace it. Hold it, adult? She's 5 years old? I tell her all the time to quit growing up, but she insists on doing it anyway. There are times that I hold her close and tight, hugging her as long as she will let me - desperately trying to remember that moment for the rest of my life. I know that I'm another dad who is just hopelessly crazy about his daughter. But her loosing a tooth, well that just depressed me. I am realistic, and know that I can't stop it. Excuse me please, ...... "ANNEKA! WHERE ARE YOU! DADDY WANTS A HUG!!!"

Cold weather really messed with Floridians minds. Like to never got church started this morning. Family and Faith go hand in hand - I can preach about it all day. (Thank God I didn't.) Getting ready for Reinhard Bonnkes arrival is not as easy as it looks. But we had a good organizational meeting today after service. Reaching people and helping others to accept Jesus as their Savior seems like work to us, but remember, Jesus did the hard part. When you give a church a challenge, like next Sunday's service, you will find out who is really on board and who isn't. You will be surprised.

We went to Sebastian, walked out on a pier and watch the night launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor. What a sight!!!

We are making the it official! Reinhard Bonnke will be here, in person at FFWC, Sunday, November 23rd @ 10:30 a.m. Because all of this happened so quickly, we didn't want to make this public until we knew that we would be able to accommodate a larger than average crowd. So, we got a large tent which will be located in our front parking lot. Come and bring your friends. Especially those who don't know Jesus, who are struggling in their faith. Those who are sick and in need of a healing touch from God. Don't forget that the most important person here that day isn't Bro. Bonnke, it will be the Holy Spirit. After service stay and enjoy a Thanksgiving Dinner on us. The family of FFWC wants to bless you with Turkey, Ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread, dessert and drinks. Don't worry about parking. We have secured every parking lot around us and we will have a 22 passenger bus that can accommodate wheel chairs to shuttle you to and from your car. Want to h

"Ads proclaiming, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," will appear on Washington, D.C., buses starting next week and running through December. The American Humanist Association unveiled the provocative $40,000 holiday ad campaign Tuesday." You can read the rest of the article here. This sure is a fine way to say, "Merry Christmas!" (Yes, I am being sarcastic.) Christmas will be here in 42 days (FYI - I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping, how about you?) and I cannot recall a better time for us, as Christians, to proclaim Jesus as the reason for the season. Never assume that people know why we celebrate Christmas. Always be prepared share the heart of Christmas in word and in deed. This season I am going to be promoting a few ideas for this Christmas season. - Say "Merry Christmas!" It is a statement of faith. - Make your gifts count this season. In a time when people are struggling to make ends meet,

In recent days our nation elected new officials and leadership to the highest offices of this land. Both at a national, state and local level we, American citizens turned out to vote in record numbers. Republicans, Democrats, independents alike all had their time and opportunity to make their case and be heard. We as Christians are not only sworn to uphold the laws of this land we are also sworn to uphold the laws and commands of our Savior Jesus. His Word has transcended time, politics, governments and wars. While nations rise and fall, king and presidents come and go - Jesus is still here and His Word is still true. Today on this Veterans Day we honor those who have sacrificed personally for the Christian values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Who regardless of anothers political views they have offered their lives, if necessary, to protect us and our children from those who would dare to oppress, destroy and dictate our way of life. Whether it was the tyrannical

A) How much does the house weigh? B) How much can the bridge hold? C) Is this covered under home owners insurance? Car insurance? Or road side assistance?

Did you think that I wouldn't notice? Did you think that I wouldn't get headaches and all the other symptoms that accompany caffeine withdrawal? Did you switch the grounds in the coffee can by accident? I can forgive that. Did you do it because you think I drink to much coffee? Ohh! You love me don't you? Well thank you, but . . . . . DON'T YOU EVER DO THIS AGAIN! OUCH!

Today was a GREAT day. We had more today than we have had in over 6 months (maybe more.) God is really doing some great things here at FFWC. I hope to made a HUGE announcement in the next couple of days. Thanksgiving Sunday is coming together. Again, watch this blog and ffwc.us for more information this week. It is exciting to see peoples lives changed by the power of God. There is a great anticipation building around here and people are beginning to notice. But we are still working on all of it - can't wait to see what God is up to.

We got to go to the 50th Anniversary of Pratt & Whitney in WPB. Anneka had a blast watching the f-15's and f-16's fly. Enjoy the pics! Don't worry anyone. I didn't take any pics of any top secret stuff!

So we're up at 6 a.m. because we need to get tickets to my daughters ballet recital next month. The air show is in town this weekend and we are going to see some of the jets and helicopters later this morning. So my wife tells me that we have to be in line at 8 a.m. when the doors open at 9:30 a.m. OK. I've been to these recitals before and the room is always full. But then she tells me that she is in line to get a number. Number for what I ask? So we can come back at 11 a.m. to buy our ticket. ?????? Actually, my mom will have to come back and do that. So why can't we do this online? There are some great websites and software that can get this done without having to . . . oh, don't make me explain this again.

If you have not watched Dr. Woods video below. I suggest that you take the time to do so now. He recorded it before the election. Again, God's timing is always perfect, nothing happens by accident. When I opened my Bible to read my devotions and discovered that Romans 13 would be the theme for the week - I knew that God was in it. There is no doubt that the Roman rulership of that day were wicked and twisted. It wasn't a society where people had the right to speak, assemble and vote like we do. They placed no value on life, except their own. They believed that their gods were the greatest, they were the smartest and that they were the best. They had crossed the line so far, their pride and arrogance so great that their fall from power was coming soon. In our form of government we still have the right to speak out, vote and assemble to disagree. But the Roman Christians changed their world without doing any of those things. What did they do? Live like Jesus lived. L

Dr. Wood is the General Superintendent of the General Council of the Assemblies of God.

So am I getting ready to do my devotions. And todays passage is from Rom. 13. In light of what just happened "1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay

So am I getting ready to do my devotions. And todays passage is from Rom. 13. In light of what just happened "1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay

Well the election is over and for many of you (if my online poll is any indication) are disappointed with the results. I expect there to be a lot of "in your face" comments for the next few days from some Obama supporters. I admonish you to take the Christian attitude that Jesus taught us to have. Turn the other cheek. Or in other words, take what was intended for pain and convert it into a blessing. How do you do that? When others mistreat you, pray for them. This removes the carnal urge to slap some sense into them (while keeping you out of jail). FYI - I talked with a store manager the other day who recently had to call the police to deal with some people fighting in their store. Guess what they were fighting about! When grace overwhelms what was intended to do harm. It converts it into a blessing and witnesses the love and grace of Jesus into another persons life. Praying for our future president and congress is going to have to be a priority of every Christian f

Who did you vote for today? ( polls )

Even though this is my personal blog. Because I am a pastor and this blog is used to make announcements for FFWC, I cannot personally endorse a candidate here. However, I wouldn't want to anyway. If you want to know who I have voted for - pull into the church parking lot and look in the back window of my car. It's right there. Many of you have already told me how you are going to vote. That's good. Some of you are undecided and don't know what to do. I can understand that. For quite some time I had my issues too. But I wanted to share a few things with you that might help. Vote according to character, not charisma. This is a leadership issue. Some of our greatest leaders were not great communicators. When you got both in the same person, that's wonderful. But you should look at the character of a person first. What is this person going to be under pressure. Vote according to principles, not personal agendas. Of course all of us would rather pay less

Well I thought that this morning was going to bomb. Really. The phone calls were coming in. This one was sick and that one was sick. 9:30 a.m. rolled around and there were 5 people here for Sunday School. Oooo, this wasn't looking good at all. When it came time for church to start there are a few more, but still I could tell that this wasn't going well. For some reason I took a walk. Really don't know why, but I noticed that there were a few people in the fellowship hall. There I found 11 or 12 people eating bagels and enjoying some coffee. When I got back to the platform it dawned on me that this wasn't going to be an average service - a boy was I right! Praise and Worship was great! Communion was an awesome time - 4 people accepted Jesus as their Savior. Missionaries Dustin and Britnney Renz shared with us and did an outstanding job! Talking about Thanksgiving Sunday with Reinhard Bonnke sure lit the place up. I didn't get to preach. God is really doing

No Anson, you may NOT try this at home.

In Rom. 14 Paul writes 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. A honestly cannot remember when or who it was who once told me, "It's about souls, stupid." But I probably had it coming for some reason. We get so wrapped up in ourselves and our little worlds (God's is bigger) that we forget why we are here. We forget why we do what we do. We forget about others. You can tell when you forget because you start to take it all personally. That's what Paul is trying to show the Romans in verses 14 - 16. Don't take everything so personally! Rejoice and mourn with others. Don't be envious about someone else's blessing and act nasty. Then don't go around rejoicing over someone else's tragedy, saying that they got what they deserved. L