It has been an eventful Christmas season for the Lewis household. The “boy” is now the “fiance”. Rodney asked Jami to marry him over the Christmas holidays. His proposal was accompanied by a beautiful diamond ring and now my baby girl is engaged. Kathy and I knew it was going to happen, we just didn’t know when. Rodney had recently asked for our blessing and had indicated that he planned to ask her sometime during the holiday season. He showed great sensitivity toward our daughter by when and where he chose to propose. They were on the farm (Kathy’s folks place) a few days before Christmas riding four wheelers. They stopped to change drivers and he popped the question. The farm is a special place for both our kids and Jami absolutely loves riding four wheelers. It was the perfect setting to ask such a question. They came back from their ride covered in mud and she never looked more radiant as she showed us her ring. Others might have been dazzled by the diamond, but Dad just watched the twinkle in his daughter’s eyes and pondered where all the years had gone. Their plans now are to get married here at DeSoto Hills on July 7, 2007. Please save the date if possible. We would love to have our church family present to help us celebrate this union. Plus, you will probably need to be here to pray for your pastor as he not only officiates the ceremony, but accompanies his baby girl down the aisle. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Father of the Bride (to be),

Bro. James

Here is an excerpt from the Carols by Candlelight that was performed on December 17th. The quality of the video is not that great but the music sounds good. Enjoy!

Words can not express how my heart really feels as we celebrate our first Christmas season in this new facility, as this new church.. As someone so beautifully said it in a Christmas card to my family, “It was a vision, it was a dream, and now it is a reality. DeSoto Hills is here.” It has been a year full of unbelievable change and the challenges that accompanied that change seemed at times overwhelming. However, as always the Lord’s grace proved once again to be sufficient, and here we are. On behalf of all the staff let me thank you for your love, support, and patience as we continue to work out the kinks involved in an endeavor of this magnitude. May the Babe of Bethlehem always find DeSoto Hills a people ready and eager to share His love with a lost and lonely world.

Merry Christmas

Bro. James

It seems these days, as the old saying goes, you can’t throw a rock without hitting a church in DeSoto County. They are springing up everywhere almost as fast as new homes. These churches are of every shape, every size, every style and every denominational structure or persuasion. For the most part this is a good thing, the fields are certainly “white unto harvest”. However, with so many people to reach and so many churches to choose from it can be challenging getting our message out, especially in a world that has often become suspicious and skeptical of organized religion. The desire to draw the net and reach people with the gospel is often evident in our church signs. Recently I was driving on the north end of Getwell (which is really church row) when it struck me how much church advertising was really going on in a concentrated area. I saw a sign that said “AWANA meets here”, I saw one advertising a contemporary service and one that simply said “Joyful”. One church had a series of small signs in that front with one word on each sign. When you put them together they said “Your-Family- Belongs-Here”. I even saw church sign in Spanish. But the one that struck me, and thus sparked this pondering, was a sign that read
“The Lord is a Work Here”
“Come and See”
Certainly I have seen signs like that before, but what stirred me this particular day was the order. Some how it seemed out of place The word “See” should be at the beginning of that message not the end. If people “See the Lord at Work”, they will be more likely to “Come”.

“If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me” John 12:32

The Lord at work in you continues to be the best advertising DeSoto Hills will ever do.

Signing Off,

Bro. James

The report is in, and at the annual meeting of the Mississippi Baptist Convention back in October the messengers approved the recommendation of the Conference Ministry Study committee to sell the property at Henderson Point on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and relocate our primary retreat center to somewhere else in the state. This recommendation came after Gulfshores Baptist Assembly in Pass Christian, like so much of the coast, was battered by hurricane Katrina. In the end the cost was to great to try and rebuild on the coast. Estimated cost to replace what was lost was around $45 million. My head tells me we made the right decision, but my heart is sad over the lost of GBA. My family and I spent some wonderful times there. For almost twenty years I served as camp pastor for Youth Weeks that were held at the facility each summer. We started going when the kids were young so they grew up loving the place. In fact both Marc and Jami ended up serving on faculty for Youth Weeks during their college days. Several years ago I retired from going and decided it was time to let a younger generation of preachers enjoy the thrill of preaching to so many kids in such a wonderful setting. Now the setting is gone, but I am sure we will find a new place, to build a new retreat center and a new generation of folks will be blessed by that place as I was by GBA. The lesson from all of this abound. For one thing GBA was built to be hurricane resistant, but it was certainly not hurricane proof. I am also reminded that it rains on the just and the in just. Retreat centers, churches and casinos all suffered the same fate from this deadly hurricane. But perhaps the greatest lesson for me is that although Katrina destroyed the facility to the point that it will no longer stand there, it did not destroy what was done there for so many years. Souls were saved, commitments were made (to ministry, to missions, to marriage), disciplines were learned, friendship were formed, and memories made that will last for a life time. GBA may be gone. but it will not be forgotten.

Thanks for the Memories,

Bro. James

A drama commemorating the 65th anniversary of Pearl Harbor December 10th, 6:00 p.m. Admission is Free!