moving to GA

This has been a whirlwind of a week for us! After taking my mom and dad back to SC this past weekend, we have begun planning our move to the Big A - Atlanta! My company is transferring me to the corporate office in Norcross, GA. After 30 years living here in Jax, we have to pick up and move. The move is being made a lot easier by my company relocation package (they will pack and move us.) Also, Brandon is going to continue living here and pay us rent, so we do not have to sell our house in Jax. If for some reason we decide to sell our house (we have up to a year to change our minds) my company will buy the house from us and then proceed with the sale. The biggest challenge we face will be finding a place to live in the Atlanta area and finding a new job for Cindy. I will be allowed two months free temporary housing during which time we will be searching for a home to buy or rent. My company will also provide money for groceries during this time and also money for relocation expenses such as new car tags, turning on utilities, etc. The Lord has opened this door for us to move and it seems the moving package gets better every day!

Slideshow from Natalie's 3rd birthday party

NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT | Salute to the Services | PBS

This excerpt is from last year's concert. The yearly Memorial Day concert will be on your local PBS channel Sunday night.

a day at the beach

Mom and Dad enjoyed the ocean view from the pier

I took a day off of work on Wednesday to take mom and dad to the beach. We walked the Jacksonville Beach pier for $1.00. Dad said that he never imagined a few months ago, when he was down in his back, that he would ever be able to walk like this again. We tried to drive onto the Mayport Naval base but I could not obtain a pass without a military ID or a military sponsor. I guess since 9-11 security is a lot tighter now! I told the guard my dad was in World War II but that did not faze him at all! :)


We were surprised at how close we could get to the seagulls on the pier

graduation, it's that time of year!

Congratulations to Philip Logan, our nephew, who graduated Monday night from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts here in Jacksonville. He will be working at Wachovia for the summer before heading off to college at Stetson University in the fall. He has received grants and scholarships totaling about $30,000 a year and plans to major in classical guitar. We were all glad Grandma and Grandpa Franklin were able to be here for this big event!

update from the Ukraine Mission Team

Our niece, April Logan, is traveling with the Bob Jones University Ukraine Mission Team during May and June (April is dead center in the photo above, 3rd from the left on the second row, and center of photo below)

My sister sent the update below from the mission team .

Click on this link to see photos from Ukraine posted at the university website.

UPDATES FROM UKRAINE

It's been amazingly busy this week!

We painted the fence at the church, had a ladies meeting (which was great), visited an English class, had about 6 church services throughout the course of the week, had market meetings, went to the bazaar, distributed more tracts in lots of villages, and ate some pretty interesting food!

We are sending updates and pictures to the BJ website...go to our mission team and there should be a little link for pictures.
It's been really hot and we're pretty tired out, but God's been doing a great work in and through us.

Several have made professions of faith and many Christians have thanked us for the encouragement, but I think even more, God's been changing our hearts.

It's been amazing to see the sacrifice of people that have nothing so that we can eat and minister to them. Yet, even though they have nothing (materialistically speaking) I would venture to say that many of them have more of a passion for Christ than we do. That's certainly been a rebuke.

Memorial Day, 2007

A tribute video honors those who served and died for our country.

a message in song

Some songs stand out to me more than others. I spend a lot of time evaluating Christian music as to the message of the song. It should be biblical and in proper context. The song below was originally recorded as a "southern gospel" song and is titled "Crimson River." I am not sure who wrote the song, but I found the lyrics posted on line. The Steve Pettit Evanglistic Team CD "Weep No More" actually introduced this song to me. They rearranged the tune and gave it an Irish flair, so obviously it does not sound like a "southern gospel" song on their CD. This is the version I really enjoy listening too. (If you do not have the CD available, you can purchase it from their website above.) In the lyrics below, the blood that Jesus shed for our salvation is the "Crimson River."

CRIMSON RIVER

There’s a river flowing deep and wide,
Coming from the Savior’s side;
From His hands, His feet and brow,
Underneath this river I'll abide.

Crimson River, cover me,
And this blood bought one will be;
Purer than the breath of spring,
Cleaner than a sparkling stream.

Through the ages it has never dried,
Though the spring it came from died;
For the spring, reborn now, intercedes for me,
And the Crimson River sets me free.

Crimson River, cover me,
And this blood bought one will be;
Purer than the breath of spring,
Cleaner than a sparkling stream.

Then eternity will be,
A new starting place for me;
To praise the Lamb and all because,
The Crimson River covers all.

To praise the Lamb and all because,
All because,
Because the Crimson River covers all.
The Crimson River covers all!

remembering Anne Frank

The blogger Segatech has a post called "The Beauty That Still Remains" with links to many Anne Frank websites. We need to be reminded from time to time of the horrors of the Nazis under Hitler in the years leading up to World War II and then during the war. Millions of Jews as well as the mentally retarded and elderly were murdered because they were not Germans. Sadly, this could happen again.

educational videos at teachertube

This take-off on youtube is for teachers who want to create and post their educational and informative videos. The site is called TeacherTube.com

Click the link below to view info about China, India and the US . . .
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=799aaa845e1c2e8a762b&page=1&viewtype=&category=mv

Yo Yo Ma plays Ennio Morricone

This is a video post of Yo Yo Ma recording "Nella Fantasia" and other pieces for his CD. "Nella Fantasia" is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. I strongly recommend the CD "Yo Yo Ma plays the music of Ennio Morricone"

to all the Mothers out there - remember they do grow up

Happy Mother's Day to my wife and mother of my three sons! And Happy Mother's Day to our own Moms in SC and Arkansas!


My three sons with their Florida cousins and grandparents many moons ago!
The cousins in Texas from a 1993 photo

Happy birthday, Leah!

Happy Birthday Grandma Baggett!

Happy Birthday wishes today to Cindy's mom, Winnie. Hope you enjoy your day and have many more!

the cause of Spiderman's dark side

click photo to enlarge

thanks to cartoonist Gary Varvel's Varvblog

National Day of Prayer

Read about the prayer at Valley Forge and George Washington at this link

Click this link for the
"National Day of Prayer" website

Happy Birthday, Natalie!

Our oldest

granddaughter

turns 3 today!

(Natalie's the one on the left in this photo)

Happy birthday! Wish we could be there to celebrate!

news worth repeating

Here are some links to what I call "news worth repeating."
You may have missed these so here goes . . .

From USAToday.com, this article covers 25 things that happened to change the internet. It makes for very interesting reading with some tidbits of information that you may have wondered about.

For Jaguars fans only, the latest updates from the NFL draft this past weekend are found at this link to Jaguars.com

Coming up Thursday, America unites in prayer for the 56th annual National Day of Prayer. This tradition was established by Congress in 1952 and signed into law by President Harry Truman. You can never pray too much! Pastor Mike gave us this quote yesterday morning during his message, "Prayer makes things possible because it will move the hand of God."

Hinode, the newest solar observatory in space, has sent back to earth these "never before seen" images of the sun.

Dr. Lee Roberson in Heaven today

My wife and I were honored to sit under Dr. Roberson's preaching for four years in Chattanooga, TN when we attended Tennessee Temple University. I met with him my senior year to ask him to perform our wedding there in the Philips Chapel. Because of last minute changes to his schedule, he could not marry us but sent Dr. J. R. Faulkner to do the ceremony. It appears the ceremony was a good one (30 years later!)
I can still hear him preaching and one of his most famous quotes is "Everything rises and falls on leadership!"

• link to Wikipedia bio of Lee Roberson
• link to listen to sermons of Lee Roberson (mp3s)
• link to Lee Roberson, man of God with sermons in print

The following was received via email this afternoon.

Dr. Lee Roberson Memorial

Dr. Lee Roberson, age 97, former pastor of the Highland Park Baptist Church, Founder and Chancellor Emeritus of Tennessee Temple University and Man of God, passed into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ whom he had served faithfully since the age of fourteen, on Sunday, April 29, 2007.

Dr. Roberson was born November 24, 1909 on a farm near English, Indiana. He was led to the Lord at age fourteen by his Sunday School teacher, and he accepted the call to preach the 'Good News' of the Gospel at the age of eighteen.

He studied as vocal music at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and was a graduate of the University of Louisville and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. Beginning in 1932, Dr. Roberson served as a pastor and evangelist before accepting the pastorate of the Highland Park Baptist Church of Chattanooga in November of 1942. Tennessee Temple University was founded as a junior college and Bible school in July 1946. TTU is now an accredited four-year college, graduate school and seminary.

Dr. Lee Roberson was preceded in death by daughter Joy Caroline and wife, the former Caroline Allen. He is survived by son, John C. Roberson and wife Donna, daughter LeeAnne Nichols and husband Dr. L.W. 'Buddy' Nichols, daughter June Ormesher and husband Bill, eight grandchildren and by the countless thousands who accepted the new life of salvation under his ministry and the subsequent ministries of the thousands of men and women who he faithfully led, taught and encouraged at HPBC and TTU.

The family is asking that any memorial gifts be sent to the Lee Roberson Foundation, 2327 Red Tail Lane, Chattanooga, TN 37421 or online at www.LeeRoberson.org.

Dr.Roberson's favorite Scripture verse was Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Dated August 1, 2006 at the age of 96, Dr. Roberson published what he called his farewell letter and final testimony "to give encouragement to pastors, evangelists, and full-time Christian workers."

"I believe the Bible! I believe in the promises of God regarding our future life! I believe 'to be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord.' I believe the future will hold some of the most glorious blessings that one could ever conceive. We will be present 'with the Lord.' The Apostle Paul said 'this is far better.' The future is bright! I know the Lord may come at any moment - He has promised 'I will
come again.'

"Continue in His great work! Give attention to the winning of souls and exhort yourself to a close walk with God."

Dr. Lee Roberson, "absent from the body, present with the Lord,"
April 29, 2007.

"A Sinner Seeking the Savior"

A Sinner Seeking the Savior
"Nicodemus . . . came to Jesus by night." John 3:1-2

In John 3 we see a sinner seeking the Savior. In John 4 we see the Savior seeking a sinner. And in Luke 5 four men bring a sinner to the Savior for salvation. Here are the three ways in which people come to salvation. Some great lessons in soul winning can be found in each.

"Nicodemus . . . came to Jesus by night" (John 3:1-2). What a thrill when someone comes seeking! Remember, this is the exception; the norm is to "go and tell." We know that before Nicodemus could come, the Father had to "draw him" (John 6:44), but he came as though it was all on his own. He had a reason for coming to Jesus. He had seen the "miracles" and knew Jesus was "a teacher come from God." He knew there was something very different about the Lord Jesus. He saw God working. To let others know what Christ can do for them, let them see what He has done for you.

The Savior did not reprimand Nicodemus for coming at night, whatever his reasons were. It is easy to frighten away the seeker over nonessentials. Keep away from the detours. The important thing was that Nicodemus had come to the right person to find life. Would your neighbors or fellow workers know to come to you for theanswers to their hearts' needs? God tells us Nicodemus was a "ruler of the Jews," obviously a man of importance. Sometimes we have the unhealthy attitude that men of stature cannot be reached. There are all kinds of missions and methods for reaching the down-and-outer and so little to reach the up-and-outer. God does say "not many wise" are called, but thank God he does not say "not any." Here was a very religious man, a Pharisee, and yet not saved.

This is hard for some to believe, but "many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not . . . in thy name done many wonderful works . . . and then will I profess unto them . . . I never knew you" (Matthew 7:22-23). No matter how religious, a wise person will not take a chance on hell but will admit his lack of a real relation to God and come to Christ. It is not religion but relation to Christ that gets a man to heaven. Have you ever been born again? Is your whole life changed because you personally invited Christ to be your Savior? Do it now!

from the American Tract Society email