Well since this is kind of my blog I wanted to tell you that our youngest daughter just turned 27 on Monday. Joy Soncco is our baby girl. She is married to Julio and has two children –Benjamin and Lelia. They serve in Peru as missionaries from our church and help Chris and Andria in […]
Archives for October 2007
Subject: Drought in Georgia
This just came in from David Lundy: The latest drought news is pretty dry! Don’t know the source of this official drought information, but: It’s so dry in Georgia that the Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling; the Methodists are using wet-wipes, the Presbyterians are giving out rain-checks, and the Catholics are praying for […]
Time Change Sunday
Don’t forget that this Sunday will be Time Change Sunday. On Saturday night before you go to bed you will need to set your clock back one hour! So that means that if you go to bed at 11 just set your clock to 10 so that you will know the right time the next […]
Mother in law’s day
Well yesterday was Mother in law’s day. I find it very humorous that they tell us to celebrate that day the same week as Halloween but what can I say. No one has more jokes made about them than the mother in law, I guess. Yesterday, my mother in law, Evelyn Ferguson came to the […]
Welcome our newest members–The Clapp family
Jonathan, Allison, Patrick and Randy all became members of Vision Baptist Church this morning. What an honor and privilege to have our good friends join us in our endeavor to glorify the God of Heaven. I love the Clapps and count it a great honor to have them join our church. I hope you will […]
Testimony from Hugh Watson
Hugh sent me this in an email and I thought you might enjoy the truth in it so I asked his permission to put it on the blog for you. My cardiologist told me regular exercise is important to stave off a valve replacement. So I hike Sawnee Mountain every day (weather permitting). The other […]
Robert and Kelli are married!
Robert Canfield and Kelli Perkins are now married. Tony Howeth did a wonderful job as he married them and then pronounced them Mr. and Mrs. Robert Canfield. They will be back in a week. They will be missed but we are all happy for them and very proud of them. I had the privilege of […]
Excited about tomorrow
Well I am really looking forward to tomorrow morning. Trent just wrote to tell me of a very good group of young people that they hope to have in their class tomorrow. I know that David Lundy is working hard to have a good group of children. I know that the activities will all be […]
Great Meeting with Pastor Wayne Cofield
Thursday evening Brother Wayne preached a tremendous message on soul winning. God blessed us with 117 in attendance but of course only about 55 or 60 were in the auditorium for the great message. Those of you that were working in Master Clubs I hope you will get the CD. The altars were full of […]
Promo video for the Bible College in Peru
Benjamin Armstrong and the guys from the TV station have made the following video to send to Ireland for their mission’s conference. I know that you will enjoy it. I thank God for Chris and all the work he does in the Bible College. Our son in law Julio also is helping greatly and I […]
two men and a baby
 Pastor Gardner with the new daughter of Pastor Ronald Tubillas, Tabatha. John Pearson with Tabatha.
quote and update
I just got the following quote and update from our friend Pastor Derik Lawrence. Uncertainty will always be part of the taking charge process. ~ Harold Geneen He has had some pretty major events in his life lately and I hope you will pray for him. His mother in law went to Heaven! His mom […]
Soul winning taught by Wayne Cofield
Well tonight will be a very special night at our church. Wayne Cofield who was my pastor for many years will be coming and preaching on soul winning. He started and has now pastored the Whitfield Baptist Church for over 30 years. God has greatly used him in North Georgia and all around the world. […]
Pray for your missionaries–especially Kevin and Corli Hall!
I want to ask all of you to pray for our missionaries. This article will show you the importance of prayer. Also I want to remind you of the danger that our missionaries face on the mission field. They need your prayers. Kevin and Corli live in South Africa. We support them as missionaries. They […]
How should we as Christians react to Halloween?
Following is the first part of an article to help you learn more about Halloween and how you should react as a Christian! We have our Fall Festival. Betty and I give out candy to the children in the neighborhood and when I read the following article i thought it might help you decide just […]
Kids tell the truth!
The preacher’s 5-year-old daughter noticed that her father always paused and bowed his head, for a moment, before starting his sermon. One day, she asked him why. “Well, honey,” he began, proud that his daughter was so observant of his messages, “I’m asking the Lord to help me preach a good sermon.” “How come He […]
LIFE IS LIKE A BUTTERFLY
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and […]
Christmas on the Northside!
I can’t say much right now but I thought you might like to know that we are making very special plans right now for a brand new annual event here at our church. It will be called Christmas on the Northside. Alpharetta, Cumming, John’s Creek, Milton, Roswell, etc. are all on the Northside and can […]
Tony Howeth preaching a mission’s conference
Well several of us just traveled to Covington to hear Brother Tony preach a tremendous message in a mission’s conference at Newton Baptist Church with Pastor Doug Parham. He did a wonderful job and we really enjoyed the service. They have a great church and God has really blessed them over the last 6 years […]
Thank you so very much!
I must admit that I had no idea what all you had planned for us yesterday during the morning service. Thank you so much for our Pastor Appreciation Sunday. I usually at least know what is going on in our church but this took me by complete surprise. When David Allison told me that he […]
Another independent Baptist church on its way to Alpharetta
Well I just found out that another independent Baptist Church is on its way to Alpharetta. There is more than enough room for them and I am glad that God is touching hearts to reach the people of this area with the gospel message of Jesus Christ. There is so much to do. I do […]
Getting ready for church!
I hope you pray for me as we have church services each week. I need God to work and move in my life that I would be the man of God and the preacher that I should be. I am not up to the work and definitely can not do a spiritual work unless He […]
Help for the thing that’s bothering you!
Well I am excited about the opportunity to preach the Word of God tomorrow at my favorite church. We are in the book of Acts chapter 14 and tomorrow we will be on verse 22. Contrary to what the prosperity gospel preachers have told you we were warned and guaranteed that we would have troubles, […]
we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
…we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Acts 14:22 God’s people have their trials. It was never designed by God, when He chose His people, that they should be an untried people. They were chosen in the furnace of affliction; they were never chosen to worldly peace and earthly joy. Freedom […]
Revival
“I can give a Prescription that will bring a revival to any church or community or any city on earth.” “First, let a few Christians (they need not be many) get thoroughly right with God themselves. This is the prime essential. If this Is not done, the rest that I am to say will come […]
Congratulations to my parents
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate my parents, Charles and Carolyn Gardner on 54 years of marriage. God has been very good to them. They have 4 children, Austin, Felecia, John and Vicki. They have 10 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. One of their sons is in full time ministry. Two of their […]
Excerpts that bless
Well I got an email letter that just blessed my blesser and so I wanted to share just a few things out of the letter without hopefully giving away the author of the letter since I do not have their permission. But from the bottom of my heart I say thank you. I have edited […]
Letter from the Pastor’s School in Peru
I received the following letter from one of the pastor’s in Peru and thought that I would share with you some of it–translated of course so that you might feel like the trip was worth while. Hno. Guillermo, el congreso fue una bendicion, en especial las predicas de usted. Brother Austin–the congress was a blessing […]
Krispy Kreme brigade
I am just taking a note from my Bible reading and was thinking of the blessing we had this week of giving out donuts to our neighbors in the business park. They have been such good neighbors. Philip and Mariangela took 25 dozen donuts and made the rounds and just told them that Vision loves […]
Lots of catching up
Well I have been gone for a long time and so that really gets me behind though I try to work as hard as I can while I am away. In Peru I preached or taught about 20 times. I also met with countless people on different subjects plus trying to find time for my […]
Congratulations to Ronald and Asunta
Well while Betty and I were in the air last night Tabitha Tubillas was born. God has greatly blessed our church with Ronald and Asunta and now they are blessed with a new addition to their family. Please pray for them. Â Â Â Â She was a healthy baby girl and both mom and dad are […]
Mark Tolson just wrote this up in an email
At Vision Baptist Church we believe that God’s Word provides the only solid foundation on which to build your life. We believe that God has a purpose for every individual. That is why we make no apology for teaching and preaching the Bible. Families here have discovered the joy of being part of a friendly […]
Wonderful day with the family
Well today has been much more relaxed as we spent time with our family. Chris, Andria, Jacob, Hannah, and Andrew Gardner plus Joy, Julio, Benjamin, and Lelia Soncco and Betty and I had a wonderful time. We had a wonderful lunch at one of our favorite restaurants here in Arequipa. This morning we had the […]
Too Busy, A Modern Day Parable
Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, “We can’t keep the Christians from going to church.” “We can’t keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can’t even keep them from conservative values, but we can do something else. We can keep them from […]
Greetings for the evening service!
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Greetings from Peru
9th Annual Pastor’s School
Well God has tremendously blessed this week! The work here is phenomenal. Some doubted as to what would happen to the work when Betty and I left Arequipa to return to the states and start Vision Baptist Church but I can promise you that God has poured it out on the ministry. Things are flying! […]
The Our Generation Summit is coming
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Church Planting is Leader Training
Missions exists because worship does not! We desire for every person in the world to have a clear presentation of the Gospel and be given the opportunity to come to know God through His Son Jesus Christ! If we were able to write a message in the sky this would not solve the problem. We […]
Blog activity
Well I thought I would kind of show you what is happening around the blog world about our time here in Peru. First Check out Tyler Master’s rendition of a late night. Then go read John Pearson‘s blow by blow of the great things that God is doing and has done down here. Well I […]
Young men and women of God
They have been the focus of my ministry for a long time. I realized many years ago that I had to focus on finding young men and women who wanted real purpose in their life and loved the Lord Jesus Christ and to help them get the tools to get the job done. This morning […]
Praise the Lord.
That is about all I know to say. I am excited to be here in Peru with Chris and this ministry. I love seeing my kids, Chris and Andria, Joy and Julio and the grandkids but I miss Vision. I am so excited about the church that God has given us. I love it and […]
Check out our singers!
I got an email from Trent telling me about their being pictures of our young people singing at an activity at Victory Baptist Church in Loganville. The activity was organized by Chad Gordon who is doing a tremendous job in the teen department of the church. Our young people had the privilege of participating in […]
Update from Peru!
Well I am sorry for being so far behind in the updates but I have been really busy. We arrived here on Tuesday and that evening I preached the first time. Then on Wednesday morning I preached at 9:45 AM and then taught two different classes to the pastors are 11 and 12. Then we […]
Men’s Deep Sea Fishing Trip
What a morning
I am sitting on the couch in Chris’ house between Jacob and Hannah, two of our wonderful grandchildren and Andrew is playing on the floor. Jacob is writing his name and he is not trying to write granddaddy’s name. Last night God blessed the services in a major way. There were at least 1000 in […]
Arequipa
Well we are now in sunny, warm, Arequipa, Peru, South America. Mark, Betty, and I are sitting in Chris Gardner’s house. The others are spread out in several different houses. We arrived in Arequipa at about noon. Then we had a wonderful meal with the missionaries. Now we are trying to catch up on things […]
Miami
Well we are sitting in the Miami Airport on our way to Arequipa, Peru. I am excited to be able to return to Peru and see all of our friends and family but mostly to see all the work that God is doing there. I have already been on the nextel with the guys there. […]
Keep up with everyone
David and Anne Lundy were not at their posts today because they were serving God in Mexico with their entire family. Isn’t it wonderful to have a Children’s Pastor with a great heart for world missions. You can keep up with what is going on with them by visiting the Faith Friends blog. They will […]
Great Evening Teen led service
I was so very proud of our young people tonight. We are blessed with a tremendous man of God–Trent Cornwell as our youth pastor. One of the most important ministries in any church is the youth ministry. I was so very proud of the young people as they did everything just like the old folks […]