Preaching Trip/Vacationette to East Tennessee and Northern Kentucky

The family and I were greatly blessed to make a trip down to East Tennessee for a preaching trip/mini vacation. We arrived to Lenoir City, TN late Friday afternoon and were in worship services Friday night, Saturday and Sunday with Grace PBC. This is a delightful group of saints who we have quickly grown to  love. 

Elder Bill Taylor serves as their pastor and is assisted by Elder Dennis Holt. Both of these men are humble servants who are lovingly laboring to lead this flock in accordance with God's word. Every service seemed to be spirit filled. I also enjoyed meeting Elder Ellis Lynn from Knoxville and sharing part of the preaching time with him.

Grace Church is located in Louden, TN at the foothills of the Smokey Mountains. While we were there, we also visited Cades Cove. If you go to the Smokey Mountains, this is a must see! There is an old settlement in the cove that has been preserved by the National Park. The family and I toured a few of the old homesteads and visited the Cade's Cove Primitive Baptist Church. Elder Taylor brought some of the history of the church to life for us. His grandmother was born in Cades Cove and his great-grandfather served as pastor of the church for over 40 years. It amazes me to think of those old saints who believed/preached the same truths that we hold dear today. God is good! I wanted to preach a little bit there, but Sarah would not let me ;-)

Sunday evening we were able to meet with Lexington PBC in Lexington, KY. We always enjoy visiting with Elder and Sister Gowens and the folks in Lexington. We enjoyed the services and had a great evening of fellowship with the Gowens family and other members of Lexington PBC. I appreciate Elder Gowens' zeal for the truth and his willingness to share it with others. He has helped this young preacher out on many occasions.

The family and I made it safely back home late Monday afternoon. All was well back home and we are thankful that the Lord blessed us with traveling mercies throughout the trip. I am glad to be home and missed our church family in Fort Wayne. A special thanks to Elder Troy Thomas for supplying at FWPBC while I was away. I have been trying to catch up yesterday and this morning. I enjoy being with and preaching to God's people. May God continue to bless our churches to grow and prosper!