The Avenue
January 2011
Volume 2, Issue 1
Stay Focused by Jim Wolfe
Special Interest
“Let us hold fast the
Articles:
profession of our faith
without wavering; (for he is
• Add a highlight faithful that promised;) And
or your point of let us consider one another
interest here. to provoke unto love and to
good works: Not forsaking
• Add a highlight the assembling of ourselves
or your point of together, as the manner of
interest here. some is; but exhorting one
another and so much the
• more, as ye see the day
approaching.” – Hebrews
10:23-25
What a joy to find myself, by
the grace of God, once again
as your interim pastor. It is a
real blessing to see so much
progress in the ministry and
the church meeting back in
Inside this Issue the beautiful sanctuary. I at hand. What is our task?
know all this came about
Inspiration Point 2 because of many who
Broken Glass 3 remained faithful in the midst
of despair and
Corner Kitchen 4 discouragement. Oh, God is
Life Happens 5
so good! He will remain
Written Words 6
Pastor Search
The search committee
continues to need your
prayers. Pray for wisdom
and discernment as they
continue to search for a
new Pastor for GABC.
Satan will attack and try
to turn their attention in
other directions. Pray for
much needed strength so
that they may remain
focused.
faithful during this time as
well. Let us remain faithful.
As the writer of Hebrews
admonishes us to “Hold fast
your profession of faith,” I
wish to challenge all of us to
focus on what really matters
in the Christian Life; that is,
the furtherance of the
Gospel of Christ. God has
placed the responsibility of
searching for a new
Shepherd for Galloway
Avenue Baptist Church in
the hands of your “Search the spirit of the church is great
Committee.” Pray for and the opportunities for good
them, trust them, and leave work abounding. The fields truly
this task to them as God are ripe unto harvest! Don’t
leads them. We then are miss the joys God has in store
left free to focus on our task for you in the days ahead. As we
seek to serve the Lord reaching
The rest of that passage in this community for Jesus, we
Hebrews admonishes us “to must remain faithful. I look
provoke one another to love forward to seeing you in faithful
and to good works; not assembling, working, and giving.
forsaking the assembling of May God richly bless us as He
ourselves together.” I find embraces His church in Love and
Grace!
HAVE YOU MADE
GOD SMILE TODAY?
Committee
Rick Dodd
Mike Whalen
Richard Turner
Debbie Howell
Frankie Fogleman
Alternates
Lin Lowrimore
Mario Ochoa
 The Avenue Page 2 of 64

Celebrating 20 Years of God’s Goodness

October 17, 2010 GABC
celebrated our anniversary.
We were reacquainted with
old friends, new friends
were discovered and those
that were passed on were
brought to our memory.
We celebrated in song,
special music, featured
speakers, worship at the
alter and God’s word
preached by Bro. Vic Bass.

SURVIVING A SPIRITUAL TSUNAMI by Lela Jenkins

INSPIRATION POINT PREMISE: TO SURVIVE A SPIRITUAL TSUNAMI, WE MUST CONCENTRATE ON SOME
CONSTANT CERTAINTIES (ACTS 27: 1-26)
-- each issue members of
our church will inspire us I. REACHING OUR INTENDED DESTINATION CAN SOMETIMES BE HINDERED
A. PREVAILING WINDS CAN IMPEDE OUR PROGRESS (VS. 7)
with words from their
B. A CHANGE IN DIRECTION MAY BE UNAVOIDABLE (VS. 7-8)
hearts--- C. VALUABLE TIME MAY BE SQUANDERED (VS. 9)

II. FOLLOWING A DIFFICULT EXCURSION, WE MAY SETTLE FOR AN ALTERNATE HARBOR

A. AN UNPROTECTED PORT MAY BE CHOSEN IN HASTE (VS. 12)
B. AN UNRELIABLE SOURCE OF FUEL MAY PRESENT ITSELF (VS. 13)
C. VALUABLE CARGO MAY BE FORFEITED IN AN EFFORT TO MAINTAIN SURVIVAL (VS. 14-
19)

III. OVERCOMING THE DESPAIR OF A SHIPWRECK REQUIRES UNWAVERING FORTITUDE

A. COURAGE MUST BE SUMMONED TO TACKLE OUR TIMIDITY (VS. 22)
B. FAITH SHOULD BE EXERCISED TO FIGHT OUR FEAR (VS. 24-25)
C. PLACING OUR TRUST IN A SECURE SHORE ENSURES A SAFE RESCUE (VS. 26)

B-asic
ACROSTIC by Lin Lorwrimore I-nstruction
The idea of the acrostic is to give you a word that becomes a phrase to help keep you B-efore
L-eaving
grounded and focused. To the right are some well-known acrostics and some a church
E-earth
member has created. There's one word that we have not found nor have been able to
create an acrostic for. That word is "Trust". GABC will be having a contest with the prize F-ocus
being a $10.00 gift card from Mardel's for the person who creates the best acrostic for the A-ll
word "Trust". Write the word vertically and then try and come up with a I-am
phrase/statement that defines trust using the letters of trust as the first letter of the words T-o
that you use. We have a small group that will be doing the judging. Submit entries to H-im
Debbie Loyd or dloyd@swbell.net. Good Luck!
P-ray
The full story of Acrostic’s by Lin can be found on our website. U-ntil
S-omething
H-appens
Broken Glass by Tina Pierce
Tina shares a story of how
glass represents our Christian
walk and how the sand, the
surf and the waves represent
the Holy Trinity in refining us.
We started the story in the last
issue and we end it this issue.
When I was a teenager , I went with
my mom to a beach in North
Carolina. I was out in the water
when all of a sudden I got pulled
under the water by the undertow. I
could not get my head above the
water even though I was desperate to
do it. After a few long seconds I was
able to stand up and make my way
out of the waves. Once I got onto
the shore I told myself I would never
get back in those North Carolina
waves again, and I never have. I have
been back to the beach there many
times, but I haven’t gone in water any
deeper than my knees. I don’t trust it
anymore. Sometimes when things in
life are tough, we have to make a
choice whether we trust God to keep
our heads above water or not.
Sometimes God even allows
hurricanes to come in our lives. We
can allow these times to mature us
just like the glass is getting smoother
and more beautiful in the rough waves
than it is when things are calm. The
tough times can lead to greater
growth and maturity than just sailing
along in calm times. Sometimes when
you have a hurricane in your life, it
may toss you up on the shore. And
you can choose to stay there or allow
yourself to be put right back into the
waves. I think of a sweet, Christian
lady I know, Nancy Pettijohn, who has
experienced what I would call a
hurricane in her life. She has a life-
changing injury that could cause her
to say, “God I don’t appreciate this,
and I want You to leave me alone for
a while because I don’t trust You
anymore”. But I have been told that
Nancy has said, “I’ll just see what God
has for me from a wheelchair.” That
is like saying, “God please send me
right back out into the waves.” That
takes a lot of trust. “Here am I, spare me”. The devil wants us to become so tired of the growing process
Sometimes I find a piece of glass that we give up. He is trying to add us to his collection of ineffective Christians. He puts
that is sharp and I throw it back us up on the shelf as a token. Then we become one of his most prized possessions a
into the surf to be worked on some stagnate Christian. When we choose to remove ourselves from the refining process we
more. It goes right back out into become a lukewarm Christian. And we all know what the Bible says about lukewarm
those same waves to be worked on Christians.
until it grows softer. Sometimes it We may just want to rest in the sand for a while. We may still be surrounded by the
seems like God puts us in the same things of Jesus or “the sand”. We may still go to church and act like we know we’re
kind of situation over and over and supposed to, but we are basically telling God to leave us alone for a while. But God
over and we think, “Why do I have keeps pursuing. The surf, or Holy Spirit, keeps coming trying to draw us back out to
to go through this again.” Maybe it’s sea. The surf is relentless, just like God’s pursuit of us. He keeps coming and coming
because we didn’t get it right the and coming because He loves us and He knows we are better off in the waves.
first time or the second time or the
third so He throws us right back
out there until we can learn the
lesson.
When I find a piece of glass on the
beach it looks beautiful there on the
sand freshly washed by the waves.
But when I take it home and display
it, it gets dusty and other things get
thrown into the bowl with it.
Before I show other people my
collection of beach glass I have to
clean all the dust off and remove
other things from the bowl like
pennies and Legos. That reminds
me of the things of this world.
When we drift away from God and
I think if the glass is left in the waves long enough it will eventually disintegrate. When it
get out of the right environment we
does it will basically become a part of the sand. You would need a microscope or some
have a tendency to let the things of
kind of magnifying glass to distinguish it from a piece of sand. Hopefully one day we will
the world come in and dirty us up.
become so much like Christ that others would just see Jesus when they look at us. We
We are not nearly as beautiful a
would be changed into the image of Christ. We could truly say “I have been crucified
witness for Christ as we were when
with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Isn’t that the hope
we were in His will.
of all true Christians? The “me” is so clouded by Jesus that people just see Jesus.
When I do take a piece of beach
There is one more thing that I see in this illustration. Some pieces of beach glass are
glass from the beach I am removing
prettier than others. My collection only has a few blue and green pieces, but I think
it from the refining process. The
they are the prettiest. You notice those pieces because they stand out more than the
glass, of course, doesn’t have a
others. But the other colors make up the bulk of the collection. And if you take the
choice, but sometimes we
time to look at the white and brown ones carefully you will see their individual beauty.
deliberately take ourselves out of
Some people in the church have areas of service that are more visible or “prettier”.
God’s refining process. We get
They are the pastors or deacons or they serve in other areas of prominence, but most
tired or busy or beaten down or
of the people in the church are not as visible. They may not stand out in their area of
whatever and we make a decision
service, but they are very important. And God has blessed them with spiritual gifts that
to just sit on the shore for a while.
you may have to look closer at them to see. But, if we take the time to get to know
We just want to be comfortable
them we will get a glimpse of the beauty that God sees in them.
and avoid the attacks of Satan. I
So, the next time you are tempted to sit on the shore and just enjoy the scenery think
think when tough times come for
of the beauty of beach glass, how it gets better and better when it’s being tossed about
me I have a tendency to say
in the sand by the waves after it has been drawn into the water by the surf and throw
something like a quote from a book
yourself back out there.
I’ve read called From Faking it to
Finding Grace. The author says
See the full story at www.gallowaylife.org. Click on “Be Connected”
sometimes we want a break from
the spiritual journey and we say
Have you read my number one best seller?
There will be a test. - GOD
 The Avenue Page 4 of 64

AWANA by Richard Turner

“Today, more than
11,000 US churches
have Awana programs.”
Our theme verse says it all:
2 Timothy 2:15 "Be diligent
to present yourself
approved to God as a
workman who does not
need to be ashamed,
accurately handling the
word of truth." Each child
and leader that comes to
our weekly club learns this
scripture and so much
more.
Awana is our discipleship
program for children, aged
2 to 6th grade. We meet on
Wednesday nights and we
have a great time together
serving the Lord and raising
up these precious children
for Christ!
Each club night consists of a
30 minute game time which
is a lot of fun for the kids,
but by design it teaches
them how to interact with
peers and friends in a
Christian environment
encouraging them, building
them up and teaching them
the values of teamwork, children to raise them up in
cooperation and sharing. the Lord. This is not
something we should take
We also have a 30 minute lightly, and we do not! Our
counsel time where each leaders give their time each
week they learn an week not because they have
important Bible truth! We to but because they WANT
try not to call them Bible to!
stories because that implies
that it is just made up! And Today, more than 11,000
we KNOW that the Bible is U.S. churches have Awana
all truth from Genesis to programs and can be found
Revelation. God's word is in all 50 states. Outside the
Truth! United States Awana can
also be found in over 3,800
We then have a 30 minute churches in 108 countries
handbook time where each and six continents. Awana
of the children learn Bible touches a lot of lives, not
scriptures at their own pace. just in our church but many
They read, memorize and others. For over 50 years
recite these scriptures and Awana has been around. It
God stores it away in their has grown because it is a
hearts like little seeds. We program that Glorifies God,
know that someday, or and it Works!
every day He can and will
use this in their lives. To Our prayer is that all will
God be the Glory! come to know and trust the
Lord Jesus Christ as their
We have an amazing personal Savior!
responsibility to our

The Corner Kitchen

Taste and see that the Lord is good…Psalm 34:8

Heloise's Texas Caviar chopped

Remember to submit
your favorite recipe.
submitted by Sherry Dennis
1 lg. jar picante sauce (heat
strength, your choice)
2 (16 oz) cans of black-eyed
peas, drained
1 (16 oz) can of white
hominy, drained
1 cup green bell pepper,
diced
1 cup white onion, diced
1 cup fresh tomatoes,
1/2 cup fresh cilantro,
chopped
1/4 cup jalapeno peppers,
seeded and chopped (omit
jalapenos if you don’t like
spicy)
1 cup green onions, chopped
(including green tops)
1 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP salt
2 TBSPs coarse ground
black pepper
2 TBSPs ground cumin
Stir all the ingredients
together thoroughly so that
the individual flavors and
spices will blend
well. Refrigerate 24
hrs. When serving, this is
better kept chilled, so place
the bowl of Texas Caviar into
a larger bowl of crushed
ice. Makes enough for a
crowd.

Add a little lemon and lime to tuna to add zest and flavor to tuna sandwiches.
Use cucumbers soaked in vinegar and pepper in sandwich instead of tomatoes.
Use mustard instead of mayo to cut the fat and add a tang.
 LIFE HAPPENS

Children’s Bible Life by Tina Pierce

Ministering to children is an
essential part of an effective
church. We are blessed in our
GABC Children’s Department
with some great Sunday School
workers.
Heather Parker and Shirley
Cole are currently serving in
the Bed Babies class. They
share the love of Jesus with our
youngest members by meeting
their basic needs, and by
showering the little ones with
love and affection. They are
teaching the babies that church
is a loving and secure place to
be.
Thelma Grisham and Mary
Curtiss serve in the two-year-
old class. Both of these ladies
are very committed volunteers
in our Children’s Ministry.
Thelma and Mary serve not
only in Sunday School. They
also work in Extended Session,
and during Sunday and
Wednesday evening services.
They both do a wonderful job
of letting children know they
are cared for at our church.
Amy Parker and Joy Buchanan
serve in the three-year-old
class. Amy is so organized she
has her supply lists prepared
months in advance. She is
consistent in her teaching
method and in the use of class
time, so the children know
what to expect. Joy is an
excellent helper. She is faithful
and she shows the children love
and care in her soft spoken
way.
Jennifer Scott has recently
begun serving in the
Kindergarten class. Jennifer is
very creative and she is good at
implementing her ideas. Her
classroom is organized and
inviting. Jennifer is a warm and
caring teacher, and she makes
each child feel welcome.
Sandra and John LeFevers serve
in the 1st and 2nd grade class.
Sandra does some amazing
things with her bulletin boards.
She actually sews matching
curtains several times a year for
her classroom. It is evident
that John really enjoys being
with the kids. John and Sandra
are organized and prepared for
each lesson. They even bring in
a laptop occasionally in order
for the children to do special
activities.
Cindy Anich is the 3rd and 4th
grade teacher. Cindy comes
early each Sunday in order to
feed the children in her class,
and a few other children,
breakfast. The children from
the older and younger classes
love to hang out in Mrs. Cindy’s
room until class time. Cindy
encourages her students to give
to Sharing Life. They recently
took a trip to Sharing Life to
see how things work there and
see where their donations go.
Christie Anich and Sharon
Spence are both outstanding
helpers in the 3rd and 4th grade
class. Their willingness to serve
is greatly appreciated.
At the beginning of this school
year Meagan Turner moved
from the Kindergarten class
back to the 5th and 6th grade
girl’s class. Meagan enjoys
working with young people.
She is truly interested in the
girls and she has a genuine
desire to help them with their Ministering to Children is an essential
concerns. part of an effective church.
Mr. Larry Buchanan serves in
the 5th and 6th grade boy’s class. OUTREACH
Mr. Larry feels very strongly
about instilling Bible skills in his
December was a big month for
students. They do Bible drill
giving and sharing. We packed our
every Sunday. He enjoys
Operation Christmas Child boxes.
getting to know his students
We participated in Operation Care
better by taking them on special
by donating coats and blankets. We
trips. They sometimes go to
collected for Lottie Moon. We
the movies. His class recently
donated to Sharing Life. And we
took the Dart train to the zoo.
celebrated in song with our
Christmas music, “Everything
All of these servants are faithful
Glorious”.
and dependable. They are also
committed to helping children
Now that a New Year is here let’s
grow spiritually. These
not forgot that we still need to
teachers and helpers enjoy
donate and share. Not only in the
spending time with children and
material things but the spiritual as
they want children at GABC to
well.
get the message that church is a
good place to be.

MY DAD'S ZUCCHINI BREAD submitted by Sherry Dennis

2/3 cup shortening (butter flavored) 1. Preheat oven to 350F
2-2/3 cup sugar 2. Grease 2 lg. loaf pans or 4 small ones or
4 eggs muffin tin.
3 cups shredded zucchini 3. Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs
2/3 cup water one at a time, stirring after each egg.
3-1/3 cups flour 4. Add zucchini and water. Stir all well.
2 tsps baking soda 5. Blend in flour and dry ingredients.
, 1-1/2 tsps salt 6. Pour mixture into greased pans and bake
1/2 tsp baking powder for one hour, or until a toothpick
1 tsp cinnamon (or more to taste) inserted in center comes out clean.
1 tsp cloves (opt) Bake less time for small pans or muffin tins.
2 tsps vanilla
2/3 cup raisins
 WRITTEN WORDS by Debbie Loyd

1930 Galloway Ave. BE BOLD!
Mesquite, TX 75149 I quiver and shake if I have
to stand in front of a group
PHONE: of people and talk. It’s not
972-285-6317
that I’m afraid (well maybe I
GABC STAFF am) it’s because all common
language escapes me when I
Dr. Jim Wolfe begin talking. I have
– Interim Pastor Fibromyalgia and one of the
symptoms is “brain fog”. I’ll
Stephen Sullivan be talking and all of a sudden
- Minister of Worship I realize I’ve substituted a
word for another and my
Bethany Sullivan
-Church Pianist
whole sentence makes no
sense.
Tina Pierce
- Director of Children Growing up I not only
quivered and shook when I
Jeremy Hogg had to stand up in front of a
-Director of Student Ministries group of people but I would
get physically sick. Back then
Janeen Adams
-Office Administrator
I was big time afraid.
Combined with my
childhood experience and
my grown up problems,
verbal communication just
isn’t one of my gifts.
So to avoid this type of
embarrassment I like to use
the written word as my
communication. Writing out
what I want to say gives me
not only a second chance
but many chances to correct
those silly substitute words.
And why am I sharing all this
crazy information with you?
It’s because God has allowed
me to use the written word
to “BE BOLD” about my
walk with him.
I grew up in church. It wasn’t
a choice in our household it
was just a fact of life. On
Sundays you were going to
church. I have good
memories of my childhood
church life. However, when
my children were young I
dropped out of church. I
have randomly been in and
out of church as an adult. And
of course as you can imagine I
bitterly regret it.
When you don’t have that
weekly strengthening of your
faith and fellowship with
other Christians, it is easy,
easy, easy to sin. That part of
my life is between me and
God. But you know what?
Even though I was walking in
the opposite direction from
God he never left me. How
do I know that? Well for
starters it says so in his
written word and because he
has answered so many of my
prayers in such a way to not
be coincidental.
So prayer for me as I
continue to use my written
word to tell about His
written word!!

We’re on the Web! B X M A T T H E W S A T

See us at: L D I S C I P L E D B V
www.gallowaylife.org
E N O M R E S E L O V E
Look for Issues 1 & 2 on the web S Q T S Y N A G O G U E
January 30, 2011 S Z O B F A B O R T Y I
E W E T D I B S N H O J
D E L B A R A P U A D E
Gospel L A V U C N T E U T P N
Matthew S M A R K P H L X H L B
Mark T E P Q W E K T V J K V
Luke
John
Sermon
Blessed
Disciple
Parable
Sabbath
Synagogue