Articles

Youth Road Trip to See Saul~2~Paul

On Sunday, January 24th, a group of seven from Unity Baptist Church traveled to Friendship Baptist Church of Medina to see a concert presented by the Christian Praise Band Saul~2~Paul. We all had a great time singing, clapping our hands and praising The LORD. After all, it is not the method but the message that’s important. After the concert where we were filled with Spiritual Food, we stopped at “Mickey-Dees” for some physical food. Those who participated were Savannah Warren, Katie Warren, Shelby Johnson, Brandy Shrewsbury, Taylor Ross, Jamie Garner and Bob Wadley.
Bob Wadley

R.A.’s Health kits

Last Wed. night Cathy Huggins’ class of 4-6 grade boys made health kits for victims of disasters. They may be sent to Haiti. They used soap, toothbrushes, wash rags and etc… It was nice to pack love into these kits. We hope that someone will feel the love of God when they use their kit. I hope we concentrate on missions this whole month.
Lisa Hopper

Japanese Tea Party

Acteens received a taste of Oriental culture at the Japanese Tea Party sponsored by the Madison Chester Association WMU on January 16. The event was held at Union University Coburn dining Hall with 9 girls and 6 adults attending. Jimmy Lynn Phillips, Association WMU Director welcomed the girls and encouraged them to share the good news of Acteens with all their friends. Ramona Mercer, retired missionary from Japan, came dressed in her formal kimono and shared her experiences from 38 years of ministry. She led the girls in a traditional Tea Ceremony. The girls drank green tea and enjoyed the solitude of the moment. Ramona’s daughter, Darlene Tanner taught origami as she shared her experiences as a child growing up in Japan. Patricia Smith, GA from East Union Baptist helped the girls get excited about the origami with her paper folding talent. Savannah Warren, state Acteen Panelist, led the group in a prayer for the missionaries having birthdays and for the people of Haiti. The event closed with makeup techniques as Andrea Young, Hardin Association WMU Director, showed everyone the proper way to wear makeup as a Christian young lady. The girls left with samples of lipstick, eye shadow and a host of goodies from Mary Kay cosmetics.
Cathy Huggins

The Princess and the Frog

On Monday, January 18th, Bob Wadley and four youth- Shelby Johnson, Brandy Shrewsbury, Katie Warren, and Savannah Warren- took a trip to Jackson. The group left the church at about 12:00 noon and headed to Jackson. The outing began with a lunch at Chic-Fil-A. While there everyone enjoyed a great lunch, several laughs, and had to work hard not to play on the playground. Following lunch was a trip to the movies to see the Princess and the Frog. The movie was very funny as well as sad towards the end when everyone’s favorite character- the firefly- died. I believe a few tears were shed during this scene. Once we got Bob’s eyes dried we began heading home, but did make a pit stop at McDonald’s for a McFlurry- a pick me up from the sad part of the movie. This gave everyone a huge burst of energy which led to endless singing with the radio all the way home. This does include Bob. The trip was very fun for all of us and we really enjoyed it. Special thanks go to Bob who was brave enough to take us.
Savannah Warren

Bowling Bunch

On Jan 18, 2010 three children’s committee members (Lisa Bell, Amy Warren and Lisa Hopper) took 16 children bowling in Savannah, TN. We had a great time; I even heard there were a few strikes made! Those in attendance were: Cody Hopper, Dustin Warren, Hayden Callahan, Nick Mayfield, Kera White, Dillon, Haedyn & Lennon & Jason Bailey, Morgan & MacKenzie Moore, Braden Lott, Laney Kennedy, J.R. Johnson, Tyler Griffin, and Makayla Pickett. After we bowled for awhile, we enjoyed playing games in the arcade. All that bowling and game playing worked up big appetites! We went to Pizza Hut and we all pigged out. One kid ate 13 pieces of pizza! No report on how much the adults ate. We came back very tired and full. Thanks to the church for making this trip possible.
Lisa Hopper

Praying in the New Year

Well, 2009 is over and the youth finished it in style. We did things a little different this year. We invited Grace Baptist Church of Henderson to join us in praying in the New Year. Youth and adults started arriving at 6 pm and we enjoyed a meal of hamburgers, hotdogs and chips. After the meal the youth enjoyed free time and several of the adults headed to the TV for the TN vs. Florida game. It was so wonderful seeing our gym used on New Years. On one end of the court there was a volleyball game going on with members of every generation and both churches playing. On the other end there was a game of cone ball for the more daring to play. In the youth room there was a Wii set up for playing interactive sports games. A basketball duel and air hockey game reigned in the old office. Everywhere you went there were young and old having fun!

At 9 pm Scott Laster from Grace introduced a game called Underground Church. He started by talking about persecution of the church in countries like China.  Then he told them that we had hidden 24 hymnals in the church. They had to go and try to find them without being caught by the police. If they were caught they were sent to jail to be tortured (or the nursery to do push-ups and math problems-ha ha!). After this game everyone went back to free time until 11pm when we met in the fellowship hall for a game of Apples to Apples. At 11:30 pm our new youth director Bob Wadley led us in a devotional about getting rid of the junk we carry around and how Jesus is the glue that holds everything together. We discovered Laminin.  (Google laminin pictures and figure that one out! Simply amazing!) At midnight he led us in a prayer and offered for anyone who wanted to come up to the altar and pray.

I counted early in the night and we had 35 youth and 15 adults but we had several adults come and go throughout the night. This was a great way of bringing in the New Year, fellowshipping with other Christians from another church and at midnight thinking about Jesus and praying. I thank everyone who made this year’s New Year event a success.

MSW

Christmas Play

The Story of Jesus birth was portrayed in somewhat of a different way on Sunday night, December 20 in the Fellowship Hall at Unity Baptist. The youth and their puppet friends told the story while the children sang traditional Christmas hymns. The youth met several Wednesday and Sunday nights before regular church services to practice for the play. The play was written by and directed by Bob Wadley, youth director. Lisa Hopper, children’s director, and Lisa Bell worked with the children’s choir many hours also. Thank you to Beth Hurst for puppet costumes and Anita Ross for the art work that helped make it a success. The service closed with the congregation helping the children sing, “Joy to the World” by candlelight. Afterwards, there was plenty of food and fellowship.

Cathy Huggins

Youth Road Trip to Nashville

On Monday, Dec. 21 a group of twelve from Unity Baptist Church travelled up I-40 to take in the Christmas lights at Opryland. The group of nine youth and three adults (2 chaperones plus Bob, the bus driver) stopped first to shop at Opry Mills and then to fill up at the world famous Rainforest Café, a unique, first-time dining experience for most of the teens in the group. Following the meal, the group walked over to the Opryland Hotel to check out their elaborate holiday decorations, stopping at the Delta area and then proceeding to the Conservatory and the Cascades with every inch planted in red and white poinsettias. A few had brought alone their cameras and took pictures of the giant ornaments hanging from the ceiling and the enormous Christmas trees that were breathtakingly beautiful. Since the group had already expended their budget at the Rain Forest Café, a tour of the ICE exhibit was postponed for possible future excursions. Those who participated were Bob and Mary Frances Wadley, Patricia and Chase Ross, Taylor Ross, Brittany Bailey, Savannah and Katie Warren, Alex and Sydney Kennedy, Brandy Shrewsbury and Shelby Johnson. They stuck together like glue (even on frequent trips to the bathroom facilities) and behaved extremely well according to Mrs. Mary, who did not have to use her “teacher voice” or her “teacher look” to keep the group in line.
What a wonderful way to beat the “after-Christmas blues” while our youth were out of school!

Lexington Christmas Parade (Dec. 14th, 2009)

We won again! Can you hear the pride? For the second time this season we have won first place in the religious category with our float!! I am so proud of all the hard work of those who designed and put together this float! I know this effort took many hours and the hard work definitely paid off. We have some very talented individuals in our church. As someone who actually rode the float with the kids, it was a magical experience. The Lexington parade was incredibly long and the turnout was great. We saw lots of excited faces as we passed by. I loved looking at the kids and adults when they saw the smoke coming from the train. Holly Moore and I rode with the kids, followed by Bob Wadley and Amy Warren in the Unity van. They were there to pick up any strays who fell off the float! HA! Jimmy & Brenda Reddin pulled the float with Chris Moore working the generator in the back. I was pleased to see lots of familiar Unity faces in the crowd as we drove by. Thanks to everyone who supported us, in one way or the other. I was touched the most by the number of people who sang along with the music as we passed by them. Especially when “Go Tell It On The Mountain” was played. I hope that we all “Go Tell It” everywhere we can in 2010. Tell everyone what a wonderful Saviour we have! May God bless our church this year.
Lisa Hopper

Pastor’s Notes January

The arguments surrounding creation vs evolution are not likely to end soon but, as your pastor and a biologist that believes God created just as he said He did, I would like for you to consider the case of the Venus flytrap. As you are probably aware, this is one of the few carnivorous plants found on planet earth. When an insect touches a trigger hair on the trap leaf it causes an action potential, much like a nervous impulse in humans, to close the trap. Digestive juices are secreted to kill and digest the unfortunate insect (which is probably more often an ant than a fly). The insect’s struggle and death will result in the release of sodium and ammonium ions from its body and the trap closes even tightly. Carnivory is a remarkable innovation for a plant and has been touted as something that developed in plants that “evolved” in areas low in the essential nutrients required for the their growth, metabolism and reproduction. However, flytraps have been found to grow, flower, produce seed, and propagate without the need for an insect meal. In a flytrap to capture the first insect it must have developed digestive enzymes. Why would it developsuch a mechanism if it is able to take nutrients from the soil and use the sun for solar energy making this “evolution” was unnecessary? Why would it develop a trap leaf and trigger hairs unless there was a “plan” for their use? Since there is no significant advantage to the trap forming by itself, I would rather believe that God created it to regulate some aspect of nature that we have not yet fathomed. We can trust god’s Word when it says in “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”.
Your Pastor,
Dr. H