Haughton

New Places, New Spaces…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

The Church of Jesus Christ is always on the move, and today the Haughton Global Methodist Church begins worship in its new home. It is a new place and a new space and I know the congregation is excited about worshipping for the first time in this new place.

The space is located at 966 Highway 80 in Haughton, LA. It was a church in one of its former lives, but it has been a physical therapy office in its most recent life. We will re-consecrate the space this morning at 10:30 a.m. for use as a place of worship, and I’d love to invite you to join us if you’re in the Haughton/Bossier City area.

I need to commend the congregation on its hard work over the past month in getting the space ready to occupy. Countless hours of service have gone into the process of converting the space back to its original purpose. Let me say, “Thank you” to all those servants who have been so diligent (and so generous) in doing what was necessary to accomplish the task. Great work!

Today will be my first opportunity to see the space after all the work is completed (will it ever really be completed?). I’m excited to see it and to lead worship for the first time in this new place. I’m excited to see all that the Lord has planned for the space and for the congregation.

I’m looking forward to getting to know the Haughton community in a deeper way. It’s going to be a challenge for me as a bi-vocational pastor, but I pray the Lord opens doors and provides opportunities for the congregation to grow and flourish in the community. I covet your prayers for the congregation, too.

Perhaps this new space in this new place will be an encouragement for new people to explore the Kingdom of God. Maybe there are those in the Haughton/East Bossier area who have been waiting for a new place and I pray the Holy Spirit will open their hearts to take a step of faith in hearing His call to salvation in their lives. Would you pray that prayer with me, too?

This new space and new place is located right next door to an oil change place. I find that only a little humorous and ironic. I spend six days a week at an oil change place and now I’ll be leading worship next door to an oil change place. Providential? Who know? I’m just trying to figure out ways we can be a good neighbor. I must confess that I’m also trying to figure out ways to use it evangelistically. We’ll pray the Lord opens doors for both to occur. Will you pray that prayer with us?

Anyway, my blogs may become less frequent now. Most of my Sunday morning time will be spent preparing for worship. They may even be spent finishing the message for that day. Of course, that’s happened before. Either way, the Lord’s got this. The Lord guided us into this, and I know that where the Lord guides, the Lord provides. I’m anxious to see how He does so in this case.

So, that’s all for this week’s blog. I don’t know when the next one might be written, but I’m anxious to see the story He is writing in the life of the Haughton Methodist Church.

Until next time, keep looking up…

A Little R & R…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

Broken Bow Getaway

I write this morning from beautiful Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Vanessa and I took a few days (very few) for some rest and recreation. It is our first journey to Broken Bow. It has been a very nice and relaxing time away, and it was much needed.

We really wanted to go to the beach…the beach (any beach) is our go-to spot for reconnecting with each other and to get away from it all, but unfortunately, there aren’t any beaches close enough to make it feasible for a three-day trip (three days is all we have). Broken Bow is only three hours or so from the house, so that left more time for doing nothing than spending a day driving to the beach…so, here we are.

It’s been enjoyable. It’s been relaxing. Both what we needed. We’ve eaten too much trying local restaurants (Grateful Head Pizza, Mountain Fork Brewery, Beaver’s Bend Restaurant, Buffalo Grill). We’ve napped both days. We’ve seen new sights. We’ve taken a boat ride on pristine Broken Bow Lake. We’ve soaked in a hot tub. We took a ride through Beavers Bend State Park. Dipped our toes in the river. Watched fishermen fishing for trout in the stream. I even slept in one morning of our trip.

We’ve scoped out a lot of territory for a return trip with the grandchildren. They’d probably enjoy it more than we have. There’s ATV riding and hiking and swimming and paddle boarding and fishing…all great outdoor activities. I could see us renting a pontoon boat for a day on Broken Bow Lake tubing and fishing and cooking. I’d love to get a guide and take the grandsons fly fishing. Vanessa says she and the granddaughter want to learn to fly fish, too. Maybe my son could bring a couple of his Cushman carts and we could do some ATV riding along the trails in the Ouachita National Forest. So much to do. So little time.

We needed some time away. The only “time away” Vanessa and I have had in 2024 was to the EMC Journey session in Copperas Cove, TX in May. That was a refreshing time away, for sure, but it was a “working” conference, so does it really count as vacation? No, I don’t think so.

That’s the way it is when you own your own business. What’s the old saying? “The eye of the master fattens the calf.” No one watches your business like you do. I now know why Bill Malone spent so much time at Malone’s Grocery and Hardware in Chatham, LA.

A New Journey

We also needed some time away because next Sunday, September 29th, Vanessa and I begin a new journey as pastor at Haughton Methodist Church. Their’s has been a challenging journey out of The United Methodist Church. They have been without a pastor for some time now and after much prayer and consideration, we feel called to serve them in this capacity.

The congregation has been meeting for a little over a year in the Holiday Inn in Bossier City (part of their challenging journey), but will soon be moving into their new home at 966 Highway 80 in Haughton, LA on October 6th. I look forward to being a part of this transition, and I’m excited about all the possibilities that exist to grow the Kingdom of God in the Haughton area.

Hey? If you’re in the area, we meet for coffee and fellowship at 10 a.m., with worship following at 10:30 a.m. Plan on joining us September 29th at the Holiday Inn on Highway 80 in Bossier City and on October 6th at our new home. We’d love to see you!

I’ll be serving as a bi-vocational pastor for as long as they’ll have me. I’ll be selling oil during the week and pastoring on the weekend. We’ll see how that works out. We gave it a try at Lakeview Methodist Church for a few months, but the day job made it difficult to commit to the congregation the time it needed to grow the congregation. My prayer is the same thing won’t happen this time with the Haughton congregation.

Right now, we’re at a staffing level with the business that I absolutely don’t have to be there ALL the time. Join me in prayer that it stays that way and that I can eventually be more than just a Sunday preacher in Haughton.

Anyhow…it’s time to get up, start packing up and make the drive back home and to the real world. Monday is coming and there is oil to sell, cars to service and the Gospel to preach. Next week, by God’s grace, I’ll be doing all three–rested and ready to do so!

Until next time, keep looking up…