Speedy Santa 5k

Thanks to everyone who was a part of our 1st Annual Speedy Santa 5k! We had right at 140 runners/walkers and raised almost $2800 for student missions! Check out some of the pics below.....

Fall Retreat Deadline/Speedy Santa 5k/The Shanes & Phil Wickham

Wow....the next month or so is going to be so much fun....just wanted to update you on a few things....

FALL RETREAT
The deadline is THIS Wednesday night!! Don't miss out on this incredible weekend! It's going to be such a good time away to focus on our relationship with God and each other. Let me know if you have any questions at all!

SPEEDY SANTA 5K


Our first ever 5k to support student missions will be Saturday, December 3rd! It is going to be a fun day. We want any and all runners, walkers, run/walkers, crawlers to come and be a part. You don't have to be a marathon runner to participate. click here to go to the FBC website and download a registration form! Get your registration in ASAP as there is a price break for early birds!!

Shane & Shane and Phil Wickham





Do not miss out on this incredible celebration of Christmas at FBC with Shane & Shane and Phil Wickham. It's going down on Saturday, December 17th at 7:00 PM. Tickets are only $10 before the concert and $15 day of the concert. You can purchase them in the church office, or you can grab them off of www.itickets.com!

FALL RETREAT 2011

November 4-6 will be here before you know it! I hope you will join us in praying for these 3 days away at Pine Cove Camp in Tyler, Texas. Be praying for God's Spirit to set souls free....be praying for a spirit of revival and renewal...be praying that God would call prodigals home during this time away!

We are in need of scholarship help! If you would like to invest into the life of a student please hit me up with an e-mail and we can talk about what is needed! Looking forward to Fall Retreat 2011!!

IMPACT last week

Last Wednesday night we had an incredible night of worship as we heard testimonies from students and had the blessing of baptizing 2 students. Just wanted to share some pics of the night! To Him be the glory!!

Testimony/Baptism Night

Wednesday night, September 7th will be a special night in the UR as we highlight several different students' faith stories. It will be an incredible night of hearing the story of God written on the hearts of different students. We will also be baptizing students who have made Christ the Lord of their lives and now want to proclaim that through baptism! Do not miss out on this special night of worship together!

Rookie Day

This past Saturday we welcomed 33 new 8th graders into our Junior High/Senior High Ministry by having Rookie Day. This is something we kicked off last year to help make the transition from our Middle School Ministry a little bit easier.

The students were broken down into teams led by some of our awesome Senior High students. We kicked off the day by competing in an intense game of bowling @ Enterprise Lanes. Emily & Olivia's team came out on top and earned an extra $10 gift card to our next stop...Playtime Pizza! We spent some time eating together, winning tickets together, and just hanging out together!

We finished the day by coming to the Upper Room and enjoying some homemade desserts and letting our Senior High students share about what all happens in our JH/SH ministry. It was a great day and we had a ton of fun getting to know our Rookies!! Looking forward to a great year of ministry. Below you will see our teams and a pic of my adult volunteers. I get the blessing of serving with the best volunteers in the world....top notch!

It's A New Year

Hey gang!!

I hope you are as excited about a new year of life and ministry as I am. We have had an incredible summer, as we experienced the blessing of seeing God work and move in us and through us. From an incredible night of camp on Choir Tour where the Holy Spirit moved in freedom and power to life changing moments of service in the streets of New York City, to intimate times of worship at Student Life Camp. It has been a good summer.

However, we must not simply dwell ONLY on what God has done, but we must anticipate what He wants to do NOW and in the COMING days. I believe that God is about to do some incredible things in our church and specifically our Student Ministry in the coming days!

We will kick off a new year of IMPACT THIS Wednesday night, August 17th! I hope that you will be intentional about inviting your friends who do not have a relationship with Jesus to come and experience love and truth! We have a lot of stuff planned on a calendar, but if we do not plead for the Spirit to come and move that's all they are...merely stuff on a calendar. So....join me in praying for God to move in our church, to save the lost, and if it His will...send revival in our church and community!

May we be a people of ANTICIPATION! Love yall!

Clay

Beach Camp Update

What an incredible couple of days we have had at camp so far. After a great trip down on Saturday we settled into our condos for the week. Great condos with an incredible view of God's creation everyday!!

Saturday night David preached out of Matthew 4 as Jesus called out the first disciples. The theme this week is "Devoted" so David talked about what it takes to become a follower of Jesus. Sunday morning we looked at Matthew 5 and the relationship between Jesus and His Father. David made the statement that devotion to Christ as Lord means to delight in God as Father. We talked about the importance for us to understand the nature and relationship that we have as God being our Heavenly Father and how that brings sovereignty, love, forgiveness, and favor upon us! Last night David preached the clearest and most powerful sermon on the Gospel I have ever heard! Powerful! We had great conversations in small groups and looking forward to even more today!

The weather has been great and the waves are beautiful! Continue praying! Click here to see some pictures of the week so far!

We are HOME!!!...for a bit

WOW! What a week at The Bowery! God definitely has His hand of blessing on an incredible group of guys and ministry. Our experience at The Bowery was an amazing one as we served, worshiped, and were ministered to by such an outstanding group of men who are seeking the Lord whole heartedly!

We flew home tonight...after a delay at the airport...we finally made it in at 11:00 PM tonight....we start our journey to Orange Beach in just a couple of hours. Be praying for God to do a great work in and through our 60 students and adults who will be going! We will be worshiping with David Platte, Tony Merida, and Aaron Keyes this week. I am definitely looking forward to a sweet time of renewal with the Lord and our students.

Be checking back daily this week for updates of pictures throughout the week! You can also check out www.studentlife.com for more information about their ministry! God is so good!!

Click here for all of my pictures from our Bowery Experience!

clay

Mid-Week Update from The Bowery

Hey!

Man has it been a great week so far! Between getting up at 6 am, serving around 200 people every meal (600 meals a day!), painting, cleaning walls, mopping, taking out trash, leading chapel services, unloading donation trucks, building relationships with the students (those going through the program at the Bowery), sweeping, and so much more, there is no doubt that God alone is providing us the strength to serve Him so that He alone is glorified.

One of the opportunities we have had is to help serve at what is called "Outreach Ministry." Here, we helped load an entire box truck full of everything from fruits and vegetables, to sweets and soup. We took the truck to two different parks (one each day), then set up an assembly line so people in the surrounding community could come through and fill up a bag full of food or grab a bowl of hot soup and some water. This was such an incredible opportunity to not only meet the needs of so many people, but we were also able to share the joy Christ has given us to some people who really needed it.

God is not only doing some great things through us, but he is changing our hearts at the same time. Each night as we are winding down, we have been able to share story after story of what God is showing our students through their service and the relationships they are building with these men. What an encouraging thing it has been (and will continue to be!) to see students reaching beyond the material nature of this world and finding their fulfillment and joy in something as rich as the love of Christ.

Continue to pray that God would reveal himself not only through us but also in us, and that he would continually be glorified by the strength he is giving us to serve His people.

Click here to see more pictures from this week!

Bowery Update

Hello friends!

Apologies for not blogging sooner, but it has been a super busy day for us here in NYC! I want to begin by telling you what an exceptional group of students I have the privilege of working with! They have been simply amazing!

Saturday was a long, but fun day! Our flight into NYC was great and we had an uneventful transfer to The Bowery. After hugging old friends we settled into our bunks and ate lunch with the residents. Saturday afternoon found us exploring SOHO and a couple of folks catching a quick nap. We then grabbed dinner at one of our favorite spots for dinner.....Soho Park.....great spot! We then bought our subway passes and headed up to Times Square for some quality time with a million other folks. It was fun to watch our NYC first timers see the lights of Times Square.

Sunday morning we grabbed breakfast and then rode to The Brooklyn Tabernacle for worship. What an amazing worship experience! God did a great work in us as we met with Him! After a late lunch we strolled thru Central Park for a bit before heading back to The Bowery. We served dinner last night to the community and began building relationships with the people. Ended the night with a memorable pizza experience at Sals Pizza. Great NY pizza!

Today has been such a great day! Our students engaged in a variety of different projects. Some picked up food at different restaurants that had been donated, some cooked, everybody served lots of food, some led in chapel services, some initiated fruitful conversations....all in all everyone worked to build The Kingdom! Beau preached a great sermon on our freedom in Christ from Galatians 5 in chapel today. Great word! The night has ended with the great NYC fireworks spectacular. Nice way to spend 7/4!

Continue to pray for our group. Pray for intentional conversations, open doors to share the Gospel, and lots of boldness. You can click here to check out pics!

Clay

New York

This Saturday we leave for New York bright and early! Our team is very excited to see what God will do in us and through us this coming week! We will be working at The Bowery Mission (http://www.bowery.org)

The Bowery serves the homeless and the hungry of New York. We will be helping with chapel services, serving meals, helping out with needs at The Bowery, and most of all sharing the love of God with the broken. Each day we will wake up early, go to chapel, serve breakfast, work at The Bowery, go to chapel, serve lunch, work at The Bowery, go to chapel, serve dinner, and then have some time to relax and go on runs to get ice cream or Whole Foods down the street! Last year we did a lot of sorting food into crates. All the food The Bowery serves is donated, and it comes in by the truck loads! Each day an outreach truck goes, and some of our group will get to go. On an outreach trip, food is taken to parks or neighborhoods around New York and people literally line up and walk down the line receiving food. Outreach is a favorite of many veterans to the Bowery.

On Sunday we will go to worship at the Brooklyn Tabernacle and have lunch in Time Square. Thursday night we are going out to eat and to see the Sister Act on broadway and have Juniors Cheesecake for dessert! Our last day will be a sightseeing day! We are going to the Top of the Rock, Union Station, on a NBC Studio tour, and on a speedboat ride on the Hudson River! It will be a busy day before we head home that night.

Please be in prayer for our trip! Pray specifically for the people we will come in contact with, that we will be a loving light of the Lord. Pray that we will have a heart full of compassion for the people there and be willing to serve no matter what, even when it takes us out of our comfort zones.

Choir Tour Wrap Up

Well....tonight was an incredible end to an amazing Choir Tour. Thanks to so many of you who came to our Homecoming Concert.

God was so faithful to move in the hearts of students and adults while at camp at the end of tour. We took time to dissect Psalm 63.1-5 and spent some intimate times of worship with the Father together. Jarrett did an awesome job of leading worship for us!

Thanks to all of our adult sponsors who made the week such a success! Thanks for volunteering your time, energy, money, and love for the glory of the Father! May God continue to be glorified through the ministry of Pure Energy!

Sanctuary!

Today was a great day as we completed Day 4! We began by singing at The Lenbrook Community. We had a great time singing to the Lord and encouraging some of the folks there. Our time of worship was also broadcast to over 300 of their shut in residents as well! After a lunch break/mall stop at Lenox Mall we headed to our Concert To God.

This has become a favorite moment for a lot of our students. After our time at the mall everyone got on the bus and did not speak a word. We traveled throughout the Buckhead area of Atlanta and went to Peachtree Christian Church. We quietly entered their BEAUTIFUL sanctuary and spent some time in silence before we met with the Lord in a powerful powerful way! It was an intense time of worship to the Father!

After a quick stop at the hotel we grabbed some dinner and went to Stone Mountain Park. God has blessed us with incredible weather this week and tonight was a perfect night as we enjoyed the laser light show on the mountain face! Great time.

Keep praying for the Spirit to move....especially as we head to camp tomorrow night!

Click here to see pictures of today!

cc

Rafting, Rescuing, Rejoicing

Well....today has been an epic choir tour day that our students are still buzzing about tonight! After a great night of sleep in the dorms we woke up to some scrumptious cereal bars, milk, and juice for breakfast. We then spent some time together just encouraging each other with what God has taught us so far and sharing different Scriptures that have encouraged us. It was a great time of sharing before we loaded the bus for the Ocoee!

We had 2 different groups that hit the river in the afternoon. Check out the pics below, but it was a daunting sight seeing 55 people filing out of a bus grabbing their big life boats and slipping into the river Many of our folks were white water rafting rookies, and I'm pretty sure everyone of them absolutely loved it! We did have a lot of students, and some adults tip out of their raft, but as you can tell from the title of this blogpost....all were rescued. It was funny to hear students describing how 'they saved' a fellow student!! It was a great time and we had absolutely PERFECT weather! After a great hamburger/hot dog cook out we boarded the buses and are now in Atlanta!!

Tomorrow will be a busy day as we will be singing in a retirement community in the morning, grabbing lunch at Lennox Mall, engaging in our Concert For God before enjoying Stone Mountain at night! Thanks for so many of you praying fervently for us! God is teaching us great things about Himself and ourselves as well!

Click here to check out pics from today.

Day 2 Comes To An End!

What a great day as we celebrated the greatness and goodness of God in Naashville this morning and Chattanoog tonight! We had the blessing of worshiping with Highland Park BC in Chattanooga. What incredible hosts they were tonight! From the time we got off the bus until they put us in our dorm rooms tonight they were so hospitable and it was an incredible night of worship. The sound from the choir may be the best I've ever heard. "The Power of The Cross" was incredible tonight. You could sense the Spirit in a powerful powerful way.

After our concert Tennessee Temple University which is closely related to HPBC treated us to pizza and homemade desserts. Everyone was excited about not eating a meal at a mall. Tomorrow will be a fun day as we head down to Ocoee to whitewater raft! We are going to get a little sleep as well! We are excited!!

Click here to check out pictures from today!

Sunday Morning @ Tusculum Hills

Hope this note finds everyone doing well! We've had a busy day already and we are on the road headed to Chattanooga. We worshiped with Tusculum Hills BC this morning. What a gracious church and what a great time of worship. Our students did a great job and we heard a great sermon on Genesis 20 on remaining faithful to the Lord.

After lunch at yet another mall we are now on the road to Chattanooga where we will worship with Highland Park Baptist Church. We will be spending the night there in the dorms of Tennessee Temple University. Pray for the Spirit to move mightiy tonight!

Clay

What A Day!!

Well...I should have been asleep a long, but I just wanted to catch you up on the rest of the afternoon. After lunch in Memphis we jaunted over to Nashville where we kicked off our time at The Opryland Hotel and explored all of its' beauty this afternoon, and we managed to fit a quick dinner in as well!

We then strolled over to The Opry and sang for a good sized group of folks, and had the opportunity to encourage and be encouraged by folks from all over the country. It was a cool experience. We then received a country music inservice by Little Jimmy Dickens, Roy Clark, Mel Tellis, Charley Pride, Diamond Rio, and so many others. It was a lot of fun!

We are in the hotel now and about to be asleep. Tomorrow is a big day!!

Click here for more pics!

Grace and Peace!

Clay

And....We Are Off!!

Choir Tour 2011 has kicked off! We just fiinished up lunch at the Wolfchase Galleria in Memphis, and we are headed to Nashville, Tennessee. This afternoon we will grab an early dinner at the Opryland Hotel before walking over to The Grand Ole Opry. We will sing outside the Opry tonight. Pray as folks stop and listen that we will have the opportunity to encourage folks. We will then head into the Opry for the show. A long day ends later tonight before a big day tomorrow!! Thanks for your prayers! Feel free to leave a comment for you child/grandchild/friend/etc..... on the blog. Click here to check out pics!

Choir Tour 2011!!

In less than 24 hours we will be boarding buses, loading luggage, and heading out for an incredible week of worship, Bible study, fellowship, and memories. God has used Choir Tour for a long time to create spiritual markers in the lives of students and adults. We have been praying as a leadership team for that to happen again this week!

Thanks to Angela White and Becky McGuire for their tireless effort in making this week happen. Angela is doing an incredible job leading our students in not performing concerts, but honoring our King through praise and worship. Lots and lots of folks have no clue about the amount of work that Becky, or BMAC, does behind the scenes to make Choir Tour happen. Take an opportunity to let these 2 ladies know how much you appreciate them!

We will be updating this blog with pictures, stories, and testimonies throughout the week! Be praying for God to move in the lives of students and adults. To Him be the glory!!

Summer is Here

Summer is here, and we are so excited about what all God is going to do in the lives of students as we worship, serve, and make much of Him! Make sure you check out what all is going on this summer in the calendar to the right of this post! Feel free to e-mail me at clay.cunningham@fbcbenton.org with any questions that you might have!

SPRING FLING

This Wednesday night is our last IMPACT for the semester, but we will go out with a bang!! We will meet from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM this Wednesday night in the back parking lot for a little cook out, and some crazy inflatables. The crazy obstacle course will return along with some bouncy boxing and the always popular mechanical bull. Bring a friend with you and celebrate a fun night together!!! Bring a dessert with you if you can!

Good Friday

what a great Palm Sunday at FBC Benton, and excited about Passion week as we look forward to Easter next Sunday. this Friday we are calling our folks together for a different service as we have our first ever Good Friday Worship at 7:00 PM in Selph Hall. it will be a very contemplative service that will focus on the cross and Jesus' work there. we will read a lot of Scripture, Jarrett Davis will be leading worship, and we will do Communion together. childcare is available for children birth to 3 years old. make plans for you and your family to be part of this incredible time together!!

What a week....

well...we made it back home to Arkansas after an incredible week of life and ministry in Alaska....God had such a different plan in store for us than we did...just like HIM! it was so fun to keep in step with what He wanted for us instead of what we had 'envisioned'....He is good like that.

we had the blessing to work with scott, jerry, melissa, billy, and geri on the field in Alaska and they took GREAT care of us. we really fell in love with jerry, melissa, billy, and geri and their love for the village that we had the privilege of serving. these 2 retired couples have done anything but retire as they are serving this village and the people of Alaska with all they have. what an encouragement.

obviously from the pictures you can see the glory of God showing off everywhere we turned in this great land. what spectacular sites of God's power and splendor. thank you for these glimpses Father of your greatness!

here are some links to our facebook pictures for more glimpses into our week. thanks for being prayer warriors on our behalf. to God be the glory!

Day 2

Day 6

Team Alaska Update

sorry it's been a few days since we have been able to update. we left tuesday morning to head to the village that we have been ministering in for the past few days. it has been an incredible journey as God totally took us out of our comfort zone to see things and do things that we most likely never imagined doing when we boarded the plane Sunday afternoon.. seeing how He wanted to use us in His ways and His time has been interesting to say the least! the people of the village were so gracious and accepting of us. they were a joy to be with as we had the opportunity to minister through serving and worshiping with them! we will try to get some more pics up tomorrow. pray for us as we prepare to travel back home tomorrow evening!

Team Alaska Day One

Today has been a great day as we got some incredible sleep after a long day of flights! We were awakened by a home cooked breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, and biscuits! After a time of orientation we headed out for a day of sightseeing. What a blessing to be able to enjoy the glory of God through experiencing His creation. We got to see some incredible snow capped mountains, glaciers, and animals. We also spent some time sliding on an ice covered lake and sliding down some hills. During all this time we were surrounded by the beauty of God's creation. Pray for safety as we travel and for the Gospel to go forward and for His Kingdom to be extended. Click to see pics of Day One! We will not have internet for a few days so our next update my not happen until Friday. Tanner says to tell his momma hi! :)

Click here to see pics of Day One

We Are Here

Hello from Anchorage....
It is 1:11 AM here in Anchorage and I think I am a few hours away from being up 24 hours straight! We have made it to Alaska and everybody is doing great! All of our flights went well and we are settling in now for the evening. Looking forward to a great day tomorrow as our schedule has changed a little bit. We will be doing sightseeing tomorrow and heading to out from Anchorage on Tuesday morning. Thanks for your prayers as we continue to seek what God has for us during these days! Much love from the great Northwest!

Team Alaska

This morning I'm wide awake in expectation of what God is going to do with this team of students and adults as we travel to share about the greatness and goodness of God. Be praying for safety as we travel and for openness to the Gospel. Can't wait to see the glory of the Father in a distant land!

Youth Evangelism Conference

Youth Evangelism Conference is coming soon!! Don't miss out on an incredible conference in LR that we will be taking Middle School through High School students to. Wade Morris & Wes Hamilton will be preaching and Brenton Brown and The Afters will be leading worship. The cost is only $25 and your registration pack is due by Wednesday, March 30th!

EVENING WITH THE STARS

Our 5th Annual Evening With The Stars takes place THIS Sunday night! It is going to be an incredible evening of entertainment as Carrie Underwood, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Sarah Bareilles, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash, Michael Buble, and a host of others. Admission is only $5 and we will be collecting donations for Team Alaska's mission trip over Spring Break! Don't miss out on Evening With The Stars THIS Sunday night at 7:00 PM in Selph Hall!

ICE OUT!!

Don't forget that ICE OUT forms are due TONIGHT!! You MUST have your blue insurance form and a $15 check turned in tonight to be able to head out with us THIS Sunday night at 7:00 PM! It's going to be a blast!!

NO IMPACT

Unfortunately we will not have IMPACT tomorrow night, February 8th because of the cancellation of school at Benton Public Schools. We will see you Sunday!

Merry February

Hey Gang!

THIS Sunday night is our Super Bowl Party in the Upper Room right after Pure Energy. We will have a TON of food, ping pong tournament, pool matches, and games of NERTS!! Don't miss out and invite a friend to come with you!

Also...don't forget to sign up for ICE OUT, which is going down Sunday night, February 20th. You must be registered by Wednesday night, February 16th. The cost is $15 and you MUST have a blue insurance form signed by your parent/guardian!

Team Alaska will meet at noon THIS Sunday, February 6th in the Upper Room for an informational meeting and lunch!