Alabama Summer 2012

     My wife and I recently had the time of our lives on a trip to Alabama.  We drove down from Tulsa to be a with some of the most wonderful people in the world.  It has become practically our home and family away from our home and family.  The place is Perdido, AL just a few miles east of Bayminette, a few more mile east of Mobile, just North of Gulf Shores and just west of Pensacola, FL.  Brother Jerry and Sister Helen are the Pastors of the church.  I have always heard the church reffered to as Fretwell Tabernacle but the offical sign says "Free Pentecostal Holiness Church".  The people are very country and many of them live out in the "woods".  They are some of the hardest trying, hardest working, lovingest, best people that we have ever come across.  They work with drug addicts, trouble teens, broken homes, you name it and are doing a great job of building a church.  Brother and Sister Stewart are some of the workingest, runningest, lovingest people that anyone ever knew, and they run a church "wide open".

     This second photo is of Brother Danny Ray and Sister Flossie, they are assistant Pastors at Fretwell Tabernacle. He runs the services and preaches a lot of times etc.  This is an extremely blessed couple of people.  Out of this one little church there are all kinds of ministries at any given time.  They run feeding programs, transporting children back and forth, community welfare to help pay bills, counselling and so forth.  Not to metion all of the church services, singings, etc. etc.  One of these singings is exactly the reason why my wife and I went down this particular time.

     The Fretwell church sponsored a singing and benefit supper to raise money for HMA.  The money is specifically to go toward our newest project called "The Disciple House".  The Disciple House will be an overnight stay facility where young men can come and be engulfed in 24 hours a day worth of work, teaching, training, church, question and answer time, prayer and many other things to help them get delivered from addictions, bad behavior and sometimes just themselves.  We are currenlty in an ongoing fundraiser for this project and this concert was part of that fundraising.

     The singing was amazing.  Sister Grace Church and her family and band from Birmingham, came and donated thier time and talents and just blew me away with thier singing and sweet spirit.  I was able to purchase a couple of thier CD's and I love them.  We appreciate so much what they did to help out the cause.  Besides just Sister Grace and thier group we had local singers.  The Baggett Family and the The Davis Family sang in turn and as always they blessed us tremendously.  These local groups were born and raised as best I know in this deep south, gulf area and they have always been associated with Fretwell Tabernacle.  They each have thier own special sound and they all interchange and work together so well. 

     People came from all around the region that night to eat, donate, play, sing, listen and fellowship.  We had the priveledge of meeting many new friends and re-aquainting with old ones.  I have great hopes of this becoming one of several annual events for HMA and the cause of reaching the least, the last and the lost.  By the end of the night, $5,000.00 had been raised for the help of the homeless/rehabilitation facility.  God bless everyone and all that you have done.  Only God knows who all helped and just how much you really did.  I pray that He rewards you openly and abundantly.

     Before leaving the area we were priveledged to preach a couple of services at Fretwell and oh how the glory did roll.  If you have never been to one of these services then you have no idea what I am talking about.  Imagine a little country church off in the woods that can seat about 200 people that ends up holding about 3 or 4 hundred instead.  Opening prayer, wonderful congregational singinging ringing throughout the area.  Special songs by sweet spirited people.  Tear filled testimonies of physical healings, hearts, homes and husbands being touched and helped.  Very small children standing up and saying "I love Jesus" and quickly sitting back down with big smiles and blushed faces, troubled teenagers asking for prayer and guidance, a message from an elder, a word from The Word........then an invitation given either by God or man and then.........then.........alcoholics, addicts, the broken, the bitter, the hurting, the helpless and everyone else with a need or a praise begin to make thier way around the front for a time of refreshing, healing, forgiveness and stregth.  GLORY!!! 

     For the record, these other pictures I just could not help but put in.  These are pictures of families: preachers, teachers, singers, from the Fretwell church that, along with many, many others, helped put on the singing and the supper and help with all the day to day activities of the church.  I also included one of the banners that was put up in the community to advertise the benefit.  Each time that the church has an event they have several of these big banners made up and they put them out all around the greater Bay Minette, Alabama area.  This church is "famous" in that part of the country for thier giving, thier love and thier moral standards thier ability to pull together and help people in need.  I know that it sounds like I am really building this one group up and I know that we have a lot of good Godly people in this world but believe me, this is a special bunch. 

     My wife and I were only able to be there for four day but we were blessed beyond measure and enjoyed every minute of it.  Before we left I was able to take my wife to Gulf Shores for a little shooping and a nice dinner on the beach.  We then drove back to Oklahoma where I needed to get some book work and ground game done for the mission.  I was in Oklahoma for four days and then my wife finally stayed home with the kids while I left agian to go to Georgia and Florida.  Next stop...Georgia.

         

California Summer 2012

     Well the last blog ended with my wife and I landing in Sacramento, CA after dropping our daughter off in Oklahoma on our way across the country from Virginia. 
     In California I had the tremendous privedledge of being a part  of a wedding ceremony.  Mr. and Mrs. Joel McCoy as they are now known, blessed my wife and I so much by allowing us to be a part of thier great day.  After flying out to California more than once in the last couple years to help them bury  a loved one, I was glad to make the trip this time for such a joyous occasion.  God bless Joel and Kim!
     Joel belongs to a great family that I have been associated with since the very beginning of my walk with the Lord.  A family of 5 brothers (the oldest of which we have already buried); Great men of character, faith, sincerity and godliness.  They have been supporters of our ministry since it's very inception and I could never say enough great things about them.  Joel is the second to the youngest and the second to the oldest, Nate, is thier pastor.  The youngest, Sam, is set to be married this Saturday in Oklahoma.  Mike, the middle brother, has been one of the single biggest supporters of my ministry and one of my dearest friends.
     This is not the best of photography, (all I had was my i-phone), but here is a picture of the newlyweds standing with my wife and I as well as a goup shot at the wedding of all four of the living brothers with thier wives and children along with Hannah, (far right), who will be a McCoy by this Saturday evening.
     California is where I am from, along with Oregon and Idaho.  The California church fellowship is my home fellowship.  They are by far some of the best churches with the best spirits anywhere on this planet.  I rareley ever get to be with them so this trip was an extra special treat to us because we had a few days to travel around before we had to move on again. 
     We preached in Arbuckle, CA for the McCoys while we were preparing for the wedding.  Arbuckle is north of Sacramento.  Then we were able to travel south and preach in Raisin City for Pastor Wood, in Atwater for Pastor Burris and in Pindale for Pastor Munoz.  Pinedale is in Fresno, Raisin City is south of Fresno an hour or so and I believe Atwater is pretty much between the two. 
     The service in Raisin City was extra special for my wife and I because we had so many old friends that were in that service that we didn't know we would get to see and it was a blessed reunioun.  All the folks thier are special to us.
     The services that Sunday at Atwater and Fesno were exceptional.  God trememndously helped us.  We didn't know hardly anyone from Atwater but you would have never known it from the way they treated us.  The Burris family and thier members immediately found a sweet spot in our hearts.  They have a perfect environment for outreach at thier newly founded church and we hope to work with them more.

     Our time with our dear friends in Fresno was awesome and too short.  A special thanks again to Brother Anthony, Sister Rosemary, Brother Tito and Sister Robin for being our true family all of these years.
     This last pictues is to show you a glimpse of just how blessed we have been lately.  All of this flying, driving, traveling, running, preaching, visiting can be very exhausting and while we were in California making some new friends, The Cliff Burris family took us into thier home and treated us so special we will never forget it.  They let us sleep in, took us out to eat, made fabulous breakfasts and things for us and this is a shot of what it looks like sitting in thier living room looking out the back door.  I said to myself, "If you can't rest here, maybe you just can't rest."  Thanks everybody and God bless you for everything. 
     I want it to be known that each of these churches that I have spoken about in these last two blogs in Virginia and California not only had us to preach thier services and thier special meetings but while we were there they blessed us exceptionally with finances for the mission works.  Summer is a very hard time for the ministry of homeless outreach, drug addiction outreach, inner-city teen outreach etc. but God and His people came through again. 
     My wife and I eventually had to leave Cali again and we flew back to Oklahoma, spent one night in our bed and got up the next day, packed the car and headed for Alabama.  Next stop...Alabama.
    
    

Virginia Summer 2012

      Starting today I will attempt to get everyone caught up a little on some of what has been going on during all of our travels this summer.  Our first time out was my wife Niki, my daughter Tirzah and I, flying to Virginia to preach the homecoming and revival for Pastor Ken Taylor at Bristow Assembly.  We have preached it for the last few years and thouroughly enjoy it every time.  We had great services and good response and Pastor, Sister Taylor and the church family treated us wonderful as usual.  Bristow Assebly is one of the hardest working and most faithful churches in the country that I know of when it comes to missions, both home and abroad.  We at HMA are very proud to be so closely affiliated with these fine people of God. 
     While staying in Manassas I was able to witness a unique miracle.  God set up an appointment between Oklahoma Senator Dr. Tom Coburn and myself for a special twenty minute face to face, one on one meeting.  Pastor Taylor took me to the senate building where I was screened and escorted to a waiting room and then taken to Senator Coburn's private office.  We sat on the couch and discussed the soul, eternity, biblical roles of government and church as well as other things.  I feel like the Lord used this meeting to give the senator some things to think about and in turn Dr. Coburn gave me some special reading material about the topics that he and I discussed.  Some material he wrote himself and some that influenced him to make some of the decisions that he has recently made as a senator.  I prayed for him before I left and I was given a little tour of the area and the people.  One of the other members of congress made the statement while I was there that Dr. Coburn is one of the most powerful poiticians in the world right now.  My response was basically what I will say write here.  Senator Tom Coburn is an intelligent, reasonable and aparaently God fearing man.  I will be praying for him and I hope God can use him for the glory of His kingdom.  Please remenber the senator in your prayers.  Lord willing he and I will be communicating some more as time and our schedules permit.
     Though we were on a very tight schedule while in Virginia, we had just enough time to preach for Family Worship Center in Catlett, VA.  I was very please that it worked out because they have been one of our longerst running support churches.  They have direct ongoing ties with HMA, a large homeless mission work in Washington D.C. and an orphanage overseas. 
     One of the highlights of our trip out there for me was getting re-aquainted with the young man in this last picture.  I think someone had brought him to church years ago where I was holding a revival and that is where I first origianlly saw him.  Then I didn't see him for a couple years or so and I just heard here and there how he wasn't doing very good.  A little over a year ago I was preaching around in Virginia and doing missions work when Pastor Joe Addison asked me if I wanted to go with him and minister inside of Prince William County Detention Center.  And all of you that know me know exactly what I said..."Do fish swim?"   So we went and sure enough this young man was in the jail and we were able to talk to him, preach to him and pray with him.  Then when we went back this summer I was told that he had finished his time in jail, went into a rehab and was about to finish all of him programs and be released.  He was allowed time out from his facility to come be in church with us when I preached Sunday services at Catlett.  We had church service together, went and ate a wonderful meal together and then spent about an hour and a half sitting on the porch discussing his future plans.  All said and done, he has decided to stay at the facility that he is graduating from and be hired on as staff for a year or two so that he can continue to mature, strengthen and help others.  We even discussed his possibly coming to HMA in Tulsa eventually.  Please, please pray for this great young man.
     I want to thank everyone at Bristow Assembly, Family Worship Center, the Taylor's, the Addison's, the Hugil's, Sister Muddiman and all the visitors for everything that you did for us and all that you have been doing for HMA.  God bless each of you.  Please continue to pray and send your regular support.  There is much to be done for the least the last and the lost.
      After almost two weeks in Virginia, we flew back to Oklahoma, dropped off our daughter, spent one night at home and then Sis. Niki and I flew back out for California.  Hopefully I can get the next blog out about California soon.  Then Alabama, Georgia and Florida.  Stay tuned...

Your humble servant,
Rev. D. Todd Sloggett

  

New study material from HMA!!!

     Here it is!  Finally.  In all of our studies about outreach, discipleship and the church, over the last decade +, we have continually concluded that two of the main topics that the church is going to have to address better is adultery and addiction. 
     We could go off into, definitions of sanctification and political fellowships etc, etc but that would be not only boring, it would also be re-re-re-inventing the wheel.
     What we do know though is this, if the modern day, true church of the living God cannot help people with addictions and divorce and re-marriage then they might as well pack it up.  Oh, I guess they could join the Lion's club or continue the family cult or something but probably not be a serious soul saving station. 
     I realize that we here at HMA are thus far better known for dealing with addicts than adulterers but we felt the need to tackle this topic as well. 
     In so doing, I realized right away that the best way to deal with any sin is to teach people not to commit it.  In order to do this we had to pinpoint some very fine root causes and here we start.  This is a picture of the cover page of the teachers edition of HMA's brand new material "AFFAIR PROOFING YOUR MARRIAGE" (produced by Pastor David Lamb and Rev. Todd Sloggett).  It was originally setup as a seminar because that would make it the most versatile.  It can be used from this format as personal study material, Sunday School literatue, a seminar put on by yourself or a seminar put on by one of our ministers here at HMA.  A sample packet with all of the origianl material in it can be purchased by sending a $25.00 donation to: Affair Proofing Your Marriage c/o HMA po box 12 Sapulpa, OK 74067.  You will get a copy of the teachers edition, a copy of the student edition, and a letter explaining how to use the material and or get more copies.  Please be sure to include your proper return address.  Share this information as much as you can.  God bless you and pray for HMA.