The Big Question

We hope you enjoyed the DVD you received. We would like to encourage you to pass the DVD along after you've watched it to a friend, neighbor, coworker, loved one, or even a complete stranger. Our prayer is that God will use this project to bring increase to His kingdom. May God bless you and yours. Feel free to leave us questions, comments or snarks at the bottom of this post. Merry Christmas and happy new year!

Ryan and Kelly Melancon

Mary Did You Know?

A couple of years ago my wife and I started a little family tradition. On Christmas eve we watch "The Nativity Story". There is a scene where Mary and Joseph are traveling and they stop in the evening to eat. They talk to one another about when Jesus is a child. They wonder how it will be, if they can teach Him, or if He will already know about life and things. I don't think Mary or Joseph had a clue what to expect, but I know this... They trusted God.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our family, friends, brothers and sister in Christ, coworkers, and strangers! I would like to write a letter of encouragement today for you during this Christmas season.

This time of year seems to be hard for many people for several different reasons. Many have lost love ones, many may not have loved ones this time next year, and many dread that reconnection with people they have been neglecting. Whatever the reason I think it may be an attempt to sidetrack us from the true meaning of Christmas. The truth is it's very easy to fall into that ditch. I have found myself in and out of that ditch a couple of times already this year.

I would like to reinforce a couple of things that will help you during these times.

1.) Read your Bible! This is so very important yet so often in the busiest times when we need the most help we neglect it. Most people say "Well I have still been praying." The problem is you're doing all the talking and none of the listening. God speaks to us through His word by the power of the Holy Spirit. I like the saying all my teachers used to tell me... "Ryan God gave you two ears and one mouth so you can listen twice as much as you talk." I think the same principle applies here.

2.) Pray! Just as important as reading your Bible, you can't neglect prayer. Not just praying before your meal either. True alone time with your God. One thing I find I do when I start neglecting my prayer time is I up my prayer for Kelly's and my meals... makes for some cold food!

3.) Keep your eyes on the Cross! Through all the hustle and bustle we tend to lose focus on Christ. The first two things will really help with this but you should also fill your thinking with what Christ has done for us. He died so that we might live!

Lastly if you're not a Christian and you don't understand what all the bother with Christmas is about I would encourage you to examine yourself. You may have a problem and not even know about it or you might know but justify it or ignore it. Take a quick test!

www.goodpersontest.com

From Kelly and Ryan we wish you all a very merry Christmas!

Thefivehundred.org

This was our second year to go out with the 500 after the deeper conference and it was great. Our group was sent to a place in downtown Atlanta called four corners. It's an intersection with a Hooters a Hardrock cafe and a few other restaurants. We broke up to the different corners to hand out tracks and a few guys open air preached.

I had a one on one encounter with a guy from Bosnia who is currently living in Minnesota and visiting Atlanta. After handing him a million dollar bill track he asked what it was for. I told him it was the million dollar question and I asked him what he thought happened after someone dies. He simply stated "nothing". I asked him if he thought he was a good person and he said "yes" so I went through the law with him. After asking him if God should sent him to heaven or he'll he said "what about all the good I've done". I simply explained that his argument would never work in an earthly court and explained that God is more just than any earthly judge. He agreed. I then got the oportunity to share the gospel with him. It was really great. Please pray for this man to be saved! He now knows the truth plainly.

If you didn't make it to deeper there's always next year. If the Lord is willing we will be there as long as they have it.

Ryan

Deeper 2009 (day 2)

Amazing...

I have to say that I've never been so speechless so many times in one day!

An amazing thing about learning apologetics is how eye opening it is. The things we learned make so much sense.

While Greg Koukl was signing his book Kelly and I had just bought from him, I told him "between hearing you and Ravi Zacharias I think my head is going to pop!" He seemed disappointed so I quickly responded "a good pop though." He then told everyone in the next session what I had said. That was cool!

Beyond all the good preaching and speaking that we feasted on here, the one thing that has been magnified in my mind throughout the worship is the magnitude of the payment that Jesus paid. The cup of wrath that He drank not only on my behalf, but on behalf of all those who past present and future repent of their sin and trust in the Savior, Jesus the Christ!

This was our 2nd year of many to come to the Deeper Conference and I can say without reservation I have a deeper understanding of our amazing and wonderful God!

Ryan

We're going DEEPER!

Wow.

That's all I have to say.

We're halfway through the second day and boy has it been amazing. Never have I heard the Word of God spoken of and explained more passionately and eloquently.

We've heard so far from Todd Friel, Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, Emeal Zwayne, Johnny Hunt, Mark Cahill, Greg Koukl, Ravi Zacharias, and our worship leader Scott Krippayne. Mark Spence is the last one we'll hear.

Being here you really feel like you're in the presence of fellow believers. This is the true meaning of fellowship; to be able to speak about your Savior to others who also understand the magnitude of it and are as excited and gracious about it as you are.

Last year was amazing but this year it's just been, well hm, deeper? Even the worship this year; maybe I just didn't get it last year, I didn't understand it, perhaps. But this year the songs seem to really magnify the holiness of our God.

It's all just been incredible and it's not even over yet. I owe Jesus so much more than I could ever even dream of giving Him. I thought I had been living my life for Him before but now I see that I haven't been living every moment to His glory as I should. It's time to step it up, proclaim His name. It's time to take it, yes, DEEPER.

Kelly Melancon

Deeper 2009!!!

Hello all you fellow logracers! Just wanted to give a little update on what's going on this weekend in Atlanta, Ga. That's right The
Deeper Conference!

Day 1 Summary: Got up extra early to meet a gagle of other Christians at The Family Net Studio for a filming of Wretched TV. That was great but the set was a lot smaller than I expected. Todd was funny and Scott Krippayne was there singing some great music!...goto go but i will continue later!

Ryan

This looks like a long overdue film about the truth of abortion. Go to the website and show your support of this film.

It's been a while...

Hey y'all, Kelly here!

Well, it's been a while since we've posted anything. No real excuse, other than Ryan and I are always thinking the other is going to make the next post, so I'll make the first move!

I always have so much to say, but for today, I'm going to just leave a short thought.

Please remember, when you are in Christ, everything you do is to His glory. Do not fail Him! Do not shame his name! With everything that you do, people are looking to you as a picture of Jesus.

I am constantly running late and my husband is always telling me, "Do we have a late God?" Well, no. "Well when people see you, a Christian, they see our God as running late." Grrr, fine, I'm hurrying!

You should think about this in every aspect of your life.

Are you living with someone before marriage? Having sex before marriage? Does this glorify the God that you claim?

Do you go out drinking? Even one or two? When people look at you, what kind of picture of our God are you showing?

These things you do might seem normal because, well hey, everyone else does it right? We are not like the rest of the world! We are supposed to stand apart from the world. We are waging a war against the prince of this world - we can't be like him!

When you repent of your sins and put your faith in Jesus, you are making a commitment to live every second, every breath of your life for the glory of our savior, Jesus Christ. Do not do Him wrong!

Pulltheplugonatheism.com

THE TRUTH!

Meet Wayne Floyd from the movie Fireproof!

Fireproof Trailer

I would like to encourage anyone who hasn't seen this movie to see it. It's is a great movie for everyone.

Electricity!

Last Monday, we had freezing rain that continued until Wednesday. Tuesday (Jan. 27th) at about 3:00 pm our power went out. We finally had it come back on Saturday (Jan 31st) at 4:00 pm. FOUR DAYS and ONE HOUR with out electricity. I know I shouldn't complain because there are a lot of people that have it waaay worse than we do, but when you're so used to a certain lifestyle and expect your power to be there, it's hard to live without it. Needless to say, we lived. Ryan will post the details later, I'm sure. He documented every minute with pictures & video. You should be sooo excited!

99 Balloons

This morning our pastor included this video in his sermon on the value of life. Let us not become complacent in the fight for these little ones. Remember this life starts at the moment of conception.

For education on communicating the pro-life message go to: www.prolifetraining.com

Slumber Party!

Hey y'all, Kelly here.

Last night, Mrs. Glo and I held a slumber party for the Acteens girls. Mrs. Gloria Falknor (our pastor's mother) and I teach a Wednesday evening class called Acteens for jr. high to high school aged girls. We teach the girls about missionaries, what they do, and pray for them. They usually have a retreat at the beginning of the year and this was my first one.

We had 12 girls come and boy, was it crazy! We got our discussion about our upcoming projects out of the way and then they had the rest of the night to have fun. They all brought snacks over and we had soda, so they were pretty hopped up on sugar and caffeine. First we played charades, fun stuff. They were all so goofy they could barely act anything out. I think they got hit with laughing gas or something.

After our discussion and charades, it was already getting pretty late. Six or seven of the girls went to one of the bedrooms to giggle and yell and scream like 14 and 15 year old girls do. Some of the girls stayed in the living room with Mrs. Glo and me. We got into some deep discussions. A few of the girls are already very advanced in their theology and surprise me with their wisdom sometimes. We started talking about abortion. They were already pro-life but they brought up some arguments that their pro-choice family memebers and friends give them. I, gaining all of my wisdom from those scholars at Wretched TV & Radio, pretty much gave them all of the examples I know that they could use to retort/defend their position.

Who would think; you'd get into such a deep discussion at a slumber party with 15 year old girls? They really impress me sometimes. We got into some other very weighty discussions as well. It makes me nervous knowing that these girls are soaking in what I tell them. It seems that they hold me in very high esteem and learn from what I say. I've already taught some of them the Ten Commandments! I just pray that I teach them rightly and lead them closer to what God would like them to be for His purpose.

The Philosophy of Evangelism

I'm Bad

Sorry I couldn't help but post this one also...it just fits!

YOU ARE GUILTY, I AM GUILTY, THE BUS DRIVER IS GUILTY!

Sorry it has been so long since the last post. I will do better.

If we are honest with our selves we will see the truth...and this truth about our depravity will show us how great our God is.

This is good stuff.

LOG RACE???

After giving out our website address to a few confused people, I figured I should do a little clarifying on the reason for the name.

There is a radio podcast Kelly and I listen to regularly called Wretched Radio (www.wretchedradio.com). Well the phone number to this program is 800-LAW-GRACE. The host of the show (Todd Friel) usually says it so fast that listeners commonly mistake it for 800-LOGRACE. So in the search for an original name for our site this was available. Kind of an inside joke for people who listen to the show.

Pilgrims Progress Movie Review

Hey y'all, Kelly here

It’s been a few days since I’ve watched the movie, but I’m finally writing my review on Pilgrim’s Progress. I’m better suited for this review because some certain husband of mine fell asleep! Shh, don’t tell him I told on him!



After watching this movie, I can’t wait to read the book. The movie was loaded with theology. Although at some points I found myself asking, how does that relate to the struggles that Christians face in their walk with salvation? And I have to admit, the acting wasn’t Emmy-worthy, nor were the cinematics, but I think they did the best they could with what they had.



The movie follows a man named Christian with a giant burden (literally, a big load of what looks like giant potatos) in his walk to not only gain salvation but to reach the “ Celestial City .” Oddly, all of the characters are labeled appropriately. Christian is shown the road to the Celestial City by a man named Evangelist. He is met along the path by many false converts, some named Hypocrisy, Ignorance, Little Faith, Pliable, Vain Confidence, etc. He also gets to travel with some truly saved friends as well; Fearless and Hopeful to name two. Christian must use his judgement to follow the narrow path and not to stray when thrown off by tricksters who are strategically placed to show him “easier” routes. Although side tracked a few times, Christian eventually makes it to the Celestial City .



Don’t you wish real life were this nicely branded! It seems as if it would be so easy to navigate and stay away from the friends named Worldy Wise, Flatterer and Party Girl, right? The sad thing is, life is almost this obvious and we still make the wrong choices thinking promises of fun and effortlessness will make our journey shorter or simpler. The bible never promises an easy time for us. In fact we will have struggles and temptations that we must avoid. Don’t be fooled, though. If you turn from God and never go back to Him, it is likely that you were never saved in the first place, as some of the false converts Christian met on his path. Matthew 7:21-23 says, “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.”



It’s a terrifying thought, but please make sure you are on the right path!

How do you know that you believed?

Another great compilation of Paul Washer clips...I love this one.

If We Believe What We Say We Believe

If we believe what we say we believe... then the most kind, loving, and compassionate thing we could ever do is share what we believe to others. I acquired this video after hearing Todd Friel talking about it on Wretched Radio.

What we believe!

We believe that man's heart is deceitfully wicked above all things. We believe that all have sinned; that our transgression of God's holy law or sin separates us from God our creator. Have you ever lied, stolen anything, used God's holy name in vain? Then you are guilty also and therefore eternally separated from God. We believe God is righteous, holy, and that He will not turn a blind eye to sin. Because of this, we are hopelessly bound for hell, eternal torment in a lake of fire and brimstone. If this concerns you, then I have some good news (the gospel) for you. God is also rich in mercy and loves us even though we abhor or hate Him through our wicked works. He provided a way for us to be forgiven through sending His son, the God-man Jesus Christ, to this earth as the perfect sinless sacrifice. Jesus paid the debt we owe. We believe the only way to be forgiven, to receive this payment He's given us, and be reunited with God is to repent of your sins (apologize for and turn from your sins) and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Much like a parachute, you don’t just believe in the parachute to save you, you put it on and put your trust in it. When you do this, God promises He’ll make you a new creature. He’ll give you a new heart with new desires, and you’ll be born again. You’ll go from loving sin and hating God, to loving God and hating sin. Then read your bible daily and allow God to speak to you, not verbally but through his perfect word. Find a good bible believing church so you can serve. And finally live your life for the one who bought you with a price.

Ryan

Ten Indictments of the Modern Church by Paul Washer

Stayed In

Well we didn't go out last night cause Kelly wasn't feeling well. Instead we sayed in and watched Pingrim's Progress. We will post review later. She's feeling much better today.

Tonight we are going out with some friends to eat and then bowling. Should be fun!

Pilgrims Progress

A late Christmas present from my beautiful bride was the Pilgrims Progress DVD. We're going to watch it tonight after we blog about our Dickson St experience. We've heard it is awsome! We'll post a review later.

Welcome!

We finally picked a name and started. Our name comes from a common mispronounced phone number from our favorite radio talk show... Wretched Radio. You can check them out at www.wretchedradio.com. Thanks for checking out our blog. Stay tuned as we go out for our first mission tomorrow night in one of Fayetteville's biggest fishing holes, Dickson Street.