Hi!  I’m Keri Dougless.  I’m a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, but most importantly, daughter of the King.  Yes, I’m a princess, and I smell good.

My story is fairly simple and seems somewhat common, but Jesus sculpted it, and so it is to be shared.   Isaiah 64:8 says, “Yet you, LORD, are our Father.  We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

I was raised in a Christian home by my sweet, Godly, mother.  She was a single mom to my 2 brothers and I, and now that I am a mother myself, I can truly say she is an inspiration.  She taught us to love Jesus, to serve His people, to care for others, and to always be kind.  She taught me to cook, clean, and love children.  (Which is now what I do each day in taking care of my family.)

I’ve been a member of FCC all my life, except the 3 ½ years I lived in Utah.  I’ve been loved on and taught well by the many members, young and old.   As I entered Jr. High and High School, the youth group became my “second family”.  We laughed together, cried together, studied God’s word together; ate, sang, served, and even lived together, at times.  Those 6+ years of my life, when my mind was most open and soaking up every little thing I saw and heard, I was blessed to spend with people who loved God and loved me.  My life was shaped and forever changed by my youth minister, Dusty Frizzell, my mentor and a great friend, Amy Frizzell, and the many other Christian leaders and friends.  Because of the positive influences in my life I made some pretty important choices and decisions.  Hebrews 12:1-3  1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  Even though I was in high school, at the time, those choices and decisions have shaped my life as an adult as well.

First, I chose to love Jesus and live like I loved Jesus.  I spent summers going on mission trips.  These trips taught me the importance of serving others and gave me a more realistic perspective of the world than what Carthage, Missouri could give me.  I chose to follow Jesus completely and be baptized in Saltillo, Mexico in 2001; the summer I graduated from High School.   That same summer, I went to Haiti for a 2-week mission trip.  My life was completely turned upside down as I fell in love with God’s people in yet another country.  (I was already in love with His people in Mexico!)  Since then, I’ve fallen in love with the people of Jamaica and Guatemala as well and my love continues to grow and my heart continues to break for the people that are less likely to know Jesus or be introduced to Jesus in so many places around the world.   Matthew 28:18-20  18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Second, I chose to attend Ozark Christian College for the first two years of my college education.  Even though I knew all the Sunday School stories of the Bible, I learned so much in my studies at OCC that I can now apply to my life daily.

Third, I fell in love with and married a man that has taught me more about following Christ than anyone else I’ve known.  Cody and I met the summer before my senior year of High School.  We dated in high school and then through college and got married May 27, 2005.    Cody graduated OCC a year later, and one year after that we moved to Salt Lake City, UT for his first “real” student ministry position.  We spent 3 ½ years in UT, had our first child there, and then moved back to Carthage.  We have been here for almost 2 years now.  Through it all, in the past 6 years, Cody has been my rock, my provider, my best friend, my encourager, and often times, my counselor.  Marriage isn’t always easy, moving away from home is rarely easy, and becoming a parent is probably never easy…but having Cody as my husband, and Jesus as our Savior has made it all worthwhile and purposeful.

Now, I could continue my “story” on in so many different ways.  I could tell you how I struggle daily with wanting to be a “pleaser”.  I could tell you how I lose patience often, and need to ask my 3 yr old for forgiveness.  I could encourage you to drop everything and become a missionary.  I could try to convince you to go to Bible College, or change your career to staying home with your kids.  But I think it’s most important that I just tell you that without Jesus, life is meaningless.   I feel blessed that I’ve known Jesus from an early age.  I know that without Him, my story would be completely different because He’s turned my life upside down.  He’s given me a desire to live purposefully.  He’s given me a purpose in this life.

If you are a student, I would encourage you to keep in mind that the choices you make now, will definitely impact the rest of your life.  Choose Jesus first.  Then let Him define your purpose.

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.  Luke 5:1-2

This is the event leading up to Jesus choosing his leadership team.  This is a big moment in the ministry of Jesus.  As it should be for any main leader.  Picking the people you will work with is huge.  There was something about verse 1 I haven’t caught before.  I bolded that part in the above section.  “While the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God“.  Luke seems to mention this as a continues problem for Jesus.  Luke doesn’t seem to make this a big deal.  That tells me it’s just something that happens to Jesus as a regular part of his ministy.  If you read the gospels you see that it’s true.  Jesus is always attracting a crowd.  The reason for him attracting the crowd here is very interesting.  The crowd didn’t care about what Jesus could or would do for them, but  instead wanted to hear the word of God.

Let me ask you a question.  When do you go to Jesus?  Is it when you need something?  Is it when he doesn’t come through on something?  Is it when something bad happens?  Is it when you have exhosted all your options?  or is it because you want to hear the words of God?

Okay. Here we go; this is Jesus’ story with me. I didn’t grow up in the church and I only recall going to vacation bible school as a little kid. Other than that, my family and I did not go. As a kid and even as a high school student, I knew very little about God, but did nothing or knew nothing about building a relationship with God. All during school I was considered a “good kid” (meaning I didn’t do drugs, I stayed out of trouble, I was a moral person, I showed respect, I was nice and polite, I was involved in sports and other activities, yada yada yada). All of that though was just a mask I put on. When the mask came off, I was none of that. I made bad choices, did things I regret, and really just got caught up in a life style that was dark and foolish. Yep, you got it; I was just as religious and hypocritical as the Pharisees who put Jesus up on a cross. Having that said, the more I got older the more I felt like something apart of me was missing. I felt like who I was, was not my true identity and started to have a desire to go to church. I was scared to go by myself and one day out of the blue a friend asked if I wanted to go to church, and I felt like before he could finish the question I blurted out “YES!”  After about a month or so of going to church and studying the Bible, Jesus pretty much gave me a good kick in the pants. He lovingly revealed his truth to me through his word and I felt him continually asking me “Good kid, huh?” By God’s grace I dropped trying to be the good kid and realized that I needed a savior and not a high moral standard. I gave myself to Christ and was baptized on August 23^rd, 2009 and then came the transformation. 2^nd Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” and that’s exactly what Jesus did. My old sinful nature of sexual immorality, idolatry, hatred, jealousy, anger, drunkenness, and selfish ambition had passed away and my new self had come with new passions and new desires. The Holy Spirit moved in me in away where I genuinely had love, joy, patience, self control, kindness, gentleness, and peace. I no longer wanted to go out all night and make bad decisions, but rather stay home and read my Bible. I no longer wanted to curse or speak lies, but rather pray and speak truth. I no longer wanted to live to honor and glorify myself, but rather I wanted to start living a life that honors and glorifies the one who is worthy of it. God’s grace has brought some incredible people through the church that have mentored, encouraged, inspired, and just plain loved me. Now, I feel that’s exactly what the Lord is calling me to do with the students in the youth ministry. Let me tell you, I look forward to every Wednesday night hanging out and worshipping an amazing God with some pretty awesome students.

I’ve been attending church for as long as I can remember. My family started attending First Christian Church when I was in the fifth grade, and I absolutely loved it. Before FCC, we had been attending a Church of Christ, so the children’s ministry here was very different. I loved my new church family, and with the help of the adult leaders around me, I grew in my relationship with Christ. When I was twelve, I was baptized, and did everything I could to live my life for Him.

Since then, I’ve always been an active member of the church. There was a period in my early high school years when I was just that. An active church goer. I was really good at faking it, and I was not investing in my relationship with God. I had surrounded myself with the friends I wanted to have, even though I knew God had other plans for me. After about a year of playing church and avoiding God, I finally got my act together again. I began my quiet time with God again, distanced myself from hurtful relationships, and got back on track with God.

Over the last few years, I’ve been trying to decipher the specifics of God’s will for my life. God let me know what he had planned for my life at a Youth in Ministry Conference the summer before my senior year. As the guest speaker was giving his message, I clearly felt God calling me toward the mission field. I remember going back to my room after the session, and I just started sobbing. I had no doubt God was specifically calling me to be a missionary, but I had no idea how I was going to do it. I was scared. I didn’t want to leave my family and friends. I’m a picky eater, and I didn’t want to try new foods. I didn’t want to learn another language. I didn’t want to leave my comfort zone. How in the world would God use me in another country? I hadn’t even been out of the country before! I had all of these fears and objections to God’s plan.

Fortunately God really does know best. Over the last few years, God has been working on my heart and preparing me for His plans for the future. The next summer I was able to go to Honduras for two weeks with a team from the church. It was my first time out of the country, and everything felt right. The mission trip reassured me of God’s calling, and I knew the mission field is exactly where He wanted me.

For the summer of 2011, I set up a missions internship with Kontaktmission. I spent a month in Europe staying with missionaries and basically job shadowing them. I spent a week in Germany attending a conference where I was able to meet missionaries, ask questions, and learn from their experiences. After Germany, I spent a week and a half in Thessaloniki, Greece and then two weeks in Vienna, Austria. In Greece, I stayed with a couple from New Jersey and helped out with the church however I could. The couple I stayed with listened to KLOVE on their computer basically day in and day out. One morning while I was eating breakfast alone, Chris Tomlin’s song “Our God” came on, and I just lost it. As soon as the bridge of the song came on, I was basically sobbing (I’m a crier). I was in Greece all alone. Out of the one million people living in Thessaloniki, Greece, I knew less than ten. I flew there alone. I rode the buses alone. I couldn’t talk to people unless they spoke English. I hadn’t been anywhere alone before my trip to Europe. I hadn’t even driven to Springfield alone. I didn’t get myself to Europe. God got me there.

I know God has amazing plans for my life. He’s already blessed me beyond imagination. I’m still not sure about the specifics of God’s plan. I’m not exactly sure what he wants to me to do on the mission field or even where to go. As I wait for God to let me know the specifics, I’m going to continue living my life for Him, trying to glorify God in everything I do.

The Student Ministry is starting a new series in the Lighthouse Wednesday Feb. 1st.  We are titling it “Amazing Sex”.  It’s a 5 week series were we are going to talk about God’s amazing plan for sex.  Most student have some view or idea of sex, but I’m going to venture to say it’s wrong.  The world says, “Go for it!  Do what ever you want with whom ever you want.”  Most of the time this will lead to an STD, pregnancy out of marriage, scars, pain… the list could go on.  Some  churches say, “Don’t! Do nothing with nobody”  You get the impression that sex is gross, disgusting, and dirty… we should wait until we are married.  Sex was God’s idea, to be enjoyed freely in marriage.  There is an entire book in the bible that is a dialogue between a husband and his wife.  It is not only romantic, but sexually explicit.

What’s happening today is that there is  huge break down in marriage so you are getting people that have no idea what a healthy marriage looks like.  The kids are usually in the wake of that.  There are tons of issues that come from poor, unhealthy marriages… one that sticks out the most is the lack of fathers, which leads to a lack of men…

Men tend to be boys well into their middle ages looking at porn, playing videos, and staying up all night on monster… only to loose their job and end up in their moms basement wearing footy pajamas.

There is 3 phases with a man
1) Boy – you are a boy, who does boy things, and plays like a boy
2) Adolescent – you are a boy, who does boy things, plays like a boy, and has man size problems
3) Man – Paul says, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” This guy puts down the controller and does the opposite of a boy.  He takes responsibility…

“Our society is overrun with males who aren’t men. Assuming the responsibilities of husband and father makes a boy into a man, but Ban doesn’t like responsibility so he extends his adolescence and sets his focus squarely and supremely on himself.”

In our first week of Amazing Sex we first need to understand who we are and how God made us.  We are going to talk about Biblical Manhood: More Then Video Games and Porn… What does it mean to be a man?  We hope to answer that question.

Stuff Coming Up

It’s a video… check it out.

My life isn’t a very exciting one. I haven’t been very many places outside of Missouri of Kansas, I haven’t done very many big things in my life, but I did do one big thing, I decided to devote my whole life to ministry.
I have lived in Carthage Missouri my whole life (woo hoo I know) but hey, I love Carthage and God is doing some big things here! I have also grown up in church my whole life. I went to Center Point Christian church since the day I was born. (ok maybe not the day I was born but you get the point.) If anyone has heard of Center Point I’d be surprised; Center Point is a little country church out on BB highway on the edge of a cornfield. It’s members consist of a bunch of farmers and farmer’s kids basically. It’s a great church and I love it but most of the people there are, how do I say, older than me? This was a great thing growing up I guess because I had plenty of wise people to look up to and learn from, but as I got older they started to make less of an impact.
In kindergarten, at Fairview Elementary, I met my used to be best friend. We hung out all the time growing up, but as we got older he started hanging out with the wrong crowd and started making some choices that were kind of poor. By ninth grade I noticed that I was starting to be more and more like him and was also making poor choices. I knew that I had to either stop making bad choices or find some other friends. I figured probably the best choice was find other friends. I hate that I left my best friend like that and I know I still need to try and witness to him sometime but that was my choice and it ended up a good choice for my sake. As I got a little older I started paying attention more at church and listening to wiser people again but I was still pretty lukewarm in my faith, then came Wade. Now one thing that used to be pretty bad at Center Point was their lack of attention to the youth. They didn’t have much for us to do and it really showed how much of an impact it had on our lives, but a few years ago we finally got a real youth minister. His name is Wade Lowery and he really helped change our youth group completely. Wade is the dorm dad of Strong Hall at Ozark Christian College (where I know live) and is just a great guy. He saw the needs we had at Center Point and really just made us a youth group. We started doing a lot more activities once he was there, and there was just a lot more focus on us. This really impacted my life. I started really figuring out that God had a big plan for my life and all I had to do was live it out. Originally I never considered ministry as being my career of choice. I was planning on being an Ag teacher all the way up until a few weeks before I graduated. I got accepted to College of the Ozarks in Branson and was going to go there but I knew I would never be happy, and more importantly I don’t thing God would have been as happy with me. All my life it seems like there was this little itty bitty tiny voice in the back of my head telling me I needed to go into ministry, but I always ignored it because ministers don’t make much money. My priorities were all screwed up, the only reason I wanted to be an Ag teacher was because they make decent money and it seemed like a pretty easy job to me. I finally got smart before I made a big mistake though and decided that I couldn’t ignore that little voice in my head anymore. I believe that little voice was God calling me to go into ministry, so if i ignored it, it’d be like ignoring God! I sure didn’t want to do that so that’s how I ended up knowing what God’s big plan for my life was. He wanted me to devote my whole life to Him and I did. I now attend Ozark Christian College full time, as well as do a youth ministry outreach thing called Wyldlife and I started attending FCC to help out with the youth group. I love Center Point but I wasn’t doing much there but attending, so now I’m actually helping out with the youth group here and am possibly working toward and internship. I have never been happier in my life and I know for sure that I am doing what God want’s me to do, and has always wanted me to.

My name’s Adrienna Bailey and I’m 18 years old and a freshman in college at Missouri Southern State University. I was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, where I lived until my family moved to Carthage, Missouri when I was eight years old.(quite the change, let me tell you) I was brought up in a Christian home and was always taught to attend church, pray, read the Bible, etc. Life for me seemed pretty simple. I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior at a young age, but I felt like I was missing something.

My parents got divorced when I was about four, but thankfully I wasn’t too affected by it since I was so young. They made it easy on me and my younger sister, Makenzie. My mom eventually met another man named John in Las Vegas; he was a very caring person and medical doctor. They dated for a while and were soon married. We all moved to Carthage for a better, more sheltered life out of the city. There was also a job opportunity for my mom and John there. Moving was quite a change for use since we were used to a big city. Makenzie and I attended public school for about two years until my mom decided to home school us, which sheltered us even more. It was hard at first to make new friends, but we were soon introduced to First Christian Church through some acquaintances of my mom’s-the Catron’s. (Very thankful we met them!) I was skeptical at first, not knowing anyone, but gave it a try and to this day, I am glad I did! This decision impacted my life in more ways than I ever thought possible. I fell in love with the people there the moment I walked in. As time went on, we became very close to both the people from FCC and John. Makenzie and I were soon calling him dad, as he acted like a father to us. He treated us very well and was a great father to my sister and me. We didn’t see our biological father but twice a year so John really stepped up and played that role to the best of his abilities. Later on my mom and John announced to us that they were going to have a baby which thrilled Makenzie and me. Soon after, my little brother Bradley was born. John was a great father to him as he had been to Makenzie and me. Life seemed to be great; I had a great loving family, a new little brother, and a new church family. However, as Bradley got older and John and my mom’s business grew and was very successful, John bean to work a lot. He became somewhat of a “workaholic.” By the time I was about 15, things changed for the worse; he would get home late, drink often, and was easily angered. Our whole family saw a major change in him and were all worried. After a series of events, my mom decided to get a divorce. I knew this was the right choice for us, however I was very sad because I felt like my father was leaving for the second time.  After the divorce John moved away. My mom continued raising us kids by herself and provided a good life for us. Everything seemed to be getting back on track until one day in 2010, when John was about to come visit Bradley who was 7 at the time, committed suicide. I was devastated, not only because I was sad for myself but mostly for my little brother whose dad just took his own life. It was a very painful time for our entire family. I couldn’t help but ask God why things like that happen. Someone who had been a father to me for over eight years just killed himself and left not only my sister and me, but his 7 year old son without a father. Although this tragic moment in our lives was very upsetting, it was definitely a wakeup call from God. We had been getting far away from God and getting too focused on ourselves and the things of this world, including success. It was then that I realized God can get you through anything. I had always believed in Him, but I just used Him as a crutch when I needed Him. It was never a consistent loyal relationship. My church family was more than supportive and really comforted me and my family. This experience made me grow as a person and made our entire family’s relationship with God grow and strengthen. Without God or my church family I would have definitely had a much harder time dealing with this. It is amazing what the presence of God can do in one’s life. Even when you feel alone, you know He’s there with you; you can talk to Him whenever you want and He will listen. As the Bible says in Matthew 19:26, “…With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” The Bible has been a guidebook to my life and I can always turn to it for answers and guidance.

Since then, I have increased my faith in God and had the opportunity to do some amazing things in His name. I was able to go on a Mission trip to Honduras last July and am now getting more involved with the youth, which I love! It’s so awesome to share as well as learn about Jesus Christ and His unconditional love for us. The combination of different events in my life as well as some very important people in my life, led me to the decision of getting baptized into Christ at FCC just a few short months ago and I’m so glad I did! It felt like a sense of completion, though I feel my work for Christ will never be complete!

One thing God has taught me throughout my life is that sometimes we need a wakeup call to get us back on track; after all we were put on this Earth for God and not ourselves. Matthew 6:20 says, “But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”  And 1Corinthians 4:18 says, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” I’ve learned that there is a reason for everything that happens, whether good or bad and God knows what’s best even when we don’t see it that way. We are only on this earth for a short time, but a life with Christ is eternal! It will only get harder, but with God nothing is impossible. May God Bless you as He has blessed me! Thank you!

Video Update 2

A little video update