This week was filled with unexpected challenges. Although these challenges were unexpected by us, they were, of course, known to our sovereign and loving God.

Our son, Larry, preached a powerful message at Coastline Baptist Church Sunday morning, where my brother Steve pastors. After the service, Larry became extremely ill and for the next thirty-six hours was in intense pain. After meeting with the doctors, they felt that Larry would need to have emergency surgery for what appeared to be an obstruction in his bowels, perhaps related to his previous surgeries.

We made the very difficult drive back down to Los Angeles to one of the major hospitals of our HMO. After spending twelve or thirteen hours in the emergency room, we met with surgeons, and through various therapies, they were able to avert the need for emergency surgery. (more…)

The Lord provided an opportunity for special time with my sons Tuesday evening. I had a meeting in Phoenix, and a friend helped Larry, Matt, and I get seats at a Lakers v. Suns game. At the game, we passed out several tracts, and we were asked to do two interviews on NBC.

The Lakers lost the game, but spending the evening with Larry and Matt was a true joy. As John wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 4). (more…)

Last week was another wonderful opportunity in ministry here at Lancaster Baptist Church and West Coast Baptist College as we hosted the annual  West Coast Baptist Youth Conference. Teenagers came from across America and from several foreign countries to be challenged spiritually with this year’s theme on “The Power of God.”

We are thankful for like-minded parents, pastors, and youth pastors who allow us annually the privilege of influencing their young people for the cause of Jesus Christ. There were many highlights of this conference, including a record attendance, a record number of young people accepting Christ as Saviour, and a record number of young people surrendering their lives to full time ministry.

But for many of us here at Lancaster Baptist Church, the highlight was hearing the message preached by our son and Sr. High youth pastor, Brother Larry Chappell. (more…)

What a joy it is to have our campus filled with teenagers for Youth Conference this week. And what a joy to encourage young people to see what God can do in and through their lives when they yield to Him.

Our theme this year is “The Power of God,” and we’ve already seen His power at work in hundreds of lives during this conference. (more…)

I wanted to take a moment today to thank our many friends who are praying and trusting God with us regarding the physical needs in our son Larry’s life as well as our spiritual need for God’s sustaining grace and power.

About a week before Thanksgiving, Larry was summoned to the hospital for an emergency surgery. After the initial surgery and further consultations and studies conducted, it was determined that Larry should have a second surgery. This surgery (RPLND) was conducted at Kaiser hospital in Los Angeles, California, in late December. Although Larry had some post-surgery complications with the condition on his ileum, we are thankful that God brought him through the surgery and has blessed him with healing since the surgery. (more…)