Sam Dougherty: Blog

Here it is already September and nearly October. I can't believe how fast time goes by lately. My parents are here this week to celebrate my daughters 8th birthday and visit for a bit.
We have kicked off our mens group and a few other ministries over the last few weeks at our church and things are getting very busy.
This is why I am making this entry.
I recently got a big gut check on what I am doing out here. God called my family and I to Arizona to fullfill His will for us through bringing together the body of Christ and furthering the ministries boundries. God gave me a big heart for the lost and to help tear down denominational walls that become a sense of pride and arrogance, but oh how quickly I found myself back into the same routine in another state. I became so caught up in my job and the things going on in this world that I lost sight temporarily of Gods path for me. It took a morning mens meeting for me to realize that. As soon as pastor requested prayer requests I began to feel like I was barely holding back the tears as I made my request. I am sharing this prayer request because I know that it is one that many of us battle. I asked that the other men would pray that I find a balance between work, family and ministry. You see when you get to caught up in worrying about the bills, work, and even the news it makes it real easy for satan to help us build up little walls between God and us. Sometimes its seems the walls get so big you may even forget that God is there at all. I praise God that he gave me his Holy Spirit to give me a spiritual punch in the gut before I got that far. I am now refocusing on the ministry and I am going to do something every day to move it forward to exalt God.
God showed me a few years ago that He is going to use this ministry full time and my family and I would be working together spreding the Good News, reaching the lost and pulling the body together. Not as a part time here and there thing, but as a powerful everyday global minsitry. You see I realized yesterday that as long as I keep in His will and focused on Him it will happen,no ..... IT HAS TO HAPPEN! How do I know that you ask, because God said so. That is what I want all of you to know about your lives too. God has blessed us and given us favor. We are blessed and no matter what satan tries to do to make us forget, it does not change the facts. IT HAS TO HAPPEN, BECAUSE GOD SAID SO! Lets all continue to lift each other up in prayer so that we will stay on track and keep satan in that loser status he earned the day Jesus died on the cross for us.

I am so excited to have met many great friends here in Arizona. I have been playing on top of a local mountain praising God, helping with worship at the church and last Friday night Terri and I ministered at Papa's Perks. If you are in the Phoenix area you need to check out his coffee, its awesome! Terri and I had a blast and I even broke out a goofy campfire song called "marshmallow", you had to be there to understand how crazy it was. I have been blessed with a great job where I get to meet and talk to people all day. I am now a car salesman at Power Cheverolet. This is the first job I've had that is actually fun. God has been faithfull to his word to Terri, the kids and I by keeping us safe and blessing us every day. Thankyou for the prayers.
I have an open invitation to Papa's Perks now so I am sure I'll be stopping by and playing.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
If you have a great witness to share, post it in the guestbook. It is so encouraging to read them. God used one of the testimonies there to change a life. If you have been encouraged or blessed by the music God gave me to share please let me know. I give all of the glory to God.

After a long 3.5 days of driving and somewhere around 100 pitstops for the kids we finally made it to our new home in Glendale, AZ. There were many trials along the way including my wife Terri's car loosing its air conditioning. My mom, Terri and the kids braved it out for a day and a half in 100+ temps while I ran the U-haul with Zeb. Thank God we made it! Our friends Jeff and Sandee along with their kids were a great blessing helping us by pulling another trailer full out along with us. Thank you so much Bruce and Margie for letting us use your truck! It has hovered right around 115 degrees every day since we arrived. What a way to get initiated! I was blessed to be able to lead worship our first Sunday here at Destiny and had a great time getting to know our new church family. Pastor Arvle and Tom have been great help to us getting everything settled. Now I'm on a job hunt and I know God will provide, He never let us down before! Please keep our family in prayer as we adjust and seek out new ministry here in the Phoenix area. Thank you for all of the prayers you have already sent up!

Terri and I are back to Michigan for the 4th celebration and we are ready for the big move. We have a house in Glendale, AZ now and we are so excited to take the ministry there. The logistics of getting this move done are a nightmare! It looks like it will be three days of driving and pulling a trailor. Keep us in prayer as we travel across the country. Keep my dog Zeb in prayer too, thats a long time in one place for a spaztic dog! We are leaving on the 11th of July.
If you are around the Colon, MI area on the 4th come on over to the midway. Terri and I will be performing there and Rufus Harris is also going to be there. There will be other local bands including "Mercy Seat", New life praise team and the Riverside band. It all starts after the parade and is located just past the cakewalk area.

I will be back for the 4th of July celebration in Colon, MI and I will be playing on the main stage there. We have a special guest comming also, Rufus Harris. This will be a great treat for everyone who attends. Music should start around 12:00 or when ever the parade gets over. There will be alot of other music going on too with Tim and the praise band and others.

Terri and I are heading out to Phoenix to check things out the last week of this month. It looks like we will be making the big move in July. Keep us in prayer as we follow God's will in this area of our lives.

The CD is back from print and we are so excited! We released it at 4th Fridays with Rufus Harris and this was also Terri's (my wife) first big show playing the congas. The show went absolutely great and God's spirit was moving. Terri signed to "I'm Amazed" and it was very powerful. It is such an awesome blessing to have Terri ministering with me on stage. There is a picture of this event on the photo page.

The CD "So Real" is available at the link on the web site here. It is available on cdbaby.com. Check it out there, you can listen to most of it there too.

God Bless and thank you everyone for all of the support,

Sam

After 4 months of working in the studio with Chet and the gang at Sweetwater productions in Ft. Wayne, Indiana it is finally complete. The title of the new cd is "So Real" and I know it will bless everyone that hears it. It will be available starting the first week of June. There were many great and talented people involved in this project including Krystal Harris, Chet Chambers, Mark Peckinpaugh, Sandy Williams and many more. We had a great time of fellowship, prayer and honoring God through every aspect of the project.