Fellowship, Uncategorized

Memory Lane

I am back after an amazing weekend journey back down memory lane.  This past week I finally took a Sunday off from the Northwood pulpit to return to my first church pastorate – Shamrock Bapitst Church in Bethune, South Carolina.  Shamrock was celebrating their 100th Anniversary and invited me back to deliver the “Homecoming” message.  Joy and I had a blast showing the girls were we used to live and remembering some of the funny stories of our beginning days of ministry and marriage.  It was really great to see everyone and I was amazed at how so many of the folks had not really changed a bit.

It is amazing to be gone from a place for over twelve years and get the opportunity to go back and feel as if you never really left.  The love, lessons and life that Joy and I were blessed with in our ministry to that first church family is something that words cannot even come close to explaining.  The most exciting part for me is seeing that a church that I had the joy of serving is continuing to grow and be effective for God’s glory!  I thank God for that congregation of Believers and for all that they have meant to so many, especially to me!  Every where I go, I will always take some of Shamrock with me!

It is great to be back at Northwood!  It is nice to get away and enjoy memory lane, but I sure do miss the family of Believers and community of challenge that God has given me to pastor in Greer.  I love living, teaching, sharing, growing and becoming together.  God has some amazing things in store for us and I can’t wait to see Him accomplish some of the things that He has put in my heart and head.  So with that said – I’ve got lots of work to do, so I’ll get busy and talk with you folks later!  May continue to bless, as we keep it real!

Uncategorized

Bitter Sweet!

2 Comments

Yesterday was a great day of worship!  It is always amazing to me to watch and see how God puts together a worship service.  The way He uses each of us to accomplish getting His message across.  The Communion, songs, special music, prayers and message all came together with the incredible spirit of a group of very loving and caring people to give us an amazing opportunity to proclaim to God how great and awesome He is in our lives!  I really believe that we brought a smile to His face!  I am excited about the things that He is teaching us and I am enjoying the personal spiritual growth that I am experiencing in my own life!

Yesterday was also bitter/sweet in that a very good friend and spiritual brother went to be with our Lord.  Arlen Coggins was a very special person to every person that knew him and to many that had never met him.  He continually reached out of his life and into the lives of others to be a help and a blessing.  I don’t think that his influence can be measured, only appreciated.  I thank God for allowing me to be his Pastor and for giving us all the opportunity to minister to and with Arlen and for the blessing of receiving ministry from Him!  My hope, comfort and healing come from the promise that because of Arlen’s relationship with Christ, He has experienced perfect and complete healing and is living in the presence of the One that he loved to serve! 

I am so thankful for each of you and I am so glad that God has brought us together to minister and make a difference for His Kingdom!  I hope you are living a blessed day!

Growing, Uncategorized

It Could Be Worse!

4 Comments

Do you ever have a bad day?  I mean one of those:  “I should not have got out of bed today” days?  We all wish that we never had to have those days, but if you live life long enough, you will have more than your share of those days!  I think that when you are working hard to live the right life of a Christ follower, that you might even have more of those days than most, because we can’t respond to the world and it’s challenges in just any ole way that we want to!

This morning I was reading in Isaiah 43:2 and it says:  “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.  When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.”

Notice it does not say that we won’t get wet.  It does not say that we won’t face some pressure and current from life.  It does not say that we can avoid the fire of life.  In fact it implies that as we walk through life, we will have to walk through water, the current and the fire!  It does not say”if” you pass through, but “when” you pass through!  If we are living and breathing and walking through life, then we are going to have to walk through some though stuff!

It does say that we can pass through the waters, current and fire!  We don’t have to stay in the tough times.  You and I can choose to give up and set up camp in the frustrations and disappointments of life, or we can choose to walk on through these times to the something better that God has on the other side!

When the waters of frustration, disappointment and discouragement begin to rise in your life – remember that you are not alone!  God has promised that He is with you and He will never leave you, nor forsake you!  God does not give up on you, so please do not give up on yourself or Him!

When your frustrations, dissappointments and discouragements grow into a raging river – remember that God is in control and He will not allow it to overflow you!  When you can’t keep you head above water, God will be there to give you the helping hand that you need!  Just make sure that you are willing to reach up and take His hand of help!

There will be times of fire, when our lives and our motives are tested.  This is never any fun, but as we stay faithful to our Creator and keep on walking through by trusting in Him, He will not allow the fire to burn us or the flame from that fire to scorch us!  It’s pretty cool that we can walk through the fire with God and come out on the other side not even smelling like smoke!

There is no promise that life will always be easy and I am glad, because if it was easy, there would probably be no growth or real meaning.  And while it is never any fun going through the though stuff, I thank God that we don’t have to go through it by ourselves.  It could be worse, if God were not with us, but He is and that encourages me to keep on walking through whatever life might throw my way!

Telling Stories, Sharing Grace And Loving Folks!