JUNE 2011 EDITION

Facebook..., it seems you either love it or hate it. You must admit that it has been a potent force in our culture. I use it to reconnect with old friends and to add another dimension to the “reach” of this newsletter. I have enjoyed some sites that have a nostalgic feel to them. When we think back to the times of our youth, it seems that things were so much better at that time. This is probably because we only want to remember the good times and block out the difficult times. I do think the era I grew up in was a simpler time. There was, on the surface, a “Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It To Beaver” air about things back then.

Think back now, if you will, to the time when you first began a relationship with Christ. What was it like? For me, it was like a light going on inside me. It was a dramatic event. I remember the day and the hour I surrendered my life to Christ. It was 8:30 p.m., April 29th, 1975. I made a conscious decision to follow Christ at that time. I know that many of you cannot point to a specific time in your life. Either it was more of a gradual process or you feel you have always been a follower of Christ. For me, it was a time of great excitement and change. In fact, four days after I committed my life to Christ, I lost my job, but I had a sense of peace that God was in control and I was not worried. Please note that losing my job had nothing to do with my decision to follow Christ. I spent the rest of that spring and summer immersed in reading the Bible every chance I got. I got involved in ministry to high school kids that fall and began an almost 15-year career in youth ministry. I have a very nostalgic feeling about that time.

Fast-forward thirty-five years. I have been in ministry all these years. I am wondering whether or not Revelations Chapter Two Verse Four applies to me, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” Do I have the same passion for reading the Bible?
Do I have the same sense of peace I had when “the wheels were falling off” in my life? Do I do ministry with the same sense of zeal I had when I first got involved with Young Life? I ask these scary questions of myself. Has being in full-time Christian ministry for thirty-five years jaded me to the glory and wonder of my redemption? The only answer I can give is that I am different now. My love for Christ is deeper, just as my love for Peggy is deeper and richer than when we were first married forty-four years ago. I feel I have matured in my faith. I may not be as emotional as I was at that time. I am not where I want to be. I have not arrived. Let me state that emphatically. But I am further down the road of faith. I love His Word. I read it every day of my life. I know, in a settled way, that I am doing what God has prepared me for in all those past years. It is still good for me to examine myself on a regular basis and ask the hard questions.


Nostalgia is useful in that it reminds us of times past that were pleasant and enjoyable. We must not, however, allow it to rule our lives. We must not find ourselves stuck living in the past. Let the past pleasant times challenge us to recapture positive traits and practices we had, but let us move forward seeking to grow more deeply in love with Christ.

Now, in closing, may I say a word to those of you that are not followers of Christ. I came to love Christ because I discovered that He first loved me long before I ever gave a rip about Him. He loved me so much that if I were the only person who ever lived, He would have given His life on the Cross for me. How do you respond to that kind of love? I pray you will discover and experience the love Christ has for you.



MINISTRY NEWS

We have moved our Friday Morning Men’s Group to Marietta Country Club as of June 17th. Guys, please join us at our new location at 7:00 a.m.

I will be ending my involvement with Crime Victims Advocacy Council at the end of June as we have found someone who has both experienced first-hand being a
family member of a victim of murder and has completed counseling courses and national training in this area. She will be a great fit for the organization. We feel that this is God’s timing.

I continue to walk alongside men in their journey of faith on an individual basis each day.

I had a chance to go on a much-needed family vacation because of the generosity of one of the members of our Friday Morning Group.

Bless each one of you for your friendship and support!