Tomorrow I begin my sixty-fourth year in the ministry. Sixty-three years ago tonight I practiced my first sermon in the kitchen of a friend who owned the old Colonial Courts here in Morrilton, Arkansas. The sermon lasted thirty minutes in my friends kitchen, but only sixteen the next morning in church. Ha! (Many people wish I would keep on the sixteen minute time. Ha!) If I had one hundred lives to live, I would live them all for Jesus. I have failed HIm too many times to mention. But He has never failed me. I have never lost the joy and thrill of preaching. Like a song, It gets sweeter as the days go by. I thank God that He called me to preach and I thank him for all the kind and loving people who never gave up on me but prayed me through the deep dark valleys in my life. One thing is sure, at this stage of my life, I have learned who are my true friends and those who only wanted to use me for a while. To all of my friends who pray for me and hold me up, I thank you from the depths of my heart. You will receive a prophets reward for holding me up in your prayers. I want to faithfully finish my course and I covet your prayers. Never has there been a time in my life when we need to stand up for the truth as now. I should like to give a special word of thanks to the West Side First Baptist Church, Greers Ferry, for the wonderful fifteen months they allowed me to serve them. They brought healing and love to us when we needed a touch from God. God used them and I am still in the race because of them. And, what a privilege and joy it is to be, once again, the senior pastor of the the First Baptist Church, Plumerville. I love those who love me and I love those who hurt me. Those of you who love me showed me the love that God has for us. Those who hurt me helped me to understand the sufferings of Christ in a deeper way. So, if for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain, one cant lose. It is a win-win life. I pray, dear friends, that if Jesus doesnt come tonight, that Sunday will be a day when your life is filled with sense of His presence.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 03:01:06 +0000
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