50 Years Ago Today....August 15

If you were to Google fifty years ago, you would find something President Nixon did on that day.  But you will find nothing about why that date is so important to me.  It was a Sunday and on this Sunday night at Second Baptist Church in Boaz, Alabama, I preached my first sermon.  I had announced my calling on July 14, 1971 and our Pastor gave me the first opportunity on that Sunday night.

It was not a memorable sermon to any except me.  I can remember my text.  It was Revelation 19:10 "And I fell at His feet to worship Him."  I don't have any notes from that night.  I didn't preach long.  No one recorded it.  But as I remember that night and now 50 years later, I can see how God was fashioning me for what I would say has been my number one passion through the years:  worship.  

If I could say one thing that has changed my life as a believer more than anything else is the understanding of Biblical worship.  And to remember that God led me that first time to preach on this text causes me to see the good hand of God from the beginning directing me even in my childhood.

God has been more faithful to me than I have to Him these fifty years.  He has used me despite my rebellion, hesitations, mistakes, and failures.  It just goes to prove that it is God and not us.

I am warmed by the thought that God will reward my dear Dad and Mother for their investment from the beginning and until their deaths.  I even believe (from Revelation 5:8) that their prayers are still being heard before the throne on my behalf.

Our family (with Dad leading the way until his death in 1975) would go and sing most everywhere I preached in the early days.  

I'm so grateful God gave me a precious wife in 1980 who has supported me through these years.  I first laid eyes on her (that I remember) while preaching a revival at her home church, Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Aroney.  She has been a faithful companion and great pastor's wife for over 40 years. She was brave to marry a pastor.

The most precious love offering I have ever received was during these early days.  I was preaching one Sunday in Blount County and an older lady approached me and gave me $1.00 from the sale of eggs.  I have never forgotten that "widow's mite."

I am grateful for all of those who prayed for me, supported me, and all the pastors who gave me preaching opportunities in the early days.  One of those who became a special, spiritual father was Bro. Clinton Garmon.  He was our pastor when I was saved (June 4, 1969) but had moved to Rossville, GA when I announced my calling to preach.  I cannot remember the number of times I would go to preach for him in Rossville and Calhoun, GA and finally to be called to preach his funeral (and his dear wife, Izor) years later. Anything good that has happened has been due to the Lord and others. 

With humble gratitude, I want to thank the Lord for calling me to be a preacher of the Gospel.

"I've Searched for Identity" by Paul Tripp

 

I’ve searched for identity in my successes but my failures get in the way. I’ve looked for identity in my possessions but they age, break, and malfunction. I’ve sought identity in people but everyone is flawed somehow. I’ve searched for identity in ministry but the Spirit gets in the way. I’ve reached for identity in knowledge but I never know enough. I’ve gotten my identity from my strength but weakness took it away. I’ve taken identity from my abilities but inability stole it from me. There is no place no person no experience no success no possession no skill no level of knowledge that can impart the security of identity the rest of meaning and purpose that everyone desires. So I’ve quit looking out and begun looking up. In you I am loved I am forgiven I have eternal value I have meaning and purpose I have security and rest I have understanding I have moral direction I have self-knowledge I have peace of heart. You are in me I am in you. This bond is enough. This bond is life and it cannot be broken. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, ESV) I don’t think that we talk about this enough. I don’t think that we celebrate this reality enough. I don’t think we let our hearts consider the wonder of this identity enough. It is so amazing that it defies all standard human logic and intuition. It is the spiritual miracle of miracles that becomes the defining identity of all of God’s blood-bought children by grace. Amazingly, we are forgiven and accepted by God by grace and grace alone. There is nothing natural about this. We instinctively think that we must work our way into God’s favor and earn our way into his presence, but the biblical story is anything but natural. It’s the story of rebels who not only don’t desire a relationship with God but who could not possibly earn it even if they did. This is a story of divine intervention, of divine substitution, of divine sacrifice, and of divine grace. It is a story of God sending his Son to live as we were meant to live, to die the death that each of us deserves, to satisfy God’s righteous requirement and placate his anger, and to rise out of the grave, conquering sin and death. It is a story of incredible patience, tenderness, compassion, love, mercy, and grace—forgiveness granted, acceptance secured, and righteousness given to those who could not have merited them on their own. It is far better than any “too good to be true” story. So since this is true, why would you search for identity anywhere else? God bless,