Some of my Heroes

Early in my ministry God took us to serve in Tulsa, OK at the Tulsa Baptist Temple, a large church led by Clifford Clark.  Pastor Clark was a champion for world missions like none other I've ever known.  And while I received a great indoctrination into the priority of world evangelization at the churches I grew up in and served, TBT took that up a notch.  

 

It was in this church in 1965 that youth pastor Roscoe Brewer took a large group of American teens to Mexico to distribute Bible in a program he called SMITE - Summer Missions Intern Training for Evangelism.  Brewer would take SMITE with him to Lynchburg Baptist College (now Liberty University) in the '70's and it became the world missions arm of the young college.

Each January the church hosted a world missions conference, and missionaries from all over the world were brought in to share what God was doing where they served. At those conferences I was privileged to sit and converse with and mostly listen to "hall of fame" missionaries like Manuel Arenas, Granny Holdeman and Rachel Saint.

 

In the picture, from a Tulsa Baptist Temple newsletter, Rachel Saint is center front row and Granny Holdeman is on the right front row, standing next to Pastor Clifford Clark.  I'm there, too, on the far right of the third row. The guy with no tie...can you believe that? 

 

My days at this church ('78-'80) were instrumental in forming my own missions strategy which I put into practice in my 30 years at Nags Head Church.

 

(Click on the picture to see all of it.)

 

 

Still Doing Some Preaching!

 

 

Yesterday I had the privilege of filling in for my friend Russ Howard at Cape Hatteras Baptist Church. Doing it since I was 16, I still love teaching the Word whenever and whenever I get the chance.  Here is the link to the service.  (I start around the 14 minute mark.)

 

Also got a picture with my friend Adrienne.  She's a member of the church and we are both alumni of the same high school in Orange, California.  Truth be told, she wasn't even born when I went to Orange High 50 years ago!

 

Nothing Could Be Finer

 

After the dust settled this past Sunday evening with the Men's Elite Eight tournament, the Final Four have been determined.  What a great tournament so far!  Who wasn't pulling for little St. Peter's University, the number 15 seed (that's one up from the bottom in their region) to get so record-setting far?  But, they ran into a Tar Heel team playing like they should and it was more than the Peacocks could handle.

 

Now two of the four headed into this weekend's tournament are from the Old North State.  And amazingly, for the first time ever the two huge rivals will meet in the NCAA Tournament, much less the Final Four.  

 

The Tar Heels are led by their first-year coach Hubert Davis, himself a former Tar Heel player with Final Four experience.  The Blue Devils are led by legendary coach Mike Krezyzewski, who retires at the end of the season...which will either be their next loss or their national championship. 

 

It is being pegged as “the biggest game in college basketball history.”.  It well may be.

Either way my state wins and gets into the championship game on Monday.  (By the way...NC State's team is in the Women's Final Four.)

And who says the ACC is in demise? Tobacco Road is hopping.

 

More on Coach K and why I am a Duke fan later.

A Year of Transition

 

I did not realize that it has been a year since my last blog post!  How did that happen???

So here's a bullet point list of the last year...

• Thus far Gail and I have avoided COVID in any form.  A year ago we got our first vaccines and then followed up with a booster. (Please take a debate elsewhere.)
• On April 18 I preached my final sermon as Lead Pastor of Nags Head Church and officially "retired" on April 30 after nearly 40 years of full-time ministry and 30 at NHC. Our new Lead Pastor, Nathanael Stevens came aboard six months earlier and we teamed up for that time of transition.  Check him out!  He's great!! 
• In mid-June Gail and I flew to Juneau, AK and Glacier Valley Baptist Church, where I filled in as interim pastor until mid-October.  If you've never been to Alaska you just gotta go! Beauty beyond description.  Alaska in the summer is paradise. And we made some great friends there.  Gail also (after a 40 year break) got back into quilting while we were there, and is going strong with it now.

• My first Social Security check arrived in November!!  WooHoo!

• It was great to be back with our family for the holidays!  
• We spent 3 days in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC that included a Phil Keaggy concert! 
  
• In December I had MOHS surgery on my nose that I had put off while in AK.  With my shaggy hair and full beard I indeed looked rough.

• Since being home I've had several invitations to preach at churches in the northeast NC area. One even had me back for a second time!  I hope to be able to continue that kind of ministry as long as I'm able.
•  After a year's absence Gail and I will be back regularly next month at Nags Head Church to do whatever we can to serve there.  She plans to rejoin the Milepost 13 Band and I'll be joining the parking team!  
• In the meantime we're staying busy around the house and yard, spending time with the grandkids, reading (me) and quilting (Gail).  Oh, and I'm loving naps.

 Hopefully I'll do better with the blogging and find a useful purpose for it, using my teaching gift to benefit others.