Voice of Hope

Yesterday, Debra, Lindsey and I had a great day with the people of the Springplace church in Cleveland. Pastor Paul and Barbara Holt gave us such a warm and cordial welcome that it made us feel special. For several months, we have had yesterday's meetings scheduled that included giving me the opportunity to preach in the morning and the evening services. The crowds were large and the worship was great. During the afternoon, we had the opportunity for a nice meal with the Holt family and as always, the fellowship was rich. Special thanks to the Springplace church for giving us a great day! May the Lord bless you.

At about 11:00 am this morning, my daughter-Lindsey was involved in a car accident. She was on her way to visit a friend in the Atlanta area and swerved to miss a large recap on the road. She lost control of the car (my 2000 Ford Explorer) just south of Calhoun, Georgia and hit a guard rail while traveling at about 70 MPH. She then crossed three lanes and came to a stop just off the emergency lane on the right side of the road. It just so happened that I was in Chattanooga (about 5O miles away) and was able to get to her immediately. The Georgia State Trooper told me that he had seen people killed with less of a crash. Lindsey was wearing her seatbelt and was bruised and is sore but I thank God that He spared her life. Since it just happened today, I don't know how bad the damage will be (in dollars). It appeared to me that the front axle was broken, and maybe the frame too. Please help me pray for Lindsey and at the same time praise God for His goodness.

On Wednesday evening, I had the pleasure of meeting with our pastor at the Green Hills church in Cleveland. While there, I also met Pastor Sixto Ramirez and some of the members of the Church of God of Prophecy (Spanish) church meeting in the same building. The church there is in real need of some work done on the building, and the parsonage, and a part of my visit was to survey the damage to the building. Please join me in prayer for Pastor Keith Minter and his congregation, as well as Pastor Sixto Ramirez. While there, I learned that Pastor Rameriz's grand son had just passed away. Let's be in prayer for the whole family. God bless

It's a little after 1:00 a.m., (EST)on Wednesday and I am in Cleveland just now winding down from a long day. I left the State office at about noon and made my way to Knoxville to meet with the pastors of District 1, 2, and 3. Bishop Robert Ledford arranged the meeting so that we could discuss upcoming issues at the General Assembly. It was a great time of fellowship and food. If I counted correctly, there were 17 pastors in attendance. At the same time that I was meeting, Bishop F. Leon Graves was meeting with pastors from Districts 9 and 10 at the Westmoreland church. As of now, I don't have the total number of pastors present, but I know that he was expecting a good turnout. Earlier this month, Bishop Richard Neal met with Districts 11, 12 and 13 at the Crossroads church with the same topics of discussion. We are bless to have great leaders in our churches in Tennessee, and I am thankful to have been associated with them for the past two years. May God bless you.

Here is some exciting news from India: 2 years ago we had: 1 orphanage in Rajahmundry Now we have: 5 orphanages: Rajahmundry, Orissa, Amritsar, Balaghat, and Delhi 2 years ago we had: No schools Now we have: 5 schools: 3 in Jharkhand, 2 in Delhi Two years ago we had: Churches in 3 states: Now we have: Churches in 14 states Two years ago we had: 171 Ministers Now we have: 560 +

Bro. Michael Willingham is now available for revivals or weekend meetings in across the state of TN. He has many years of successful ministry experience, served as a pastor here in the state and also served the soverseer of Illinois and Wisconsin. He feels at this time in his ministry that God has called him to be a full time evangelist, so he is seeking out opportunities minister where he is led. Bro. Willingham is an anointed minister, a gifted speaker, and will be blessing you and your church. If you wish to have Bro. Willigham conduct a revival in your local church please contact him at (502)962-8964 or at (502)797-1130.

Last week, I wrote to the pastors and state staff informing them of the approach we are taking to a portion of the business session at the General Assembly next month in Nashville. I have received some telephone calls from people inquiring about the other items of business that are listed on the website. Hopefully, I can explain this on this blog in order to help clarify exactly what will be happening. 1. At the last General Assembly, a proxy system was passed and to be implemented. There was a terrible amount of confusion concerning the system and the implementation thereof. Our General Overseer made the decision to use this General Assembly to put the test to a practical application that would deal with only one issue. This would be a non-binding action, again trying to see how it will work. 2. The other items of business will be discussed and dealt with in our historical matter of debate and expression. 3. Each local church is to answer the question, "considering the gl...

Today, Debra and I visited the Lawrence Chapel church in Crossville, Tennessee. We received a warm welcome from the wonderful people there, and the Lord really blessed in the service. As many of you know, we are currently in the process of appointing a new pastor there, and should be making a decision soon. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice lunch at Cracker Barrel and saw our former State Bishop, Eugene Weakley, and his lovely wife Wonnie. They had minister at the Crossville church in the morning service, and we also enjoying lunch there, with the pastor, Brother Thomas Hale and his family. We returned home late this evening and are looking forward to the good news we will be hearing from across the state this week. May the Lord bless and keep you.

As I write, it is late on Saturday night, and I've just returned from a trip to Cincinatti, Ohio. I left yesterday afternoon with the men's group from the Church of God of Prophecy in Columbia, Tennessee, a church that I served as pastor of for eight years during the 1990's. I was so blessed to be with a lot of the men, some of whom came to the Lord while I was the pastor there, some who were already Christians that came to the church while I was the pastor, and the current pasotr, Dr. Philip Lawson. We went to attend an evening game between the Cincinatti Reds and the Bilwaukee Brewers. Because of a heavy band of rain and thunderstorms, the game was delayed until 10:00 p.m., but the weather cleared up and it was an exciting finish! The Reds came from behind in the bottom of the ninth when Ken Griffey drove in the winning runs. It was really exciting! The game ended at about 1:20 p.m., and we didn't get to the hotel until 2:00 a.m. Finally to bed at 3:00 a.m., it...

I have been receiving questions lately about the Missions Clothes Closet that has been conducted for many years at our General Assemblies. This year, Sister Londa Richardson and the Tennessee Womens Ministries Team will be heading up the project. If you need further information regarding the dropping off of items, or the hours of operation (in case you would like to volunteer), please contact Londa at londajoy@aol.com God bless

Dear Children's Minister, On Friday, August 25, during the International Assembly, Children's Ministry will offer new and slightly used resources to our national children's ministry leaders and overseers. Would you please go through your personal children's ministry materials to see if you have supplies that could be donated? Visual aids, teaching supplies (markers, construction paper, pencils), and curriculum (English, French, Spanish, and Russian) are all needed. If you are coming to the Assembly, bring your donations to the Children's Ministry office, Nashville Convention Center, Level 2, Room 207. If you are not attending the Assembly, you may ship your donations to Children's Ministries, PO Box 2910, Cleveland, TN 37320-2910. All shipped donations must be received no later than August 1, 2006. Also, after 1:00 that day small churches here in the United States will be able to browse for free children's ministry materials. So stop by and pick u...

Sunday evening, Debra and I were blessed to attend services at the church at Curtis Hill in West Tennessee. We are thankful to Pastor Joe Watson and the congregation for a warm welcome. As with all such visits, we saw some old friends and met some new ones. God Bless you.

Yesterday morning, Debra and I were so blessed to worship with the Empowered Ministries church in Dickson, under the direction of Mike and Rhonda Jennettee. There were 82 people in attendance, at this our first visit to the church and the pastor informed me that there were over a dozen people away for the Sunday due to vacations etc., that would normally be there for services. The worship was great and the warmth of the people evident at the meeting. Brother Mike is amember ofour church and is currently in the licensure process. His new church plant in Dickson is about six-months-old, and very encouraging. After the service, we had a nice lunch with the appointed leadership of the church and discussed numerous subjects, including the polity of the Church of God of Prophecy. Following lunch we visited their new location that is under renovation, preparing for their first services (hopefully soon). The new location has great visibility and is located on Highway 70 at the edge of Dicks...

From time-to-time, I will let you know about training conferences or other special events outside of the Church of God of Prophecy. I will not announce them unless I am comfortable that they are worthy to be endorsed. Many of these I receive by virtue of my office as State Oversser, and others I receive because I earned by doctorate at a Baptist Seminary and I am on their mailing list. The conference mentioned here would be well worth your time: ================ Churches Going Back to the Future Every so often, it behooves pastors, church staffs and lay leaders to re-evaluate their methods of local evangelism and church ministry. With that in mind, Thomas Road Baptist Church’s annual Super Conference this year is going “Back to the Future” as we examine the basics of ministry in order to change the future of Gospel outreach. The dates for this mega-conference are October 1-4 on the campus of Liberty University and inside the brand new one million-square-foot Thomas Road Baptist Ch...

Last evening I was privileged to be with the wonderful folks at the Abundant Life Church of God of Prophecy in Crossville. The pastor, Ron Tackett and the congregation have always been so warm and pleasant to me personally, and I actually felt like my "batteries" were recharged when I got home around midnight. All this week, we've worked in the office preparing for the upcoming General Assembly, and finalizing year-end statements. I would like to say how appreciative I am of my wife, Debra for helping me with the work in the office, and it goes without saying that I am thankful that the Lord has Sister Londa Richardson with us as well. She sacrifices to do a good work for the churches and ministers in the state, as does my wife. I'm blessed with a great team in the office, and with great workers at our Youth Camps, our caretaker, Terry Bear and our District Presbyters, Youth and Children's Directors, and committees. This has been one of the most "full...

Almost as soon as the announcement was made that the General Assembly would be in Nashville, the talk seemed to be that there would be insufficient parking. Having lived in the Nashville area for a total of ten years (8 in Columbia and 2 in Hendersonville) I too had some concerns about this. Since information seems to help, I am posting some of my observations today concerning the General Assembly. I have been to the Gaylord Entertainment Center several times for events ranging from Arena Football games, to Concerts and Promisekeepers Events. I have also been to Tennessee Titan's events twice at the LP Arena.I have always been able to find parking within a block or two of the venue, with the exception of the Titan's game, where I rode a bus from north of town once and parked with friends the other time at a private corporate law office lot. Since I learned that I would be serving on the task force for the General Assembly, I have taken the liberty to check into the parking ...

Today, we celebrate our nation's independence. What a wonderful privilege to be born (or even naturalized) into citizenship into a nation founded upon the principles of liberty and justice for all! I have the life-long joy of knowing that I was counted worthy to serve my nation during a time of armed conflict. I have become one of a band of brothers with a long history of service. On this fourth of July, we have many troops serving in the field, some in combat others as support units, working in peace-keeping roles. Let's pray for them today, and hopefully you can find a veteran, or active duty serviceman and thank them. May the Lord bless and keep each and every one of you.