Emerge Renovation Dedication

Today I was privileged to minister the Word at the Emerge Church of God of Prophecy in Lebanon, Tennessee. My wife Debra and two grandchildren, Reagan and Madison traveled with me and were present too.

Walking into the new entrance-way and sanctuary were like walking into a brand-new church building. The church, under the direction of Pastoral Team Larry and Kelly Meadors have overseen what can justly be described as a transformation like nothing I have ever seen. Gone is the old worn look of much use and in its place a more youthful, vibrant and colorful facility. I do not have the words to express the change. If you have ever attended that church, you need to see it now. Wow!

As always, we received a warm welcome and was so thrilled to see all of the progress of the work there. Along with old friends, there are a lot of new congregants. The worship team was excellent and filled with the Spirit

The ladies of the church honored my wife for her birthday (March 21st) and showed their love to her.

I am thankful to be a part of a growing, thriving church that has an eye on the future and not the past. Congratulations Pastors Meadors and congregation. Thank you for allowing me to be with you on such a special day.

Comments

Come Down From That Ivory Tower

Hebrews 11 has become known as the "Hall of Faith." The reason is quite simple. The writer spends a great deal of time giving a role call of the heroes of the faith. After all, this chapter is about faith, and what better way to teach faith than to illustrate with some real-life examples. Mos of the people in this chapter are well-known, at least by anyone who spent time squirming in a Sunday School class as a small child, or who watched the late-night movies on the local channels featuring their stories. Who were they? Abel, Enoch and Noah. Abel pleased God with his excellent offering, Enoch was so close to God that he actually walked with God to the point that one evening, while walking God said to Enoch, "we are closer to my house than we are yours, so why don't you just go home with me?" Of course, Noah built an ark (according to God's instructions) that saved mankind from total destruction. Then there was Abraham...the father of the faithful. He...

Am I making a difference?

Increasingly, the posts on this blog are announcements of events, reminders of deadlines and obituaries for those who have served so faithfully in our church. I don’t mind that being the case, in fact, when I started out doing this, it was an effort to get a lot of information out in a hurry to as large a constituency as possible. Time will be the judge. Often, my job as a pastor (yes, I said pastor) consists of praying for the sick, comforting the bereaved and preparing sermons to share with congregations. My role as a Presiding Bishop becomes more and more administrative and casting vision as a long-term goal. From time-to-time, well, actually quite often, I ask myself, “are you making a difference?” I would guess that many of you who read this blog ask yourself the same question. In reality, like the nature of this blog, only time will tell whether we have been effective or not. But, still it IS a valid questions, and in truth, you are the only one w...

Prayer

Reverend James and Geneva (Mary) McKinley For as long as I can remember, my mother was a praying woman. Until the day she suffered a stroke and sudden onset of Alzheimer's Disease, one of my best memories was her prayers. She had a deep relationship with Christ that was the result of a dedicated prayer life. As a child growing up, she had a difficult life. Born in the late 1920's she was child in rural Kentucky during the days of the Great Depression. Adding to the difficult times of the depression, her mother died when she was only four-years-old. As a child myself, I grew up listening to the stories of her daily difficulties that came primarily from being a small child in a very large family. She told of the 1937 flood in the Ohio Valley, a flood so great that it changed the course of rivers and uprooted entire small towns. Vividly, she shared how she watched her father (my namesake) walk to the edge of the waterline at flood stage to se...

Voice of Hope

Search This Blog