A Fall to Remember

 

            I feel so blessed to live in my home state of North Carolina.  Though I have had the privilege to travel to some beautiful places, there is no place any more beautiful than the Tar Heel state.  Part of the beauty we have here in North Carolina is that we truly experience all the seasons.  I love all the seasons, but the season of Fall is my favorite.

            When Fall brings a chill in the air and  the color of the leaves start to change, it calls me to remember.    I especially remember when the month of October turns the calendar.  Two big things happened in my life in October:  I gave my heart to Jesus Christ and I began to give my heart to my wife, Ann, as I fell in love with her.    When the leaves change in October, I remember that Jesus changed my heart.  When the Fall chill in the air comes, I remember how my heart was warmed by the Lord Jesus Christ.

            I encourage you to remember what Christ has done in your life. Remember your conversion and give thanks to God.  One of the ways we remember our conversion is through telling others what Christ has done in our life.    In the Book of Acts, we hear about Paul’s conversion on the Damascus Road in Acts 9.  In Acts 22, we hear the apostle Paul tell of his conversion to the people at Jerusalem.   Telling others about what Christ has done in our life is something that is fitting whatever the season.   -   Pastor Randy Wall     

PRAYER

            Lord, I offer prayers of thanksgiving for saving me from my sins and for the people that told me about you.   Help me to remember to tell others about what you have done in my life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

The Man Asleep ON My Car

 

Having lived several decades and lived and served as a pastor in many places, there are many memorable Sunday mornings.   I recall one Sunday morning when I came out of the parsonage to head to the church as I readied for the church activities of the day when I saw something I had never seen before  and something that I have never seen since:   a man asleep on the hood of my car parked in the driveway.   Please understand that the man was not asleep IN my car, but the man was asleep ON my car

I did not  know what to do.  Was the man dead or was he just asleep?   Should I call the police or simply try to arouse him from his slumber?     I chose the latter, and the good news is that he gradually woke up.   As I got closer to the nocturnal visitor, I discovered that he had a strong  smell of alcoholic beverages on him.   As he woke, he looked at me with embarrassment as he realized that I was the pastor.  Slowly, he stumbled to his feet and slowly walked to the mobile home nearby that he called home.   This man and I continued to see each other in our comings and goings.   We would throw up a hand  at each other and we both went to and fro, but we never talked about the event on that Sunday morning.   The best that I could figure is that he was so drunk the night before that he mistakenly thought when he arrived at the parsonage that he was home. 

Sometimes, people find themselves in the wrong place just as that drunken man at the parsonage many years ago.   In Luke 15, we hear about a man that wakes up one day and realizes he was in the wrong place.   This prodigal son had gone away from home with hopes that life was better there.    Though he left with his pockets full of his Dad’s money, one day he woke up to find his friends far away and so was his money.   He had not only wasted his money, but found himself wasting his life and heading in the wrong direction.  He decided he would return to his father.  

Have you ever found yourself in the wrong place in your life?   Have you ever woke up perhaps not in a drunken stupor, but to realize that you are on a dead end street?  Like that man who woke from the hood of my car long ago, you can always head home to the Father who you will find anxiously waiting to tell you “welcome home”.     Have a joy-filled week!-  Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER :     O God,  we give you thanks for your love that receives your wayward children and loves them that we know in your son Jesus Christ.   Help us to turn to you;  through Christ our Lord.   Amen.   

A World Filled with Books

 The summer months are traditionally a time when students set their books aside and enjoy activities like swimming.  When I was growing up, my Mom thought it important that my brother and I go to the local library during the summer to check out some books to maintain our reading skills.   It was through the books that I read during those summer days that I gained a love for reading that continues to this day.  

The Gospel of John is a different book of the Bible.   You might have heard the saying that “that is a horse of a different color.”  Well, it is fair to say that the gospel of John is a different gospel than Matthew, Mark, and Luke.    The other  day, I was thinking about books and I thought of the final words of the gospel of John.   In John 21:  24-25 we read:

²⁴ This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.   ²⁵ Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

            I was always amazed at the number of books in my local library when I was a child when I compared it to the number of books in our home.    There are lots of books that are in print in our world today.   Visit one of the book stores at your local mall or go out on an internet site that sells books and look at all the books there are.   Oh, just to imagine that that all the books in the world are not enough to write down all the good and glorious things that the Lord Jesus Christ did and is still doing in our world today.    What a mighty Savior and what a great God we serve.  Have a joy-filled week!-  Pastor Randy Wall

 

PRAYER :     O God,  we give you thanks for the fact that you are still working in the world today.   Give us eyes to see your mighty works and hands and hearts eager to be instruments of your love;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen. 

My Ten Cents Worth

If you travel to the beach in the Wilmington area, you probably will see the USS North Carolina along the highway just outside of town.   When I was in the first grade, the campaign began to try to bring the USS North Carolina back to the Tar Heel state instead of selling it for scrap metal.   As I recall, the late Hugh Morton was one of the leaders in the fund raising campaign.  I am certain that there were persons and companies that gave large sums of money to bring the USS North Carolina home.  However, I am also certain that there were  persons that gave small sums of money because  I was one of those persons.  If my memory is correct, I gave a grand total of ten cents to the USS North Carolina fund-raising campaign by collecting discarded soft drink bottles along the roadside and getting money for the bottles  at the store.

            Deuteronomy 16: 17 says, “Every one shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you.”   Some can give large gifts of money, and others give small gifts of money.  What I know is if all of us will simply give as we are able, then God can take it and use it for His honor and his glory.      Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall 

PRAYER

            O God, we give thanks that the Lord Jesus gave the greatest gift he could give for our salvation- His very life.   Stir in our hearts that we might always give as we are able to the work of your Kingdom;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.