Count Your Many Blessings....

I am overwhelmed at God’s goodness to me… I can’t believe He called me out of darkness into light! I can’t believe the grace that He gives me each day. The wife He has blessed me with and how I am overwhelmed at the love and encouragement that she gives me. I have two boys who are saved and who I love more than words can say… and a church that comes ready to hear the Word of God each week! I believe I could write on this subject for days!

Down the road, I would like to take some time and highlight the most wonderful staff I have ever been apart of in my ministry! But I want to do something today that I have never been able to do with an entire staff – because, as the saying goes… “There seems to always be one.” (smile) Today, I want to write a short blog on the unsung heroes of our staff. We have men that are so faithful to our Lord and who come prepared to serve and equip the saints of God each week - one of the primary reasons they can do this is because of those sweet ladies who love them and minister to them, those who encourage them when no one else is watching!

Now, before I even get started….just know that I had this as one blog and it was 3 pages long – so, in no particular order (outside of my wife – after all, I do live with her!), I will post this in two parts! Please know that each of these ladies is an incredible blessing to Trinity and to my life personally as we serve alongside each other….I am truly thankful for the Lord’s grace in allowing us to minister together.

Michele: To me, you are obviously the fairest of them all. You know me, you know my joys and my discouragements, you teach our boys, keep our home and love our Lord. You listen, confront and love me - you keep before me the purpose of my calling when I get overwhelmed. I love you dearly. (Yours will be the shortest paragraph because I must be disciplined or I would embarrass you and probably bore those reading this with my mushiness!)

Carol Ann: For 13 years I have been able to be your Pastor, and you have watched the highs and lows of ministry. I can think of no gap in service that has needed to be filled that you have not only been willing to fill, but did so with joy! I have watched your faithfulness, love and support of Jeff – you have enabled him to be a faithful teacher of the Word to hundreds of children and to encourage families to walk with God. From Praise Teams, Children’s choir, or instrumentalists – you are superb in all! You are an outstanding ladies’ teacher and you faithfully look for opportunities to pour your life into ladies to grow them in their walk with our Savior... but your greatest ministry is the way you minister to your husband and family - and that is how it should be.

Suzanne: I do not know of a lady that exudes a love for all people as you do. When your family came to Trinity, I thought it was a wonderful bonus that you had such an incredible voice… but little did I know that your beautiful voice is not the part of you that God has used to bless Trinity the most - your heart is! You look for opportunities to minister among our body and you do so tirelessly! In the short time you have been here, so many families have been touched by your kindness and thoughtfulness. There are many singers in churches, but there are few true servants in churches - and you are both. The passion Jon has for worship is clear to all…but what is not seen by all is the quiet prayer and support you give him. I have noticed, and I am grateful because it makes him the servant he is.


To Be Continued.....

Freedom for Tomorrow....Today!

Psalm 145:4 “One generation shall praise Your works to another. And shall declare Your mighty acts.”


The verse and phrase above are things that I am going to guess you will become very familiar with if you are a member of Trinity Baptist Church. The phrase “Freedom For Tomorrow…Today” along with Psalm 145:4 explains in a succinct manner, our reason for the debt retirement campaign. We desire to remove this weight around our neck in order to be better stewards of God’s money. We have just completed a seven week study on stewardship and the importance of not being weighed down with debt in such a way that would prohibit us from giving towards eternal matters. We do not want the next generation to have to deal with this debt…so our goal is to experience freedom for tomorrow at the present time----TODAY! We are uniting as a church to reduce our debt in a significant manner so we can, in turn, invest in our eternal Kingdom. In the coming days you will be getting a number of mail outs from our church discussing all the details of this upcoming campaign. I am blogging today simply to ask you to be in prayer for the people listed below. Keep checking in as I will give some important dates on my next blog!

David and Kathy Leverett: Bro. David and Mrs. Kathy are the Directors of our debt retirement campaign - please join me in praying for them as they lead out and encourage us, as a church to have Freedom For Tomorrow…Today. I have already been blessed by the serious spiritual approach with which Bro. David and his family have approached this duty.

Eone Riales and Dody Ashman: These two sweet ladies will be heading up a 24 hour prayer vigil and organizing some testimonies during this time. This will also serve as an opportunity for us to build up our prayer teams at Trinity. If you are currently not a part of our prayer ministry, this will be a fantastic opportunity to join! Pray the God brings revival to Trinity through this.

Jim Brown: Bro. Jim will help in leading some our teachers, deacons and staff to make their commitments toward this campaign prior to our Leadership Banquet. We all need to be in prayer about how God would have us sacrifice towards this great effort and our church leadership will do just that – lead out!

Jerebeth Mehler: Mrs. Jerebeth needs a lot of prayer as she is responsible for getting out all of these letters, organizing many of our events and, worst of all…she has to put up with me almost every day of the week! Please be in prayer as her workload will be greatly increased for a bit. Also, if you would be willing to help her with letters and envelopes, I know she would appreciate it.

Sandy Avant: I don’t even know where to begin with Mrs. Sandy! She will be helping with our leadership banquet and any other fellowship that we will have going on for this campaign. We not only have the greatest Wednesday night suppers I have ever had anywhere, but she is so willing to serve in this capacity.

In addition to these wonderful leaders, there will be a great deal that will fall to Bro. Bubba and all the staff during this time. Please keep them in prayer and please take this opportunity to come along beside us and minister in this great task…after all, how many people would not do something to make "tomorrow" better for our children at Trinity Baptist Church? Let's take the steps for Freedom for Tomorrow...Today!

Trinity's Peace Making Team

I shared with you as we studied “The Peace Maker” that we must commit that this will be more than a study - but that this must be a way of life. So many of you have shared with me that there have been positive changes in your relationships at work, at home and even in our church - for that we rejoice in the Lord! But the question must be asked, “Is this just one of those things that is here for today and will die out?” To that I say, “May God forbid that to happen!” May we live our lives as Peace Makers - may we be committed to biblical peace making!

I hate to say it, but this is not going to happen – that is, not in and of ourselves! This is contrary to our nature…in our flesh we are slanderers, liars, brawlers, and it is only because of the grace of God and His cross that we do not have to live this way. This Sunday evening at the end our service I will be meeting with our perspective Peace Making Team. I ask you to be in prayer as this team is developed and taught, through the Word of God, how to keep peace in the life of our fellowship. If you recall, I mentioned before that this team was being constructed solely by individuals who had asked me to be on it, or who I had spoken to about being part of this team - to my knowledge, each person that we have record of that had asked me or a staff member about this has been invited to participate. As we meet initially and the expectations are given to this team, and then as training begins, please pray for these men and women of all ages that God will use them to cultivate peace among every group in our church. This is not something a team can do or a staff can do… it must be something a church commits to do! To do this, it will take people with a commitment to keep it in front of us. So, please pray for these people and ask that God works in their hearts and in your heart, to be biblical Peace Makers! We live in a world with too many “Peace Fakers” and “Peace Breakers” - let’s see what God will do with individuals who are committed to handling relationships in a biblical manner…you know, those whose chief desire is that God be glorified! For this to happen, we do not have to guess what God wants us to do - we do not have wait for a feeling but we need to go no further than His Word! I am excited how the Lord will use this team in the days ahead!

Grace in Action

Somewhere at the beginning of each staff meeting we, as a staff, discuss “evidences of grace” that were shown the previous Sunday or sometime through the week. Basically, we just mention areas in our lives, in ministries or in our Church family’s life that we see the wonderful grace of God in action. I just want to mention two of the ones that blessed me in an incredible way. I will share them very generally to keep confidentiality for those involved.

Grace Work Number 1: I had a lady in our Church who spoke to me during this Stewardship series on how they had not been obedient in their giving in the past…but God had done a work in her family’s life recently and they began to tithe. She saw God show up in a supernatural way in His provision for her family. Now, two things jumped out to me in this testimony: first, we see the power of the Word of God as we see how God is sanctifying each of us - teaching all of us in different areas what being a steward really means. Secondly, this family got to experience the blessing of God for their obedience. I can not really give in a “worship” of my Lord if I am giving with the motive of Him giving me money back. However, as I give with a worshipful heart and understand stewardship better, I know Him better and become more intimate in my walk with Him. As I know Him better, He becomes the supreme treasure and that is something that I could never put a price tag on!

Grace Work Number 2: I had a dear Church member come to me and expressed what a difficult time they had accepting that we were going to be going through “The Peace Maker” during our Sunday School hour. But, as this individual continued with their story, they explained just how God had moved in their life. This saint of God shared the first Christmas with their adult daughter in three years because of the way God applied the wisdom of this study through their life. Again, this just reminds me what happens when we begin to study the Word of God and are willing to apply it to our life.

All of this to say, it would be a good practice for each family to come home on Sunday nights and discuss the ways they see God at work in their own lives - but also in the lives of the church family around them. I have found that when we come looking for God’s grace at work…we will always find Him working among His people! Hallelujah! What a Great and Mighty God we serve!

A Great Website to Check Out

I came across this post on Pastor Michael Catt’s blog. To say the least it is phenomenal, he has said what I along with many other Gospel loving Pastors have said across America. Rarely do you find a pastor who is willing to "name names" but I believe it is Biblical to do so (Paul sets that example for us when he takes the time to name names in a book that will last forever)in instances of false doctrine such as this. I seldom simply link a post of another blog but this is worth your time!

http://michaelcatt.com/2009/11/a-pretty-boy-with-an-unscriptural-message/

How time flies

The second Sunday in January 2009, I stepped up into the pulpit for the first time as your Pastor. At that time I had 2 boys who had left friends and family and were scared to death - I didn’t know you and you didn’t know me. I had excitement because of the possibilities and trepidation because there was so much unknown... and partly because there were some things I knew! There were staff that were talking to other churches well before I came who were led of God to move, and there was a divide among age groups like I had never seen in any church. There was a feeling of being overwhelmed yet, a feeling of being home. It has been right at a year, and now….WELL, I have 2 boys who couldn’t imagine being anywhere else and a family who loves their church family with a deep passion and commitment! I have staff that are not going anywhere (with the exception of Bro. Jeff Phillips, but he and his sweet family will be part of us for a long time as we partner with him in Vancouver) and are deeply committed to Trinity for the long haul. Through God using the enemy in a great way, we experienced a work of God on November 8th like I have never seen in my entire life - that is continuing to grow and shape our Church up to this very day! We have seen more saved this year than we did almost in the previous two years combined, our giving was just shy of $18,000 higher this year, and for the FIRST TIME SINCE 2006 we finished in the BLACK!!! (In 2008 we were in the red by over $20,000 and 2007 we were in the red by over $45,000). In spite of all the changes (and I know there have been a lot), we have averaged only 19 fewer people than last year! This after a change in music, youth, Sunday School, a new Pastor and so on. Now listen - I have said before that we can not necessarily judge God’s blessing by numbers and this is true now as well... As I have watched souls saved, relationships restored, commitment increased, husbands leading their home, an increased accountability, a choir and congregation understanding worship, a hunger for the Word..those are things that are far more important than numbers! If all of our numbers had dropped but we had the afore mentioned things happening, I would still believe that would be a sign of a growing, HEALTHY Church. I ask you to pray this year that God will continue to develop us to be more healthy! I have no desire for a certain number or certain building, but all of us can desire and pray for a healthy church that glorifies God in all we do. This past Sunday morning I preached a sermon on "Pressing On". I shared this sermon with you either the first or second week as your Pastor and am committed to sharing some form of it with you as long as I serve you (that will be a long time). In the next few weeks I will begin preaching a series on The Church. If you want to further understand what God requires us to be, and you desire to see the vision God has laid out for His Body, I encourage you to come each Sunday morning ready for God to move in your life. I love you Trinity and can’t tell you what a joy it has been to be your Pastor over this last year...it will be a great joy to see what God has in store for us in 2010. See you Sunday!

Grace in Grief

This will be our only post this week as we grieve, yet rejoice as well, with the Homegoing of Bro. Danny McCammon

Last night, some time after 10pm I received a phone call on my cell phone…I did not get to it in time to answer it and, by the time I looked at my cell phone, my home phone began ringing…if anyone knows anything about life in the ministry, that is never a good sign. I got the shocking word that my friend, and brother in Christ, Danny McCammon had a heart attack and it didn’t look like he would live. By the time I arrived at the hospital, he had gone to glory.

There is no one in our Church that has spent as much time with my family as Brother Danny - in all truthfulness not because he just liked hanging out with me, but because as we moved a couple of weeks ago into a new house and Bro. Danny was the one who pretty much fixed every single problem we had! He knew I knew very little (in truth absolutely nothing) about “fixing stuff” but he allowed me to stand beside him while he fixed things and, at times even attempted to make me feel useful! On more than one occasion he said, “I need you to hold this, but if you touch those two wires they are going to light your world up.” Needless to say, I held what he asked me to and didn’t touch those two wires! All of this to say, that I love Danny and Peggy McCammon dearly! Not only for the fact that he ministered to me much more than I did him…but also because countless families in our Church have the same testimony of Bro. Danny! He has helped more families through “rough patches” and repairs and quiet support than any of us will ever realize.

Not only was Bro. Danny a silent “fix it” hero, but he encouraged me; he loved our Lord, Trinity, and our family. He was so faithful to the Church and to the Lord! He was steadfast and sure. For that bond in such a short time I will be forever grateful to our Lord. During this grieving process, someone has said to me: “It will be tough walking your church through this.” As I began to think about that statement, and thought about being at the hospital with Bro. Danny’s family last night, I knew that there was not really an opportunity to “walk” the family or our church through this loss on this side of the passing of Bro. Danny... this guidance was given prior to last night (through the Lord’s Sovereign will and wisdom)! You see, I listened to Mrs. Peggy as, through her tears she could proclaim how she knew she would see her husband again, and how she knew where he was. I heard them proclaim the sovereignty of God and their trust in our Lord! As I recounted the natural grief that all of us felt, I also ran to times as we have opened the Word of God and discussed the importance of bringing glory to God – even in our dark days. Last night I witnessed Bro. Danny’s family, in the midst of heartache, live out their theology! I saw their theology, their doctrine, gushing forth. I watched their grief take them to the bear bones of what they believe about our loving Savior.

Today I have pondered John 11:1-44 - when Christ raises Lazarus from the dead. I want to encourage you to read it, but I want you to see just a couple of things about this that will help all of us as we face this hurt in our church and community.

1. Those who loved Lazarus called out to Christ: (v. 3) As Mary and Martha called for Christ’s presence, so did so many of us. We asked that God intervene, that He spare Danny’s life.

2. Jesus didn’t move the way we wanted: (v.5- 6) There is not a believer who knows this family that can say that anyone would want or expected this. In this text, as with Danny, Jesus withheld healing - and the amazing thing, is the reason He did. Did you see the reason in verse 5? Because Christ loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Wow! It was the love of Christ that allowed the death of Lazarus. It was His love that allowed Lazarus to die! This makes no sense to us, does it? Why did Christ work this way?

3. It brought God glory: (v.4) In some way that we see today, but certainly wasn’t seen at this moment, the act of God being glorified was more of an act of love, than preventing the death of Lazarus would have been. I can tell you that Danny McCammon’s death was not in vain, and God will be glorified in ways we can’t even begin to know at this time.

4. It brought Christ pain: (v. 35-36) Even though Christ knew exactly why this was happening, He still wept with those who were weeping. He still hurt with great grief with the family and friends. This is what we will do with the McCammon family - we hurt and grieve and cry with them, all while still knowing we serve a God who is in control and who understands our hurts. A great little poem goes:

Though He giveth or He taketh
Christ His loved ones ne’er forsaketh.
His the loving purpose solely
To preserve them pure and holy.

Now, most of you have to be thinking that this event, this story from Scripture makes no sense to bring up - after all Bro. Danny was not resurrected - he is in glory! How does his passing fit with Lazarus? Well, we know by the Word of God that there is no other place sweeter, no place free of disease and hurt and death than Heaven. For the glory of God, Lazarus was taken from that place and brought back to a place of sin, and disease and hurt only to face the enemy of death a second time! What is worse? Lazarus left Heaven and came back to face death again - in order to show the world that Christ is King over death…The McCammon family, and Trinity Baptist Church, had to lose Danny and be reminded that Christ is King over life. Bro. Danny is rejoicing with those who have gone before us – singing the Redemption Song and praising our Savior! Holy, Holy, Holy is his song and he gets to see the One who is worthy of our worship!

I know this is a VERY long post, but a necessary one. I was going to post this prayer from “The Valley Of Vision” the final day of 2009 but did not… I now know why. As you read this, pray for the McCammon family, Trinity and our Community as Danny will be greatly missed. But pray for Bro. John Miller, our Minister of Senior Adults who was also a very close friend of Danny for many years, as he will be doing the majority of the funeral on Wednesday at 2 pm at Trinity.

O Love Beyond Compare,
Thou art good when thou givest,
When thou takest away,
When the sun shines upon me,
When night gathers over me.
Thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world,
And in love didst redeem my soul;
Thou dost love me still,
in spite of my hard heart, ingratitude, distrust.
Thy goodness has been with me during another year,
Leading me through a twisting wilderness,
In retreat helping me to advance,
When beaten back making sure headway.
Thy goodness will be with me in the year ahead;
I hoist sail and draw up anchor,
With thee as the blessed Pilot of my future as of my past.

I bless thee that thou hast veiled my eyes
to the waters ahead.
If thou hast appointed storms of tribulation,
Thou wilt be with me in them;
If I have to pass through tempests of persecution
And temptation, I shall not drown;
If I am to die,
I shall see thy face the sooner;
If a painful end is to be my lot,
Grant me grace that my faith fail not;
If I am to be cast aside from the service I love,
I can make no stipulation;
Only glorify thyself in me whether in comfort
Or trial,
As a chosen vessel meet always for thy use.

Do We Have a Church Covenant?

When I asked this question, blank stares ensued. I figured we at Trinity had one, but I also guessed few if any knew about it. Let’s think about this for a brief moment…we have a Church Covenant and have for quite some time! What does this mean? Well, let’s break down this simplistic term.
Church---in a very basic definition it is: A local body of believers who have been baptized, desiring to bring glory to God by their worship, teaching and carrying forth the Great Commission, biblically conducting the ordinances and holding one another accountable. Now, I didn’t look this up from a single source, and this is certainly not comprehensive, but you get the gist. Then, we have the word
Covenant---Now I went to the dictionary for this---
1: a usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement.
2 a: a written agreement or promise usually under seal between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action b: the common-law action to recover damages for breach of such a contract.

So, in short our Church Covenant is an agreement or promise that we, as believers at Trinity, have made to one another and our Lord which we will carry out. This should cause several questions to come to our mind: (1) What is our Church Covenant? (2) Should we attempt to live up to it or throw it out? (3) Being that this is a covenant and should be taken seriously, shouldn’t we make it prominent in our Church?
Below you will find it - we will look at this Covenant in the coming year as we study the Church. But, in all honesty those who helped in the founding of this Church had the right idea when they expected Trinity members to make this promise to one another. What a good place to start this year!

Trinity Baptist Church Covenant:

Having been led, as we believe by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit on the profession of our faith, we do now, in the presence of God, and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with on another as one body in Christ.

Therefore, we engage, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor and the spread of the gospel through all nations.

We also engage to maintain family and secret devotions; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger; to abstain from the sale and use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage; to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior.

To that I say, Amen! If you are a member - this is our covenant, this is our root system that traces all the way back to the founding of this church! What a wonderful discovery and what a wonderful covenant for us to strive to keep!!