Third Annual Pastor's Appreciation Service

How can I say thanks For the things You have done for me, Things so undeserved, Yet You gave to prove Your love for me. The voices of a million angels Could not express my gratitude .All that I am and ever hope to be, I owe it all to Thee. To God be the glory, To God be the glory, To God be the glory, For the things He has done. With His blood He has saved me, With His power He has raised me, To God be the glory, For the things He has done.© 1971, Andrae Crouch

Just as Paul said it to the people he loved in Philippians 1:3, “Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God”, so do I say it to you and our church family at Macedonia, Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. I have been blessed with a wonderful congregation of God-fearing people who are kind and caring.

It was a joy hearing you share, as well as reading your words of appreciation in cards and letters. Your encouragement means more than you will ever know to me and my family and I want you to know that I consider it a high honor to serve here at the Macedonia Church as your Pastor.

Special thanks to all the members of the Pastor’s Appreciation Committee who embodied through their service the spirit that was demonstrated by the workers in Mark 2:1-12 who showed us the power of people who work together for the greater good.


To the Chairpersons of the committee who are the right mix of strength and submission; who know when to push the Pastor and when to pray for the pastor, I will forever be grateful to you. I realize what you do is a labor of love so I pray that everything you lost in time, energy and resources by heading this committee, God will give back to you in abundance.


To all of the Pastors who came this week to pour into our church what God placed in your heart, I am grateful and remain steadfast in my resolve to work with you to make our city what God would have it to be. Please know my heart as a Pastor is, “IF I CAN’T HELP YOU, I PROMISE I WILL NEVER HURT YOU”.


To Bishop Alford, Pastor Hardy Williams, Pastor Andre A, McGhee and Pastor K.D. Witherspoon, I acknowledge a Pastor’s calendar is very busy especially for preachers of your caliber, so for you to find time within your preaching itinerary to come over and bless our church is an encouragement to me so deep I cannot explain. May God bless and keep you is my prayer.
Finally to the greatest people in South Bend who worship at 1862 N. Olive Street, thank you for allowing me to be your Pastor. Thank you for being patience with me as I grow in Christ. Thank you for following me as I follow Christ understanding that obedience does not require understanding. When God tells us to move we must move, so thank you for keeping your eyes on Jesus as Christ is the head of the church.

A party of pioneers on the Oregon Trail suffered for weeks from a scarcity of water and grass for their animals. Most of the wagons had broken down, causing endless delays in the stifling heat. A feeling of fretfulness and futility prevailed. Optimism and cheer were gone. Courage was in limited supply.

One night the leaders called a meeting to air complaints. When they gathered around the campfire, one man stood up and said, "Before we commence our grief session, don't you think we should at least first thank God that he has brought us this far with no loss of life, with no serious trouble from the Indians, and that we have enough strength left to finish our journey?"
The other settlers agreed. After the brief prayer, all that could be heard were the cries of a distant pack of wolves. There was otherwise stone silence around the campfire, because no one had any grievances they felt were important enough to voice.

They suddenly realized if they couldn't be satisfied with what they'd received, they could at least be thankful for what they'd escaped. Thankfulness enabled them to see the mercies of God they had been overlooking. I hear my mother saying to me:

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

WE ARE MACEDONIA AND WE ARE CALLED TO HELP SOMEBODY

PASTOR

A back to Work Thank you

Today is my first full day back in the swing of things, office appointments, hospital visits, planning and preparing for Sunday School and Sunday morning, but I want to take this time to thank some people.

Let me say Thank you first of all to Pastor E.J. Tyson for inviting me to be his guest evangelist for the 67th annual Simultaneous revival services of Oklahoma City. His hospitality was amazing and the mentoring and imparting of vision that he gave to me during this time is more than I could have asked or imagined.

Thank you to the New Hope Baptist Church family which went out of their way to meet all of my needs. Thank you to their Hospitality Committee for the welcome basket, their Youth ministry for the gifts given to my girls and to the Culinary Committee which made sure I had food to eat. May God Bless you.

Thank you to the officers and members of the Baptist Ministers Association of Oklahoma City and to my adopted "Pop" in the ministry, Rev. Dr. J.A. Reed Jr., for allowing me to be on the slate of preachers who preached the noon-day and Late-night revival services. Dr. Reed put me at ease on Tuesday when Pastor Tyson was introducing me. During the introduction when Pastor Tyson was making me sound better than I am, he leaned over and said, yeah all that may be true but he was still a bad child growing up. It is good that people knew you when, good and bad, and still acknowledge what the Lord is doing now in your life.

Let me say thank you to all of the Greater Mount Olive members that I saw during the week from Tuesday until Friday. Always good seeing the people that have prayed for you during this adventure.

Let me thank the Macedonia church family for being so understanding. Sometimes it is necessary for a Pastor to get away and recharge his batteries. Let me thank our chairman, Deacon Calvin Manns and our Finance chairman, Deacon Luther Taylor for carrying on with the business of the church. Also, let me thank Deacon Kevin Howard and Deacon John Williams who serve as the administrative arms of the Pastor for keeping fires to a small burn until I could get back.

So much to do, so little time but I am grateful to so many people. No man is an island and no man stands alone. Let this thank you serve as my sincere appreciation to so many people. I love and thank God for you constantly.

Owens

I want to say Thank You

A party of pioneers on the Oregon Trail suffered for weeks from a scarcity of water and grass for their animals. Most of the wagons had broken down, causing endless delays in the stifling heat. A feeling of fretfulness and futility prevailed. Optimism and cheer were gone. Courage was in limited supply.

One night the leaders called a meeting to air complaints. When they gathered around the campfire, one man stood up and said, "Before we commence our grief session, don't you think we should at least first thank God that he has brought us this far with no loss of life, with no serious trouble from the Indians, and that we have enough strength left to finish our journey?"

The other settlers agreed. After the brief prayer, all that could be heard were the cries of a distant pack of wolves. There was otherwise stone silence around the campfire, because no one had any grievances they felt were important enough to voice.

They suddenly realized if they couldn't be satisfied with what they'd received, they could at least be thankful for what they'd escaped. Thankfulness enabled them to see the mercies of God they had been overlooking.

I wanted to say "thank you" to all of the people who prayed, texted, called, checked on, bossed, fussed, cooked and nursed me back to health. I had the blessing of the flu and a middle ear infection that lasted over 11 days. Preached two Sundays sick, taught Bible Studies at less than 100%, but the Lord blessed. I write this because this story made me realize all the while I had been mad, I am sick, I am dizzy, I don't feel good etc, as I got my list out to complain, I was struck by God to remember all the things he kept me from.

I have been dizzy for 11 days, moments that caused me to sit down until I regained my balance, but I never fell! I didn't wind up in a ditch while driving, didn't kill myself on the highway, I didn't fall down or up the stairs at my house, because God let me escape. When I realize all the things that could have happened to me and how close danger was to me but God made me sick enough to force me, to drive me to a bed, to sleep for four days, where God's angels at Macedonia, In Oklahoma, In Peoria, In Georgia, In California, In Texas, started praying because I couldn't even pray for myself. God let me escape.

It is said that in Africa there is a fruit called the "taste berry," because it changes a person's taste so that everything eaten tastes sweet and pleasant. Sour fruit, even if eaten several hours after the "taste berry," becomes sweet and delicious. Gratitude is the "taste berry" of Christianity, and when our hearts are filled with gratitude, nothing that God sends us seems unpleasant to us. Sorrowing heart, sweeten your grief with gratitude. Burdened soul, lighten your burden by singing God's praises. Disappointed one, dispel your loneliness by making others grateful.