Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Honoring the Pioneers of the Church

Well, it certainly has been way too long since I have posted on my blog. I realized that it has been almost two months since my last post. I honestly don't know where the time has gone! We are going to be celebrating Easter in a couple of weeks. It seems like we have just came out of the big chill of winter - which I am extremely grateful for!

Enough of the small talk for now! I wanted to write this article about honoring the pioneers of the church because it is dear to my heart. The Bible instructs us to "give honor where honor is due." Therefore as the pastor of Freedom Life and as a relatively young man myself, I feel indebted to the men and women of God who sacrificed their lives for the Kingdom of God.

It is a great privilege of mine to have several retired ministers and wives in our church. These couples are a wealth of information! It is exciting to sit over a cup of coffee and listen to the stories they tell of days gone by. I love to hear them talk about the revivals of the past, the power of God and the miracles that many of them witnessed as they evangelized and pastored in their younger years.

One of the greatest honors God has allowed me to participate in has been washing the feet of these elderly saints of God. Several months ago, the Spirit of the Lord moved on my heart to have a foot washing during our Sunday evening service (this was not planned as part of the service that night). I will never forget the feeling of kneeling at the feet of these precious saints of God and washing their feet. In my hands were the feet of the men who by the sweat of their brow, by the sacrifices they made and by the many precious tears they shed gave me the opportunity to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ! You talk about a humbling experience! Words can not adequately describe what I was feeling.

This past Sunday night (March 25) I had invited one of our retired ministers who had pastored this church for over 18 years - Bro. Clifford Elliot to be our guest speaker. We had a wonderful service and their were several people here that night. When Bro. Elliot turned the service over to me, we took a few moments to worship the Lord together. It was during this time the Spirit of the Lord impressed me to wash Bro. Elliot's feet. As I knelt down and began to wash his feet he kept saying, "I am not worthy of this". As he said this, I thought you are worthy of this. Because of the sacrifices you made, the labor you performed and the many prayers you prayed we have a church building we can worship in.

As tears ran profusely down my cheeks and as I held his feet in my hands, I realized the significance of the Scripture that says, ..."How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things" (Romans 10:15).

Let us never forget the sacrifices that have been made by those who have blazed the trail before us! Give honor where honor is due!

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