Thanksgiving

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

There is so much for which to thank God. We live in exciting times because we can see the handwriting on the wall and we know that the return of Jesus is imminent. Thank God that we still have our freedom in America and that we worship Him without government interference. Thank you Lord that you set your plan for mankind into motion long before anything was even created. Thank you for revealing yourself and your plans for us through your Word. Thank you that you love us and you knew that we would rebel against you, so you planned for our redemption.

Lord Jesus, thank you for your willingness to humble yourself, take on the form of a man, live 33 sinless years and become obedient to the point of death on a cross. God made you to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in you Jesus. Thank you for being our substitute, paying the price that we owed for the penalty of our sins. Through you we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins, abundant life now and eternal life with you. Because of your sacrifice we can come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain help in time of need. Thank you Lord for enduring the cross, scorning its shame, and now you sit at the right hand of the throne of God, ever making intercession for us. Now God has exalted you to the highest place and given you the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Thank you Father for my spouse who is the perfect complement for me, thank you for our children, our extended family and our new church family. Thank you for our Christian friends and even those we desire to become part of the family of God. Thank you for health and strength, for the activity of our limbs, for the experience of our senses. Thank you for the beauty of the world around us, the sun, moon and stars, all of nature and the beautiful colors we experience each year. Thank you for food, clothing, shelter, material blessings, for our jobs and the ability to do our work for your glory. Thank you Lord for giving us a future and a hope. We eagerly await the day when the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise. Then we who are still alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Our hearts are filled with gratitude because we are called, chosen and kept by the power of your Holy Spirit. All glory, praise and honor is due to you O God our Father, in the matchless name of Jesus our wonderful Lord and Savior, Amen.

Finishing Well

I’m often amazed at the ministry opportunities that God has granted me. My freshman year in college, I got the radio bug when I was given a show on the campus radio station. After a short stint in commercial radio and a plethora of other totally unrelated jobs, I got my first job in Christian radio, Chattanooga rocker WMOC. I was green and it was fun, getting to do what I loved, serve the Lord and even get paid. Two years later, I stepped out on faith and accepted a part time job at the Moody station across town, WMBW. Within a few months, part time developed into full time and I became the morning man heard all over the Southeast. Five years later, God opened a door to work with Family Life Network in New York as Operations Manager. I doubled as morning co-host with Jim Travis who is still my best friend today. After three record breaking, bone-chilling winters, we decided to move back South and I went to work with His Radio Network in Greenville, SC. Our family was content to stay in South Carolina and I had even thought about starting a church there, but God had other plans.

January 1996, I received a call from Precept Ministries International, asking if I would like to join their staff. I was quite content but agreed to meet with them in Atlanta. My desire at that stage of life was to learn inductive bible study and PMI was the leading proponent in the world. That is what piqued my interest to accept their offer. I spent 8 years with PMI, managing the radio department and teaching inductive Bible studies but began to miss being on the air daily. Moody had never lost interest in me and they offered me a chance to do the morning show in the Tampa market. Florida was fun, I loved the gulf, the sun and the beach but after a few years I was recruited by Family Life Radio to move to Tucson and do a network show. This probably wasn’t the best career move for me because two years later I resigned from Christian radio altogether and went to work for Westwood One in their Phoenix newsroom.

Working in that secular environment was difficult and I began praying persistently for a return to ministry. After 15 months of working in that pagan, cynical, sarcastic environment I was desperate. I told God that I would do anything, go anywhere to get back into ministry. I would have even taken a job as a church janitor! God has a sense of humor, because He sent me and my wife from Phoenix to Meade, KS to work with Great Plains Christian Radio (KJIL). God gave me a new perspective for Christian radio ministry, so whenever I opened the microphone, I focused on sharing the Word rather than entertaining. Now you have to understand, Meade is about a mile away from the middle of nowhere, so when given the opportunity to transfer to their sister station in Abilene, KS, I jumped at the chance. Since 2010, I served as the Operation Manager and afternoon drive announcer at KJIL. Through pulpit supply I learned about a couple of local churches in need of a pastor. I became a candidate at both of them. In October 2011, I was offered the position of pastor at Zion Brethren in Christ Church in Abilene, KS. So after 30 years ministering in Christian radio, I am now a full time pastor. My wife A’Lisa was hired as my Administrative Assistant. This is an answer to a year’s worth of prayers. I knew God had something more in store for us in ministry, I just didn’t know what that “more” was. Looking back in hindsight, I can see how God orchestrated everything to bring us to this point. We are glad for the challenge ahead because we know that God is able. We praise God for our new church home and family.