Pastoral Ministry

The fall of 1966 was a busy time for me. That fall I had three full-time jobs. During the summer of that year, I had been called to pastor Pine Grove Baptist Church near Florien, Louisiana. Near the end of August, I had begun teaching at Florien High School, and for the past four years I had been dating Danielle full-time. This last job was enjoyable, but it was also very time-consuming and did not pay very well. The result of all of this was that I was stretched pretty thin.

Several months ago, I ordered from a woodworking magazine a small clock to put into the top of the pulpit as a way of keeping up with the time of the service and the sermon. I thought I could see this clock more conveniently than glancing at my watch at the side of the pulpit. It has worked well. It has become second nature for me to look at it right at the top of where my Bible is each Sunday in order to stay on track of the time for the service and for my sermon.

On Sunday Night of our revival this week, our evangelist Dr. Bryant Barnes preached on the story of the Good Samaritan. In the course of the message, he told about the Good Samaritan carrying the wounded man to an inn and taking care of him. Then it is recorded: “The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have’” (Luke 10:35). Bryant said that it would have been easy for the innkeeper to say, “You don’t expect me to believe that do you?

When we were living in Shreveport, we often went down on Friday night to visit Dan and Ruby who lived on their farm near Florien, Louisiana. As Blake grew up, he would sometimes invite a friend to go with him on our visit. This made the time go faster for him and also gave him the opportunity to acquaint his friends from the city with life on the farm.

Every year I try to encourage the hybrid Bermuda grass to grow in my lawn and to discourage everything else that tries to grow there. In order to discourage crabgrass and its rowdy friends who want to move in on my turf, I have to use various sprays on the yard. When I purchase these sprays and begin mixing them in my sprayer, I always consult the section on “application rates” that is included in the instructions. I have discovered that these “application rates” are only of limited value.

Sin poses a great danger to the church. In fact, sin can destroy the church.

My older brother Wayne is a long-time member of First Baptist Church in Hornbeck, Louisiana. He said that one time many years ago, their pastor had a creative brainstorm. Whenever a pastor has one of these, as with all storms, it poses a danger to the church. The pastor’s idea was that for their new year’s worship service they would have a new beginning. They would ask the Lord to forgive them of their sins and take them all away. With this clean slate, they would begin the new year.