encouragement from an old friend

I just had a conversation with an old friend from college. We had not talked for some 15 years, and our last exchange was not the most pleasant one. But when I heard that familiar voice, memories came flooding in of a time when I absolutely enjoyed life! Everyday was a new adventure, a new challenge, some new idea was was always being pondered. Sometimes i think that as we mature in life we lose some of the youthful zeal with which we embrace life! We get bogged down with deadlines, financial matters and life draining responsibilities. I thank God he sent my old friend to check on me via cell phone to remind me that everyday we must make an effort to enjoy our life experiences and value them and the memories that they produce. I am also thankful that as we strolled down memory lane that I thought about all God did through Jesus Christ in order to save my soul and deliver me from so much of the worldly bondage that had so entangled me in my late teens and early twenties. The conversation really made me reflect on the goodness of God, and for that I am eternally grateful. I praise God for the encouragement from an old friend.

I just want to thank God for my family....

Today, I just want to take time to thank God for blessing me with such a beautiful family. I thank him for favoring me with a woman who loves God, and two children who have added unspeakable joy to my life. I never thought I would become a family man (I will have to talk about that in another blog!), but the three of them have made me want to be a man! God I thank you for Karen, Kayla and Jaymin! honestly, I am ending this blog so I can do some private praise and worship! Be Blessed!

My Favs

Recently, I noticed a television commercial for a cellular phone company. In it, they emphasized the fact that you could have a special group of people (5, I believe) that you could have unlimited access to via cell phone. They called this group "My Favs" (favorites). As I pondered this, I realized that we all have "favorite" people in our lives. Whether it is a brother or cousin, co-worker or mentor, we all have people we gravitate to, or hold our relationship with them in the highest regards.

Being a minister now for 18 years, I too have "my favs" as it relates to other preachers. As I see it, my favorite ministers fall into one of four categories:

1. Pure Preaching/Expository skill set 

2. Ministry/Administration Gifts

3. Superior Writing/Intellectual abilities (authors)

4. Mentor/Personal relationship in my life

Therefore, "my favs" (Pastors/Preachers) include:

Maurice Watson

H.Beecher Hicks, Sr.

Charles Booth

Rudolph McKissick, Jr.

John R. Adolph

Joel Gregory

David Jeremiah

Charles Stanley

Michael P. Williams

Anthony Evans

E.K. Bailey

George T. Brooks,Sr.

Warren Wiersbe

Stephen Olford

Robert Smith - Beeson Theological Seminary

Fred Craddock

John Henry Brown

Jeffrey A. Johnson, Sr.

H.B. Charles, Jr.

All of these anointed men of God have touched my life in a very significant way, and I am eternally grateful that God has allowed them to do so. These are truly my favs!