Don’t Despise the Day of Small Beginnings

I have made it to Paradise and am in transition to a new life, a new ministry, and eventually a new home. My host home has been extremely gracious. I am actually enjoying my camping experience living in the RV. I have all I need. Most of all I have ample time to seek the Lord through prayer and scripture reading. I am afforded much solitude and want to use it wisely so God has not disappointed. God is speaking.

Yesterday His message to me came from [Matt 6:8] “So do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” This scripture comforted my heart reminding me God knows all the challenges we are facing. He knows our needs and He does not need me to remind Him. He desires that I seek Him and trust Him. He already knows the needs and His plan to meet them.

Early this morning the Lord spoke to me again through [Joshua 14:6-15] about the life of Caleb who continued to follow God fully even at eighty-five years old. I asked God for strength of body and mind to serve Him fully for at least the next thirty years. I would be eighty-five. I do not want to entertain getting too old to serve. He has inspired in me books that need to be written and sermons that need to be preached. While I can I want to have the spirit of Caleb and serve the Lord fully.

I ate breakfast on Monday with my great uncle Buddy who preached in the Nazarene church as a pastor for over five decades. He is eighty-one now but still has the fire of God burning in his soul. He showed me a message he studied in recent days trusting God for an opportunity to deliver that message. That is what I asked God for. I want to fully serve God well into my senior adult years. I am middle aged by definition today but that is only if I live to be ninety. I could be in the last days or I may have more life ahead of me than I have behind me. That is all up to the Lord. I just want to follow Caleb’s example and follow the Lord fully all my days regardless of how many I have left.

Later on this morning the Lord spoke to me yet once again through [Joshua 21:45] “Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.” I am standing on this promise for the Edwards family and for Faith Community Church. I trust the Lord to work out all the details for my family. I trust the Lord provide a house for us here in Paradise and to sell our house in Seminole. I may have to fight for these things in prayer, which I am glad to do, trusting God will keep his promises.

I went back to my old barbershop for a haircut today. This barbershop is close to ten miles from Paradise but he had already heard we were coming back to start a church. He spoke a word straight from the Lord as I was walking out the door. He told me the story of how twenty years ago he had been a part of a church plant in the Fort Worth area. He recounted how they started with three families around a kitchen table. They rented facilities at a school as the church grew, bought and renovated an old bar, then moved into a bigger rented facility. He told me that church today that started with just three families has to over 4,000 in attendance each week.

When I left to get in my truck I sensed the Lord speaking through the Holy Spirit, “Do not despise the day of small beginnings.” Everything the Lord keeps speaking to me challenges me to trust Him even in the day of small beginnings. I am living in a borrowed RV and yet the Lord continues to meet with me and speak to me. We have our first official meeting tonight in a home. Most of the night I will cast vision for the work to be done. People have asked me where we are going to meet and so forth. We will start in a home tonight. This coming Sunday we will meet in a daycare. Next Wednesday we will continue to meet in the daycare. We will follow the Lord fully until we outgrow the daycare. When that times the Lord will provide the next place. He is at work. I sense it more than I can see it.

What I noticed as I read through the book of Joshua is that Israel did receive the promise land but they had to possess it. It did not come without challenges and opposition. They fought for city after city. In the same way I have to possess the land for my family only I am fighting through prayer and faith. This new church must be possessed by faith.

The God that called me to this task and this community is the God who goes ahead of me. He has a house picked out for my family. He has a plan for Faith Community Church. I continue to ask Him to work out that plan. There must be trials along the way to try and strengthen our faith. There have to be obstacles in the way so God can demonstrate His unfailing power. We have to deal with some mountains in the day of our small beginnings in order to promote the glory of God when He overcomes them.

Watching God give birth to this church is like watching a pregnant mother carry a child in the womb and then give birth to that child for the watching world to see and behold. The baby was real inside her all the time. She could feel the growth and the baby moving and kicking. When she holds the child she is holding the one she has loved and nurtured in our womb. I feel the embryo of this church and my house in my spirit. Soon God will give birth to both for the watching world to see.

Though there is not much of a church to see in Faith Community Church now, it is real in my spirit. We have very little but we all share the call of God and the dream of a church that seeks first the kingdom of God. We might be starting small but we believe in time God will do great things out of this small beginning. So I do not despise the day of small beginnings. I can envision sitting around in a room full of new comers to the church and share how I lived in an RV, the church started in a daycare, and how we brought our own chairs that first Sunday. I will tell the miracle story of the birth of this church over and over again. I will tell how God moved on people’s heart to bless us with down payment on a house. I will tell how one man wrote me two checks for $1,000 each quoting the scripture about the preacher who faithfully preaches the word being worth double honor. I will also tell the story of one who gave me another $1,000 telling me he loved me, believed in me, and is praying for me. In this way God is moving our mountains. Getting our house here is just one miracle away.

Through Faith Community Church I believe hundreds of souls will trust Christ for salvation. I am confident God will give birth to multiple new church plants through Faith Community Church all over the world. By faith I am assured this new church will grow and one day we will look back on these days of our small beginnings with fond memories. Until that day we press forward in faith. We press forward trusting God to build a great church but more importantly to build His kingdom through this church.

Lord, I will not despise the day of small beginnings. I will not resent these humble beginnings but will believe from these unassuming beginnings as a backdrop you will paint a masterpiece in the brilliant colors of miracles, trials, victories, triumphs, and kingdom expansion. Thank you for choosing me to be a part of it. I also thank you for the roles you have used FBC Paradise, FBC Seminole, CentrePointe Community Church, Denman Avenue Baptist Church, and Southside Baptist church in shaping me and preparing me for this assignment. From these modest beginnings you are setting the state to do something great.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

I have seen a lot of the state of Texas in the past four days. I started out Thursday morning in Seminole. I dropped off Taylor in Paradise that afternoon and then drove late into the night to the prayer cabin in Palestine. As I write this I am sitting in the offices of Southside Baptist Church in Lufkin, where the Lord allowed me to minister this morning. I have been from the west to the east in this great state.

You know what I have discovered along the way. The wealth of relationships God sent my way wherever we have lived. These relationships go back nearly twenty years in some cases. Thank God for them. Everywhere I have been I have enjoyed the blessings of friends who have partnered with me in ministry at one time or another. I am blessed beyond words.

I wept this morning in the pulpit looking out at the sea of faces that have loved us, prayed for us, supported us financially, encouraged us and believed in us for nearly two decades. I saw faces from my home church, from Southside, and even four ladies who came down from Paradise to speak about missions in the Southside services this morning. I am a blessed man. The relationships are as vast as the scenery I have seen over the past four days.

I am a deeply grateful man for the blessings God has put in my life. Thank you Lord for using people. Thank you for loving me enough to send other people to love me. I am not deserving but grateful.

I will leave in the morning to drive back to Paradise. Now the real work begins of starting this church deep in the heart of Wise County. I am trusting God every step of the way.

You Have to be Kidding

Tomorrow Taylor and I plan to leave Seminole in pursuit of the new call on our lives. Brenda and the rest of the family will move sometime before school starts as the Lord sells our house and provides a house in Paradise. There have been many sleepless nights of prayer asking the Lord to make a way where there seems to be no way.

I have not wavered in God’s call on my life. I know He is calling me to leave Seminole to start Faith Community Church. If I had any doubts the Lord sure made it clear today. Here was my devotional reading for July 20, 2011. “Now the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you;’” [Gen 12:1]

As I read that scripture my thoughts were, “ You have to be kidding me.” I read this scripture on the day before I am to pack up a few belongings with Taylor and move not really knowing where we will live permanently. He and I will live in an RV until God provides a permanent house. I am leaving Brenda and the other three boys sadly having more unknowns than knowns. I know I am supposed to follow the Lord.

I am living a modern day version of what Abraham lived when he heard the Lord calling him to go to the land the Lord would show Him. I too have heard from God clearly and consistently. I too am leaving not knowing ultimately where we will end up. All I know is the God who calls me is faithful and He will bring it to pass. [I Thess 5:24]

To be honest I am a little stunned that God would speak so specifically to my situation today. God does that. He knows all and His word is perfect to minister to us in all of life’s circumstances. What a mighty God. He knows us by name. He knows where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. He knows the troubles and adversity that afflict us. He knows our needs and has ample resources to meet all of them. He also knows where He wants us and the best way for us to get there.

I know I am supposed to go. I have to follow Him on what looks like some cockamamie wild goose chase. I have to risk appearing a fool to the world to be follower of Jesus. I do not want to leave Brenda, Tanner, Tucker, and Turner behind. I do not want to have part of my family in Gaines County and the rest of us in Wise County. Brenda is my soul mate. She is my helpmate. She is my best friend and partner in ministry. The longest we have ever been apart has been about two weeks. Yet, I have no place to put my family but God says go anyway to the land (or in our case the house) that He will show us.

To read that verse this morning is very timely. That verse gives the confidence I need to precede in faith. It is the concrete assurance I have God has every detail worked out even though I may not be able to see it yet. God’s call and promises are the joyful hope I have that He will work it all out. Isn’t that exactly what [Heb 11:1] says? “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.”

I follow God with the full assurance that leaving FBC Seminole, my family temporarily, my house, and my salary are all the will of God. Others will say that is not the case. The proof will be in the miracle house God provides my family to live in, the miracle church God builds, the miracle other churches God uses Faith Community to plant all over the world, and souls who are added to the Kingdom of God. There will be a day when I will be able to show the watching world the tangible answers to all of our prayers.

So let me tell you what I have been praying for in a house. I have asked the Lord for a house with 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, with a 2 car garage and an office. In the beginning I will not have an office at the church for we do not have facilities. For many years Brenda and I prayed for the ability to have a place large enough her mother could come and live with us. As she gets older Brenda wants to honor her mother by giving her a comfortable life. Her mother has done so much for us over the years we want to be able to give back to her. Those are pretty specific things to ask God for.

You have got to be kidding me again. I received a call from someone in Paradise yesterday afternoon tellling me about a house that has all those things and more. She called the owner of the house and asked if they might be willing to rent. Christi hesitated to call the owner but said she kept feeling drawn to that house and God leading her make contact with the owner which was a step of faith on Christi’s part.. Another lady from Paradise named Teresa called me this morning and told me she has felt drawn to that same house and worked to track down the owners. The house has been on the market for about two years. Ironically that is the very house Brenda and I been most drawn to searching the realty websites the past couple of months. We thought the price is WAY OUT OF OUR LEAGUE. The people might be willing to rent it but I believe the Lord is calling me to possess that house by faith. Can you buy a house on faith? We have done it twice. Faith is all I have. Here is the most important thing. Faith is enough only because God is enough. What God wills to be done, no matter how seemingly impossible, can be done. [I Jn 5:14-15] Like Abraham I will get up in the morning and follow the Lord. If He wills my family to have that house, He will supply every dollar needed. Regardless I am leaving Seminole in faith.

Here is what I know with absolute assurance. God has called me to “follow’ Him to Paradise to start a church. Tomorrow morning around 9:30 a.m. Taylor and I are planning to leave. God wills Faith Community Church to exist. He has called me to pastor that church and therefore I know He wills for my family to have a home there and to sell our home in Seminole.

God has once again given me a front row seat to behold His miraculous acts. I do not know how He will pull all of this together but I do know it will be an adventure to watch. There will be many more, “You have to be kidding” moments when God does the impossible and improbable.

Lord, I follow you as Abraham did. I do not have to have all the answers because you do. All I have to do is follow you and trust you each step of the way. I pray all over this country when people see what you do for the Edwards family they too will say, “You have to be kidding,” because it will sound so unbelievable. In Jesus name, amen.

My Last Sunday

Yesterday was my last Sunday as pastor of FBC Seminole. It started as the past one hundred Sundays mostly started. I arose early and swung by the donut shop for some breakfast. I came into the office to pray and prepare for what I knew would be an emotionally challenging day.

As I walked into my office I had several emotions come over me. Sadness knowing it would be our last Sunday. Passion for the message God had given me. Grief over leaving so many people we have grown to love. Desperation to trust God to make a way for us where there seems to be no way. Dread in facing this great congregation for the last time amidst all the tears. Joy over the two baptisms we were going to celebrate.

In my quiet time once again the Lord comforted my soul concerning His going ahead of us to settle all the details in our move. I then prayed through the different points in the message. I still had not had contact with any people yet. That did not come until I walked into our television room to greet our volunteers and set up the time I would address the television viewers one last time. I went upstairs afterwards to get ready for the baptisms. What a joy the baptism of a little girl and a little boy were.

I had to hustle to get dressed and get back to the television room again. It was important for me to talk to those people who have faithfully watched this ministry. They had to know I loved them and always saw myself as their pastor. This morning one of our viewers came in to give me something crying. We embraced and he told me, “I can hardly stand this.” He then turned to leave still weeping. My heart breaks with him. Only God knows how many people He has touched through our broadcast ministry.

When I finally got into the sanctuary the tears started. There is something about the music that moves my soul. It didn’t matter which songs we sung. Turner scooted over next to me and started crying when he saw me crying. I tried to be strong but my breaking heart for these wonderful people gets the best of me at times.

I preached my heart out from Matt 6:33. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the things will be added to you.” God gave me freedom, anointing, and great passion for the subject of expending our lives in building His kingdom. A few responded during the invitation coming to the front to seek God.

After shaking many hands and giving out several hugs the Edwards family went home for lunch. I took a short nap and then came back to my office to pray some more and finalize the message for the evening service from [Col 1:13-23] on the excellence of Jesus Christ. We took communion in response to God’s word to celebrate our redemption through Christ.

The day culminated with a farewell reception in the fellowship hall. We were blessed with well wishes and many kind words of affirmation. The church gave us a generous love offering and my lap top computer. Many refused my extended hand for a handshake but insisted on a hug. I had no choice but to submit.

When I finally got home I felt expended physically, emotionally and spiritually. I preached my heart out in both services holding nothing back. I especially loved the evening service because it had nothing to do with us leaving but everything to do with the person of Jesus Christ. With that my ministry in Seminole has come to an end.

Brenda and I sat at breakfast this morning reminiscing with tears in our eyes. I do not have the words to put into writing how deeply we love FBC Seminole and how we always felt loved by the people. FBC Seminole is a great church. I had the privilege of serving with a great staff. I ministered with devout deacons. I was blessed to minister to the community through out broadcast ministry. I have no doubt more people watch the services on television than come to the physical facilities to worship. We were blessed time and time again by the love and generosity of God’s people who took great care of their pastor. I am undeserving.

The relationships will endure. My tenure as pastor was a short but full one. I do not know how many Sunday mornings I would walk across the parking lot while staring at the sanctuary and thank God for choosing me to pastor such a wonderful church. I cannot believe it ended this soon.

Someone asked me last night if I was excited about our new ministry. I am but Brenda and I also grieve privately. We need a little time to turn our focus from past memories to a future ministry. Tears are never far from either of us when we sit down and take it all in. They form in my eyes as I type this sentence. We love this church. It is not easy to uproot and leave. We do so only in obedience to the Lord and by faith.

In no way is that statement meant to slight the people who are making up Faith Community Church. No sir. Those people are wonderful as well. I know they love us and know they have prayed diligently for FBC Seminole for they lived through the pain of our leaving once too. We love them and look forward to ministry memories we will make starting a church from nothing.

Brenda and I need a little time to get ourselves together. I am leaving for the “prayer cabin” later this week. Three days will do my soul good to sit with the Lord and seek Him. There are still many unknowns.

I have to be honest in closing. I hate this part of ministry. I read today where a pastor served one flock for thirty-six years before he died. I want that. I thought Seminole was that place. I can only hope and pray these people know how deeply we love them. We gave our souls to this church and community.

I am reminded of Paul’s words found in [Acts 20:22-24] Paul felt bound in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. He knew God had a call on Him even though He knew following that call would mean the loss of his freedom and suffering. It eventually led to his execution. I am bound in the Spirit to start Faith Community Church and to return to Paradise. Only God knows the fruit of ministry in Seminole. In the end I have to leave content in that.

Possess the Land

“See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the Lord the God of your fathers, has spoken to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed.’” [Deut 1:21]

What land has God called you to possess? What dream, kingdom assignment, mission endeavor, or promise from God have you been called to possess? There are things the Lord has dropped into our hearts and set before us. By faith He calls us to possess these things for the glory of His name. What are those things for you?

To possess something you have to drive out the previous tenants. You have to occupy and seize what God wills and promises. What is that in your life? For days I have walked around torn between faith and doubt. While in the prayer closet my faith is strengthened. When I walk out into life I have battled the fiery darts of the enemy and not always with the shield of faith. He has given me much land to possess. The task is daunting but God is larger.

For seven months the Lord spoke one resounding message to me. “Follow Me.” Now the Lord is speaking another constant message. “Do not fear. Trust Me.” While seeking the Lord this morning I read the scripture in Deuteronomy 1:1-21]. I feel like Israel getting ready to possess the promise land. There are things God has appointed me to do and to believe Him for in His kingdom.

Israel lived beneath their destiny for forty years. They chose to operate in doubt rather than faith and suffered for it. I wonder how many who read this blog are living beneath their destiny. God had great plans to use you. There was a day or series of days when you had to choose to possess your God ordained destiny by faith or to remain firmly entrenched in disobedience. If you chose not to obey you may feel like you have wandered in the wilderness for all these years.

While reading this morning [Deut 1:6-7] moved me to action. “The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn and set your journey and go to the hill country….”

Many people have stayed long enough. The word stayed means to “settle, dwell, and remain.” It is so tempting to take the path of least resistance and to justify that path through logic and common sense. This would be well and good except God wills for you and I to possess the land of His purposes. God has dreams He plants in the hearts of His people. He calls people to follow Him down some challenging paths.

It saddens my heart that far too often we choose not to possess the land but to dwell in the familiar and the predictable. Even when God leaves us somewhere geographically He has kingdom territory for us to possess in souls to be won to Christ, nations to spread the gospel, meeting needs all around us, and even at times expanding the kingdom by expanding the facilities at the church. To remain at the mountain seems like the best option but possessing the land is always better. Notice I did not say always easier. When you set your mind to possess anything for God you will find yourself engaged in spiritual warfare. You will find yourself assaulted in your thoughts and your circumstances. The enemy does not want us to possess the land.

In my case I assure you the enemy does not want my family to go back to Paradise. Many have tried to dissuade me. Others have told me it was not the will of God. While some in Paradise are glad and ready to welcome us there are plenty of others who not nearly so supportive. We are looked at as a threat and the enemy. My face is set like flint. I know what God has called me to do. I am called to possess the land of lost souls in Paradise and Wise County. Not only that, I am called to possess the land of dozens of other new churches all over the world through the prayers, labors, and financial support of Faith Community Church. We will not be a church self-absorbed with building our own kingdom but one who possesses the land of planting new churches in the Pacific Northwest, among the Chorti people in Honduras and wherever else God leads us.

God’s word to Israel called them to turn from the familiar and to “turn and go to the hill country.” The word turn means to “pull up the tent pins and depart.” This is where the rubber meats the road for so many of us. It is one thing to pray and to believe. It is one thing to dream large dreams for God. It is a completely other thing to actually turn to go. Pulling up the tent pins is not easy. It is not convenient and it certainly is not comfortable.

The majority of people in the church like to stay more than to turn and go to possess the land. When some zealous soul finally does hear from God and turns to go the naysayers abound. Many try to pull the zealous soul back to the mountain of comfort and convenience. I thank God others throughout history have thrown caution to the wind and followed God to possess the land. They inspire me. Jim Elliott and Nate Saint did it in Ecuador. Hudson Taylor did it in China. David Livingstone did it in Africa. George Mueller did it with orphans in Bristol, England. Charles Spurgeon did it in London. Billy Graham has done it all over the world.

What about you? What is God calling you to possess? Where is God calling you to turn and go? For me it is simple. I must turn and go possess the land of Faith Community Church. I must possess the land of future churches all over North America and beyond. I must possess the land of a hospital in Copan Ruinas, Honduras for the Chorti Indians. I must possess the land of writing and publishing new books and being published on a broader scale. I must possess the land of lost souls to be saved and transformed by Jesus Christ. I must possess the land of writing thousands of new blogs and over reaching 100,000 visits to our blog site. I must possess the land of revival in Wise County and beyond. By faith I possess the land of a third miracle house.

We have pulled up the tent pegs. In a five days Taylor and I will turn and go east to Paradise. Brenda and the other boys will follow as soon as the house sells and we are able to possess the house God has chosen for us in Paradise. Will you possess the land God has put before you as well? It is time to decide but be reminded your choice of obedience or disobedience will have consequences. Choose obedience.

Count Your Blessings

It is early on my last Friday as pastor of FBC Seminole. I could not sleep so I came to my office. Just looking around this room I see so many blessings. My desk. My bookshelves lined with thousands of books. My computer. Pictures of Brenda, Jennifer, and the boys. My Bible. All blessings.

I am more nostalgic today as my service in Seminole draws to a close. I am thankful for the many well wishes. I am humbled by the kind words many have shared. Brenda and I have been deeply enriched by the warmth and depth of relationships in this town and church. We pray God might call some of you to come with us. Just last night we went out to eat after a long day of cleaning the house to prepare to show it. Once again someone bought our meal. What a blessing.

I am blessed beyond comprehension. It is humbling that for the past two years people have tuned into our services via television and have heard the word of God preached. Weekly I have heard the comments, “I watch you on television.” I have always joked back to those people, “You couldn’t find something better to watch.” Seriously, I felt like a pastor to those countless faces I could not see over the airwaves. I felt like those viewers were an extended part of our congregation. It is hard to believe that God chose me for these two years to minister both in person and through the television ministry.

I love those guys and ladies who work behind the scenes to pull off each production. We have joked and we have gotten serious in the studio many times. When we had our twenty-three day revival those people sacrificed to be here every night to televise and record every service. What a blessing. What God did during those days is preserved on dvds because of their labors of love.

I have served four churches as pastor. I have never worked with a group of men who exemplified what it means to be a deacon more than here in Seminole. Those men from day one have sought to support me and to undergird me in prayer. I attended my last deacon’s meeting last Sunday night. Looking around the table I could not help but thank God for those men and for those who were out of town and not able to attend. Those guys have been a real blessing to me. You guys know you who you are and I love you. I thank God for you. I know FBC Seminole will be left in your loving, wise, and God besotted hands.

Though I have been blessed materially more than most I am most blessed in the area of relationships. Those relationships span the state of Texas from Lufkin to Marshall, from Corpus Christi to Seminole, from Weatherford to Palestine, and Odessa to Paradise. I have friends all over the state. I have people that love me, pray for me, believe in my dreams, and who have supported me. I am a blessed man.

Today I count my blessings in this office. I count them one by one as the old song goes. If you are reading this that means I am thankful for you too. I may not know your name but seated at this computer week in and week out I felt like a pastor to the many who read this though I may have never met you. I am amazed at what the Lord has done in our lives. Everywhere the Lord leads Brenda and I He has given us deep relationships. I am so humbled to be the recipient of so much love.

Lord, while most are still sleeping I come with a simple prayer. Thank you for blessing me with relationships. My life is so much richer because of the people in Seminole, Lufkin, Burke, Paradise, Weatherford, and Hudson where we have served. I thank you for the staff I have worked with. I thank you for the deacons. I thank you for the youth workers. I thank you for those who labor with the children. I thank you for those who labor behind the scenes in the television ministry here in Seminole. I thank you for the sweet senior adults who have embraced my family. I thank you for the younger adults we have attended ball games together. I thank you for those who work behind the scenes to further your kingdoms. Thank you for that remnant of ladies who meet early each morning to intercede for Seminole and who have undergirded me in prayer for the last year. I also thank you for those crazy ten families in Paradise who believe you over the obstacles and dare to dream your dream of starting Faith Community Church. I am humbled by their love and sacrifice. None of us know what we are getting into. I just know you have called us and we each said yes.

On this early Friday morning I have a grateful heart. There are so many memories in this room. I can think of encounter after encounter with you. At times you changed the direction of a message at the last moment. At other times you lifted my burdens. You gave me counsel in times of confusion. What I think I will remember most is how for the last seven months you reverberated one message into my soul. “Follow Me.” I know if I keep doing that the blessings of relationships will keep coming. On this day I count my blessings. I thank you for what you have done in my family’s life through the sweet people of Seminole. Please send them a better pastor and more anointed preacher than me who will stay and serve for decades. In Jesus name, amen. [I Thess 1:2-3]

Trusting in the Trials

God brings trials into our lives to strengthen our faith. He did so with Israel as they left Egypt. He does the same with us. Israel did not just step into the promise land without opposition. They fought to possess that land. They had their moments of doubt. God addressed this in [Deut 7:17-19]. “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’ You shall not be afraid of them; you shall well remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt; the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid,”

Israel faced a trial at the Red Sea, they needed water at the wilderness of Shur, they were hunger in the wilderness of Sin, and again they endured the trial of thirst at Rephidim. Each time God outstretched His hand and moved powerfully to overcome the adversity they faced.

You would think these trials and the subsequent miracles that followed would have given Israel strong faith. How quickly they forgot. Is it any different for us? Don’t we forget yesterday’s victories in light of today’s trials?

As we prepare to move we face two immediate trials. First we must sell our house. Since we have lived there for just a year and a half we will not profit from the sell but break even. We have only had two calls and are supposed to show the house today at 5:00 p.m. Wouldn’t you know it the air conditioning quit cooling today. We are supposed to show the house in two and a half hours. Trial on top of trial. I called the potential buyers after talking to the repairman and moved showing the house back to 6:30 p.m.

The second trial involves finding a place to live in Paradise. Reading this passage out of Deuteronomy 7 encourages me to look back over my life how God has stepped in every single time to make a way. Over the years most of our trials have been financial. I am not motivated by money in ministry and have not one time ever even asked a church what they would pay me. I hear God call and follow. I trust Him to provide. This kind of lifestyle has brought numerous trials along the way. Sit back and let me remind you of a story of how God overcame our first trial in needing a house.

In 1998 I had served the Burke Baptist Church as pastor for five years. I began sensing God calling me to a full time traveling ministry. Major trial. To step out on faith meant I would have no income and we would have no place to live since we lived in the church parsonage.

I prayed and sought the counsel of my pastor Charles Roberts and friends. I became convinced God was calling me to step out on faith to become an itinerant preacher. Brenda and I thought we would have to find a place to rent. Just before I resigned Brother Charles came up with another option. My home church supported a mission church at the time with a parsonage. We were given the opportunity to live in that parsonage rent-free for the first year. One trial and one act of God stepping in to provide.

Trial two. Up to that time every place we had ever lived had a refrigerator provided in the house. This parsonage did not. Brenda and I began to pray. One of the ministries the Lord involved me was teaching college students a weekly Bible study. God used those college students to take up an offering and to buy us a refrigerator. We still use that miracle gift to this day. Two trials and two interventions by the Lord.

The third trial included my not having any income because nobody called me to preach in the beginning. I had no income coming in until a business man made a gift to us for $6,000 with the stipulation I was to be paid a monthly salary of $1,000 a month for six months to help us get started. Soon the Lord began opening doors for me to go preach. Once again we faced a trial and once again the Lord worked wonders.

In the back of our minds we knew we were going to have to find another place to live. About six months into our living in the mission church parsonage God spoke to me through a scripture. [Luke 18:28-30] “Peter said, ‘Behold we have left our own homes and followed You.” And He said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come eternal life.’”

The more I meditated on that passage the more convinced I became God wanted to bless us with a house. We began to pray and trust the Lord. We felt like since we had given up our home to follow the Lord in a step of faith He would reward that faith. [Heb 11:6] Not long after that God gave us the most crucial verse about trusting Him for a house. [Ps 37:4] “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Brenda and I felt we had delighted in God by following Him to a new ministry. We began to pray specifically for what we were trusting God for in a house. Four bedrooms and two baths. We asked the Lord for an open living room large enough to entertain with an open kitchen looking into the living room so Brenda could still interact with the family while preparing meals. We prayed diligently for not only God to lead us to the right house but make a way for us to buy that house.

All the time we were praying time was running out on the mission house parsonage. We knew at some point we were going to have to put feet to our prayers. Here were the trials. We did not have any down payment money. By faith we went to a realtor and began to process. When he asked how much we could afford I shot a number back to him. He had his back to us while he typed and could not see the shocked look on Brenda’s face. I whispered to her that this guy did not know we didn’t have any money.

We began looking at houses. For weeks we looked and looked. I grew tired of it and all the while we still did not have money for a down payment. We poured our hearts out to God in prayer. Hour upon hour we cried out to God to come to our aid. One day the realtor showed us a house that blew us away. I am not kidding when I tell you he opened the door and I stepped over the threshold and told Brenda, “This is it.” We came up with the earnest money to put a contract on the house. Mind you we still did not have money to put down on the house. Can a person really buy a house on faith? Many people warned us that we could not. I did not listen to the naysayers but kept seeking the Lord and trusting in the promises He had given me.

We signed a contract on the house in total faith. Many doubted and felt I was presumptuous. I kept my mind on the scripture and cried out to God. The trial loomed over us. That is when God stepped in and saved the day again. Someone dropped off a thousand dollars at my office. Another man invited me to his office and slid a check for another thousand dollars. Someone gave us $500 after church one Sunday morning as we were getting into our car. Another man felt God prompting him to give but he worked out of town all week. He would leave on Monday and return home on Friday. On Friday God prompted him again and he gave us a gift. When all was said and done, we enough to put down and get us into that house. Trial. Faith. Miracle.

My most favorite memory of that miracle included two different nights. Brenda and I drove out to the house late one night after a date and pulled into the driveway and prayed. By faith we believed God ordained us to live in that house. Not long after that night one of the college girls I taught drove out there and sketched the house while writing Ps 37:4 underneath the house. She gave us that sketch which God used to bolster our faith. We kept that picture on our mantle and told the miracle story of that house to all of our guests and eventually to the people we sold the house to.

I have been thinking of that story a lot lately. After all these years Brenda and I are in the same boat again. God has once again called us to follow Him. We are once again leaving our home. In similar fashion God provided a house for us in Seminole when we had nothing. FBC and a precious family combined to sacrificially and generously give us down payment money. We came here in faith and asked God to overcome the trial of our lack of finances to put us into a home. I cannot put into words how much we have enjoyed that house. 2112 NW Ave B has been our second miracle house. Once again we are called to walk away from this miracle and trust Him for the next one.

Once again we are must give up our home with no place to live in Paradise. Yesterday God put it in my heart that if He can provide two miracles homes for us in the past He can and will do it again. So my prayers have changed. I am no longer looking for a place to rent permanently but believe God has a home appointed for us to buy. Once again we have no money to put down. Once again all we have is a call of God to follow and faith in His promise and ability to provide.

Yes there are trials but we trust God in the trials. It is these trials that God uses to demonstrate His power. Without the trials there would be no need for miracles or His divine intervention. All that we are up against serves as the backdrop for what will prove to be God outstretching His arm and moving His mighty hand on our behalf and for the glory of His name.

God is using these trials and steps of faith to strengthen our faith and to glorify His name. He is also using them to strengthen the faith of all you who pray with us and are watching on the edge of your seats to see how all of this turns out. The Edwards have been here before and will no doubt be here again. I am honestly excited as I write this to see what God does. I am convinced God will sell our house. I am equally convinced God will bless us with our third miracle house for the glory of His name.

The trials keep coming and we keep choosing to trust Him in the midst. Now, let me trust with you concerning your situation. Email me your trials at pastorfaithcommunity@gmail.com. I will trust with you in your trials as you have trusted with us over the years.

A Call to Action

Someone quipped years ago the pen is mightier than the sword. Writing is a passion for this scribbler. At times I go through dry seasons but for the most part I always have something to write about. I do not write for money. Money does not motivate me. I write as a messenger of the Lord.
I am humbled that since beginning this blog back in 2008 we have had over 21,000 hits. That is amazing. From time to time I hear from people who read this blog from other states. In many ways I feel like a cyber pastor feeding the flock with the truths the Lord inspires.
My motivation in writing today is to call you to action. It is one thing to read a blog, devotion, or book and forget the truth as you move on about your day. I pray this is not the case today. I pray this blog sticks in your gut and you cannot shake it.
First, let’s look at some scripture. We all affirm these truths but I am asking for more than just affirming the truth. I am calling you to act on these truths. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." [Matt 6:19-21] "But whoever has the world’s goods and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth." [I Jn 3:17-18]
I could jot down many others with the same truth. God has blessed us to be a blessing to others. I feel like a lone voice. In Honduras we are trying to raise money to build a hospital where the doctors will treat the Chorti Indians. The Chorti are an extremely poor people. They make an average of $600 a year per family. We spend way more than that just to go on vacation or to purchase a Christmas gift. You may not feel like you are rich but I assure you compared to the Chorti people you are!
I have written about the need to raise money to build this hospital. Initially the costs for the hospital rose to $384,000. I questioned God why He would call me to be the person to believe Him for this and raise the money. I did not have the resources or the connections to raise that money nor do I today. In fact as we follow God to start a church I have less leverage to raise the money needed for this hospital. I have prayed. I have written. I have travelled and cast vision for this project where the Lord opened the doors. To date we have raised a little over $17,000.
I kept praying asking God to move this mountain. God moved. The doctors found some different land with three existing buildings for only $152,000. The owner is willing to owner finance the land. This is a huge development. Now the call to action. We need $50,000 down to secure the deal and additional $102,000 to own the property and buildings outright. If I had the money I would give it today. I do not. I have nothing in savings. No Compromise Ministries has the money we have raised for the hospital. Then it dawned on me. Using this blog to call you to action might be the answer. So I prayed and started writing this morning.
You have visited this blog on numerous occasions. I trust the Lord has used some of them or you would not keep coming back. This time I am asking to act. Instead of just reading about a need I am asking you to stop and ask God how He can use you. Over the last six months I have seen widows give $25 as an offering and I knew it was a great sacrifice. I have seen single mothers working two jobs to make it reach down deep and offer $1,000. One farmer gave $10,000. They acted.
These doctors cannot raise the money on their own. God called me to get involved and by faith I met with them and assured them God would provide the money. If all of us did something this mountain could be moved. If we went to our Sunday school classes or small groups and challenged them to give. If we reached as deep as those widows and that single mother and gave I know this mountain could be moved. If we denied ourselves a few luxuries that will fade with time we be used of God to do something that would really make a difference. I will beat this drum and sound this anthem until I have no more energy or breath until God brings this to pass.
I do not know why God chose me. Maybe it is because He knew I would act. He also knew He would get all the glory because I am not connected with the rich and famous. I labor among you the common folk who work hard for a living and struggle to make ends meet. I also know that each of us can give. We can offer the Lord more than we have previously. I know God can spark ideas in your heart how to see this done. Children, teenagers, singles, and adults of all ages can be used. It is time to do more than just read but to act.
All alone few of us could make a dent in this need. Together we could see God give birth to a miracle that would impact eternity. So I am calling you to action. I am calling you to prayerfully seek the Lord about a gift. I am asking you to go further by sitting down and writing a check to No Compromise Ministries for this hospital. For some $20 would be a sacrifice. Others can give more. All I am asking you to do is to take action and honor the Lord by giving the Chorti people a hospital where they can be treated and where medical missions teams will minister for years to come to physical needs and where the gospel will be presented.
By faith I believe this mountain is going to move. For the glory of God alone I say to this $152,000 mountain be moved and cast into the sea. Our mailing address is P.O. Box 722 Seminole, TX 79360. I assure you every penny you give will be used to build this hospital. I do not receive a salary from this ministry and we do not have administrative costs. We work with volunteers.
God has shown the need. Will you act on what God is calling you to do? [II Cor 9:6-7] "Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver."

Standing on the Edge

I feel like I have lived most of my ministry on the edge of a cliff. Over and over again God has called me to step over the edge to trust Him for something or another. Today I find myself standing on that familiar edge once again. Behind me I can see a beautiful life God provided in Seminole but in front of me I see that life quickly coming to an end. I will preach one more Sunday. This chapter of our lives is wrapping up quickly.
The view from the edge is breathtaking. In front of me are mountains of various sizes. Beyond the mountains is the dream of a new church. There is a freedom standing on the edge. I am owned by no other than Jesus Christ. I am truly free. I am not enslaved to the opinions of men. I have not been bought or silenced. I am surrendered to Him and His pleasure. My aim is to please my Master. Standing on the edge and looking down can be frightening until I turn my gaze back on the Master and let His words speak to me. "The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." [Deut 31:8] "And He said, ‘My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." [Ex 33:14] "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent." [Ex 14:33] "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." [Is 41:10] "I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden wealth of secret places, so that you may know it is I, the Lord God of Israel who calls you by your name." [Is 45:2-3]
As long as I keep my mind on seeking the Lord and listening to His word I am not consumed by the dangers below the cliff. My confidence rests in the God who calls me. I know from scripture and walking off this edge numerous times in the past He does not fail. Though I cannot see the outcome with my physical eyes my spiritual vision assures God will make a way where there seems to be no way.
I feel like a soldier standing on the battle line facing the enemy getting ready to charge. My pulse quickens. My adrenaline is surging. My senses are on high alert. I know the challenges and the risks but I also know the freedom and adventure that comes when God says, "Trust me and step out." I wait eagerly for His invitation to step off the cliff into His waiting arms once again.
I know God brings His children to this same edge of the cliff of comfort and security. Many stand paralyzed by fear and look down at the danger and the risk their whole Christian lives. They do not trust God to catch them. They eventually turn back in unbelief only to be brought by the Lord to the same cliff to face those same fears. They will never progress until they press forward in faith and not turn backward.
I know there are many watching this step of faith for my family. They want to see how this turns out for the Edwards. They may say they admire our faith but many admire from a distance. They think we are crazy but I see this as the clear biblical pattern Jesus called His followers to. He calls of us at some point or another to stand on the edge of common sense, comfort, and complacency and to step out fully trusting Him with the results when He calls. What a thrilling adventure.
Let me offer a word of caution. There could be some impulsive person out there reading this and using this blog to justify a foolish decision that did not originate with God. I know God calls us to follow Him into risk but that should only be at His initiative. When I have stepped off the edge I have done so with the full assurance God called me to do so. I am not interested in dreaming up my own dreams and running off the cliff asking God to bless on the way down. That can lead to disaster.
Standing on the edge of the cliff I feel the breezes of God’s presence calming my soul. His word reverberates in the chambers of my mind. From this vantage point I can enjoy the view for a few days longer. Soon I will step out into the darkness to plant Faith Community Church. I feel the dream of this church beating deep in my chest and the dream consumes me. I must follow the Lord to do this. From the edge of this cliff there are just as many unknowns today as there were months ago when the dream began taking shape in my mind.
I could sit down and wait until all the unknowns have been deciphered with answers. I could sit here as close to the edge as I can get while remaining on sure footing. That is not faith. I could stay here and encourage others to leap, walk off the edge, and to step out of their comfort zones while remaining securely stationed on the edge. None of those will do. I am a faith walker and I must take this next step. I am not saying it will be easy but I am saying I will step out. I will go off the edge with my last check from FBC Seminole. I will walk off the edge when I sell my house. I will step out of my comfort zone when I preach before this great congregation of hundreds for the last time to take up the post of preaching to a little over a dozen in a house.
God will build the Faith Community Church. Our house will sell. We will be provided a place to live in Paradise. Our needs will be met because God has already gone before us to do all of this and more. I urge you brothers and sisters join me on the edge. Inch out further. Close your eyes and listen for the voice of God calling you to trust Him. When you hear Him beckoning you to step out do it! For once in your life abandon everything to follow Him. Obey Him without regard for anything but trusting Him like a child trusts a loving parent. He will not fail you.
If He wills you come out further than you have ever ventured before trust Him. If He calls you heed His voice without hesitation or delay. Step off the edge and discover freedom. Step off the edge and experience the faithfulness of God.