What Can You Do to Make Daniel Heeringa Successful

Look at your watch. It's late. It's 11.06, so we're going to get out of here about 1 o'clock.

No, I'm going to preach about 30 minutes, and I'm going to be done, but we will be a little bit late, and that's okay.

I got up about 4 o'clock this morning because during the night I just wasn't comfortable with the message I planned.

So I abbreviated it and cut about four points out of it. It had 10 points, believe it or not.

So you're still going to get a bunch, but it's not really a sermon.

It's just things that 40, 50 years of being a pastor have taught me that I thought would be helpful to you to know about Daniel Herring coming in

and helping you to make him successful as your next pastor.

But the Lord also put something else in my heart that I had just planned to share with you very, very, very briefly,

but I really feel led to tell you more about that, and so I'm going to do that at the end.

So you're getting two messages this morning for the price of one, okay?

But I promise you I'm going to be done in about 30, 35 minutes.

If you have your Bibles, look quickly to Titus chapter 1, verses 7 through 9,

Titus 1:7–9

and I'm not going to preach this passage, but I do want to read it this morning.

I'm just going to talk to you today about how you can make your next pastor very, very successful.

But in Titus 1, verse 7, Paul writes these words to Titus,

Titus 1:7

For an observer, for an overseer, rather, as God's manager, must be blameless, not arrogant.

You hear that? Not arrogant.

Not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not a bully, not greedy for money,

but hospitable, and loving what is good, and sensible, and by that he means loving what is sensible,

and loving what is righteous, and loving what is holy, and loving what is self-controlled,

holding to the faithful message as taught,

so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching,

and to refute those who contradict it.

I'm going to tell you, that's a big, big job.

To be a pastor and to do it right, to be honest, is just something you cannot do on your own.

It just requires more of you than you're capable, any human being's capable of doing.

And so he's going to need God's help, and he's going to need your help.

And I'd plan to tell you 10 things that you could do to help him,

but as I look back over it, you're going to figure some of this out on your own.

And so I'm going to cut out those last four and tell you the six I think are most important this morning, okay?

So here goes, and remember, I promised a book to whoever could guess the first point.

I said that in a news article a couple weeks ago.

So if you guessed the first point, I say the first point, you say,

that's what I put on my list, preacher.

Then you come see me.

I've got two books here at the front that I'm going to give you, and you can have them.

I'm not thinking anybody's got this down, but maybe you do.

I hope I give those books away, okay?

You ready?

Here goes.

Tell him your name until he tells you to stop.

Tell him your name until he tells you to stop.

Anybody think of that?

I didn't think so.

But if any of you want two books, I still got them on the front,

and you can come get them after the service is over, okay?

They're yours to take home.

Tell him your name until he tells you to stop.

I got a real problem with the way I see some guys today pastoring,

where they get the mentality they're the CEO,

and their job is to come to the pulpit and deliver these wonderfully orchestrated messages,

but then they don't see you again for seven days.

I really believe being a pastor means you've got to know the folk,

and I know that's what Daniel Herringup believes,

and he wants to know you.

I want to tell you something.

At Brushy Creek, we had 3,300 members when I left,

and I wanted to know every one of those 3,300 members,

and I've got to be honest with you.

I wanted to know.

I liked them.

I loved them.

In fact, out of 3,300 members, and I'm here today so I can say this,

I liked everybody but one guy, right?

And I just didn't like him.

I really didn't.

I had a hard time believing Jesus liked him.

I know he loved him.

But I just didn't like him.

But most everybody I not only liked, I loved,

and I wanted to know them.

But I want to tell you something.

I can't know everybody unless you at some time meet me

and tell me your name and let me get to know you.

For me to know you, you've got to get to know me,

and I've got to get to know you.

So tell me your name, tell me your name, tell me your name,

and one day he'll say,

you don't have to tell me your name anymore, Christine.

I know your name.

It's Christine.

And you can stop telling him your name.

Now here's just a quick addition to that.

I know everybody hates this.

Wear name tags.

Beginning next Sunday for about five or six weeks,

put on a name tag.

Now somebody said, I don't like those little name tags.

I ain't going to wear no name tag.

Everybody knows me.

No, they don't.

That's why when you ever meet anybody in the hall,

have you ever had somebody,

and every time you see them, they say,

hey, bud, how you doing?

Man, good to see you, friend, neighbor.

Because they don't know your name.

If I ask any of you in the congregation right now

to stand and tell me the 15 people nearest you,

a lot of you go, uh-oh.

In fact, I think I'm going to do it.

No, I'm not going to do that.

You'd be embarrassed because you think,

man, I see all these folk,

and I know them by face,

and I know something about them,

and I really do care about them,

and we have conversations,

but I don't know their name.

You know what happened?

You saw them, and you spoke to them,

and you spoke to them,

and you spoke to them,

and you spoke to them.

They told you your name somewhere and all that,

but you forgot it,

and then they kept seeing you,

kept seeing you,

and then you'd been here so long,

you forgot to ever say,

hmm, I don't know your name.

Would you tell me your name?

So it's going to be good for you.

Wear those name tags,

and see everybody's name,

and begin to memorize names,

and let him see your name,

and know who you are.

So tell him your name

until he tells you to stop.

Here's the second thing.

Pray for him every day.

Boy, there's nothing you can do

for your pastor better than to pray for him.

When I say pray for him,

I want to tell you what I mean by that.

I don't mean to have a list of names,

because a lot of folk kind of do this,

and they pray for their families,

all their family members by name.

By that I mean they just kind of call their names

in passing,

and they've got some missionary things,

and they pray about those things,

and they just run through this laundry list

as quickly as they can.

I'm not talking about that.

If you're going to pray for them that way,

pray for them just one day a week.

But when you pray for them,

really pray for it.

And by that I mean this.

Put yourself in Daniel's shoes

and think about what is it like

to be the new pastor

at Pickens First Baptist Church.

He's leaving Houston, Mississippi.

He's wanting to come here,

but I'm telling you something.

He's sad over leaving those people

in Houston, Mississippi.

And you want him to be sad,

because he loved those folks,

and he wants to say goodbye to those folks,

and he's going to have heartache,

and his children are,

and his wife is.

And they're coming here,

and they're looking for a new house.

How many of you tomorrow,

somebody comes to you and says,

you've got 30 days to get out of your house.

You've got to sell it.

You've got to go find one another time.

You've never been to Harley.

Have you looked for a house lately?

Man, there has a cat.

It's going to take a miracle for him

to come in here and find something in short order

and buy that house and move into it.

So pray.

That's some of the stuff he's going through.

He's going to take a daughter out of high school

and put her in a high school here in Pickens,

and she knows some of the kids here.

She was here 15 years ago,

so she knows everybody she knew when she was two.

What could be the adjustment in that, right?

So pray for them,

and he's going to come in,

and he's going to want to preach the best messages.

Man, I've done dropped some money on the floor.

I don't ever leave money on the floor, Brian.

Cheers.

Yeah, I believe that.

I believe that.

Good luck getting that out of my pocket.

I'm just telling you,

they need your prayers.

They're thinking about a lot of stuff.

He's thinking about messages he wants to preach

because he wants to come and make a good first impression,

and he's trying to decide what do I need to preach,

and you pray for him.

Pray God will wake him up in the night

the way he did me last night

and just say,

Daniel, here's what you need to preach,

that he'll have a burning passion to preach God's word,

that he'll do his very best in these early days

as your pastor here.

So pray for him.

Thirdly,

when you hear an idea you don't like,

and I really love this point,

when you hear an idea you don't like,

remind yourself of two truths.

How many of you ever hear an idea you don't like?

A lot of you have lived your life that way, right?

You ain't never liked nothing.

I mean, a lot of people,

it don't matter what the idea is,

I just know right off the bat,

I'm not going to like it, right?

Now, a lot of us are different.

We like certain things,

and then other things we don't like necessarily.

Have you ever done this?

No, I just don't like that music.

I wish they'd do this.

I like it when they do this,

but I don't like it when they do that.

I like it when he preaches this kind of message,

but man, I don't like it

when he preaches that kind of message.

Or I can understand our church doing that,

that's a good thing,

but eh, I don't like it when we do that.

Two things you need to remind yourself of.

You ready for this?

And this is good not just in church,

this is good everywhere.

First of all, tell yourself this,

it's not all about me.

Okay?

When he comes out and he gives you ideas,

here's what I think we ought to be doing as a church,

here's some things we ought to start doing,

some things we ought to stop doing.

When you hear that idea,

even if something in you says,

yeah, that ain't gonna do nothing for me,

I don't really like that,

I don't think that's the direction we ought to go,

remind yourself it's not all about you.

You know what he's thinking about?

He's thinking about the hundreds of folk

who come to First Baptist Church of Pickens

and how to help you to grow spiritually

and sometimes you need things you don't necessarily want.

But he's also thinking about people

who've never darkened the door

of First Baptist Church of Pickens.

He's thinking about people who have moved here

from other places and they don't have any friends.

He's thinking about young people at time

who are turned off to what they've seen in the church

and he's trying to find a way to reach them

with the gospel of the Lord Jesus.

He's thinking at times about senior adults

who've grown up angry with the church

and they're really angry now at the church

and how he can reach them for Christ.

So right now I want you to do a little exercise.

We're gonna do two of these things.

I want you to say out loud,

it's not all about me.

Go ahead and say it right now.

It's just not all about me.

Because I want to tell you something,

in the church we have this habit of thinking,

it's about me and my friends and people who are like me.

And everything that's done ought to be for me.

I ought to like everything.

And if it ain't gonna do me or my family any good,

it's just not any good.

That's just crazy.

Here's the second thing you need to tell yourself.

You need to tell yourself,

not only it's not all about you,

and this is really gonna be hard for some of you.

You ready?

I really love this one.

I could be wrong.

Now some of you have never said that in your life.

Some of you have never even imagined that.

But step out on a limb with me this morning

and turn to your wife or your husband

and say, you know,

I could be wrong.

Really, do it right now.

I'm just trying to look at you guys and my wife,

somebody you know.

Jimmy's about to have a heart attack.

I mean, you never heard that

before coming out of your spouse's mouth.

I could be wrong,

but I want to tell you something.

You could be.

You really could be.

So when you hear that idea,

rather than just run up to him and say,

I just don't like that,

just go home and ponder for a little bit.

Well, you know, maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe the reason I'm like this is because

I think it's all about me

or maybe it's because I'm wrong.

I'm wrong.

Here's the fourth thing.

Cut him some slack.

From the very beginning

and all through his ministry,

cut him some slack.

Show him some grace.

How many of you need some grace?

That's what we preach week after week

after week after week.

We need grace.

Well, then live that way.

Demonstrate grace to somebody else

because I'm going to tell you something.

I don't know Daniel real, real well.

I've known him for a number of years,

but I don't know him real, real well,

but I know this.

He's going to mess up.

He's going to make some errors.

He's going to sometimes err in his judgment.

He's going to say things from the pulpit sometimes

that may just not make any sense in the moment.

You know what I said last week in the announcements?

My wife came down

and she was about to laugh herself silly

after I made those announcements

and she said,

Billy Graham's dead.

And I said, I know that.

She said,

well, you said he was preaching at noon today

in the announcements.

Picky, picky, picky.

Franklin was preaching last Sunday.

I don't know if you got to hear him or not,

but not Billy.

So you're going to mess up

when you stand here and you talk enough

and that's what preachers do.

You're going to say some things

you didn't intend to say.

You're going to say some things

the way you didn't intend to say them.

And sometimes your thinking's just going to be

messed up in the moment.

And he ever suffered from anything like that?

Well, cut him some slack.

When I was a kid,

you know my favorite ball player was

a guy named Brooks Robinson,

number five,

Baltimore Orioles, third baseman.

Some of the sports writers in his day

nicknamed him Mr. Hoover

because he was a vacuum cleaner.

He won golden glove after golden glove

after golden glove.

I mean,

he's considered the greatest third baseman

of all time.

But I want to tell you something

about Brooks Robinson.

He made in his career

a staggering 263 errors.

That's a lot of errors.

But he played 23 years.

9,000 within 100 opportunities,

9,000 times the ball was hit to him.

And 236 of those times,

he either made a throw in error

or a field in error,

but somehow he erred.

I don't know,

but I would guess

if Mr. Robinson was here this morning,

we could ask him.

And we said,

Brooks,

tell me something.

Did it ever cost the Orioles a game,

one of those errors you made?

And I'd be almost certain

he would say,

yeah.

Yeah,

there's a time or two

that I blew the game.

I allowed the winning run in

because I bought something at third.

But I want to tell you something

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt.

There were many times

he made plays

that saved games

and put W's in the win column.

Cut him some slack.

He's going to make some errors.

Cut him some slack.

Fifth thing is this.

Be low maintenance.

Boy, that's a big one.

He ought to send me $50 today

for saying that.

Be low maintenance.

You know what a low maintenance

member looks like?

He's somebody who's here

every time the doors are open,

who just volunteers to do things.

They walk across the parking lot.

They see paper.

They pick it up.

They hear they're

needing folk in the nursery.

Nobody has to beg.

They go and they volunteer.

They're faithful.

But they're also low maintenance.

They don't expect a lot.

They come because

they want to be a part

of something big

and they're not thinking

about what they get in return.

They're thinking constantly

about how they give

to the kingdom of God.

I'm not talking about monetary.

I mean they're giving of themselves.

They want to make a difference.

When they have needs,

you know what they do?

They call the pastor.

And they say,

Pastor, here's what's happening

in our family.

Here's what's happened to me.

I've been to the doctor.

I've got this news.

Pretty upset over it.

Could you come pray with me?

Or could you pray with me

where you are?

Or can I make an appointment

to see you?

I've got this problem in my life.

They don't expect him

to have a crystal ball

where he looks out there

and says, hmm,

so and so's sick today.

If they're sick

and they need him,

they call him.

But I'll tell you something.

Every time they get a splinter

taken out of their hand,

they don't need him.

They have learned spiritually

how to put on

their big boy pants

and go live life.

This last week,

and don't send me

a get well card,

I had an endoscopy

and a colonoscopy

and the three days

of prep for that

where you hang out

around the bathroom a lot.

And it's miserable.

But I didn't call my pastor.

I just hung out

in the bathroom.

You hear what I'm saying?

There's sometimes

I need to call him.

When I need him,

I need him.

And if I know I need him,

I'm going to call him.

And if he can't come,

he'll send somebody.

And that's great

because they can pray

just the same as he can.

But there are other times

I don't need him.

And when I don't need him,

I'm not going to involve him

because I know this.

He's got hundreds

of other folk out there

he's trying to be

a shepherd to.

And I overburden his life

when I ask him

to do things

that if I just put on

my big boy pants,

I could do it myself.

You understand that?

Everybody,

that's yes and no.

You got that?

When I was passionate

at Brushy Creek,

I can say this now

because they're not here.

Almost everybody,

they lived that way.

They were low maintenance.

But there was this one

young couple

and I'd been there

just a short time

and they called

and they said,

we'd like to come see you

for marital counseling

and they came

and I tried to help them.

Met with them

four or five times

and we worked through

a real crisis.

It was a real problem

and they needed my help

and I was glad to help them.

And then about a year

or two later,

they called back

and they said,

we got another problem

and they came

and I helped them

through that

and that was only

a couple weeks

that we spent together

and I helped them.

And then another year

or so passed

and I began to notice

that they'd call me

about little things

that to me

weren't really

of great significance.

But I'd try to help them

and so one Wednesday

they'd call

and I had a Bible study

that met at six o'clock

on Wednesday morning

so I'd go to the church

and be there early at six

and it was one of those days

where everything

was just cram packed

and so I didn't get

to go home for supper

and I knew I had

prayer meeting that night

and then afterwards

I was going to go home.

So it was about

a 14 hour day,

long story short.

And they called

about two o'clock

and they said,

could we see you tonight?

I said,

well, everything's taken

and I don't have

any appointments left.

They said,

well, could we see you tonight

after prayer meeting?

I said,

well, is it really,

really important

because I've been here

about 14?

Yeah, this is important.

We need to see you.

Okay.

So I met them in my office

after prayer meeting

and got there

about eight o'clock.

They come walking in.

They got Slurpees

in their hands,

you know.

They've been out to supper

and they've gotten

them something to drink

and I hadn't eaten

nothing all day

and they sit down

in the chair

and I'm kind of just,

you know,

hoping this is really serious,

you know,

could take me out like this

and so I said,

well, tell me the problem

and she jumps in.

She says,

I'll just tell you,

it's a real problem for us.

We're really just

fighting back and forth

over this

and can't come up

with a solution.

What's the problem?

She said,

we need your help.

Do you think we need

a pontoon

or do you think

a ski boat

would be better?

Now, I'm not kidding you.

I can't tell you

what I thought.

I want to say,

get out of my office.

I don't care

if you get a john boat

or a ski boat

or a pontoon boat.

I don't care.

It doesn't matter.

Do you understand

what I'm saying in that?

Now, I'm saying it

in a funny way,

trying to be funny about it,

but I want to tell you something.

Man, we need to hear that.

He can't settle

every little thing

that comes along

in your life.

Be low maintenance.

Go to him

when you need him

and go to him

without hesitation

because he'll want you

to do that.

That's what I wanted to do,

but make sure

it's a bona fide need.

Lastly,

let him lead.

You've called him here

to be your pastor

and your shepherd

and that means

he's going to be a servant

and if he's a good pastor,

he's going to have

a servant's heart

and you don't need

to tell him he's a servant.

He'll know that.

You don't need to treat him

like he's your slaver,

your servant.

He's not your gopher.

He's your spiritual leader.

He's your shepherd.

Let him be that.

Let him lead.

Sam Couch is sitting back here.

Oh, there he is.

I spotted him earlier.

He and I have gotten

to be buddies

since I've been here.

He's a mechanic.

He works on big time equipment,

tractors,

all that kind of stuff.

Been doing it all his life.

I haven't been to his shop,

but I'm certain

he's got huge,

massive socket sets

and wrenches

and every tool

imaginable known to man.

Robbie can tell you

because he's pretty mechanical,

but I'm not.

Okay?

But I do have

a socket set.

One of those

$20 Kmart jobs.

You know?

My biggest socket

is probably about an inch.

And I tell you something,

I had a lawnmower.

I don't have one anymore,

but I had a lawnmower.

And I have changed

the oil in that lawnmower.

I have.

I've changed

the spark plugs.

I've taken the wheels off.

Can you imagine me

going to Sam tomorrow

and he's got a big

Kubota tractor out there

and says,

Sam,

I want to tell you something.

You know,

I've taken a lawnmower

part before.

Let me tell you

what I think you need

to do that tractor

right there.

Now,

Sam's a nice fellow.

He'd be polite

and say,

okay,

Pastor,

good.

But he'd be thinking,

you out your mind.

And rightfully so.

Now,

I want to tell you

something that may

bust your bubble,

but here's the truth.

Calls you

attend Sunday school

and calls you

own a couple Bibles

don't mean you're

going to know

more about church

than Daniel Herring

is going to know.

Do you understand that?

You say,

but I've been there

a long time.

Yeah,

you may have been,

but I want to tell you

something.

If he didn't know

something you don't know,

you wouldn't have

called him as your pastor.

You didn't need him

if you can do

everything

that he can do

and you know

as much as he knows

what you're going

to waste your money

calling him for.

So let him lead.

Do you understand?

When he comes here,

love him

and pray for him

and get to know him

and let him get to know you

and let him minister to you.

But man,

don't put a noose

around his neck

and say,

you conform to our image

of what it is

to be a pastor.

You lead us

and we will follow.

Now,

I want to close

by sharing

something personal with you.

I want to challenge you

as I close.

And I want to do so

because when I retired

a few years ago,

I began to take stock

of my life

because the bulk

of my life

I know has come

and gone.

It has passed.

And I began

to evaluate

the 50 years

I've been preaching.

And you might

be thinking

I arrived

at one conclusion

when in reality

I arrived at another.

From the world's perspective,

the world would say

I've been fairly successful

because I pastored

two churches

and they did pretty well

and they grew

and we relocated.

There's a list

of buildings

I could point to

and say we built

that and that and that.

But I want to tell you

something,

when I looked over

the balance of my life,

I wondered this.

Did I ever make

much difference?

Did I do much

that really counted?

And I like to say

I think I did

but in reality

I don't really feel

that way.

A whole lot of times

I think about

boy if I had

really

just swung

for the fence.

If I really

just

had the faith

I needed.

If I really

just listened

enough to God

what might

have God

done with me.

I want to tell you

about the two people

and I'm not going

to come back

six weeks

and say here's

two more people.

I thought about it

a lot

and I've said this

to my wife

and to some others.

I don't know

any two people

who have done

more with their lives

than the two people

I want to tell you

about in the few

minutes I still

have left.

Rusty and Betty

Joe McClellan

would you put

their picture

on the board?

That was made

last week.

You won't believe

it looking at them.

They're 60 years old.

They're models

of fitness.

That guy

is just

as fit

as any human

on the planet.

They came

to my church

at Western Avenue

when they were

in their 20s.

They'd both

gotten out of college.

She graduated

University of Chapel Hill

North Carolina.

He finished

at Davidson.

He was a football

player.

They came

to Western Avenue.

She began

to teach

a singles class.

They started

dating.

A few years

later they got

married.

I did the ceremony.

We became

fast friends.

She became

our singles

minister

not a paid

position.

She just did

it out of the

goodness of her

heart.

By the time

I left there

hated to leave

them, loved them

to death, knew

they were going

to do something

great with their

life.

She began

to attend

seminary some

doing it

long distance.

Finally

years later

she gets

her seminary

degree.

They feel

the call

to missions.

They apply

to the

IMB.

They send

them as

journeymen

to Uganda.

He owns

a little shoe

store in

Statesville.

It was then

Long's family

shoe store.

His name

is McClellan.

It's now

McClellan's

shoe store.

He managed

that store.

Little

local mom

and pop

shoe store.

Nothing

big.

They go

to Uganda.

They served

two years

in Uganda.

They come

home.

But their

heart is still

in Uganda.

Now a lot

of folks I

know, in fact

a lot of folks

would say if

you went

there, took

two years

out of your

life, you

go to the

mission field

in Africa,

two years,

I mean, boy,

they are

heroes.

heroes.

But they

thought God

was leading

them to do

something bigger.

And they

began to

think and

pray and

began to

think because

of their

mission

experience,

how should

we be

doing

missions?

And they

wrote a

comprehensive

plan for how

missions really

ought to be

done.

And I'm

going to tell

you, all

the time as

Southern Baptists,

we don't do

it the way we

should do it,

just to be

honest with

you.

But they

mapped out a

comprehensive way

how real

missions ought

to look.

It ought to

be a holistic

approach that

you ought to

go and you

ought to

evangelize people

but you

ought to

also disciple

people.

And then you

ought to teach

them how to

live their

lives and you

ought to help

them to plant

crops.

You shouldn't

just give to

them but you

ought to help

them earn a

living and you

ought to help

them learn how

to live a

right life morally

and spiritually

and to be good

citizens and

earn a living for

your family and

how to get along,

how to have

water and

hygiene and all

those things.

And they

just incorporated

into a big

program and

here from the

states they

began a

ministry in

Uganda.

They found

some folks

they had led

to Christ and

they began to

disciple those

people and

began to hire a

few of them with

some bucks they

could get here and

there and they

began to lead

Bible studies and

they had jail

ministries and

over a period of

just a few years

they started two

schools in two

different villages

that are just

supreme educational

places.

and then they

had a jail

ministry and

they opened a

children's home

and they had

12 kids come

to that children

home and they

took 12 orphans

off the street

and they raised

them until they

get college age

and then they

send them off to

college and they

teach people how

to plant crops

and they drill

wells.

It's amazing.

They started that

in 2008 and they

still do it out of

their home in

Statesville.

They go there

about three months

a year.

They'll take about

three trips there

and they stay about

a month at a time

and they oversee

that whole thing

from the state

side and it has

grown to where

they now raise

about five to

six hundred thousand

dollars a year

and sink it in

that ministry and

last year I'm on

their board of

directors.

I just went back

on and this last

year the report

was, you ready for

this?

You know how many

people they disciple

in a year now?

They disciple

five thousand people.

Every year they

come from the

Catholic Church,

they come from the

Lutheran Church,

they come from the

Anglican Church,

they come from the

Church of God,

the Pentecostal

Holiness, the

Methodists.

If they'll show up

they'll disciple

them and I'm not

talking about,

okay there were

five thousand

different people

who came two

times.

I'm talking about

five thousand

people who came

for a whole year

and they discipled

these people.

And so I was with

them a couple of

years ago and I

told them what I

told you.

I said, you

know, I've read a

lot of books about

great missionaries

but I've never

known anyone who's

done as much with

their life who said,

you know what, I'm

going to pull out all

the stops, however

God will use me, I

want to be used.

I said, I've never

seen God use anyone

the way he's used

you.

And my wife and I

began to pray about

it and the Lord put

it on our heart.

God, we've done so

little.

I said, I called her

one morning, I said,

what would it cost to

build a children's home

in Uganda?

She says, man, it's so

much cheaper here than

over there.

I said, it's going to be

about thirty-five

thousand is all it is.

And what would it cost

to operate it?

About fifteen thousand.

I said, really?

She said, yeah.

I called her back in

about an hour and said,

me and Regina have been

praying.

God's put it on my

heart, don't know exactly

how it's going to

happen, but I want to

build that children's

home and I want to

staff it for a year.

And I make that

commitment to you.

That was in June of

2020.

COVID had hit.

I wasn't preaching

anywhere, but I thought

something will open up.

And I made a commitment

whatever I earn, I'll just

give back to that

ministry.

And so I did a funeral

here or there.

And I'd give that

money to that and then

we would just take out of

our savings in retirement.

We were given to it.

And then back in July of

this last year, you asked

me to come be your

interim pastor.

And the Lord opened the

door for me to do that.

And I asked the

leadership here, Brother

Mendel, instead of giving

the money to me, could

y'all just send it straight

to EWT?

And I'm telling you

this for a reason.

I have to pray for myself

but I want to tell you

something.

Here's what you've built.

It's completed now and

they're in the process of

painting it.

Isn't that great?

Twelve kids are going to

be in there.

And you had a major hand.

You paid for about half of

that house and the need to

take care of that.

And so here's my challenge

to you.

Oh, and I want to show you

the picture of the kids

that's going to live in it.

I did cute little kids.

That's just a few of them.

But your kids just like those

kids right there.

Those live in another house

they got right now.

But I'm telling you

something.

For years and years and

years and years to come

if Jesus tarries,

there are going to be kids

who don't have a mama

and a daddy who are going

to go out home and they're

going to get discipled and

there are going to be people

who love them and they're

going to go off to

university and they're

going to make something

out of their life and it

will make a difference in

eternity for them.

And here's why I'm telling

you that you're making a

difference in these

people's lives.

Continue to do that as a

church.

And I'm not talking about

this ministry.

You may choose sometime to

give this ministry or not.

But do this.

Do things as a church that

matter.

Stop just stacking chairs on

the deck of the Titanic.

Do things that matter.

Ask yourself, what can

Pickens First Baptist

Church do that will make a

lasting difference for the

kingdom of God and do it?

And then finally this, you do

that.

You could be a Rusty or Betty

Jo McClellan.

They put their pants on just

like everybody else in this

room.

And you could do that.

Right now God has given some

of you a vision and a dream for

what you could do here in

Pickens or somewhere else.

Don't abandon that dream

because it looks too big or

too hard.

Or how would I ever do that?

You pursue that.

You've got one life to spend.

Don't waste it.

Thank you for letting us come

and serve.

Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for this

opportunity you've given me.

Thank you Lord for how this

church has wonderfully supplied

the needs of these children

there in Africa.

I pray God that as Betty Jo

begins to staff that and as

they find all the children

who are going to inhabit this

new home, that you'd use it

for your kingdom's honor and

glory.

Bless Daniel Herring as he comes

here Father.

I thank you for him.

I think they've got a great

match.

And I pray Father that you just

use them in a mighty way to

preach the word here week in and

week out at Pickens.

For we ask it in your name for

your sake.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you for listening.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.