It’s time to post a quick review as 2025 approaches. These updates/highlights are in no particular order.
Church/Ministry
I finished preaching through the Gospel of Matthew this year (a series which lasted around two years). I thoroughly enjoyed studying the life, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I preached through Colossians to finish out the year.
We went through Experiencing God for our Wednesday night study a while back and I think everyone found it very encouraging.
We have been blessed with quite a few baptisms this year. We praise God that we were able to see children and adults publicly profess their faith in Christ!
We also had our usual yearly ministry events, such as Vacation Bible School and Trunk or Treat. One of the great joys I have as a pastor and as a dad is to see my son enjoy our children’s ministry.
Clark: Our First-Grader
Clark completed kindergarten last spring and is now in first grade. He ended up with the same teacher he had in pre-kindergarten, which we were excited about. I jokingly told his teacher she would get to experience “Clark 2.0” (a better behaved version compared to pre-kindergarten). Clark is a very smart boy and we are proud of his academic progress.
Notable Books
I met Don Dent years ago in Thailand during a missionary meeting. He was a regional leader of the International Mission Board (IMB) at the time. I ran into him again back in 2018 when I was studying at Gateway Seminary. We had lunch together and talked about missions, the state of the IMB, etc. I was eager to read his thoughts in Finding Direction to Redeem the Nations. This book has valuable insights about missions from both the Scriptures and Dent’s personal experience on the mission field. I would recommend it for anyone who is thinking about missions strategy.
I met Richard, Henry, and Daniel Blackaby years ago when they did a ministry tour in the Philippines. I have also used Experiencing God Day by Day as a daily devotional throughout the years. But I had never gone through the original series until this year. As I mentioned earlier, I decided to take our church through Experiencing God on Wednesday nights. I read the trade book before we went through the workbook and video series. This material has powerful principles for listening to God and seeing Him at work in your daily life.
This Hope Remains by Christi Rogers Gibson. John Gibson, a professor at NOBTS, was one of the many who were exposed during the Ashley Madison scandal of 2015. He made the tragic decision to commit suicide. I remember watching his funeral online back in 2015. I bought this book and read through it in an hour or so–I wanted to hear how things turned out for his wife. She has demonstrated incredible courage by being so vulnerable and sharing her story with the world. This book is a painful but beautiful testimony of God working in her life and redeeming tragedy for His glory.
The last book I read in 2024 was Courageous Faith: My Story From a Life of Obedience by the late Charles Stanley. I listened to dozens of Charles Stanley sermons back in the late 80’s and early 90’s and will always consider him to be one of the most influential people in my spiritual life. Courageous Faith is an abbreviated biography which emphasizes the challenges Stanley has faced in his life and how God saw Him through each one. I enjoyed learning more about the life of one of my favorite preachers and I was encouraged by his testimony of God’s faithfulness.
Family
Mare Cris and I celebrated 12 years of marriage back in March. We are grateful for God’s faithfulness in our lives!
Cris has continued to lead the music ministry at church and helps out in many other ways. I’m thankful to have a life/ministry partner like her!
We have continued our tradition of visiting Alabama during the summer and holiday season. We had a family reunion of sorts back in July when we celebrated the 80th birthday of one of my relatives. I saw some family members that I haven’t seen in years (and they got to meet Cris and Clark in person for the first time).
Happy New Year! May God grant you a blessed 2025!
