Pastor’s Ponderings
“Thy Kingdom Come”
It’s that time again. Every two years the advertisements tell us why this candidate is great and why the other cannot be trusted. I have watched very little live television the past few months, but when I turned on the TV recently and three consecutive political commercials came on, I turned the TV back off.
I encourage everyone to do their civic duty and vote in this, and any, election. But I so look forward to a day when God’s will is done in earth as it is in heaven. Isaiah described it this way: “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4).
Christ will establish His Millennial Kingdom after the tribulation period. After the thousand years is finished He will make a new heaven and a new earth “wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). What a day that will be!
********************
MARK! I love this New Testament book. We began a series preaching through this book last Sunday. It is the shortest of the Gospels, but its still 16 long chapters. It is a gospel of action with Jesus moving from event to event in a swift manner.
It begins and ends with the same thought: Jesus is the Son of God. I hope you will make every effort to be here weekly as we look at our great Savior and see afresh what a great God we serve.
********************
By the time you receive this newsletter most of you will already know that Evangelist Allen Hatch has passed into glory. He was a special friend of Calvary Baptist Church. He last preached for us Sunday night, June 7. I would encourage you to go back and watch this final sermon.
After the service he asked us to pray for him. A group of us gathered around him and lifted our petitions to the Lord. In a way, those requests were answered on October 28. Allen Hatch left his diseased broken body and was escorted into the very presence of Jesus Christ. Whatever he sang before he arrived into glory, its even better now!
This has happened with so many of our friends and family this year, and we have not been able to honor their lives properly because of the pandemic. I hope you will join us on December 13 for our annual Memorial Service. If you have a loved one who has passed away since December of 2019, please give the name along with the years of birth and death to my wife by December 1. We will have special music and take time out of the service to say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
********************
Several new restaurants are opening soon in Cleburne. Recently I said to my wife, “McAlister’s Deli opens October 30, and Chick-Fil-A opens November 5.” She replied, “It sounds like November 5 is a good day to go to McAlister’s Deli.”
********************
This time of year is always special for me and my wife. It was seven years ago that we moved to Cleburne and I became the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church. With any endeavor, we have seen good times and difficult times. I think of the number of people who have become a part of Calvary over these last few years, but I also remember so many who have gone “unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn” (Hebrews 12:22-23).
I am grateful for the blessing of Pastor Payne and his wife who continue to faithfully serve the Lord at Calvary. I think of the many souls saved and victories won, but I also remember some battles we have lost. I can best sum up these seven years with the chorus written by Andrae Crouch:
Through it all, through it all.
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,
I’ve learned to trust in God.
Through it all, through it all,
I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.
********************
I have asked from the beginning for you to pray for me and my family in five areas. Thank you for doing so, and please continue to plead with God that I would have:
1) Courage
2) Wisdom
3) Strength
4) Victory
5) Vision