Dear Pastors and Churches,
This will be the last letter I write to you before my heart valve replacement surgery. We are praying that the next letter will be on the other side of mended and recuperated. I knew that deputation would be a journey that would change our lives and our relationship with the Lord but I never foresaw that along the way we would take a side trip through the ups and downs of heart disease. Both journeys have changed our lives and though now I am weaker than I’ve ever been physically, I am stronger in my walk with the Lord than I have every felt.
Most of that strength has been bestowed through you, the Lord’s churches, pastors and people. God has made himself known in this trial by the hand of his people reaching out to us. I have been humbled by the outpouring of your prayers, the concern in your voices and the generosity of your gifts. As independent Baptists we are often distinguished by our isolation but in reality we are joined by bands of brotherly love that when needed tie us together in God’s wondrous love. I have felt those bands as never before in my 32 years of ministry and am overwhelmed.
I once had a ministry in a nursing home in DeSoto, Tx. I met a young man named Thomas who had been in a terrible motorcycle crash and would spend the rest of his life in a hospital bed or a wheelchair. He had lost his health, his wife, his son, his business and even a portion of his mind when his Harley hit that telephone pole. He used to tell me, “I died eight times on the operating table.” It was one of the few things he could still take pride in. He used to have me read the Psalms 31 to him after our service, always Psalms 31. Among the verses is this statement, “9 Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly. 10 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.” I would look down at his twisted and broken body and wonder why he would want to hear this. But then the Psalm ends with, “23 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. 24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.”
After his accident, the one good thing that had happened in Thomas’ life was that he had accepted the Jesus Christ as his Savior. I often wanted to ask Thomas a question but was afraid of the answer I might get. I wanted to know, considering all that he had lost and the one thing he had gained, how He felt about his life. I was concerned about the answer I might get, that he might tell me how bitter he was and how much he wished God had just let him die. Finally one day in spite of my apprehension, I did ask and Thomas without hesitation looked up at me from his wheelchair and said in a halting, broken voice, “Better now than before.”
If you asked me the same question about going through the rigors of the health problems I’ve faced, I would give you the same answer, “I’m better now than before.” I’ve discovered God’s providence is much more than the subject matter of a sermon. I’ve experienced the promises of Mark 10:30 “he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time” as I never thought I would. I’ve realized the depth of your care and commitment to the Lord’s work and the Lord’s workers in a very intimate way. My cup truly runs over and my heart though physically ready to quit, is emotionally and spiritually stronger and more ready to serve than at any time in my life. “Thank you” is a phase that seems too small at times like this but even a dictionary would be too small to contain the words needed to begin to express what you have done for us responding to God’s leading in your life.
At present our hospital bills have been met and barring any unforeseen expenses or extended stays in the hospital we should have enough for my recovery time until we can get to Flagstaff and properly begin the work of planting a new independent Baptist Church. If it is the Lord’s will we are planning to be in Flagstaff this coming Fall. We hope to visit a few more churches before then but are not planning any more formal deputation. Our support level is about $1500 a month at present, not enough to be full time but enough to offset the costs of renting and running a church start up.
We have been blessed to have churches take us on for support during our “dry dock” time and we are truly thankful for your vote of confidence at this critical time. The newest churches of the First Vision support team are Dearborn Baptist Church, pastor Darrel Sparks and Berean Baptist Church, pastor Robby Pollard.
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