Seventeen Years of Preaching "Full Time"
Not only is today Mother's Day, it is also the 17th anniversary of the beginning of my ministry. I preached my first sermon as the full time preacher of the Oak Hill church on May 14th, 1989. My Mom was there, so I have doubly special memories today. I preached on "What Is A Preacher," and I am pretty sure I still have the sermon (a classic I'm sure!) in my files.
When I was younger I would occasionally read articles by old preachers reflecting on their years of preaching. I am not quite to that stage in life yet. But I have been thinking about how much the world has changed, how much I have changed, and how much preaching has changed in the last 17 years. Some random observations on what has changed since then:
-When I preached on that May 14th, the Soviet Union still existed. By mid-November, it disintegrated.
-I bought my first computer that summer. It had a whopping 20 mb hard drive, less than 1/10th of what I have in my Lexar memory stick.
-In 1989 no one had cells phones except the super rich (the next year I did meet a preacher in Texas who had one in his Cadillac-I always heard they paid well there!)
-In 1989 there was no such thing as the internet (except for the Defense Department).
-In 1989 I was fat, single, and lived in a dumpy apartment. Now...oh wait, that hasn't changed!
As amazing as those changes are to me, I must say that if someone told me 17 years ago that this half-a-hillbilly would get to teach at a college, preach in Australia, tour Israel, and make hundreds of dear friends, I would have never believed them. I thank the Lord constantly for the privilege of preaching. Through this work the Lord has truly given me more than I have given others, and especially Him.
I will wrap up this nostalgic post with a quote from one of the texts I used tonight, a wonderful statement of my purpose-and yours-whatever the next 17 years may hold.
"Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him; sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! " 1 Chronicles 16:8-10
When I was younger I would occasionally read articles by old preachers reflecting on their years of preaching. I am not quite to that stage in life yet. But I have been thinking about how much the world has changed, how much I have changed, and how much preaching has changed in the last 17 years. Some random observations on what has changed since then:
-When I preached on that May 14th, the Soviet Union still existed. By mid-November, it disintegrated.
-I bought my first computer that summer. It had a whopping 20 mb hard drive, less than 1/10th of what I have in my Lexar memory stick.
-In 1989 no one had cells phones except the super rich (the next year I did meet a preacher in Texas who had one in his Cadillac-I always heard they paid well there!)
-In 1989 there was no such thing as the internet (except for the Defense Department).
-In 1989 I was fat, single, and lived in a dumpy apartment. Now...oh wait, that hasn't changed!
As amazing as those changes are to me, I must say that if someone told me 17 years ago that this half-a-hillbilly would get to teach at a college, preach in Australia, tour Israel, and make hundreds of dear friends, I would have never believed them. I thank the Lord constantly for the privilege of preaching. Through this work the Lord has truly given me more than I have given others, and especially Him.
I will wrap up this nostalgic post with a quote from one of the texts I used tonight, a wonderful statement of my purpose-and yours-whatever the next 17 years may hold.
"Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him; sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! " 1 Chronicles 16:8-10
posted by Shane at 9:20 PM
1 Comments:
Full time? You? No way!
I know full time and you are no full time preacher - boy!
RRAAYYY!!!
Only old folks stroll down memory lane. Thanks for the few years we strolled together, brother.
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