The Celebration of 15 Years

Today was the culmination of our celebration of the 15 years the Lord has blessed me and MSMBC to be together as pastor and people. This morning, Dr. John A. Reed Jr. of the Fairview Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, delivered the message. His preached a message called "You Can't Quit" from Acts 18:5-6, 9-11. He will never know how timely his message was and how the Lord was used him to speak to specific matters I have been struggling with. I am convinced the Lord sent Pastor Reed here just for me. I know that many other people in the congregation were blessed by the message. But I really think the Lord sent Pop here for me. This message is one of the most important messages I have ever heard in my life. It wasn't because of its expositional depth or homiletical brilliance. It was because the Lord used this message to speak to my heart and mind at a very critical time. Praise God for his goodness, his wisdom, and his faithfulness.

This evening, my pastor, Dr Melvin V. Wade Sr. of the Mt Moriah Baptist Church here in the city, preached the message. He preached a message from John 20:24-29, entitled "Don't Miss the Meeting." Doc was tired. And he had a plane to catch tonight. So I didn't really expect him to preach that hard tonight. Boy, was I wrong. Pastor Wade went into that "zone" that he is known to enter. He just poured himself out in the midst of preaching. The last time Pastor preached at MSMBC, he didn't "whoop" at all. Tonight, someone would have had to sit him down if he would have gone much further. My friends, Pastor Prentiss Lewis and the Greater Starlight Church, also joined in the service. And we got a chance to hear Prentiss sing. This is always a treat. Prentiss is multi-gifted. And I praise God that he is my friend.

Well, one anniversary ends and another begins. Tomorrow, Crystal and I will celebrate seven years of marriage. Interestingly, our wedding ceremony was performed by Pastors Melvin Wade, John Reed, and Kevin Willis. So it was very special to have the three of them with us this weekend. Tomorrow, Crystal and I have a flight to catch to an "undisclosed location." Oh, well, Crystal just came in the door and gave me permission to tell that we are going to Hawaii for the week. Then we are going to Macon (GA) to be with our friend Pastor Maurice Watson and the Beulahland Church next weekend. And when we come home, we'll pick up the kids (they'll be staying with our nephew and my mother while we're gone) and hang out somewhere together until I have to be home for service on Christmas Day. I trust that I will get a lot of rest over the next two weeks. I intend to post when I feel like it, which may every day, or not much at all. We'll see. I won't make any promises. I'm on vacation!!!