It's Been Good

To Ridgway and the good people of Gallatin County: It’s been good knowin’ ya.

I want you to know that God has blessed us through you. We came to Ridgway seven years ago from Kansas City, making the transition from city life to small town living. And, yes, it was something of a culture shock. And sometimes outsiders ‘round these parts don’t fit in real well.

But you made our adjustment smooth. You welcomed us with kindness and made us feel at home. From the guys at the coffee shop giving me a seat at their table (and enough good sermon material to fill a book), to the wonderful teachers and staff at Gallatin County Schools, and from our friendly neighbors to the friends we’ve made through summer baseball, and many others we’ve encountered along the way, I say thank you for making Ridgway a great place for us to live and work and raise a family.

Let me also say a word of gratitude to God for the friendships and partnerships I’ve had with fellow pastors. Bro. Jack Hall in Shawneetown has been a trustworthy friend, encourager, mentor and co-laborer in the Lord. Bro. Roy Dale Orr at the Junction First Baptist Church has also been a great friend and brother in Christ. Bro. Randy Davis, Director of Missions for the Saline Baptist Association, not only helped pave the way for my arrival in Ridgway when he served as Interim Pastor here in 2004, but has been a constant help ever since.

There’s also a group of pastors from our association who have been meeting for prayer on Wednesday mornings whom I want to acknowledge. I’ve grown more through our prayer times together than in many hours of Bible study on my own. I will miss these men dearly. You need to know that these pastors persevere passionately in prayer for God to bless Southern Illinois with a great outpouring of His presence.

And I’m going to amp up the praise for the Ridgway First Baptist Church. The Lord has truly blessed us through His people here. They have encouraged us greatly, supported us generously, and loved us unconditionally. In short, they’ve taken great care of their pastor and his family in every way, and we’re utterly grateful.

Not everything’s been easy. We’ve enjoyed times of joy and celebration, but we’ve also walked together through seasons of sorrow and hurt. We’ve laughed with one another and cried with one another. That’s what a family does. That’s what the family of God does – the body of believers who comprise the church. And we’ve been blessed to be a part of it.

One of the guys in town jokingly said something about maybe in our new church I won’t have to put up with the likes of J.W. Rider and George Hise. There’s some truth in that! One lesson I’ve learned here is that you never go down in the crawl space of your house when your neighbor is watching. Let’s just say that the openings don’t close and lock themselves.

But honestly, I can only hope that there are men like that in Petersburg. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of men and deacons surrounding me here like J.W. and George, like Mike Moye, Robert Wilson and Ron Woods, and like two giants who have gone on to their heavenly reward, Edgar Sork and Tom Mitchell. These are men who have each made temporal and eternal investments in my life, and whom I believe would literally lay down their lives for me if need be. I pray I’ll find men like that in Petersburg.

And I’m expecting to. God has blessed us richly in every church we’ve ever belonged to. I could easily boast of the people at Trimble Bible Church where I grew up. I could tell some great stories about the saints at College Avenue Baptist Church in Normal, my wife’s home church, and where I attended during college. I could go on and on about Calvary Baptist Church, which became our family in Rockford for eight years. I could brag about the godly people at Loma Vista Baptist Church in Kansas City, where we served for three years while in seminary.

So there’s no reason not to believe that the Lord will keep blessing through His church in Petersburg. In fact, I can’t wait to see what God has in store! And I can’t wait to see what He has in store for His church here in Ridgway. The riches of His grace in Christ Jesus are boundless.

If you’re not experiencing the abundant life Jesus came to give you, then yield your life completely to Him today, and you will! And if you’re ever in Petersburg or around the Springfield area, look us up. We’d love to get together again. God is good, and it’s been good knowin’ ya.