It was such a God thing

One of those conversations, connections, and intersections that only God could bring about — and that He has been doing so often down here. I was in a restaurant on Government Street, meeting with some friends who are supporters and partners in this new ministry. I was telling them the stories of what we are already seeing God do, and how He is bringing about so many incredible opportunities for relationships and for ministry toward evangelism. And then, right in the middle of our talk…. God did it again!

She is fifteen years old and 8,4448 feet long. And 129 feet wide. And 95 feet high. And she is beautiful.

She is the Biloxi Bay Bridge that connects Ocean Springs to Biloxi, Mississippi. Ever since Stephanie and I have been coming to Ocean Springs, for decades now, I have been drawn to her. I saw her destroyed during Katrina. And then I saw her rebuilt. And for the last fifteen years, since her reconstruction, whenever I have come down to the coast, I have tried to make time to run this bridge. I am not a runner at heart, but it is such a beautiful location, with the saltwater, the beach, and the coastal islands - The bridge just calls to me and beckons me to run.

Let me introduce you to my friend, Pete. Last month, as I gave some examples of people the Lord is leading us to meet and build relationships with toward the gospel, one of the people I mentioned was “Driftwood Pete.” Now, let me take a moment to introduce you further to Pete and what he is all about, and how that is a beautiful picture of the effect we pray the gospel will have here on the gulf coast….

My friends, the need here is so great, so deep, so profound. Yes, Ocean Springs is a fun town. A “beach town.” A town filled with music and musicians, art and artists, and festivals one right after another. In fact, USA Today recently named Ocean Springs as the “Best Coastal Small Town” in all of America. But, if you ask the Lord to give you spiritual discernment, and if you look with different eyes, you will see…

As we get started in ministry here in Ocean Springs, we are focusing deeply on two areas, two simultaneous directions, two parallel, concurrent strategies: 1) Trying to connect with and start with a core of believers who will believe in and share a biblical vision for what Jesus wants His church to be and be about, and 2) Building bridges to lost people for relationships leading to evangelism. I am going to spend this newsletter talking about our starting out efforts in the former, and, Lord willing, will tell stories of what God is already doing in the latter in my next newsletter.

As I closed last month’s newsletter, we were newly on the ground in Ocean Springs (well, in a borrowed house in Biloxi for now)….and we were anticipating an April that was going to be crazy, busy, and hectic. Boy, were we right! April was great, but it was non-stop, and it was filled - Filled with preaching in churches, presenting the vision for evangelism-based church planting in Ocean Springs, attending a conference in Memphis, and even a trip back to Birmingham where Stephanie and I packed up my mom and moved her down to Biloxi to her new home in a senior living / retirement community here on the coast. All of those were good things, wonderful things, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to visit and to share and to see God build this team. But I was also gone, on the road, more than I was present or “home” in Ocean Springs this past month. And so the month felt hectic and exhausting.

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” My friends and partners, it has been quite a week. But I am pleased to report, to the glory of God, that as I write this newsletter, Stephanie and I are successfully and safely moved to the gulf coast (well, successful assuming that the moving truck arrives with our stuff intact tomorrow!). The past week was a whirlwind, with an incredible, Spirit-blessed installation and commissioning service in Gulfport last Sunday, then back to Chelsea to load the moving truck and close on the house. And by Friday night, we were back to Mississippi, where First Presbyterian Biloxi is graciously allowing us to move into their manse (parsonage) until we find a house to buy in Ocean Springs.

A lot of people cry around you.

Those were the exact words spoken to me by a new friend during one of our recent church visits to share the story and the vision of God calling us to Ocean Springs. It caught me off guard, but to be fair, she wasn’t wrong. As I told the story of a guy in my gym, and a waiter I met in Ocean Springs, and a lady I met in Biloxi…all of whom I had the privilege of listening to and ministering to, and all of whom ended up in tears as they collapsed under the weight of the burdens they were carrying. I had not really put it together until this lady’s comment, but she saw the common thread: All of these people needed a shoulder, a heart, a listening ear…and all of them ended up bawling out their tears.

What Was Your Most Embarrassing Moment?

That moment you know you will never forget, while you wish you could erase it entirely? For me, although there is a long list of nominees to answer that question, my mind immediately goes to one event from my freshman year of high school. Although I was a skinny, gangly kid, I had somehow made my school’s JV basketball team — and we were undefeated. It was toward the end of the season, and the head coach wanted to pull up a few guys to see how they would handle the pressure of playing for the varsity team. So, a few of my teammates and I got the call up. For our next home game. Which was against our biggest rival. With a packed gym and every one of my classmates and peers there watching and cheering.

My friends, when I consider the character of the God that has saved us and called us His own, one thing that stands out to me is that He is a God for whom nothing is ever wasted. He is a God of redemption, and restoration, and new hope. And, in His love and His sovereignty, He is a God for whom even nothing in our past is without purpose or use in His plan. These days, as I prepare for this upcoming new season in Ocean Springs, I look back on twenty+ years of pastoral ministry — and I see how God was working toward this call all along. From the blue-haired, tattooed kids I was drawn to in youth ministry, to broken families I got to interact with while working crimes against children with the sheriff’s office in Tennessee, to people I have had the privilege to walk alongside in their brokenness and, as their pastor, see them restored to hope in the gospel.

My friends, when you pray, be prepared for God to answer… Often in new and unexpected ways!

In Matthew 9, Jesus, full of compassion for the lost crowds around Him, looks at His disciples and says, “The harvest is plentiful…pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send workers into His harvest.” That tells us several things — First, the field, and those in it, belong to the Lord. It is His harvest. And He is going to bring the lost to Himself! And second, it tells us that, when you pray, and as you look for results, one obvious, huge implication is to expect the reply to come from yourself, “Here am I, Lord, send me!”

For several months now, Stephanie and I have asked you to join with us in praying for a growing heart and a growing harvest to come from a growing ministry out to and among the lost. Well, the Lord is answering your prayers — And we have something exciting to share!