God has always amazed me

          Any good preacher will try his very best to motivate his people to go and do what scripture tells them they should do. We as Christians are called to be the salt and light to this world. Acts 1:7 and Mark 16:15-16 are a model as well as a battle cry for us as Christians to move beyond the walls of our church and serve others the way Christ has created us to serve.

        I love to go and visit people. I love to watch as they peek through the window noticing that someone is in the driveway, they have been spotted and cannot act as if they are not home. I love to be welcomed when they realize it is the preacher and not someone trying to sell them a vacuum cleaner. What I love most is when the people I go and visit ask questions and allow me to answer, watching their face as they seem to understand for the first time that Jesus really does love them. I love to stand back and watch God change people’s lives, radically change their lives in a way that only He can. I love to see God at work when I am doing my little part for Him, but what I love to see more than anything else is to see God do something that I never saw coming.

      Now before I go into any detail about what I just said in the above statement I must tell you that I am not to set down and do nothing waiting for God to only work. What I am saying is that while I am serving God I love to see Him open a door that I never saw opening. I did not have a name of a person to go visit, I did not have a certain direction I was walking and then all of a sudden God allows me the opportunity to do something I have never done or even thought about doing. This is when you know it is God and God alone. Man has not touched it and man cannot mess it up the way we always do.           

     Every day that I live I find something to be amazed about that God has done or is doing, but two times in my ministry God has done something that has been off the chart with my family. Something none of us saw coming in the least. There have been two separate occasions when God has seen a person at their point of need and placed them in the path of my wife.

     The first time was when we lived in Greer SC. My wife was leaving school and noticed the same girl sitting in front of the school every day, she always looked scared and as if she had been crying. After speaking to her on one of those occasions my wife realized that she was a foreign exchange student and that her living arrangements were less than perfect. She came home visibly disturbed and asks me what I thought about bringing her home to live with us. Less than a week later she became a huge part of our family. I realized through this experience that churches spend thousands of dollars to go on the mission field and that is a good thing, but God had brought the mission field to us. That little girl is now my daughter not by blood or by adoption. She is mine because God gave her to me to love as if she was my very own. She is back in Egypt now but she left after spending 8 months with us and after she had accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior.

    Last month Amy came home from school again and said “You are not going to believe what happened today”. God did it again, a little girl from Germany approached Amy and said I heard you had an exchange student living with you in the past; can I come and live with you?

     I have never gone to Egypt nor have I ever gone to Germany, but my heart goes there every day as I think about these children that God has brought into our lives. I cannot help but wonder what country my heart will be in next year. I know that God must be already ahead of us making planes that I cannot see…     

The reasons I have not Blogged like I should

OK OK I want to say first of all before I say anything else that I am truly sorry for not writing on my blog in such a LONG time. I do not like to go to out dated sights on the web any more than any of you and that if nothing else should have motivated me to keep up to date but all of life’s time occupiers have sucked me in for the last little while.

At this moment our family has just finished up a LOOONG football season with both of our boys. Kyle and Alex both played on undefeated teams this year which was wonderful but exhausting at the same time. Alex played for the Junior varsity team that did not have play offs but he also dressed out for varsity which did have play offs. Kyle Jr started for the varsity team that made it to the SC 3A state championship game but lost, the game was played in Death Valley. (Clemson) This gives our family just one more reason for NOT liking Clemsin, yes I spelled it right…

We have also just moved to Savannah Georgia to start a new chapter in our lives in the ministry. Chevis Oaks Baptist church called me to be their pastor last month after much prayer. The people here are WONDERFUL. They have all made us feel so welcome. I heard the other day that Kyle Jr told Sonia, one of the youth workers that he felt like he had been here his whole life. Leaving Pine Level Baptist was a very hard thing to do. We still love and miss so many that are there and know that our Jesus is going to bless them with a wonderful man of God in days to come.

During our transition God showed up in such a tremendous way once again as He always does. We were so worried that we would be moving somewhere where the boys would have to move schools once again but thankfully that did not happen. We are actually a little closer to the boy’s school than before. Emily on the other hand has to drive just a little further to get home from college in Gaffney. She started Limestone College this past fall and we are waiting and praying her grades were good her first semester away from home with freedom she has NEVER had before.

One of our biggest worries during this transition was housing. The cost of living here in Savannah is pretty high. We looked for a house to rent because we still have our house in Greer due to the falling of the prices in the housing market. We knew that if our renters moved out there was no way we could afford to pay our mortgage and rent at the same time. God relieved that fear when a couple in our new church let us rent their house at a very very reasonable cost. Amy did have to give up her chickens during the move but God has blessed us with a beautiful house to live in while we minister here in Georgia.

During the next several months I would ask all who come to read this to please keep my family and our ministry in your prayers. We are praying for God to give us a vision for our new ministry. I really feel God is leading me in at least 2 directions to start off with and I also know that Satan does not want this or any other church to grow for the Lords glory. Everything we do here must be about reaching out to the lost world with the gospel of Christ. This is not going to make Satan happy so I know he is coming, I just pray we all are ready this time…

Love to you all and I pray that you all have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a soul winning New Year.

“Till He comes again”

Pastor Kyle

NO REGRETS

     The last few weeks it seems that I have spoken to many people who are deflated by life’s endeavors, depressed from diligently digging out of financial holes, degraded by circumstances that continue to evolve within their marriages and dependent on others because they can find no work at all. I must admit that at times I have felt a bit overwhelmed by everything that was discouraging those whom I was trying to encourage. As I sat and rehashed all of the burdens and regrets that so many have been trying to overcome I cannot help but think that the cure that all of these people are looking for is the same cure that has always been most effective, and that is more Jesus.
     As I wrote this article, chapter 1 of Ecclesiastes came to mind. As you read this scripture it should not take you long to realize that the wisest king who has ever lived (Solomon) was at the end of his life and full of regrets. Solomon sees that he has spent his whole life in endless pursuits of what he thought would make him happy. He had the time, means and opportunity to do anything and everything that came to his mind. Solomon’s regret came at the end of his life when he finally realized that all of his pleasure-seeking apart from God was in vain or “absolute futility”, as he personally called it many times throughout Ecclesiastes. I wonder if Solomon would have done things a whole lot different if he could redo his life over again. I imagine you can say you would change some things as well. There is no chance for Solomon to make any of his regrets or wrongs right again but it is not too late for you. As long as you have life in your body, even to the very last breath, you still have the opportunity to make all things right in the sight of the Lord. In the words of Ruth Lindsey, wife of the former pastor at First Baptist Jacksonville , Florida , “Why not today?” Listen, Christian, why are you still waiting to do what the Spirit of God has told you to do? Why are you still doing what He has told you NOT to do? If you continue to wait you are going to end your life in the same manner as Solomon did- with great regrets, knowing that you should have done what was right and never having another opportunity to do so.
     I want to finish this article with a quote from an unknown author: “I have tried and cannot find, either in scripture or history, a strong-willed individual whom God used greatly until He allowed them to be hurt deeply”. If this is true then why do we sink to such tremendous depths of depression and discouragement every time something goes just a little wrong in our lives? It seems to me lately when I have seen troubles in individuals’ and in families’ lives that the first person they turn their backs on is the Lord. We need to embrace trials and troubles, knowing that they are making us stronger for the glory of God. We do not have to like what we are going through, but we do need to understand who we should run to, and that is our Jesus. There is a very limited amount of issues that this pastor can fix. To be quite honest, I feel that I am sometimes more of a failure than a help when counseling people through their problems, but the One I always point others to can fix every problem. So if you are out in the world hurting and feeling like you don’t have a friend in the world, Jesus is right there waiting for you to seek Him, to try Him and to choose Him. I promise if you will live your life every day for Christ you will not have regrets as you live out your later days.

                                                         Blessings to you all…
                                                             Pastor Kyle

GOD IS PREPARING YOU FOR SOMETHING GREAT

    Chuck Swindoll wrote “All whom God uses greatly are first hidden in secret of His presence, away from the pride of man. It is there our vision clears. It is there the silt drops from the current of our life and our faith begins to grasp His arm. Abraham waited for the birth of Isaac. Moses did not lead the Exodus until he was eighty years old. Elijah waited beside the brook. Noah waited until he was 120 years for rain. Paul was hidden in away for three years in Arabia . God is working while His people are waiting, waiting, waiting.       
  That’s what’s happening. For the present time, nothing. For the future, everything.”
     I have to admit that one of the most frustrating issues I deal with on a daily basis as a pastor is being patient. I see so many ministry needs all around me, and in my human mind I want to fix them all with a push of a button, with a stroke of a pen, or with a 45 minute sermon. There are so many days when I wish I could walk into my office, look at what I know needs to be done- not only in my church but in our association, our state and national convention- and just fix the problems and move forward. It seem that these issues are so easy to see, the solutions so easy to equate and the end results so desperately worthwhile that we should not wait to fix what needs to be fixed now, but I have learned that this is not always the way of the Lord. So what have I learned from all of this? I have learned to keep praying and wait on the Lord.
    Waiting on the Lord is not something that I was born to do. There are many God-given attributes that we all possess that advance His kingdom; being patient is not an attribute that the Lord has freely given me, but it is one that is slowly manifesting in my life. I am a fix-it-now kind of preacher. If I see something that is broken or not working I want to fix it right then. I have learned with large groups of people that this is not always an easy thing to do. For one reason, the people you are serving with may not yet see the problem as a problem at all. I have seen a gross misuse of power and finances that is as clear as a crystal ball to see, but others around me call it a blessing and a meaningful ministry. What have I learned from this great blunder in the life of ministry that has to be displeasing to our Lord? NOTHING is beyond the sight of the Lord. God sees and knows EVERYTHING and in His time, when He desires, that problem will be fixed. I cannot worry myself into an early grave, I cannot rationally debate the issue, and I cannot even show the right people the plain honest-to-goodness truth on paper in such an easy way for them to understand. What I must do is step back, throw my hands in the air, and praise God, knowing that in His time He will make all things right.
    I have also learned in the life of the church and in my personal ministry that everything is not always going to go as I have planned. There are always going to be certain people and certain ministries that are not going to work the way I want them to work. I do not like it, I do not understand it and I know deep in my heart that I could not function in this way, but I have also learned that even though I can change no one, God can change everyone in His own time. So once again I can step back and throw my hands in the air, praising God because He has handled a task that I was never supposed to even try to handle.
    My new prayer is this: “Lord God, please help me to move forward with those whom You already have ready to move in that direction. Please give me wisdom to be all that You desire me to be for You, Lord, and please be with those who are hindering Your kingdom for whatever reason. Please be patient with them and open their eyes to their waste of time and resources. Please help them to see how much of a blessing they could be if they would be willing to change for You. And Lord, please continue to let them feel Your love drawing them closer to You as You did for me when I was not what I should have been for You. Lord, forgive me of my pride of looking at others when I should have been looking at You”.
    The Lord is preparing you right now for something great. I pray you do not miss out on His plan for your life…
                                             “Till He Comes Again”
                                                    Pastor Kyle

WASTING YOUR LOVE

   There were many things from my childhood that were considered normal in my house that I laugh about today. One concerns the waste of food. I remember, as many of you do, sitting at the dinner table and being told to “eat everything I put on my plate”. After all, there were starving children all over the world. Please know that I am not belittling the fact that there are those who are without food, but as a child I did not understand the meaning of being wasteful. I remember that after each meal my father, who was our official cook, would compile all of the leftovers into what my sister called “The Pot”. He would cook many different dishes throughout the week, but on Friday night we would eat soup comprised with those leftovers. Sometimes it was good and sometimes it was just plain NASTY! But there was one thing we knew: we either ate what was being served from “The Pot” or went hungry. My father did this to teach us a lesson he had learned while growing up with very little. The lesson was “Do not waste food”. This is a lesson we all need to learn as Americans, but we can apply this to so many other aspects of our life as well.
   Since this is the month when we celebrate love, I thought about this lesson my dad taught me about food and came to the grim conclusion that we, as Americans, are not just guilty of being wasters of food, we also waste a lot of other things. I believe the most important thing that we waste more than any other thing is our love.
   Years ago I heard the great evangelist Junior Hill preach a message on how we as Christians treat each other. He said “What a country that we live in where we treat animals like people and people like animals!” You may be thinking “What in the world was he talking about?” Well, think with me for a moment: how do most of you treat your dogs? I cannot answer for you, but I know how we treat our little Dixie . When we get home, she jumps in our laps and we cuddle her and tell her how much we love her and missed her throughout the day. We feed her people food, she follows us all day long and we talk to her just like one of our children. When bedtime comes, she jumps up in our bed and goes to sleep with us. We love that dog more than some of the people we encounter on a daily basis. I want to be the first to say I am wrong. Christ tells us to love God more than anything else and our neighbors as ourselves. This means that those we encounter throughout the day should be treated better than we treat that little dog that lives in our house. If we do not treat others better than our dogs then we are wasting the love that God has given us and being disobedient to the One we say we love the most- Jesus.
  Another way we are wasting our love is by walking around with unresolved issues in our lives. If you put ten Southern Baptist preachers in the same room we are NOT all going to agree on every aspect of anything. Do we still love and have respect for one another? Yes. We need to understand that as Christians we are not always going to agree with each other, and that is OK. There are some of my family members that I just look at and think “Wow, buddy, you are out there”. Now, I can choose to disassociate myself with them and never bother with them again, or I can love them in such a way that they might see Jesus in my life and be drawn to Him. I choose to love them. I cannot change people’s nasty attitudes or their mean spirits, nor can I make them love me or the church, but I can choose to love them. It doesn’t matter if they ever love me, but hopefully they will see the love of Christ in me and fall deeply in love with Him. Then they will have to love just as God has made me love. Please, if you have been wasteful with your love, do it no longer. Seek out the One who loves you more than you could ever know and then let Him teach you what love is all about in His time.

                         Blessings to you all, Pastor Kyle

Common sense not so common anymore

   Well we have made it through another year, and I know we all are looking forward to a healthy and Happy New Year in 2011. As I sat in my office thinking about this article, a comment that someone made on Facebook kept resonating in my mind. He said “The older I get the more I realize that common sense is not so common anymore”. I have to agree with that statement whole-heartedly. Reflecting on MANY events that took place last year, not only in the church but in society as a whole, I have to make that statement aimed in several directions. We all can agree that common sense has flown out the window with many people in our circles of influence, but the question that begs answering is “Why?”
   When we look at our nation and see what we as Americans are accepting as RIGHT, when the Bible calls it wrong, I have to ask why? We have groups of people who march around with signs held high in protest at our country being at war with those who want to wipe us off the face of the earth, claiming that too many American soldiers are dying on foreign soil for no reason, while abortion clinics have killed more Americans since the Roe v/s Wade ruling than all previous American wars combined. Does this make sense that we condone one death while protesting another? Does it make sense that someone who calls himself a Christian would vote to put a person in office who believes it is OK to remove a baby from it’s mother’s womb, saying it is a mother’s right to terminate a living person whose heart started beating 18 days after conception? What has caused the American people to lose focus on what should be common sense?
   In our great State of South Carolina , do we see any signs of losing our grip on common sense during this last year? I believe we do. We have a governor who had a elicit affair with a women from another country and used taxpayers’ dollars to secretly meet with her for romantic encounters- and he was not thrown out of office! I remember in the late 80’s when a presidential candidate was found to have had an affair; he was ruined by the press and scorned by the voters to the point of his being removed from the presidential ticket. The press did a good job keeping us updated with our governor’s involvement, but where was the public outcry for him to step down? What has caused the people of South Carolina to lose focus on what should be common sense?
   Now let’s get a little closer to home. Let’s look at our churches this past year. I have talked to pastors all over the nation this past year about what seems to be a trend within the church as a whole- not just the denomination in which I serve. Christians have significantly reduced their giving to the church- not only with their money but with their time, both in ministry positions and faithfulness in attending services. Each pastor I have spoken to says they have seen a tremendous decline in all the areas listed above. Bible scholars believe there are around six billion lost people in this world who desperately need to hear the gospel message of Christ. Common sense tells us that we as Christians- now more than ever- need to be faithful with our time, talents and money for the cause of Christ. If we have accepted Christ as our Savior we have also received His command to reach out to this lost world without ceasing. What has caused God’s people to lose focus on what should be common sense?
   The answer to what has caused our nation, our state and our churches to lose focus on what should be common sense is that we have lost sight of what is holy in the eyes of God. Paul wrote in Romans 5:13 “In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to one’s account when there is no law”. If this scripture is true, and I believe it is, then man does not acknowledge sin as sin if he is not in the Word of God. This means the reason we do not cling to the holiness of God is that we have removed ourselves from the Word of God in such a way that not even common sense is common anymore.
   So what do we do from here? Get back into the house of God faithfully; start giving of your time, talents and money to support the work of the Lord, spend time daily reading and understanding the Word of God, and pray like you never have before that God will give us back our common sense.

MY MOST FAVORITE CHRISTMAS

When I was a child Christmas was always a wonderful time. I remember sitting in school and the teacher asking each of us to tell the class what our favorite holiday was. I did not have to think hard; what child wouldn’t pick Christmas? As I sit here now and reflect on all of those past Christmases there are many different reasons why Christmas was and is now my favorite holiday. If God would allow me to go back and relive just one Christmas from the past I’m sure I would have a hard time picking just one.
  The first Christmas I might choose would be one from my early childhood. My family always had a big Christmas Eve party at our house in Tega Cay, which much of our family and most of our neighbors attended. My mother always made sure the house was full of our favorite foods and each room was decorated like something you would see in an old fashioned Christmas movie. I can recall waiting with great anticipation the arrival of all of our guests, but to me, none of them seemed as important as my grandfather. I can remember waiting by the front door, pressing my face against the cold glass, waiting to see his headlights coming down our street and running out to meet him. My grandfather and I slept in the same room and talked as we fell asleep on Christmas Eve every year. Actually, he would fall asleep and I would wait until I could not hear any more foot steps upstairs. Then I knew that Santa must have already come, and up the stairs I would go with my Spiderman flashlight to investigate. Those were great years!
  The second Christmas I might choose is the year after I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. Up until that year I really had no clue what Christmas was all about. To me Christmas had always been about gifts, family and food. We never attended church or read the Bible. When I accepted Christ, Christmas became what it should be for us all. It became a time of reflection on what Christ had done for me, a time for giving to others who were not as fortunate as I was. Christmas became a time of praise, prayer and celebrating the birth of the One who loves all people. I remember that first Christmas after I became a Christian- being so excited while handing out candy and fruit to the children who rode the bus to our church. I remember going to my first Christmas cantata and feeling the Holy Spirit move as the choir sang unto the Lord. I think what I remember the most is feeling- for the first time ever- the love that Jesus had for me and knowing that He would give up heaven and come to this earth to redeem fallen man. I had known this to be true for months leading up to Christmas, but there was just something about experiencing what was taking place all around me that made a lasting effect that I will never forget. That was truly a wonderful Christmas.
  The Christmas that I know I would choose to experience if given the choice by God is one that I have not experienced yet. I have had many, many wonderful Christmas experiences but I can’t help thinking that the way we celebrate Christmas here on earth does not hold a candle to how Christmas is celebrated in heaven. The older I get the more I realize that there are more people in heaven who have made Christmas special to me, and I cannot wait to see so many of my loved ones who have gone on before me. I have never physically celebrated Christmas with the One whose birthday we are honoring, but I wonder what Christmas morning is like in heaven. I wonder what the Christmas meal will consist of and what the choir of angels will be singing as Christmas day comes. I am certain that my first Christmas in heaven will be the very best Christmas ever!
  I pray that you all have a wonderful Jesus-filled Christmas this year, knowing that He is the only reason for this season. I pray that you have accepted Christ as your personal savior as Romans 10:9 tells us we must do and that you too wait with great anticipation for your first Christmas with Christ at home in heaven…