About two weeks ago, churches started calling off worship services because of Covid-19. Since that time there have been more people using Zoom, FreeConferenceCall, Facebook Live, YouTube, and dozens of other communication tools, than ever before. Continue reading
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Over the past few days I have talked, mostly by phone, with many people. There is no question that what we are experiencing today is unprecedented.
When I make calls now, I introduce myself, and say that I’m calling to say that I’m praying for them and their community. I don’t ask for anything. I don’t even ask for their vote. At this time, I believe that the best thing we can do is to be as positive and encouraging as we can be. Continue reading
by Yesterday, President Trump declared today, March 15, 2020, as a National Day of Prayer for all Americans Affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic and for our National Response Efforts. I am including a link to the President’s Proclamation at the end of this note.
Our National Motto is, “In God We Trust.” It is in times of emergency or uncertainty that we return to those four simple words. Continue reading
by On June 6, 2019 the entire world will remember the 75th anniversary of the largest military operation in history. It was an epic conflict of good vs evil.
Thousands of young Americans who just months before were securely living in homes on farms and in cities across our nation crowded into landing craft.
The vast armada chugged toward the beaches of Normandy like a cloud of gnats on a South Georgia farm. As these brave young men stormed the beaches, they were charging into the gates of hell itself.
While the invasion was underway, President Franklin Roosevelt, in a nationwide radio address, led the nation in prayer for this undertaking. Take 5 minutes to listen. Share this with your friends and especially young students who are learning about our nation’s history.
Text of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Address and Prayer on D-Day – June 6, 1944
My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.
And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:
Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.
They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.
They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.
For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.
Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.
And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas — whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them–help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.
Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.
Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.
And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.
And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.
With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.
Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt – June 6, 1944
by I have the honor of serving as the pastor of First Baptist Church of Rochelle, Georgia during the interim time between permanent pastors. I received notice last Tuesday that the regular Wednesday midweek services were cancelled so that members could attend Fields of Grace 2018.
Fields of Grace is a worship service, led by students in Wilcox County schools. In addition to Fields of Grace in the fall, they also have a service called Sermon on the Mound in the spring.
The student organization in the high school is Patriots for Christ. The elementary schools also have a program for students named, Little Patriots for Christ.
Local area churches support the school clubs as well as some of the teachers, coaches, and administrators outside of their duties for the school system. While there is support from these adults, the program is clearly student led.
The program last night featured the Big Brother and Big Sister mentorship program. A student from Patriots for Christ paired with a student from Little Patriots for Christ for several weeks before the service to teach and learn Scripture and Bible Stories.
Throughout the service, one after another, two students, one from high school and one from the elementary or middle school would come to the stage and have a conversation. Both introduced themselves and their grade in school.
Some selected favorite Bible stories. Some selected favorite Bible verses. The two students summarized the story or verse and then told how it helped them in their lives.
Some students sang a favorite song or shared a personal testimony of how Christ affected their lives. The students were not assigned verses. They made their own selection and the selections were independent of each other.
As I listened to them sharing testimony and Scripture, I began to see a pattern or theme of these verses. They spoke of a personal walk with God and a sense of confidence and courage. One read from the Psalm 23, “He leads me beside the still waters.” One read Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” One read from Luke 18:27 “what is impossible with man is possible with God.”
One of the most moving parts of the service was not part of the program. A young boy asked for the microphone. He could not have been more than 10 years old. He said that one in his family had cancer and asked for prayer. Later, the entire field gathered at the front and humbly kneeled, praying for healing and freedom from worry and anxieity.
I titled this article, “The Solution.” In a small Southwest Georgia county, a new generation of leaders is coming on the scene. Teenage high schoolers are teaching the truths of God’s Word to single-digit-age elementary school students.
These young people are not demanding, “safe spaces.” They are growing as leaders to stand on the solid rock of eternal truth and they are passing the truth to the next generation.
These young leaders already face a hostile world but they face it with courage, confidence, and an unwavering committment. Fields of Grace 2018 is a reminder that, while the world may be going mad, God is still at work building leaders for the future of our nation.
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“There were body parts flying everywhere.” 93 year old Julian Parker of Cordele still remembers D-Day, June 6, 1944, wading on that beach in France. He said that the Germans had two big guns that were supposed to have been knocked out before the Americans landed.
The young soldiers wading on the beach were like sitting ducks. Julian said that some thought they were being smart by huddling close together. From his point of view, that just made a bigger target. He put a little bit of distance between himself and other groups as he made his way up the beach.
After the landing he moved through France and Germany. He saw the horrors of Nazi Germany and the death camps. At one place he said that bodies were stacked up like cord wood where the Nazis had executed thousands.
Julian does not talk a lot about his experiences. A medal display in his room shows, among others, two Purple Hearts and one Bronze Star. He pointed to his head to show where he was hit one time. He said that sometimes he still feels bits of shrapnel in his body.
He did not remember what he did to get the Bronze Star. He said that they wanted to promote him on the battlefield, but he turned it down. As he put it, he told the Army that he did not want to be there to start with and just wanted to get the job done and go home.
As a young teenager, Julian lived near the Georgia coast. He was still in school when he turned 18 and was drafted. After basic training in Mississippi, he went to London, and from London took the cruise across the English Channel with 500,000 other troops to land on a beach in France.
The war had an immense impact on Julian. He said that when he returned home, he went to his house and got his old hunting rifle that he owned since he was a boy. “I took it to the woods, dug a hole and buried it. I had seen enough killing and didn’t want anything more to do with it!”
On the day those men stormed the beaches, parachuted from planes, and flew gliders behind enemy lines, President Roosevelt addressed the nation and prayed for victory. The prayer is about 6 minutes and it is worth your time to hear it.
I appreciate you taking the time to read my thoughts. Please forward these to your friends and share on Facebook.
Sign up to below to get my commentaries sent directly to your in-box.
I promise, you won’t get a bunch of junk and I will not share your e-mail address with anyone. When you get an e-mail from me, you can be assured that it will be easy to read, informative, and usually short. Thank you again for reading.
I recently received a letter inviting me to attend a community prayer vigil in my community of Cordele, Georgia.
I was familiar with the name of one of the three organizers but not the other two.
It was scheduled for 3:00 pm on Sunday, January 14, 2018 at the Cordele community club house. The letter said that it was a prayer for the community and, in particular, the problem of crime in the city.
I will be transparent. I did not know what to expect and a few unfounded thoughts ran through my mind. Was this going to be another one of those “unity” gatherings with prayer tacked on to be sure that something religious was included?
I did not want to promote something just because it was framed as a time for prayer. I decided to go and see for myself. At the very least, I could bow my head and pray silently.
The unfounded thoughts that ran through my mind proved to be just that – unfounded. Not just unfounded, totally false.
The crowd was not very large but it looked to be a fairly good turnout to me. There were maybe three dozen people gathered. There were men and women, boys and girls, black and white. The racial makeup of the crowd was probably 80% black and 20% white.
The prayers were about the community of Cordele, Georgia. There was no focus on the West side or East side of town.
The prayers were that crime would be stopped; that families would be strengthened; that there would be jobs for the unemployed; that children would learn and be safe in schools; and that public servants would have wisdom and strength to serve.
What was not talked and prayed about was as significant as what was mentioned. There was no mention of political parties. There was barely a reference to race and that was only in the context of praying for everyone in the community no matter what race. There was no distinction of economic class.
In short, the prayers were about the people of our community. They were prayers that one would hear in churches anywhere in our region. They were heartfelt and humble.
When it was over and I was getting in my car, it dawned on me that something else was never mentioned in that gathering. There would have been nothing wrong had it been mentioned.
On the weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, his name was never mentioned. It was because the focus was not on Dr. King, but on The King of Kings. For one hour on a chilly afternoon in the small Southwest Georgia town of Cordele, three dozen citizens of the community humbly gathered and bowed to pray.
Thank you, Joyce Williams Mitchell, Shannon Penny Nipper, Lavater Hall Bass, and the others who responded to a leading. We need to do this again, soon.
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