There are times in your life when God places you in the midst of people who exemplify what it means to be a Christ-follower!
Each year I travel south to get refocused on my calling from God. For 5 days I worship the Lord and learn from His Word at the Pastor’s Conference at First Baptist, Jacksonville, FL. A wonderful church led by Dr. Mac Brunson.
At this conference the preaching is powerful, the music is inspiring and Jesus is lifted up and glorified! Yet, it is the precious members of the Church that volunteer up to 12 hours a day serving the visiting pastors and hosting them in their homes that makes this one week a year, a week to encounter God without any distractions!
Let me share two examples with you. Their names are Richard and Elaine Gills and Kenneth and Ina Dobbs.
For the past 5 years, Richard and Elaine Gills have opened up their home to me and my staff. They are our “host family.” And family is the key word. After just a few minutes with this sweet, godly couple, you feel like you are part of their family. They have prayed for us, taken us to Elaine's favorite Chinese restaurant, introduced us to their friends and simply loved us with the precious love of Jesus! O’ how Richard and Elaine have showed us the heart of Jesus! Praise God for this couple. Richard and Elaine own and operate a container company and they send packages to missions around the world! What a precious couple!
Then there is Kenneth and Ina Dobbs. (pictured, sorry Richard and Elaine, I didn’t get a chance to take your picture!)
Kenneth is a retired US Postal service worker. He serves First Baptist Jacksonville as an Usher. The story of how our lives crossed is amazing and nothing short of the Sovereignty of God. For clarity, First Baptist Jacksonville has over 27,000 members and the Sanctuary seats over 9000. A couple of years ago, my Executive Pastor, Harold and me were finding a seat on the right side of the Sanctuary before the evening service. The usher working that section that night was Kenneth. A conversation started between us as we waited for the service to begin. Then, Kenneth went on to do his duties. Harold and I knew that Kenneth would greet hundreds of pastors that night and therefore, we put no thought to the idea that Kenneth would remember a couple of preachers from Kentucky.
Several months later, I was dealing with a difficult situation in the ministry. Normally, if I am having a difficult day my secretary will protect my time so I can pray and read the Word of God. However, on that day, she came into my office and said that there was a man from Florida on the phone and that he was insistent to talk to me. You may have guessed it, it was Kenneth Dobbs! When I answered the phone he said, “You may not remember me and you may think I am crazy, but I have been praying for you for the past few days and God told me to call you today and tell you that.” Needless to say, I was humbled and exhilarated in the Holy Spirit all at the same time. God knew the struggle that I was going through and had a man 1000 miles away to pray for me and call me. What an awesome God we serve!
Since that day, Harold and I have become very close to this godly couple, as we have with Richard and Elaine. The Dobbs look for us at the conference each year; take us out to breakfast or dinner or both! We have been in their home, they have prayed over us and this year we were blessed to meet their daughter Lisa and her husband Bob.
Friends, let me encourage you to love the way Jesus loves and to share that love with those you come into contact with. Each one of us can be a Richard and Elaine or a Kenneth and Ina to others if we will love people with the love of Jesus!
When I think of these two couples, I remember the words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Church in Philippi,
“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from this first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in your will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…”
Philippians 1: 3-6 NKJV
