Reach Out or Fade Out

It is a rainy night on the Coast with the potential for severe weather. Perhaps the Lord will have mercy on us, seeing as how we have had our share of severe weather. But if not, we will trust Him to see us through. In about 1983 my friend Glenn Jarrett gave me a cassette tape and told me to listen to it. It was old, even then. The label was worn and I didn't recognize the name of the speaker. The lesson was given at International Bible College (now Heritage Christian University) back in 197something. It was called "Reach Out or Fade Out", and it was by a very young sounding Marvin Phillips. My tape player almost caught on fire, he was so energized with his message. Ever since then I have enjoyed reading and hearing this dear brother. I have traveled to his workshop over 20 times. And I knew that he was the right man for the hour this week. Tonight Marvin Phillips finished a three night series of positive, powerful, evangelistic messages. If anyone was close to obeying the gospel, I believe they could not have helped themselves. As it was, it was a good introduction to how to become a Christian and why. Marvin extended himself to everyone in our community. Everywhere we went he talked to people, prayed with them, invited them to church, and gave them some encouragement. I wish I was more like him in that respect! And the preaching ... well ... it would be hard to miss the truth about Jesus from his kind of preaching. Personally, Marvin was a blessing to me. He continually sought to encourage me and my family. He spent time with David and Elaine, and I am sure they were blessed. This brother has such a wonderful heart for people. The only thing I hate more than to see him go, is to get up at 4:00 in the morning to take him to the airport. There has been much more ministry this week due to the efforts of Cecil May 3rd, Miles Mayo, and Tim Rowland. Several visitors were present tonight that were invited by these men. I've been so blessed to hear some of the workers here talk about their experiences in talking to people about Jesus while they work. The rest of this week promises to fly by with all kinds of activity. At least five churches from Nashville will be doing ministry work here in the community. One church will give gifts to our church members. They also will bring gifts to hand out to our community and provide their Associate Minister as our guest speaker for Sunday. Another four churches will provide gifts, food, entertainment to those on the Holiday Cruise Ship. Only the Lord's hand could have guided their way through all of the many people who had to sign off on this ... FEMA ... Carnival Cruise Lines ... security ... probably others. But there is permission to come aboard and bless these people. Pray that all of these outreaches will touch the hearts of those in our community. I'm not sure yet if it has been approved for me to speak on the Holiday Cruise Ship on Christmas Day, but I'm hoping to be able to do that. We also want to investigate sending a bus out there on Sundays to bring people in for worship. Lord help us to Reach Out, lest we Fade Out. On a personal note, our kitchen cabinets have arrived. They will be picked up tomorrow morning and brought to the house, and I think installed. Then the guys from Fulton who are doing our flooring can put floor down around them. And guess what? That means we can bring in our stove and refrigerator. This makes my heart happy! Heat and air should be finished this weekend ... and suddenly we are down to flooring in three rooms left to be put down and only having some small things done so that we can move out of the camper and back into our home. Our sole Christmas decoration is a fiber optic Christmas tree that survived the storm because it was on top of the refrigrator (that did not survive!). We have some other Christmas decorations, but they are in the storage and we haven't had time to go and get them. We did lose some of our pieces, though. No matter. We spent an hour looking at furniture yesterday between appointments. I think this is going to be a big decision. Goodnight, my friends, from a blessed brother on the storm ravaged Mississippi Gulf Coast. I've lost count of the days and weeks since August 29th. I could count them, but at this point I want to look forward. Out here, hope remains. Below: Alton and Morris chat with Marvin