Where did 30 Years go?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the honor of being your Pastor the last thirty years. This photo from our combined service on July 9, 2023 has become one of my favorites for several reasons.  Renee and I appreciate all the hard work that went in making this day extraordinary for us.

• Renee by my side.  What a great wife and partner to travel this ministry journey with.  she has been nothing but a blessing to me and FSBCamden.
• My family on the front row.  They have prayed for and supported us our entire time here .  they love you as a church.
• A great staff, and deacons peppered throughout this picture.  I also want to thank those who served and are serving in other places, as well as those who have passed to be with the Lord.
• A church family that we love, and loves us.  God has blessed us with a great spirit of unity that we do not take for granted.
• While we are blocking it with our bodies, we are standing at the pulpit.  A cross.  what a privilege to get to stand here each week and open the word of God.
• Some have said, "congratulations on your retirement." No! No! We are not going anywhere , and let's ask God to make the next page and season of ministry even greater.  
• May the Lord make us a house of prayer and may he send a mighty Revival!
  

Touched By In Touch ( A Tribute to Dr. Charles Stanley)

This past week, Christians, and in many ways  the world, said goodbye to one of our most notable preachers, Dr. Charles Stanley.  He had been the Pastor of the the great First Baptist Church of Atlanta for over fifty years, passing at the age of ninety.

His worldwide television ministry "In Touch" reaches hundreds of thousands weekly.  I loved what Dr. David Jeremiah said at the memorial service regarding Dr. Stanley.  It would have been easy for him to say he was going to commit himself to the TV Ministry and just do that, but he didn't.  He loved pastoring his people at FBC Atlanta.

The term America's Pastor has been thrown around loosely about other preachers, but in many ways Dr. Stanley was.  His down to earth delivery and pastor/shepherd like voice as he opened the word of God, are things that we all loved about him.  There are some Ohio ties as well.  He Pastored the FBC of Fairborn years before being recognized as FBC Atlanta's Pastor.

 Becoming Pastor here in Camden in 1993, before arriving I worked as a Letter Sorting Machine Operator (LSM) for the Post Office in Dayton.  Back then you could wear head sets.  I had a FM Walkman which allowed me in the evenings to listen to christian radio.  In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley was one that always drew my attention. His messages got me through many long nights.

It was a thrill to be introduced to him, by Dr. Ernest Easley and join he and his boys, Jonah and Jordan,  for dessert one year with Dr. Stanley at the SBC Annual Meeting. I was like a little boy meeting his baseball hero. The Easley boys had been on staff with him at one point.

During his memorial service, one speaker shared regarding his style, " He would simply come out, Bible in hand, look into the camera and ask a question.  He would then spend the next 30 minutes answering the question." He may have said  hour, it seemed like one speaker indicated he wanted hour slots .

An accomplished photographer, I wonder what the glory of heaven is compared to the many pictures of God's creation he loved.

The Church is losing some giants. but here are some common threads that we need to remember.

Faithfulness and the Word of God.  He never wavered on Jesus, the cross, or sin. May we continue to do the same week in and week out.  Thank you Dr. Stanley for the impact you have had on my parents, my life, and our Church.
 

My Dad and Brother Goins

My Dad and Brother Goins

Raised in the mountains of Morgan County in East Tennessee, Coalfield to be exact, my eighty six year old dad has always fascinated me with boyhood tales and stories.  I have always been especially interested in stories of old time preachers from his past.. We have had a running conversation for some time now.  When we speak on the phone he refers to me as Brother Goins.  A preacher he remembered growing up.  He will ask me things like. "Brother Goins, where are you preaching this weekend?" "Are you getting there to set up the tent?" I often respond as if I am Brother Goins and Dad is a preacher as well.  Sometimes I call him J. Bassel Mull of the Mull Singing Convention.  We always have a good laugh.

This past week, February 8, 2023, Renee and I traveled to Lafollette, Tennessee to do the funeral of her Aunt, Barbara Ford. The Cross-Smith Funeral Home did a great job and it was a blessing to get to talk to Funeral Director Terry for a bit at the graveside. I shared with him that my parents were from Coalfield and I mentioned a former pastor and Evangelist  Billy Edmunds and Terry replied, "He pastored right over there by the school." I even shared the story of Bro. Goins, and his response absolutely blew me away.  "He is buried in this cemetery." Surely this is not the same one that dad has mentioned so many times? Yes it was! And his wife Maggie was even a Jackson! Bro. Goins passed away in 1973, yet his ministry still lives on, as our family is a testimony to it. 

God is so good to show us things like this and how he placed us on a Jacksboro, Tennessee hillside and brought so many things together. I hope to meet him one day and thank him for having an impact on my dad.

This Season of Life

Boy, I have dropped the ball big time in regards to an updated blog.  I didn't even write one over Christmas.  My apologies, and a pledge to do better.

The injury to Buffalo Bills Damar Hamlin and his miraculous recovery has been something to behold.  It is something to praise the Lord for.  We pray for his total healing and that he would be a testimony of the grace of God, know Jesus, and telling his story to the world.  It was a moment when it literally felt like the world stopped, especially the sports world,with a life on the line.  Even the wonderful support of the Bengals coaches, players, and fans was a blessing to watch and learn from.  It was encouraging.

Encouragement is something we all need and thank you FSBCamden for all you have done for and given me.  Next week, the first week in February marks the 30 Year Anniversary of my first sermon here in Camden. The time line is as follows: February 1993 - first Sunday - first message as pulpit supply. April 93 - Became interim pastor. July 11 -1993 was called to be your pastor. The first two years I was Bi-vocational at the Post Office in Dayton and then went full time.  Where has the time gone? Thirty years is for old guys, but wait.  As I looked in to the mirror I am starting to see an old guy. I am starting to be asked questions like, how old are you? ...61.How long are you going to go?  Have you thought about retirement? While a specific date isn't on my radar, I realize that we are in the season to begin to pray and think about what is best for FSBCamden.

I can say I have never enjoyed preaching any more than I do right now.  Being here so long has given me the blessing of seeing some born, graduate, maybe college graduation, married, maybe children born, and sadly even burying many family members.

Small town America isn't for everyone, but for Greg and Renee Jackson now, and when were raising our family, there is no place we would rather be. Camden is home.

So whatever this season brings us, we will trust the Lord and serve Him with all we have.

Until He comes...we will go!

Reflections on this Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving morning, bright and early before most are up and ready for the busyness of the day is a great time to just stop and reflect on the blessings of God on my life. If a man could write the script for a blessed life, how could I not think that the life God has blessed me with would not be considered.  Not because I am anything special, but because God has given me a family, wife, kids, and grandsons who are great.He has blessed us with a church family that is our family. How special the people of FSBCamden are to us.  What a privilege to be entering , Lord willing, 2023, our 30th year here as the pastor .  It truly is the Corner of Hope.  Not the building, but pointing to Jesus, the real source of our hope.

This Thanksgiving it is hard to realize that Renee's mom is spending her first Thanksgiving in Heaven.  She always enjoyed the holidays so much.  In her packed house it didn't matter who showed up, everyone was welcome.  There was always room for another.  Boy what a picture of Jesus.  There is always room for you at the cross.  

It is also hard to believe that our former Associate Pastor Trevor Bridgeford is not here with us and is with the Lord this Thanksgiving along with my closest cousin Roger Jackson.  God in His mercy doesn't show us the future.  Had we known what was waiting in 2022 we would have lived in fear.  What we do know is that the Lord was and controls everything.  We can trust Him for and through the unknown.

So today, take a breath, pray, and thank the Lord for His goodness.  He wants to be the source of our thanksgiving and the focus of our reflections.

Join us Sunday as we begin the season of Advent, the coming of the Christ child. A Savior is born!

Bro. Greg

Focusing In

In his book "On Worship", H.B. Charles shares a story regarding worshipers arriving to hear Henry Ward Beecher , the famous pastor of the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn. They were disappointed to find that the pulpit would be filled by his less prominent brother, Thomas.  Can you imagine, the humiliation and embarrassment that filled that sanctuary as people began to walk out? Thomas stood in the pulpit and announced, "All those who came to worship Henry Ward Beecher may leave, but all who came to worship God may remain."

Our worship is not to please ourselves or others. One pastor shared a story where a member walked out and snapped, "I didn't like the worship this morning!" The pastor fired back, "Good, we aren't here to worship you!" We have an audience of One, King Jesus.

Hebrews 13:15-16 (NKJV)
¹⁵  Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
¹⁶  But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.  

It is so important to remember the target of our praise.  It is King Jesus and He deserves no half hearted attempt, but He deserves all we have.  Our heart's affection and our minds attention.

Is the Lord pleased with my worship?

Moving Forward

Yesterday the Southern Baptist Convention in Anaheim,  took a clear stand against sexual abuse and the harm it has caused. The Convention also acknowledged the failure of our response to the victims. The recommendations were adopted with great unity and a strong clear statement of resolution, and both acknowledge that reports of sexual abuse were not handled correctly, nor the abused, and that often times the victim seemed unheard or even forgotten.

To the survivors who have come forward, thank you, even in your pain, thank you for helping expose failure and areas that need to be clearly addressed.  To the sexual abuse survivors who have bravely and silently sat listening to testimony, we pray for you as you have most likely had to relive your hurt, pain, and disappointment.

As we take better steps to prevent any of this from happening here, and only by God's grace, we recognize that sin is real and the devil is still at work in this world.  We must be diligent to be above reproach in everything that relates to working with children, youth, and adult relationships as well.  We must protect the vulnerable.  Those that God has allowed us to teach and care for should have the utmost trust in us to protect them.

Staff relationships must be beyond reproach. We want to be on guard for anything that will not please the Lord. We should always pray for each other, the body of Christ.

Please pray for the Sexual Abuse Task Force here in Ohio as we prepare to share recommendations in November at the Cleveland meeting. The weight of this responsibility is heavy, yet I realize the weight is nothing compared to those who have been abused.

Thank you for loving God. loving people. serving people.

Bro. Greg