I am the student minister at Westview Baptist Church in Sanford, Florida and I have the great blessing of serving with 3 Godly men who love the Lord and are always seeking to do His will.
Our pastor is Dr. Bill Coffman and he will celebrate this fall his 53rd year in ministry. He has served as a pastor, a missionary in the Caribbean, on the Florida Baptist Convention's state staff, as a husband and a father.
Our associate pastor is Charlie Higgins and he has been in the ministry nearing 20 years himself. He has been a Minister of Music and Youth, a Youth Minister, and currently an associate Pastor. He is one of my closest friends and is a man about God. His family holds a special place with mine and it is an honor to stand alongside them.
Our Minister of Music is Jim Otwell and like Charlie has served as both a Youth Minister and Music Minister at the same time and is our Music Minister but even more than that, he leads our congregation to a place of worship every opportunity he has. He is also one of my closest friends and I am fortunate to be able to know he and his family.
I let you know all of that for a couple of reasons...one is to give evidence that I am truly blessed to serve alongside these men who love the Lord and live it out daily in their lives. Secondly, it is also to give evidence to the rest of this post....
Brother Charlie is preaching a sermon today about what it means to be a STRONG man. He is not talking about physical strength; he is talking about being a STRONG man in God. The type of man God wants us to be, calls us to be, the type of man He can use to reveal His glory in our lives! Currently, our world and especially people I know and are close to are being attacked by Satan! Marriages are under fire and suffering if not failing. The character of friends are being attacked and wilting under the pressure. The Lord is present in our congregation and lives are being changed and because of that the devil is striking back where he can hurt the most and that is in our personal lives. The best defense for this is obviously God! I don't think anyone can dispute that but some do not understand how to use God as a defense against the devil...well for us men who are fathers and husbands and friends and leaders...it must start with being a STRONG man. STRONG is an acrostic for Surrender, Teach, Responsible, Open (to instruction), New (in heart and mind) and Generous. We must surrender to God to be used how He wants, not how we think it should be done. We must be a teacher to our children and each other through our example of letting God be in control of our lives (praying, reading the Word, seeking His will). We must take responsibilty for our actions especially when we hurt others. We need to be open to instruction from those who are older and wiser and are more in tune with God than we may be at the moment. Also open to instruction from the Lord himself. We need to be new in our hearts and minds. All the previous ideas are not of this world and therefore are not natural to us so we must become new in this way of letting go and letting God have control in our hearts and our minds. Finally, we must be generous in all we do, because the Lord was compassionate and generous to the extreme that He sent His son to pay a debt of sin with His life that we owed and could never repay!
These men I call not co-workers, but friends are STRONG men. I pray that I too may live up to that definition. I pray that I would be an example of this to the young men I work with weekly in our student ministry who are beginning to be involved in relationships or are working their first jobs or are preparing to head out into this world that is filled with dangers just waiting to befall them. I pray for them and pray that God would use me to be an example of how they need to be STRONG!
Until next time, keep seeking Him daily....
Our pastor is Dr. Bill Coffman and he will celebrate this fall his 53rd year in ministry. He has served as a pastor, a missionary in the Caribbean, on the Florida Baptist Convention's state staff, as a husband and a father.
Our associate pastor is Charlie Higgins and he has been in the ministry nearing 20 years himself. He has been a Minister of Music and Youth, a Youth Minister, and currently an associate Pastor. He is one of my closest friends and is a man about God. His family holds a special place with mine and it is an honor to stand alongside them.
Our Minister of Music is Jim Otwell and like Charlie has served as both a Youth Minister and Music Minister at the same time and is our Music Minister but even more than that, he leads our congregation to a place of worship every opportunity he has. He is also one of my closest friends and I am fortunate to be able to know he and his family.
I let you know all of that for a couple of reasons...one is to give evidence that I am truly blessed to serve alongside these men who love the Lord and live it out daily in their lives. Secondly, it is also to give evidence to the rest of this post....
Brother Charlie is preaching a sermon today about what it means to be a STRONG man. He is not talking about physical strength; he is talking about being a STRONG man in God. The type of man God wants us to be, calls us to be, the type of man He can use to reveal His glory in our lives! Currently, our world and especially people I know and are close to are being attacked by Satan! Marriages are under fire and suffering if not failing. The character of friends are being attacked and wilting under the pressure. The Lord is present in our congregation and lives are being changed and because of that the devil is striking back where he can hurt the most and that is in our personal lives. The best defense for this is obviously God! I don't think anyone can dispute that but some do not understand how to use God as a defense against the devil...well for us men who are fathers and husbands and friends and leaders...it must start with being a STRONG man. STRONG is an acrostic for Surrender, Teach, Responsible, Open (to instruction), New (in heart and mind) and Generous. We must surrender to God to be used how He wants, not how we think it should be done. We must be a teacher to our children and each other through our example of letting God be in control of our lives (praying, reading the Word, seeking His will). We must take responsibilty for our actions especially when we hurt others. We need to be open to instruction from those who are older and wiser and are more in tune with God than we may be at the moment. Also open to instruction from the Lord himself. We need to be new in our hearts and minds. All the previous ideas are not of this world and therefore are not natural to us so we must become new in this way of letting go and letting God have control in our hearts and our minds. Finally, we must be generous in all we do, because the Lord was compassionate and generous to the extreme that He sent His son to pay a debt of sin with His life that we owed and could never repay!
These men I call not co-workers, but friends are STRONG men. I pray that I too may live up to that definition. I pray that I would be an example of this to the young men I work with weekly in our student ministry who are beginning to be involved in relationships or are working their first jobs or are preparing to head out into this world that is filled with dangers just waiting to befall them. I pray for them and pray that God would use me to be an example of how they need to be STRONG!
Until next time, keep seeking Him daily....
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