Thank you for your support through your prayers, finances, and encouragement. This recap is a report to you of your investment.
July and August offered a variety of opportunities for witness. I had an opportunity to lead a couple of Pastors’ Conferences, speak to 2 football teams, preach a lake worship service, preach seven days at a campmeeting, preach in a revival sponsored by three different denominations, preach at one of the ten most famous bars in the world, speak to all the teachers in the Tallassee School System, speak six times at a retreat for the Francis Asbury Society, lead worship for the firemen at Auburn, officiate at two weddings, and two funerals. That was a pretty good variety. I also had the opportunity to meet with some young pastors, have some one-on-one sessions with pastors, and other opportunities. Here is a brief breakdown.
July 7 – Preached at the Church in the Pines at Kowaliga. I have been doing that for over 35 years. Because it was raining, more people came in cars and there were less boats.
July 13 – I was reminded again of how pastors have to officiate and participate in events at the opposite ends of emotions. At 1:00, I officiated at a funeral for a lady in her fifties. At 2:30, I had a counseling session with a young couple who would be getting married. At 3:30, I had a session with a couple undergoing a serious family challenge. Then at 5:00 I officiated at a marvelous wedding. Those four events run the gamut in emotions. I am glad I don’t have to do that often. Please pray for pastors who have to do it continually.
July 19 – Taught a five hour seminar for pastors in Mississippi.
July 20-25 – Preached at the Felders Campmeeting, which is located near Brookhaven and McComb. This campground has 66 cabins. There were so many young people and boys and girls present. One of the traditions is to bring bicycles. They had over 200 bicycles at the campground. There were kids everywhere. One other tradition was late night volleyball. They played well after midnight. This campground also has a creek that is ideal for swimming. They have a zip-line and a swing that will carry you out over the creek and you drop into the water. I set the record for being the oldest pastor they had ever had to go off that swing! The tabernacle was filled morning and night for the worship services. I preached 12 times.
July 28-30 – Preached at a revival in Benton, Alabama sponsored by the Baptists, Presbyterians and Methodists. Joe Pat Cox led the singing. This was probably the tenth time that Joe Pat and I have done that revival together. They actually invite him back every year!
August 4 – Preached at the Flora-Bama. I posted a couple of blogs about this. Check out this unique ministry in my blog of August 14, 2013.
August 10 – Officiated at a wedding at First United Methodist Church here in Montgomery.
August 15 – Spoke to all of the teachers in the Tallassee School System as they prepared to begin the new school year. I enjoy these occasions of meeting with teachers. I don’t know of anyone that has a bigger influence on our young people than coaches and teachers.
August 17 – Officiated at the funeral of one of God’s real saints – Mrs. Bettye Brantley.
August 18 – Spoke at 7:00 in the morning to all of the firefighters in the Auburn area and then preached three times at my brother’s church, Auburn United Methodist
August 19-22 – Preached at a retreat at the Hemlock Inn in Bryson City, North Carolina for the Francis Asbury Society. They brought in a group of people on Sunday night through Tuesday morning, then another group Tuesday afternoon through Thursday morning. I spoke 6 times at this event. You can go online at the Francis Asbury Society and see the marvelous work of this organization.
September and October will be two of my busiest months. In October I will be going to Switzerland to be a part of a group of global leaders who will be planning many strategic, significant, events for training pastors. During this two months span I will have opportunities in two preaching missions in North Carolina, two in South Carolina, one in Arkansas, one in Georgia, and a couple in Alabama.
We have a 4-minute video on our website that describes this ministry. Please direct people to our website www.johnedmathison.org.
Thanks for your support.
For the Cause of causes,
John Ed Mathison
www.johnedmathison.org
