Here is a brief recap of ministry opportunities during the month of November.
November 1-2 – Lead sessions for the Connexion Matrix which was hosted by Dr. Maxie Dunnam and his daughter Kim. It was comprised of about 20 pastors from around the country who meet on a bi-monthly basis. My topic for teaching dealt with the empowerment of laity in the local church to be engaged in the mission of the church.It was a challenging time of preparation for me. I have been invited to lead another group next spring.
November 4 – Attended the Sav-A-Life banquet and gave the prayer. Sav-A-Life has been a very effective ministry in the Montgomery area. I am delighted to continue participating in this ministry.
November 6-7 – Went to Port St. Joe, Florida, to preach for Rev. Mac Fulcher, a product of Frazer. His church had been studying the book Treasures of the Transformed Life. This was their commitment Sunday. One fascinating aspect of Port St. Joe’s ministry is WOW – Worship on the Water. The church is situated right along the coastline. They built a tabernacle tent structure in order to have worship outdoors all year round. The Sunday morning worship service at 8:00 was cold – about 38 degrees. It was an interesting preaching experience. I also preached at the 11:00 worship in the sanctuary.
November 14 – Drove to Clanton, Alabama, to preach at three morning worship services and an evening worship service. I was there last year and Larry Anderson and Bryan Dovey and the leaders at Clanton have a super ministry.
November 15 – Drove up to Young Harris, Georgia, to participate in the inaugural event for the new basketball arena. I played basketball there. Young Harris has won many Jr. College championships. They always said I shot the ball too much. I was a shooting guard before they had shooting guards! The biggest shocker was having players who came after me say that Coach Luke Rushton used me as an example of a good defensive player!! Young Harris College is going to a four year school this year. It was great to reunite with a lot of former basketball players and remember good times. We remembered being better than we actually were. Nobody remembered losing a game!
November 16 – Drove back to Clanton for the concluding day of the revival services. My brother, George, preached there on Monday. Everybody told me that the preaching really went down from Monday night to Tuesday night!
November 19 – Conducted a wedding ceremony for Ryan House and Meredith Hall. I enjoyed being involved in that phase of ministry.
November 20 – Went to Albany, Georgia, to preach at the Christ United Methodist Church on Sunday morning and Sunday night. It was interesting that they had an article in the newspaper about my coming and had what should have been my picture but was a picture of someone else with my name under it. The man was much younger, of a different race, and had some difficulties with law enforcement officers. I know it was an accident, but it was an interesting way to get people talking about the revival.
November 21 – Had a teaching event for church leaders deploying spiritual gifts within the local church. I also preached in Albany Monday night.
November 28 – Preached at the evening worship service at Frazer.
Please continue praying.
For the Cause of causes,
John Ed Mathison
