The Album

        Hurricane Agnes destroyed a lot of things on the East Coast including my slide collection of about 25 years. I lost all of my slide photographs from my South American Trip plus everything that I had photographed from my high school days through college and into my Navy and A. T. and T. days. I now have a basement full of photographs that I have taken since that time plus many from my parents. Sometimes it is good to sit down in the pile of photos, some loose and some in albums, and recall the people that have been in our past and the part that they played in our ministries. We have photos of Zion Baptist Church in Orange, Virginia, of Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia and then to Christiansburg, Spain, Ark, Parkersburg and now in Roanoke. We were never alone in our ministries and that has been an encouragement to us both then and now and gives us a special hope for the future. Romans 16:1 says, “ I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:”

         The Apostle Paul didn't have a poloroid camera or a 35mm camera or anything like that but he did want to remind people of his evangelistic team that was working with him for the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He begins in Romans 16 with the verse above which mentions Phebe and then goes on to include the names of at least 27 different people. It is a passage of Scripture that reminds me of the missionary prayer letter that shows a group of people all waving to the supporters at home. The same things is taking place in Romans 16 especially in the first sixteen verses. Some are never mentioned again in the Scriptures while others are. Paul, who was a persecutor of the church in his earlier days, wasn't alone in the work that was being done in the early church. Some of them had churches in their homes, others brought things to Paul when he needed them. They were all a part of the early church and had the same goal in mind and were excited about the ministry and what God was doing with and through them where they were. The same is true for us today. We are not alone in our ministries. We always say that God is with us and we know that and it is an overwhelming confidence but there are also people and as I think about the past, names come up like Flint and Mary Ann, Randy and Zoann, Monroe and Lois, Larry and Sue, Dick, Gary and Rita, Paul and Joyce, Ron and Becky, and the list could go on and on. They were and still are a part of the ministry for the Lord. When you think about it, your life is probably dotted with the lives of friends and helpers in the ministries in which you have found yourselves. Like the Apostle Paul, you can create your own Poloroid photo by remembering the people that have been such a vital part of your life. We are often reminded that the church is not merely a building sitting on a piece of property, but actually is the people themselves. The groups of people are what make the church what it is and not the building, pews, carpet, organ, piano and stained glass windows. When you get a little discouraged in your ministry area, and we all have one or more, then reflect on the people who have encouraged you, prayed for you, been there in times of sorrow and joy and then rejoice in who they are and that they are just plain there. Remember the words of Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Praise God for you own team in the work of the Lord.