Yesterday I needed to find a date of an event in 1983. I went to The President's Memo, the tool that I used to communicate with faculty and staff at Northeastern Bible College. I found the date quickly. I started using a memo style called The Director's Memo when I was an adminstrator at Eastern Kentucky University. The Academic Dean's Memo followed at Liberty Baptist College (now Liberty University). I have a paper trail of my work as an educator and can account for most every day. The same is true of JGHM. Malachi spoke of God's Book of Remembrance (Malachi 3:16). There is a Book of Life in Heaven that has the names of all who have trusted Jesus. But there is a reference to the "books"  (Revelation 20:12) being opened. It is certain that we are all writing "a record" that is important to God. One day each person will give account for himself of his life on earth. May there be many entries to reveal that we were like Jesus in word and deed.

In May 1984, a decision was made to incorporate J. Gordon Henry Ministries as a non-profit organization in Tennessee. One requirement is to have a Board of Directors to oversee the work that we do. The board meets quarterly and the next meeting on October 8 will be Meeting #96. Some of the board members have been with me from the beginning. We could have no better board. In fact, each meeting is a revival for each of us. The prayer period is special! Usually the meeting is a few weeks after the end of a quarter. This time, due to the fourth quarter schedule, we are having the meeting early. My task today is to get as much of the board report ready as possible. The report is usually twenty-four pages with much information and many reports. Through the document prepared for each board meeting and the minutes, we have a paper trail of all that JGHM has done and an accounting of all the income and expenditures. Annually, we must filed Form 990 with the U. S. Government as a 501.c.3 organization. Today will be busy.

Having the opportunity to share a prayer seminar at the New Harvest Ministries, Baltimore, during my bithday weekend has been a joy. Twenty-two years ago, I was with Gateway Cathredral, Staten Island, for a prayer seminar during my 50th birthday weekend. A few times I have been conducting prayer seminars in South Africa with Leslie Motsalane, director, JGHM--Southern African Branch. The response from the people at Harvest was among the best I have seen. The Holy Spirit amazes me as He brings the Word alive to those who are willing to be taught.

Today is a travel day. Boxes are packed with prayer seminar workbooks, my books, and tapes for the materials' table. Since the seminar this weekend is in Baltimore (250 miles north of Lynchburg), I will drive. In my book, Notes from My Bible, one of the thousand notes is that "Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears." That applies to driving around Washington, D. C.--which is between here and Baltimore. Frankly, I don't like travel and would rather be at home. God's call, however, mandates travel. Miles have now reached 2,175,260, a lot of miles. While I don't like travel, God has provided traveling grace. I can say without equivocation--I DON'T REGRET A MILE THAT I HAVE TRAVELED FOR THE LORD. God is good. His grace is sufficient.

Today is the day to get the October Reflector into the mail. When the Reflector came into existence fifty-three years ago, I had no idea that the Lord would use it for so long to enable us to touch many lives through the written page. Many folks have shared that they sit down and read it from cover to cover as soon as it arrives. The lead study in this issue is on biblical meditation. Thanks to Lon Thomas, who takes care of the web site, we are able to share the Reflector on the internet. It is a joy to prepare the copy and an even greater joy to know that by tomorrow it will begin to arrive in homes.

When our first grandson arrived in 1979, Sue and I realized that we were in for a new experience. As the grandchildren came along, we decided that if we had known how wonderful grandchildren were we would have had them first. Of course, as my Mom concluded, "Every old crow thinks his are the blackest." For the past nineteen months, we have moved to a higher level enjoying our first great-granddaughter, Magnolia Grace Pribble who is known as "Maggie." Our offices are on the terrace level of our home. Maggie comes to the head of the stairs and calls "Guy," her name for her great-grandfather. Of couse everything comes to a halt. As I look, listen, hug, and respond to her, I am renewed by pure love. God is good!

My dear friend, Dr. Elmer Towns, is researching praying churches for a new book that he is writing. When I read his recent E-mail, I thought at once of Gloucester County Community Church in Washington Township, NJ, which I consider one of the leading churches in the United States. Dr. Bruce Sofia invited me to conduct a prayer seminar many years ago. Since then, I have had a number of seminars. The church has grown from around 200 when I started until over 3,000 today. Each service many come to Christ. Pastor Bruce learned that the work that must come before all other work is prayer. Seeing God's hand upon GCCC is a reminder that much prayer brings much power.

One thing that I have learned is that you never know what a new day holds. This morning a call came from Bob Bouchard, long-time Doorkeeper, who was with the pastor and staff of First Baptist Church, Madisonville KY. We visited via a speaker phone and made plans for a prayer revival at First Baptist January 13-16. This is a good format for the six-hour seminar beginning on Sunday morning and ending on Wednesday night.

A few minutes later a call came that David Tyree has died. I won David to the Lord in l973 and nurtured him in his Christian life. His entire family came to Christ. David became a deacon. Now he is home with the Lord awaiting the arrival of his family, his friends, and his pastor who shared Christ with him long ago.

Monday, September 10, 2007

After being on the road to Trinidad & Tobago for sixteen days, it is good to be back home. Returning from my first overseas ministry to Cuba in 1960, I rejoiced in the opportunity that the Lord had given me to touch lives with the Word of God in Placetas with around seventy professions of faith. But it was good to be back home.

In a conversation with Moses recorded in Exodus 3-4 on the "backside of the desert," God called Moses to leadership. Moses felt inadequate for the task God was assigning and said so. "Who am I" to go to Pharaoh (3:11)?  When I go to the children of Israel and say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you," they will say, "What is His name?" (3:13). Moses felt that He did know enough to carry out the mission. When he said, "They will not believe me" (4:1), God asked a simple question, "What is that in your hand?" It was a shepherd's rod. (4:2).

When I was invited, as a seventeen year old college student, to serve as a pastor in Berea, Kentucky in 1953, I read the dialogue over and over. How could I possibly fulfill the call that was being given me? I knew so little and felt that my primary responsibility was to get a good education. But the question kept coming to me, "What is that in your hand?" My conclusion was that God simply requires us to use what He places in our hands--no less, no more.

For fifty-four years, I have determined to use the opportunities that God placed before me. I have no idea how much time I have left, but I would like to be found faithfully doing His work when He returns or when He calls me home to Heaven. He has given me so much--a wonderful wife, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and a ministry encouraging people to become prayer warriors and partners known as Doorkeepers who provide the prayer and financial support to make the ministry possible. Jesus said, "For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required" (Luke 12:43).

Have you ever felt like Moses and like I felt when God called me to become a pastor? Just use what He places into your hand each day. Soon you will see God's provision for you to fulfill your mission. Talk with me about what is happening in your life. I am eager to hear from you.

 

Dr. Henry’s “Daily Blog”  will be activated Sept. 10, 2007

 I have just returned to the US from the beautiful islands of Trinidad and Tobago where my access to the internet was limited and the schedule heavy.  Although I will be back in my office on September 2. and hope to dialogue with you often and regularly, my Blog will not start until Monday September 10.  I look forward to it!