I just returned home from the Baptist History Tour sponsored by Jeff Faggart. We had thirty men who went on the trip, most of whom were preachers and many of these were pastors. We were greatly blessed during the trip in many ways and I may be able to speak of some of these blessings later. However, the trip also seemed to be a lesson in the battles and even the failures experienced in the ministry. Many of these problems revealed themselves as current events and not history.
While on the trip, one man received information that his pastor was resigning because of immorality. Another man heard that the church in which he was ordained had almost collapsed and that the bank was preparing to foreclose on their loans and that they would lose their buildings. In other situations, I heard of churches that had operated great ministries had now fallen apart sinking to mere shadows of their former selves. Please suspend your curiosity as to who these men and churches are. That is not the issue. The issue is that many good churches
are hurting; some are falling; men of God are also falling.
We should lift each other up in prayer in these last days. We should never rejoice in the failures of others. Proverbs 17:5 states, "Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished." We should pray for the restoration of the fallen and for the preservation of good churches and godly men. Also, those of us who are still serving the Lord must keep our eyes on Him. We cannot prosper in the work of God in our own strength.
