PASTOR’S NOTE

Beginnings and Endings, these are the substances of life.  All of us have at least this much in common.  All of us have at least this much substance.  Some, because of wealth or status of their beginnings, could simply do little and still be catapulted into fame and fortune.  Others, to obtain the same, will be regardless of their beginnings.  There are many that regardless of all the advantages afforded them, will end with little or nothing and pass from us leaving behind only a sad epitaph.  An ending, that for the most part, leaves us with a feeling of pity and a sigh on our lips of, “what a waste”.  Thank God for those who grasp hold of their lot regardless of what the circumstances surrounding their start and strive for excellence.  We breathe in their story like a breath of fresh life and it strengthens us to press on another day.  Years ago when I was just starting to answer this call to preach the gospel, another young man was beginning his journey as well.  This young man was Ronnie Parks.  Ronnie and I were given the opportunity to preach our first sermons together on the same night in a little Pentecostal Church in Rose Hill, Virginia.  That night we took about fifteen to twenty minutes and made our first attempts at plying our craft or lack thereof.  I remember Ronnie doing much better than me.  Ronnie was from Rose Hill and lived there with his mother.  I was the son of a great preacher and evangelist.  I had been everywhere and met so many great men of God.  Ronnie had met those who passed through his small town.  From there, by the grace of God, I took off to evangelize with intermediate attempts at pastoring and several trips abroad to share the gospel.  Ronnie stayed close pastoring different times in the tri-state area of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.  He spent the last years ministering in the Grundy, Virginia area.  Ronnie and I were not close, but we remained good friends.  I remember the last time I saw him.  We sat in a Shoneys restaurant in Richlands, Virginia and talked about our ministries, vision and life.  Last week Ronnie’s life came to an end after a battle with leukemia.  Too young to go, gone anyway.  He took what he was given and blessed people whereever he went.  He was a man of faith, a man of the Word, a man with a good heart.  He will be missed.  No sigh of regret here over a beginning squandered and a life not lived well.  I will miss you old friend.  Yet I must wonder, what my own end will be?  Psalms 17:15