Our last day at R&C was memorable. Thank you for the wonderful potluck and the ways you have shared (not just Sunday, but in these last several weeks) with us how we have touched your lives. The food, sentiments, hugs, tears, generous donations and gifts, cards, and smiles all around will always be cherished.
I'm now officially gearing up for being with the Lakehoma church this next Sunday. I hope you'll worship with us as welcome guests in the years ahead when you are in the OKC area.
I'll be cleaning out my office/study tomorrow, and turning in my key. Many a prayer has been prayed for you in that quiet corner, and it brings tears to my eyes to write these words. The last thing I will do before I lock it for the last time is say one more prayer of blessing for all of you. Love, Clyde
God be with you till we meet again;
By His counsels guide, uphold you.
With His sheep securely fold you;
God be with you till we meet again.
If any of you get a chance to run up to Harding for the lectures, I'd love to see some familiar faces! I'll be back in this area to deliver a keynote lesson from the Psalms at 11 on Monday morning, and I have three class sessions on Wednesday (the theme for the classes is Faith Factor!). Click here for a link to the schedule. Blessings, Clyde
[This is the final bulletin article/front page "Clyde's Column" installment I will post. I'll probably post a few more thoughts before I leave, but if I don't get to it, you can keep up with me at http://www.clydeslimp.com/ in days ahead. ---Blessings, CHS]
Ecclesiastes 3 begins with these memorable lines:
There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
I recall the dreams I planted here with you as a younger man back in 1999. It is sad to me that some of those dreams never came to fruition. Nevertheless, I have my share of joys to recall and I rejoice over the good things I have seen and been a part of in my time here.
I also have great hopes for you and for your next preacher. I pray he will find here a partnering, prayerful relationship with the elders and with the congregation, that you will give him (and his wife and children if he is a family man) your love, support, and constant prayers, and that God will do mighty things through all of you working and growing together.
R&C and Conway will always be special to us because it was here that Seth moved as a 3-year-old (he turns 11 in September!) and it was here that Andrew and Matthew came into the world. It will always be special because of the lives we’ve touched and been touched by. You will be forever in our hearts, as I pray we will remain in yours.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.
· “I hope God’s glory is seen”—that was our theme for the celebration and commemoration of the godly life of Rita Fougerousse. Rachel and I are among the scores who have been very blessed by the faith and friendship of “The Fougerousse Five.” Through the pain of loss, it will comfort the heart of us all to remember Rita’s smile and how firmly she kept her hand in the hand of the Lord she loved so dearly. Some beautiful lines from one of my favorite poems come to mind when I think of Rita and the legacy she has left behind for her family and friends: “Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven/Hath swallowed up thy form, yet, on my heart/Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given/And shall not soon depart,” (“To A Waterfowl,” William Cullen Bryant). Continue to lift up Mark, Lauren, Tanner, Erin and the Hill family in your prayers.
· R&C also recently lost Janet Brady (mother of Steve Sullivan, a former R&C member) when a small plane crashed into her home and took her life. Her husband of 30 years, J. V., had been attending R&C weekly with her for a long time. Talking with him, he cited her dedication to spending time in prayer and her love for reading her Bible. He praised her good influence, her heart that was so touched by the needs of others, and her faith. I remember her sweet spirit and how she squeezed my hand at the back door as she was leaving worship on her final Sunday morning in this world and told me they sure were going to miss me. Before the week was through, she herself was being missed by those grieving her tragic passing. As Proverbs 27:1 reminds us, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” We need to live our lives closely connected to Jesus so that we will be ready when it is our time to go, or for His return, as 1 John 2:28 urges us: “And now, dear children, continue to live in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.”
I appreciate the positive feedback to recent sermons. It is always encouraging to hear how the preached word is a blessing in your life. I encourage you to pray for Togo missionary Marty Koonce who will be preaching this next Sunday morning (I will preach Sunday night). I will bring both the morning and evening sermons for
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As I said Sunday, thank you for hugging our neck (or lovingly threatening to break it!) and wishing us well since we shared with you recently our decision to accept the invitation of the Lakehoma church in Mustang, OK (in a corner of OKC) to come be their preaching minister. It is an exciting time in our lives, but transition is always a difficult time as well. Part of that difficulty is saying good-bye. In my “ministry of good-bye” I am appreciative of so many of you who have pledged your prayers for me and Rachel, Seth, Andrew, and Matthew and our continued work for the Lord. Our special thanks to those of you who have helped us in some way already and to those who have offered to help in whatever way you can. Our lives have been blessed by so many of you, and we pray we have been a blessing to your walk with the Lord as we have shared these past 8 years of our lives together. I know God can do wonderful things in and through His people, and you will have my love and prayers for the path He will set before you and the man He will bring here to take the baton and run with it to His glory.
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Having said all of that, we aren’t leaving just yet! I will be here through the end of July (my last Sunday at R&C will be July 29th). I’ll look forward to spending some more time with you as your preacher over the next several weeks and bringing my final messages from God’s word to you.
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I want to offer a special word of commendation for our friend and brother, David Koone. David and Michelle have servant hearts. Although he resigned as a deacon, I know their family will continue to serve God in numerous ways at R&C.
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Missions: alive and well at R&C! There is a lot of excitement about mission opportunities and campaigns, and a lot of prayer support for our missionaries and campaigners. I know our Mexico group and the missionaries this congregation supports are thankful to have their names lifted up in prayer, and that God is pleased with any support you can give them, be it by a timely care package, e-mail, phone call, pat on the back, or whatever form it may take.
· What a wonderful day we had this past Sunday! We had several visitors in worship on Sunday morning as well as a good crowd for Sunday night. And Sunday night was special. Larry Joe Smith came forward and we were all able to pray together and rejoice with each other and the Lord. After worship, the elders and many of us circled around the auditorium to pray for several of our number who are in need of healing and help from the Lord. I was once moved to write a few lines about our great need for faith, and our great need for the power of prayer, and I hope this short poem will be a blessing to some of you:
A faith that conquers stormy seas
Disciples find upon their knees
And they who fall, face to the sod
Will always find the face of God.
· My family enjoyed being with the West Side Church of Christ in Russellville, AR this past Wednesday night to kick off their Community Enrichment summer series. I love Dan Lightfoot (coming to R&C for our summer series next week) and was glad to get to be around Chris Buxton and Bruce Grice and get to know folks at West Side a little better. Some of them sent greetings to you here at R&C. Dan gave my boys gold dollar coins and did the disappearing hanky trick and they had some fun with that (especially since he made them reappear and they left with their dollar coins intact).
· I will be taking two Bible short courses over the next two weeks. I will be here on Sundays to preach but will be in class (Monday—Saturday) at HUGSR in Memphis.
· Austin Graduate School of Theology had a wonderful sermon seminar. The speakers did an excellent job. Bruce McLarty (who will be back to R&C before too long), Curt Niccum, Tom Olbricht, Glenn Pemberton and others led around 200 of us in exploring Scripture.
Yes, fried chicken actually taught me something once. It was Andrew’s birthday. He was now a two-year-old! Rachel made him some of his favorite foods that day and at one point he was starting to eat a chicken leg. Unfortunately, he started to attack the big end of the leg, and two-year-old teeth just can’t do much with chicken bone!
I saw what needed to happen. I held the chicken leg up to his little mouth and became his rotisserie machine, rotating it to where the meat was easier to eat. He did not thank me; I think it annoyed him a little. But he got to eat chicken instead of bone that way, and that was good.
I suddenly saw myself as a two-year-old before God. He is tender and patient with me, and he wants me to get some nourishment. Sometimes he steps in, even when I think I’m doing all right on my own as I bite into a bone. I need help, even when I don’t know I need help! Often, when I do not know how he is working, I am being helped by God.
I’m amazed by–and blessed by–the tenderness and patience of God. I rejoice because of “the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven…to guide our feet into the path of peace,” (Luke 1:78-79). I’m thankful that “when the kindness and love of God appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life,” (Titus 3:4-7).
I’m thankful for precious moments with my children and how, through them, God sometimes lets me catch a glimpse of his heart.
- Our Summer Speaker Series is almost here! Scott Adair will kick off the series with a helpful overview of the parables. The first Wednesday night in June (6th) will kick off this special series.
- Marty Knight will be leading an R&C mission team to Cluj, Romania from July 18-31. Currently there are six from R&C who are seriously considering making the trip. So that R&C can help be a sending church for this group, there will be a special contribution on Sunday, June 3 to support them. There will be a prayer service this Sunday night during which Marty will say a few words about the trip and prayers will be led for all of R&C’s mission efforts. To God be the glory for all of the efforts currently underway or being planned!
- Missionary Loy Mitchell taught my wife and me a simple song called “Lift Jesus Higher” years ago while we were in Zimbabwe, Africa for a campaign. It calls for us to lift Jesus up for the world to see, and quotes the words of Jesus from John 12:32, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” For Jesus, being lifted up on the cross would lead to being lifted up from the tomb, and finally lifted up to the Father. The shame of death by crucifixion would ultimately bring great glory to the Father. The world could not come to the Father until and unless Jesus was lifted up on the tree. Now the magnetism of Jesus and the cross draws all people to Jesus so that Jesus can lift us up to the Father. And, we are called to lift Jesus up in our lives as we follow him. As he said, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me,” (John 12:26). We still sing the song, now with our boys during family devotionals. It’s a fantastic song to sing. It’s a tough challenge–a magnificent challenge–to live it out! “Lift Jesus higher, lift Jesus higher/Lift him up for the world to see/He said “If I be lifted up from the earth/I will draw all men unto me.”
Welcome to the R&C blogosphere--you can link to my personal blog at www.clydeslimp.com if you would like to check out some stuff I have on it. The latest thing I uploaded to my site: the three lessons Randy Willingham delivered at R&C for our Family Emphasis Day. Blessings, Clyde