Guest Speaker Don Currin

Don Currin is our guest preacher today. Don is a full time evangelist and has conducted over 700 local church meetings, retreats, and conferences across North America. His preaching ministry has taken him to five continents. He has been a full time itinerant preacher for 27 years and has been in the ministry for 33 years.

He is also serving as Coordinator for Eastern Europe with HeartCry Missionary Society in Muscle Shoals, AL. His ministry includes organizing Bible conferences for missionary training and corresponding with the HeartCry missionaries in Romania, Serbia, Moldova, and the Ukraine.

Don’s wife of 31 years is Cindy and they have four children: Nathan, Aaron, Hannah, and Rachel.

Please make the Currin’s welcome today as they minister at Tharptown Baptist Church.

Good Morning, Lord

This past week my dad sent me an email entitled “Holy Humor.” One of the jokes stated, “Somebody has said there are only two kinds of people in the world. There are those who wake up in the morning and say, ‘Good morning, Lord,’ and there are those who wake up in the morning and say, ‘Good Lord, it’s morning.’”

I have heard it that there are two different kinds of people in the world but never in a way such as this. Although it is funny in some sense, it causes me to ask a question: How do I wake up in the morning? Better yet, how do you wake up in the morning?

I would dare say that even this morning there were some who woke up saying, “Good Lord, it’s morning.” I know there are days during the week that I think such things as I crawl out of bed. But what if everyday we could wake up saying, “Good morning, Lord.”

There is a book I have been reading entitled 10 Things Every Minister Needs to Know by Ronnie Floyd. The first chapter of his book is entitled “The Power of One Hour” and within that chapter Floyd talks about the power we can gain from spending one hour a day with God. Later in the book, Floyd goes on to say that he wakes up every morning by 4:00 am to spend an hour with God and an hour exercising before he goes to work. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? Is it worth it?

This challenges me. What does it do for you? Some would say there is no sense in doing this because you can have a quiet time whenever you want to. I would guess that most of us don’t have a quiet time at all but what if you disciplined yourself to wake up every morning saying, “Good morning, Lord”? Sometimes we wonder why our day goes so bad and perhaps it is because we haven’t talked to God all day because He’s not worth waking up for. As Jody stated last Sunday night, maybe we don’t know God or even see a need to spend time with him. It’s a hard thought to digest but our churches are full of people who think like this. It always humbles me to remember that I didn’t do God a favor by being saved. We owe him our lives, our sleep, everything that we have. Can you give Him just one hour?

I challenge you to spend time with God daily. Even more so I challenge you to spend time with him in the morning before your day even gets started. Don’t depend on the church or some preacher to give you enough theology to last you all week. As I told the youth last week during Sunday school, Christianity is a thinking faith. If you’re not asking questions then you are not thinking and if you’re not seeking and answer you’re not pursuing God. We should never be able to get enough of him. See if you can discover the power of one hour by saying, “Good morning, Lord.”

Because He lives,
Bro. Jared

Update from Willinliu

I recently received an update from Willinliu Nemai, our missionary in Bhutan. She is doing well, and steadfast in her conviction and calling as a missionary. But her work is not without trials. Her landlord recently started the rumor that she was past due on her rent. The accusation caused her much grief, but since then, the landlord has recanted. After his confession, Willinliu says “my joy knows no bounds.”

Willinliu has begun a home Bible study. Recently she had six people coming to hear her share from the Bible. She has been fearful that they would quit coming because she didn’t have chairs for them, but they come anyway and sit on the floor to hear the word. I wonder if we are as hungry and eager to hear God’s word?

In every letter, Willinliu asks for our continued prayers. We have the capacity to overwhelm her with money, but what she desires and covets is our prayers. Pray that God’s name would be magnified through her witness in the Kingdom of Bhutan.

We couldn’t sustain a viable ministry effort in Asia without a partner. That partner is HeartCry Missionary Society. Next week, Matt Glass will be preaching both services here at Tharptown. Matt is the Asian Missions Coordinator for HeartCry and our primary link with Willinliu. Take time to pray for Matt as God prepares him to bring us His word.

-Ken Askew