Outstanding Meeting

Good morning on this Saturday, September 22nd. I am writing my blog a little later than the normal time today because I had a power outage which caused my Internet connection to fail. I'm writing today on my son-in-law's IPad through his Internet connection. Earlier this week I had the privilege of speaking at the Fall Baptist Bible Fellowship Meeting in Canton, Ohio. I was burdened by the number of preachers who confided in me their level of discouragement and heartache. It was a blessing to be able to provide them encouragement and hopefully help with their burdens as pastors and missionaries. In light of the statistics I shared about pastors in my message, I suppose I should not have been surprised at their needs, but when you hear their stories, it is a heart-wrenching experience. Their is a truism that has often been repeated in ministry, "God never wastes a heartache." My experiences in the early days of my ministry at Edgewood helped me to not only understand their burdens but empathize as well. I found myself wanting to weep over their circumstances and become determined to help them any way I could.

I also found myself thanking God for today's Edgewood and the wonderful people who have supported me through the nearly 50 years of my ministry. Thank you to all of the Godly faithful people who have made my ministry a success and given me such joy in my service for The Lord. It is because of God's grace and you that I am what I am today, and I thank God for the privilege of pastoring some of the very best of God's people. As one of our members told me, "we brought you up right." After 44 years through the tough times and the good, I can say, Amen to that.
Mel Brown