Month: July 2025

I grew up in church. Mom had me in church before I was a week old, and by six I knew I wanted to be a preacher. When I was twelve a great aunt died and left a trust fund to cover the cost of my education, if I were to pursue becoming one. At fifteen I won a preaching contest, and was told I’d be preaching before 6,000 people the next day. By seventeen I was a student at Lincoln Christian College, and by eighteen a week-end youth minister at Bunn Park. All I lacked was golf clubs.
I had always heard that preachers played golf, so I figured I had to buy a set of clubs. I hit the links with a fellow youth minister a couple of times, but soon decided I’d rather settle for Putt-Putt with my youth group.
I didn’t visit a golf course again until Grace and Anna played in high school. But before long, Grandma and I were following all the grandkids around in a golf cart. That was all I ever planned to do, until Carter handed me a club and said we were going to play together.
I was really surprised I could even hit the ball, and we actually used my ball a few times in the scramble. My forearm ached the next day, but I decided it was well worth it. It wasn’t long, however, until I was feeling a little left out when the family played without me. They didn’t want to scramble all the time, so I knew I’d have to get better, and did something no one saw coming. Sixty years after giving away my clubs, I bought a second set. Who knows, maybe I’ll become a real golf-playing preacher before long.
Even more surprising, I just became a Mercedes-driving TV preacher. (I guess YouTube counts:) Anyway, after trading in my ten year old Spark for what I thought would be the last car I’d ever buy, a neighbor put a for-sale sign on his 23 year old two-seat convertible. It was far less than my “clown car” had been, so after convincing Marilyn that her Honda could be left outside, and that a roadster could replace the motorcycle I sold last year, it found a place in the garage.
Who knew life in the 70s could be so much fun for a preacher.
God Bless, Rick

The actual corner stone of our church is Christ. The decorative corner stone on our building was engraved with the words “UNLESS THE LORD BUILDS THE HOUSE THEY LABOR IN VAIN WHO BUILD IT” when is was constructed in 1976. We believed it then, and we believe it now.

I doubt the psalmist was talking about the carpenter from Nazareth when he wrote it. He was stressing the fact that unless the Lord is the driving force behind anything built in His name, no matter how magnificent or modest, it will mean nothing to Him. I trust what we build truly honors Him.

The home our crew in Mexico built for a young family was not intended to bring glory to Chatham Christian Church, but to Christ. It was financed by the material wealth God has blessed us with, undergirded with prayer, and built by loving hands He created. I’m confident He was honored by their labor.

Before the end of July, you should see the ground being prepared for another building we trust will honor Him. The funds for the building came from a couple who kept their eye on the prize, and made sure what God had blessed them with in life would continue honoring Him after they received their eternal reward. It’s our prayer that the gymnasium we’re building will begin being used for His glory sometime this fall.

Their faithfulness in life and death is also making it possible for a church in Jamaica to get a new roof. I spent quite a bit of time on the old roof, patching and painting, with several mission teams that went there to work with Theo and Rose. The old roof had been built by volunteers from the states after the original roof blew off in a hurricane. Even if the roof now being built gets blown off some day, it will not have been built in vain.

There is one more house, actually a home, that will be built here this month. On July 12th I’ll have the pleasure of bringing Anna and Luke together to build a home that will honor Him, as I also did last July with Grace and Zack.

God bless, Rick