-Transcript-
00:25 Amen, glory to God. Welcome to the program. Welcome to the cafe. My name is Pastor Clark Covington pastor of Heartland Community, Baptist Church Kings Mountain, North Carolina. So glad you’re listening today.
00:34 Hey, today’s a special day, all week. We’ve been in the word talking about showing fourth, praise to God. And I said, okay, we’re gonna do four episodes or so.
00:45 That’s what we did Looking at Psalm 9 and how David shows us how to praise God. And I thought today I would just praise God a little bit And I hope you’re okay with that. Um Just to give God the glory, our text verse here.
01:01 Psalm 9:1, I will praise the O Lord with my whole heart. I will show forth all thy marvelous works, You know, God has been so good to me. Um it’s just, you know it’s inconceivable really? I think in man’s eyes done with somebody amen.
01:19 Oh he has just been so good to me. Uh, and his lawfulness, You know, I’m so busy explaining all week long in these episodes about how we are to show forth, praise to God.
01:35 I was almost envious of not being able to show forth more, praise to God, but what he’s done in my life and maybe by me sharing a little bit, might encourage you here today,
01:47 Because I think that the Lord allowed me to go through a lot and allowed me to personally make a lot of bad decisions and I take accountability for those, But maybe he allowed it so that I could relate to you out there today.
02:00 You know. Maybe you’re going through a hard time. Maybe you don’t even know God. And you’re wondering, You know, is God real? What is he doing? In the lives of those, that believe in him, that that have turned to him.
02:15 Uh, what what could he do for you? Maybe you’re not saved as they would say, or maybe Backslid, which means, like, you got saved and you’re completely out of church or you’re in church, but you just don’t really care for it.
02:27 You don’t do much to it. This is the only radio station that came in or whatever it may be. Someone sent you this episode online, whatever it is. Look, I’m gonna tell you that I grew up in such a unique situation.
02:40 I grew up in one of the richest towns in all of America. It up north. And I tell people down south, I don’t mention too often. I’m from up north because I don’t want to, I don’t want to get a someone told me when I first moved to South Carolina,
02:56 20 years ago, they said don’t if you go like get a car, don’t tell people, you’re from New York because they give you a higher price on the car. They’ll call you a Yankee or something. So, but yeah, I grew up there.
03:06 I mean, my, my parents split when I was very young, five years old and I grew up in a little town, Bronxville, New York, a tiny little town, 11 miles from New York City. And now, I wish I could say I guess I don’t know that we had a bunch of money or something but it really was just a crazy situation where my grandparents
03:28 Who also have now been divorced separated, they were both college professors and they live there. They got their house like 100 Year literally like 100 years ago And it was cheaper. Then that’s basically the explanation.
03:41 So end up in Grandma’s house In this beautiful house. Beauty looks like a little castle almost In this. Beautiful town, Full of people that were very, very successful and we didn’t have a whole lot of anything. My mom didn’t work.
03:55 My grandma was retired on a pension from, like, 1950 or 60, or something. Ridiculous. We didn’t have a whole lot And I grew up around people that had everything, Uh, materially. And I can tell you, there was no no big revival in that town.
04:12 I can tell you that materialism, as much as I saw growing up. I mean, I saw children, driving really expensive cars and I saw them taking lavish trips and wearing the real high-end brands, and really just having whatever they wanted.
04:26 And and I saw there was an emptiness there and avoid there. And I saw a great culture of alcoholism and I’m sad to say that I went to a very small school, but I know really many people that have died from drugs and alcohol.
04:37 It’s very sad, but graduating class was like, 80 some kids and several of them died and several kids from the class above died. And it’s really sad from drugs and alcohol preventable. But to fill that void,
04:50 you know, they had all the money and the parents were so busy. I guess making all that money parents weren’t around. And there was a lot of drinking, a lot of alcohol, a lot of drugs And as someone from a broken home,
05:01 somebody with no doubt in the house, somebody with a sick mom, I could do whatever I wanted at the age of six or seven. So I grew up way too fast and got into every bad thing you can imagine. Amen.
05:14 I can tell you that in all sincerity, like if you’ve gotten into something bad, I’ve probably gotten into it too And it was bad and it got really bad and It’s a miracle. I even went to school. My own guidance concert said you probably can’t go to school, but God gave me love for sports.
05:29 God allowed me to play football. God gave me a real tough coach that stayed on me day in. And day out was one of my teachers, kind of like a father figure to me. And even after my mom had to go into into a institution.
05:41 I lived with a other family. I was able to finish High School. There, we went to the state championship in football and lost, amen, but we still got to the state championship. It was uh it was kind of like a dream come true but it was also It was also just so empty, you know?
05:55 And I saw all my friends, they had all the material things that people strive for it was so empty. And I went to college and and because of football pretty much. I had a lot of Aid because the football to go to school and went to college in Ohio because I want to get the heck out of that area.
06:12 And four years in Ohio was pretty cold. But, You know, I just around that time, Lord started working on me and I didn’t feel right. If I went to church, I wasn’t saved but I didn’t feel right. If I didn’t go to church, I started going to church. Amen.
06:24 Uh, I started thinking a lot about God and the Lord. And um, First Baptist Church, Delaware, Ohio, Pastor Tim Chester. He gave me a certificate. He said, Clark you come more in our members and I was very blessed by that, on the day of my college graduation, finished school and moved down south, try to get to know my dad.
06:43 And that was, that was a rough time there too and got into a lot of bad. Things even even after getting saved, amen. I was in a big church and I just was living. Just so foolishly for so long And uh I got to my late 20s, I’d say and I just gave it to God.
06:58 It’s the Lord. I can’t do this anymore And Lord got a hold of me and I just gave it all. I literally just said, Lord, everything I have is your horse. And now, by the way, I heard preaching on this, when you make a promise to God, be careful what you promise to God, because he’s going to remember it. And uh, he’s held me to that promise.
07:16 I gave him everything and he’s kind of held held held that end of the bargain, where he expects everything from me. I believe that and I gave him everything. And I started going to church getting serious about my faith about living for the Lord. Uh, about his word.
07:28 I met a beautiful woman here in King’s Mountains. Are going to a good Bible believe, in little small, independent Baptist, country church, and spent seven years in there, first as the video guy, and then as the Deacon, as then, as a youth preacher, quote, unquote,
07:44 And then Lord called me to plan a church about four years, almost, four years ago, before years in a couple of months. So, almost four years ago, plant that church and in a couple years after we started Lord called me to do the radio Ministry and I’ll tell you this.
08:00 God has been so good to you. Somebody like me that is literally in the eyes of the world useless, the Eman. I’m one sitting here telling you like, I, literally could tell you say, oh, I want to go to the bar and have fun.
08:14 I can tell you how useless that is, and how short-lived that is, and how there’s pleasure and sin for a season, but that hangover will be 10 times worse than whatever you were dealing with and how the people air won’t give you the time of day, the next day, a lot of times, and how shallow it is.
08:28 Now, you chase these material things and I can say, I lived around it. I saw it and how worthless it was and how devastating and depressing it was. If people think they get rich, they don’t have problems.
08:37 No friend, you just have different problems and by the way, a lot of those problems are a lot more complex and ridiculous than the problems you got. When you’re poor, when you’re poor, you got.
08:45 That’s what a brother in. Our church says, he says, when your poor, you got one problem. You don’t have money. I thought that was a great one, but you know what, when you’re pouring, you don’t have money.
08:52 You know what you still have. You have God, Amen. You have God and you have a piece that surpasses all understanding. And so the Lord is allowed me to live this. Incredible life of, uh, Seeing all these things.
09:04 I hate say worldliness. But you know almost 27 28 29 years Worldliness of seeing how fruitless it is and maybe that’s where you are today That you’ve chased something. Maybe it’s a a relationship, maybe it’s a home, maybe it’s a car, maybe it’s a job.
09:22 You know, whatever you’ve chased something. And you’ve been let down and you’re like this isn’t what I thought it would be. Look, I’ve got news for you. Nothing will satisfy you until you come to know Jesus Christ, as Lord and savior.
09:36 I’ma tell you how you can do that in a minute. Nothing will satisfy you Because guess what? God is the engineer God made us and he made us to worship him to accept him to live for him to praise him
09:51 And I’m as happy as a clam now on most days Lord’s given me a little business to run Lord’s, giving me. Peace and quiet. He has given me kids that I can tell don’t do what Daddy did I can tell him, you know, in all honesty and sincerity,
10:03 Lord’s allowed our ministry to be on the radio and to work with missions To work in the food Ministries allowed. Our little Ministry to branch off and do a lot of things.
10:14 and I can tell you that’s all because I put my faith in Jesus Christ and I I got to that point, you know, in the Beatitudes Jesus says there on the Mount he says blessed are the poor and Spirit and what he’s trying to say, I believe here is, you have to have that broken heart In order to be used by God, in order to understand your need for God.
10:36 And so if maybe you have that broken heart today, maybe you’re poor in spirit And all I want you today to do is to pray to God and ask him to save you. And for those that have already been saved, I’ll get to you in a minute, hang on.
10:49 But if you haven’t yet, please believe that. Jesus Christ himself really came down uh born of a virgin Live 33 and a half years walk this Earth, perfect and sinless and was crucified willingly on the CrossFit Calvary and shed his precious Blood and was buried three days in the grave and risen again, so that you could be saved.
11:12 So that he could pay that sin debt, that you have that, you can’t pay. So you have a sin that the Bible says, I think as Romans 3:23, that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, we have a sinned that we can’t pay. So God sends Jesus, that’s himself in the flesh to die for our sins. And when we simply believe on him, all we have to do is have faith.
11:30 When we believe on him, we’re saved. And once you’re saved, you have the Holy Spirit living within you. Your name is written down the Lamb’s Book of Life, never be blotted out.
11:38 Never to be erased. You will always be in heaven with Jesus and you don’t need to belong to a church. You don’t need to have money status. You need to have a degree, you don’t need anything other than to believe.
11:51 The Bible says we’re Justified by faith. If you simply believe on Jesus Christ, you can and will be saved. And when you are saved, he will change your life. You will never be the same. I can testify that he has changed my life.
12:03 Literally, I don’t say bad words anymore, I don’t drink anymore. I don’t listen to worldly music anymore. I don’t do dot dot dot that, I’m too ashamed to even say on the radio anymore, he has changed my life.
12:17 I had a nephew that was on strong out on on real real, really bad drugs. He got saved. Amen, at Crossroads rescue Mission. He got saved. He’s got a family now. He’s got a steady job. God is blessing him.
12:33 He’s a living testimony. Look at the fruit of those that have truly given their life to Christ and you will never find one that wants to turn away from him. If you truly give your life to Christ and you see what he’s doing in your life.
12:42 You will never ever want to leave him. Amen. He is that good. The Bible is full of these rich stories of people that go off and try to find pleasure in the world and they’re hurt and they’re humbled and they turn to God and God saves them and God preserves them and God blesses them and he is willing more than willing to do that with you today.
13:01 All you have to do is accept him. You know what’s holding you, If you’re driving pull over, stop the car and just simply pray. Jesus saved me, I believe you died for my sins. Please save me today. And if you’ve been saved And you going to fall off from God, it’s not too late.
13:19 He can still use you. I just gave my testimony of almost 30 years, sad, to say that I lived a far off, from God. He can still use you, amen. He can use you, he called me to be a preacher. He called me to all kinds of Ministries.
13:30 He can do the same to you and it didn’t start. It didn’t start before. I got right with him, I got right with him. You know how many times I went to the altar and just pleaded with God, to use me, and to help me a whole many times, many times friend.
13:42 So the starting point is to go to God and to repent of your sin to ask God to help you to be on fire for him again to renew that joy of your salvation and to use you. Amen, to use you and God will do it again.
13:55 Many rich story stories in the Bible of God, using people, real historical people Like Samson and many others that God used as they returned to him Return to God. Today, if you’ve turned from him, please return to him.
14:06 He’s so good and you will live the best life you’ve ever lived in. That’s the irony. It looks like you’re giving everything up, but you get everything.
14:16 When you live for God, you get everything. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world, I barely can contain. It is so beautiful. Praise him today. Seek him today.
14:25 Thank you for listening. Take care. God bless. Amen.