-Transcript-
00:35 Amen. Glory to God. Welcome to the cafe today.
00:40 Hope you’re doing well. We’re having a wonderful day. Today we’re going to have a special episode.
00:47 I’m spending a lot of time lately diving deep into the Scriptures, studying everything from Psalms to Proverbs to Paul’s epistles and today I’m taking a step back and just want to thank God, testify a little bit about His love towards me, towards my family, and just thank God for all that He’s done because truly God has been so good to our family
01:11 and maybe my story might inspire you a little bit. My testimony, it’s gonna give glory to God, I hope and pray, but hopefully it’ll inspire you to thank God for what He’s done in your life. You know, as a preacher I’ve been very blessed to have opportunities in the ministry almost as soon as I got started and anyone that knows my testimony knows that I grew up in a broken home and had a lot of problems and got into every kind of sinful bad thing you can imagine and really it’s a miracle I didn’t end up dead or in jail and Lord has just miraculously allowed me second chance and third chance and fourth chance and fifth chance and sixth chance and seventh chance, Amen.
01:55 Seventh is the number of completion but somehow He kept going and allowed me an eighth and a ninth and a tenth chance and I’m so fortunate that the Lord allowed me to get into the ministry and the Lord is so calculating and so smart.
He couldn’t have just said, okay Clark you’re gonna be a preacher because I really had no desire to preach and I did not feel worthy of the pulpit by any means.
02:17 I still don’t in a way but that time I really didn’t and so I was able to be involved in the video ministry at our church and church was growing and this type of congregation constantly had music events and revivals and guess what they wanted to videotape everything.
02:38 Of course as they videotape it’s a digital file but you know what I mean and so I was involved in the ministry videoing everything and I guess it must have been all of those ministry events and I would even video testimonies and post them that just somehow Lord got a hold of my heart and
02:56 He’s so clever because here I was thinking I’m just the video guy and that’s my service to the Lord and that’s it and by the way if that’s all you do that is a wonderful ministry.
03:04 We need more video guys and gals out there to help out but hey you know what God did?
03:10 He took me a little bit further and got me involved in doing audio recordings and video and involved in becoming a deacon because I met the qualifications you know according to my preacher I was reading it and I said
03:25 I think I might qualify for this and he said you’re right. I became a deacon eventually and I was involved in the ministry that way and then the Lord had been working on my heart to preach and brother Ronnie Dale preacher from Holland Memorial Baptist Church in Bessemer City told me that he had been called to preach and that he ran from God and he had like four strokes and a heart attack and and he looked at me and said when are you gonna submit to the Lord? I said right now because I don’t want a stroke I don’t want a heart attack brother Ronnie and
03:54 so I love brother Ronnie Dale he’s a very talented preacher Lord really uses him in his ministry and so that’s when I just gave it to God said okay and started preaching as a youth preacher as a pretty old youth preacher and got involved in the ministry that way and I was preaching as a youth preacher once a month maybe
04:10 and then I got to preach at the rescue mission to the men and I would tell them I could be sitting where you’re sitting knowing the truth in that knowing that truly I could be sitting where they’re sitting in fact I’d be fortunate to be sitting where they were sitting we’re at Crossroads rescue mission and they’re in Shelby North Carolina if you know anything about Crossroads they have a wonderful rescue mission Bible based rescue mission that really is changing lives it’s a wonderful place for people that are dealing with addiction to finally overcome it through Jesus Christ
04:40 and so I was able to preach there and I got to preach at the nursing home and Lord has just kept working on me and working on me and then he called me to plan a church in a town that I never spent any time in
04:53 and it was an amazing journey we’re celebrating now almost three years of a church ministry three years I think will be August or September and in July it’s two years in our current building
05:09 and God has been so good and in the ministry this is what I’m trying to get to with a long introduction in the ministry I’ve had my family my wife my only wife a man only married once if you can believe it through all those turmoil and trials married one time to a beautiful wife Sue and I’ve got kids and my wife and my kids and through all the ministry we grew closer together
05:31 and it’s not always been easy but the Lord’s Spirit has been upon our household because when we’re tired while we serve in the ministry we’re a good kind of tired we have a peaceful kind of tired we have the Holy Spirit about us because we are serving God and by the way when we are in our own heads about our own issues and all dealing with the world it can be a lot less peaceful and so what I’m saying is that serving God is the best way to bring your family close together
06:02 and I think a lot of times people don’t want to sacrifice that family time they want to on Saturday you know go to the amusement park or the flea market or the mall instead of going to knock on doors and they think they have to kind of choose are they going to go be a witness are they going to go live with their family and have fun
06:20 but truly you can have fun being a witness and our family has grown close together in the ministry by doing this my wife was volunteering in a shelter today and she was working with someone that’s been involved in this ministry for several years
06:36 and she was giving that person pointers and things that she’s done in the past and telling me about it that you know ideas that she had for their ministry and and it was amazing because it helped me to look back on our family which is still relatively a young family I’m in my early 40s my wife’s in her late 30s and we’re still relatively categorized as a young family
06:57 but since we’ve been serving the Lord this season here this time I guess over 10 years God is really blessed and helped us to see different aspects of the ministry up close and hands-on because we’ve been obedient because we’ve tried to serve the Lord and I’m not bragging on us I’m bragging on God and we certainly have fallen short more than a few times and we’re not perfect Amen
07:20 we haven’t been at every event for the church or what have you of course I got to be at every event now because I’m the pastor but before you know we’re not like the perfect church people we’re just God’s people
07:31 we are God’s given us this great blessing of allowing us the opportunity to serve him and so I want you to think today but what God’s calling to you to do and I want you to think about it not as a burden not as an adventure necessarily but as an opportunity see
07:53 God doesn’t need us I just got finished preaching recently about God’s self-sufficiency he does not need us but he desires our praise and he loves us so much that he gives us an opportunity to come alongside him and to be his hands and feet
08:05 and by the working of the Holy Spirit within us to do service for the Lord and to live for him in a way that brings honor and glory and praise to Him.
08:14 God gives us this opportunity but will we take that opportunity and if we do will we be grateful for it or will we do it begrudgingly because God truly could go give it to somebody else
08:26 and so as I look around and as I’ve talked through this testimony with you number one it’s remarkable because I am NOT the candidate like I didn’t go to seminary and spent a ton of time preparing for a radio ministry or to pastor a church
08:43 God called me into it and it’s a very specific hands-on ministry that the Lord has blessed and he gets the glory and I feel honored to be a part of it and I have to remind myself on the days when things are challenging to balance life how great
08:58 God is and how his power his strong power is sufficient and that in my infirmities that I’ll glory my firmness as Paul writes because the glory of God is shown through them Amen
09:10 So when I fall short and I can’t do it and God shows up and he does and I think of a time I was preaching in church recently and I was completely wiped out I was exhausted from working and other aspects of life and allergies or whatever it was and I got up there to preach and something just got a hold of me this you know what was that it’s the Holy Spirit you said brother Clark you’re just exaggerating I’m not and by the way the man that had kind of put the bug in my ear that I shouldn’t run from God too long about surrendering to preach he told me he’s got terrible neck pain and back pain from I think a work injury on the factory line he told me that he has to walk with a cane this that and the other but when he gets up to preach he feels no pain at all
09:53 and I believe him 100% and the point I’m making here is it’s an honor to serve God and when we live for God and we truly submit ourselves to Him he knows exactly what we can and cannot take He knows what strength we need and He provides it and He delivers us and then we should give Him the glory and praise
10:11 And I testify today that God has been so good to me in my family what God has done in my life is an absolute miracle Amen
10:19 He I am no longer the person I used to be Amen I tried never to use a foul word before I was talking like a sailor when I was much younger I don’t go near the unclean thing I don’t touch alcohol drugs none of it Amen I don’t like to watch any kind of Hollywood movies if I can help but I stay away from worldly music if I can help it I’m completely changed by the blood of Christ I’m a new man my peace and my satisfaction is found in God alone and and when I need to turn to something here on earth for that peace and satisfaction I open up his word Amen and study His word
10:52 I would never imagine I’d be saying these words to you today other than by the grace of God he’s allowed me the opportunity to get into his word daily and preach his word all the time almost often very often and it’s an opportunity
11:07 what’s God calling you to do what opportunity is he putting in your pathway don’t be afraid to take it don’t be afraid about what God’s gonna do because God said do not fear Amen
11:19 He will provide He His word is a lamp under your feet a light under your path Amen
11:25 Follow the Lord and trust God in what he’s calling you to do and look at it not as a task or as a burden but look at it as an opportunity and I think that makes a huge difference I know it has for me when I look at what God has done where there was times when I was young and I was really young was ready to do something for God and every door I was just running into there was no open doors but I want to do something for God you know and now I look around and say well God’s opened the door here
11:56 and God’s opened the door here and God’s opened the door here oh he deserves all the praise and honor and glory what an opportunity it is to serve him we realize our time on this earth is very short the world pilgrims passing through what should we do sit around and comfort ourselves and live for the world no that is short lasting that is like vapor in the wind going away what we should do is serve God we should go ahead and gird ourselves up gird our loins up as the Bible says
12:21 we should go ahead and man up we should go ahead and get our big-boy boots on and go out there and serve the Lord with honor and integrity with humility with meekness
12:30 We should serve God in true faith believing that He will provide a way when there seems to be no way the Israelites were staring at that Red Sea there seemed to be no way God made a way Amen
12:40 Christ they had Him on the cross there seemed to be no way and God raised him from the grave Amen
12:45 For us we hear about this gift of salvation people say there’s no way we accept that gift of salvation we get the Holy Spirit living with us and everything changes Amen
12:53How about that how about God here today can he get an amen can you turn to him today to serve him to live for him to be sold out to him it’s okay come on now you don’t need to be ashamed of Christ go ahead and just give your life to Christ fully and holy you call the Lord make Him Lord don’t sit around and say He’s second best or third best in your mind but then outwardly say that you believe in the Lord
13:15 How about you make Him Lord of your life you serve him with everything you got you go ahead and get after it and you watch what he does with you and through you amen and he’ll bless you for your obedience we need to get right with God
13:27 and we need to get on fire for God and we need to remember and look back and testify to what he’s done in our lives as proof that God is real and that God is ever-present and that God’s program works when we submit to Him and live for Him
13:43 I hope this has been a help and a blessing and encourages you today to look at the ministry as an opportunity get involved seek the Lord he’ll guide you and don’t look back and watch what He does he will bless you for.
13:57 I thank you so much for listening take care God bless and Amen