Fellowship

Monday and Tuesday Pastor Wally and I spent hours sitting in a car braving the Wyoming winter to attend the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship meeting in Denver, CO.  Was it worth it to drive about 9.5 hours for one day of fellowship?  Was it worth it to have to drive through a typical Wyoming storm along I-80 for a few hours of time with our brothers in Colorado?  Not only was it worth it, I would do it again next week if they held another one.  Here were some of the highlights of the trip.

1.  The journey was long, but I spent a great deal of time picking Dr. Wally Higgins’ brain in regards to church planting.  He has been planting churches in the West for years and the information and knowledge he possesses amazes me.  Not only has he planted or helped to plant around 30+ churches in the Intermountain West, but many of those churches were in off the road places he would describe for me as we drove past little Utah and Wyoming towns.  I asked him what he thought was the greatest difficulty in planting churches in the West.  Without taking a breath, he said, “Adaptability, planting a church in Pinedale is different than planting a church in Salt Lake.”  I gleaned from the wisdom that God has given this servant of His and am better for it today. 

2.  God used some of the preaching of Bob Taylor, John Vaughn, and Todd Wood to burden my heart.  The theme of the fellowship was “Bold Humility.”  I was challenged by Bob Taylor toward a greater unity of the Spirit as seen in Psalm 133, and the simple truth that God calls us (preachers) to kindness as one of the fruit of the Spirit.  John Vaughn twice challenged us with Paul the Apostle’s bold humility in the face of certain danger in Acts 23-25.  As Dr. Vaughn preached he made the account come alive and a beautiful picture of Paul standing before the crowd and before Agrippa boldly yet gently proclaiming Jesus.  He had a bold humility because Christ was always on his lips.  Todd Wood, a fellow pastor along the I-15 corridor in Idaho Falls, exegeted John 1 emphasizing the humility of John the Baptist coupled with his boldness in always giving Christ preeminence.  He then drew our attention to Christ and the boldness of driving out the moneychangers while still maintaining gentleness and humility.  The Lord spoke to me concerning the conference that when I keep my focus on Christ, a bold humility will be the natural result. 

3.  The fellowship was next to heaven.  I did not know many of the Colorado pastors.  A few familiar faces from Bible college were there.  A few pastors from Idaho I knew and one or two from Colorado, but it seemed as if the new acquaintances were old friends.  We had a bond that can not be explained by anything but the power of the Holy Spirit as we laughed, praised Christ, and gently reminded each other that we need not fear anything for our God is in control.  At the close of the meeting, we had a “sharpening” time where we sat in a big circle and discussed how we can be bold while being humble.  There was not a mean-spirit or arrogance that so often seems to plague fundamentalists.  Christ was truly the focus as I saw grown men near tears when talking about the Lord. 

As I drove home Tuesday late, I was truly blessed in my heart as I realized that these men were truly servants of the Lord.  There was no showboating, no exaltation of man, no hyper-fundamentalism displayed.  Instead there was a passion for God, a love for one another, and a burden to see souls saved by the grace of God.   These are the kind of men I want to associate with because they are closely associated with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.