Announcements
SYMPATHY: to Mary Whalen at the passing of her sister, Leona Abbott, on Sunday, July 18 in North Carolina. Services are pending.
THANK YOU: to Pastor Campbell and all the prayer warriors here at COD; thank you for your prayers, cards, and the kindness shown during the loss of my brother, Jack Dawson. Margaret Barker
THANK YOU: to my church family for helping me celebrate my very special birthday with many cards and wishes. Sincerely, Elaine Carabell
THANK YOU: to everyone for the cards and prayers for my surgery and recovery. Thank you to Pastor Holbrook for his visits and phone calls. I am so thankful for my church family. Love, Doris Handley
THANK YOU: to the person who anonymously donated a transport wheelchair for me. Elaine Carabell
From My Heart
Tonight is our Ice Cream Fellowship! We will have several choices of Hoffman’s Ice Cream for you to choose from, and you can have all you want! You can try several flavors or simply focus your attention on just one. We will have plenty for you to enjoy. If the weather cooperates, we will set up behind the church in the parking lot but if it rains, we will move things inside. Please come back this evening and enjoy a great time of fellowship.
The National Sword of the Lord Conference was a tremendous blessing! I hope you were able to tune into the livestream and enjoy the great preaching and singing! Dr. Smith said he plans on the conference being back in Walkertown, N.C., at the Gospel Light Baptist Church next year! There is no doubt that this worldwide pandemic has upset everything, and the activities of the Gospel Ministries around the country are not excluded. But, we can hope to see things improve sooner than later.
There was something that crossed my mind last Monday evening as I sat in the opening service and listened to the preachers. I have been going to the Sword of the Lord National Conferences since 1981. While many of the preachers who spoke years ago have died and graduated on to Heaven, I found myself thinking about dozens of men who are no longer associated with the stand the Sword has taken! The Sword and Dr. Smith have not changed the Sword stands in the exact same place it stood when Dr. John Rice and Dr. Curtis Hutson were at the helm!
But many others who were once proud to be associated with the Sword and with Dr. Smith have walked away from the position they once held! I looked at the lineup of speakers and noticed that Dr. Smith and I were the only speakers who were on the program this year, who were on the program in 1995, in the first year I spoke. Now, granted, several of the old-timers have passed on, but there are many who have so changed their position on things that they do not feel comfortable in a Sword of the Lord Conference!
Folks, let’s keep our position on the straight and narrow path! A preacher came up to me this week and said, “Dr. Belcher, I was here the very first time you preached in this conference! You preached on Matthew 21 about turning up the Light!” He then said, “I download every sermon you preach from your website, and I thank the Lord you have not changed!” He then said, “Thank you for not compromising on the truth of God’s Word.” My heart was so filled with joy as he shared that with me!
Let’s never compromise on what we believe and what we stand for!