 Good afternoon Pastor David. Hey John. Welcome everybody to a random moment with Pastor David unfiltered. You know Pastor July 26th we celebrated 41 years and we did a we did a an unfiltered regarding this. But you know recently it seems like as we hit the 41st year mark at our church here just looking within our church there's some amazing and great things going on that for me has been very very very blessed. I mean we had our our 4th of July baptism. We had our our 41st anniversary celebration. Different things going on Pastor within the 41 years it's just been for me it's just been an amazing experience. And uh and you know I was thinking about this even before we came on camera here thinking about just some of the things and for the people that attend our church you'll see this you know the the the great work the Lord's doing here and the Lord's doing great works in other churches of course but because this is our church and this is our program I wanted to share a little bit get your feedback a little bit that you know 41 years is not an easy accomplishment and you know unfortunately there's been some churches that haven't been able to last that long and yet God's been gracious in our ministry here that we're able to push through and move forward and you know Pastor looking back at these 41 years and and seeing the Lord do an amazing work here does that is that exciting in a way where you're like wow the Lord still continue to do a work here and and continuing to I mean pastor we have some different things going on matter of fact remember our power went out yeah power went out our church stepped up the unity yeah I've never seen that before I've been attending here a long time uh different ministry the various ministries we had our women's ministry they had their pure work hundreds of women uh and our men's ministry just the different things that we see going on for me it's exciting it is to me too and uh and so you know as as you're as we plug through these 41 years that you've been plugging through and you look at what the Lord's continuing to do what what response do you get from that pastor well you know I I see that ministry is like planting seeds and sometimes some seeds sprout quickly and sometimes it takes a while for them to produce and and I think we've seen that here in this fellowship there are there are those things that in the originally in the church when we we first began back in 1981 there are things that are are just now uh showing the strength of the fruit that they that they bore you know when we first began for example um in 81 I didn't uh I did not start a woman's ministry through my wife Marie I didn't start a woman's ministry for a year uh I concentrated on trying to raise up men to teach men in in in mentoring classes and all to to learn to serve the Lord together and and so that fruit shows itself in the various things that we see taking place right now that has shown itself in the um volunteerism of our men you know we've had uh for example we we're having work done right now on our chapel and uh our chapel um needed new carpeting and painting and all of that well just as last week you had 20 men or so show up from our men's ministry the leaders really and they they tore all that they brought all took all the chairs out of the chapel the chapel has over 780 chairs you know and and they came and removed them all so that that the carpet could be replaced that these men did it in like an hour and a half or two hours these these are the things that our men do for us they show the fruit that we've been working in their life for a long time you know sadly there are fellowships churches that don't have men's ministries they don't have many equipped men on their own they'll go out on their own which is a good thing and they'll go to a restaurant or whatever gather together and they teach one another but sometimes those men are teaching other men things concerning the Lord are really not seasoned or knowledgeable of scripture and so they give their opinions or ideas and they talk amongst themselves without anybody there who has a substantial knowledge and ability to communicate scripture to make sure that that at least the conversations are edifying and correct they many times they don't they just have somebody there who feels like he likes to talk and and uh he ends up giving information that is just not correct and that happens often enough to be a bit dangerous and but they they don't have any any men's ministry in their church so they gather together that that happens or there are women's ministries that I'll never forget uh for example a woman who said to me at a woman's retreat many years ago now but it's still true to this day how she started crying when she was speaking to me and she said um I'm just so blessed she says I don't go to this fellowship I go to another one but we would never be able to have an entire Friday Saturday and Sunday retreat because if if the women are gone on Sunday church will not happen you know so I've heard those things and so yeah I think over the years pouring into our fellowship the uh the understanding that we're equipped to do works of service that that teaching is to develop discernment so we're not to toss to and fro by every wind of doctrine and slight cunning of men that we should be growing up in our maturity well our maturity is not just in our capacity to explain scripture our maturity is in our capacity to explain and do scripture right and so that's been the emphasis here so for 41 years we've been doing that and I think at this moment in this season I don't think I've been quite as refreshed John to be honest with you as I have been lately because I'm above that age to begin wondering am I to hand the reins of this ministry over to some somebody else who has energy vision and capacity to to move us on until Jesus returns I I don't have a sense of that at this moment as a matter of fact I have a reignition of certain passions and things that that I had in the original days when I was 30 years old when this church began and so I am I'm feeling very good about it I believe you know and this is let me brag on our on our people here I believe our worship ministry is maturing and it's very edifying it's not a a show we don't take auditions to try and get the very best or plunder other people's ministries so we get theirs and we raise them up here and the ones we've raised up here are are anointed of the Lord and and so I'm blessed by the worship ministry I'm blessed by every every element in our children's ministry and in every element we have 40 or 50 different ministries that are transpiring and and every one of those ministries that I I can see and look at observe I'm I'm pleased in many ways in its direction and the fruit and so yeah you know we did celebrate our 41st anniversary and I thank God for 41 years that he's given me permission to and and and empowered me but I as I've shared with you many times John I I couldn't have done anything by myself I needed God's help obviously but I needed his men and his women and God has supplied those men and women and and yes some of us are growing older thank you Jesus I mean you know but like Caleb you know Caleb's looking at the promised land and he turns and says give me a mountain you know I don't want to just take my ease I want to I want to go I want to go on I want to do things as unto the Lord and he was 80 years old so you know I you know you can have churches that are filled with men who say oh there are giants there are giants in the land it's too hard for us and we're grasshoppers in our own side as well as in their side or you can have men like Joshua and Caleb who say you know what I still have strength I'm not I'm not done yet give me something to do for God and we have quite a number of men here John and women here that have that heart and so God has blessed Marie and me so much John we you know I can't go out have coffee with everybody I can't spend a lot of time on a personal level it just doesn't happen we we still have a good amount of people in our fellowship in spite of COVID in spite of the fear that many people felt through it and even now the fear that some people have to this day and the constant brainwashing of the of the press that oh we're gonna it's gonna be worse and you gotta and these people are believing the press even though they can see with their eyes that this is not taking place it's not taking place and there's some things coming out right now that are demonstrating that much of what was being said indeed was intended to be error to keep people in bondage we're seeing that right now it's coming out in the news not all news sources will speak of it but it's there and it's real and so I think it's time for the church to re gather I think it's time for those who've been you know afraid to go to church or whatever don't want to come into a church service it's time to return you know we have people in our fellowship that most definitely it's time for them to return it's not good that man should be alone they need to have fellowship they need to have a place to to to receive communion you know not just eat a piece of bread and drink some juice while we're doing it here they need to come they need to be involved in and I hope that they come back soon because we miss them and they're missing out on what God wants to do in their life amen and yes and you know pastor recently even before the we celebrated the 41 years it just seems something seems different with your teachings I talked to my wife I talked to other guys in the church and you know they'll they'll text the pastors on fire and I'll have the you know it and and there has been a a depth as to your teachings that I've it just seems to get deeper is more the time I'm here at the church what has changed nothing I think what what has if anything could be looked at and say oh you're doing things different differently I would say this I would say that I I want to give the word of God in in a deeper way than than before I'm I'm wanting to to add adds depth to the teaching I'm not hurrying through the passage I'm not giving just a lot of stories or illustrations which is the way I teach anyway but I'm trying to fill it with more biblical information than ever before and I'm being refreshed on my own through these things and so I would just say that the Lord has placed it on my heart to to give more in my previous days I've always used notes and and I would use in my previous ministry years three pages of notes now I use eight pages or nine pages because I'm wanting to give more depth to and information and I think you see that plus there's a a sense of of a purpose I I know that my time is coming to an end I know that should the Lord return we go with him but should he should he not come in in my lifetime I'm aware of that and so I kind of feel more and more that 51 years of following Christ 49 years of teaching the word I want to pour it into people and if they're willing to come and hear a Bible study you know they'll get one here some places you can go and you'll get entertained in one form or another sometimes the things that you're being entertained by are actually biblical sometimes a lot of times are not a lot of times it's just the opinion of the pastor or his pet doctrine or is his fears or ideas or whatever you know everybody has his own way of approaching how he how he ministers to his his sheep but I have this knowledge that that I will give an account of myself he was 13 7 tells us that and you know and also well you know James chapter 3 verse 1 various places you know we're to be careful what we give to people and all and so from my perspective I'm more and more inclined towards being very careful not to give people some something that that may agitate them and infuriate them and then you know provoke them and then I use them as my illustration to tell others of how wonderful I am and that happens that happens I want them to walk out of here saying how wonderful Christ is I really do and I've always done that I mean that's why we have on our on our in our sanctuary the words we would see Jesus I want I want to to be invisible so that they might see the one who gives life and that's what it is John it's just more at this time than ever I just know that that my time is coming to an end and I don't want to to just fizzle out I want to I want to go out in with with a lot of power and love that's what I want and it's and it's been evident in your teachings I mean our Wednesday night messages last week on fathers who and then this last week on Sunday and what a great opportunity as you as you invited our church family to come back to church you know church family Wednesday night tomorrow night we have service and as we're just discussing a little bit about what you're talking what you're preparing I would really encourage you guys to come on out tomorrow night and join us in worship and in God's word you know pastor thank you so much again you know it's 41 years that you've been you and Marie have been faithful to our church and and faithful and shepherding us and one of the things that's interesting that you point out really quickly is that you guys must have known that there was going to be a perseverance that you may or may not see the fruit and now you're seeing the fruit in a lot of ways and the years of perseverance that you and Marie have done let your life down for our church and and but empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so you know I'll be honest with you and we will close with this because we're going long but I'll tell you this John um in the end in the end and I don't know what to expect I only want to hear well done um there are things that you have poured into somebody's life that you will not live to see the fruit of you just won't because Jesus will take you home there's nothing bad about that but you won't see it but that fruit lasts right so for me that's how I do ministry I I believe that the day is going to come when I go home but my reward follows and uh so yeah we've seen our ups and downs I've seen our church three times the size of it that it is now I've I've seen it from nothing I've seen it grow to something I've seen it go back to hardly anything especially with COVID then I've seen it slowly building back so I don't do it for the numbers I I do it for the fruit and and whatever that fruit may be I want it to last that's the way it works pastor thank you so much for sharing with us and and I jokingly said on our 41st anniversary 41 more years I won't even be here no I don't think I'll even be here next year probably not next week oh thank you pastor thank you guys for tuning in god bless you we look forward to seeing you on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. come out and join us and then again we have services on sunday 8 30 and 10 45 yep thank you pastor again god bless you guys for tuning in and we'll see you soon