Discovering Love

A few months ago I was talking with Dr Bill Austin about possible sermons he could preach for us at Park Lake Dr Baptist Church.  Dr Austin and I have an interesting relationship, for those of you who don’t know I replaced Dr Austin at Park Lake in late August after he served as Senior Pastor for a little over a year.  Dr Austin was suffering from poor health and resigned after his doctor’s recommendation, thus allowing the door to be opened for Humphries Nation to invade Waco.

Tell you the truth its a little intimating following a guy like Dr. Bill Austin.  He refers to be called Bro. Bill, but that’s his modesty coming through.  Dr. Austin received the Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Divinity degrees from Hardin-Simmons University, and the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees (in Systematic Theology) from Baylor University. He taught in the religion department at Hardin-Simmons, and served as University Chaplain at Baylor. He also taught at Temple College.  Dr. Austin has pastored the Calvary Baptist Church of Waco, the University Baptist Church of Abilene, and the First Baptist Churches of Waxahachie, Vernon and Nacogdoches in Texas; and the First Baptist Church of Ponca City, Oklahoma. In recent years he has been pastor of the Mooreville United Methodist Church and associate pastor of the Woodway First United Methodist Church.

The most descriptive aspect of my education is the BS degree I got from Liberty University in History!  Park Lake is my first church, and hopefully my last! (After the move from Detroit I can’t believe God will put us through that again!  Please after reading this knock on wood for me will ya!)  Back to Dr. Austin, despite the obvious gulf between our experience and mental ability , we get along great!  He’s been so gracious to me since I’ve been here, and has been such a needed source of encouragement, I am honestly grateful God put him in my life.

The sermon series that he is going to be sharing with us this month of February is called “Discovering Love”.  In a month known for Valentine’s Day, I couldn’t think of a better topic to explore.  Its amazing that in a culture where we should stick out like neon signs because of the love we share for each other, we instead often take such divisive roles and dig our heals in a combative stance.  We’re so concerned with our “rights” and being “correct”,  we loose sight of the command to “love one another as I have loved you.”   We can all look to discover a little more love in our everyday life.

I’m looking forward to the opportunity to hear Dr Austin and seeing God bless our church through his talent and gift.  I also am looking forward to digging deeper into the topic of Love.  I know how powerful love has been in my life, and I’m sure the more our church discovers the opportunities that surround us to show love to our community the more we will see God do His dynamic work in our midst.

If you’re in Waco you should come on out and see what’s going on at Park Lake.  If you’re one of my dear friends from outside the Nation of Texas, I pray that God will reveal His love to you in a special way and that you will reflect it out to those He has blessed you with in your path of life.