Watts' Words

Last week was a great week. Bro. Troy, the chairman of deacons, and I spent three days together "on the road". The Alabama State convention planned a "tour" for Pastors and a "lay-leader". The concept was that we would visit 6 "healthy" churches, meet with their local staff, and glean some of the principles which were working in these churches. The " O pportunity T o T ake A L ook" (OTTAL) tour carried us into the southeastern part of our state. We saw church ministries which should not be growing (according to their population and location) but were "reaching people for Christ" almost daily and in contrast we observed ministries which "should be" reaching people in their immediate area and simply were not. This was an eye-opening and very revealing trip. What did Bro. Troy and I have reaffirmed in our hearts? Here it is; For a "congregation" to be a "Church" (a healthy church)-- there must be no...

Everyone today seems to be searching for one thing, HAPPINESS! First of all, it occurs to me that while we live in this fallen world I don't remember God or God incarnate (Jesus) ever giving the promise of "Happiness". Yet, we still search for it. Problem is, our culture is telling us to look for happiness in all the "wrong places". It's kind of like that old popular country song, "looking for love in all the wrong places, searching for love in too many faces..." (well you get the idea)... Truth be told, we are taught that the "way" or "avenue" to finding this elusive yet desired state of being is found in "self-gratification". If I can just get "enough". Enough money, position, power, prestiege, or the like then I will be happy. Or maybe for some of the young people it's "if I can just get the right girlfriend/boyfriend or mate" then I'll truly be happy. In an oversimplistic thought...

This week has been an outstanding week of joy. Our daughter, Christy, gave birth to a "beautiful" (Okay, she was the MOST BEAUTIFUL) little girl ever. Piper Josephine was born Wednesday, March 1, at 5:41pm. She weighed 9lbs 11 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. Her skin was a gorgeous shade of pink, her hair brown, and she is as healthy as a horse (ah...well...she is very healthy)....At any rate, the entire family is super excited about this precious addition to our family. As I held my first grand-child in my arms, filled with love and wonder at the miracle of birth and the joys which it brings, I wondered; "Is this how the angels in heaven feel at the birth of a new soul into the kingdom?" Luke 15 tells us the "angels rejoice". The same passage seems to imply that God Himself "kills His fatted calf and throws a party". WOW! So I wondered, "if this is the case, why are we not seeing to it that more "spiritual babes" are being born int...