TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Twenty three years ago, in April 1984, I made my first ever visit to the United States of America. After a layover in JFK, I took a connecting Piedmont flight (anyone remember Piedmont?) down to Norfolk, VA where I was met off the plane by a man I had never met before, but who would become a dear friend, Wally Odum who was then pastoring the thriving First Assembly of God in Virginia Beach. I was there at his invitation to speak at a pastors' conference he was hosting.

For the past five years Wally has been pastoring on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, doing an outstanding job there - or maybe I should say here, because that's where I am right now.

Early this year I contacted Wally to see when he could come up and do some treaching for us at Church At The Movies. We set some tentative dates, but he told me if he was coming up to us, I needed to do some ministry for him too. We settled on the last weekend of April.

Neither of us knew then that the situation here would be radically different by the time I got here. Different because today Wally resigned as pastor of the church he had grown from 30 in attendance to 330 (See my blog for Tuesday of last week). Different because the small group of "elders" had given Wally an ultimatum he could not accept, that they wanted church done the way it used to be thirty years ago or he was done.

So I didn't preach there today. We didn't go to the church - we enjoyed a great service with another friend, Rick Lawrenson who pastors the thriving Nags Head Church nearby.

We talked to Wally and Gwen before their final service there today and sat with them for quite a while as soon as it was over. We'll be spending some time with them again tomorrow.

I guess God knew they'd appreciate having friends around this weekend and I'm proud to be a support to one of the most outstanding pastors I have ever known.