General Superintendent's Address

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In the wonderful name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and happy new year to all of the wonderful men and women of the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ. I wish to begin by offering my heartfelt gratitude to the tremendous leadership team in the ALJC. And I will begin with our assistant superintendents. Our northern regional is Brother Kenneth Allen. Our southern regional, Brother Jonathan Vasquez. Western regional, Brother Robert Wimberly. And our general secretary, Brother Roger Gray. What a privilege and honor it is to work side by side with these men of great wisdom and spiritual input.

I would also like to mention and be very thankful for the arms of our organization, and that is our departmental leaders, beginning with our world missions director, Brother Matthew Ball; our Missions America director, Brother Matt Perdue; Apostolic Crusaders, Brother Josh Wilson; our women's ministry, Women's Esprit, Sister Karen Reinhardt; our men's ministry, Brother James Chesser; Kids Quest, Brother Nathan Roberts; our evangelist director, Brother Sean Garnett; our Christian school director, Brother Caleb Tisdale; and our prayer coordinator, Brother Thurman Covey. What a privilege it is to have such tremendous men and women that are the arms of this organization, helping us to fulfill the Great Commission.

I also would like to be thankful for our general board, which is made up of our district superintendents and the men and women on their district boards that serve and help them carry out the vision of the ALJC. And to all of you this evening, and all the men and women of the ALJC, my heartfelt thankfulness for you and for your dedication and love for the work of God.

My high expectation is that in 2021 the ALJC can resume our corporate gatherings, which is so vital to our mission to reach the lost and to disciple the believers. We are moving forward at this time with plans for GMC 2021, which will be held in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on June 14th through the 18th at the Marriott Convention Center. You can find all of the information — go to GMC.ALJC.ORG for all of the information about GMC 2021.

Looking back for just a moment on 2020, which took us all out of our routines — all of us, it took all of us out of our routines. And without being redundant, it caught us all by surprise. But I am of a strong persuasion, I believe in a strong way, that 2020 is not only going to be remembered by the pandemic, but I believe that 2020 is also going to be remembered as a time that ministries were birthed, a time that we reevaluated our methods of doing things. We reevaluate: are we getting the best out of our time? Is this working? It's just given us a pause in our schedule. And during this pause we have been able to reevaluate things that we're doing, because we want to better serve the King of Kings and we want to better serve the wonderful people of the ALJC.

Our theme this year for General Ministry Conference is All Things New. All Things New. I take this theme from a passage in Revelation, chapter 21 and verse number five, where it simply says, "And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new." He that sat upon the throne — God Almighty. During 2020, with a lot of upheaval going on in our world, one thing is for sure: God sits on the throne. He is the almighty God, in control and never out of control. And he declares that he makes all things, all things new.

The work of God in creation was a process. It was a process. God could have created in just simply a word, and all that we have seen in the six days of creation could have been created by him just simply speaking. But Almighty God chose for there to be a process, a process. Scripture says in Psalms 37, verse 23, that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. If you will notice with me this evening, as we begin to discuss the process — because 2021 is going to be the year of the process. It's going to be the year where we're just five days into 2021, and I want us to begin to have the mentality of the process. Notice that he says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and then later it says he delights in his way. So his steps, or process, becomes a way.

I am currently reading a book entitled The Obstacle Is the Way. It talks about turning our trials into triumphs — turning our trials into triumphs. The obstacle is the way. The title caught my eye, because normally we will say the obstacle in the way. But yet this book focuses on that the obstacle that we have is the way — taking the obstacle and so making it work for our good. In the book there's a section in there that has really touched and ministered to my heart and to my mind. It's a quote by Coach Nick Saban. It first says about Coach Nick Saban, it says Coach Nick Saban doesn't refer to it very often, but every one of his assistants and players live by it. They say it for him, tattooing it at the front of their minds and on every action they take, because just two words are responsible for their unprecedented success. And these two words are: the process.

Saban, the head coach of the University of Alabama football team — perhaps the most dominant dynasty in the history of college football — doesn't focus on what other coaches focus on, or at least not the way they do. He teaches the simple step of the process, the process. I quote Coach Nick Saban: "Don't think about winning the SEC championship. Don't think about the national championship. Think about what you needed to do in this drill, on this play, at this moment." That's the process. "Let's think about what we can do today." The task at hand goes on to say: in the chaos of sport, as in life, the process provides us a way. It says, okay, you've got to do something very difficult. Don't focus on that. Instead, break it down into pieces. Simply do what you need to do right now, and do it well. And then move on to the next thing. Follow the process and not the prize. The road to back-to-back championships is just that: a road. And you travel along the road in steps. Excellence — excellence is a matter of steps: excelling at this one thing, then that one, then the one after that.

Saban's process is exclusively this: existing in the present, taking it one step at a time, not getting distracted by anything else — not the other team, not the scoreboard or the crowd. The process, Saban says, is about finishing: finishing games, finishing workouts, finishing film sessions, finishing drives, finishing reps, finishing plays, finishing blocks — finishing the smallest task you have in front of you, and finishing it well.

When I read this — The Obstacle Is the Way — and I read of how this coach Saban so coaches his team to these back-to-back championships, and it's just simply the process, the steps. Huge tasks become manageable when we break it down into small daily steps. This may seem very elementary, but all of us learn the alphabet one letter at a time. All of us learn the alphabet one letter at a time. All of us learned how to talk one word at a time, to write one sentence at a time. And the list goes on and on. Small steps, consistent steps, have brought us to where we are at today.

The Lord willing, there will be 365 days in 2021, of which we have already used up five of the days in 2021. I want you to get a mental picture of this, this evening: 365 steps in 2021. 365 steps — days that we can do a small thing and do it well. And at the end, Lord willing, of the 365 days, we have prospered in our spiritual lives and the kingdom of God has prospered as a whole. You know as well as I do that steps can also refer to steps that take us from one level to another. Steps can lead downstairs or steps can lead upstairs. It is all determined by the direction that we are going. And of course this evening, to the ALJC, I want, by the help and the grace of Almighty God — I want to lead us in 2021, I want to lead us upward to higher heights. I want it to be a record-breaking year. I want 2021 to be a record-breaking year.

I want us as soon as possible to resume our corporate gatherings. As soon as you deem it safe, as soon as in your area of the country that you're able to resume your corporate gatherings of youth rallies and district conferences and camp meetings — these are so vital to our spiritual growth, to our spiritual health. [At First] Apostolic of Maryville, we are currently reading as a congregation — we are reading our Bible through in 2021. And we're doing that with a systematic program. A spiritual growth tracker is what we have given out — a small pamphlet is what we have given out to everyone that shows the day of the year. And it has a place that you check if you've read the scripture, has a place that you check that you have had your prayer time. And then when that day falls up on your midweek Bible study or Sunday, it has a place that you can check. And this will help us to be able to track our spiritual growth. I want to challenge you in 2021: increase your knowledge of the word of God. Get a good Bible study program going. Enroll in a Bible school online. Do something to increase your knowledge of the word of God.

May this be the year of personal increase in evangelism. Let us all have a goal this year of personally having our fingerprints on someone who comes to the salvation message of Acts 2:38. Let's increase our personal evangelism.

Let's, as districts — as districts, let's decide in our minds, just five days into 2021 — I want to challenge every district superintendent to participate in all of the departments, all of the outreaches of the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ. As you heard me giving thanks to our directors, from our World Missions Department to our prayer coordinator: find out what their needs are. Find out how you can help them, whether it's taking the gospel around the world, or taking the gospel around the block, or taking the gospel to your youth group. Let's decide right now that no man is an island to himself. No man is an island to himself. You need — even God Almighty, after he created Adam, he made the statement: it is not good for man to be alone. It's not good for a pastor and a church to be alone. And it's also not good for a district to be alone. Come on, let's join together. Let's have a 100% participation in all of the outreaches and the ministries of the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ. It can be done. The great Indiana district, led by district superintendent Bishop Danny St. Clair, has proven, with hard work, persistence, that they can have 100% — 100%. Of course, Brother Judge Sears says they have 110% participation in world missions. Hats off to the Indiana district. It can be done. Whether your district has 60 churches or six churches, let's get busy and let's have 100% participation coming in from our churches. God will bless you. You will be tremendously blessed.

We as pastors have often had sincere — but sincerely wrong — individuals say to us they can't afford to pay tithing. They can't afford to give tithe. They can't afford to pay tithe. As yet every pastor will say: you can't afford not to pay tithe. It's that great assurance and insurance. It waterproofs the church against the turning economic tides that we face. It literally puts a divine covering that God — Almighty God — is going to watch out over that church, because that church is a missions, that church is a missions-giving church.

And again, I would like to remind everyone — and I am so excited and thrilled as we are looking at 2021 — and our next corporate gathering that is scheduled will be GMC 2021, All Things New, June the 14th through the 18th in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A lot of wonderful things have already been planned for GMC 2021. ALJC Talks — this is designed to equip and educate and inspire. Our topics will include such things as creating a culture of giving, navigating through ups and downs — we all would have needed that during COVID 2020 — Bible studies, success stories, launching care groups, creating a discipleship culture, creating a first-class visitor experience. Man, that's a great, that's a great need. Apostolic songwriting. The need is the call. Mastering social media. Telling your story with photography. Creating a strong brand for your church. Building your worship team. Broadcasting with Facebook Live. It's just going to be GMC. Go ahead — it's a small step. How you're going to arrive at GMC June 14th is to now, January 5th, start making those small steps toward there. Start planning now. This is exactly what we need. The topics you've just mentioned, Brother Carpenter, is exactly what our church needs. It's a win-win.

Several years ago, I was returning from a GMC, and such wonderful topics there. I believe one of the topics was a pastoral transition, and how to transition from one pastor to another, and the advice — and we actually had a panel discussion and actually had pastors and their sons, or pastors and the ones who took over after them, there, and they told about the challenges, and it was so rich with practical advice. Several other topics — I left that conference so filled with knowledge of things and how to take the next step. About a week later, I received a call from a minister, and he was so down, discouraged, and he was telling me that he had issues in his church — he had just taken a church, and all the challenges of the transition. And I was thinking to myself: if that pastor would have only made plans and have taken the steps to be at GMC that year, he would have heard everything that he asked about, from the transition to dealing in the music department and the guest department — all of the challenges of leadership, all of the questions he asked me that day had been answered thoroughly just a couple of weeks before at GMC. So I believe that you understand what I am saying today: that GMC is very important for our corporate gatherings.

I want to leave us this evening — and again, I do thank you for all of you that have taken time for this general superintendent's address — but before I close, I want to read just a couple of verses of scripture about the need for unity. COVID-19 came out of nowhere. COVID-19 disrupted our corporate gatherings. We had to be online with GMC 2020, online with NYC 2020. Some of our camp meetings were canceled, our youth rallies, and it seemed to kind of isolate — to isolate us. But in the midst of this isolation, we now are in 2021, and it would appear, by the help of God, the grace of God, that we're turning a corner. And as we turn that corner and resume our corporate gatherings, what we had to live out for a year cannot be the way of life for the apostolic child of God. God didn't make us to be alone. He created us for social interaction and spiritual social interaction. As never before, we need to strive for unity. If there's ever been a lesson that COVID-19 has taught us, and that is: we need one another — whether it is our local church, our section, our district, or our organization, we need one another.

In John chapter 17, as Jesus was praying that great intercessory prayer, he says in John 17:11: "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee, Holy Father. Keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they — the church, the church — that they may be one, as we are." He prayed that prayer for us, that we may be one. O precious God of heaven, hear our plea tonight. We need one another. We need one another. And we not only need one another — we need, as we gather, to become one voice, one army with one cause and one message, which, the greatest message that could ever be given to the ears of fallen man, is: "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." May God help us in 2021 to take small steps, that we become one voice — one in love, one in mercy, one in help, one in shouldering of burden, one in taking steps together, upward and onward, as we increase in the kingdom of God.

And I close this evening with Paul's prayer in Romans chapter 15, verses five and six: "Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus, that ye may with one mind" — look at that verse six: "with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ, from the executive board to the local district board: may we strive for unity. May we strive for the unity of mind and for the unity of our voice. May God bless you, until, Lord willing, GMC 2021, June 14th through the 18th, Chattanooga, Tennessee, the Marriott Convention Center. May we enter that GMC and have the greatest move of the Spirit of God that the ALJC has ever experienced. Thank you so much for giving me your undivided attention this evening, and may God's richest and fullest blessings be yours.