Preacher David's Corner

                                                     A New Season in the Blue Ridge Mountains         

There is something special about fall in the Ashe Baptist Association. Forty three Southern Baptist churches serve among the coolest corner, beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, of North Carolina. As summer begins to fade, the mountains remind us that God is ushering us into another season. The leaves begin to change from green to brilliant shades of red, orange, yellow, and gold. The mornings become cooler, the days a little shorter, and the mountains seem to proclaim that God is still in control of His creation. The Bible reminds us in Genesis 8:22, While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” God established the seasons, and each one has its purpose. Fall is a season of harvest—and what a wonderful picture that is for the church!

Across the Ashe Baptist Association, churches are preparing for fall revivals, homecomings, special services, Bible studies, fellowship meals, and opportunities to reach people for Jesus Christ. Pastors and church families are praying that God will use this season to bring people back to church and bring those who are lost to saving faith in Christ. Some churches are seeing people come forward, surrender their lives to Jesus, and follow Him in believer's baptism. What a joyful sight it is to see the baptismal waters stirred as someone publicly declares, “I belong to Jesus!” Fall reminds us that there is a spiritual harvest as well as an earthly harvest. Jesus said in John 4:35, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”

God is also the One who controls the seasons of our lives. Genesis 1:14 reads: “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” And Psalm 74:17 reminds us: “Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.” As the leaves change and eventually fall, we are reminded that nothing on earth stays exactly the same. Seasons change. Circumstances change. Churches change. Families change. But God does not change.

So, as the 43 churches of the Ashe Baptist Association enter another fall season, let’s not simply watch the leaves change. May we look for what God wants to do next. Our churches continue to preach the Gospel, sing praises, pray faithfully, baptize new believers, disciple Christians, help our neighbors, and reach into our communities with the love of Jesus Christ. The summer season is passing, but the work of the Lord continues. A new season is here—and the harvest is still before us. From the mountaintops to the valleys, pray the churches of the Ashe Baptist Association move forward together, trusting God for another season of ministry, revival, salvation, and service. The leaves may be changing, but God's mission remains the same: Go, tell, baptize, teach, and make disciples for Jesus Christ.

                                                                    Your Servant, David