A Day Of Celebration And Worship

Yesterday morning in church we celebrated the 15^th anniversary of our pastor being at Southcliff Baptist.  Dr. Carroll Marr arrived here in 1998 with his wife and three young sons.  The church has not only benefitted greatly from Dr. Marr’s leadership but they have watched the boys grow into men and have seen two of them marry and have babies of their own.  What a change the church has seen in the last 15 years, not only in the Marr family but in the mission and growth of the church.

I have known Carroll Marr for only two years but in those two years I’ve come to know a man who is passionate in his service to the Lord and to the church.  A self-professed workaholic (his wife says so too), it’s difficult to find a time when he has more than just a few minutes to talk unless you arrange it ahead of time.

Carroll and I have a couple of things in common.  We’re nearly the same age and we were both PKs – preacher’s kids.  Without knowing each other we grew up with similar experiences with our fathers being pastors of small churches where every member over 30 was like an aunt or uncle and you couldn’t get away with anything.  Our mothers sang in the choirs where they had clear views of us regardless of where we sat.  And we were required to be visible and behave at all times during the service lest we get “the look.”  Of course, our fathers also had that clear view and “the look” we got from them was often worse than Mom’s.

Being a PK it has been difficult over the years for me to find a pastor I liked.  Having grown up thinking my father was one of the greatest pastors who ever lived, I was consistently comparing all the other ones to him.  I guess that’s not quite fair to the others.  They were not only being compared to my first pastor but also to my dad. 

Eventually I was able to move away from that and find several that I truly enjoyed.  A pastor not only has to be a dynamic speaker but he has to be interesting – balancing fire and brimstone with warmth (no pun intended) and humor to keep the congregation interested.  Before arriving in Southcliff I knew one in Miami, Florida, who was an outstanding speaker.  But after finding him I didn’t stay there long enough to see where things would go.

My wife has belonged to Southcliff for several years and invited me to go with her when I first arrived.  The church is huge and has over 5000 members.  Being a product of a small church I just knew I was going to hate it.  Quite to the contrary, once I met Dr. Marr and heard him speak I knew it was the place for me.  As our guest pastor put it this morning – God leads you to the church that is right for you.  Since I had been away from the church for several years before arriving here - I truly belief that to be the case.

And speaking of the guest pastor – Dr. Marr got a by this morning and got to celebrate his anniversary, with his entire family, without having to preach.  In his place we had one of his former seminary instructors, Dr. Chuck Kelly, Jr., who is currently the President of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.  Dr. Kelly’s sermon focused on Matthew 4:19, when Jesus was choosing his disciples and found Simon and Andrew, telling them “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” 

He went on to talk about how some people believe they can’t witness for Christ because they have no training and won’t know what to say.  Then he said something very profound that explains it better than anything else I’ve heard.  “If you keep your mind on Jesus He will find a way to come out of your mouth.”  Then he said it again:

“If you keep your mind on Jesus He will find a way to come out of your mouth.”

What a profound and true statement.  You don’t have to have formal training to tell people what you know.  Many people find Christ through the words and deeds of lay people – listening to what they say and seeing the difference Jesus makes in their lives. 

Dr. Kelly is one of those outstanding speakers as well.  He’s funny, unashamed and doesn’t seem to worry about how he looks on the stage as long as he gets his point across.  He made us all laugh with his antics and I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to take a class from this highly educated but down to Earth man. 

Dr. Kelly also said that the greatness of Dr. Marr was co-dependent on the greatness of his congregation.  God puts people in churches for the right reasons and that includes the pastor(s).  Southcliff and Dr. Marr have been a blessing in my life and I am thankful to God for His guidance into the church through my wonderful wife.  I just wish He’d gotten me there sooner.

Congratulations to Dr. Marr and his wife Tanya for 15 great and eventful years at Southcliff Baptist Church!  God willing, may they have another 15, at least.  Considering Dr. Marr got two standing ovations from the congregation yesterday morning without saying a word, I’d say the rest of the church feels the same way I do.

Thanks to God for His wisdom in placing Carroll Marr at Southcliff.  And thanks to Carroll Marr for his wisdom in teaching us, his love and dedication to God and to our church, and his vision for the future of the church.  I know I speak for everyone when I say “We’re very grateful you have touched our lives.”