IN MEMORY OF DR. ADRIAN ROGERS
September 12, 1931 Ц November 15, 2005

I was privileged this past September to spend three days with Dr Rogers and I have cherished every moment. I went to see a great preacher who preached to the thousands; a man who pastored the largest Baptist Church in the south and probably in America. As I listened while he taught in the Pastor Training Institute in a small classroom setting, I was expecting to be astounded at what he had to say. I must admit he possessed one of the most creative minds that I have ever been exposed to. I was not all that impressed with the classes, but I was impressed with the man. I went there with the idea that I would get some secret in building a great church and, even though I learned many things and to not be afraid to think and to step outside the box of the average church experience, to be honest I learned no secret to building a great church.
While I sat there my mind began to wonder and I thought to myself, how could God use such an ordinary man? The answer was that God used this man in a great way because he was an extraordinary God. I thought, how could God use Dr. Rogers to preach all across the world on the radio, on TV, on the World Wide Web, through books, etc. and to pastor one of the greatest churches in America, while at the same time be a family man. I thought maybe it was his creativity but there have been other pastors with more creativity. I thought maybe it was his charisma but there have been others with greater charisma. Maybe it was his organizational skills, but there have been pastors who possessed greater organizational skills. Maybe it was his voice but there have been others with a greater voice, even though I cannot think of one. So I asked myself, what made this man a great man in the sight of his God? I believe with much prayer I have found the answer to the question. How did God use an ordinary man in an extraordinary way? I pray that the answer will be beneficial to someone.
The first thing I believe that made Dr. Rogers a great man was the fact that he never got over the wonder of being saved. When he would speak of his salvation you could see the wonder in his eyes. He would speak with brokenness when thanking his God for his salvation. He never got over the wonder of salvation. The second thing that stood out was his devotion to his Savior. Even though he was known all over the world and was famous in Christianity, he had one single goal in life and that was to be devoted to Jesus Christ all of his life and he was devoted unto his death. The third thing was that he possessed a faith to reach for the impossible, to see the invisible, to believe beyond the circumstances of life. I was amazed while he was going through treatment for cancer that he was planning to do greater works for his God. The fourth thing that comes to mind is the love he possessed - a love that was simply amazing. He loved pastors no matter the size of their church; he loved people no matter where they were in life; he loved lost people. He had a fervent desire to reach them with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He never was above them, he really loved them. The fifth thing was the humility that he possessed. Even though he was famous he would take time out to get to know you. He was not a proud man and he never forgot what God had done for him. The sixth thing was his devotion to his family - his love for his wife and his children. He always made sure to never forget his family.
I will finish with this statement. Dr Adrian Rogers was a great man - not only in the sight of man, but more importantly in the sight of God - an ordinary man serving an extraordinary God!

In service for Jesus Christ.
Pastor Wes

When will we see and become who we truly are as the church of the living God, the mighty army that God intends us to be and stop taking a back seat to the devil an the world? The church should be the ground and pillar of truth, something to build our life on and to give us purpose. We have been reduced to the poverty level. I am reminded of the story that the great preacher Adrian Rogers told. A violinist stepped out onto the stage one evening and drew the bow across his violin. The room fell silent as out came the most glorious music the audience had ever heard. When he finished, the crowd jumped to their feet and gave ovation after ovation. What happened next shocked everyone into speechlessness. The violinist broke the violin on the podium into a thousand pieces. He looked at the audience and said, УLadies and gentlemen, donТt be dismayed. This was only a three and a half dollar violin. It is not so much the violin that makes the music as it is the man who draws the bow.Ф Little is so much when God is in it. God can take a life that may be comparable to a $3.50 violin and turn it into a masterpiece. You see, God wants you to act like you really are a child of God that has been set free from the power of Satan. LetТs now begin to take back some ground that rightly belongs to God. The first thing I believe that we need back in America is the family and our children. I know that there are single moms and single dads, and to me personally, are some of our greatest heroes. They can still raise great children by a life that has been fully dedicated to God , so my message to you is that God is still on the throne and your family belongs to God. Do not give them up to the devil and his devices, take your family back for the glory of God. The second thing is our faith. We serve the only God that has been raised from the dead. The church should not take a back seat any other organization. We have the life changing message that can take a addict and make them clean in the blood of Jesus Christ; the message can take a harlot and make her a virtuous woman; it can take a drunk and make him sober; it can turn around this nation if only the churches will quit the arguing and fussing and start giving out the life changing message. Will you stand with me and believe God to do some great things thru his body? Come on church - let our voices be heard once again and make a difference. The third thing is the friends that the Lord gives us. In this life you will never have too many friends. A true friend will love you if everything in your life is falling to pieces and you need someone. They will be there in the good times when everything is going your way. Take the friends that God has given you and cherish them, thank God for them. Fellowship Baptist ChurchТs moto is faith, family and friends. We believe that these are the three things that matters most. When it said and done, we will find that these three elements are the only three that makes a difference. When you have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you become a child of God, you are somebody, so lift up your head and start acting like a child of God that you are.

In Christ,
Pastor Wes

Life has many roads, many turns and many choices and sometimes our choices turn out all wrong. No one can honestly say that they have made all the right choices. The choices we make in life can sometimes turn out all wrong. When this happens we have the tendency to carry around guilt that God never intended for his people to carry. I believe that itТs not our successfulness that determines our usefulness to God, but rather, in failure. Better yet, it is how we deal with the failure and how we are able to learn from failing. If we are not able to learn from our failures, then we are more likely to repeat the failure each time we encounter similar challenges. We also run the risk of becoming bitter blaming others around us; the church, our spouse, the pastor, the job, the doctors, all the while blaming the world for our own failure. If you see yourself in this position, this trap, you need to face it and decide to make a change. You need to realize that this attitude can only drag you down into discouragement and eventually, your friends, your family will begin to avoid you to avoid the bitterness, the discouragement, which will only lead to more isolation. The fact is that everyone fails at something at some point and there are really only two responses to failure and we will decide how to respond. The first, our natural response, will allow failure to discourage and make us bitter. The second, and admittedly more difficult, to allow failure to make us better. Let me tell you, from personal experience, that some of the worldТs best intentions can end up in failure. It is in these times, when life has knocked me down that I make the decision to get up, dust myself off, and try again. I have always used failure as a motivator that drives me to do more and to achieve more, because I was able to learn from the mistakes and failures of past experiences. My goal is not to show you how to avoid failure, but to learn how to be successful despite failure. Remember that Christ said, УSeek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.Ф True success cannot be measured apart from a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus. Paul told the church at Philippi, УI can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.Ф When we put Christ first, and do whatsoever we do in His name, though we will still taste defeat, and experience failure, we will have the knowledge that Jesus is with us and will still guide us, even in failure. IТll leave you with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt: "Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

In Christ,
Pastor Wes

When we look at the churches today I see a lot of hypocrisy. We claim one thing and the exact opposite is going on in the church and the lives of its members. There are many things that I could discuss, but I would like to focus on the one thing that I believe is destroying the church and that is the sin of not embracing diversity among the people in our communities. I often hear people say, "I will not accept any differences and that we should walk the old paths." While I agree with that we should remain the same in doctrine or in the message, I disagree when we decide that we will not embrace anyone or anything that is different. When we begin to study the word of God, we find that the people God chose to use were all different. Different in their personality, their ministry, their life, their abilities, their talents, their love and God still used them in great ways in spite of their differences. Here's just one of many examples. The apostle Paul and Peter the fisherman. There cannot be two more opposite than these two men. One would be, by today's standards, an intellectual genius and the other was just a plain fisherman. One was crude, the other refined. The God that I serve knew the differences in these two men and yet we find that God did not put one on the shelf and refused to use him because he was different.а You see, God embraced the differences and used the differences for His purpose. If we are really walking in the old paths, and keeping God's Word, we will see that God made all men different, so that he could use them in many different ways to further the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Some may be thinking, "where does the hypocrisy come into play?" It is when we say we are not different or that the body of Christ isn't different, when in reality everyone in the church is different. I wonder if the church shouldn't just admit that there are differences among any group of people, rather than fighting it and begin to embraceаthe differences in the church and in it's people. Then, God could send revival to people who will embrace the differences, and love people, no matter their circumstances or condition, and we could once again see the glory of God.

In Christ,
Pastor Wes