One of the things I enjoy about my role as President of Clearwater Christian College is the opportunity to visit pastors and local churches. This past Sunday morning I traveled with our ministry team to Spring Hill Bible Church, in Spring Hill Florida.
The teachable moment of the day was Pastor Gee’s contribution to my message. My message focused on 4 biblical priorities that I believe orient and direct our Christian life: the person of Christ, the Word of God, the Grace of God, and the church. I have been presenting these as my compass points for leadership and for life. When I pastored I talked about them as flagpoles for ministry. I had the joy of embracing these during my years at Central Baptist Seminary, VA.
In the message I refer to Christ as my true north, the Word as my southern compass point, God’s grace as my east, and the church as my west. Although I like the compass metaphor I was not completely satisfied with how to fit the Word, grace, and church into the compass metaphor. Well, this was the contribution of Pastor Gee. At the end of the message he pictured the believer looking to Christ as our true north, standing on the Word of God (our south), and protected by grace, and the church to the east and the west. The christian life is centered and directed by these compass points.
I am grateful for a gracious pastor and the healthy gospel community of Spring Hill Bible Church for teaching me and encouraging me this past Sunday AM.