Dearest of Friends on This Stretch of our Road in Life,

I was just thinking about what this world quarantine has taken from us, and the list is greater than what we would expect. First of all, it has infringed on our friendship. It makes us feel as though our extended family has gone on a trip across the country, on an extended vacation, and stayed too long. It is like an old Swedish saying goes, “The path between the homes of friends is well worn.” But when you think about it, we all know that we travel to God’s House to meet our best friend, and it there we get to be with one another. It is also good to know that He actually is forever with us and will never leave us.

Never before have we come face to face with a Mother’s Day when we could not personally celebrate our Mother’s Day with the mothers of our church family. I wanted to take just a moment to express my love for all the mothers of Heritage. The year 2020 has brought us many new challenges, and I am not sure that I would have been able to navigate through them without the Godly influence my mother passed on to me. I have told you a lot about my mother over the years. You may laugh when I say this, but she was the first eclectic person I ever knew. She loved life and was fun; but, when problems arose, she would go curl up on her bed and pray herself to sleep. It always worked for her. She called it, “sleeping it off”. She loved colors and bright flowered print dresses and expensive shoes. There was never a dull moment when she was in the mix. She was really like one of the boys. My childhood friends would always ask about her when I came across their paths as life went on.

What is a shepherd’s goal for his sheep? When I first started in ministry the Lord spoke to me prophetically and said, “My sheep are hungry for the good grass that grows by the river of living water.” From that day to this, my personal aim has been to feed the good Word of God to those whom God has brought into our ministry. I like to think of it as the grass He makes to grow upon the mountain. You realize, of course, that grass does not grow on mountaintops, so this means it is that which has supernatural life in it, i.e., the grass that flourishes in the rarified air beyond the tree line.

This question was made famous by Verizon Wireless to demonstrate how good their cell coverage was. I just wonder if we ever stopped to think about how good God’s communication coverage is working on the earth today?

Dear Church Family and Friends of Heritage,
Do you know any words that have a feeling to them like these two words, WELCOME HOME? I have been passing through airports and have seen families with balloons and signs welcoming home their sons and daughters from war. Each time I see this, it reminds me of when I was five years old and my Dad, Speedy Keith, came home from WWII. You are not supposed to forget things like that.

Dear Church Family and Friends,
We have never had an Easter like Easter 2020, and never another April like this April. It makes one think of John, exiled on the Isle of Patmos, and how, even that, did not turn out to be so bad. Jesus’ beloved disciple was quarantined on the Isle of Patmos. He was older and banished by the Roman emperor because of the Word of God and his testimony of Jesus. John, who was called The Beloved disciple, found that they might be able to separate him from the body of Christ, but not from the Lord Himself. Patmos became an open window to heaven. It was a place of vision, a vista of revelation, and a place of miraculous manifestation. Do you remember jail for Joseph or the den with Daniel’s name on it? The Lord always finds ways to minister to his faithful saints in their confinement.

Dear Church Family and Friends of Heritage Fellowship,

“He Lives”!

It’s a small world after all, wouldn’t you say? Around the world, people are praying in the streets. A simultaneous appeal to heaven is sweeping the earth as the church recognizes the dilemma at hand, and you and I can make a difference with our prayers. We were not late to work, so to speak, in that, we had been praying globally for the past year. I want you to know that we are connected with you through prayer and fasting. GayNell and I miss the fellowship of the saints.

My thoughts have turned to the drama of the Easter Story. In spite of the immediate global crisis, with millions impacted and quarantined, we have entered the season of resurrection hope. Once again, we remember the manhood of Christ. We also remember He died for mankind as a man. How can a person expect to enter into heaven if they do not confess the one who has the keys to the door.