The Barnabas Blog

The weather here in Columbus this morning was cold and rainy. The temperature was 48 degrees and the rain was pelting down at a steady downpour. A number of my friends have already left and some are leaving this afternoon. I would be less than honest if I said that I was not ready to head home. This morning’s service will be perhaps the highlight of the conference. Its theme was “Passing the Mantle.” Apparently the thought started with our General Superintendent Kenneth Haney. His vision was to pass along to a younger generation a greater sense of responsibility concerning the heritage of Apostolic doctrine. I had talked with Stephen Williams earlier via cell phone and he was holding me a seat when I walked in. We were a little ways back and so I went up and scouted around a bit and managed to get us a front row seat. After it was all over, I was thankful for that front row seat because the service was incredible. I might add that we are a little happier than ...

Today started extremely early at 6:15 AM (CST) because the primary business session started at 8:00 AM (CST). One major difficulty about the early rising is the late howling. I have stayed with Brent Rashall the last two nights at the Baymont Inn and we have talked a lot later than what we should have. However, I have come away from our “talks” with some good positive things. One of the things that has been stressed is that if we are going to have a Book of Acts church, not only will there be the power of God present but we will also have to contend with a real-live devil who will attempt to work through carnal people. Just as there will be men like Paul and Silas in the church, we also will have to confront those like Simon the Sorcerer and Elymas. The powerful thing is that in the end, the power of God won out and the Church prevailed. I cannot say that I have a total understanding but I have scratched a surface understanding of the power of God operating in an Aposto...

We came to the service tonight and before the service concluded much of the floor was completely filled. A large portion of the side risers and the first level balcony was filled also. I sat with Mark and Stephanie Harrelson for the Thursday evening service. This service was reserved for our General Superintendent to speak. I would note that Jerry Jones was re-elected as the General Secretary for the UPCI. Several other elections of note were Greg Wilbanks (Eva, AL) who was elected to the Minister’s Appeal Council and Robbie Knox (Somewhere, KY) was elected as the Secretary of the Sunday School Division. Several years ago, Robbie came and preached a revival for us in Dothan . We can now say that we know someone famous in St. Louis . The choir did a stirring song. The Ohio District All-State Choir sang and Mickey Mangun sang with them on “We Lift Him Up” and it was quite powerful. That is one of those songs that stirs way down deep on the inside whether you kno...

I have made it safely to Columbus . I drove 825 miles in 12 ½ hours on yesterday. If my wife is reading this she will be happy to know that I did not run over anyone or get run over by someone else and no tickets! I will try to keep the Dothan crowd updated as to whaive-streamingt is going on up here. You can keep up with General Conference on a live webcast . I did meet with Brent Rashall who has been a good friend of mine over the years here in Columbus . We ate at Carrabba’s Italian Grill way too late last night but had a good time of catching up. Today we got up and made it to the business session. However, before I ever got into the business session, I ran into Bro. Kelsey Griffin. I spent about 25 minutes or so with him talking to him about his world travels. He has now been to all fifty states and forty-seven countries in the world and will be leaving very shortly after this conference to Barbados . Not only did Bro. Griffin tell me about his tra...

As I had mentioned in a few earlier posts ( The Five Year Pass & Formula for a Downpour ), on September 5, 2006, I had the opportunity to go to Gainesville , Florida and spend several hours with Pastor Jeff Arnold. For more background you can link to the two previous posts so that I will not have to backtrack with some previous things that Bro. Arnold told us about Because of the Times. I asked Bro. Arnold which message really stood out to him over all the years at Because of the Times. He mentioned two of them, “Refuge from Despair,” and “I Will Not Die In My Dilemma.” When he mentioned “Refuge from Despair” I wanted to delve into that one a bit more. I do not remember exactly what year it was preached but I do remember the saber-rattling that it caused. If ever there was a message about the mysterious grace of God, this would have to be the one. I really wanted to dig this message out of the archives and listen to it again before I wrote this post but I ...

I am going to take a slight break in blogging about Pastor Jeff Arnold’s sage advice that he passed on a few days ago. You can read the first post and the second post if you desire. His “five-year pass” principle is a very valid time test that all who are involved in ministry have to take. I have good intentions of trying to bring a little more encouragement to this blog by placing different quotes that will hurt and help at the same time. When I was in Bible College (located in Houston at the time), I signed up for the two hour study hall on Wednesdays. The reason that I did this was to help me catch up with homework, reading assignments, and other odds and ends that presented itself during the week. By the time everything was said and done, there was a whole, whole lot more said than done. However, it was during these “Wednesday Wisdom” sessions that I forged some very close friendships. It was there that Paul Jacks, Bryan Aaron, Robert Esquibel...

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about our trip last Tuesday (September 5, 2006) to Gainesville , Florida to visit with Pastor Jeff Arnold. I have already written about what he termed the “five-year pass.” It was recounting some of his early days in Gainesville and some of the things that he had to personally overcome. I have written on the BarnabasBlog about the impact that several men have had on my life and ministry. One of those men is Anthony Mangun who pastors in Alexandria , Louisiana . Since 1983, a conference convenes in Alexandria called Because of the Times . Over the last 20+ years it has been responsible for a lot of good things among the United Pentecostal Church and has greatly contributed to a lot of personal growth among revival-minded men. Bro. Arnold is one of the mainstays at BOTT and has preached there every year since its inception. Because of the powerful change that has occurred in me over the years, I was curious as to how Bro. Arnold...

Last Tuesday (September 5, 2006), I was invited by Pastor J. B. Sims from Foley , Alabama , to go to Gainesville , Florida . The whole reason for the trip was to spend a half-day with Pastor Jeff Arnold, who pastors the Pentecostals of Gainesville . Bro. Sims and Bro. Arnold have been friends for quite a number of years. During his early ministry days, Bro. Sims would drive from Tallahassee to Gainesville to see Bro. Arnold on a fairly routine basis. We managed to get up a lot earlier than normal to make the trip. Bro. Sims left Foley around 3:30 AM and I left Dothan around 6 AM and we met in Marianna , Florida and rode together the rest of the way. We went by their church and took a brief tour before meeting Bro. Arnold at Sonny’s BBQ. Before the day was over, I had driven 500 miles and Bro. Sims had driven and ridden around 800 miles. However, after the day had concluded we both decided that it had been very much worth the early rising and the drive. I hav...

On yesterday, September 9, 2006, we finished our Tour de SFC. This year we rode a new route that was significantly more challenging but a lot safer. It was much more challenging in the amount of hills that we had to endure but much safer in that we did not have a lot of traffic to contend with. We pulled out shortly after 6 AM under foggy conditions and a 70 degree temp. It didn’t take long for the “peloton” to get leveled out. In the front and there all day long was Mark Harrelson (Alabama District Youth President). He managed to ride the 62 ½ miles in 3h:39m. Pastor Kenny Rogers from Moulton , Alabama , finished about 70 minutes behind him with the rest of us trickling in. The results from the ride were as follow: 1 st -- Mark Harrelson ( Mobile , AL ) 2 nd -- Kenny Rogers ( Moulton , AL ) 3 rd -- Nathan Harrelson ( Dothan , AL ) 4 th -- Wayne Worley ( Dothan , AL ) 5 th -- Philip Harrelson ( Dothan , AL ) 6 t...