Congratulations to my friend and brother Aldine Cloud. Aldine retires from the Winston-Salem Fire Department after a stellar career that has been filled with service to this community. Aldine and Betty, you have represented your Lord Jesus Christ and your South Fork family very well through all these years. We are so very grateful for the untold sacrifices you have made, the fears and risks you have experienced, and the way you continue to model the servant hood of Christ. May God bless you and all your family greatly in the days ahead, and may you always feel deep in your hearts the sincere feeling of love and appreciation, gratitude and respect, we all carry in our hearts for you. Thank you, dear brother and sister.

I appreciate so much your participation as our shepherds spent time in our Bible classes over the last two Sundays to share with and in particular to receive input from the congregation. It is always important to look inside and evaluate where you are, where you are heading, and what needs to change to put you in the right direction and get you where you hope to go.

Churches I think are some of the worst culprits when it comes to a lack of planning, evaluation and accountability. Our shepherds are committed to leading this church family in the way we should go, in the way God has called us to go. Continue to pray for them, and share with them, as they have encouraged our members to come to them individually over the next month or so to share your concerns, dreams, and encouragement as we serve the Lord together. 

Each Christmas marks an anniversary for Joyce and me here at South Fork, as we began our ministry here in December 2005. It has been five years! We thank God for you and pray His richest blessings on you and your loved ones during this holiday season and always. As we start a new year, perhaps these words from Paul will be a good call to recommitment for us all:

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” [Philippians 3:12-14]