Strolling Down Memory Lane

July 15th, 2009 |

It’s Saturday morning and I am out of my routine.  I’ve been speaking at the Mississippi Baptist Convention’s Music Leadership Conference at First Baptist Church in Jackson.  It has been a great experience and as always, I have enjoyed the preaching, whether anyone else has or not.  Kathy and I have had some time to drive around the metro area allowing her the opportunity to reminisce.  This is her city and although it has changed, it’s still a place full of memories.  Her parents moved back to the country years ago, but Kathy actually grew up in Ridgeland, just north of the Jackson.  Yesterday we drove through her old neighborhood and I was amazed at how well she remembered where everyone used to live.  I’m not sure I could even find the neighborhood where I grew up.  Anyway, the place is different.  The house where she grew up no longer has a yard full of flowers.  It seems that when the gardener left -Kathy’s mom- so did the garden.  However, a little further down the road, Henderson’s Garage is still just the way she remembered it.  Frankly, it looks a little out of place with all the modern buildings, but the rusty sign indicates that they have been in business since 1939.  Although the building looks the same, they must have had to change the way they do things in order to still be open after all these years.  Nothing wrong with nostalgia, but it won’t pay the bills. There probably aren’t many 1939 cars still on the road.  This is the challenge we face as a church.  We want to remain true to our roots, while at the same time being relevant in our world.  Certainly His message is still needed.  We just need to be sure that as messengers, we don’t get in the way by our unwillingness to change.  Even if, like Henderson’s, we don’t change our sign.  Well, enough “life lessons” for today.  We are packed up.  I’ll soon preach one more time, and then we are heading home.

Strolling down memory lane,
Bro. James