Trip to Westview Baptist Church

Sunday I had the opportunity to travel to Chattanooga and visit Westview Baptist. Westivew was my first congregation of service in 2003. Rachel and Isaac were not able to go so it kinda felt like the old days. During my time at Westview I traveled twice a week (at least) on Wednesday and Sunday down I-75. The drive never got on my nerves. I was serving the Lord and doing His will for my life, so how could it get old?

The purpose for going to Westview was to discuss how the church could help Rachel and I with the church start. I am very excited to be able to work with this church again. Awesome congregation and leadership. Westview is very structured and everything it does is based upon Scripture. However....there was a little surprise on Sunday morning. Sterling Jetton the pastor of Westview (and the pastor I served with during my time there) is beginning his 10th anniversary at the church. I was asked to share some thoughts about what Sterling has meant to me personally, which I gladly agreed to do.

Simply put, Sterling took me in and became my mentor. It was a time in my life when I had accepted the call into ministry but had no guidance. I was simply trying to figure things out for myself, thinking that this was how it should be. However Sterling taught me the importance of mentoring others in the faith of Jesus Christ. It established a driving conviction in my heart to mentor (especially young men in the ministry) those under my care.

What I am most proud of during my time at the church is that we established ministries based upon the proper and correct teaching of God's Word. In our youth ministry, the foundation was not silly games, retreats, conferences, mission trips, lock ins, or movie nights. It all started with God's Word. I knew that Sterling and I would work well together because this was his interest also. The activities we did flowed from the teaching of the Bible. The students grabbed hold of the idea and exploded. It's very comforting to be able to go back and see many new faces and know that the Lord used me to help get things going.

Back to Sterling for just a second....I have many cherished memories with him and his family. I literally hung out with them on many weekends and Sundays. I also had a chance to spend valuable time with the Millions' when I was away from the church. Great solid family for Jesus! Connally is a blast! Both families made me feel right at home. It was a very special time in my life. I will always treasure the conversations I had with Sterling, the times we went visiting, and of course eating lunch. I am thankful he allowed me to be a part of his family.

Now we press on toward the future...more to come later this week.

Because He lives

Jeremy