Giving Tuesday!! FREE Gift!

Want a Free Gift?  If you can help us out on #GivingTuesday, I will personally give you a free hug, bumps or handshake. You choose!  
   

On Tuesday, December 1st, you can make a huge difference in the Kingdom of God and in my family. Tuesday is #GivingTuesday.  It's a relatively new idea designed to show thanks after all of the consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  It's a chance to give and say thanks!  I am asking you to consider giving to support my family's desire to plant a church in Knightdale, NC. Currently we are making plans and preparing to begin a training residency with LifePointe Church in Raleigh, NC in the first few months of 2016. We are raising our salary for that year.  I will study and learn the ropes of church planting as well as travel and raise support for the work in Knightdale. The training is based around three main areas. Leading Yourself, Leading Groups and Leading the Church.  I'll be posting more about our experience soon.

If you would like to give a one time gift or begin supporting us regularly you can mail checks to:
ENCCMF c/o Ken Terry, Treasurer
931 Teakwood Drive
Greenville, NC 27834

*******Please put WALLACE or KNIGHTDALE in the memo.  

Whether you are able to give or not, please pray for us in this adventure!!!  Don't let me forget that free hug you've got coming!

Scary Steps: Lord Guide Us.

Dear Family,

       I know that most, if not all of you here at PCOC have heard what I am about to share with you, but it may be new to those of our extended family that receive the Clarion. Nevertheless, I wanted to share as much detail as possible with all of you in one setting.  

       I announced last Wednesday and this past Sunday morning in both services, that I have accepted the call to plant a church in Knightdale, North Carolina.  Knightdale is just east of Raleigh, NC. It is one of the fastest growing towns in our state. The population has increased 123% in 15 years. Even with all of those people and the constant influx of new people, there is not a New Testament congregation in the town.  It is truly a field ready for harvest. 

       At this point I will be partnering with the Eastern North Carolina Christian Men’s Fellowship and Christian Financial Resources as well as with another church planting organization that we are talking with.  This still leaves a tremendous amount of funds to raise from churches and individuals until the new congregation becomes self-supporting. But as always, God will provide.  We ask for your prayers!

      This decision has not been made lightly.  It has been one of the most difficult decisions of my life. Simply put, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to leave a loving, growing ministry where you feel like family. That being said, I’ve been preaching through books of the Bible and now “The Story” for several months. The text for my sermons have for the most part been laid out for me and it’s been my job to mine the message out of it.  In my preaching, I often remind you all that I preach to myself as I’m preaching to you. In many of the messages a resounding, recurring theme has shown itself loud and clear.  Faith! Not faith as the world defines it but faith as the Word defines it! I have challenged you all to live by faith and get out of comfort zones and go where the water is deep and the path is not clear when it comes to serving the Lord. I have been utterly convicted that if I am going to challenge you to live that kind of faith, I have to as well. 

      For most of my ministry and even in college, I have felt the desire to plant a church. Sometimes if would come raging into the forefront of my mind and I would entertain it for a short while but would then allow fear to take control and I would let it drop.  I became fairly serious about it about seven years ago and started some conversations with individuals that could help me in the process; only to let it go…again.  

     About six months ago I mentioned to a church planting friend that I still had the church planting desire lurking in my heart. In my mind it probably wouldn’t happen for 3 or 4 years if at all.  Two months later, he let me know that he had contacted a planting organization in Virginia and shared my name and interest with them. This was the same group I approached 7 years before. The director of the planting organization contacted a church in the Raleigh Area that is a 15 year old church plant and continues to plant churches and new campuses of their congregation. He told the minister of the Raleigh church that he knew a guy interested in planting a church in Knightdale. The preacher in Raleigh said, “Knightdale, really? We just got out of a meeting where we said the next area where we need to plant a church is Knightdale. We only need a preacher!”  

     Once I heard that, I knew that it was time to pray more intensely. There is a lot more to the story that has been eye-opening and faith stretching but to keep this from being “War and Peace: Part 2” I’ll share that with you later.  Ultimately, we have prayed as close to “without ceasing” as I ever have in my life.  We felt so torn because of our love for the church at Plymouth and how well our ministry has gone here. There are many reasons to stay here but there is one glaring, convicting, challenging reason to go.  People need Jesus. The Christians here are working hard to share Jesus with people. I want to begin a congregation in Knightdale that has that same passion. 

     At the risk of being trite, I have summarized my thoughts about our decision in a simple phrase.  I had a moment of clarity where the idea came to my mind that, “There is a strong church in Plymouth, and Lord-willing, there always will be; but there is no Christian church/ Church of Christ church in Knightdale.” I also want to stress that there is no negative reason we are leaving Plymouth Church of Christ.  My prayer is that you will not see us as “leaving”. My prayer is that you all will see yourselves as sending us out to grow the Kingdom.  

     So far, my family and I have been blown away by the love and support that all of you have shown. My greatest fear was hurting the people I love and you have shown once again why I love you all so much.  You love Jesus and others more than yourselves. My goal is to plant a church in Knightdale that has the same DNA as the Plymouth Church of Christ.  People who love Jesus and love people.  God bless you all as we continue to serve the Lord together and even when we serve Him with miles between us.  We will continue to update you all on the time line of our ministry transition which will take place some time in the first part of 2016.  

Thanking God for you,

Bobby and Shari Wallace and Family

I'll Make You Famous!

     Have you ever had one of those moments when you realized that you had known someone for a long time and did not know that they went to church and professed to be a Christian?  There were probably a lot of people that had that experience with me in High School and my early college years.  It's always an awkward moment when you try to surmise why you didn't know.  Is it because you weren't concerned enough to find out or they weren't faithful enough for it to show?  Maybe it's a little of both.
     I want to have the kind of faith that people recognize. Christians and non-Christians.  I want people to know beyond the shadow of a doubt where I stand and whom I stand for.  Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be like those misguided folks that picket military funerals in the name of Jesus.  I want to be known for a faith that matches the Bible.  The Faith, to be exact.
     Paul wrote to the church at Colosse that their faith was reaching far beyond their city gates.  They were becoming famous, in a sense, while they were making Jesus famous.  What was becoming well known?  Their faith in Christ and the love they had for all the saints.  Are you known for that kind of faith?  A faith that overflows with love?  Hear me.  I didn't ask if you were known for your knowledge.   Knowledge puffs up.  You can know a lot of scripture but yet not live it or let it change your heart.  They were known for their knowledge of scripture and how they lived it out!  That kind of faith, Paul said, came from the hope of heaven.  A real understanding of heaven changes people. It causes people to bear fruit in their Christian life.  Are you bearing fruit?  Are there new Christians following behind you?  Are there stronger Christians learning from you?  This isn't a call to church leaders only.  This is a letter written to the CHURCH at Colosse.  All are expected to make Jesus famous.
     If you are at a time in your life when people are surprised that you go to church, start loving others.  It will take  a decision on your part to stop loving yourself so much.  It will take a conscious effort to invest time in others.  Don't make people shocked to read in your obituary that you attended church.  Besides, I don't think Jesus reads obituaries.
                Read Colossians 1:1-8

26.2

****A Repost written after my first marathon.  I will be starting a new book of the Bible on Monday. Hope you enjoy*****

     I ran a Marathon! Yes I did it.  It seems like forever ago but it was only a year.  Just to make it clear, it was 26.2 miles.  It was one of the most challenging and fulfilling things I've ever done.  And every step closer to the finish line made me understand why Paul compared the Christian life to a race.

I probably took off too fast and didn't replenish enough early on.  It's easy for us to take off too fast in the Christian life and not replenish early on.  What I mean is, early on we tend to survive on the euphoria of being in the race and don't feed on God's Word.  It's easy to burn out quickly.  

There were times I wanted to quit.  Leading up to my race I ran into all kinds of obstacles (pun intended).  I met people who thought I was stupid for running a marathon.  You'll meet people who think you're stupid for following Jesus.  I met people who doubted I could finish the race. You'll meet people who will question your ability to stay faithful.  And you will meet those special people who are thrilled you are getting in the race.  They drown out the doubters if you listen.

     During my race there were a few times that I wanted to quit!  The course was too tough, they weren't enough encouragers, I thought I wasn't strong enough.  

     Nearly every runner in a marathon hits "the wall".  It's usually around 19 miles and it affects every runner differently. Some runners' bodies give up on them, some just get really tired or discouraged.  I was really focused on not hitting the wall at 19 miles.  When I started to see that wall coming, at just the right time, I made some friends! I caught up to a husband and wife who had tons of experience and a  good attitude.  The husband had run 25 marathons!  His wife had a little more experience with 40!  They encouraged me that it could be done and they took my mind off the struggles.  When you want to give up in your Christian life, if you're patient, God will send help at just the right time.  

     Like I said, I avoided the wall at 19 miles!  It was great, but then like a ninja the wall jumped out of nowhere and roundhouse kicked me in the spleen at 21 miles!  No one was around at the time, no other runners or crowds cheering me on.  It was quiet and I was alone and the only voice there was my doubt.  I came the closest to quitting at that point.  

     I know too many people who have quit the race with Jesus with just a few miles to go.  A few things kept me in the race and I'm confident the same will keep you in the race with Christ.  First, I knew others had gone before me.  I knew that people had completed the race.  I knew people like me had finished.  I knew I had friends and family that were looking for me to finish.  I couldn't let them down.  I made a decision to start the race and I was going to finish. And finally, I remember thinking, that Jesus went through so much physical pain and didn't quit when he had every right to.  

     So remember, there is a great cloud of witnesses that has gone before you that is cheering you on. There are others counting on you to finish. A lot of it boils down to making the commitment and sticking to it.  And most importantly, there's Jesus.  He has won the prize and won the war and gives you and me the privilege to run with him and even receive the winner's crown.  I was nowhere near the front of the pack, yet when I got a quarter of a mile from the finish and heard the people cheering, I began to hold my head up higher and felt my legs grow stronger.  I began to run like the starting gun had just gone off.  And when I crossed that finish line to the cheers of a great cloud of witnesses, I raised my hands in victory.  I finished  and you can too.