From the Desk of President Terry Crenshaw
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the greeting that the apostle Paul used when he wrote his letter to the saints in Rome and it seemed appropriate to use in my letter to you because “you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, — called to the obedience that comes from faith”.
My name is Terry Crenshaw. I am the new President and Director of Circle of Love ministries since the well deserved retirement of Dr. Ed and Pastor Betty Ruder. Some of you already know my history at the Circle of Love but for those of you who don’t I wanted to tell you how I came to be here.
One day in the summer of 1995 I was at home watching a program on TV that had a husband and wife team telling of how they had recently acquired property on North Main St. in Oceanway where they were in need of help in building a shelter and chapel for people who had no homes. They told how they had operated a collection of houses in Springfield to house, feed, and clothe the homeless since the early 1980s and now wanted to consolidate all these services into one central campus where they could also teach and preach the gospel.
I had the distinct feeling that this was a worthwhile endeavor and decided to help them in whatever way I could, but sometimes good intentions have a way of being put off when other things come along that seem more important at the time.
Now I have had the habit of praying and seeking God through the scriptures each morning and was accustomed to feeling the presence of our Lord during this time. About two weeks had passed since the TV program with the couple and the homeless shelter and I had yet to go to offer my help, though I had thought about it every day. One morning the time came for my regular devotional, I called on my Lord expecting him as usual, and ——- NOTHING! Why? Why had my Father turned his back to me? Then it came to me, the TV program, the homeless shelter, the husband and wife, their plea for help, the feeling that I should help. Then I knew; that feeling I had to help them was God speaking to me. I had been disobedient. I was so alarmed, so sorry, so ashamed.
Have you ever been there? Thinking that you were pleasing God in what you were doing and all the while being disobedient. In 1 Samuel Chapter 15 King Saul found out “To obey is better than sacrifice”.
Well I got right up, went to the property on North Main St. in Oceanway and that was when I met Ed and Betty Ruder.
I’ll save the rest of the story for another time.
Terry
