South Seaville Camp Meeting

South Seaville Camp Meeting Founded in 1863 and to this day, deeply rooted in the Methodist tradition, our camp meeting is situa

Founded in 1863 and to this day, deeply rooted in the Methodist tradition, our camp meeting is situated in the grove amid the inspiring backdrop of nature.

Spring has arrived and before we know it, summer will be back! We have a number of exciting events planned for the summe...
04/07/2026

Spring has arrived and before we know it, summer will be back! We have a number of exciting events planned for the summer. We hope you can join us!

Ok Church...Let's get busy:"Joy is prayer; joy is strength: joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch sou...
12/28/2025

Ok Church...Let's get busy:

"Joy is prayer; joy is strength: joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls." - Mother Teresa

Dec. 25 — Merry Christmas!What a glorious day! I am so grateful for those who have joined me in these 25 days focused on...
12/25/2025

Dec. 25 — Merry Christmas!

What a glorious day! I am so grateful for those who have joined me in these 25 days focused on the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter one. Here are some really important truths I hope you will always remember:
#1 — God keeps His Word. Every single prophecy was fulfilled from Abraham, to David, to the Virgin Mary.
#2 — God cares about families. Remember, family has divine origin. God was Father before he was Creator. This is more than a human institution.
#3 — When God is silent it doesn’t mean that He is absent. Sing it again: “Even when you don’t see it, He’s working…”
#4 — Don’t “throw in the towel,” “throw down the gauntlet!” God has a plan for your life, and the birth of Christ is right in the center of it.
Here’s another message from Max Lucado: “The story of Christmas is the story of God’s relentless love for us. The moment Mary touched God’s face is the moment God made his case: there is no place he will not go. No place is too common, no person is too hardened, no distance is too far. There is no person he cannot reach. There is no limit to his love.”
Let me close this month of devotions with this: “A Christmas Morning Prayer” by Robert Louis Stevenson (Who knows, he may be in my genealogy!).
Loving Father,
help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and worship of the wise men.
Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with
every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which
Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.
May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and Christmas evening bring
us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

Dec. 24 — (Please Share)Since I’ve already leaned on Max, I probably should share from another of my favorite authors, K...
12/24/2025

Dec. 24 — (Please Share)

Since I’ve already leaned on Max, I probably should share from another of my favorite authors, Ken Gire. In his book “Intimate Moments with the Savior,” Gire writes about the birth of Jesus and the moments following:

“The birth would not be easy, either for the mother or the child. For every royal privilege for this son ended at conception.
The involuntary contractions are not enough, and Mary has to push with all her strength, almost as if God were refusing to come into the world without her help.
Joseph places a garment beneath her, and with a final push and a long sigh her labor is over.
The Messiah has arrived.
Mucus in his ears and nostrils. Wet and slippery from the amniotic fluid. The Son of the most high God umbilically tied to a lowly Jewish girl.
…Joseph sits exhausted, silent, full of wonder.
The baby finishes nursing and sighs, the divine Word reduced to a few unintelligible sounds. Then, for the first time his eyes fix on his mother’s. Deity straining to focus. The Light of the World, squinting.
Tears pool in her eyes. She touches his tiny hand. And hands that once sculpted mountain ranges cling to her finger.
And so, with barely a ripple of notice, God stepped into the warm lake of humanity. Without protocol and without pretension.
…Thus, in the little town of Bethlehem…that one silent night…the royal birth of God’s Son tip-toed quietly by…as the world slept.
Incarnation is a big theological word…God becoming flesh. What a journey for God to take…from the throne room of God to a stable in Bethlehem.
And He did it for you.”

Dec. 23 — (Please Share)One of my favorite authors is Max Lucado. There were years when I would publicly state from the ...
12/23/2025

Dec. 23 — (Please Share)

One of my favorite authors is Max Lucado. There were years when I would publicly state from the pulpit that if Max stops writing, I’ll probably have to stop preaching. The best thing I could give you in this devotional is the 25 questions Max has for Mary in his book “God Came Near.”

1. What was it like watching him pray?
2. How did he respond when he saw other kids giggling during the service at the synagogue?
3. When he saw a rainbow, did he ever mention a flood?
4. Did you ever feel awkward teaching him how he created the world?
5. When he saw a lamb being led to the slaughter, did he act differently?
6. Did you ever see him with a distant look on his face as if he were listening to someone you couldn’t hear?
7. How did he act at funerals?
8. Did the thought ever occur to you that the God to whom you were praying was asleep under your own roof?
9. Did you ever try to count the stars with him….and succeed?
10. Did he ever come home with a black eye?
11. How did he act when he got his first haircut?
12. Did he have any friend by the name of Judas?
13. Did he do well in school?
14. Did you ever scold him?
15. Did he ever have to ask a question about Scripture?
16. What do you think he thought when he saw a pr******te offering to the highest bidder the body he made?
17. Did he ever get angry when someone was dishonest with him?
18. Did you ever catch him pensively looking at the flesh on his own arm while holding a clod of dirt?
19. Did he ever wake up afraid?
20. Who was his best friend?
21. When someone referred to Satan, how did he act?
22. Did you ever accidentally call him Father?
23. What did he and his cousin John talk about as kids?
24. Did his brothers and sisters understand what was happening?
25. Did you ever think, That’s God eating my soup?

Dec. 22 — (Please Share)Let’s spend our remaining days in verse 16 of Matthew One: “And Jacob the father of Joseph, the ...
12/22/2025

Dec. 22 — (Please Share)

Let’s spend our remaining days in verse 16 of Matthew One: “And Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.”
Let’s look at some of what is said later in Matthew One about Joseph:
19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Verse 24 tells us that when Joseph woke up from this dream, he immediately did what the angel of the Lord told him to do…he took Mary home to be his wife. He didn’t have to embrace the public shame, and he didn’t have to become the legal father of Jesus through adoption. But because of his integrity and humility, the prophecy declaring Jesus legally coming through the line of David and Abraham was fulfilled through Joseph.
Remember, in Luke’s genealogy he goes through Mary’s bloodline. Joseph came through David’s son Solomon, and Mary came through David’s son Nathan. Jesus fulfilled prophecy both legally through Joseph and through blood with Mary.
Pope Francis said this about Joseph: "Joseph teaches us that faith in God includes believing that he can work even through our fears, our frailties, and our weaknesses. He also teaches us that amid the tempests of life, we must never be afraid to let the Lord steer our course."
Is there something the Lord has told you to do that you haven’t done yet? Are you willing to ask the Lord if he has anything on his heart that you could partner with Him in? Joseph had to travel 85 miles on foot to get to Bethlehem that first Christmas night…how far will you go in obedience to the Lord?

Dec. 21 — (Please Share)I love the idea of finding treasure…I revel in the thought of finding the perfect shell while wa...
12/21/2025

Dec. 21 — (Please Share)

I love the idea of finding treasure…I revel in the thought of finding the perfect shell while walking on the beach. I love TV shows about finding treasure…Storage Wars, Gold Rush, etc. And I am taken by the story of King Josiah in the 7th century BC…he found the most important treasure you can find and it changed people’s lives.
Josiah became King when he was just a boy, his father was Amon and his grandfather was Manasseh, one of the most wicked kings in Israel’s history. But Josiah grew into one of the most faithful and devoted kings that Israel ever had. And do you know what the reason for his faithfulness was? He found buried treasure!
In the 18th year of Josiah’s reign, when he was still in his twenties, the temple was having some renovations done and they found it…the buried law of God. It was likely an early scroll detailing the Book of Deuteronomy. That Holy Scripture from God changed Josiah’s life and it sparked a nation-wide revival among God’s people.
Josiah was deeply convicted by the nation's failure to follow God's commands. He initiated a radical purge of all idolatrous practices, including the removal of idols and altars dedicated to Baal and Asherah, the destruction of local shrines ("high places") throughout Judah and even into the former northern kingdom of Israel.
King Josiah died around age 38 or 39, in 609 BC, after ruling for 31 years. He was killed in battle by Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt. But he left a lasting legacy of devotion to God.
Who would guess that we could discover so much treasure in the genealogy of Jesus? I hope that you will make treasure hunting a regular practice in your life, and I hope that it might lead you to greater devotion to God.
Who knows, you make be a spark that builds into the fire of revival!

Dec. 20 — (Please Share)As we get closer to the birth of Jesus in Matthew’s genealogy, I want to look at two important m...
12/20/2025

Dec. 20 — (Please Share)
As we get closer to the birth of Jesus in Matthew’s genealogy, I want to look at two important men before we close these devotionals with Joseph, Mary and Jesus.
Today, we will take a look at Uzziah, also known as Azariah. He was a wise King who ruled in Judah for 52 years, and he died in 740 BC. During his reign, he was a strong and godly influence on both Zechariah and Isaiah.
Unfortunately, his success created pride and he was afflicted with leprosy. Even with his faults, Uzziah was a hero to many Jews of his time compared to so many wicked kings.
Uzziah’s death hit God’s prophet Isaiah really hard. Listen to how Isaiah began his 6th chapter:
In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah said: “I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne. And the hem of His robe filled the temple…. I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Verses 1 & 8)
It seems like the death of Isaiah’s mentor and king triggered a brand new understanding of who God really is. It also led Isaiah to re-up in his commitment to serve God in brand new ways.
Grief expert Elizabeth Kubler-Ross observed, “The most beautiful people are often those who have known defeat, suffering, struggle, loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These people have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern for others. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
That happened for Isaiah and it can happen for you.

Dec. 19 — (Please Share)Before we leave David in this genealogy, we have to take a closer look at verse 6 of Matthew cha...
12/19/2025

Dec. 19 — (Please Share)
Before we leave David in this genealogy, we have to take a closer look at verse 6 of Matthew chapter one: And Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife.”
Let’s rehearse the story of David’s sins…He stayed in his palace while his men were on the battlefield. That was his first big failure…he had been the hero of the battlefield that caused the women to sing: “Saul has slain his thousands, David his tens of thousands.”
In the safety of his home, he went up on his roof and saw Bathsheba bathing. He didn’t just glance, he gazed, according to the Hebrew. That was his second major failure.
He took Bathsheba as his own and she conceived. Then David tried to cover up his sin by bringing Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, home from the battlefield. He hoped Uriah would get together with his wife, but he didn’t. Because the men that he served on the battlefield couldn’t go home, Uriah, in his righteousness, slept outside.
When David heard his plan didn’t work, he told his commanders to put Uriah on the front line and then pull back. When they did this, Uriah was killed on the battlefield.
David tried to erase Uriah…but he couldn’t. God remembered…it is right there in Matthew 1:6.
Maybe you feel like others have tried to erase you. God remembers. Uriah is found in God’s Word in 2 Samuel 23 as one of David’s Mighty Men, and he is found again in the genealogy that leads us to the Messiah. His inclusion in Christ’s lineage reminds us that God is both loving and just.
The enemy may try to erase you, but God sees. He is “El Roi” — the God who sees me.

Dec. 18 — (Please Share)We took some time looking at David’s Covenant from God, now let’s remember some of the highlight...
12/18/2025

Dec. 18 — (Please Share)
We took some time looking at David’s Covenant from God, now let’s remember some of the highlights from his life.
David had seven brothers and he was the youngest. When the prophet came to David’s father, Jesse, and told him that one of his sons would be Israel’s king, Jesse didn’t even bring David home from the fields where he was a shepherd. Nobody thought David had what it took to be a king.
David defeated the giant, Goliath, with just a slingshot! Remember the scene at the front line of the battle with Goliath? David’s brother Eliab stood toe to toe with David and ridiculed him for wanting to fight for Israel. David didn’t retaliate, he just turned away from his brother. David knew who the real enemy was that day and he conquered him.
While shepherding, David showed great courage killing both a lion and a bear.
David also used the time with the sheep to become a gifted singer and song writer. He would be used by God to bring relief to King Saul through worship and he would eventually write most of our Psalms.
When David became King of Israel after Saul’s reign, he united the tribes of Israel, took back the city of Jerusalem from the enemy, and brought home the Ark of the Covenant.
Even though David fell into sinfulness, he responded with a heartfelt confession to God in Psalm 51 and became “a man after God’s own heart.”
Today, maybe we should take a look at the heart of David in Psalm 51:1-6 (The Message):
Generous in love—God, give grace!� Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.�Scrub away my guilt,� soak out my sins in your laundry.�I know how bad I’ve been;� my sins are staring me down.
You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen� it all, seen the full extent of my evil.�You have all the facts before you;� whatever you decide about me is fair.�I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,� in the wrong since before I was born.�What you’re after is truth from the inside out.� Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

Dec. 17 — (Please Share)Let’s look at one more female hero in this genealogy of Jesus…Ruth. She is a bright, shining lig...
12/17/2025

Dec. 17 — (Please Share)

Let’s look at one more female hero in this genealogy of Jesus…Ruth. She is a bright, shining light in the Old Testament and her story is a pattern for the way Jesus will love and protect each of us.
The story of Ruth in the Bible starts with tragedy. Within Ruth’s family, she lost her father-in law, her husband, and her husband’s brother. That meant that Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, lost her husband and and both of her sons.
Naomi was left desolate and knew that she needed to return to Israel, her homeland. That left Ruth, a Moabite, with a big decision…should she stay with her people or go to Israel with Naomi?
Listen to the beauty of her decision from scripture: "Whither thou goest, I will go" (Ruth 1:16 KJV).
Ruth and Naomi made the voyage back to Judah to the city of Bethlehem. Ruth’s testimony spread, and Boaz heard of her faith, as noted in Ruth 2:11-12:
But Boaz answered her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”
Here is some real insight from BibleStudyTools.com: The story of Ruth in the Bible illustrates a theme of redemption, a word that occurs 23 times in the book of Ruth. Boaz acts as a redeemer by buying back Naomi's land, marrying Ruth, a Moabitess, and fathering a son to keep the family line alive. Such a "kinsman-redeemer" is symbolic of the mediating work of Christ. Ruth's position as a Gentile in the ancestry of David (and thence of Christ) signifies that all nations will be represented in the Kingdom of God.

Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,
no language my rapture can tell!
I know that the light of His presence
with me doth continually dwell.
Redeemed, redeemed,
redeemed by the blood of the Lamb!
Redeemed, redeemed–
His child and forever, I am.
— F***y Crosby

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