In those rare times when all the world around me seems to wind to a stop, I strain to hear Your still, small voice. And as my mind and heart become attuned to the silence, I wait in anticipation, longing to know Your will for me. It is in those quiet moments that a solemn sound, faintly carried on the wind, begins to rise in my ears. Indiscernible at first, little more than a whimper, but as my willing heart struggles to focus on the sound, it begins to become clear. It is the cry of empty hearts, searching for meaning in a world that offers them material abundance, but spiritual poverty. Here in my Jerusalem, my neighbors, co-workers, and friends find little satisfaction in their “pursuit of happiness.” They are crying out for a vibrant, enthusiastic, unexplainably joyous brand of Christianity that will sate the hunger in their famished hearts.
And yet another moaning cry is heard from beyond the dim circle of light cast by my personal witness. It is the call of poverty and injustice within the inner cities of our nation. This is a battle field that has been all but abandoned by a church that has focused on growth targets and demographics. All the while, the chains of spiritual bondage tighten slowly around the necks of the addicts and the drunks and the prostitutes who populate our Judea and Samaria. None could lay a more valid claim to the title of “the least of these.” They are begging for someone to have compassion, to pull them from the fire, and to convince them that there is One who can offer them forgiveness, and Who has the power to set them free from their spiritual chains.
The groaning souls of lost mankind, men, women and children of every tribe and tongue, seem to whisper in my ear, “Why haven’t you told us of this glorious Savior Who is our only hope?” For this, my heart has no answer. How can I reach the uttermost parts of the earth when I am so feeble and weak? Their mournful cries become a deafening cacophony in my ears, filling me with remorse, compassion, and deep desire to make things right. It is only then that the silence returns and the still small voice of Jesus, speaks clearly to my heart. “Go ye…,” He commands, and for the first time, I hear and obey.
Pastor Marty Hughes
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
About Me
My four years at Baptist Bible College were some of the best years of my life. I learned, I grew and I met some of the most influential people in my life. Dr. Robert Terrey, my mentor and second father, showed confidence in me and gave me my first job in the ministry, hiring me to be his youth director when I was still just a youth myself. His wife kept me well-fed for four years. The 35 mile drive to Crane twice a week offered me the chance to pick his brain and benefit from his years of ministry experience and his vast knowledge of the Word of God. He also taught me to play tennis, took me flying in his airplane, and challenged me to never stop pursuing a deeper knowledge of God and His Word. Ma and Pa Terrey, as I call them, have remained an integral part of my life now for over 30 years. Dr. Terrey passed away a few years ago, but Ma Terrey is still going strong, living with her daughter in North Carolina.
The friendships that I developed at BBC have served me well in ministry through the years. Fellow pastors, missionaries, singers, and many others that I have counted on to enhance my ministry and challenge me to new heights first graced my life as classmates and teachers at BBC.
I met my wife, Shelley, at BBC and proposed to her on the night we met. Three years later, in a weak moment, she finally said yes. She has been a faithful companion and a willing helpmeet for almost 28 years now. We have two wonderful children, Chelsea, 24, whose heart is set on serving the Lord in China, and Bobby, 21, who wants to be a brain surgeon, but is busy slicing through opposing defenses right now as a member of the BBC Patriots Basketball team.
After college, I served in the youth and Christian school ministry in Spokane, Washington for a year. Then I went back to school at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to work on my Masters. While there I served at Hurstview Baptist Church in Hurst, Texas, Hallmark Baptist Church, in Fort Worth, and Friendly Lane Baptist in Fort Worth. I served the Lord in music and youth at Bethesda Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas and Good News Baptist Church in Churubusco, Indiana, before taking my first pastorate in Louisburg, Kansas in 1988. In 1993, I became the pastor of First Bible Baptist Church in Oklahoma City until 2000, when we merged First Bible with Kingspark Baptist Church to form Kingspark Bible Baptist Church where I served as the Worship Pastor, Discipleship Pastor, School Principal and Learning Center Supervisor and Head Basketball Coach. After four years at Kingspark, God led us to Grove, where we have now been ministering for almost six years.
I am happily serving the Lord as the pastor of a great group of people here in smalltown America. I consider myself a little bit of a poet, and I love any opportunity that I am given to express the work that God is doing inside of me through writing. I have been doing a somewhat daily prayer update for the folks in my church for the last three years or so and have been encouraged to offer some of these devotional writings to a little larger audience, so here we go. I hope you enjoy this adventure. I will be sharing some of my poetry, some of my devotional essays, and from time to time just some of my thoughts as the Lord lays things on my heart. I hope to be a blessing.
The friendships that I developed at BBC have served me well in ministry through the years. Fellow pastors, missionaries, singers, and many others that I have counted on to enhance my ministry and challenge me to new heights first graced my life as classmates and teachers at BBC.
I met my wife, Shelley, at BBC and proposed to her on the night we met. Three years later, in a weak moment, she finally said yes. She has been a faithful companion and a willing helpmeet for almost 28 years now. We have two wonderful children, Chelsea, 24, whose heart is set on serving the Lord in China, and Bobby, 21, who wants to be a brain surgeon, but is busy slicing through opposing defenses right now as a member of the BBC Patriots Basketball team.
After college, I served in the youth and Christian school ministry in Spokane, Washington for a year. Then I went back to school at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to work on my Masters. While there I served at Hurstview Baptist Church in Hurst, Texas, Hallmark Baptist Church, in Fort Worth, and Friendly Lane Baptist in Fort Worth. I served the Lord in music and youth at Bethesda Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas and Good News Baptist Church in Churubusco, Indiana, before taking my first pastorate in Louisburg, Kansas in 1988. In 1993, I became the pastor of First Bible Baptist Church in Oklahoma City until 2000, when we merged First Bible with Kingspark Baptist Church to form Kingspark Bible Baptist Church where I served as the Worship Pastor, Discipleship Pastor, School Principal and Learning Center Supervisor and Head Basketball Coach. After four years at Kingspark, God led us to Grove, where we have now been ministering for almost six years.
I am happily serving the Lord as the pastor of a great group of people here in smalltown America. I consider myself a little bit of a poet, and I love any opportunity that I am given to express the work that God is doing inside of me through writing. I have been doing a somewhat daily prayer update for the folks in my church for the last three years or so and have been encouraged to offer some of these devotional writings to a little larger audience, so here we go. I hope you enjoy this adventure. I will be sharing some of my poetry, some of my devotional essays, and from time to time just some of my thoughts as the Lord lays things on my heart. I hope to be a blessing.
Welcome to my world!
Welcome to Crossing Honey Creek, my daily devotional blog. You might wonder where the name comes from. Well, every morning as I make my way from my house to the office, I cross Honey Creek Bridge on beautiful Grand Lake, as I enter into Grove, Oklahoma on Highway 59. It is a beautiful scene and offers a wide variety of inspiration as the view changes with the weather and the seasons. It is amazing how often the seed thoughts for my morning devotionals come to me as I am crossing that bridge into this town that I have come to love. So I thought I would give the blog a name that reflected the impact of the beauty of where I live on the things that I write.
I guess I should tell you a little about myself. My name is Marty Hughes and I am the Pastor of Independent Baptist Church, in Grove. I was raised in a preacher's home, primarily in Racine, Wisconsin. I graduated from Racine Baptist School, a small Christian school that was housed in our church there. I was the valedictorian of my class of three. I have always said that people brag about being in the top third of their class, I was the top third of my class. I was young for my grade and worked hard in order to graduate a year early and so I landed on the campus of Baptist Bible College in Springfield, MO at the age of 16. BBC was at its pinnacle at that time. I was one of over 1100 freshmen that year. The entire student body was close to 2500.
I began attending Cherry Street Baptist Church and became a part of their College and Career Class under the leadership of Doc Boland. I found myself surrounded by vibrant, passionate Christian young people whose testimonies stirred my heart. I had always known the gospel, and had made a profession of faith as a six year old child, but I had been under conviction for some time that I wasn't truly saved. In January of 1977, Dr. B.R. Laken preached an 8-day revival at Cherry Street. Each service of that revival, I found myself under conviction and I went to the altar trying to discern what the problem was. On the last night, Dr. Laken preached on "What Must I Do To Be Saved?" and somewhere in the middle of the sermon he said, "The Spirit of God will not always strive with man. There will come a day when the Spirit will convict you of your need of salvation for the last time. If you reject Him then, He will leave you alone and allow you to suffer the consequences of your rejection of Christ." It was as if the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said, "If you don't lay down your pride and get saved tonight, you will never have another opportunity."
There were over 800 people in the service that night. Most of them knew who I was and that I was a Bible college student. But the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said, "Are you going to let these people who love you send you to hell?" So when the invitation was given, I went to the altar and I asked Christ to forgive my sins and come into my heart and save my soul. Since that day, I have never had another doubt that I was His and He is mine. That was the day that I was born again and now I am His child. (To Be Continued...)
I guess I should tell you a little about myself. My name is Marty Hughes and I am the Pastor of Independent Baptist Church, in Grove. I was raised in a preacher's home, primarily in Racine, Wisconsin. I graduated from Racine Baptist School, a small Christian school that was housed in our church there. I was the valedictorian of my class of three. I have always said that people brag about being in the top third of their class, I was the top third of my class. I was young for my grade and worked hard in order to graduate a year early and so I landed on the campus of Baptist Bible College in Springfield, MO at the age of 16. BBC was at its pinnacle at that time. I was one of over 1100 freshmen that year. The entire student body was close to 2500.
I began attending Cherry Street Baptist Church and became a part of their College and Career Class under the leadership of Doc Boland. I found myself surrounded by vibrant, passionate Christian young people whose testimonies stirred my heart. I had always known the gospel, and had made a profession of faith as a six year old child, but I had been under conviction for some time that I wasn't truly saved. In January of 1977, Dr. B.R. Laken preached an 8-day revival at Cherry Street. Each service of that revival, I found myself under conviction and I went to the altar trying to discern what the problem was. On the last night, Dr. Laken preached on "What Must I Do To Be Saved?" and somewhere in the middle of the sermon he said, "The Spirit of God will not always strive with man. There will come a day when the Spirit will convict you of your need of salvation for the last time. If you reject Him then, He will leave you alone and allow you to suffer the consequences of your rejection of Christ." It was as if the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said, "If you don't lay down your pride and get saved tonight, you will never have another opportunity."
There were over 800 people in the service that night. Most of them knew who I was and that I was a Bible college student. But the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said, "Are you going to let these people who love you send you to hell?" So when the invitation was given, I went to the altar and I asked Christ to forgive my sins and come into my heart and save my soul. Since that day, I have never had another doubt that I was His and He is mine. That was the day that I was born again and now I am His child. (To Be Continued...)
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