A note from my friend Anthony Wood – the evangelist for River City Ministry. RCM is a ministry to the poor and homeless in North Little Rock, AR, and my dad has served as executive director there for many years now.
I love these stories:
Carol, Lord, remember him? You know him because he talks to you everyday, all day long. He came into my office to share how You work in his life. He went to River City Church yesterday after rededicating his life back to You last Thursday. He enjoyed himself and appreciated the fellowship. Here’s the good part, Lord.
Carol smiled, “Let me tell you how good God is, Bro. Anthony. I only had three dollars in my pocket when I was at church, and I thought, I’m hungry, so I’ll go to McDonalds and get what I can get for those few dollars. But the Spirit moved me to trust the Lord, and so I gave it all to Him.”
Carol gave all that he had to live on. Seems like I read somewhere about a widow who did that.
Anyway, Carol left church and walked towards the river bridge and came upon a couple of ladies handing out fliers about their church feeding the homeless in the next few weeks. He thanked the kind ladies as his stomach growled. One of the ladies turned and said, “You must be hungry, God is telling me to give you this. Get yourself something good to eat.” It was a ten dollar bill.
“I went to a Chinese Buffet and ate like a king, Bro. Anthony! God always has something for me, everyday. I just have to look for it. I just have to listen for His voice. It may be a good meal or it might be me telling someone about Jesus, but God always has something for me, everyday. So, I listen for Him, and I look for Him, everyday, all day.”
Lord, Carol gave his all and You returned to him 3 times back what he gave to You. He looks for You. He listens for You. And, Carol sees You. He hears You. He follows You. He obeys You.
“It’s just not that hard Bro. Anthony to find God working. He’s all around.”
Lord let me practice Your presence, every moment, of every day, looking for You, listening for Your voice.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matt. 6:3, NIV).
Blessings,
Anthony Wood, Evangelist
River City Ministry
North Little Rock AR
Great stuff 🙂
Anthony regularly sends out updates like this. If you’d like to be added to the email list, send him a note at awoodxulon@yahoo.com asking to be.
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I also found this story about ACU to be interesting … here’s an excerpt:
Abilene Christian University is on the cusp of a new faith era.
The school is preparing to host its first student body with a majority of students coming from denominations and faiths other than the Church of Christ — the school’s cornerstone denomination since its founding in 1906.
Last year was the first time the school had a freshman class with a majority of students — about 53 percent — who don’t claim affiliation with the Church of Christ. This fall’s freshmen have the same proportion.
Read the full story: ACU’s religious face taking a change
The article says the reason for this change in the makeup of the student body is because the Church of Christ is losing membership nationwide, and young people are bucking denominational loyalties.
Interesting take, though I wonder if that’s the real reason. I’m curious if other traditionally Church of Christ schools are experiencing the same type of thing … does anyone know?
The Overflow 
The Reporter-News article mentions a decline at OCU and discusses Pepperdine, but doesn’t mention other schools.
I would guess that schools like Freed-Hardeman still have a high percentage of CofC kids, but I could be wrong.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
There are a variety of parents and students affiliated with the Churches of Christ…some do not feel bound to denominational/fellowship boundaries and some do. Within the later group, there are some who will not consider any universities/colleges perceived to be “progressive”.
In my short life of ministry, I have met some Christians outside of the CoC who have experienced the very worst of our fellowship and were quite pleasently surprised to find someone within the CoC who was not interested in carrying on such negativity. I know not everyone will agree with every official stance ACU takes but I do believe that overall the help to represent the better side of what is great about the Churches of Christ and I can only hope that with more cross-denominational interaction, there will be a greater appreciation for what we can offer not just to the world and other Churches of Christ but also the larger Christian community.
Grace and peace,
Rex
ACU stoped being a COC University a longtime ago. Over 12 years ago I knew someone who did NOT believe baptism was needed. He feels all who claim Jesus will be saved. He is a “Professor” at ACU. They went the way of Max.
Lynn,
What criterions are necessary to qualify as a “COC University”?
Grace and peace,
Rex
As it somewhat hints in the article, I would guess a good portion of the change comes from the fact that ACU is a really solid school. When I spent 5 years out there (including a couple of grad classes), I was definitely a big fan of that place. And here in Dallas, I’ve continued to encourage (non C-of-C) youth to consider it.
Since the “Christian public” has a lower concentration of C of C people than ACU itself, as the school gets better-known as a great Christian university, I would expect the trend would continue.