We had a wonderful Lord’s Day here in Daleville, VA. The pastor of Daleville Baptist Church, Wesley Belcher, and his wife Sheila opened their home to us and we enjoyed wonderful fellowship with them. I especially enjoyed the several hours Wesley and I had to talk about pastoral ministry, preaching, theology, and some of the differences between Reformed and Baptist beliefs. I’ve met another true friend in this brother and thank the Lord for the opportunity I had to encourage him.
The church welcomed us warmly and enthusiastically and said they’d be praying us all the way home. Wesley preached a fine sermon on 1Cor 10.1-8, calling us to press on to enter God’s rest and to learn from the sins of Israel. It was a call not to lust after the things we’ve left behind in our conversion to Christ, a call not to become idolaters while we await the Lord’s return, and a call to flee sexual immorality. It was a great final Lord’s Day on our travels across America and a great sermon to go home with. Wesley and I talked quite a bit about preaching and I recommended he read Dabney’s excellent book entitled “Evangelical Eloquence.” But I was happy to tell him after the service yesterday, “Brother, that was preaching.”
We spent the late afternoon taking a ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway. We’ve really enjoyed our time here with the Belcher family and their church.
Aug 28
It’s hard to believe we’re beginning our finally few days on the TransAm today. In order to get to Yorktown on Thursday night we need to make it to Afton tonight. It’s a 100 miles from Daleville and a combination of a lot of climbing followed up by one final climb up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, which we ride for 28 miles to Afton. I’m concerned that it’s too far with all the climbing so I’ve asked Wesley to take us down the road a bit and drop us off. My knee’s been doing fine but I don’t want to overdo it on the last leg of the journey.
After Afton we’ll ride 82 miles to Mineral, then 60 miles to Mechanicsville, and then the final 80 miles to Yorktown.
Thanks for praying and thanks for following.
Until next time… 🙂
