The Deacons Corner

Well A lot has happened since my last post. We have an interim pastor. So I have not written any more articles. I have rotated out of the "hot seat" as the chairman of the deacon council. My youngest daughter graduated college on May 8th and then got married on May 15th. All the while I have filled several pulpits in this area. God has given me many blessings. Today is my oldest daughters birthday and she's a great mother, wife, daughter and teacher. She was an answer to prayers over 28 years ago.

First Baptist Church Tutwiler, MS 4-11-10

The Reason For The Season

Ecclesiastes 3:1 3 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

From 1960 to 1980, the divorce rate more than doubled
Though the divorce rate seems to have decreased and stabilized, it
is with a skewed look at the data. The study does not take
into account more couples co-habitat now. Men and women are
waiting longer to get married and it does not ask if a married
person is on first marriage or consecutive marriages.

W. Bradford Wilcox is the director of the National Marriage
Project at the University of Virginia and a senior fellow at the
Institute for American Values. See

If you look at the magazine counter of any store you’ll find
numerous novels and magazines devoted to romance and love.

Television shows today show a perverted idea of love; shows like
Desperate housewives, Army wives, Married with children, Ellen
Degenerate and Will and Grace.

Many people seek to be loved and accepted. We are born with a
need for love.

Love is mentioned in the bible (573 xs NKJ) & 429 KJ times.


I contend that the real reason for this season is Love.

First what is Love:
Some say Love is Blind
We find In
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NKJV)4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails…………………

Jesus said to the disciples in John 15:17 (NKJV)17 These things I command you, that you love one another

What about you? Do you feel unloved? The enemy will tell you no one loves you. God loves you. We see in Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

A very familiar verse says it all. You may have learned this verse when you were small and still felt loved.
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten, Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)3 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:


What Season are you in? Are you in a season of hope or despair?
Do you want to know true Love. Make this Easter season the
Season you experience true love. The Love of the Father.
Jesus said: in John 14:6 (NKJV)
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Article 53 The Deacons Corner

The three amigos for a medical company on the way to The Cleveland Clinic. Myself, Paul Rigoni and Mike Bonfig We all worked in CT for this company. I was grateful to be with two of the smartest people at the company. The one thing we had in common other than CT was a sharp sense of humor. As Mike drove our discussions would vary. Sometimes it would be just laughter as we would pull pranks on each other.

I saw a tree in full bloom just like one I have in my back yard. I called it by the name I had been told it was a "Tulip Tree". Miked and Paul just rolled with laughter. Paul said it was a Japanese magnolia.
You see being the only southern person in our group I was always hit with southern jokes. All in good fun. I learned a valuable lesson that day.
When I got back to the hotel my research began. I surfed the web. When I got home I looked in my encyclopedias. I was right, the trees common name was a Tulip tree because the bloom looked like a tulip. Paul was right because it was a Japanese magnolia. Every time I see the blooms on a "Tulip tree" I think of my friends. I miss working with them. I am also reminded we should "test" our knowledge and seek out the truth in Gods word that we are given by others. We find in 1 Thessalonians 5:21:
21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.

I have many good memories of my days at that company. I'll hold fast onto them and God's Word



With the Love of Christ
Deacon Dan
John 3:30

The Deacons Corner 3/15/10

Working in the medical field I see people in pain everyday. It reminds me of how much pain this world has in it. There is pain that comes from injuries we suffer. A broken arm maybe from a fall, a hurt back from lifting improperly or maybe pain from a burn while cooking. Yes there is much pain in this world.
I remember visiting with our former interim pastor Dr. Stan May to a lady's home. She felt pain. Her pain was not physical though. It was more of mental pain some real pain some perceived pain. Mostly her pain came from life choices she had made in the past. Family members had deserted her, she was divorced . Her pain was so great I felt as if it slithered onto me by the time we left. Dr. May had a message of Hope for her. He didn't hesitate to share the love of Christ and God. She felt even God had turned His back on her.
So many people become depressed and believe that God has turned His back on them. Even Jesus experienced this type of despair in Mark 15:34 we read And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” As Jesus took our sin on himself He seemed all alone. But the good news is we don't have to be. Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 ...................and, Lo I am with you Always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

May you know the Love of Jesus Christ

With the Love of Christ
Deacon Dan
John 3:30

The Beacon Article 3_10_10

Willie Carter, a great man in my eyes. I am sure you don’t know him. He had a son named Jimmy (no not the president, Jimmy was my uncle). What made Mr. Carter a great man one may ask? Well he was honest, he had integrity and character. A meticulous carpenter people sought him out to build their own house.
He was ordained into the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by Muddy River Baptist Church. It was in a day when microphones were unheard of. I don’t think they had been invented yet or at least they were only used by radio stations. Mr. Carter was a very soft spoken man, yet when he spoke his words of wisdom demanded respect.
My grandfather left the ministry for some reason. I was always told it was because people couldn’t hear him when he preached. I hope that is so. I know he never turned his back on God. He never lost faith.
I remember him falling asleep daily reading his bible, while sitting in a naugahyde chair. It took me years to learn that I couldn’t’ go hunting for Naugas, that the chair was made from vinyl.
Oh! I digress.
Character, Mr. Carter (Willie to some, daddy to others but he will always be papaw to me) was the epitome of character. He demonstrated the love of Christ to everyone he met. You see he had many trials and tribulations in his life. My aunt Betty (whom I never knew) was taken from my grandparents at the age of two. His last days were filled with the pain of multiple heart attacks. He never complained.
I think that’s why I love our church so much. The elderly members of our church never complain. They remind me of him.
In Romans 5:1-5 we find how character is built:
5:1Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our LordJesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we
stand,and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that
tribulation produces perseverance;
4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured
out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
I hope you rejoice in your character building exercises.
Keep the faith and hope as God builds your house of character. .



With the Love of Christ
Deacon Dan
John 3:30

The Beacon Article 3_3_10

The Deacons Corner
A young strapping boy of 15 looking to impress the young ladies waded deeper and deeper from the shore of the beach.
He didn’t want them to know some things about him. One secret was that he couldn’t really swim. At 6’ 2” he thought they would think he was swimming if he just waded far enough from the shore. As he tried to impress the teenage girls at the beach, he didn’t want them to find out that his mother was on the beach, too.
Just about three minutes into the water, he heard a bloodcurdling scream that unnerved him. He became so embarrassed and ashamed when his mother yelled, “Charles Daniel Sandlin, come back here, YOU CAN’T SWIM!” that he insisted on leaving the beach.
You see, I was ashamed that I couldn’t swim and as a young “man” my mother came to the beach with me. Not too impressive for young teenage girls.
What are you ashamed of? I am ashamed of many things that I did before I met Christ, yet they are all forgiven now.
All my shame is under the blood that Christ shed for us on the cross.

Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 1:8
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but

share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,
I pray that you feel the freedom to tell others of what Christ has done for you.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16 (KJV)


With The Love of Christ,
Deacon Dan
John 3:30

The Beacon Article 2/24/10

The Deacons Corner

Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog used to be a favorite song of mine. Three Dog Night sang that song passionately. I wanted to sing that song in a talent contest at the county fair. My mother said I could if I would sing it to my Papaw (Willie Carter). Papaw had only been home from a Nashville hospital after his third heart attack for a day or two. I didn’t know it then but within a month I wouldn’t be able to sing to my grandfather. You see I have learned since those days that Jeremiah was a prophet, a prophet of the most high. I sing a new song nowadays. It says in Psalm 33:1-3 (NKJV)
1 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.
2 Praise the LORD with the harp;
Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
I will sing praise unto our Lord. I hope you enjoyed The Two Tenors this past Sunday night. Talking about singing a new song WOW!


With The Love of Christ,
Deacon Dan
John 3:30