Meet the Pauleys

Family was God’s idea. It is the perfect expression of the Heavenly Father’s heart. “God setteth the solitary in families” (Psalm 68:6). From the beginning He knew that it was not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). And yet in our sin cursed world, even with the existence of physical families, there are so many abandoned, neglected, and lonely people. One of the miracles of salvation is that through Christ we are placed into a new family – the greatest family in the world! Scripture refers to it as “the whole family in heaven and earth” (Ephesians 3:15). This family has never all met together at one time…but we will one day. In fact, there is going to…

Would you pray with us for a fresh move of the Holy Spirit in each one of these meetings? I know that apart from the Holy Spirit using God’s Word all of the meetings in the world will never get the job done. We need God! Thank you for your prayers. Thursday-Saturday, November 1-3, Married Couples’ Retreat – Grace Baptist Church, Middletown, OH (Retreat held in Little Nashville, IN) Sunday-Tuesday, November 4-6, Revival – Eastside Baptist Church, Greeneville, TN, Pastor David Fox Sunday-Tuesday, November 11-13, Revival – Bible Baptist Church, Brunswick, GA, Pastor Mike Landrum Friday-Sunday, November 16-18, Prayer Conference – Sackville Independent Baptist Church, Quebec, Canada, Pastor Guillaume Roy Sunday, November 25, Morning and Evening Services – Mt. Pleasant…

They were called “the Big Red Machine” when I was a little boy. It was the days before the baseball strike and before Pete Rose was kicked out of the game for gambling. The Cincinnati Reds were my team and I loved to watch them. The names of Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, and later Eric Davis and Barry Larkin are etched in my memory. To be honest I do not remember the name of pitcher Frank Pastore. Over the last few days I have been reading his biography, Shattered, which is published by Focus on the Family. This is not your typical “success story.” The book is a powerful record of God’s grace and how the Lord…

It has been a great blessing to me personally to meet so many people recently who are listening to Enjoying The Journey each day through the podcast or radio broadcast. God has been gracious to grow the reach of the Bible study over this first year. Many of you have been kind to let us know you are listening. Our most recent episodes have dealt with principles for finding direction and making decisions for life. (If you missed any of these studies you may listen to all of them in our archives.) The next three weeks we will continue this emphasis with a look at my favorite section of the Psalms – Psalms For The Traveler. The Psalms are beloved…

I am nearing the end of another journal and, God willing, will begin another soon. This is always a reminder to me of the passing of life and the importance of making every day count. In this particular journal I have some thoughts written in the front and back flyleaf. In the front I have two Scriptures that have been a great help to me. One is a promise for every place where the Lord may take me: “And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them” (John 10:4). The truth for every trip is that God has already gone ahead of me. This has encouraged me on many journeys! The other passage is a prayer for…

Call it what you will. We all have those times when things seem just a little off the normal pace. The schedule may be the same or even heavier than normal, but something inside is just…off. It may be physical, emotional, mental, spiritual. At times you may not know what the true cause is. Even David, the man after God’s own heart, had such moments. In fact, he had them more than once! In Psalm 42:5 he wrote, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” These very words are repeated in verse 11! Again in Psalm…

The last two days I have been speaking in Michigan at a wonderful Christian Educator’s Convention. It has been a privilege to spend time with men and women who are giving their lives to help families as they seek to provide their children with a true Christian education. Tammy and I both had the joy of being a part of Christian schools and are grateful for the outstanding Christian academy the Lord has allowed our children to attend. I thank God for Christian education. Christian education is undoubtedly more than Christian schools. It is done in the context of home and through the ministry of local churches. In the words of one of my mentors, Dr. Clarence Sexton, “Christian education…

Sometimes as you read a book God will cause a couple of words to capture you. That happened to me recently. Two words seemed to take up the whole page. They invaded my thinking and seemed to become the Lord’s message to me that day. Permit me to share the whole paragraph so that you can get the context. The section comes from Henry Varley’s Life Story. Varley is most famously known as the minister who said to D.L. Moody, “The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him.” Moody went on to repeat this truth throughout his life with the added words, “By God’s help, I aim to be that man.” The…

One of my spiritual fathers is my uncle, James Pauley. He has faithfully pastored the same church for nearly half a century. He is a man of prayer and a man who has deeply challenged my walk with the Lord. I recently asked him if he would write something on what he has learned from staying in the same ministry for many years. You will be blessed by these thoughts from the heart of a faithful shepherd… At this juncture of my life I am often asked how I have remained the pastor of the same church for over 46 years. Knowing full well this is not always the will of God for good and godly men, I believe it…

One of the great stumbling blocks to the gospel and road blocks to revival is the party spirit that exists among many of God’s people. This is more than human nature. This is the devil’s nature – always to divide, to splinter, and to break up. This week I was preaching through the works of the flesh in Galatians 5 and the Holy Spirit dealt with me about this truth. How easy it is to identify another man’s flesh and how difficult it is to see mine! The most deceptive flesh is always my own. It hides. It excuses. It justifies. It parades in religious terms. But it is still flesh. We love to preach against “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,…