Atlanta Bible Baptist Church

Pastor Ray P. Smith: Let me say again, good morning to you. It's great to be in the house of the Lord. This is a very special occasion, as you can see from the program that you received: an ordination service for our minister, Joel Edison, who will afterwards be known as Pastor Edison. Amen.

Today we are ordaining Minister Joel Edison. Ordination is simply a ceremony where we, as a church, recognize God's call and confirm the calling of one that God has chosen. In Acts 13, the Holy Spirit says to the church there in Antioch, "Separate unto me Saul and Barnabas for the work that I've called them to." The word there speaks of being called out and consecrated for a particular ministry.

Ever since then, ordination is simply the act of recognizing what God is doing in the heart of a man. God calls the man who prepares himself. He comes away from a vocational work environment to now vocational ministry in the church and through the church.

Of course, we have to examine them, which we did. We spent about three hours questioning our dear brother with respect to his belief, his doctrine, and enabling him to defend his faith to make sure that he's good at what he's doing and has facility in the word. On Sunday evenings, he's shown himself to be an excellent teacher of the word of God. We are confirming that today. Pastor Emeritus Dr. John McNeal will come and give a charge to him.

Dr. John McNeal: Thank you, Pastor Smith. It's a privilege and a blessing to be here, having been here for the examination. You passed with flying colors, A-plus. If you had not passed with flying colors, and I watched your life when you walked in with your wife years ago... you came from overseas, and you've been a part of us ever since then. So I call you brother, Brother Joel Edison.

I'm happy to call you brother. If you had not passed the examination and if your life didn't show it, I wouldn't be here. I would not lay my hand on a devil's preacher, only God's. You qualify. I have seven things I'm going to mention to you.

Number one: Know that you have been called by God. Not feel like it, not hope so. Know. Why is it that you should know? Because when somebody says, "I am a preacher, I'm a gospel preacher," and are not, you told a lie on God. You don't want to lie on God. Either God called you, which is the greatest truth, or God didn't call you, which is a great lie. I believe God's called you.

I have gone through the same thing you are going through now. My pastor said to me, "Make certain that God called you." I had people who say to me, "Are you called to preach? You look like a preacher." I went before the Lord when the Lord called me into the ministry. I said, "Lord, I don't want to lie, so you're going to have to show me that you called me. I'm not going to ever say God called me if he didn't."

I went through some things, and God showed me without a shadow of a doubt. As Moses was at that burning bush, God also has a burning bush for those that he calls, and you will know it's God. So know that you are called or have been called by God. Know that.

Number two: Know your subject. You have 66 books, and you need to know those 66 books. How can you know that? Well, God sent a teacher along with you: the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the teacher, and he knows everything. He's God. So know your subject. I had to go through the Bible many times: from Genesis to Revelation, from Revelation back to Genesis, and all between, listening.

Know your subject. If you're a doctor, know your subject. If you are a preacher, know your book. Three: Make certain that you have read through the Bible. Make certain that you have read through it. You say, "I'm a preacher." Have you read through the Bible? I didn't say that you understand it, but I said have you read through it? That's your subject.

So make sure you have read the Bible through. I have gone through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and Revelation back to Genesis, and all between, and I'm still in the kindergarten. You will too be in kindergarten. But it's wonderful to be in God's kindergarten.

Four: Love the Lord. That's what Jesus said. Jesus loved his father, and his father was his God. Do you love God? If you love God, things are not going to be hard for you. Love. And then love people. That's what God said: "Love God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and then love people as you love yourself."

You don't want to preach to people and let them go. You need to love them, love them into the Lord. I didn't say like them; love them. Love people. Number six: Let the people see the Lord in you.

I was over in Taiwan, China, years ago, and they were teaching the Bible class. They came to me and said, "Elder McNeal, we appreciate you teaching us the word, but we want you to know that we see Jesus through you." People should see Jesus through you.

How does Jesus look? Well, have you seen Brother Edison? He has the characteristics. He loves the Lord, and he loves people. Of course, seven: never stop learning. Study to show yourself approved to God. Second Timothy says walk circumspectly, not as fools. Study. Study.

I love God, I love his book, and I love everything about God. I believe you love everything about God. You've got some foolish people out here; some of them call themselves preachers. But don't be a fool. What is a fool? Someone that doesn't have sense enough to trust God. A fool says in his heart, "There is no God." That's foolish, isn't it? Keep yourself clean from the world.

I was told, they said, "You are a preacher, and you can get away with a lot of things." I said, "Yeah, but I can't get away from what God sees." God sees everything and God knows everything. You think about it. If you put your hand in the offering and get a handful of money, God sees everything. He watches the treasurer, he watches your life, and he knows everything. So keep yourself clean from the world.

Brother Edison, you have the greatest call that can be called. As I read through the Bible time and time again and looked at the epistles, I saw what Paul says. Paul says, "My name is Paul, and I'm an apostle, I'm a disciple and a learner of Jesus Christ by the will of God."

He never started anything until first of all he would be able to say, "My name is this, and I'm telling you this by the will of God. I don't have anything to say to you but what God says. If you expect me to say more than God says, then I'm the wrong person. I'm going to tell you exactly what God says."

That's preaching, and that's good preaching. Only what God says. And that's what Paul said. He said, "I am an apostle, I'm one that Jesus called." Since he called me in his will, I'm in his will. Take the time to read through those letters. Just the first verse or two, and you'll be able to see Paul always say, "I am a servant. I'm a servant to God. I'm a slave to God. I love his word. I love him. I love people."

You have demonstrated that. That's the person for me. Out of these seven things, brother, preach the word, live the life, trust God. I said, "Lord, I don't want to beg and preach your word, and I don't want to beg for money. I don't want them passing hats." I'd rather get a job and be able to work. I don't want to beg. You don't have to. God will meet all your needs according to his riches in glory. God will give you everything that you need. Let's trust him.

You have gone through the military and God has protected you. He's not going to leave you now. Thank you, Lord, for putting another person in your ministry. In Jesus' name, amen.

Pastor Ray P. Smith: Pastor Edison used to mess with me when I was a young man, and he would look at me from time to time and he'd say, "Ray, has the Lord called you to preach yet?" I'm like, "No!" But I always enjoyed being able to get up on youth Sunday. I couldn't wait for my turn. There were too many guys; I thought they needed to graduate and go so I could get up more.

But after a while, the marriage and just moving around, I think in our second year, I said to my wife, "I believe God's going to do something really special in our lives next year because I'm going to be out of debt by the end of this year." And it wasn't what I was expecting. He began to deal in my heart about the ministry.

So I asked Pastor, "What is a call to the ministry? How do you know if God's calling you?" And he said the same thing. He says, "Ray, if you can do anything else and be satisfied, God didn't call you to preach." I thought, "Well, I can't think of anything that I enjoy more than teaching the word of God." I would do it for free. In fact, I did do it for free.

He said, "Well then, the Lord's calling you." And he just smiled. He knew it was coming. Praise the Lord, there is a joy and a delight in ministry. What I'd like to do, I'm going to take about five minutes and I'm going to give you a charge. I asked Pastor to charge the candidate, and those seven things are very important; they are for him. But there are five things I want to say to you in terms of what your responsibility is in caring for one who is in the pastorate.

If you have your copy of the scriptures, turn quickly with me to 1 Timothy chapter five. I want to look at verses 17 down through 25 and just pull out five things right quick, and then we will hear from him. The passage says:

"Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For the scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,' and, 'The laborer is worthy of his wages.' Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest may also fear. I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people's sins; keep yourself pure. No longer drink water only, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities. Some men's sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later. Likewise, the good works of some are clearly evident, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden."

Let me just mention to you five things as we think about our responsibility to care for those in the ministry. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 says: "We request you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another."

Hebrews 13:7 says: "Remember those who led you and spoke the word of God to you, and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith." Hebrews 13:17 says: "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief."

What would be our responsibility to the ministers who minister the word of God? From this passage, first of all, I'll give you five C's. The first C is compensation. Verse 17 and 18 says let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor. That doesn't mean you say, "Thank you, Pastor," twice. It means you pay the brother.

The laborer is worthy of his hire. Verse 18 says, "Don't muzzle the ox who treads out the grain." The laborer deserves his pay, so don't withhold it from him. Compensation is the very first thing. The second thing, found in verse 19, says do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.

There are people who have it as their goal in life to cast aspersions on the minister. We had someone that actually came and talked to us about one of the ministers in our church, and they made an accusation. I did my due diligence; I went and talked to the individual, talked to the family, and we talked about the issue to resolve it. That's the thing to do.

But I didn't just say, "Oh, he did that?" You just have to check it out because not everyone tells the truth when it comes to people in the ministry. Sometimes people think they see something that they're not really seeing, and they'll pass it off as truth. Give the minister due consideration, and give him the benefit of the doubt.

I was once sitting in a jury pool, and they were trying a police officer for something he did. As we were doing the voir dire, the guy said, "Hey, would you be willing to find the officer guilty of a crime? Would you assume that he's guilty?" I said, "No, I would assume that he's innocent until he's proven guilty. He's an officer of the law; he has a responsibility to walk in righteousness. I would give him the benefit of the doubt until proven wrong." Anyway, they threw me off the jury.

The third thing, verses 20 through 21, says those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all. Then there ought to be that kind of confrontation. If you see something in one of the ministers, not just Minister Edison, soon to be Pastor Edison, then say something. If it's something that is accusatory, say it to me, and I will get in his grill about it.

What I would encourage you to do is to make positive confrontations. Here's what I mean: for instance, if you see him doing something really good. I was watching the Super Bowl with some guys at someone's home, and one of these raunchy commercials came on. When the scantily clad ladies were doing whatever they did, I just looked down and looked away.

When halftime came and we were getting ready to eat food, one of the ladies said, "Pastor, I saw you turn away when that commercial came on." I said, "Well, yeah, there are some things I just don't need to look at." And that was the end of it, but what she said was, "I saw what you did."

That thing became the thing that other guys began to pick up and talk about: turning away their eyes. If you say, "Pastor Edison, I saw you doing..." and you mention something good that he did, that's positive confrontation because what it says to him is: "I am watching you." He needs to know that you're watching him because then he says, "I need to watch myself and what I do." To me, that's a nice way to get him to think seriously about his calling.

Verses 22 and 24 say: do not lay hands on anyone hastily nor share in other people's sins. So you have to confirm; that's the fourth C: confirmation. You have to confirm that people are walking right. We've watched him over the years, and we've seen his life and the exemplary nature with which he conducts his life. Otherwise, we would not be having this ceremony.

Amen. The scripture does say in verse 24, "Some men's sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some follow later." You can't always tell up front whether or not a person is walking with the Lord, but you can over time. Some people try to fake it 'til they make it, but God will make sure that if you're not genuine, it's going to come out. We've examined him and we found him to be of exemplary nature. He is trustworthy in terms of us committing you into his care.

Which is the third thing: care. The minister needs care. Verse 23 says no longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent ailments. There are some things that he needs to do to just take care of himself. Three things that he needs to do: he needs to guard his health, he needs to guard his family life, and he needs to guard his time.

I mention those three things because those are the three things that often get sacrificed, because the demands of ministry often call for more hours than it seems there are in a day. People are calling on you, and they're not guarding your time. They're not necessarily guarding your health; they call you when it's time for you to eat or when it's time for you to rest.

You have to be able to say, "I'm sorry, but I have an appointment." And you can say it if you schedule out your time. If you schedule an appointment, maybe it's taking your wife out to lunch, or maybe it's time for prayer or reading the Bible. You made an appointment in your calendar so when someone calls you, you say, "I'm sorry, I can't talk right now, I have an appointment."

You keep your appointment. You have to take care of yourself, because if you don't live your life on purpose, people will live your life for you, and they will gobble up your time. You feel like, "Well, I'm in the ministry, I have to." No, as Pastor Lewis said, your family comes first, and we have to understand that. Amen. We have to guard our time as ministers.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 says rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. And verse 25 says: "Brethren, pray for us." The most important thing you can do for the minister is to pray for him.

Brother, we thank God for you, and we want you to come up now. We are going to amend the program: we're going to have the ministers come up and we're going to pray for him, we're going to lay hands on him and make a presentation, and then we will hear from him. Let me get two of you to pray, and then I will close.

Guest (Male): To the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all comes of thee. You raise up, you put down. We thank you today for raising up this brother, and we commit him to you in Jesus' name.

Guest (Male): Father, thank you again for the calling wherewith you've called us. Thank you for calling Joel into your service. Thank you for calling him away from a secular emphasis and career choice that now he can give himself wholeheartedly to caring for your people, teaching and feeding and tending and leading them, joining with us in that great endeavor.

Father, again, the evil one hated him already, but now he's put an even bigger bullseye on his back and his heart. We pray that you would guard his heart, strengthen his heart, and keep him, Father. And may we as a congregation continually lift him up in prayer and encourage him that he might be strong in the Lord. Thank you for the calling to the gospel ministry. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Pastor Ray P. Smith: Before we hear from him, I'd like to make two presentations. One, a Bible. Not that you don't have one, but a big one. And also, here is his ordination certificate. We spent three hours examining him, and it has his middle name on it. I present this to you, your certificate of ordination. Praise the Lord for his calling you. And now the floor is yours, brother.

Pastor Joel Edison: I'd like to say good morning to everyone. In conjunction with the tenets of public speaking, I will be brief, I will be bright, and I will be gone. I'm particularly honored that this has been bestowed upon me. Rest assured, I view this as an ordination and not a coronation. I seek to serve you by the will of God, by the grace of God.

This is not a plateau that I feel that I've arrived upon. It's just the beginning of a new phase of my life. I was honored to have had Pastor McNeal present at a ceremony that took place at Fort Rucker, Alabama, a few years back, along with Brother Jackson. That was a part of my military career that was initiated, and for about 20 years I served in that capacity, 35 total.

At the end of that, retirement came. It was time to move on, not to retire from life or to stop doing anything as far as existing, but transitioning to another aspect of life. I was honored to have Pastor Smith there, and my good friend. I've been surprised, hoodwinked, and bamboozled again as far as someone surprising me. I always try to stay abreast of what's going on around me. My good friend Al Wiggins is here.

Al is my mentor, my military mentor. My success after I met him skyrocketed. I took what he instilled in other warrant officers at the time. With him, he took me under his wing and showed me some things. We in turn fed each other. He said something that surprised me; he said, "You may have said that I'm your mentor, but you are my mentor." And he was referring to spiritual things, and I don't take that lightly.

I'm deeply honored to step into this calling and grateful for the trust that you have put into me. I just want to say this verbatim: I accept this responsibility with gratitude, reverence, and a heart committed to God's people. You are his people. As I stated a moment ago, this is not just a milestone but another surrender. I haven't gotten everything right as far as this calling is concerned.

Perhaps in life you can reflect upon similar thoughts that as you started out to do something, you perhaps didn't get it right. I submit to you I haven't gotten some things right, but I'm reminded of a life verse, 1 Thessalonians 5:24: "Faithful is he who calleth you, who also will do it."

I pledge to you the responsibilities entrusted to me. One is to lead and to provoke all of you unto good works. It's one thing to lead and hold a position, but I've always been one to try to lead from the front, not from the rear. It is with this reverence that I embrace this calling. I seek to do those things that God has called me to do.

In the name of his grace, his truth, and his love. To my family who sit by me in my shortcomings, you've cheered me on in my accomplishments. You've laughed with me and you've laughed at me. Together, we've mourned together over certain things. To my church community, you've been my teachers and my encouragers.

This is my spiritual home. My prayer warriors, praying for me in good times and in bad times, both in physical combat and spiritual combat. I'm honored to serve you. Thanks to Pastor McNeal, for always being the steadfast example in the word. Pastor Smith, your teaching, your knowledge, and your wisdom, I'm forever grateful for that. I wouldn't be a preacher if I didn't give you a charge. I have seven keys to life.

God first. I don't mean just that cliché of God being the head of my life. I'm talking about salvation: receiving him as Lord and Savior and then entrusting him with your life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Secondly, to love one another. That is a commandment, not an option. Never hate. We can hate actions, but God didn't call us to hate people. Hate can develop a root of bitterness inside, and God can't use you if you have a root of bitterness in you. To give generously. Give until it hurts. I want to look beyond what he said as far as taking care of the preacher or those in ministry. To those that are without, those that can't do for themselves for whatever reason.

To give. It may be material things, it may be just time. Fifthly, to live simply. I'm not saying not to enjoy the fruits of your labor, but in all that you do, try to stay stress-free. Stress will make your hair fall out. Mine didn't fall out because of stress. Make that clear: it didn't fall out because of stress; it fell out because of hereditary genes. My daddy was bald, his daddy was bald, and so on.

Live simply. And then to forgive quickly. Offenses will happen. They come quickly; you can forgive quickly. That completes that circle about not hating. Lastly, be kind always. That's my charge that I leave to you. I again want to thank all of you. Many of you prayed for me while I was on the battlefield. I'm here because of you.

There are times that others have said they have prayed, and I would ask what time of day was it? What time did you go to bed? My wife has stood by me. The question was asked, what does she think about me in this capacity? With all humbleness I said where I lead, she will follow. But basically, she held the slogan that Nike has: Let's do it. And to God be the glory. Thank you so much.