We have a lot of great guest preachers around here, but one of my favorites is Pastor John Waterloo from Central Baptist Church in Ponca City, OK. I look three decades down the road, and he is where I want to be.
I don’t mean financially or size of church or anything like that. I mean he is where I want to be in spirit and in faithfulness. All the statistics about pastors show that there is a high attrition rate, so anyone that has been in ministry as long as the Waterloos has beat the odds. I’m thankful for that.
But I also love the spirit of the Waterloos. Bro. Christian came out of college in his early 20s and needed a place to land. He needed someone that would love him and answer his questions. He needed some time, and Pastor Waterloo gave it to him. The Saldanas worked at Central Baptist Church for only a year or so, but they gained a lifetime of lessons. Their spirit helped shape the direction of our youth pastor, and I appreciate that.
I want to have the kind of spirit that is not cynical and mean after three decades of spiritual highs and lows. I want to be solid in my beliefs, but still “meek and lowly in heart,” like Jesus. And, like the Waterloos.
We only get one little weekend with them, and you may only hear a sermon, but a guest preacher is so much more than that. In some ways, his whole life goes into this one little weekend, and his influence is greater than just one or two sermons.
On Wednesday, Bro. Russo talked about these Instagram “influencers.” Well… Bro. Waterloo was an influencer before being an influencer was cool!
Let’s welcome him today by purposing to be a doer of the Word, and not hearers only. —Pastor Ryan