Tag Archive - Jesus

I Miss Her!

March 21, 2011 in Archives, Personal with 4 Comments

Today 7 years ago my Mama, Phyllis May Harrison Toole fought her last battle here and started her “forever” life rejoicing in the presence of God!! Although I miss her more than I could express with words, I celebrate her healing and victory!

I am forever blessed to be her son, her firstborn, born to her when she was only eighteen years old. I did not realize it while I was growing up but she sacrificed much of her life for me. I mean she was carrying me when she was seventeen years old. Having two daughters ages nineteen and sixteen makes the sacrifice all the more real to me.

I am forever indebted to her for the awesome Mom she was but even more so for being an incredible example of what it is to be a passionate, authentic follower of Jesus!

  • She was a worshiper of God! She worshiped Him in the way she lived! She worshiped Him regardless of her circumstances! She worshiped Him in life….thru the many times He enabled her to recover, she worshiped him in death…. in losing a son but standing in the sanctuary proclaiming praise to God for blessing her with Phillip for eighteen years. She worshiped Him when she had breath and she worshiped Him when she struggled for her next. Her physical conditioned may have limited her but Hell could not stop her praise!
  • She was a servant! Everything she could do to advance God’s Kingdom was important to her. She looked for opportunities to touch others who were hurting even when she was hurting herself. She served as a parapro at Toombs Central School and ministered to special needs kids. She lived to share Jesus’ love with them. She served her family church, and community!
  • She was a Woman of faith. In the ICU at St. Joesph’s in Savannah as she was battling for her life she held to the hand of the Healer! As I walked into her room she looked at me with confidence and said “my mountain is but a grain of sand in His Hand”!
  • She was an Encourager. She seemed to look for people who was unnoticed and make a point to let them know that they belong. She always found a way to encourage youth especially those who had been challenged by their circumstances. One of the few things that I witnessed getting her “fired up” was when anyone would come down on the youth with a critical or judgmental spirit. She would often say “if you put in enough time loving, serving and teaching them then you will be able to share into their life in a way that will make a difference”!
  • She loved her faith family. The church was a vital part of her life. She was committed to serve her Pastor and his family. She took great joy in blessing them. Those in her faith family were “brothers” and “sisters” to her. She was at church in worship when she took ill and spent some of her last minutes on this earth in His house!
  • She was an evangelist. She was one who shared Jesus. She was ahead of her time using the internet to communicate with family and friends sharing Jesus with any that she felt may not have known him. She would have rocked Facebook for sure!!
  • She was an awesome “Granny” to her grandkids and even to many who were not her own. Some of might best memories are of her face lighting up when she would be with them.

There is no way for me to express all the things I witnessed in her life but I will end it with this…..I feel as if I am one of the wealthiest men in the world having had her as my Mama!

I miss her…………but not for long!!!!!! Love you Mama!

Encountering Jesus

August 30, 2010 in Archives, Leadership, Ministry, Personal, Sports with 0 Comments

For as long as I can remember I have been a fan of football. Pro, College, High School, Recreation, Fantasy, flag, you name it, if it involves football I’m in. Growing up, a highlight of my year was going to my Uncle Lamar and Aunt Velta’s for Thanksgiving to join in the right of passage for all the Toole cousins, The Thanksgiving Bowl. We played “lights out”. We finally realized it was time to hang up the cleats when our Moms were not the ones calling us to the dinner table but our wives.  With this “heritage” it will not surprise you that I was excited to “encounter” one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, FSU’s Bobby Bowden, at a FCA Banquet in Vidalia, Georgia. I was excited to meet him and certainly did not know what to expect. I was introduced to Coach Bowden as he sat at his table eating his grilled pork chop. I will never forget it….as we were talking he looked up at his server and asked for ketchup to eat with his pork chop! Ketchup…..Bobby Bowden eats ketchup with his pork chop. This may not appear important to you but I realized at that moment that this “great coach” who many look to, admire and some even worship is just an ordinary common man! As a matter of fact it was like I was talking to my own Grandfather who loved to eat his pork chops with ketchup as well. It was great encountering Coach Bobby Bowden and I was blessed to hear him share his incredible story but the “encounter” we need most is not another encounter with a “great” man but with a “great” Savior!

Encountering Jesus is wonderful but it is not always easy. He is continually pressing us to move from where we are to where He desires for us to be. Encountering Jesus will demand change in our life.

Encountering Jesus will demand that we “take off” some things.

Moses: When Moses encountered God through the burning bush, God told him to “take off” his shoes because he was standing on Holy Ground. Moses’ shoes represent the journey he had been on to that point but God said to take them off. Through this encounter God was going to take Moses from his journey and place him on HIS MISSION! It was not about what Moses could do or even what he could not do but rather about the presence of  the Great I Am walking with him in HIS MISSION!

David: When David encountered God he “took off” his “kingly” garments, humbled himself and worshiped God! David “took off” any mark of pride, arrogance, and even his “rightful” place in the eyes of man to enter into Worship! Encountering Jesus will change your Worship! If it doesn’t, you may have heard a great song or singer, a great message or preacher, but you haven’t encountered HIM!

Encountering Jesus will demand that we “bury” some things.

Joshua: Joshua was told by God “Moses is dead” now you take the people, cross Jordan and take the land I have given you.  You can’t hang on the “robe tails” of Moses any more!  You’ve got to get rid of fear and walk on HIS WORD! Time for a funeral and a burial! The past, both the bad and the good, should never stop you from walking into your future with HIM in victory! “Bury” those “dead things” and the things that “bring death”! Walk into HIS MISSION with anointing and power! “Bury” the “old man” and let JESUS live through you! Galations 2:20a “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me”! Satan will remind you of your past but Jesus NEVER will! He can’t because He has forgot it! What a Savior!

We may encounter men and leave inspired, impressed, and even in awe, but when we truly “Encounter Jesus” we will always leave changed!