As hard as it is to believe we’re already into April of this year, I am glad for the spring and rejoice in its hopefulness.
Last month, I mentioned my dear friend Reg Ginn. He was getting toward the end of his sojourn when I wrote the report. By the time you received it, Reg had actually passed away. I don’t have the words to adequately express my appreciation for this good man and tireless worker in the kingdom. He was a profound influence on me from the days of my childhood until the day of his death. I am grateful that our paths ran alongside one another for so many years. Please pray for his beloved wife, Martha, as she adjusts to having lost her husband, on top of having lost two of her children within the last two years. She is a jewel, and I admire her so very much.
In addition to being a gospel preacher and elder, Reg was a professional educator, and over the years he wrote a library of Bible class teaching material. All of this is online, free of charge, at the website of the Pine Lane congregation in Bessemer, Alabama. I encourage you to make use of this good resource. It represents a lifetime of study and teaching. Pine Lane has supported my work for several years, and I want to take this opportunity to thank them publicly. They are a wonderful group. I look forward to visiting them every chance I get, and I don’t know of a place where I am treated any more like “home folks.” I thank David Deason, their evangelist, for the many ways in which he has been thoughtful to me and helpful in some very tough situations. I’m glad he is my friend.
The link for Reg Ginn’s workbooks is: http://www.pinelanechurchofchrist.com/page/180019869/180102500/Reg-Ginns-Workbooks
I am making some good progress on Walking in Christ, although when I tell you that I’ve written 36 of the 366 pages that will go into the book, you may think I haven’t gotten very far. In all of these books, I write the pages for January 1-14 and those for December 25-31 first, and then I try to write any of the other pages that are going to be especially hard to write. My rationale for writing the beginning, the end, and the hardest pages in between, is that I want to write these while my mind is fresh, before the time arrives when I’m having to push through extreme weariness at the end of the project. So although I’ve “only” written 36 pages, those are among the 36 toughest writing challenges in the book, and I feel a huge sigh of relief to have them “finished.” (I will, of course, continue to refine and sharpen these 36 pages many times before the book actually sees publication.)
Right now, I am hoping to publish Walking in Christ in the fall of 2025. That could change, but right now I believe that is a goal that can be met, Lord willing. Next month, I want to tell you more about why this particular book (which will be Volume 6 in the WordPoints Daybook Series) is so special to me. But for now, just know that I am plugging away at it, one page at a time, as the Lord gives me strength. I believe it is going to be a work that will be both challenging and encouraging.
I will be preaching again at Clarksville, Indiana this coming Sunday. I love the brothers and sisters there and am encouraged by their determination to serve Christ faithfully. And they tolerate my “assaults with the intent to preach.”
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
WRITING GOALS
Pray with me that I will be given the ability to finish these works
- Walking in Christ — Book 6 in the WordPoints Daybook Series. Target: November 2025.
- Going Home — Book 7 in the WordPoints Daybook Series. Target: November 2028.
- Seeking God in the Psalms — a 52-lesson study — theme for each week, studies for Monday-Friday.
- Ecclesiastes — a full-scale commentary on the text of Ecclesiastes.
- Encountering Christ — what the Scriptures teach about Jesus Christ . . . and why we should believe it.
