Wow...what a day! Today was a very special day in the life of Pastor Ed Litton, as well as all of us that are so incredibly fortunate to sit under his leadership at First Baptist North Mobile. Today marked the celebration of Pastor Ed's fifteen years of service in our church as Senior Pastor. I am honored, humbled and privileged to have been under his leadership for the last 11 years. It was so incredible to hear the precious words of honor that were spoken today by so many.
Much of the service itself was a TOTAL surprise to Pastor! At the beginning of the service we heard some really precious opening words from the likes of Governor Mike Huckabee and Congressman Jo Bonner (AL). Afterwards, there were some very big surprises for Pastor with the entrance of his oldest son Josh and his wife Nicole (who both live out of town). Then, if that were not enough, Pastor Ed's fiance, Kathy Ferguson (who is still presently in Arkansas), made her entrance. (Pastor Ed lost his first wife of twenty five years, Tammy Jayne Litton on August 16, 2007 in a very tragic car accident. You can read about the journey that Pastor has been traveling by going here. But,God is SO gracious and infinite in wisdom. Little did Pastor know that someone who had traveled the same tragic road that he has traveled would ultimately be the one that he would be marrying this year in August. You can go here to see a brief video of Kathy Ferguson's story about the loss of her husband, Dr. Rick E. Ferguson, also to a very tragic car accident.) Once the rest of his family had joined his side, it was on to another surprise....the entrance of long time friend to our church and to Pastor Ed, Christian artist, Russ Lee. Along with our worship pastor and former member of TRUTH , Jason Breland and our worship choir, Russ assisted in leading an awesome time of praise and worship. IT WAS SOOOO AMAZING! Words cannot describe the unmistakeable presence of the Holy Spirit that made Himself known among the congregation today. I would give anything if each and every person reading this post could have been there...it was just incredible! There were still several more really precious video messages from Danny Akin, Jimmy Draper, Michael Catt and one of Pastor's closest friends, Johnny Hunt. There was also a host of other videos from some of our members who, like me, just can't say enough about how much we love and appreciate Pastor Ed's leadership. I think that Russ Lee summed it all up when he said that Pastor just "leaks Jesus". Russ hit the nail on the head. Pastor is not only one of the godliest men that I know but is also one of the most committed to leading people to our eternal Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He truly does "leak Jesus"....we love you Pastor! Rob and I are both excited to see what Pastor's next 15 years will hold! What a great day it was!
I hope those reading this will seek out a bible believing, bible teaching church if you don't already have one. I wish that we could share our church with everyone, but the best that I can do is point you to Pastor's podcasts, where you can get a glimpse inside of the teaching that we have at our church. I hope that you will go and check out some of Pastor Ed's messages...you will truly be blessed!
