The "I" in Immanuel

So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. (Nehemiah 6:15-16, ESV)

Many people have asked me how I felt about the fact that Opendoor was buying and occupying the Immanuel campus. The reason they ask me that question is that from May of 2008 until May of 2016, I served as Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church. That building was my work home for 8 years. I preached, taught, married, and buried that church family for 8 years. I served there when they celebrated their 100th anniversary as a congregation in the Greenville community. I listened as they celebrated the “glory days.” I listened as they complained about the waning days.

I can identify with the great leader Nehemiah when he grieved over news of the crumbled walls: “As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days of Jerusalem” (Neh. 1:4a ESV). I knew that unless God worked a miracle, the days of Immanuel as a Baptist Church were numbered. It broke my heart when word came that they had decided to sell the property.

God, however, had different plans. Immanuel was to become the first of the wells that God would re-open in the vision of the Opendoor family. The Spirit of God breathed new life into that place of worship and ministry. It was a God-thing because there was no dissension in the process. The Opendoor leadership was united in moving forward. The Immanuel family was not only united but excited that their property was going to continue to be a church and be revitalized in many ways.

When the Opendoor Work Day at Immanuel happened a few weeks ago, I arrived late because of a previous commitment. When I got there, two hundred people were hard at work painting, repairing, landscaping, scrubbing and washing. I could not believe what I saw. I wept with deep emotion as I saw God at work in that place. The re-digging of the well had begun. I get to be a part of worship, November 3, when Opendor at Immanuel officially launches.

From my sadness to my joy, that is how God works. He turns our dark nights into glad mornings. He restores souls. His Kingdom comes. He overturns the sting of death. Praise be to God.

I worshiped with the Immanuel family on their last day as an organized church. I broke bread with them as we remembered the past at lunch that day. What struck me most that day was that Opendoor had an awesome task before her. The Immanuel Baptist Church had a great impact on lives that are now scattered all over the world. Immanuel had ministered in marvelous ways to the Greenville community. Immanuel had touched the lives of many ECU students who have carried the gospel to the ends of the earth. Opendoor must now pick up the mantle and carry it forward. We have been given a great opportunity to share a Legacy for generations to come. The members of Immanuel Baptist Church want it to be so. The people of Opendoor want it to be so.

May God grant it in such a way that “all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.” (Nehemiah 6:16 ESV)

That is how I feel.

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