New Year’s Resolutions & Elder Nominations

New Year’s Resolutions & Elder Nominations

Dear HLPC family,

Kevin DeYoung, pastor of Christ Covenant Church (PCA) in Matthews, North Carolina—which is actually the Charlotte area and where my youngest son, Matthew, and his wife, Mary Ross, have recently joined—made this brief but profound statement via Twitter:

“Life can be complicated and confusing. Thankfully, there are simple habits that can help us grow as people and as Christians in the New Year:  study the Bible, pray, read books, sleep more, exercise more, phone less, online less, TV less, get plugged in at a good church.”

That really hit home with me.  Life is full of challenges and burdens but a few simple practices—those DeYoung describes—really hit the nail on the head.  I’m not one to promote New Year’s resolutions because mine get easily broken, but I hope, by God’s grace and with His help, to put these things into practice.  Will you join me?  I think we would all be very encouraged by the results of such commitments.

One last note:  we will be accepting nominations for the office of Elder beginning this Sunday.  You’ll find some provided forms on the Welcome Table that you can use which give the Biblical and church constitutional requirements for this office. This is one of the most solemn and important tasks we have as a congregation.  Please pray for this process of nomination, training, and election.

Your Pastor,

Paul

Paul Bankson
pbankson@gmail.com

Paul was born and raised in Birmingham, AL and graduated from Auburn University in 1986 with a degree in Business Administration. It was at Auburn that he met his wife, Connie. They were married in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and moved to Jackson, MS where he attended Reformed Theological Seminary graduating with a Master of Divinity in 1991. Upon graduation, Paul served as a Campus Minister with RUF, the campus ministry of the PCA, at Tennessee-Martin where the Banksons lived for 5 years. They moved to Macon, GA in 1996 to work with RUF at Mercer University and then Paul joined the pastoral staff at First Presbyterian Church of Macon as an Assistant Pastor in 1999. In 2004, Paul and his family moved to Warner Robins where he served as a church planter and then organizing Pastor of Houston Lake Presbyterian Church. In December 2014 Paul completed a Doctor of Ministry degree through Reformed Theological Seminary of Orlando. Paul and Connie have three sons, Andrew (23), Stephen (20), and Matthew (15). Paul enjoys grilling, camping with his family, and Auburn sports (War Eagle!).