Eric Lyons is a special friend that goes back to my freshman year at Freed-Hardeman. He is a tremendous Christian man who loves the Lord with sincerity and truth. He works at Apologetics Press in Montgomery, Alabama as an author and speaker. He travels the country doing seminars on apologetics and preaching the Gospel. I asked him to share what he finds in his travels, what he wrote is uplifting and inspiring. Enjoy!! -Josh
Eric Lyons
My wife will be the first one to tell you that I do not like being away from home. I am a homebody. I adore my wife. I love my kids. (I like my dog okay.) My parents live only a football field away. (In Alabama, as you may have heard, we measure a lot of things according to the great sport of football.)
As much as I love being at home, and as much as I dislike leaving my family behind to travel to a number of different places in a given year, I love what my brethren do for me. You see, though no church is without her struggles, my brethren inspire me, trip after trip, month after month, year after year. They motivate me to work harder and to live better. They inspire me to keep on keeping on in service to the God of gods and Lord or lords.
Recently I traveled to central Texas to speak on a college campus. There I met a student named Paden. Paden is a remarkable young man. He’s not merely a good student; he’s a great Christian. Both the young and the old admire him. (You should hear his elders talk about him.) He is grounded in the Word and extremely evangelistic. He conducts Bible studies and leads in worship. He began an organization on his state college campus that meets regularly (and openly) to study the evidences for Christianity. He even manages an evangelistic YouTube channel that receives hundreds of thousands of views in a given year. With young men like Paden living according to, and teaching, the powerful Gospel, I can’t help but be encouraged about the Church at present and optimistic about her future.
In early 2014, I visited one of the coldest places I have ever been—Fairbanks, Alaska. The temperature dropped to minus 40 degrees the weekend of my visit. I wound up losing my voice and getting an upper respiratory infection. (It probably didn’t help that my luggage never made the trip!) But that’s okay. You see, I had the opportunity to spend time with one of the greatest Christian families you’ll ever meet—the Boswells. David and his wife Laura have been working with the Northern Lights church of Christ in Fairbanks for nearly a decade. David is the only full-time preacher in the Kingdom within a 300-mile radius of Fairbanks. He teaches, preaches, and conducts numerous one-on-one and group Bible studies within a given year. He helps with a Christian group on the campus of the University of Alaska—Fairbanks. He is deeply involved in the lives of both his precious family and the many wonderful members at Northern Lights. Yet, as great of a man as David is, he would not hesitate to tell you that he has a better half—Laura.
I wish everyone had the opportunity to spend a day with David, Laura, and their eight delightful children (four biological and four “sent special by God”). Their home is one of love for the Lord and each other. There is a genuine joy and excitement in their Bible-based, Christ-centered home—even during the dark and frigid Fairbanks winter. I especially enjoyed mealtime with Timothy, Benjamin, Jeremiah, Mark, Grace, Noah, Peter, and Andrew.
Paul instructed the church at Philippi to “join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern” (3:17). Taking special note of Christians who inspire us to greater depths of dedication and love for our Lord is a wonderful blessing. Who has inspired you to serve the Lord with gladness? Why not stop and thank God today for the people he has brought into your life—people who remind you and inspire you to “serve the Lord with all your heart” (1 Samuel 12:20).
