Pastor’s Testimonies (Cont.)
Family
He has truly blessed my household in ways that words don’t have the power to express. God has given me a wonderful wife, Irene, who has stood with me for 29 years. That is a testimony in itself. She is a great wife, mother, grandmother and helpmate in the ministry who is faithful and dependable. One might ask, ”Is this a testimony to Jesus or to your wife?” I will say this, it is to My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that is what I’m testifying about. When you find a woman under subjection to the leadership of her husband and submitted to the headship of Christ, that is something to testify about, especially in the day that we are living in.
Furthermore, I’m thankful for my children. He blessed us with four. Casandra, our oldest daughter, is married to Pete and they are greatly responsible for the design and upkeep of this web page. Both are very active with us in the church. They help us with the music ministry. Casandra has taken a big burden in helping us operate our school, Lighthouse Christian Academy. Pete and Casandra blessed us with four grandchildren, Gabriel, Rebekah, Sarah, and Jacob.
Our second born is Stephanie, married to Andy. They are both very active with us in the ministry also. Andy continually takes on great financial burdens to help us in our endeavors of winning and reaching souls for Jesus. They both work in the music ministry with us. Stephanie stays very busy with our audio sermon ministry. She does all of the editing and mailings. They have blessed us with two grandchildren, Andrew and Andrea.
Our third child is Robert, who is married to Tonya. Together, they have four children. We see the hand of the Lord upon him and we are looking forward to him laboring in the gospel with us in the future.
Our fourth child, Kimberly, is married to Jeff Cruz who enjoy being active in our church.
My father, Howard Coones, has offered great insight both naturally and spiritually to me over the years and I’m thankful for his labors with us in the ministry. My father, who was born in 1927, is very blessed with a youthful mind and strength. He is involved with us in the ministry with his financial and physical labors. We had the pleasure of leading my mother, Juanita, to the Lord, in the later years of her life. She is now gone to be with our Lord.
My grandchildren are active in our school. They do exploits in the community such as visiting nursing homes, singing, working with the Red Cross in blood drives and numerous other activities. Once again all the glory goes to our Lord and Savior for all good things.
God bless, Brother Rob
Church Family
We at Christian Temple are a small but strong family of God. I can say as a pastor God has blessed our work with a church family that is determined and sold out. My late pastor, Brother George Pike, used to call his brethren “minute men”, because they were ready at any given moment. I have called on the brethren and their families, with little or no notice over the years and they are truly on call, willing to get under the load, share the burdens of the ministry in finance and in their labors.
The Bible says ye that win souls are wise, and to be a church that is dedicated to soul winning is not the sole responsibility of the pastor. A pastor that takes that on will not be as successful as the pastor that utilizes the strength of a united brotherhood. A natural father longs for his children to work them and train them in business; nevertheless the father has to wait for the children to grow up. It takes time for a group of believers to grow in the grace and knowledge of God, to find their positions and callings. I can testify to the fact that we have a church family here that means business and exercises authority over the works of darkness. They have taken on exploits that far exceed the exploits of churches many times their size and number. Once again I give all the glory and honor unto our Lord Jesus and I am thankful that he lets me have a part in his ministry with the Brethren and their families here at Christian Temple.
God bless, Brother Rob