Harvest New Beginnings, Oswego, Illinois, honored Scott Poling for his 30th anniversary as pastor of the church. Throughout his ministry, he has “guided our church family with wisdom, love, and a heart for God’s people,” the church says.
The congregation held an open house Sunday evening, March 30, to celebrate the milestone. That morning’s worship service included a message from Scott (preaching on the same Bible passage he preached on 30 years earlier), along with a time of thanksgiving and prayer for him and his wife, Carla.
Serving the Lord and Harvest New Beginnings has been “an honor and privilege,” he told the congregation. He added, “‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights’ (James 1:17), and ‘apart from [God], [we] can do nothing’ (John 15:5).
On his Facebook page the next day he encouraged people, “Don’t live life in the review mirror. . . . Stop looking back at your regrets, disappointments, hurts, what ifs, and should have beens. Also stop staring at your accomplishments, victories, and highlight reels.
“It’s okay to glace back and learn from past mistakes and be grateful for former blessings, but don’t be consumed or obsessed with the review mirror. Living in the past can distort present reality, confuse priorities, cause us to miss the blessings of today and lack appreciation for what God is doing now.
“Don’t be numbed by nostalgia or long for the good old days. ‘But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus’” (Philippians 3:13–14).
Scott is a contributing author in The Pastor: A Guide for God’s Faithful Servant, published by Regular Baptist Press.
