by Dale Reeves

Story Pastor

 

Almost every summer about this time of year some thirty or more of our extended family head down to Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, for a week or two of relaxing, reading, having fun in the sun, eating seafood—and creating lots of wonderful memories. This year there are 35 of us here, arriving from six states in our country, and spanning four generations. The kids spend lots of time playing in the sand with their siblings and cousins, collecting seashells, swimming in the pool, playing whiffle ball, eating beach snacks from all the adults, and riding their boogie boards on the waves. The old guys compete against the young bucks in games on the beach including cornhole, putting contests, and, when we are not watching kids in the ocean . . . bocce ball.

 

We realize that even though it can get a little crazy at times with so many people heading this way and that, coming and going, this time spent catching up with family is precious to us. We have stored up so many fun memories with each other through the years, and with each year that passes the stories get embellished a bit more.

 

We also enjoy getting to fellowship with other folks that stay in the same place we stay every year. And one of those families have become good friends of ours the past few years. We see them every morning at 8:00 am as we each set up our line of tents and umbrellas when they open the gates for trucks to drive onto the beach. This group of about 25 people includes folks who are related, but also others who have been “grafted in”—six families in all. This special group travels from the Gainesville, Georgia area–which is just 45 minutes away from where I was born—Clarkesville, Georgia.

 

The Leader of the Band

If you think I’m an extrovert, then you haven’t met my “brother from another mother,” Ricky Porter. Ricky walks up and down the beach sharing a bag of Blow Pop suckers with any kid who wants one. Ricky and his wife Tina are celebrating 45 years of marriage this year. Ricky says, “I married a good-looking woman so my kids and grandkids would be beautiful.” They have two children, four grandkids, and are expecting four more grandkids in the near future, among them a set of triplets—and they are praying for a safe delivery for all.

 

Ricky and his wife are in business together in the real estate world, partnering with their bi-vocational pastor of their church, Robby Williams. Ricky says he goes to Waffle House often because it is a slice of Americana, commenting, “Waffle House is just like a funeral home, you could see a homeless person and a millionaire in there sitting side by side.” Ricky and his wife have a passion for young people, the church, and young married couples. He observes how the devil wants to go after young couples and their marriages. The Porters spend a lot of time throwing pool parties, helping young couples buy their first home, and whatever else they can do to encourage them.

 

Ricky is all about doing whatever he can to break down barriers so he can share Jesus with others. The first week we were in Florida this year, he invited us to come and eat with their crew on the beach as Matt Dale, one of the elders of their church and a worship leader, grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, kebabs, diced potatoes, corn, and zucchini, on a Blackstone. These Georgia Dawgs don’t mess around when it comes to grilling! And I love what Ricky told me he wants on his tombstone someday:

“Heaven . . . the more the merrier.”

 

God Said Multiply

I love the words that King David recorded in Psalm 133, regarding how precious and refreshing sweet fellowship is with other followers of God:

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1, NIV).

 

The apostle John assures us that if “we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all  sin” (1 John 1:7, NIV).

 

And the apostle Paul writes, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NIV).

 

During our time spent in Florida, that encouragement can come while we are putting golf balls on the sand, playing cornhole, or sitting down for a breakfast together—and there might be a little trash talk thrown in to keep us all humble.

 

I got to enjoy breakfast with Ricky Porter and the pastor of his church, Robby Williams, at the Cracked Egg Diner in Daytona Beach Shores. I wanted to pick Robby’s brain concerning their church, Multiply Church, located in Oakwood, Georgia. Working in real estate for twenty years, Robby felt called by God to plant a church seven years ago, as they started with just five families. Robby and his wife have a son who just graduated from high school and a daughter who will be a freshman this year.

 

Just this month they began meeting on their new property in a new space, with over 100 folks attending every weekend. Robby says the name for the church “Multiply” popped into his head one day when he was driving, and it just stuck. The mission of their church is to “Multiply God’s Kingdom through being and making disciples everywhere . . . BE . . . MAKE . . . MULTIPLY.”

 

I asked Robby if there were ever any moments during their church plant when he was tempted to give up, and he quickly responded, “No, believe it or not. I know God called me to do this, and I wrestled long enough on the front end wondering if he could use me. Once I established that he called me into this, I don’t feel like I had a choice. There was no Plan B.”

 

Robby’s desire is that they would build a culture of authenticity, where people can come as they are and be themselves, and where they can celebrate the mountaintops and walk through the valleys with others at the same time. His biggest challenge right now is that they would be better prepared for the growth they are experiencing, and that he would be wise in his intentional management of his time as a bi-vocational pastor by choice.

 

I asked Robby and Ricky how we could pray for them, and they shared these words: “Pray that we would have the discernment to know what to do next, the courage to do it, and the humility to give God the glory for it when it goes well.” If you feel prompted to pray for this church in Oakwood, Georgia, you can learn more about them by visiting multiplypeople.com

 

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:3-6, NIV).