It’s “March Madness”, where the truly fanatic college basketball fan tries to successfully navigate the gauntlet of predicting winners and losers to correctly choose who makes it to the championship. We do our own version of “Bracketology” when we navigate decisions on which ministries will be good “investments”.

More on that in a moment. But first, have a look at this short video clip from the movie “Chariots of Fire”, a true story about Olympic rivals and teammates Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddel. 

Notice Abrahams reaction to losing to Liddel in what would turn out to be the only race they would ever run against one another. It seems Abrahams wants a guarantee of the win before committing himself to the training again. Is that you? You’ve counted the cost, and given the high price, you want to know that the time, talent, or treasure you are considering putting into First Priority will be worth it, that the pay off will justify the investment. “Do I dare make the emotional investment in believing that there is hope for our schools?”

G. K. Chesterton wrote,

“The one taste of paradise on earth is to fight in a losing cause…and then not lose.”

NEWSFLASH – We are winning and WE WILL WIN!!! Guaranteed. How do I know?

“…thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”                              – 1 Corinthians 15.57-58

And if God’s promises alone aren’t enough to keep you encouraged… then have a look at these little graces He has given us along the way through March.

So if you have committed, be encouraged and accept our gratitude. If you have yet to commit, I say, “Jump In!”. You’ll be glad you did. 

Partner

What has First Priority been up to in February? Plenty!

In Cocke Co. we met with Mike Hensley, Director of Missions at the East Tennessee Baptist Association, along with a number of other folks from churches in the area, to plan our next move towards starting clubs in the remaining schools. Thank you to Cindy Davenport for jumping in as a Club Coach and helping Paula Huff out at Parrottsville Elementary.

In Hamblen Co., we met with several pastors, youth pastors, and potential investors to plan for First Priority launches this Fall or sooner! Westview Elementary has already been at it with Pastors John Rogers and Charlie Brewer leading the charge!

In Greene Co., Abel Carrico, Nick Cannon, Dan Jacobs, Ken Brewer, Jaq Castillo, Jimmy Jordan, and Justin Carson are swinging for the fences with 5 clubs up and running and plans to launch the remaining 5 Middle and High Schools well under way. First Baptist Church of Greeneville, hosted our monthly club coach meeting where we ate more pizza than I could pray over in good conscience.

In Hawkins Co., we had a standing room only club meeting at Rogersville Middle, with Luke Smith passing out cheddar rounds as students streamed in and offering free cholesterol tests afterwards.

In Sullivan Co., First Priority students at West Ridge and Tennessee High handed out Valentine’s Gospel cards and candy to over 1800 friends at their schools.

In Washington Co., Daniel Boone High’s First Priority club did some outside the box thinking and met during lunchtime, resulting in 3 times the normal attendance where one student was inspired to renew their commitment to Jesus.

In Carter Co. we launched clubs at Hampton Middle, Happy Valley High, Little Milligan Elementary, and T. A. Duggar Middle.

In Uncoi Co. the following churches have teamed up to launch First Priority:

• North Ridge Community Church
• First Christian Church
• Calvary Baptist Church
• Unicoi Christian Church

So what has this flurry of activity produced year to date?

Thank you for your continued investment in our work at First Priority! Lives are being transformed! To God be the Glory!

Will you prayerfully consider a monthly investment of $50, $100, or more toward our work at First Priority?

Your giving allows us to Take the Hope of Christ to Every Student by Uniting the Local Church to Start First Priority Clubs on Every Middle and High School Campus, so that Every Student Has the Opportunity to Hear the Gospel From a Friend.

TN-1 Give 

Sincerely,

David North

What a start!  We wrapped up our first full week of clubs in the new year and we had 25 students put their faith in Jesus last week! What a way for these young people to start 2023 – new life in the new year!

Sometimes I think we forget the unbelievable privilege and responsibility we have as believers in Jesus. Paul sums it up in 2 Corinthians.

“…in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” ~2 Corinthians 5:19-20

Wow! We have been handed the keys! We have the message of HOPE, FORGIVENESS, and FREEDOM!

Thank you for supporting the work we do at First Priority with your time, your treasure, and your prayers. We do not underestimate the value of those prayers – after all, this is a spiritual battle that we are in.

Keeping our eye on the prize…

The TN1 First Priority team

Growing up in the South, a good snow was something of an anomaly. A couple of inches is all it would take to close schools early and bring the whole town to a halt. I can remember my younger brother and I rushing around the house frantically pulling winter clothes out of storage hoping the snow would still be there by the time we got back outside. In seconds, I would be dressed and out the door, usually wearing an oversized Eskimo coat handed down from a cousin in Montana, and two mittens that never seemed to match. Outside, the whole world lay sound asleep under a soft white blanket. It was magical!

But there was always a bit of sadness hovering over our winter wonderland, knowing that it would all be melted away in a day or two. After a couple of snowball fights and a few fledgling attempts at sledding, we would set ourselves to the task of resurrecting Frosty, always trying to beat last year’s record for longest surviving snowman. I left my legacy to the neighborhood with my seven-foot opus magnum that lasted two whole weeks!

I suppose there is a desire in all of us to leave something behind us that will last, something to show that we were there, and that it mattered. Over 120 years ago C.H. Spurgeon penned these words;

“Have I written in the snow? Will my life’s work endure the lapse of years and the fret of change? Has there been anything immortal in it, which will survive the speedy wreck of all sublunary things? The boys inscribe their names in capitals in the snow, and in the morning’s thaw the writing disappears; will it be so with my work, or will the characters which I have carved outlast the brazen tablets of history? Have I written in the snow?”

I want to sincerely say thank you to those who gave in November to First Priority and the work going on in Tennessee’s first district (TN1). Through your gifts we have trained over 500 students who have shared the Gospel with over 600 of their friends at school, resulting in 16 students putting their faith in Jesus! In addition, over 48 more indicated they wanted to talk to someone about Christ after the First Priority club meeting!

Dear friends, when you give to the work at First Priority, you are NOT writing in the snow. You are exchanging the currency of this world for an eternal reward. This December, please consider giving a gift that can change someone else’s story, for Eternity.  Your gifts are tax deductible and go directly to First Priority’s work in your area. Thank you for partnering with us!

Merry Christmas!                                                         Give

Aaron, David and Haley

Fall is my favorite season by a long shot. I love everything about it. Crisp mornings with striking blue skies, hot bowls of chili, hayrides, football, and to top it all off, the leaves are just gorgeous. It kind of makes me sad when I hear people complain about them. I love them. I know, I know, they clog gutters and kill grass and are a fire hazard etc., etc. 

But still, I sigh when I am forced to pile up my colorful little friends at the road and watch that vacuum truck suck up all my childhood memories. Those days of raking leaves into a huge pile just to dive in and mess it all up again were magical. Remember the rake? It ruled when I was kid, before the mighty leaf blower came to power. That’s when all the trouble began in my old neighborhood. 

I had recently won an electric leaf blower in a sales contest, so caving to the pressure, I headed for the back yard where maple and oak leaves lay a foot deep. A hedge separated my back yard from the street where curbside pick-up took place, so the challenge was getting the leaves through the gaps in the hedge and down to the road. But me and my new leaf blower were up for it. I blew leaves over, under, and through that hedge with gale force winds. An hour later, I was nearly finished.  And then I saw it, down at the other end of the yard, leaves were flying back up from the street, through the bushes in my direction!  “What new devilry could this be?”

Unable to see over or through the hedge, I shut off my electric leaf blower to investigate. The deafening roar coming from the other side of the hedge left no doubt about the nature of my foe. I snuck to the end of the hedge row and peered around to discover my neighbor with a gas-powered, hurricane-force leaf blower! My electric blower was no match for this Balrog of leaf blowers, mercilessly blasting the leaves back through the hedge and into my yard.

When she spotted me, she startled, but recovered quickly and launched into a tirade about how the leaves in my yard were blowing across the street into her yard and how I should take them all the way around to the front yard because the truck wouldn’t pick up for another week and how I should be more neighborly and, and, and. Too shocked and amused to be angry, I just smiled in disbelief as she educated me on proper leaf piling technique.

Recalling the incident made me think about all the Gospel ministries in our area and the work we do at First Priority. I am happy to report that I have seen Kingdom minded churches, Kingdom minded ministries and Kingdom minded people, all working TOGETHER to “move the pile” in the same direction. 

In Greeneville, First Priority has partnered with Holston Home for Children to train students at four different schools to share Christ with their peers at First Priority clubs. A recent partnership with another campus ministry in the Kingsport area resulted in 3 decisions for Christ. And just last week, First Priority coordinated volunteers for load out/load in and drivers for the Matthew West concert. 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and partnering, we invite you to join us in supporting this ministry with your time, talent, treasure and most of all, your prayers, as we Take the Hope of Christ to Every Student. God loves a cheerful giver and so do we! 

A one time gift of $149 puts a club leader kit in the hands of a student leader to start a new club. Would you consider giving $149 or a monthly gift of $12.50 to to help provide the resources a student leader needs? Thank you for your generosity.

Give

Happy Thanksgiving!

David North