GOLDEN – FIFTY
Everything in our life has changed
My ideas have been redrawn
We are committed to follow the Lord
Because you have been the focused One for Fifty years

It’s you Carol, you, you, you
Consistently the Lord has revealed His plans for us to YOU!
So many think I’m kidding when I say that, just being kind
You know it’s true, four times HE has redirected us through you

Many say marriage is a fifty-fifty thing
It isn’t, both have to be a hundred percent
In our case I’ve been one hundred percent
And you were one hundred and fifty percent

It takes more than a little trying to make a marriage last fifty years and counting
We have had great highs and sad lows
Everything about these fifty years has been a challenge
You made it work, you made me make it work, you are faithful

That Saturday, September 14, 1968
Next to my salvation the greatest day of my life
I married that thin slip of a girl, thinking I would be the strong one
Little did I know that the Lord was sending the right strong person to guide me

You are still just as beautiful as in 1968
More beautiful, a surface beauty and a beauty of depth
You are kind and gentle with me and long-suffering
I come around so slowly yet you gently and kindly mature me

You and the Lord have equipped me for ministry
It has been forty-six years of ministry as a Baptist
You drug me kicking and screaming to the Baptist Church
We’ve never looked back

We both love Tuscaloosa and now we have returned to our precious city
We love the University of Alabama and now we see it everyday
We have wonderful memories and the good thing is we are daily making new memories
Jesus loves you and me, He walks with us and talks with us, praise the Lord for fifty years

Thank you, Carol, for your wonderful and rich love for me
I love you, I love you, and I am grateful to the Lord for you
Retirement is great but even greater is waking up each day with you
The Lord is good, and He has been wonderfully good to us

Rejoice, today we have been married fifty years, isn’t it great!
Clay Corvin to his precious partner of fifty years. I LOVE YOU! September 14, 2018

Jesus is alive and well living life in us
Calling us to listen and change
His new way of life detailed and complete

The World is at war with us, it never let’s go
It abuses and misuses, reaching places we don’t know
Our heart is desperately wicked

A solitary life is a defeated life, we cannot win over strife
Without the Master’s wisdom and way
Life is a mess, life has no meaning, we spiral out of bounds

Our life is but a minute, green then gone
What we did as a child is seldom forgotten
It shapes the way we grow, a long dead hand having control

Jesus comes upon the scene, hear what He has to say
“I am the way and the truth and the life
No one comes to the Father but through me”

Come to Jesus, let Him have control
Listen, pray, meditate and then do
His voice guiding you, He is the way

People count with Jesus, all people, lost people
We are our brother’s keeper, even those that hate us
Bend the knee, Love Jesus, love one another

Christ tells the truth, knowing Him we know the truth
The truth is that we will struggle with sin every day of our life
No excuse exempts us, we must let Christ forgive us, we must forgive others

Jesus restores our relationships, He is life and He gives us life
His completeness covers us, His presence makes us whole
Life is valuable, every life is valuable, Jesus is God’s everything

You are called, Christ equips, do the work of the kingdom
Time is flying by, you only have so much left, get busy
We become world changers, when people see Jesus in us

Clay Corvin, Last Saturday living in New Orleans, 8/25/18

Despair, unfairness, disappointment and difficulty track my every step
Do I count? Does God know? Am I alone?
Life is just plain tough
Is life just hard and then death? I desperately want to know

We are valuable in the eyes of God
Made in His image, HE created us
Knows the number of hairs on our head, before I speak a word God knows
We are fearfully and wonderfully made, worth more than many sparrows-the Lord sees each one

The Lord says He crowns us with glory and honor-we will judge angels
He outfits us for service
He makes plans for us
We are important in His scheme of things

But man exchanged the truth of God for a lie
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, the penalty for sin is death
People are spiritually dead, the children of wrath, at war with God
But grace has the last word

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son
That whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life
While we were still sinners Christ died for us
Reconciling us to God by His death, burial and resurrection by the power of God
Everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus will be saved, if you believe you are born again

Those saved are a new creation, the old is purged away
Sin no longer our master, dead to sin, alive in Christ, free from slavery to sin, no condemnation
Jesus is God’s everything, saved by grace, we are totally secure in Christ
No one can snatch us out of the hand of God, Christ will never leave us

We have the Holy Spirit, now in God’s family
Christ will guide us
Empowering us trust and obey
Our life is Jesus, abide in Him, He transforms us into His image
Each day we will become more like Jesus

Now we represent Jesus, Ambassadors of God
The call is to live my life under orders, walk obediently in Him
He called us, The Lord chose us and we accepted, now we belong to Him
Saint, servant, steward, soldier, we are His witness and worker
A citizen of Heaven, my life is valuable to the Father, we are victorious in Jesus

Clay Corvin. August 11, 2018.

Maggie
Sunshine
Amazing, capable, confident
Wise beyond her years
She believed one should bloom where the Lord plants them
She lived that
She showed us how to live that

She loved each day
She loved her family
She loved her friends
She was a special blessing to all who met her
Maggie was just the best of the best
When you say that of someone like Maggie
You immediately know what it means

She was present
She created the gusto that so many seek
Her walk was a living example for us to see
Her life was so short and yet it was as if she was always here

Oh my she will be missed
By family, friends, church, and us
We lived in the presence of her passion for life
We are much better for it
Now she is walking with Jesus
Bringing all of this with her
We have her memories and her
We will miss her for a time but will reunite with her one day
Our encourager is with the master

Clay Corvin – A Tribute to the Life of Maggie Hanberry

How do we take the measure of a man?
Carefully of course
Many not until the end of life
On occasion there are young men
That exhibit God’s measure

James is that type of man
Exuberant and controlled
Determined and kind
An insightful visionary willing to reach for the stars
Wise enough to value reality

A knowledgeable learner
Committed to growth
A warrior for success
A friend – A planner
Positive about life
Ingenious in conquering challenges

Yes young men have a long road ahead
There will be many obstacles
James has the core beliefs
That will equip him in the face of life’s storms
He will measure well
Life will recount – James lived his life well

Clay Corvin – UPON JAMES NEARING NEW ORLEANS
July 26, 2018

Call me says the Lord God – A clear command
With promises in a world of pain and chaos
No where can we find the answers that the Lord gives
To life’s perilous journey

Shout out your needs
Desperate days
Life hurts
We don’t know what is going on in the spiritual realm

The fear of death constrains our courage
We don’t believe His word
Walking with the Lord becomes a journey of folly
We stand with the world wondering why we fail

The Lord God will answer you
His promise to each of us
His Word is clear
He will give us the guidance and direction we need

Seldom are His answers detailed
We wouldn’t understand them if they were
He doesn’t ask what we think
Remember we are but dust – Alive today – Gone tomorrow

His revelation will equip us to grow in Christ likeness
We never say – I am helpless – I can’t do anything
We may be bound but the Word isn’t bound
We can do what the Lord says

We have a different world view than the lost
The humblest Christian knows more about the things of God
Than the greatest lost statesman
Therefore the Lord commands us to pray – His phone is never busy

Pray now – pray today – pray everyday
Lord teach us to pray – to pray when hurting
Pray in rejoicing – pray without ceasing
God says pray – He will answer us and tell us what to do

Clay Corvin
New Orleans – Saturday – July 20, 2018

Surprising the work is still hard
When I wake up each morning
The challenge encourages me

The opportunities for sharing the Gospel
Lift me up-call me to account
Reminding me what is important

People count with Jesus
They count with me
So many lives affected
When I kneel at Jesus feet

This place
This time
Exciting what will be

A blessed place
Satan’s challenges abound
Thank you Lord for using me

Gratitude, humility, need
Equip me to serve
Jesus walks with me
I know I’m heard

Israel pilgrimages (74 so far), MissionLab, Lifesongs
At work changing the world
No other place I’d rather be

October 4, 2017
At NOBTS Trustee meeting

SALVATION IS A CHANGE

Come to Jesus – He is the way, the truth and the life
Everything changes in the instant you repent of your sin
Ask Christ to come into your heart and save you

Change of purpose – your life is turned over to God
Now you will serve the Lord – every moment, every hour, every day
It’s permanent – can’t live in the world and follow God

Salvation – No longer dead in your trespasses and sin
Alive in Jesus – new birth – a new creature in Jesus
A gift from the Lord so that no one can boast

Justified – no longer at war with God
New life brings peace with God
Real joy birthed in this new life-Alive in Jesus

Adopted – removed from the world
Now belong in God’s family – we are His
The Lord brought us unto Himself in Christ Jesus

Redeemed from the sin and evil of the world
No longer in chains to sin
The death of Christ on the Cross paid the price for our sin

New life in Christ – sanctification
The process of holiness begins
God is faithful and He will do it

God calls us to give Him our bodies-no longer copy the world
Consecration begins and it is a surrender of our will to His will
He changes the way we think – We learn His ways

In the blink of an eye Salvation is accomplished
We begin with Jesus, Grow with Jesus and are on the way to Jesus
Jesus is God’s everything – HE saves us completely

Clay Corvin
June 30, 2018
Preparation for Bethel Community Baptist Church

Christ came as a servant

To show that God was true

The realization of promises made to me and you

He remembered

Jesus is able to deal with real life

I will have trouble

It will include pain and heartache

Failure will occur often

Today is the only day I have

Jesus will never leave me

I want my life to change

The pain, the evil, the bad

Almost too much to handle

But God came for a time such as this

He gives us the power to change

He breaks the bondage to sin

Christ makes our life valuable

My experience may be negative

My relationships may be poor

Jesus changes everything

He puts us on a new course

He gives us value and worth

We discover the joy of giving

I am always going to be who I am

My experiences will always be mine

But I will always be part of the human race

The things I experience happens to others

I am not deprived or a victim

Christ will never leave me

Jesus will meet my needs

I can become the person Christ created me to be

I can celebrate my value

Because the Lord set me free

One day soon life will end-everyone will die

Then I will see what Christ began

Face to face no dark glass

Jesus the Lord cares for me

Clay Corvin 8/20/02