Carpenter's Tools - By Pastor Wallace Phillips

This week’s message: M & M’s ......

I love M & M’s! There’s something about putting those colorful little chocolates in your mouth and biting down on them that just fulfills your heart’s desire. One thing I like about them is that they are different in color. Red, dark brown, light brown, green, yellow, blue….oh…..it’s so much fun when variety is present. In fact, remember when M & M’s occasionally will make a promotional bag of the same color? That’s so boring!

I like variety. It has been said that it’s the “spice of life”. Variety in ministry is fun too. I like variety in music.

I like variety in preaching style.

I like variety in service guests.

I like variety in the people in the pews.

That’s the joy of serving in a church with a kingdom mindset. It’s like a bag of M & M’s. You never know which one is going to make it’s way out when you tilt that little bag.

When we’re little we sing it this way --- “…Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight….Jesus loves the little children of the world.” When we’re old, we try to jump in the promotional bag – One style of music, one type of preaching, one type of person. Boring!

Get a kingdom mindset! Let the M & M Syndrome hit your life as a Christian. Revelation reminds us that “every nation, tribe, tongue, and language” will be around the throne worshipping the Lord and crying out….”….salvation belongs to our God!”.

The next time you pop some M & M’s remember …. He’s a God of variety. Have an awesome week and visit us on the web at www.cscministries.com or www.wallacephillips.org.

Family Medicine With A Great Doctor

Hertford and Bertie Counties are blessed with one of the smartest and best trained Doctors in North Carolina, if not America. I recently had some medical problems, serious problems, and had the good fortune to be directed to Dr. Gaddy Lassiter of Family Medicine of Harrellsville. I was quite close to not making it but did not realize it. Like many men, I just kept saying, "I am tough and it will be okay" ..... but I was not going to be okay. I simply did not realize how close I came until later.

Dr. Gaddy Lassiter, RPh, MBA, MD

However at my first meeting with Dr. Lassiter, he quickly identified that I was suffering from Congestive Heart Failure. It was simply amazing how quickly he sensed what the problem was. We could not have been together more than five minutes. He explained to me what was happening and why it was happening. Unlike most Doctors today, he was very informative. It was quite clear he cared about me as a person, not just me as a patient. That is the kind of Doctor we all dream still exists but so often we meet the kind for whom medicine is just a paycheck.

Entrance To Family Medicine Of Harrellsville

Dr. Lassiter confirmed his diagnosis with an EKG and some other tests (he is very methodical) and then started working out a course of care to get me back to health. He explained what he recommended and talked with me about it. It only took 24 hours for his program to make me dramatically better, and within a week I felt 20 years younger. I was sure from the first discussion I had with Dr. Lassiter that he knew what he was doing. I was also sure from that first discussion that he truly cared.

Penny Brown, Family Nurse Practitioner And Medical Administrator Cindy Gore

Family Medicine of Harrellsville serves eastern Hertford and Bertie Counties, near the Chowan River from Winton down to Colerain. Penny Brown, Family Nurse Practitioner works with Dr. Lassiter. Cindy Gore and Kim Hughes also are a part of the excellent team. I was surprised and delighted at having this kind of top flight doctor and staff to take care of my health, and I asked Dr. Lassiter how it came about. The story is quite fascinating.

Kim Hughes, Part Of The Great Medical Staff

One of the most surprising aspects of Dr. Lassiter's story is the long long hours that he puts in. He starts with Hospital rounds, often as early as 4:30 in the morning, then goes to RCI where he is doctor for 1400 inmates. He then goes in the afternoon to Family Medicine of Harrellsville until early evening, and frequently finishes the day with additional Hospital rounds. This kind of dedication is part of what makes Dr. Lassiter such a great doctor.

However Dr. Lassiter started as a Math and Science Teacher, and a Coach. He was quite good as a coach, and was honored as TIC Coach of the Year. His interest in medicine led him to change careers, becoming a Pharmacist in 1985 after finishing the 6 year pharmacy program in only 2-1/2 years. After a few years as a retail pharmacist, Dr. Lassiter moved to clinical pharmacist, because it was technically and intellectually more stimulating. However he missed the patient interaction of retail pharmacy.

Dr. Lassiter's Interest In History Shows, In The Waiting Room Are Mementos Of An Earlier Time, The Kind OF Doctors Desk You Would Find 60 Years Ago

He has a great story of the day he decided to become a doctor too. He was finishing up his MBA at ECU. As a pharmacist he had become very aware of how hard it was to recruit doctors to serve our area. He decided that what we really needed to do was grow more doctors from this area than try and find doctors who would come to the area. Making a decision he has never regretted, he walked down to the Dean of Administration at ECU, Dean Hayek, and asked for an immediate appointment. Gaddy informed him that he was finishing his MBA but would be entering Medical School to become a doctor. The Dean was flabbergasted, but Gaddy walked out with an application, took the appropriate exams and proceeded once again to get his degree in a fraction of the normal time, fnishing medical school in 3 years.

The Safe From The Bank That Built The Building Family Medicine Of Harrellsville Uses

Being a Doctor allowed Gaddy Lassiter the technical satisfaction similar to clinical pharmacy but with the personal interaction that he had missed. He was asked to join Alpha Omega Alpha, the Honor Society of Medicine, and was the North Carolina Albert Schweitzer Fellow in 1996. Dr. Lassiter continues to excel at everything he tries. We are very lucky to have him.

His wife, Dr. Renee Banaszak is currently doing her residency and will also be joining the Harrellsville staff.

To schedule an appointment, call Family Medicine of Harrellsville at (252) 356-6544.