Today is a good, as is everyday in my life. We are with Kari and her family. Today we visited a church (they are looking for a place of worship). Anyway, the place we chose today is an AG church nearby. We got there a little late because of conflicting info on the internet site, but the pastor's message was soooo for Judy and me. He was reading our mail. It was so encouraging and even directional for us. We made the right decision to come to St. Louis for some much needed R&R! And this visit this morning at Praise Fellowship was just more confirmation. Of course, being with Jim, Kari, Olivia and Ava is just so much fun.

We are going to the Zoo this week, and other neat places like that. It is so much fun to 'play' with the girls.

Congrats to Jeff and Stephanie on their new Suburban (new to them anyway). It will be so nice to have a car that is big enough for everyone!!

Today was very busy and interesting. Judy and I packed up my office (28+ boxes of books, etc.). We had help from Tom and his pickup and Debbie. We had fun packing, eating lunch together, and then moving everything to our garage.

Tonight my desk is set up in the middle front bedroom. It has plenty of room for an office along with a queen size bed, sewing machine cabinet, chest-of-drawers, and some shelves. In fact I could put a few more pieces of furniture in here, if need be.

Tomorrow we leave for a trip to Missouri for how long we don't know just now. God is giving us some R&R time before our next great assignment. We are in love with Jesus, he is so good to us.

Next time you hear from me may be in St. Louis. Blessings.

Wow! Do you know how hard it is to slow down and write a blog? I admire people who take the time. Seems I want to, but the day is spent before I think about it again. So, tomorrow....

Blogs are neither here nor there in the scheme of things, but my relationship with Jesus is! I find myself praying just now, as I look at the date of my last blog, that my relationship with Jesus isn't so far behind. I stand embarrassed before him to think that it might be. There is a vast difference in living for Jesus and living with Jesus. I truly think I am handling the "with Jesus" living pretty well, but it never hurts to re-evaluate and brush up the relationship. Assuming that I am a normal person, I want to encourage you to do the same.

Let this song be your encouragement to do so: Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before, every day with Jesus, I love him more and more. Jesus saves and keeps me, and he's the one I'm living for (and with). Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.

Well, now! All brushed up? Let's continue on with Jesus and for Jesus. Have a victorious day (or days, depending on when I blog again).

Here is some great news. Judy will be receiving her Licensed Minister credentials on Saturday, June 23 at 9am at Camp Meeting. This is an invitation to anyone who would like to attend.

Judy has served so well beside me over the years as I have pastored and ministered. And she has become such a powerful minister in her own right. This is a wonderful privilege for her, and I am very happy that this has come about. It came very suddenly (yesterday), and there has been a rush of activity since then to get things ready for this great event.

If you are in the area and would like to be there, just follow these directions. From Tulsa, take 75 south to I-40 east, then the first exit is Tiger Mountain. Turn right and go up the hill. The camp grounds are immediately on your right.

From Muskogee, take 69 south to I-40 west. Take the Tiger Mountain exit just before Henrietta. Go under the bridge (left), up the hill, the camp grounds are on your right.

You go, Judy!! Congratulations and blessings to you!!

Judy and I have had a very busy two months in April and May. We have made a trip outside the US, one in the US; we have had children, grandchildren, parents, and a sister-in-law visiting with us (multiple times!). And above all this, we are involved in all that is entailed in pastoring a church. Whirlwind hardly describes our life. We are not the only ones that live such a life nowadays. How can you do it without being run over, overrun and run down?

Let me make some suggestions that might help you. The most important thing you need in your life's "makeup" is a personal walk with the Lord. This is where you rightly can vent, express needs and worship and be thankful for the Lord's presence and strength. It is important to tell Him your frustrations and express your joys, to call out to Him for help and strength. (Remember, others are probably just as stressed as you are and have no time or energy to help you -- certainly none to listen to your frustrations.) Then the Lord, Who knows your needs so well, can send the right people to help you, AND the right people who need the blessing of hearing your joys. Trusting Him in this lightens your load.

Secondly, embrace each situation as an opportunity to further immerse yourself in God. Each situation can bless you, stretch you, grow you, and open doors which might otherwise never open. It seems that the doors of blessing have secret latches that are buried in the depths of service to others. So make each busy, frazzling, over-the-top situation a treasure hunt for the latch that opens a door of blessing. When people say, "How can you handle all this?" Just say, "I am on a treasure hunt!"

Lastly, keep a good check on your attitude. Remember, your attitude determines your altitude.

Be blessed today (that's a command from me to you).

I love the Lord and his ways, because they are sooo not like mine! Yesterday at church was another opportunity to watch his ways in action. His ability to galvanize a particular concept and cement it into the hearer's heart is very uncanny. It seems that the thing he desires of us is expectancy. We, too often, are involved in the routine - which requires no expectancy at all. In fact, when something different happens, we tend to get a little uncomfortable because our routine is messed up. I, for one, enjoy routine way too much. So it is good for me to have change. I am constantly reminding myself to be expectant of God every minute of every day, not just during the worship service.

Why don't you join me? Let's be expectant of God in every area of our lives. Let's see what God might do, what he will do. Isaiah 43:19 - Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

What a glorious weekend I have had. On Thursday, my mother flew in to be with us for a few weeks. After I picked her up at the airport and headed back to Muskogee, my car engine blew. So after towing it and Judy picking us up, we started again for Muskogee. On the turnpike, a huge dog appeared out of nowhere and I hit it full force. So my other car now has a broken front bumper. In bed for the night (finally!!), I was laughing, genuinely laughing. I told Judy, "Hallelujah! I have the devil on the run and he doesn't like it." Turns out our drive train warranty is still good, so it is all paid for (except for the bumper replacement -- $250 deductible). But I don't care, because I know my heavenly Father is watching over me, and Satan is a defeated foe. Oh, how nice it would be, if we all would really believe that "all things work together for good to them that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose." Come on! Check up on your love for the Lord, double check that you are walking in the purpose he has for you. And live life! The devil can't stop you! And Jesus can help you! So get going, live life.

My daughter has been through enough tragedy, heartache, and struggles as anyone I know in such a short time. Yet she smiles, she loves, she encourages others, and she lives fully. If she can, I can. If she can, you can! "With God, all things are possible!!"

Oh, yeah! The great weekend. We had a fabulous men's breakfast on Saturday morning, with a truly awesome speaker. We have enjoyed a special loaner car from Toyota: an '07 Camry with less than 200 miles on it. We had a great Mother's Day, with fabulous music, and Judy's great sermon. And I am so happy to have my mother with me. Wow!! God is good!

It is a special thing to be able to look beyond yourself and see a bigger picture. That is what I am doing today in two areas of my life. My yard needs to be mowed, but the rain just keeps coming. Of course, I first note that it will be very hard to mow, when I am able to get to it. Then I think how wonderful the water is. The water tables are being returned to their normal state and drought conditions are gone...and I am saving on my water bill. The second thing I am forcing myself to look at in the bigger picture is my daughter's family's big move to St. Louis. They will be further away from us, and we have so enjoyed having them in our house and close by for the last year and a half. However, the bigger picture is that they get to be a family again with their own house, and Jim has a very good job...long time in coming and very much deserved. Definitely, the bigger picture is better. Let's all try to look at the bigger picture more, I believe the handiwork of God is so much easier to see then.

Judy and I have just returned from a week of sailing in the Bahamas. What a lovely rest time, and the joy of beach combing and wind sailing, etc. It certainly was a God-ordained time. Notice this picture of a beautiful Bahamian sunset. Each evening the islanders blow the conch (konk) shell to announce sunset. So we would run up on deck with our cameras and take such astounding pictures.

We were constantly amazed at the variety of God in a sunset. No two were the same. So each evening was like watching God paint a new picture. Surely He is a creative and unlimited God! When I watched His sunsets, I was always reminded, "Is there anything too hard for God." If He cares so much as to create a new and different sunset each and every evening, does He not care to create each and every day designed just for me? "His mercies are new every morning." And not just new, but different and hand-made and designed with me in mind!

Your days are equally created just for you! Let me encourage you to begin to expect God's design of you life in an intimate way; and to begin to see the happenings of your day as ordered by Him. "The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord, and He (the Lord) delights in his (your) way."

I have been re-reading Exodus with a view to teaching on Wed. nights through the book. I am constantly moved by the difference between law and grace - I should say vast difference. Seems to me that the law dealt with the sinner, whereas grace deals with the sin. In the Old Testament, the sinner was blotted out of the book, in the New Testament our sins are blotted out. It is just too really awesome that I have been born into the New Testament era. I can't comprehend those who want to try to live by the law, keep the commandments, honor the diet, etc. of the Old Testament. Why do some want to glorify the things of the old worship, instead of rejoicing in the spirit of the new worship. We still want icons and pictures and things to hold and creeds to say. But we get to come to God by a new and living way. It just causes the old to pale, unless trappings and things are more important.

I was dwelling on the two parts of our redemption the other day: relationship and fellowship. Not much can be done about the relationship part. "For by one Spirit are you all baptized into one body" (1 Cor. 12). Once we express our will to be redeemed, the redemption process is out of our hands. It is the Lord's doings. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5).

The part of our redemption that I was thinking about was fellowship. Fellowship is a graduated experience. For instance, I could have a brother in California whom I never see. He is forever my brother (not my doings or his, but our father's) in relationship. But we have no fellowship. Let's say he returns to Oklahoma, to a town near me. We can renew our fellowship. It is by our mutual choice. The closeness of our fellowship is determined by us.

Romans 12:1,2 seems to me to be all about fellowship. "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." The more we bring our minds in line with the Word of God, the greater is our fellowship with him. As we think like He thinks, act like He acts, and speak like He speaks, we grow closer. "Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you" (James 4:8). It may not be easy, but it certainly is worthwhile.

"Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: 'The Lord knows those who are His (relationship),' and, 'Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity (fellowship)'" (2 Tim. 2:19).

I was thinking this morning of the wonderful experience I had Sunday morning. With Judy's nudging, I realized that we have 6 young adults at Grandview Tab that weren't getting any special attention. So I called them all and told them that I was creating a special Sunday School class just for them (donuts, milk, orange juice, etc.). They all seemed excited about the possibility. Sunday morning came and I had 8 young adults in the class. Wow! Some of the original 6 brought friends. We had a really good class. The premise of the class is to let the students talk about what is of importance in their life at the moment. They did! And the cardinal rule of the class is, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Anonymity is a powerful tool! Between SS and the morning worship hour, we discovered 2 more young adults that will be with us next Sunday!!

This brings me to one of my life scriptures (not the major one, but one of the secondary ones). "Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." Now the conundrum is this. We are to labor in the building of the house, but it is the Lord who builds it. Here is a challenge for any person. Build only what you see the Lord building. (Jesus said it like this: I only do what I see my Father doing.) As a pastor, I can tell you that this is a tough thing. Seeing what the Lord is building is, as Shakespeare says, "where the rub comes in." I am not very successful at it, but even that is a help. I can tell others that it is okay to mess up. And it is. Proverbs says the righteous man falls 7 times, but he always gets up. It isn't in the falling, it is in the getting up. Or as someone in the modern age has said, "it isn't how you start, but how you finish."

Paul said, "I have finished my course...", so I encourage you to work on the finish and forget how you started. If you have fallen, get up. If you haven't fallen, keep your eyes on Jesus and build what he is building.

Blessings.

I have been thinking about direction for the last few days. Seems that that is a constant theme in my life because I so want to be going the right way with the Lord. I found this sentence in Bodie & Brock Thoene's Christian novel, Fifth Seal. "The strength of a man consists of finding the direction God is going and setting his course on the same path." The part that grabbed my attention is "the strength of man". I believe it sums up direction in life as to purpose, character and outcome. So I have been munching on direction lately. Also, I have been going back to my life verse, Exodus 33:13, where Moses says, "Show me now thy way that I may know thee." And then he says, "For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate (read different), Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth (v.16)." I feel, for me, and for Christians in general, that that is at the core of finding direction. To be separate from the people of the earth, and to be like God in our life. It is one thing to say I am like God, but quite another to be like God. John 1:12 says, "To as man as receive him, to them he gives power (authority) to become sons of God." Doesn't mean we automatically are like him in our actions, words, and lifestyle. But we do have the power to be. So again, I pray along with Moses, "show me now thy way, that I may know thee." I am sure that when I see His way of doing, being and living, that I can get in step with him. Again, "the strength of a man consists of finding the direction God is going and setting his course on the same path." And say! If you see God's way in some area or matter, please share with me/us so we can get in line with God, too.

I am so excited about 2007. 2006 was such a blessing personally, although being an eternal optomist, I would have forgotten any bad things by now. But 2007 holds such great potential for us. It is an extension of the promise of God that "his mercies are new every morning." His mercies are also new for every new year. We can make this year a blessing or a curse, the power is in our hands. Not even Satan can ruin this new year for us. Of course, he would like for us to make stupid decisions and actions that would taint our year; just like God would like for us to make wise decisions and actions that would propel us forward and higher to bigger and better blessings. So really, it is up to us. Proverbs says the power of life and death is in the tongue. Should we also say that the power of a great year or a bad year is in our hands.

Paul tells us we will succeed if we faint not, and that God is faithful to to see that the good work he started in us will be completed. So if we work with him ("let us hold fast the confession of our faith"), we can expect a really great year.

Some of our desires may not come to pass when we want them to, some good things may seem slow in coming. BUT that doesn't mean that this will not be a year of blessing. In fact, God probably has some blessings for you that you have never dreamed about, as yet.

So with our face open to the Lord, let's move out in faith and expectation and hope and rejoicing that God is working a great work in us and for us, and we are determined to receive it and enjoy it with abandon.

This is the first day of 2007. Wow! I can't even begin to imagine what this year will hold for me, my family or the church. But I believe for the best. I believe this is going to be an exceptional year all the way around. And I am stirred up to get started. So many good things are in line for Grandview Tabernacle. I believe these people deserve a very good year, they have been so faithful before the Lord. I am blessed to be a part of them.

2006 finished up as a great year of blessing for me and my family, and seems to have been an open door to 2007. Wow! How exciting. I believe the Lord has only great blessings for all his children, provided that they listen to him. And I intend to do just that.

Jeremiah 29:11 reminds me that the Lord has only good plans for me, plans to bless me and open great doors of service for him. I will allow him to bless me, I will accept with gratitude all his plans for me, I will go through every open door with great anticipation.

Wow! It's been awhile since I have blogged. Too much going on, for sure.

I was thinking of that scripture in Isaiah 40:4, "Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth." Now, I know that this is speaking of the future of Israel based on God's promise to Abraham. However, I also see something in the verse for me -- you. I am thinking about personality and way-of-life. All of us have our weaknesses and strengths in our personalities, and all of us have crooked ways of doing things and thinking about things, maybe we are a little too rough sometimes in our thoughts or words or actions.

Here is a picture of what God is doing in our personal lives, by way of the Holy Spirit. He is filling up the low, inadequate places in our personalities; sheering off the more vaunted hilltops of our thinking; straightening out our ways and polishing our roughness. His greatest desire is for us to be completely like him, which means a perfect personality. Now we may not get it totally right until we enter glory, but that doesn't mean he isn't working on us now. And I think it is helpful, when our personalities flare up (or dip down), that we recognize our faults and surrender them to the Lord so that he can get the job done more quickly.

Of course it hurts, but he is beyond worrying about the hurts. He is looking at the finished product. Proverbs says (27:17), "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." Can you imagine the sparks and banging sounds of iron working against iron to get a desired product (cf. the blacksmith)? And of course, the promise of the New Testament: "He that has begun a good work in you will continue it until the day of Christ!"

Let's work with God to "fill up" and "make low" and "straighten" and "smooth"!

Last Monday evening, our Bishop gave the ministers a book entitled "The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make", by Hans Finzel. I don't know who that is, but I found the idea of the book very intriguing for a number of reasons, the first of which is that we at Grandview Tabernacle are stepping out into some very new areas and I am the 'leader' in it all. So, I thought, hmmm...maybe I need to read this book.

I am glad that Bishop Drake gave me the book, and even more glad that I decided to read it. It is full of great ideas, suggestions, cautions, and pithy quotes from many different sources. Here is one I want to share by James A. Autry, "Love and Profit". It is called Threads.

Sometimes you just connect,
like that,
no big thing maybe
but something beyond the usual business stuff.
It comes and goes quickly
so you have to pay attention,
a change in the eyes
when you ask about the family,
a pain flickering behind the statistics
about a boy and a girl in school,
or about seeing them every other Sunday.
An older guy talks about his bride,
a little affectation after twenty-five years.
A hot-eyed achiever laughs before you want him to.
Someone tells about his wife's job
or why she quit working to stay home.
An old joker needs another laugh on the way
to retirement.
A woman says she spends a lot of her salary
on an au pair
and a good one is hard to find
but worth it because there's nothing more important
than the baby.
Listen.
In every office
you hear threads
of love and joy and fear and guilt,
the cries for celebration and reassurance,
and somehow you know that connecting those threads
is what you are supposed to do,
and business takes care of itself.

I don't suppose I can commit this to memory, or even want to; but I do want to remember the gist of the poem -- care about others, listen for the little clues that lead to great deliverance and help. If you are reading this, I hope it blessed you as much as it did me.

It is Thanksgiving morning, I am in Texas watching my granddaughter Caitlyn playing, and I am thinking how collosally (sp?) blessed I am. Good health, good family, good church, good country, etc.

Jeff is such a good, caring doctor. And Stephanie is a great mother and homemaker. Jim is the tops in attorneys, gifted in his practice, and Kari is a great mother and cook. What can I say about my grandchildren? Dylan is holding our place in heaven, Olivia continues to warm our hearts with her cuddling, Caitlyn with her long beutiful hair and big smile, and Ava our explorer. I am sure that all their good qualities come from their Mimi, Judy. Somewhere back about 36+ years ago, God lead me to the best wife a man could ever have; and she proves it over and over and over.

So I am blessed beyond measure.

But can I tell you about the people of Grandview Tabernacle? When you think you can't possibly be blessed any more, God picks you up and sets you in the midst of his greatest people. I continually hear in my head Kari's comment, "Daddy, there is no one at Grandview that isn't just loveable!" How true. So I am having the greatest Thanksgiving possible.

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Be content in him, knowing that he works all things for good, and you will run smack into the fulfillment of all your dreams. And that's a promise.

I was sitting in the hospital surgical waiting room this morning visiting and waiting with friends. We got to talking about the way the body works, all the little details, things that are related and connected inside the body that cause the body to work so efficiently. For instance, the jawbone muscle. One reason that doctors tell you to chew your food for so many bites is because when the jawbone is working it causes the digestive system to work more perfectly. Who would know that the jawbone and its muscle was connected to the digestive system?

I just thought about, and rejoiced over, that scripture in Psalms 139, "We are fearfully and wonderfully made." The degree of involvment the Lord has with us concerning our physical bodies is unfathomable!

Take time sometime to study your hands, or your shoulders, or you knees to see how intricately things work. We seldom notice unless we have had an injury to some part of our body. Shame on us for not taking time!

This is my first blog as pastor of Grandview Tabernacle in Muskogee, Ok. So many wonderful things are happening in the ministry here. And new things are on the horizon for all of us. Everyday seems to bring more blessings.
I am reminded of the scripture in Psalm 127:1 - "Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it." This is truly a God-building house at Grandview. My ideas, our ideas, are so short-sighted and minimal in number compared to the great vista-ideas that God has for us. I encourage everyone to daily seek the Lord for His ideas about building the house at Grandview Tabernacle.