Let It Snow!

It’s been raining all day.  Tonight the temperatures are supposed to fall into the lower 30s and we may get 2-4 inches of snow!  That would be awesome!  What a great beginning to the Christmas season.  Mary Lou and I have all of our Christmas decorations out and our tree decorated [thanks to Jon & Michelle].  Saturday we have our annual Staff Christmas Open House and are looking forward to seeing everyone who will stop by.  I love Christmas and the opportunity every day to tell others about my Savior, Jesus Christ!  I hope you and your family will experience the joy and wonder of Christmas this season! 

Let’s get a fire going…some hot chocolate made…and watch the snow fall!

A Tour Guide

A number of summers ago our family was vacationing in Missouri and decided to visit Meramac Cave.  It is a facinating cave that goes deep into the ground and is quite a sight to walk through.  The cave became famous because it was found to be one of the places where Jesse James used to hide out with his group of bandits.  In order to make our way through the cave, a ‘tour guide’ was made available to us.  Without that guide at our side, we would have gotten lost very easily.  The cave is not only very dark, but is filled with endless caverns and trails which seem to go off in every direction.  Even though it was a bit nerve-racking at points during our journey through the cave, it was always heartening to know that our guide knew the way, and could take us safely through the cave without harm.

Jesus gave us a wonderful promise in John 16:13, "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will you into all the truth…"    Jesus promised us a ‘guide’ for life!   Jesus promised that if we would open our hearts to Him, He would send His Spirit into our hearts to guide us all throughout life, and to lead us into the truth.   We know that life can often be like that cave–dark, dangerous, full of uncertainties and unknown paths.  How can we know the way that we should go?   The Holy Spirit will be our guide!  He will direct us in the way that we should go!   Isn’t that fantastic!

Whatever you are facing today, be assured that help is available!  You do not have to stagger and grope along trying to find your way.  You do not have to trust in your own wisdom or ingenuity to make it through everything you are facing today.  Why not turn to Jesus and ask for His strength and guidance in your life?  You may not know the way before you, but He does!   You may not know all the answers to the things you are facing right now, but He does!  The way before you may seem dark and foreboding, but He is the light of the world!   Let Him be your guide today!   He not only knows the way, HE IS THE WAY!

I’m putting my hand in His!  How about you? 

Great Worship

We had a great day of worship today! My son, Jon, led worship and did a super job. After church we headed to Outback for lunch and had a nice time visiting with him and his wife, Michelle. The temperature today hit the middle 60s which is really mild for this time of year. Jon and I grabbed our baseball gloves and played some pass out in the yard for about a half hour. Later in the afternoon, we put up our Christmas lights outside. They really look nice. Tonight we’ve just been hanging out and watching the Indianapolis Colts on TV.

Hope everyone out there had a great day today, also! This coming Thursday evening my wife and I will be attending the Bill Gaither Christmas Homecoming show at Roberts Stadium here in Evansville. We then have our Christmas Open House Saturday from 6-8 pm. It will be a busy week….but I believe a good one.

Be sure and keep Jesus first in all you do!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello to everyone on this beautiful Thanksgiving morning!  I am so thankful for God’s many blessings in my life!  It is such a treat for my wife and me to have all of our family together for Thanksgiving this year.  We feel so blessed.  I want to wish all of our friends and extended family a very blessed Thanksgiving holiday.  We treasure our friends so much.  We are so thankful for their love, their support, their prayers, and the great times that we are able to share with one another.

Be sure to give God praise today for His goodness!

(P.S. — Please remember those families who have sons and daughters in uniform today who are serving us overseas.  We know that their hearts travel across the miles to be with them today. Pray that God’s mercy, goodness, and protection will be their shelter today!)

My Son’s Video

Hey guys,
Just thought I would share with you a video that my sons made during the Thanksgiving holiday. Jon recorded Matt playing one of his original songs on his Apple Macbook Pro laptop. Here it is. Enjoy!

Our family wishes yours a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Eagle Has Landed!

That’s right!  The American Eagle has landed!  At 1:20 pm our son, Jon, and his wife, Michelle, [who live in Phoenix] flew into the Evansville airport on the American Eagle from Chicago.  They will be with us through the rest of the week.  Our youngest son, Matt, who lives in Anderson will be coming down tomorrow to be with us for Thanksgiving, also.  We are so blessed that our entire family can be together for the Thanksgiving holiday.

We’re looking forward to visiting, eating, watching football, shopping, and doing some Christmas decorating later in the week.  I also enjoy hearing my boys share about their walk with Jesus and how they are growing spiritually.  We’re looking forward to a great time together!

"Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that’s within me, bless His holy name."   Psalm 103:1

Old Oaken Bucket

Today the Purdue Boilermakers beat the Indiana Hoosiers in their rival match-up, 28-19!  This was the third consecutive year that Purdue has beaten Indiana for the Old Oaken Bucket, and the tenth time in the last eleven years.  What a great tradition!  Let’s hang another letter "P" on that Bucket signifying a great Purdue win.

Purdue’s 8-4 season should be good enough for a Bowl bid.  We’ll see….

What a picture!

Our youth group met at the church today to leave for the Indiana State Youth Convention in downtown Indianapolis.  It is always a great sight to see!   You’ll see youth running all over the parking lot chasing each other, teasing each other, and in some cases ‘tormenting’ each other.  There’s lots of laughter.   There’s picture-taking going on.   There’s suitcases, duffle bags, sleeping bags, and pillows piled up everywhere.  There’s hugs and kisses going on as parents are saying ‘good-bye’ to their children for the weekend.  I love it!   I love to stand back and watch all that’s going on.  It’s great!   I love youth! 

I love their excitement for life…their joy…their eagerness…their desire to grow…their desire to make a difference!  I believe the youth of today are going to impact our world in a significant way! They’re already doing it!   I’m praying for them as they make this trip, that they’ll catch the fire of God in their lives, and come back changed forever!   Wow!  It’s a wonderful, awesome thought isn’t it!   [These scenes bring back lots of memories in my own life, as I remember how God worked in my heart when I was their age!  I wouldn't trade any of it for all the gold in the world!] 

Lord, keep me laughing, loving, enthused, energetic…and young at heart!

Shhhhhhhh….

As I was going to bed last night I had lots of things tumbling through my head.  I found myself restless and unable to relax and go to sleep.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, a scripture came into my mind that brought me peace and allowed me to go to sleep.  I know it was God bringing me a  promise from His Word, like a messenger bringing good news.

The verse was this, "Be still and know that I am God [Psalm 46:10]."  The whisper of these words deep down in my spirit was what I needed to release my thoughts and turn them over to God.  I know it might sound mystical to some of you when I say, "I really felt God’s presence with me when those words began soothing my heart."    But I truly did!   I knew at that moment that God cared for me and was right there with me, helping me with all the issues that we’re swimming in my mind!   That’s why I love God so much!  Over and over again, He shows me how much He cares!

There is value in quiet.  That’s what I need…just to be quiet and let God take control of all the things going on in my life.  I want that to become an everyday discipline in my spiritual life.   I want to learn to be quiet.   I want to learn to listen more attentively to God’s voice.  I know it’s a difficult thing to say, but busyness can bring so much turmoil and confusion in our lives.  I believe God wired us to take ‘quiet times’ throughout the day, and throughout the week, to re-tune and re-focus our lives on the things that are the most important.   I’m so thankful for the whisper of that voice!

Shhhhhhhh….God has something to say!

Pulling Up Stakes!

A man visiting a circus one day asked the elephant trainer, "How can an animal that big, and that strong, stay tied up to that flemsy rope tied around it’s ankle?"  The trainer replied, "That’s easy!  When this adult elephant was just a baby a very strong rope was used to stake it down at night.  The baby elephant pulled and tugged against that rope thousands of times to no avail.  As it grew older, it’s memory reminded the elephant that it could not pull free from the rope tied to it’s ankle.  You see, sir, this elephant still believes that it does not have the power or strength to set itself free!"

Elephant memory…that’s a curious thing!  Even though it could easily pull itself free from the flemsy rope tied to it’s ankle, it stands motionless not even trying!  I wonder how many times in life we have hit snags, obstacles, difficulties, you put whatever name on it you like.   And when we hit those tough times, nothing moved.   Nothing changed.   We pulled…and pulled…and pulled.  Maybe we reached a point where we quit pulling, and quit struggling.  We just gave in the situation.  Now, I don’t know if it would be nice to say that we sometimes have ‘elephant memory’, but I think you would agree that we find ourselves resigning and giving in to situations that we feel powerless to do anything about just like the elephant. 

Why do I bring this up?   Because I believe as a follower of Jesus Christ, God wants us to realize that He has the power to help us pull up those stakes that we think have us conquered!   The Bible tells us in Romans 8:37 that, "we are more than conquerors through Christ!"   I believe God wants us to tackle some of those tough issues in our lives and be reminded that He has the power for us to be set free!  God does not want us thinking that "we can’t" do things….He wants us to be "can do" people!   The apostle Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" [Philippians 4:13].  What do you say let’s snap some ropes today!!!

Come on…you can do it…start pulling up those stakes!