June 29, 2007, Silver Surfer Dude

I have seen the latest Fantastic 4 movie and this Silver Surfer dude is quite spectacular. Have you seen the movie? If not then I will not spoil the ending but it has some strong biblical motifs and once you see it and what this silver surfer does at the end, well it is pretty moving. Hannah, Bryant and Leighton and I went to see Nancy Drew tonight and it is a good clean movie and on the way out Hannah took my picture with my new friend, you guessed it the Silver Surfer Dude.

We had a good day today as we were at the tennis courts at 8:00 am for a tennis match as Leighton and Bryant played. They both did real well and Leighton played up in the 16 year old division and nearly won the tournament. He made it to the championship match and lost to a young man who is 16 and can really play. I had an opportunity to share Christ at the tennis court with a man I have met and established a friendship with. He is a real neat guy and he is a Hindu, but was receptive as I shared with him and how Jesus died for our sins to forgive us and bring us to God. I gave him the Steps to Peace with God tract and also pointed out to him the bridge illustration. Yes we have a wonderful story to tell to the nations of how Jesus Christ lived a perfect life, died a substitutionary death, and arose from the dead! Hallelujah what a Savior!

We head to Arkansas tomorrow and looking forward to going to church on Sunday and the big 4th of July weekend celebration that Sunday afternoon. Then next week Ashley and the kids and I are going to youth camp with FBC Lavaca and that should be a blast.

God is so good and He continues to bless in so many ways.  My family are returning from the Mexico mission trip tonight and they are exhausted but oh so pumped up.  God used them in wonderful ways and all three of our children were blessed by God to be able to lead someone to faith in Jesus.  Thank you LORD!  I am about to hit the road again and wanted to post a quick entry in the blog before I head out the door.  I am flying to Ft. Smith, and then headed to the hospital to see one of our church members, then to dinner with another church member who is seeking the Lord on some important matters.

I am stoked about Sunday at FBC Lavaca.  Church please be in prayer for tomorrow’s services.  I am continuing to preach on David in the morning and tomorrow we will see where David really struggles, but the story has a wonderful ending as David turns back to God and strengthens himself in the LORD.  Tomorrow night we will preach on the topic of Jehovah Mekkadishkem, the LORD who sanctifies you.  Buckle up and please pray as we preach on the oft-neglected subject of holiness.

God blessed me with 3 opportunities to share Christ yesterday.  I witnessed to three men ranging in ages in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s.  One man was already saved and we had good fellowship. The other 2 allowed me to share Christ with them by giving them the Life Death card, and the Lord blessed.  I was speaking to one of the men, who is 23, and he told me no one is perfect, and I shared with him that is true because only person who ever lived was perfect and that is Jesus and He died for us sinners so we could be with Him, and the young man agreed!

I got an e-mail from one of our members at FBCL yesterday and she shared how the Lord gave her the opportunity to invite someone to church.  The lady has been watching our services on TV; she has moved to the area as a result of the hurricanes last year.  She was so receptive when our church member gave her one of our new invitation cards to FBCL.  We had 500 and our people took them all on Sunday night!  We have a 1000 more to hand out tomorrow.
 
I better go; my flight leaves in a little bit.  I love you guys at FBCL.  Pray for me please and see you tomorrow.

June 20, 2007 A Happy and Proud Father

I received a call last night from our youngest son Leighton. He called me from El Paso where he and all my immediate family are on a mission trip with the First Baptist Church Colleyville, TX. He was so excited and this is what he told me, “Dad, I got to lead my first person to Christ today!” I was thrilled for him and let him know it! I cannot tell what joy that gave me as a father. Leighton is 13 years old. I spoke to Ashley on the phone as well and she told me the mission trip is going great. I am so blessed. My wife and 3 children are serving Jesus on a mission trip. I was away form them for 10 days on my trip to Belarus and now they are away from home and I will not see them until Tuesday. I miss them but so proud of them!!

Our home church FBC Lavaca has 31 on a mission trip to Montana and Chris Niblett e-mailed me and shared that they too are having a wonderful trip. He told me of this one lady who just cried and hugged them after they cut her grass. He also took the opportunity to share Christ with her. They also passed out 500 Bibles as they went into the community and invited people to the VBS the church is hosting.

After class yesterday afternoon I went to Pecan Valley Golf Course and played 18 holes of golf. I had a blast. I played nine holes with 2 guys and they were very polite, one was a lawyer the other a speech pathologist. On the last hole I took the time to share some of my testimony and gave them 2 tracts and they were very kind and though not talkative, they were receptive. Then I played the other nine holes with a man named Bob and I talked to him about Jesus and he told me about how he and his wife are involved in the church and he told me how he has a brother who is terminally ill with cancer, and he went to play golf today to relax and just enjoy the day. He told me something that really encouraged me. He said something to the effect that though he was having a hard time God was so gracious to him to send him a man of God to encourage him. I was so honored to be used by God to be able to encourage this man. Before we walked off the last green, I reached out and said let us pray, I prayed for his brother and we just had a great time of fellowship.

Sunday night after church our people came to the front and got all 500 of the invitation cards we printed to give away! We are ordering like 2,000 more to encourage our people to get out and talk to people about the Lord and invite them to FBC Lavaca. FBCL I love you and am honored to be your pastor. I encourage you to get the good word out to those who need to hear it. See you Sunday as we continue our series on David, a Man after God’s Heart and the Hebrew names of God in the evening.

SBC and Sharing Christ June 13, 2007

We just got back from the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in San Antonio TX and we had a great time. God blessed and protected us and we had a wonderful time of fellowship with people we do not normally see but once a year. We also had our annual DFEA Board meeting and God richly blessed. Ashley and I traveled with Terry and Debbie Hurt and Pastor Tony and Edie Buchanan. Terry is the worship pastor at FBC Lavaca where we are serving. It was great to go as a messenger of FBC Lavaca! The first picture attached, from bottom to top, is a photo of some of my board members-- Tony Buchanan, Marty Jacumin, Johnny Hunt, and me. The second picture is of the Buchanans and Hurts along with Ashley and me; the third photo is one of Ashley and me at the San Antonio Riverwalk

We left Sunday afternoon from Fort Smith. God richly blessed our worship services on Sunday! There were people making professions of faith, joining the church, and coming to the altar for prayer. It was a sweet time of being in the Lord’s presence. While we were listening to Brother Terry, the choir, and the praise team, people started coming to the altar before the message or the invitation! It was a powerful time because the presence of the Lord was in the place!

God gave us some great opportunities to share Christ while on this trip. In addition to giving away tracts to bus drivers, taxi drivers, and waiters, let me tell you about a few divine appointments we had. First, I met Stephanie at the hotel breakfast restaurant. I began talking to her about the Lord and church and she shared with me that she goes to a Catholic church but recently started attending the Christian church. I told her that was great and God gave me the opportunity to talk to her about knowing Jesus personally and she was receptive. Later that morning I was able to introduce her to Ashley. I gave her a gospel tract and a tip in the money jar as well. I also shared with a guy yesterday, June 12, at the CVS Pharmacy in San Antonio. I gave him the Life/Death tract and said I am blessing him with a gift. And he responded, “There have been many people blessing me with gifts today!” And I thought to myself, way to go Southern Baptists. It is great to be known more for what we stand for than what we stand against! Also, the Lord gave Ashley and me an opportunity to share with a young lady who is Chinese and Malaysian. She told Ashley that she has a Buddhist background and Ashley began to tell her about Jesus Christ and the peace he gives. It was great. I went and got “Steps to Peace with God” and was able to share some of the tract with her and she too was very receptive to the gospel. I am reminded of the quote, “There are more people who want to hear about Jesus than there are those of us willing to talk about Jesus.” Tony Buchanan told me he tried to give a tract to a man who rejected because he was a Muslim. Just tonight I tried to share with a man who was not interested. I told Tony that his attempt to share with the man was a great success because the success is in the obedience and not in the outcome.

Go fishing for men my friend and do not worry about catching. If we are faithful in time we will catch and harvest souls for the glory of Jesus, for His name and for His fame!

Okay it happened.  After 22 years of hitting the little white ball I finally knocked a ball into the hole on one tee shot.  Tomorrow we are having our first annual golf tournament at FBC Lavaca, and so I went today to tune up for the big event.  I have played like one round in 3 months and I need the practice.  I teed my ball up and hit it 163 yards with a 6 iron and it hit the green, took one bounce, and then bam, right into the hole!!  I looked around to see if any one noticed but no one saw it.  Then I realized I was on the practice range and it really did not count!  You know a lot of people, especially guys, are getting holes in one in things that do not matter.  If you excel in your job, career, finances and make all the money you can, yet lose your family or even more your own soul, then it is like having a hole in one on a practice range; it does not count for much.  Jesus said in Mark 8:36, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”

Today’s witnessing moment--My family and I ate lunch at IHOP at noon and when I left the restaurant a lady asked me for a cigarette and I said sure and gave her one.  Just kidding.  I told her I do not smoke but I do have something I would like to give her.  I gave her a gospel tract and she looked at me and said this is what I needed!  God lets us meet people everyday that we can share Christ with and I encourage you to be sensitive and available and let God use you.  Romans 1:16 says not ashamed!