Excited!

I'm excited - After tomorrow I will be on vacation and we are going to see Becky and John, and his parents too. We are all going camping in Pennsylvania at Ohiopyle State Park. Then we are going to spend a few days at Becky and John's and get to taste some of John's cooking at the culinary school where he attends in Puxsataney. Well, maybe not his cooking, but someone's cooking at the school. Then its off to Philadelphia and Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the National Constitution Center which I hear is fabulous. Valley Forge and Gettysburg will be next on the agenda and then another day with our sweet girl and her husband before we have to head home. I'm looking forward to the drive (but not the gas prices), seeing God's beautiful creation in America and then seeing His hand at work in these historic spots. But especially being with Becky and John. Mala hasn't been up there and she is excited too. last week, our other son-in-law, Nathan, was in town for AWACS training. We had a good time with him. Bryce has a blast with his brothers - in - law. God has richly blessed me with a wonderful wife and family!!!!!

With All

The Lord has been sharing things with me lately about loving Him. I've got so much to learn. One of the first things the Lord impressed upon me was that loving Him is a response - a response to His love for me. The scripture says that we were haters of God and were it not for the love that He demonstrated to us when He sent His Son to die for us, we would never have come to Him. I John 3:1 says, "Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the sons of God . . ." Secondly, I demonstrate my love for Him by living a life of obedience to Him and His Word. His Word has been written upon my heart and I am to live by it so that I might not sin against the Lord. But as I was studying this week the two great commandments I was struck with the words "with all". I am to love the Lord with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, and with all my strength. As I meditated upon this verse I was reminded of where the Pilgrims first found fresh water in America. They followed some animals through some thicket to a place where a spring of fresh water was springing up 2 to 3 feet high. But when you go there today, there is only the smallest trickle of water from a pipe that has now been put there. What happened? Well, one of our grandparents at school had an understanding of geology and explained it to us this year and it was fascinating. You see, the origin of the pilgrim spring was more than likely from an underground source many miles from where the spring surfaced, most likely on what we would refer to as inland Massachusetts. As people settled throughout the land and would drill for water, they likely tapped into the fresh water source that provided the Pilgrim Spring. When they would tap into the source, it would relieve the pressure that was being used to push the water all the way to the spring and the spring would get gradually smaller and smaller, until finally the spring would almost dry up. You see something entered into the source of the spring which drew its vitality away from Pilgrim Spring. Same way in my life I am sorry to say. How many times do I allow something into my life which hinders the springs of living water to flow through my life? The lusts of hte flesh, the lusts of the eyes, the pride of life, bitterness, unforgiveness, a jealous spirit, a worrisome heart and so many things can affect the flow of God's love, joy and peace in my life and hinder me from loving Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. Isn't it amazing how we let the cares of this world draw from our lives the refreshing water of life found in the Lord Jesus. Let us learn together to love Him with all because He loved us with His all!

Father's Day

What a great day this has been. Bro. Don asked me to preach on Sunday morning and do kind of a tribute to my dad. I was so honored and humbled to do that. It was really a joint effort as my two sisters and one of my nephews all shared through their writings so neat stuff about dad. There were flowers in the church in his honor and all of us kids, grandkids, and great grand kids presented him with a Super Large Print Bible for him to read. Bryce got to give that to him and he loved doing that. Then we went out to eat at Johnny Carino's with everyone and had a great time. One of my former students, Jason Garder, was our server. Back to dad - I used as our base verse, I John 3:1a which says, "Behold, what manner of love the Father has given unto us that we should be called the sons of God." It was great to be able to parallel the love of my earthly father with that of my heavenly Father. Not too many people can do that. I spoke of his faithful love to his wife, his kids, his work, and his church. I spoke of his compassionate love and how he always had a heart for other people. I spoke of his redemptive love and how he always sought to correct us in love and restore us to doing what was right in life. Then I shared of the wisdom of love, how because of his devotion to the Word of God, he was a man of wisdom far beyond his eighth grade education. What a picture of our heavenly Father - He is the Faithful One, there is no one more compassionate than Him, His work of redemption was seen when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. And it is His wisdom which guides us and directs us into His loving ways. Plus, I got to be either by telephone or in person with all my kids today. I love them so much. I pray that I will be the example to them that my dad has been to me. God is good. No matter who your father is, or what he has done - tell him you love him. I told the church that the greatest challenges I have ever faced have been that of trying to be a good husband and father. And those are also the most fulfilling things I have ever done. I love Mala more than anything, and my kids, words can't describe the love I have for them too. God has blessed me beyond all I could ever ask or think. To Him be the glory!

Truth

It seems that in the quests that men involve themselves in there is a quest for truth. There are those today who say that there is no such thing as absolute truth; that truth is situational; that truth is what you believe it to be. Ever te constant question - What is truth? As believers in Christ we know that truth is not a concept, rule, ritual, or imagination from the heart of man. Rather truth is a person, Jesus Christ. In Him we find truth. That which is apart from Him is not truth. He declared in John 14:6 "I am . . . the truth. He is the essence and embodiment of truth. Truth eminates from His character. But why the subject of truth in a blog? Good question! We are to walk in truth. John said in one of his letters "I have no greater joy than to hear of my children walking in truth". That is a delight to my heart also, not just for my own children of my family, but for those who the Lord has blessed me with the privilege of being a part of their lives and hopefully a spiritual encouragement to. To walk in truth is very unique. Jesus, the manifestation of God upon this earth, was said to be "full of grace and truth". There was a quality, a richness about His life of graciousness, of righteousness that overflowed from His life as He lived and dwelt among us. To walk in truth means to live in the grace of the Lord, knowing who He has made us and the wondrous work of redemption He has wrought in our lives. To walk in truth means to live according to the truth of the Word of God. To let His Word be my very sustenance and provision in my life. To partake of it, rejoice in it, live in it and let it dwell richly in me. To walk in truth means to speak the truth in love. Many who know the truth sometimes have a haughty spirit about them. But those who truly walk in the truth, they walk humbly with the Lord, their speech is seasoned with grace, and the law of kindness is on their lips. I love the truth, I long to live in the truth, I desire for others to walk in the truth also, and I rejoice when I hear of them walking in the truth. May the Lord grant you His peace and an awareness of His presence as you walk in the truth.

In His Time

One of the things that the Lord keeps teaching me is that He does things according to His plan and His time. Sometimes I like to rush ahead of the Lord and try to do what I think is His will in my way - that doesn't work. Sometimes it seems as though I am lagging behind what the Lord wants - but the truth of the matter is that, through it all, He is not early, nor is He late, He's always on time. For the past 3 years, this July 2nd, I will have had the privilege of being associate pastor of family ministries at Grace Community Baptist Church. It has been a wonderful time of learning from the Lord and seeing Him work in the hearts and lives of people. I have had the privilege of helping plan the services and preaching at times which is the real love of my heart - to preach and teach God's Word faithfully to others. God has blessed and within the past year we have been bulging at the seams on Sunday mornings. I really believe some people may have left because there was no room. But after 5 years of the church's existence, the Lord has provided us with a permanent home of our own. We will be moving to a new location next week, Lord willing, that will be our own to minister to people. The new location will be on 109th and South Sante Fe. Our focus has never been on buildings but now we will have about a 300 seat auditorium with which to declare God's Word. Interestingly enough, the ground breaking for this building was done the same month our church constituted over 5 years ago. It was built for around $900,000 and we purchased it for $600,000. God just blessed in His time. Another former pastor from an extremely large church even offered the people $700,000 cash but was turned down because our deal was already started. May prayer is that this place will be a place where people come to know Christ, where families are built to be strong in the Lord, where the praises of God will be on the lips and hearts of His people and where we will boldly proclaim the truth in love, unashamedly for the Lord Jesus. O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together!