Final Day in Crowell, TX

It has been a great week with the revival meetings here in Crowell. I am
so grateful for all I have seen God doing this week. The Holy Spirit has
been clearly moving. Please be praying for the final meeting tonight.

I had a blast yesterday afternoon mountain biking with the Pastor at the
Copper Breaks State Park. We found a great trail through the wilderness.
You know I love an adrenaline fix. The trail was fantastic. I will be
pursuing this sport when I return home as we have some great trails near
my home in Tennessee.

Have a great day!

Revival meetings in Crowell

I am fired up about the meetings here in Crowell, TX. Most importantly,
these folks have been praying for the meetings for the past four weeks
and it is making a difference. We had a prayer meeting Saturday night
and 13 folks showed up to pray for the revival. We prayed in small
groups for 1 hour and 45 minutes and it was sweet. I was so encouraged.
And you can tell the difference in the meetings. I am so grateful.
Sunday's services went very well. I preached in Margaret and Crowell in
the morning and then in a combined service in Crowell in the evening.
Many, many folks responded to the invitation to commit or recommit their
lives to the Lord. I will be here through Wednesday.

So join with us and pray that God will do a great work of revival in his
people here in Crowell, Texas. Thanks! Have a great day!

New Orleans Ministry Update

It was a privilege to be with the folks from Lakeview Shepherds Ministry
on Thursday. The folks there were so kind to me and I enjoyed the
opportunity to minister. It was humbling to meet folks who had been
directly impacted by Hurricane Katrina. I hope to be able to come back
at some point and see how the area continues to recover.

No Cover? No Way

I had a great evening in the French Quarter. I enjoyed the historical
aspect of the place. I've always been interested in old architecture and
other cultures. The French Quarter reminded me of the small towns I
visited in Europe years ago while backpacking across the continent.

But the French Quarter is different. I have to say I was struck by the
carnality of it all. On the way to dinner at the Gumbo Shop on St.
Peters I walked down Bourbon Street. What a crazy place. Earlier in the
day I had chatted with a Police officer about the district and he gave
me a quick overview of the place. "There will be a lot of folks
drinking. That's what people do here" he said. Well, Bourbon Street was
full of folks doing just that. It was not a street I would recommend
taking small children through. In fact, I wouldn't recommend taking
anyone through it. Bourbon Street reminded me of the scene in Its A
Wonderful Life when he walks through Pottersville as it would have been
had he never had been born. Neon lights shouted out offering everything
from Adult bookstores, bars, and strip clubs. It was sad. At one point,
one of the hustlers outside a strip club shouted across the street to me
"No cover!" to which I replied "No way..."

It is a reminder to me that without a real relationship with Jesus
Christ, you have nothing. I was struck by the emptiness in the faces of
the folks I saw there on Bourbon Street. And I was filled with
gratefulness for all God has done in my life, to fill me with his love
and his presence, to change me, to bring me into a real relationship
with him, so that it becomes easy to say "No cover, no way." But hear me
here, I see that same emptiness in the faces of folks sitting in the
pews of the churches I minister in every weekend. You can be religious
without a real relationship with God. Going to church can become just
another attempt to cover up the emptiness in your heart. God intended
for so much more. He offers life. He offers a life that is full, that
meets you with his presence in the midst of your situation.

So today, remember that it is all about a real relationship with God.
There is nothing this world offers that can substitute for that. Go for it!

In the Big Easy

I'm in New Orleans for the concert and speaking event tomorrow. Really
excited about being in town. I got a great four star hotel in the middle
of the French Quarter for $45 on Priceline. I arrived in town early
afternoon and spent a few hours just walking around the French Quarter
and scoping out dinner options. I'm really looking forward to the events
tomorrow and am praying that it will be a blessing to the folks here. I
will be leaving around 2:00 and driving to Dallas. I will be on the road
till about midnight. So if you think about it, you can pray for alert
driving along the way. I downloaded a bunch of messages from my favorite
Preachers before I left. I will be listening to a bunch of them on the road.

Then it is on to Crowell, TX for the Revival meetings there. I am
expecting great things as the folks there have been praying for these
meetings for several weeks now.

Have a great day!

Plowing ahead...

These last few weeks have been a blur. I feel sometimes like I am
bouncing from one event to the next with little time to prepare in
between. Still, I am grateful for all that I see God doing. And in
moments like this when I feel wore out, those are the times I seem to
see the Holy Spirit move most clearly. I am grateful for His kindness to
me in so many ways. I am really looking forward to this next week as I
will be heading to New Orleans on Wednesday for an event there on
Thursday. I will likely spend the night there and then head to Dallas,
TX to spend an evening with an Aunt. It will be fun to catch up. Then it
is on to Crowell, TX for the revival meetings there. I will be there
from Sunday through Wednesday. Then I am finally taking some time off. I
will head to Houston where I will spend a few days with a good friend
and board member of the ministry. I am really looking forward to
spending Halloween with him and his family. The kids should be a hoot!
Then on the return trip home, I will spend the night with another great
friend from my years in Florida at his home in Little Rock, AR. I will
finally return home November 3 and will head back out for ministry in
Michigan on the 6th.

One of the things that has been keeping me busy behind the scenes is the
final layout work on the book project. Lord willing we will get the book
to print this month and should have copies back in November. We'll see.
Often there are unexpected delays along the way. Lord willing...

Have a great day!

Family of Friends Retreat in Maryland

Hi to everyone from the Family of Friends retreat at the Skycroft
Conference Center in Maryland last weekend. It was a blast. Most
importantly, I felt that the Holy Spirit was weaving it all together. It
was a privilege to lead worship and to hear Dr. Gary Ball speak. Thanks
to the Steering Committee for all their work leading up to the retreat.

I am home now and trying to catch up on all the office stuff before
heading out for a concert in New Orleans, LA and revival meetings in
Crowell, TX next week. I am a bit wore out from the pace of ministry
over the past couple of months and am planning to take a couple extra
days off this weekend to rest. Yes!!!

Have a great day!

Pics of Miracle Camp BMA (Ao-Wa-Kiya)

Okay, here are a few pics from the trip down memory lane the other day. The cottage is where we used to sleep. The swing is still on the lake front. And the house pic is the stone house where we had to say our memory verses on the front porch.

You CAN go back

The other day I was driving to the Men's Retreat in Northern Michigan,
where I was scheduled to speak. It had been a long day on the road. As I
rounded the last curve before turning down the drive toward Camp
Ao-Wa-Kiya, I saw the lake on my right and the small black and white
sign that read "Stoney Lake". That name echoed through my mind and I
wondered why it seemed familiar. Then I remembered that it is the name
of the Lake where I went to camp as a child, to the Bible Memory
Association Camp. What great memories from those years as a child.

I arrived at Camp Ao-Wa-Kiya and made my way into the main lodge. A
woman greeted me and began to show me around. I asked her if she knew
where on the lake the BMA Camp was. She replied "You're standing on it."
It was surreal. As I began to look around, I noticed a few of the old
cabins and building that I remembered from 30 years ago. There was the
old stone house where you had to go to quote your memory verses to be
allowed in camp. The shoreline looked familiar. The old chapel where I
had done business with God was still there but had been converted into
more lodging space when a new chapel was built.

What was so weird was to think back at the decisions I made then. I
remember specifically a night when the invitation song was "Is your all
on the altar of sacrifice laid". And I hope that same chorus still
rings true in my heart today.

It was interesting to consider how the path has led these past 30 years
to bring me back to a spiritual marker point in my life.

Yes, you can go back again...

Oh the joy...

It has been interesting around here the past couple of days. My laptop
power jack broke and left me with no way to access all the files I use
on a daily basis. That was Friday. Since I was out of town at the Men's
Retreat in Michigan, I figured I would deal with it Monday when I got
home. So for the past two days all I have done is try to find a way to
access all those files and get some sort of office up and running again.
I will spare you all the gory details. But I am grateful that after 23
hours (yes, in just 2 days) I am finally able to access the records I
needed. I am grateful for the way God provided wisdom along the way.

Now I am getting ready for the Singles conference in Maryland this
weekend. I'm really looking forward to leading worship for this group.
I've been going through the music and planning the different sessions.
It will be a privilege to be involved with the Family of Friends
Regional event.

Thanks to all who email and say they are praying for me. I really
appreciate it.

Have a great day!

Awesome Men's Retreat

I have just returned from the Men's Retreat at Ao-wa-kiya Camp (http://www.ao-wa-kiya.org/about-us.htm) in Shelby, MI. It was a great time. We had some awesome worship and I was able to share about living a life of faith. I really enjoyed being able to do the Zip line a bunch of times and then paint-ball wars until it got dark. All in all it was a really refreshing time.

I am home, it is 12:39 AM and I am still a bit wired from driving back to Tennessee all afternoon and evening. I arrived home safely at 11:15 PM. I will hit the ground running in the morning finishing up the final preparations for the Singles Conference in Maryland this weekend. More to follow.

Have a great day!

Taking a Day to Rest

Today is my day off this week. I will head out tomorrow at 5:00 AM for a
Men's Retreat I am speaking at in Northern Michigan. I am really looking
forward to these meetings as the topic is Living by Faith. Plus, I've
been involved with this church for many years so it is like going home
in some regards.

The challenge I have today is to rest. Like most folks, I tend to go a
hundred miles an hour through the week. If I am not careful I can forget
to take time off to rest. I think the principle of a Sabbath rest is
important. Some say that it is the most violated command of the 10
commandments. But actually, the idea of a Sabbath rest was instituted at
Creation long before the Law was given. So I try to take one day a week
and do nothing. And while it drives me crazy, I know it is best!

Have a great day!

Dragged Kicking and Screaming into the 21st Century

Okay, I have finally broken down and started a blog. I make no promises to update this baby every day as my schedule gets crazy fast. But from time to time I will share what God is doing in my life and hopefully encourage you to be the real-deal, follower of Jesus Christ. Go for it!