I arrived back in NY from Montreal last night about 11:30 PM and can finally take some time off this week. What a great summer of ministry. I will be in Maine this weekend for several events and then will head back to Tennessee around September 1.
I went to the Word of Life Family Campground this morning to clean out my office there. The Conference center work finished up last Friday. Everyone is gone. It was so weird to be on the grounds without anyone around. Truly the soul of the ministry there leaves when all the folks leave for home. It was a reminder that ministry is all about people. It is not about the buildings or the facilities.
I am planning to get a lot of rest this week. Yeah!
Alright, have a great day!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Finishing up New England and Montreal Ministry
Well, I am at the end of the ministry in New England and Montreal. Of course I will be back in Montreal this fall. I finished the work at the Word of Life conference center in Schroon Lake, NY yesterday. Tonight I will be in Vermont to present the gospel at a Legacy Five concert. So I would appreciate your prayers for that. Tomorrow I head up to Montreal for the weekend there again. On Saturday I will be jet boating with some friends of mine and then having a meeting later that day with them to work through some ministry stuff with them. Then on Sunday I have two more church ministry events. Next week I am planning to take some time off to rest before heading to Maine for two more events there. I will finally be driving back to Tennessee August 31 with an arrival in TN planned for September 1. Yeah!
I would certainly value your prayers for all of this. It makes a difference!
It has been a great summer. It has certainly been a pressure cooker to fit all of this stuff in. What is cool is that I can see where God has been doing a great work in my life through all of this. It has been crazy busy and the stress load was much higher than I expected. I feel like I have been in the refiner's fire and the dross has come to the surface. I recharge when I am alone and there has been almost no time for that. There is nothing like total exhaustion to show your worst side! But the great thing is that when the Lord does that, you can also see how he is purifying and removing that dross from your life. I am so grateful for this. I can see where this summer has been a great benefit to me and I am certainly better for it. Through out all of it I have tried to maintain my regular time in the word and prayer. That time with God is what has made all the difference. I have had some great long talks with God about all of it and I am so grateful for that relationship in my life. I can't imagine how folks make it without Christ.
Alright, have a great day!
I would certainly value your prayers for all of this. It makes a difference!
It has been a great summer. It has certainly been a pressure cooker to fit all of this stuff in. What is cool is that I can see where God has been doing a great work in my life through all of this. It has been crazy busy and the stress load was much higher than I expected. I feel like I have been in the refiner's fire and the dross has come to the surface. I recharge when I am alone and there has been almost no time for that. There is nothing like total exhaustion to show your worst side! But the great thing is that when the Lord does that, you can also see how he is purifying and removing that dross from your life. I am so grateful for this. I can see where this summer has been a great benefit to me and I am certainly better for it. Through out all of it I have tried to maintain my regular time in the word and prayer. That time with God is what has made all the difference. I have had some great long talks with God about all of it and I am so grateful for that relationship in my life. I can't imagine how folks make it without Christ.
Alright, have a great day!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Middle of week five in Upstate NY
It has been a very busy summer here in the Adirondacks in upstate NY. The ministry at Word of Life is going well. It has finally warmed up a bit and feels more like summer. It was cold and rainy for the first few weeks.
I was in Michigan over the weekend for two events there. It was a privilege to preach at Bear Lake Christian Church in Kalkaska Sunday morning and then do a concert for the folks at Rollins Christian Fellowship in Manton. And a bonus for me was getting to spend time with my friends Dave and Diane Munson who live in Rockford. They picked me up at the Grand Rapids Airport on Saturday and loaned me a car for the weekend. I got to spend some time with them Saturday and then again on Sunday evening.
This coming weekend I am back to Montreal for 3 more events there. It has been a privilege to minister in so many churches in Montreal this summer. I have also enjoyed the fireworks on Saturday night. Montreal host an international fireworks competition every weekend all summer long. A different country sponsors each weekend. One night we watched from the pier and then one weekend my friends and I watched from one of the bridges crossing the St. Lawrence Seaway. It was a blast.
Hope you are having a great summer!
I was in Michigan over the weekend for two events there. It was a privilege to preach at Bear Lake Christian Church in Kalkaska Sunday morning and then do a concert for the folks at Rollins Christian Fellowship in Manton. And a bonus for me was getting to spend time with my friends Dave and Diane Munson who live in Rockford. They picked me up at the Grand Rapids Airport on Saturday and loaned me a car for the weekend. I got to spend some time with them Saturday and then again on Sunday evening.
This coming weekend I am back to Montreal for 3 more events there. It has been a privilege to minister in so many churches in Montreal this summer. I have also enjoyed the fireworks on Saturday night. Montreal host an international fireworks competition every weekend all summer long. A different country sponsors each weekend. One night we watched from the pier and then one weekend my friends and I watched from one of the bridges crossing the St. Lawrence Seaway. It was a blast.
Hope you are having a great summer!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
First Two Weeks Finished in Upstate NY
Wow, the first two weeks of ministry here in upstate NY are already finished. It has been a blurr. I am excited about the opportunity to be involved with Word of Life in Schroon Lake for the 8 weeks of their summer ministry program. It has kept me very busy, especially with keeping up the normal weekend ministry schedule as well. I am in Broadabin, NY tonight for a concert and then will head up to Montreal early in the morning tomorrow (Sunday) for two ministry events there. Then I'll drive back to Word of Life late Sunday evening to be ready to go Monday morning here.
The best part of the Ministry here at Word of Life is the great people you get to meet and hang out with. I am ministering at the Family Campground. So I am looking forward to many, many evenings hanging out with folks at the campfire.
I also enjoy getting to hear the the various conference speakers each week. Wendell Calder and Hayes Wicker were the speakers this past week and it was awesome.
I'll try to post some pictures as the summer progresses. Have a great day!
The best part of the Ministry here at Word of Life is the great people you get to meet and hang out with. I am ministering at the Family Campground. So I am looking forward to many, many evenings hanging out with folks at the campfire.
I also enjoy getting to hear the the various conference speakers each week. Wendell Calder and Hayes Wicker were the speakers this past week and it was awesome.
I'll try to post some pictures as the summer progresses. Have a great day!
Monday, June 22, 2009
On the road a ton this week
I am in the Orlando airport waiting for a connection to take me back to TN. This is going to be a packed week of road travel so I would appreciate your prayers along the way. I arrive home this evening, will do some laundry and repack to leave again in the morning. Tomorrow I begin a two day drive to Schroon Lake, NY where I will be based for the summer. I have rehearsals scheduled for Thursday there and then will drive to Michigan on Friday. I have a family reunion on Saturday and then a ministry event in Indiana on Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon I drive back to Schroon Lake to be ready to go Monday morning. Are you tired yet? I am just thinking about it. But I am looking forward to the week ahead. I download loads of messages off the internet and then listen to them when I am driving. So by the end of the week I will likely have listened to dozens of great messaged. I will be fired up!
A friend fowarded an interesting video the other day on the idea of what if Starbucks marketed themselves the way a church does. It is funny to watch. But it made me sad when I realized the truth of what it was saying. The link for the video is here;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_dZTrjw9I
Have a great day!
A friend fowarded an interesting video the other day on the idea of what if Starbucks marketed themselves the way a church does. It is funny to watch. But it made me sad when I realized the truth of what it was saying. The link for the video is here;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_dZTrjw9I
Have a great day!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Update from the Shack
I am on the road in Northern Michigan near the end of two weeks of ministry. Last week I ministered at a Pastors Conference for IBM - Independent Bible Mission. The conference was hosted by Ao-wa-kiya, one of my favorite places to be. This was a group of Pastors who are planting churches. I love being able to minister to the Ministers and it was a great privilege to be there. As a side note, this camp facility is a great resource for Pastors in this region and I highly encourage you to check it out if you need a place to host an event or retreat.
On Friday, after that conference ended, I drove on up to Ludington to see some friends I had not seen in 8 years. It was a blast to spend the night with them. In the morning we went on a long walk down to the Ludington Lighthouse and back. It was a privilege to get to spend time with them again.
On Sunday I had the privilege of ministering at Aetna Community Church near White Cloud. This is one of my favorite places to be. The folks there are so kind. I alway look forward to being back. And these folks can cook!
Which brings us to the Shack. This week I am at a Pastor's Retreat, which is different from a Pastor's Conference. The idea of a Pastor's Retreat is to provide a place for a Pastor and his wife to disconnect from the pressures of ministry and reconnect with their spouse and with God. So there is no agenda, just lots of hanging out and sleeping. It is hosting by Shepherds Care, Inc. and this year it is held at the Shack in Jugville, Michigan. In the category of "poor me, suffering for Jesus, AGAIN!", the Shack is an amazing bed and breakfast. I am providing worship music for a share time we have each evening. But I am also gladly taking full advantage of the time to rest. I need it as much as any Minister out there. The road schedule is so busy right now. So I am putting off office work until the end of the week and sleeping my way through the day.
I am enjoying it a ton.
Hope you are doing well. Have a great day!
On Friday, after that conference ended, I drove on up to Ludington to see some friends I had not seen in 8 years. It was a blast to spend the night with them. In the morning we went on a long walk down to the Ludington Lighthouse and back. It was a privilege to get to spend time with them again.
On Sunday I had the privilege of ministering at Aetna Community Church near White Cloud. This is one of my favorite places to be. The folks there are so kind. I alway look forward to being back. And these folks can cook!
Which brings us to the Shack. This week I am at a Pastor's Retreat, which is different from a Pastor's Conference. The idea of a Pastor's Retreat is to provide a place for a Pastor and his wife to disconnect from the pressures of ministry and reconnect with their spouse and with God. So there is no agenda, just lots of hanging out and sleeping. It is hosting by Shepherds Care, Inc. and this year it is held at the Shack in Jugville, Michigan. In the category of "poor me, suffering for Jesus, AGAIN!", the Shack is an amazing bed and breakfast. I am providing worship music for a share time we have each evening. But I am also gladly taking full advantage of the time to rest. I need it as much as any Minister out there. The road schedule is so busy right now. So I am putting off office work until the end of the week and sleeping my way through the day.
I am enjoying it a ton.
Hope you are doing well. Have a great day!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Latest updates
Wow, it has been a long time since I updated the blog. It has been crazy busy and updating the blog gets pushed down the list of things to take care of. I am excited about all that God is doing. Some times the trick is just holding on for the ride.
I am looking forward to the summer season when I will be based in upstate New York at the Word of Life conference center and family campground. I was there last week for administrative meetings and it was exciting to see all that is going on in preparation for the opening week the end of June.
I was also in Montreal that weekend for the first of many ministry weekends. My friend Viv in Montreal has set up all the meetings with local churches over the summer. It will be a blast to be there almost every weekend. I met the folks at Temple Baptist in the morning and will be back this summer for a full concert. Then in the afternoon I met with the youth group from South Shore Chinese Alliance. They are a great group. Then the pastor took us out to eat at a local Chinese restaurant. It was fantastic! I really love trying new foods and this was as authentic as it gets. There were no English menus anywhere. And the menus did not have any pictures either. Pastor ordered for all of us. There were 14 of us around a large round table. They brought all the food out and sat it on a large lazy susan in the middle of the table. Everyone started with a bowl of rice. Then you simply added to it from all the options on the lazy susan. The most interesting thing I ate was the Duck Kidneys. They were good. They were cooked in a hot sauce and sliced thinly. You picked out a piece and added it to your hot soup. The soup warmed it up. It reminded me of the texture of a chicken gizard. So anyway, I really loved the meal and am looking forward to being back for a couple more events there at South Shore Chinese Alliance this summer.
I am in Michigan at this time for a couple weeks of Pastor's retreats. I am in the midst of a very, very busy season. I will only be home about 5 days between now and September so if you think of me, say a prayer. I appreciate it.
Have a great day!
I am looking forward to the summer season when I will be based in upstate New York at the Word of Life conference center and family campground. I was there last week for administrative meetings and it was exciting to see all that is going on in preparation for the opening week the end of June.
I was also in Montreal that weekend for the first of many ministry weekends. My friend Viv in Montreal has set up all the meetings with local churches over the summer. It will be a blast to be there almost every weekend. I met the folks at Temple Baptist in the morning and will be back this summer for a full concert. Then in the afternoon I met with the youth group from South Shore Chinese Alliance. They are a great group. Then the pastor took us out to eat at a local Chinese restaurant. It was fantastic! I really love trying new foods and this was as authentic as it gets. There were no English menus anywhere. And the menus did not have any pictures either. Pastor ordered for all of us. There were 14 of us around a large round table. They brought all the food out and sat it on a large lazy susan in the middle of the table. Everyone started with a bowl of rice. Then you simply added to it from all the options on the lazy susan. The most interesting thing I ate was the Duck Kidneys. They were good. They were cooked in a hot sauce and sliced thinly. You picked out a piece and added it to your hot soup. The soup warmed it up. It reminded me of the texture of a chicken gizard. So anyway, I really loved the meal and am looking forward to being back for a couple more events there at South Shore Chinese Alliance this summer.
I am in Michigan at this time for a couple weeks of Pastor's retreats. I am in the midst of a very, very busy season. I will only be home about 5 days between now and September so if you think of me, say a prayer. I appreciate it.
Have a great day!
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