New Music

Kristy Gibson asked me to do a jingle for the Camp Kelso Reunion Retreat. So, I put together a short song and sent it to her. It is featured on their blog page. They do are doing a great job putting the retreat and its videos together.

Check it out.

According to His Riches

I woke up this morning and received a text message from Ty Nicol. He is the preacher at the Kemp Church of Christ. I went to Kemp several weeks back to present on the work in Peterhead. To be honest I didn't go in with much expectations, simply because I was very surprised that they even asked me to come. They supported me on my first trip back in 2005. They decided to support me with quite a large monthly amount! This is wonderful. God is really blessing me.

Last week I was at the Lakeside Church of Christ in Springfield. They were very gracious and wonderful. Several at the congregation have supported me in the past and they want to try as a congregation. I don't know what or how much, but it is very promising.

Saturday I went down to Shelbyville to an area wide get-together hosted by the church. There was really good singing and three speakers who were excellent. I only knew one of them (my dad). I got to meet a lot of people which was good. During lunch Byron Wright and Jason Wright (one of the other speakers), who are from the church in St. Elmo, came up to talk to me. They asked if I still needed financial support for my mission effort. I answered in the affirmative. They said, "Well, send us some information and we will see what we can do." That floored me cause I had never met these brethren before. I am about to go mail off an information packet to them in a few minutes.

This coming Sunday I am headed up to the South Holland Church of Christ. I am hoping that goes well, as I am sure it will.

I am also contemplating a weekly or bi-weekly podcast. I am looking into how much that might cost or what would need to be done to put it together. I know I can make them on my computer, I just need to know how and where to post them online. So, I am going to ask around. Let me know if you have any ideas or knowledge on how to make it work.

Still going well

Fundraising seems to be going well still. I went to the Lakeside Church in Springfield today. I presented and the response was positive. I would say more, but I am tired. I will follow up more tomorrow since it is a day off.

New Music Video

I finished the music video for the song: Dr. Joe

God Speaks Loudest When it is the Most Quiet

It has been a long, long while since I have posted. It is time to get back into it. I am going to start by posting my sermon from a few weeks ago.

God Speaks Loudest When it is the Most Quiet

Unfortunately I am having problems here, so You will have to click the link and then go click the Sermon Title at the bottom of the page to listen.

I hope this blesses you today!

I hope to start posting more lessons and similar things soon. Also, posting in general more, much more.

I've got blisters on my fingers!

Iv'e got blisters on my fingers shouts either Ringo or John at the end of Helter Skelter on the White Album. There is a bit of a debate as to who yells it. Anyway, Yesterday we went to the Good Samaritan Inn. It is a kitchen where they make food and give it to those who need it. I got put on the grill and boy was it HOT! I grilled potatoes and onions for about two and a half hours. It was so hot it burned my fingers even though they never touched the surface. I also smelled horribly for the rest of the day. Even after taking a shower and washing my clothes (yes I do both of those things), I still could not get the smell totally off of me. I am not complaining though. It was a wonderful experience. It was great to take the youth to it as well. Logan brought up his group from Sullivan (40 miles away) and helped as well. I know many of them had never done something like this before and it stretched them a bit.

I am preaching Sunday. I am speaking on meditating on the word of God so we do not stray to the right or to the left. I am using Joshua 1:6-9 as my text. I am praying that it will be powerful and go over very well. Sunday night we have a presentation on the State Fair exhibit. The church here has an exhibit at the State Fair every year. It is always a wonderful time of growth, evangelism, and fellowship. It is always a highlight of my year. I will miss it when I go to Scotland, but that is just the way it goes. I mean, let's face it, I will be in SCOTLAND!!!

Speaking of Scotland. Sunnyside is going to be my sponsoring eldership. This is terrific. They are going to do this as well as cover my travel expenses to and from Scotland as well as support me monthly. This is wonderful! I have no doubt God is leading me to Peterhead and going to make it totally possible for me to be there above and beyond my expectations.

Jury Duty

I cannot stop singing the Supertones song: Jury Duty. This is the first time I have ever done Jury Duty and it can be long and boring, yet is part of my civic duties. Yesterday I was in the Courthouse at 9 am and left soon after, only to come back at 1:15 to stay til just after 5. I had to hury home to get the van to take the youth group to Urbana for a teen rally. I made it there just fine. Today I was called first thing and then was dismissed after questioning. I am done for the day as of 10:30! So, I think I am going to go tidy up the house, maybe mow the lawn and then go play golf for the evening.
I have been getting some good reading done however. Yesterday I finished What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women by James Dobson. It was written in the 70s, but is still very relevant today. It was phenomenal in understanding how women tick and how they should and can deal with problems. While it is written to women, it is a good read for men. I started Wild at Heart today. The verdict is still way out on it, but it should be an interesting read for sure.
I think I should get on the house stuff. Maybe I might work out as well. I am so out of shape.

The Wall

Any runner will tell you that there is a wall in any race. When I was in high school I occasionally ran the 400 meter dash during track meets. After about 300 meters I hit the wall where I started hurting and didn't want to go any farther. I had to force myself to keep on going as hard as I could to finish.

The past month or so have been very busy. I left from here to go on my Scotland trip on May 8. I came back to the states on June 3. Drove back from Arkansas to Illinois on June 5. I started church camp that night and did that with two nights rest until June 21. God and coffee were the only things to get me through.

Now the summer begins. We have a jam packed schedule this summer. It ought to be awesome. We have some good service projects and fun activities to really keep the group close. We had three in the group become Christians at camp. Hopefully now, we can help them to grow in their faith!

I know this post does not do it all justice, but it has been phenomenal and will only get better.

So much to say, so little time to say it

Monday was terrific. We spent much of the day finalizing the school programs. This was great. I am feeling much better now as opposed to the weekend. In the afternoon we played football (soccer) we some of the boys at Crimond school. They immediately started calling me "Crouch" after a player in great britain who is 6'7" and blonde. So, there definately is a resemblance as well as quite funny.

Tuesday we had a day off. We went to Aberdeen and to Dunnottar castle. That is always a good one. We went down to the beach and chilled. We saw a dead seal on the beach. sad. Then we climbed a HUGE, STEEP hill. It was quite a workout for sure. A lot of fun. We then ate at TGIFridays. I got some ribs and fried mac and cheese. It was pretty good.

Wednesday we stared in the schools. Wow, was it good. We are talking about how God wants us to be OUTSTANDING. We show a clip from The Lion King in which Mufassa (sp?) tells Simba from the clouds to remember who he (Simba) is. This of course we use to tell the kids to remember who they are; children of God. We are using puppets with the younger kids (which they absolutely love!) and sketches with the older kids. We are doing two different assemblies (K-3, 4-6). It is so good to see the kids interacting and God speaking through us to them. #

This morning we went and got some coffee before we went to Crimond school to do a performance (Vanilla Lattes are really good). After that, we were driving and I was sitting near the back and noticed some smoke. The engine also sounded really weird. I asked should there be smoke coming out the back of the van? Obviously not, we pulled over and the school brought a couple of vehicles to get us. That was very nice of them. They acommidated us and our program. We did a shortened program. It went over very well.

We are about to go to the second night of the parenting seminar at the building. Last night everyone said it went great. I did the kids class and we played Bible Trivia (yes mom and dad, the one you are thinking of) The kids thrashed my team. The adult questions are quite difficult. There were only three kids, but they had a blast playing. We decided to do that instead of a traditional lesson. Great Idea (I am going to have to remember that one in the future)!

I think this post is long enough. Blessings to all!

Felling not as good

Saturday morning I woke up and my allergies were going absolutely nuts. I have been sneezing and scratchy throat, and sinuses and the like. It has not been fun, but I am seemingly getting better.

We went to Glamis castle near Dundee yesterday. It was a good time. The queen mother stayed there frequently. It was such a nice day to see the history and enjoy time outside walking around. There even was a pet cemetary. One pet who was buried there had the name "Fizz Wizzie."

That night we came back and had a little devo with the congregation similar to a Wed. night setting. I spoke for about 15-20 minutes on how God wants our hearts, not what we give (it is His anyway). There were about 10 people there.

Today I preached twice. This morning I preached about how Jesus washed people's feet. If Jesus is our Lord and Teacher, we need to serve others. It went really well. I feel people benefitted greatly.

This evening I preached from Mark about the calming of the storm, the demon possessed man, the woman with the issue of blood, and Jairus's daughter. Jesus is the only one who can calm the storms in our lives, exercise our demons, heal our sickness, and bring us back from death. Again, it was received well.

It is so amazing how many times people agree when we simply study scripture and bring out what the text is saying.

Tomorrow we are starting with the schools. We have the first school assembly and a football (soccer) match. That should be good.

Back in Scotland

I am back in Scotland again. It has been a terrific week so far. We have our school programs all together I think. Those start Monday and are going to be phenomenal.

Thursday we got to spend some time with the older boys class. It was really good. There were about 25 boys there ages 14-18. I talked about prayer and how God wants us always praying. It doesnt have to be formal, It can just be a "God, that was amazing" kinda thing. One of the things they say over here is "fit like." It is a very informal, frendly greeting. Everyone uses it around here. There really isnt an equivalent in the states, but it is similar to when we would say "hey man, what's goin' on?" I asked the guys if they ever say "Fit Like" to God? I believe that is how prayer should be at a lot of times. God whats to have a "Fit Like" relationship with us. I got an ovation with never happens, so I think it was well received.

We had a scavenger hunt yesterday with the younger kids. It was Pharaoah vs. Moses. I dressed up as Pharoah and lead my team. It was really good. The kids had a wonderful time I know.

Lastg night we went bowling in Fraserburgh with the teens. That was a great time. Everyone had a blast getting to know each other and playing. I had the highest score, so I won some chocolate. That will be coming home I am sure.

Today we are taking a day off and doing some travel. We are going to Dundee to visit Glamms (sp?) castle. You may remember this from Macbeth. This is where the Queen's mother stays. I am sure we will do other stuff as well, and I am really looking forward to it. Right now, as I write this, the sun is shining. But, it is only 8:00, so there is plenty of time for that to change.

So far, It is a great time and is going by too fast.

Vintage Tuesday: Phone Conversation Rebuke

I am starting Vintage Tuesday here at the blog. I figure more gimmicks. I promised a few a while back. So, here i am following through on my promise.

Phone conversation rebuke

"Hello."
"Hi, what do you need from me."
"I was calling to see if you still wanted to go to the store."
"Who were you calling?"
"You."
"Really, when? I don't remember ever getting a call from you about going to the store."
"Ummmm, that is what this call is for."
"Really? then why did you use the word 'was' instead of 'am.' You should have said, I am calling, not I was calling. I was calling implies past tense. You are calling right now. I am calling is in the present tense."
"Ha ha, funny."
"I am being serious."
"Oh, okay, then just answer the question."
"I would, but there has yet to be a question posed to me."
"Yes there has, I asked you back at the beginning of the conversation."
"No you asked someone before you asked me."
"Huh?"
"Once again, past tense versus present tense. You never asked me."
"Well, if you are going to be the legalist..."
"No, if you claim to speak English, you should do it as correctly as possible. I am just giving you loving correction."
"Irregardless, Do you want still want to go to the store?"
"Yes, and irregardless is not a word."

Living Two Lives

I am sure we have all heard the following phrase: our everyday lives. In fact we hear it in just about every prayer at our respective churches. If you are like me, you heard it today after the morning sermon. It went something like this, "Lord, help us to apply the lesson to our everyday lives."

It is true people; we have two different lives: our church lives, and our everyday lives. We ought not to use the lesson in our church lives. Why? Our church lives don't need to have a lesson applied to. They are already perfect. We walk in and answer, "Doing well." when asked how we are doing. Are we really doing well? Of course we are! But, only in our church lives.

Should there be an everyday life and a church life? No. There is one life. Let's be genuine. Let's be the same around our Christian brothers and sisters as we are among the world and even by ourselves. The lesson needs to apply to us and the way we live our lives.

True, I may be reading more into what is really there, but I think it is something that needs to be brought to mind. We need live one life just as there is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.

Bring Back the Haggis!

Check this news story out. There are people pushing for the lift of the ban on the importation of Haggis. I agree. Haggis is good.

Haggis ban an offal burden?

Looking Like Christ

I have been thinking a lot lately about being like Christ and what that means. I think as Christians we need to look so much like Christ and so different from the world. Too often we claim Christ, but look just like the world which is opposite of Christ. If we are going to be called his disciples, we must walk as he did. We must walk the strait and narrow path that leads to life. We have the narrow gate part down, but not that path. We say Christ is the only way to eternal life, but we have forgotten that that path is also narrow. It is not about having an encounter with Jesus and then living how we want to, it is about having that encounter and then living as he did; different from the world.

When was the last time you were persecuted for your faith? When was the last time you were not loved by people because of your faith? I am reminded of when Jesus said:

18"If the world hates you (Which it does), keep in mind that it hated me first(Which it did). 19If you belonged to the world (Which you don't), it would love you as its own (Which it doesn't). As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me (Which they did), they will persecute you also (Which they will). If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.

I added some parenthetical expressions to help bring out the point that Jesus is trying to make in this series of conditional sentences. It is almost as if Jesus is saying, if the world loves you, you are doing something wrong. If you are not being persecuted because of Him, you are doing something wrong.

How willing are we to look like Christ? Looking like Christ is walking the narrow path. If we do not walk that narrow path of looking and acting like Him, we are walking down the path that leads to hell.

Audio Blog

Starting next week, I plan to start a weekly audio blog. A short segment were I get to speak about whatever I feel like. I should be exciting. It will probably be every Thursday.

Using the Bible to prove one's point

I received this in an email today. It is an newspaper clipping from several years ago. So many of these verses are taken out of context. It is quite sad.

What are some ways we use the Bible to prove our own opinions and views and try to bind them on others?