Slip and Slide? No…Slip and Suffer!

This weekend was a very hot weekend. Not as hot as it was growing up in El Paso TX, however it was hot, humid, and our air conditioning is not working right. Every year we normally by a little wading pool for the boys, because we can’t afford to get a bigger one, but this year we decided to go a different direction. Suddenly the thought enters into my mind about the ever famous "Slip N' Slide."

Oh man, instantly I am back in my childhood. We also didn’t have money for a pool in our yard and I didn’t really know anybody that owned a pool for us to swim in. One year my childhood friend that lived across the street introduced me to his summertime purchase. It was called a “Slip ‘N Slide.” What you do is run as fast as you can, which for me isn’t terribly fast then and now, dive onto this plastic tarp like device that is has water constantly sprinkled on it by an internal watering the slip and slide device thingy.

What a concept! Water, slipping, Water, sliding, Water…Did I mention water? In El Paso where it has several days, sometimes consecutive, over 110 degrees this was a brilliant idea. I had nothing but fond memories of our slip and slide adventures, so purchasing one for my kids seemed like a great idea. No, it was BRILLIANT!

We get home on Saturday and I get it set up. Oh man, I can smell the plastic smell that immediately transports me to my ten year old days. I am so excited for my kids. I get set up our “Double Wave Rider” and my boys take off. Then I realize why these things are cool, but dangerous. My oldest boy gets up with a scrape on his stomach, because this thin piece of plastic allows any sharp object (Rocks, twigs, a bug with a bad attitude) to still do some damage. So the next day, Father’s Day, I put down a whole bunch of card board under the tarp and make it a little safer. In my mind I begin to think, “I need to give this a test run to make sure it is safe for the kids.” Here is where I should have taken the directions “For ages 5-12” a little more serious.

I jumped on to the slip and slide and took off…total distance traveled: 2 feet. I think I can do better than this. So I start doing more. The kids and I are having a great time. I almost forgot that I had to cook lunch on the grill, but then I started to feel this pain in my stomach. Pain as in I am out of shape and my abs are reminding me of this fact. Slip and slide now became slip and suffer. My abs began to remind me that they are almost thirty years old and that we are not 12 anymore. Oh man what a great day, but what a great pain. I must say that Slip and Slides have not lost their luster at all. I highly recommend them to kids, but to those out of shape thirty year old and ups I offer this piece of advice. Remember that the great and awe inspiring “Slip N’ Slide” is produced by the company “Wham-O.” That should be the first clue.

That Grace...it's Amazing!!!

So today I was looking through some You Tube channels I subscribe to and I ran across this. I had seen this before but it blew me away again. I don’t think I will ever get over His Grace. Praise the Lord for Amazing Grace!

What does Christ mean to you?

This week I preached a message on Sunday morning out of Matthew 16: 13-19 asking the question who do you say that Christ is? And today this thought is burning on my heart. As I look at the lives that we lead the question continues in my mind as to how we answer the question, who is Jesus Christ to Me. I know for the two of you that read this (Hi my Wife, Hey Mike) it is like preaching to the choir, but the thought bears typing.

In the scripture I mentioned above the disciples are asked who do men say that Jesus is, then it becomes personal as to who do they say that Jesus Christ is. This is where I wonder what people would answer? Most would say that “right” words, but to be quite honest it would not be the “Honest” words. The more I grow for the Lord the more I realize that Jesus Christ becomes more of a moment in time instead of a shepherd of our lives. Jesus becomes more of our God in time of need, instead of our God every moment of my life. What would you answer if Jesus looked at you and asked who do you “Really” say that I am?

We should want him to be every moment, every minute, and every day of our lives. We should want to really know Him. But then I realize that so many have made Him an appointment, not an everyday God. How many have said to Jesus that I want you, but not that much. How many have said I want to worship you, but only Sundays, maybe a Wednesday, but other than that leave me be because I have stuff I have to do. How many receive the blessings of God and never acknowledge the one who gave them. Oh who do we really say that Jesus Christ is?

I know we have busy lives, but I remember this statement I heard years ago, because it touched my heart then and still does now. “A Man too busy to pray is a man to busy for God.” We have so many things going on, Family, Friends, Relaxation, Graduation, Family Trips, etc. Which none of these things are bad things, not at all, but when they take precedence over Jesus what are we telling Him who we call our Saviour? Who do we really say that Jesus Christ is?

I know this is not my normal humorous satirical kind of blog, but my heart hurts because I know that there is a God, who is my Saviour, and He is so forgotten. Not by the lost world, but by those that claim him as their Saviour. Oh that we would not just “say” He is my Saviour, but “Live” like He is our Saviour. Who do you say that Jesus Christ is?

Movie Review: Spiderman 3

Yesterday we were sitting around and wondering what we wanted to do. In the metropolis of Galesburg IL [major sarcasm added] there are the movies, Wal-mart, or watch the grass grow. Since we needed to cut the grass this week anyway, and we didn’t need anything from Wal-mart, we decided on the movies. We decided to go see Spiderman 3.

I had read the review provided by the Christian Spotlight and figured it might be okay, however I was a little leery of the venom character. Not because of the part he would play, but because it did look a little evil and I didn’t want my boys to wake up in the middle of the night screaming that Venom is coming to get them. On to the review!

In the world of movie sequels it is normally a curse to do another movie after you have a successful first. Outside of Star Wars, which was really one movie over several versions, and

maybe the Godfather trilogy, there is not one I can think of that was just a smashing success. But could the Spiderman people do it? Yes they can.

The introduction of Sandman, Venom, and the new Goblin where wonderfully done. The relationship between Peter and Harry takes a twist that I was not expecting. The depth of the evil that undertakes Peter Parker is something that was also unexpected. All in all I would give this one four out of five stars. There are some predictable parts, however the CGI and the plot is handled well enough to make these predictable moments small speed bumps.

I really like the end of the movie when Peter forgives the Sandman for his role in his Uncles death, but the death of Harry was sad and unwanted. Not that it wasn’t well done in the movie; I just didn’t want him to die right after he resolves his friendship with his “Best Friend”, as Peter states it. The only downside that I can state has nothing to do with the movie it is all to do with the previews. You never know what the previews will hold, and these really stunk.

They showed the preview to the new Fantastic Four movie, which was great, the preview to the new Harry Potter, which looks as evil and satanic as ever, and then something that looked almost like borderline soft core porn. Most of my preview time was spent covering up my kids eyes. I wish that they would put better previews with the movie…oh yeah movie review. Sorry.

Spiderman 3 had good action, good CGI, good plot, and all together just a good movie. I was so pleased it left me wanting to see another one, but I know they may not make anymore. But for know our Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman is still here.

The Play-Doh Did It!

So last night we had teen group and I was preaching out of Ephesians chapter 2, specifically verses 8-10. Most Christians are familiar with verses 8-9 for it speaks of the saving Grace that we have done nothing to earn nor anything to keep. Thank God for his Grace! But the next verse caught my attention and that was the focus of our teen group last night. Verse 10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” When I thought about this I started to answer one of the age old questions, what are we here for? For the Christian we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto GOOD WORKS. So we spent some time there. Where does the play-doh come in? Well let me explain my brilliant, yet failed and I will never do it again, idea.

I thought of using play-doh as a way for the kids to “Create” something using their imaginations. Whatever it was, however good or bad, it would be their creation but whatever it was it would be nothing more than play-doh and would not do anything. I wanted to demonstrate our creativeness, but the idea that God’s surpasses ours and the fact that his creation is for a purpose. At this point it sounds like a really good idea, or at least it did to me. It sounded even better when I thought how well it would work for the kids to express their creativity. Well that is where it stopped.

So I passed out the play-doh, gave them about five minutes to sculpt something, which went really well, but that is where it stopped. I could not get most of their attentions back when I tried to regroup and teach the lesson application. Stupid Play-doh! The message fell to the intoxicating smell of gooey play-doh. The sounds of my voice were overshadowed by the pliability of the dough in their hands…Stupid Play-doh. In all honesty I can say that our teen group is a great group and listens so well to the messages given, but we found our kryptonite, Play-doh is its name! Oh sure, somebody could say that I was a flop and didn’t present the message well or that our kids attentions were on other things, but that somebody is probably drunk on play-doh!

Does this have a point? Um…no except I realize that sometimes something as simple as play-doh can distract us from the Lord and his message. We are created by God to do his works, but sometimes play-doh gets in the way. I guess we just need to move on, send an email saying boycott buying play-doh on Tuesday to stick it to the manufacturers, and just say “Stupid Play-doh!”

May Already?

I remember growing up people used to say that as you get older time seems to fly by you even faster. I never really understood that then, but now…Wow! This year is almost half over and I was seriously talking to somebody yesterday about Christmas plans at Church. So what has been going on in the McCoy’s life? Oh man, I will sum it up with two words and I quote Strongbad when I say, “Labor Daybor.” It seems like time just flies by but even more when you are busy. So let me give you the ESPN highlight reel about what has been happening over the past few weeks.

We are working diligently to raise money for our teens so that they can attend camp at Camp Joy this year. Now I have worked in youth ministry for over five or six years and I can say that each youth group I have worked with has been very unique and this group is no different. What I really love about our teen group is their spirit. They have such a great spirit for the Lord and have such a great desire to do work for him. I will never forget the night when some of the teens said they wanted to volunteer their time to work for a place that deals with the mentally handicapped. Why? Because the wanted their summer to mean something for the Lord and felt that they could serve the Lord there. Wow?!?! But, at our current moment we are focused on Camp, Fundraisers, and our activities.

In our home we have been really excited about what the Lord is doing. We have been going through II Peter 1: 5-8, which we just finished yesterday. It speaks of adding to our faith: virtue; then knowledge; then temperance, then patience; godliness; brotherly kindness; finally charity or love. Why because Peter says that “if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now what Christian wouldn’t want that? What a great promise! We will neither be barren of unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, but it takes work.

Add to my faith. I truly believe that if we had nothing to do in this world then the day of our Salvation we would be ushered straight to heaven to live, but God wants a little more. I have said for so long that the Christian life is really easy to understand but it is sometimes hard to live. This leads to this principle, adding to our faith. We so often get to the point where we accept our faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour but then forget that we need to add to our faith. How revealing this truth is about where I am at and where I need to go…What a wonderful Saviour!

Bow the Knee…

This past week we attended the 44^th Annual Pastors School hosted by First Baptist Church of Hammond IN. The years I have attended the conference I have not only left blessed, but it also challenges me about what God wants to do in my life. This year the conference topic was “With Christ in the School of Prayer” and I can truly say that the speakers chosen to speak not only brought great messages but God spoke to my heart about prayer in a great way. We can all look at our prayer life and say that we do not spend enough time talking to the God of our Salvation, but this year I realized not only do I need to spend more time with him, but moreover spend "Real" time with him. I want to have the power of God in my life and know that the only way to do that is to get on board with the Lord and go where he is going.

Over the past few weeks I have been reading a book called “Following Christ” which has been teaching me the principal of following after God. The Bible teaches “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23. My desire is to be with God but notice he says “Follow Me.” God is teaching that if we want to be with him the we need to Follow. He is leading the way for us and our job is to simply follow! Easier said then done, but the principle is still true. I heard a great illustration on Monday night that spoke of the reward and I want to share it with you.

On Monday night, Pastor Schaap preached on prayer and getting close to God and he used the following illustration. He spoke of his Grandfather who used to go to the dump to drop off his trash. Of course, I remember what the dump was like. I can remember the smell and the nastiness of a dump, but in this illustration, Bro. Schaap said he did not go one time and his Grandfather took his friend instead. Normally this would not be a big deal except his friend returned with some ice cream. When Bro. Schaap asked his Grandpa why he didn’t tell him that he was going to get ice cream afterward, his Grandpa said he didn’t realize he would but decided to, in the end. Here is the principal; Bro. Schaap decided that wherever his Grandpa went from that point he would go with him, because the reward (Ice Cream, Hot Dogs, etc.) was worth it.

It was a good illustration, but let me add something to it that I believe was added but I may have missed. God is faithful to reward us and bless us, three is no doubt there, but we do not follow him simply because he does. My heart was challenged this week to want to be with him. Not because of the blessings, even though his word teaches he will, but because my God is so awesome. I want to be with Him. What is even greater in my mind is that God wants me to follow him down this journey of life. Side by side with the Saviour every day, that is where I want to be. So as Ron Hamilton sang during the conference, I will bow the knee before my God and say..."Hear I am Lord, where we going today?"

We are back on the air...

It has been a few weeks since I have last posted and many things have happened. So much so that I probably could write for days and still not list all the exciting things going on. Let me start by working backwards in this timeline and finish with a great praise.

This weekend shaped up to be a weekend like any other, but something happened that I/We were not prepared for: The worst ice storm I have every faced. This year we had two ice storms, with a possible third coming tomorrow, but the latter was much worse than the earlier one. We had tree branches cracking and falling everywhere. Most of Galesburg lost their power. We were one of the fortunate ones to keep their power, which was a great answer to prayer. About 12:00 on Saturday, I went in to our Boys room and told them, “Boys, I don’t want you to be afraid or even worried, but this storm is looking to be a pretty big one. I want you to start praying now that we don’t lose power. If we do we will be fine, but let’s pray that we don’t.” So we started praying, all of us, and we lost no power. What a tremendous answer to prayer as well as a great way to show our boys how much prayer really works. Some may say it is a coincidence, but I say it is a great God answer the prayers of our family!

A few weeks before this, we sat down with our Pastor and shared our heart for the ministry. I have no doubt in my mind that I will Pastor a Church one day, but God has not set that passion in my heart…not yet. I still have a strong passion for our young people today more specifically teens. After sharing this with our Pastor and my wife pretty much echoing the same he asked if we would consider accepting the position as youth pastor of our Church. What an answer to prayer. We did not anticipate this happening, but we do praise God for the opportunity to serve him again, but what we did know is that we have a strong desire to minister to the teenagers of the Galesburg area. We may have lost our previous job, but never lost our passion and now God is allowing us the opportunity to see that Passion visualized.

As I write this, I think of what we will be training our teens in and the thought weeks ago came to my mind. I remember the phrase growing up that was used so often to tell a person to stop acting fake and be sincere. It was a simple phrase, two words actually, just simply stated, “Get Real!” Then the thought hit me…this is what our Churches need, a sense of reality. Most Churches are ritualized, not sincere. Most go through the motions but have not thought as to the heart. With that thought in mind, I want to help our teens “Get Real” but more specifically become “Real Teens.” I will give more on my thoughts on this later, but for now, I think it is time to “Get Real.” We have real problems, we live in the real world, but we have a real God who solves real problems in the real world. It is time to get to know him more and see what he has in store for us. Let’s get real!

It's so cold the penguins need a jacket!!!

Okay...I have had the opportunity to experience cold outside, but yesterday and today…oh my! It is so cold outside I think the snowmen need a jacket! Okay, bad jokes aside, it is cold! I took my kids to Wal-mart with me this weekend to pick up some paint for our kitchen makeover project, and Jacob go so cold he started crying. It is cold. We went to Lowes next and I dropped them off at the door so they wouldn’t freeze which turned out to be great since there is a heater right by the entryway. Dylan asked if we could stay there and warm up before we went inside. It is cold. As I sit here and type this in my warm office, I realize there are men and women working out there in the elements and my heart goes out to them. But then a thought comes across my mind…

I stopped to think of the cold and the pains that come with the exposure to it and think am I unique in this experience. Well of course not, but think this through with me. It is not unique to you or me, but it is not unique to Jesus Christ either. We think so often of the wonderful miracles of Christ, the great speaking of Christ, the hunger, the agony on the Cross of Calvary, but do you ever stop to think about the day-to-day experiences my Lord faced as well? God loved you and me so much to face the list above, even more, but think for a minute about the cold. Ever stop to think of Jesus Christ got cold?

One of the greatest things about our Saviour is the fact that he came from perfection, Heaven, and faced the imperfections of this world so that we might be free from our Sin. He knew the hungers he would face, he knew the pains he would experience, he knew there would be days where he was going to be cold. You ever go to sleep when it is cold only to sleep miserable and wake up the next day feeling miserable and then not really wanting to “act” or maybe “live” like a Christian? Ever think God did? He faced the same cold pains we faced and still woke up in the morning and continued to be what he was…not only the Christ, but the example for our lives. What a great thing to think, my God loved us so much to face all these things so I can live with him in that perfect place when he calls me home. Praise the Lord!

When somebody is on your heart, pray for them, and then maybe you will have a visit from the RedHeadRev!

So today was an interesting day. My wife and I were talking and both she and I felt like there was someone or something that we should be praying for. We didn’t know who, or what, but we knew it was time to pray. I know in Romans 8:26 it says “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” and this seemed one of those days. I felt like I needed to pray and had no words, but in my weakness in my “Infirmity”, I found that God was faithful. I began to call people that the Lord put on my heart, dropping notes of encouragement, then much to my surprise, in walks the RedHeadRev (a.k.a Mike). What a great reunion! I haven’t seen him since our friend Benjamin’s wedding, which is where this picture comes from.

It was great to see him and hear of his hope and vision for the Church he Pastor’s. I have heard this man's dreams and his heart and also shared with him my dreams and my heart and not only count him as a brother, but a fellow visionary. I look forward to the Lord’s blessing in his life for the labor he has called him to, but today my blessing started with a groaning. I am reminded also of I Thessalonians 5, which says, “In every thing give thanks…” I am so thankful for a day where my groanings were heard not just by the Lord, but also by my own heart. Moreover, thankful I got to see the every exclusive but never elusive RedHeadRev! I love you brother. You are my ambassador of Bob and all things Veggie.

So ice is the word we were worried about this weekend…not snow but ice. Being a Texan born and raised there are many things that I am not used to about living in Illinois. One of the many things is this cool white stuff that falls from the sky the Yankees call snow. All kidding aside, the worst snow storm we saw in El Paso TX was back in 1986 (I believe) where we had over 12 inches and it shut down the town for days. Here twelve inches is a walk in the park. But Saturday and Sunday this week was a different type of snow…it was nicknamed ice.

As you can see by the many pictures there was a bunch of ice hanging on the trees, and the road was literally a sheet of ice. So much so that when our neighbor tried to pull out of his driveway he slid out and when he tried to get traction his tires just spun and spun and spun until he finally got down the road. Wow was the only word that came to my mind. It has been followed by bitter cold temperatures and snow flurries over the past couple of days. But through all this I got to see something beautiful yesterday. When the sun was out it glistened on the ice frozen trees and snow making one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. Isn’t it amazing how God can make something look so beautiful?

Man...I really miss the people.

Well it has been a while since I have blogged and a lot has been going on. Well, not really. We have celebrated another Christmas, we have celebrated a new year, and soon I will celebrate my ninth wedding anniversary. All is good, but is it?

I remember once being asked what the hardest thing about the ministry was. As I pondered the question the first thing that came to mind was “the people.” But then I was asked, what is the greatest blessing of the ministry? My answer…The People. This has been on my mind and my heart over the past few weeks.

I have been “out of the ministry” since September of last year. I can honestly say this is one of the lowest times I have faced in my spiritual life. Let me preface the rest the rest of my comments by saying that my “out of the ministry” statement is not to say that God doesn’t have work to do, but for the past five years I have been working for a Church in some capacity. For the last three years I have been an Assistant Pastor and part of that was being a Youth Pastor for a great group of kids. But now…well I am sitting in a pew and it is driving me nuts!!!

I have to admit what had happened in my life with my former employer was not only shocking but left some pretty deep wounds, but now I am at the point where to wounds don’t hurt as bad, but I miss the people. I love ministering to people. I used to wake up some mornings just so excited and looking forward to sharing with them what God had told me to say. I know we had some rocky times, but even the rocky times are great.

Now I find myself waking up in the morning and going to work, coming home, going to church…shake and repeat. The best way I can express my emotion is to borrow a phrase from a movie I enjoy called “Blackhawk Down.” This is not the greatest of movies but I like one scene in particular because of its significance to the solider.

Let me set it up: the soldiers have invaded a town in Somalia and faced heavy opposition. They have spent countless hours fighting, seeing the fellow soldiers get hit and fall, others get mortally wounded. In this scene a group of soldiers have finally made their way back to base camp and are safe, but as some are rejoicing in their safety, others who just made their way back are preparing themselves to go back out into the fight…why you ask? Queue “Hoot”, one of the soldiers who was out in the fight for the countless hours and is now preparing himself to go back out into the fight...

"Hoot": When I get home people’ll ask me, "Hey Hoot, why do you do it man? Why? You some war junkie?" You know what I'll say? I won't say a word. Why? They won't understand. They won't understand why we do it. They won't understand that it's about the men next to you, and that's it. That's all it is.

I find the ministry very similar. I want to help people because they are men and women of Christ, children of God, they are my brothers and sisters and my vision, my dreams, and my talents were given because of them. Some may not understand that, but I am not a war junkie…it is just about the ones next to me. I want to be back doing something so bad I could almost explode, but for now I will sit. I know the Lord has his timing and that in years to come I will look back and see the reasoning for this time, but for right now I have a pinned up desire to serve the Lord and no ministry to see in the near future. Man, I miss the people.

Ladies and Gentlemen.......It's a Snow Day!

So for those of you who have watched the news over the past 24 hours, you may have notice that there was a little snowstorm that came through the Midwest. It was an interesting night for the McCoy family. My wife and I went to bed about 1:00am because I wanted to see how much snow would fall and see if my company might call a snow day. This began my adventures. First we went into our boy’s room and found it was a little chilly in there. Well that tends to happen when there is a big sweater covering up the heater vent. Then we go into our room, which one wall faces the north, and discover that the wind coming from the north was blowing through one of the electrical sockets. Man it was cold in there. I was really glad to find out that the leak was coming from that socket in the wall. Glad? Well yes, because it was either a leak from the socket or I was going to start seeing dead people.
So to the topic at hand, the snow. I love the snow. Since I am from El Paso, Texas we did not get a lot of snow. Actually only once in my life do I remember a heavy snowfall.


But today was a good snow day. We got about eight to ten inches over the area, but figuring in the snow drifts we had around the house we had one area that was almost three feet tall.


I love to play in the snow, and see what fun we can have. It was so fun to see the boys playing and just having a good ole time. The snowdrift that was almost three feet high and we had a mini hill to sled down. I shall call it…Mini Hill. We spent about three hours outside playing and cleaning up the driveway and sidewalk areas. But sometimes in these great times, God just has a little conversation with you.

Before I got really into the work I stopped and just started staring at the snow and that famous scripture came to my mind. (Isaiah 1:18) Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. I sat and just stared at the whiteness of the snow. It is so beautiful when it is untainted. No dirt, no sludge, no road traffic stuff on it, it is just pure. It made me so happy to know that when my God looks at me know that he doesn’t see that dirty sin anymore, but that he sees the white snow. Clean and pure.

Man I am so glad for those times that the Lord just says, hey before you shovel that snow and go play in it, remember I love you, I will always love you and now that you are saved and one of my children, I will never see that dirty sin filled snow anymore. Man with that in mind it makes me want to say…Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

But I like the Cookie

So often in life, we find things that remind us of people. When I see a heart or flowers, it reminds me of my wife. When I see Troy Aikman, it reminds me of my nephew who looked like him as a baby. When I see different things it reminds me of different people, but let me introduce you to someone who reminds me of my youngest son Jacob…His Name is Hammy and yes, he is a squirrel.


You may ask why he reminds me of my youngest son. Well I can’t tell you all the reasons, but if you have not seen Over the Hedge (SEE IT!!!) then you would not understand, but I highly recommend this movie not only to find out how Hammy portrays aspects of my son, but also it is just very funny. My son has what we like to call…Hyperactivity. Meaning that he can normally go and go and go and go and go and go…until he finally passes out or is told to pass out. This character is not only funny with his humor, but also because he is so hyper.

As my wife and I watched this movie with our two boys I found myself thinking, the Lord puts things in life to remind us of people. I look at the picture of Hammy this morning and start to reminisce about all the wonderful things my son does. Yes he is hyper, yes he bounces off walls (that isn’t a figure of speech…he really does), but he is a wonderful Child and I couldn’t ask for more. I love my boys, they are great and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. It doesn’t take much for me to think about my family, but every once in a while a hyperactive squirrel can help.











I leave you with this funny dialogue from “Over the Hedge”

RJ: Ok, what we're goin' for is a vicious, man-eating, rabid squirrel. Can you handle that?
Hammy the Squirrel: Umm, excuse me!
[Raises hand]
RJ: Yes, Hammy?
Hammy the Squirrel: Rabbits aren't vicious. They're all cute and cuddly, so...
RJ: *Rabid*, not rabbit.
Hammy the Squirrel: Oh! Huh?
Hammy the Squirrel: I am a crazy, rabid squirrel! I want my cookies!

How Soon I forget...

I just received an Email from somebody in my office today and it was wishing everybody a Happy Friday the 13th. This day has as long as I have been alive, viewed as a day of bad happenings or bad things. Now as a believer in Christ, I do not believe in Bad Luck, or Ghosts, but this day has a very sad meaning to me.

Twelve years ago on Friday May 13th 1994, my father had a diabetic attack, which caused him to have a heart attack, and he passed away. As a believer in Christ I know the scripture says “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” (Psalm 116:15) but my father was not a believer.

So the question may be asked, why post this? Well today, as I got the Email I realized that it has been a long time since I had even thought about my Dad. I looked at the only picture I have of him and started to realize that I forget more about him everyday. I started to realize that I do not remember the sound of his voice. If I were to hear it, I would not recognize it. I started to realize that I do not remember what it was like to give him a hug.

My Dad and I enjoyed a great relationship. We had fun together, we laughed together, and anybody that knows me would know him because our humor and the way we make wise cracks are the same. But today I look back and realize that 12 years ago, I lost him and that I will never get him back and that the only time I have to look forward to seeing him is when I have to look at him get cast into the lake of fire for never trusting in Christ as his Saviour.

The only thing that helps me through days like this is the knowledge that I have another Father. A heavenly one that one day I will get to see. I know that he is here with me and has promised that He would always be there for me. I miss my Dad, but praise God I have Him who I will never have to miss. I am so happy to be a born again Christian; because I know that, I will be with my Father forever. Even though others often view this day, even me sometimes, as a day of evil, fear, or even gloom. I rejoice in knowing that I will not forget my Heavenly Father.

Seriously...Can there be any more hills and turns in Virginia???

So tonight we are here in Lynchburg, VA. We have been sent here by the place that I work so that we can exhibit at this year’s Superconference being held at Thomas Road Baptist Church. Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for conferences, but this one has already began to take its toll and it is only day two. Let me recap…and in this case recap is a fancy word I will use for complain.

We start off our day Saturday at about 6:00. For some reason happy happy joy joy feelings are not the first thing on our minds. More to the effect of, why are we doing this again? Actually it was more like, how can I make this caffeine in my coffee go straight into my blood so it can get to my brain quicker. We travel down the road for a few hours and now find ourselves in a light rain. I love to travel in the rain, but this wasn’t just a nice little rain shower, for some reason the rain decided to stay with us for the next 10 hours. You know those cartoons where there is a cloud over somebody’s head and it follows them, well picture that and it is over our car.

Now this isn’t so bad at first, but then it starts to get dark…really dark. We begin to take some pretty curvy roads and notice something—the lines in the road are now not able to be seen. What has happened is that the road is so wet and the lights from the cars is making the lines in the road unable to be seen. I find myself at one point straddling the lines of the road. Then begins the fog. Not like a light fog, but like the stuff you see in scary movies. My wife and I begin to realize that driving in this may not be the brightest idea. I started thinking…well I can’t see the lines, I can’t see the road because of the fog, and oh yes it is starting to rain even harder. So we pull over and get a hotel in South Charleston VA.

We wake up and hit the road early the next day, and praise God it isn’t raining and it is sunny outside. But now begins the windy roads of Virginia. I have heard of the hills of Virginia, but I am seriously beginning to get carsick. Now we have a car full of people all saying…please no more turns. My wife said, “I feel like I am on a roller coaster I can’t get off of.” Wow!

Well I finally get us to the hotel we are staying at and then go to set up at the Church for tonight’s conference. Here is even more joy (insert sarcastic voice.) This place is very big and of course I get very lost. Then on the way back to hotel I find out that there isn’t a direct road back…there is a direct road to the Church, but not a direct road to get back home. Seriously!

I do find some joy in knowing that I will get to hear some good preaching over the next couple of days and I will surrender myself to learning something for the Lord. But, tonight, I am going to bed, I am allowing my equilibrium to fix itself, and figure out what classes to take tomorrow.

Trip to Burkburnett—1,600 miles—One Broken Down Car—Hours of Fun???—Finding out the Lord’s will—Priceless.

I write this blog this Monday morning with a bittersweet taste in my mouth. For you that know me this will be redundant, but I will say it anyway. We went to Burkburnett Texas to see if God would have us Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church. This was a weekend of ups and downs because we had such a great time at Calvary, but at home, the Pastor of our Church began to slander our name from the Pulpit. We knew that we could no longer support him so we knew once we got home that we would have to walk away from the Church, which we did. Here began the agony of the next week. Now keep in mind, we are hoping and praying during this week that the Lord will allow us the opportunity to Pastor Calvary Baptist Church. This was a hope that kept us going during this time.

During this week, my name was dragged through the mud. I will not tell you all the things that have been said about me, but I know that I will not fight a Pastor over his choice of words. You know that old saying, “Sticks and stones make break my bones, but words will never hurt me?” Well that is just stupid! I know as a man seeking to be in the ministry that I should probably feel tougher, but today I feel like Jell-O. During the past seven days I have been accused of many things, all untrue, I have been lied about several times, I have been blamed for things that I haven’t done, and then of course the name calling all by one man. I never knew that one man could cause so much hurt, but he has. Then I got the call yesterday.

I got the call from the pulpit committee chairman who said, “Brother, I have some bad news.” Instantly my heart sank, for I knew we were not voted in, but I did not know how bad this “Bad” news really was. He informed me that the committee called my former Pastor that we had to walk away from to get some more information about us and he slammed us to the floor. In this man’s words, he said that he slandered you in ways that I did not expect a “Pastor” to do. Now, I had prepared myself that if we did not get the opportunity to Pastor this Church it was the Lord’s will, but never in my wildest dreams would have figured it to happen in this way. I can tell you that read this (Hi all three of you) that I am broken, hurt, and shocked all at the same time.

With that all said, let me say this as well. I know that not all of this went as we had planned, but I know the God that I serve and praise be to him who allowed all of this to happen. To find the will of God in your life is one of the greatest feelings, even though right now it does not feel great. However, I know that God has something for us to do in the future. What it is…I don’t know. However, I wait to see what he wants us to do next. In the meantime, its time to not just put a band-aid on this wound. I think we may have to put some attention on this one.

So what has been going on?

Since the last time I have blogged a lot has been going on. Where to start, I guess at the beginning always does good. About three weeks ago I stepped out by faith and resigned my position as Assistant Pastor of PrairieLand Baptist Church. This was something I had to do, but was completely unsure about what the future holds. I know that God wants me to Pastor a Church, but then I did not know what was going to happen. Since then God has been showing his wonderful blessing



I have been asked to candidate at Calvary Baptist Church in Burkburnett TX. This came as a complete surprise to me, but of course not to the Lord. I was making lunch on Labor Day when my friend, Pastor Claud Slate, called and told me about a Church that was looking for a Pastor. Long story short, I hooked up with Bro. Gary (a man that talked to Bro. Slate and who is on the pulpit committee) and yesterday they asked me to come and candidate. I can’t tell you the emotions that I am feeling inside, but as some of you that read this may know it is exciting.

I am looking forward to what the Lord might have for us in the future. I don’t know how things are going to work at Calvary, but I know who does and whatever happens I will praise his name. Selfishly I hope it works out, but realistically I want his will more than anything else. Please pray for us as we step out by faith in this next chapter in our life.

I have found a good thing….

This morning I am sitting at my desk and was reflecting over the past few days. Let me try to paint a picture for you of my life over the past few days. I underwent gallbladder removal surgery on Tuesday and found myself unable to do much. I had to learn to slow down and do less, which is normally a hard thing for me to do. I had to allow help in things that I normally had no problem doing for myself. I had to learn how to sleep again. Through all of this I found out that I not only have a good thing I have a great thing. What is it???

MY WIFE!!!



The Bible says in Proverbs 18:22 “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.” How true this is in my life. I found myself over the past few days just realizing how truly blessed and favored I am over the wonderful wife my Lord has given me. I know it may seem like small stuff to others but there were times I was moved to tears over her sacrifices this past week. Then I realized all of the wonderful things she does for me everyday. I want to say how wonderfully blessed I am to have such a wonderful wife that will not only take care of me when I am sick, but that will also look for ways to care for me when I am well. I am so blessed today.

Has it always been this way? No, but back on the first day in 2000 I made a conscience choice that I would build my marriage around our wonderful God and ever since then God has blessed us in ways I can’t imagine. We realized that year that in order for us to be happy it would take Me, Her, and our God. Everything is not always perfect, but I will say that as the scripture says…I have surely found favour from the Lord.

I Love You Honey…

God has ways to keep you humble.

Yesterday I underwent gallbladder surgery. In the word’s of Forest Gump “That’s all I have to say about that.” Actually I went into this surgery with a few apprehensions, but all of them were put to the wayside after I woke up this morning and felt the pain from the surgery. I really don’t know what I was thinking, but man it does hurt.

Well to the point of the topic…God can make sure you are kept humble. Now with this statement I am not making an assumption that I live pride fully, but I do realize how much I need help from others today. While I was in the hospital, one of the conditions for me to go home is that I had to walk up and down the hallway. Here began the old man shuffle up and down the hallway. I had thought it would be easy, but nope. What made it more humbling is that one of our Church families was there to get to see me do the Old man shuffle. Was it embarrassing…no, but definitely humbling.

With this one Church family in mind, I realized that they were the only ones who came to visit me in the hospital…not anybody else including the Pastor of our Church who is also my employer. Sure he called, but never stepped foot into the hospital. Did this hurt…yes, but it also made me realize the need for leaning on the Lord.

God can remind us of how much we need him and give us ways to be humble, but if there is one great thing I will take out of this is that great scripture passage that says…

Matthew 22 "(36) Master, which is the great commandment in the law? (37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Love others as you would want to be loved…Care for others as you would care for yourself. It is about others not just you