Real Stuff

God is good!

2011-06-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to tell everyone how good God really is.If you have read my blog lately, you know about the fund raisers that we have been working on at our church for the kids to go to camp. We had our first one last weekend and when it was all said and done, we had raised a little over $700. This puts us almost half way to where we need to be. Now tell me that God isn't good! We are taught in the bible that God will provide our needs and all we have to do is have a little faith. I think this is what is getting us going with all we are working on. You see, we must first realize that we aren't able to do anything without His help and let Him take control. Although this is a big problem for some of us, I feel that we are finally getting the picture. I believe that God wants all these children to go to camp and He will make a way for that to happen. God is good.Our next fund raiser will be a car wash on July 9 at the main branch of Texas Bank in Henderson, let those cars get dirty and let our kids wash them for you. It wouldn't be right for me to blog on Father's day and not wish all the fathers a happy one. We should thank them for all they do, but most of all, we should thank our Heavenly Father for providing a way for us to escape Hell. That is true love. God bless.

Rapture

2011-05-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

Well, according to the media, the rapture will be occuring tomorrow evening. Unfortunately, there are still so many people who aren't prepared for this to happen. You see, the Bible tells us that those who don't put their faith and trust in Jesus will perish and spend eternity in Hell (yes it is a real place). The mathematicians who calculated the return of our Savior apparently have never read the part of the Bible that says that no man knows when Jesus will return. I feel sorry for those lost people who believe that this is an occasion for celebration when in reality it will be a time of great sorrow for them. If we knew that the rapture was for sure going to happen tomorrow, what would we be doing today? As Christians, we have the obligation to spread the true word of God and show the lost world how much Jesus loves them. If we know that the return of Jesus is at hand, just like it was when He ascended into Heaven, why don't we live that way every day? I am not sure when it will happen, but what I do know is that time is short. The Bible also tells us that we are supposed to go into the world teaching, so let's get to work! God bless.

Youth Fund Raisers

2011-05-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

Just letting everyone know that our youth group at Gum Springs MBC is working on a couple of fund raisers to help out with the expense of church camp. I, as the youth director at our church, feel that God has blessed us because this year we will have more campers than ever attending camp. With that comes the problem of funds. As a group and church, we are collecting aluminum cans to cash in before we leave. If you or anyone you know has aluminum cans laying around that you would like to donate, you can contact me at (903) 646-4386 and I will make arrangements to get them from you. Also, we are having a garage/bake sale on June, 11 2011 at the church located on Hwy 42 across from Jordan's plant farm. All money raised here will also be given to the youth. I would like to invite everyone to come and shop the goods or just buy some cookies (whatever you prefer). We will start at about 8am and go until we sell out or the rapture takes us home. I am also looking for people who feel led by God to help by sponsoring a child or even donating part of the registration fee which by the way is $80 per camper. Hope to see you or hear from you soon. God bless.

Front Porch Singing

2011-05-05T04:57:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let anyone who may read this know that on May 14th at 2:00 we will have a singing at our church. This is the fourth year we have done this and it is a great blessing to all who attend or perform. The way we work it is a little different in that we set up the equipment on the front porch of our church and the audience sits in the yard in their lawn chairs. I woul like to personally invite everyone to attend. Our church is called Gum Springs Missionary Baptist and is located on hwy 42 south of Henderson close to Jordan's Plant farm. If you would like directions, just comment on the blog here and I will make sure you find your way. God Bless.

Getting Ready

2011-04-27T15:56:00.000-07:00

The time has come once again for me to start preparing for camp. We have about a month before I have to turn in our pre-registration and we already have 15 signed up to go. I want everyone to know that I am excited. Right now, our church is working on some different ways to raise funds for all these people to go to camp. We have started saving aluminum cans, we will be having a garage sale and we will have a car wash. Other than these things, all of our funds will come from donations. I ask that everyone please keep our youth and their fundraisers in your prayers. Remember this: if ye ask not ye will receive not.Oh, I almost forgot YOU CAN HELP TOO!

IS IT RIGHT?

2011-03-18T12:53:00.000-07:00

Our pastor preached a sermon Wednesday night that has got me to thinking. The sermon was titled "is it right", and it was just one of those sermons that hit close to home. In the world we live in today, we accept alot of things as right that are not. If you think of your daily routines and actions, how many of them are right in the eyes of God? Made you cringe didn't it? As Christians, we have an obligation to seek what is right in the eyes of God and not what we can justify as being right. How do we know the difference? Well, fortunately God left us a list of things that are right and wrong (are you ready for this??)IN THE BIBLE. Seeing as how we all study and read the Bible so that we gain more knowledge, this shouldn't be a problem. Now for those who do not read and study, it may be time to start so that the difference in right and wrong is easier to see. I do not write this to offend anyone, I just feel that everyone deserves the right to know(myself included). Also, as Christians we have the obligation to teach others about God and His will for us, but if we don't know right from wrong how can we succeed. With all that being said, I leave you with this: A man once told me that he did not want to come to church because they were all full of hypocrites and I informed him that there was always room for one more.(Think about it). God Bless.

The End of Another Long Week

2010-08-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

Well, it is Saturday evening and I am past exhausted. I have had one of those long weeks that I thought would never end, but here yet it did (like always). It is exciting to know that some day we will never be tired again. You see, that is a promise that God has given those of us who have accepted him as savior. When we arrive in Heaven, we will receive new glorified bodies that will never tire or hurt. I can't hardly wait! I am going to relax a little before we eat supper with my sister. I hope everyone has a blessed evening and a good weekend.

Camp Was Good!

2010-08-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

Once again I have survived another week of church camp. This year was a little different for me as I had 6 boys to look after as opposed to my normal 2. Camp always does me good in that it works as a revival for my soul. I always enjoy seeing old friends and making new ones. After all the years that I have been going to camp, it finally hit me that there is the possibility that some of those old friends may not make it back for the next year (and as bad as I hate to admit it, I cried like a baby at this realization). The one thing that makes leaving Christian friends better is that I know that one day we will be reunited forever. Mrs. Janie Clark, whom I believe is the only reader I have, told me that I needed to blog more so I am going to make a concious effort to do so. I am planning on getting one of those smart-alec phones that will allow me to blog anywhere and everywhere I happen to be. Just one thing to leave everyone with today: They will know you by your FRUITS. What fruit do you produce?

Doing Great!!!

2010-06-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

Just to let everyone know that I am still alive and kicking. I have had the privelege to see the hand of God working tremendously in our church. In the last two months we have had a great increase in attendance and have had three people to join our congregation. We are working frantically trying to get things ready for vbs and church camp that will be here before we know it. We are having a great problem in that we have more kids signed up to go to camp than we have money to send. After short deliberation, we have decided to let God handle this problem knowing that we can always rely on Him. Here is a little something to leave with y'all: TRUST IN THE LORD ALWAYS (HE WILL ALWAYS PROVIDE FOR HIS OWN)

Trusting in God

2010-01-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

It seems that no matter how many times we hear "God is in control" we still try to handle our lives by our own means. I was greatly humbled last week when I stopped long enough to realize that I was carrying all of my own burdens instead of allowing God to lead me and take care of me. You see, as a man, I feel that everything around me is my responsibility and that I have to solve all of my problems without help. I thank God for a wife that reminds me that we are not in control of our lives anymore, and we are supposed to take everything to God and allow Him to work in our lives. So I leave you with a little piece of advice: Cast all your cares on God and allow Him to do what He has promised.

I'm still alive

2009-09-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am still alive and doing well. Since I have changed jobs, my blogging time has been almost non-existent but I am working on changing that. A few things that I would like to make mention of here are 1) Fall Fest at Gum Springs MBC will be Oct 24th starting at 5pm and everyone is invited. 2) I would just like for everyone to know that real Christians bear fruit. This is something that has been on my mind and I thought I would share it. Too many people claim Christianity, but live like the world and it hurts the worlds outlook on Christians. I believe that if you are truly saved you will show it in your everyday life. I have to get back to work now, but it has been nice talking to you all again. God Bless.

Busy

2009-09-06T15:24:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a while since my last post, but I have been a little busy. I started my new job at A-1 Rental on Monday, and for someone who has done the same thing for almost 13 years it has been interesting. I have learned that the rental business is a lot busier than what most people would think. After leaving a job where I was one of the most knowledgeable employees, it is sobering to be the new guy who doesn't know anything. I have learned that without God helping me, I can't do the things that are required of me. We must realize that we need God and His power to do the simplest tasks in our everday lives. When we do this, it will make the things we do seem a lot easier to handle.

Counselor

2009-08-26T05:46:00.000-07:00

In my office at work there is a chair that is used quite regularly, I call it the counseling chair. The people here like to come to me and talk about the problems they are having, work related or not. I have always told them that I am not here to judge anyone, I would just like to be able to help anyone that I can. I would like to think that I am able to give them sound advice or at least something to get them headed in the right direction. Most of us don't realize how lucky we are that we have access to the greatest counselor ever anytime day or night. All we have to do is go to God in prayer and allow Him to guide us and give us the advice that we need to carry on. This is a privelege that most of God's children take no part in. We always want to try and fix things on our own, which can never end in a good way. There are people who are willing to pay some man or woman big money to have them use human knowledge to help with whatever problem instead of seeking out God's will in their life. I would like to leave everyone with a challenge to go to God with all your problems and concerns, because there is not a better counselor that can be found. God Bless.

Back to School

2009-08-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

I would like to give all the tired, busy, frustrated and broke parents out there a little congratulations. School will be starting back on Monday and then the race starts all over again for many parents. It appears that both of my children will have extra-curricular activities that will require after school practice and then running to and from various events. I try to think of this as a blessing, but it just seems to get overwhelming at times and I get aggravated at the ridiculous schedules that we have to try and keep up with. These things to me are a blessing because it lets me know that my children are involved and doing things other than watching television and eating junk food. We should always consider our children blessings from God for the simple reason that He gave them to us and trusted us enough to raise them. So for all you parents, try to see all those late nights and endless projects as a blessing. Thought for the day: Spend as much time with your children as you can because they need your love as much as you need theirs. God Bless.

Treasures

2009-08-16T05:14:00.000-07:00

As Cristians, we have been taught that we are not to be concened with what we have here but to lay our treasures up in heaven. As humans though, we like to have things that we can see and touch. After a long hard week at work, we like to be able to reward ourselves and we tend to put much effort into getting that reward. Why is it that when it comes to obtaining our eternal rewad that we put little effort into it? As humans it is easy for us to get our priorities out of order and work hard for things that we want here, and put little time into doing God's work. The thing that we must realize is that if we are doing God's work and storing up our treasures then we will have everything we need here. So, let us try and put our priorities where they belong and spend our time here on this earth a little more wisely. God bless.

Finally

2009-08-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

I have finally made up my mind as to what I am going to do about my job. I have decided to take the job with the other company which is Cassity Jones. I went and told the people that I have been working for over the last 12 1/2 years and they congratulated me for having come across teh opportunity for improvement. Telling them was hard, but when I got their reaction I knew that I had done what I needed to do. I have been praying about this for a week now, and I believe that God has led me to this decision. Actually, I believe that He is the one that put the opportunity in front of me to begin with. We have to be aware to our surroundings because you never know when God is going to show you something. Have a blessed day.

Work is Good

2009-08-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

In the world we live in today, the things that are viewed as normal and right are exactly what the Bible says are wrong. How is it that we have declined so far over such a small amount of time? In my opinion, it is our fault that the world has gone the way it has. That's right, us Christians are at fault and we have to stop blaming the ones that are lost. We must realize that they don't know any better until we tell them. When Jesus ascended to heaven, He told us to go and make disciples of everyone. When we choose not to do this, then we can blame no one but ourselves for the shape of our world today. When it seems that attendance is up in church and the offering is looking good, we often times stop working and that is when real problems start. There should be no plateau when working for God, the work should continue on until we are at home with Him in heaven. We were put here to work, so let's get out there and do what we are supposed to be doing. God Bless.

Good Day

2009-08-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

Today has just been one of those good days at work. I have been able to do all the things that I need to and haven't had too much extra dumped in my lap. You know, it is on days like this that we should be thanking God for the hand that He puts on us to guide us day by day. Without His guidance things would never get straightened out or run smooth the way that we like for them to. I have done all of my duties for my job and have even had a little free time to talk with a guy here about church and the work that can be done by one. I do have a couple of things that have been on my mind today and I would like to share them with you now. They are both prayer requests that I have been praying for: 1) A friend of mine's daughter has a kidney stone the size of a softball and she will have to have her kidney removed if they can ever get the infection to go away. Doctors have missed this kidney stone for about a year and now it is threatening the well being of a 15 year old girl. 2) My sister is without a job and school is about to start back up and the chances of her finding a place to teach are getting slimmer every day. You see, my sister has a master's degree in education and her desire is to be an assistant principal, but she would gladly take a teaching job. I just pray that all these things work out so that God's will is done. Please help me in praying for these and remember our country and it's leaders. God Bless.

Long Weekend

2009-08-10T05:44:00.000-07:00

You know it never ceases to amaze me how much pain we are willing to put ourselves through to have fun. Thursday evening after we got off work, we went and hauled a load of hay to earn extra money but had to stop because of rain. We went back Friday afternoon and hauled 4 more loads of hay and even though we worked til 9:30 we still liked a little bit being done so my wife said that she would take care of what was left on Saturday since I was to play in a softball tournament. I left my house around 6:45 Saturday morning to head to the fields where we playing and we started our first game at 8:00. I called my wife around 11: to see what she was doing and she said that she was loading hay and her sister was stacking on the trailer. I then told her that if I needed to come out after we finished playing that I would, so she said for me to call her. So, I met her in the field around 12:30 and helped her finish up. When we were done, I told her that I was going to go home and eat some lunch and get a little rest before I went and played the other tournament I was supposed to play. My co-ed softball team decided that we wanted to play in what is called a midnight madness tournament, which is a tournament that starts at 7:00pm and doesn't end until some time the next morning. We ended up playing 6 games before we had lost our second one to get beat out of the tournament at 5:40 Sunday morning. My wife had come and watched us play all night, so me and her both were pretty tired, but we had already decided that no matter how late I played we were not going to miss church. After getting home around 6:30, I took a shower and slept for about an hour and a half before getting up and getting ready for church. We went to church then went back home and rested for the afternoon before evening services. I have come to realize that the human body can take a lot of abuse before completely falling apart. When I woke up this morning at my normal 4:30, I felt as if I had been ran over by a fleet of Greyhound buses and that there wasn't one part of me that didn't hurt. All that being said, I had a blast playing softball and would probably be dumb enough to do it again. You see, I use my time with my team to witness to them through my life and the choices I make in it. We must realize that not all people have the privelege of growing up in a Christian home and have not heard the Gospel and the plan of salvation. We (and I include myself everytime I use this word) can't use "tired" as an excuse not to serve God and do whatever it is He has sent us or called us to do. As Christians, we have the responsibility to live our lives as witnesses. The first time that we do something that is not of God, you can believe that a non-beliver will see you and your witness will be ruined to that person and anyone they tell. Our lives may be the only Bible or sermon some people ever see or hear, so we should do our best to make it a good one. The picture I inserted is of my dream glove, it is a Nokona 12 1/2" baseball glove that is made from kangaroo hide. The reason it is a dream is because on average this glove costs around $175 and the one I paid $35 for seems to work fine. Today's words of wisdom: If it hurts, be thankful that you still have it.

Blessed

2009-08-06T13:58:00.001-07:00

I would just like to point out how blessed we are. We get too wrapped up in what we don't have and the negative things in life and we just don't pay attention to all the good that is around us. Seriously, how many of us look at the situations we are involved with and immediatley find the good things? Not very many because we always look at the troubles or the bad things that are going on first so we can start fixing them. Every day that God allows us to get out of bed is a blessing from Him that we should thank Him for especially since this is not guaranteed to us. I believe that if we would start looking for the good in things first, we may see just how blessed we really are. Believe it or not there are good things out there that are happening all around us if we will only look. Today's words of wisdom: Don't count your chickens before they hatch, you may want scrambled eggs instead.

Decisions

2009-08-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

As human beings we all have decisions to make in our every day lives that effect what we do and how we do it. Since the beginning of this year, I have watched the company where I have worked for almost 13 years make some pretty tough decisions. During this time I have also had to make some decisions that I did not like, but were necessary. Now, I have a bigger decision to make that could greatly effect my life as I have grown accustomed to it. I have been offered a job at another business that assures me that they are financially stable and in no danger of having to lay off. The problem here is that I have formed relationships, made friends and established a pretty decent reputation in my business, but the new company is offering all the things that my present company had never had to offer. I prayed to God to help me with the final decision when I had to make it, and I believe that He will make it obvious for me if I truly seek His help. The problem most people (myself especially) have when making decisions is that impulse takes over and we go with what sounds good right then. What we should do when is allow God to guide our hearts and lead us to the right choice. This concept is thought of as strange for those who do not believe in God or allow Him to work in their lives, because in our minds we know what is best. A small challenge to all who read this: before making a decision, pray to God and ask for guidance and see if He will answer. Remember, God's answers may not be what you want to hear but they will be what you need to hear. Today's words of wisdom: God gave us two ears, two eyes and one mouth. Maybe we are supposed to observe and listen twice as much as we are to talk. God Bless.

Too Many Irons in the Fire

2009-08-04T05:25:00.000-07:00

You have heard and probably used the expression "too many irons in the fire" at least once in your life, well let me tell you I have been living it for the past month. In the last four weeks I have gone on a 7 day cruise (which was amazing), gone to church camp (also amazing), finished out the inside of our 1200 square foot Sunday School building (tiring), taught Vacation Bible School (really amazing) and tried to keep up with everything else that I am supposed to be doing. I have been telling myself that if I can just get through July everything will slow down, but I remember that I have been telling myself that for a number of months now. I believe that most people have their lives packed full of this and that which leaves little time for self. What tends to happen is that we start prioritizing all of our activities and typically as humans we are usually wrong because we will put us first then others. You see, the world that we have grown up in has taught us that we are to look after ourselves first and then everyone else. The problem with this theory is that the Bible teaches us to put the needs of others first and then our needs will be provided. If everyone is concerned with the needs of others, then we sould all be taken care of. Right? Wrong! Even when we try to follow this teaching we still tend to want to pick the others whose needs we are to provide and this, while seeming a good deed is not what was intended. When Christ hung on the cross, He did it for the need of all the people that were alive then, and all the ones that were to come. He did not pick and choose whose life was important to Him, He believed that we all were important. So, the point I am trying to make here is that we should be just as concerned with the needs of a complete stranger as we are the ones of our friends. Today's words of wisdom: Take nothing for granted because tomorrow it could be gone.

Three Salvations

2009-08-03T06:05:00.000-07:00

We have just finished up our Vacation Bible School for 2009 at Gum Springs MBC. It is only the second one that has been held at our church in the last 25 years. Last year we believed that God wanted us to have a VBS even though we don't really have that many children in attendance at our church, and we were blessed with 40 children the first night. This year we had put a little strain on ourselves to have VBS since we were trying to finish up our new Sunday School building before we had it. Once again God has shown us that his power is much greater than ours and he gave us the strength of each other to get the building finished in time. Our preacher brought a message on the strength that we can have by working together, and he used the passage where the Israelites were fighting the Amalekites and Joshua and Hur had to help Moses hold his hands up so the Israelites would be victorious. He really used that to describe us! I think his sermon humbled the hearts of all our members and made us realize how great God is. During the week of our VBS, we had three children that accepted the Lord as their Saviour! Praise God! I would like to put their names here so that we can remember them in their new walk with Jesus: Dylan Morgan-age 9, Tre'Nicia Starling-age 9, and A J Hendrix-age 9. You can imagine the way that the teacher (my mother-in-law, Rita Wallace) of the 7-9 year olds felt when she realized what had happened in her class. This news was too good not to share, but I had better get to work now. God Bless.

Thursday Morning Rain

2009-07-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

I got to work this morning and it started to rain which normally doesn't bother me seeing as how I always have work to do in my office. I come in and sit down at my computer and find out that my network connection to the main office is not working, which means that I can't even do the simplest tasks on my computer. So then I call the maintenance man and he can't figure it out and finally the IT guy shows up and replaces a network switch box and resolves the problem. It just goes to show you that even though you think you have it all worked out, you really never know. Just to leave you with a bit of wisdom "don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things". I better get to work now. Have a blessed day.

The Beginning

2009-07-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog so it may be a little rough around the edges. I always think of good things to talk about, but never have anyone around when I get the ideas, so I figured why not share them with everyone out in cyberland. I will begin by saying that in today's society it is a crying shame that our government is as blind as a cave full of bats and couldn't fix our problems if they so chose to do so. I am not a very political person, but right is still right and wrong is still wrong no matter how you look at it. With that being said, I would like to offer anyone who reads this the opportunity to know my saviour, Jesus Christ. To do this you must first understand that you are a sinner that is lost and going to hell if you don't repent of your sins and turn to Jesus before it is too late. Then you must go to Him in a heartfelt prayer and ask him to forgive you and to save your soul from hell. The main thing is that you must truly believe that Jesus can and will save you and give you the blessed assurance of eternity in heaven. Humans by nature like to receive gifts for any purpose or occasion, so why is it so hard for them to accept the gift that Jesus has to offer to the entire world, ETERNAL LIFE. Think about it.