On my mind today

Sorry about that - I'm writing while watching "The Cinderella Man" which is an awesome movie (I'm such a sucker for happy endings). VBS ended VERY well. A special thanks to Katrina and Glenn Holmans for their amazing leadership throughout the week. Several children invited Christ into their lives - we'll be following up with them in the days to come. Thanks to each teacher, worker, volunteer and students who gave of their time and their very ownselves to the children of our church and our community. Thanks for loving the Lord more than yourselves.

My greatest passion is seeing people come to faith in Christ and see their lives transformed by that knowledge. My other great passion is textual criticism - the process of working with the word of God in its ancient manuscripts. While that might sound as boring as watching the paint dry, it makes my heart beat fast and my palms sweaty. It was the focus of my dissertation and a longtime interest for me. In participating in projects like the International Greek New Testament Project based in Muenster, Germany, I get to stay connected to that work, hopefully for a lifetime. It's a complicated field with lots of room for misunderstanding so I don't often discuss it with people. I recently found an exceptional introduction written by the director of the center where I volunteer. Here's a link to it .

I was talking with the Lord today about VBS and I realized something. These children - as amazing, beautiful and, occasionally frustrating as they can be, - these children are our greatest treasure. I've often thought of that placard I've seen: "In 100 years, it won't matter what I had or what I achieved - the only thing that really matters is making a difference in the life of a child." Jesus' words made clear our calling: "Allow the children to come unto me because the kingdom of Heaven is made of such as these". (Matthew 19:14, Wood translation) As I watched the video this afternoon, I thought of that again. They won't be long as we see them now and our opportunity to pour our lives into theirs may not come again. I hope you're praying with me for VBS and for the 122 children who participated today.

Vacation Bible School started today. Ahhh yes, the joys of VBS - esp the first day. Our administrators and teachers had it all together. Even when the rain began to fall, we were ready! Stile Denton (or as I shall hereafter refer to him "The Prophet") had the foresight to rent a bounce house for the week from our bounce house guy, Tony from FunJump. We kept it set up in the gym. When the rains came, all we did was change locations for recreation. All in all, it was an amazing first day. It only gets better from here! Kudos also the Kayne Parrish who took all our video and photographs today. He had to pull double duty today since we discovered this afternoon the deadline for youth camp is upon us! We got ourselves together and took care of it! Hopefully, I'll get back to a regular pattern of posting soon - much is on my mind to visit with you about!

Julie is back from her Father's Day trip with her parents. They went to Rogers, Arkansas to visit Julie's paternal grandfather. It turned into a mini family reunion and I'm pleased to tell you they had a great time! Click here to see some pictures from their time spent together!

There's nothing more boring than seeing pictures from someone else's vacation! Nevertheless, in response to numerous requests for such boredom. Here's your chance to see selected images from our trip. Click here!

Clearly, I believe in ministry and how God can and will use each of us. How did I come to believe that? By seeing the power of God flow through my life. When I was in high school and in college, the Lord provided opportunities for me to go on mission trips. My home church took one annually to Brownsville, TX and Matamoras, Mexico. When I arrived at college, we took trips to Belize in Central America and did missions in the Dallas area. Through these (and others) I saw the Lord's power, glory and strength. As a result, I was permanently changed. Now, I'm in a position to help others find that same footing. A ministry that helps people experience the sort of excitement and passion I did. Meet IWITNESS MINISTRIES. Founded by some friends of mine, this ministry is no stranger to many of us in Frankston. Caleb Hilburn has gone the last two summers (and is going again this summer!) with this ministry. We'll talk more about their work later, but for now, please mark down to pray...

I'm home today, alas all alone. Julie and her parents have gone to visit her grandfather in Rogers, Arkansas. He's been in poor health, so I'm glad she could go but I still hate it when she's gone. Enough of that. . .we spent the day yesterday seeking an elusive find - a new couch. We were the recipients of an anonymous gift to purchase a new couch. We must've looked at a 1,000. Who would've thought sitting down could wear you out? Comparing how this one feels vs how this one feels. "I like the squishiness of this one, but I like the fabric of that one!" I gotta say, if it were up to me, we would've bought one of the first ones we saw but my wise and gifted wife knows better. She's planning to live with this for some time, so she's taking her time. Good - when she's happy, it certainly makes life happier in general. So take your time darling!

I had some friends ask if I was going to the Southern Baptist Convention Meeting in San Antonio which began yesterday. I told them no thanks - we've got a state full of lost people. I don't have time for the "turf wars" that seem to be part and parcel of these meetings. Today, they'll elect leaders - I hope you'll pray with me for these leaders to take us in a direction honoring to the Lord.

Finally, our DSL is connected and I'm back among the living. You never truly know how much you use something like high-speed internet until you don't have it anymore. I felt absolutely naked! Now, I'm back in the game! For you FBC members, we're working on a presentation for next week's business meeting to recommend DSL connection at the church office as well. The deacon's made that recommendation last night (as well as two others that may surprise you!) to present next Wednesday. If you're a FBC member, join us next Wednesday night for our monthly time of stewardship.

At long last, a new post! Julie and I are doing well in our new Frankston home despite the fact our satellite TV hasn't been connected yet (coming on Monday) and we're still without Internet at home (coming to you live from the church today!). We had an wonderful day Sunday complete with a Fish Fry (even in the rain!). Our new church made us feel so very welcome. We've been here almost a week now and the house is finally coming together to look like home. We bought a couple of pieces of furniture last week - they're supposed to deliver it later this week. For our Corsicana friends, we'll post some pictures of our new home when our Internet connection is finally set up. For our Frankston friends, we welcome you to stop by and see us in our new home! For those who haven't already heard about it, we had an AMAZING time on our vacation! We took around 1,000 pictures while we were gone - we're preparing a slideshow we'll post online as soon as our connection ...