Nature

I feel more connected with God when I am outdoors, away from everything man-made (except my droid of course). Man has made some marvelous creations of art, architecture, and technology. But nothing can rival the glory and majesty of God's creation.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Wise Engineering

The man who hears God's word and obeys it liken to a wise structural engineer.

The wise structural engineer built his building on a concrete pier and beam foundation. And when the hurricane came, the wind and water beat against it but could not shake it because it was well built.  The foolish structural engineer built his building on gumbo clay.  And when the hurricane came the house immediately collapsed, and the destruction of that building was great. 

See Luke 6:46-49.

Hike down memory trail

One of my favorite childhood activities was playing in the woods near my house.  As I grew older, this evolved into riding my dirt bike and four wheeler down the trails to the creek.  We had a maze of trails cut that led to a nice white sand bar on the bend of Village Creek.  We modified our trails over the years as land was developed and new houses were built. 

Ever since moving back to Silsbee I have wanted to try and find our old trails.  I finally got the chance over the past Christmas holiday.  The weather was nice and warm so the wife and I decided to take the dog and go for a hike.  The trail head was just as I remembered, tucked behind the neighbor’s fence..  Obviously the next generation of backwoods explorers have been keeping it cleared.  Soon, however, the trail disappeared into the underbrush of the thicket.  Two major hurricanes and six years of undergrowth had changed the landscape.  We decided to pick our way through the thicket in search of the trail.  Thanks to my wife’s orienteering skills, the beagle’s sense of direction, and google maps on my driod, we found our way to the main trail after about a half mile.

From there it was easy going down the trail to the abandoned dirt road, passing the brick chimney ruins, and on to the sandbar.  We let the dog off the leash to romp through the white sand and take a swim in the creek.  It was just as I remembered.  We hung out at the creek for a while and then hiked back home.

Click here to see a map of the hike.

Christmas Graph

12 Things I Love About Christmas

12. Christmas Music – Excluding Jingle Bells and Deck the Halls

11. Parades – What can I say, I’m a sucker for low boys with lights.

10. Egg Nogg – The Baptist kind, topped off with blue bell ice cream and a touch of cinnamon.

9. The Color Red – By far the most excellent of all colors.

8. Chicken & Dumplings – A Christmas staple.

7. Pastor’s Party – An LBC tradition full of food, fellowship, and worship. (I hated to miss it this year).

6. Buttermilk Pie – Best when eaten with a spoon.

5. Christmas Eve Punch – I know its really just sorbet and 7-up, but on Christmas eve it seems  magical.

4. Christmas Lights – The joy of lighting up the house with colorful lights almost makes me forget the time, frustration and cost it took to do it.

3. Shopping – Though I normally despise shopping, buying gifts for my wonderful, darling wife and my soon-to-be 3-year-old son is a true joy.

2. Family – Getting to spend time with all the family (including the in-laws), together and (mostly) happy.

1. Christ – Celebrating the birth of our Savior, our Lord, our Redeemer, our friend, and our God.  Remembering how the Word became flesh, to live in righteousness, and to suffer and die for the salvation of His elect.

Merry Christmas,

-DJ

And leaving everything he followed Him.

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, "Follow me." And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

Luke chapter 5 verses 27 and 28 chronicle the call of Levi (or Matthew).  This brief story of simple faith is remarkable.  It personifies God’s grace to unworthy sinners and the subsequent faith and action of a true disciple.

Levi was a tax collector, the vilest sort of sinner in Jewish society.  Tax collectors were Jews working for the Roman government.  They would collect the required amount of taxes plus a little extra to line their pockets.  They were the first century equivalent of Tony Soprano, extorting money from their fellow countrymen.  They were considered dishonest thieves and criminals.  The7y were typically accompanied by an entourage of thugs, soldiers, and various “sinners”.  These cats made up the bottom echelon of society, and were hated and scorned by the devout Jews.

Yet, this hopeless, despicable, hated tax collector was whom Jesus chose.  His grace overshadowed this man’s unworthiness, and Levi responded with simple yet astounding faith.  He followed Jesus, walking away from a table stacked with money.  He recognized Jesus to be the priceless pearl and traded the riches of this life for the riches of Christ.

Such is the good news.

Weekend Hike With the Dogs

See Map
Wildlife: 1 snake, several deer, and 1 armadillo.

Really?

Do we really need a massage/NIV parallel? Is there someone out there reading the NIV who says, "I wonder how this verse reads in the message." Is the message translation there to clear up all the complexities in the NIV? Don't they know that two wrongs don't make a right?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Bad Company

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in the Bill Glass Week of Champions prison ministry event in Beaumont, Texas.  I was (providentially) assigned to the local short-term juvenile corrections facility.  There were six of us volunteers and twenty-six inmates, twenty guys and six girls.  There were two platform speakers that day, both retired NFL players.  They gave their testimony and shared the gospel.

I had a group of five guys whom I was able to spend most of the day with.  Some of them were “first-timers.”  For others, though, this was their third or fourth stint in juvy.  These young men ranged in age from 14 to 17, and were incarcerated for a number of different crimes.  Some were in for family violence, others for theft of parole violations.  I had the opportunity to hang out with them in the commons area and just talk and get to know them.  They were eager to talk because they don’t often get the opportunity.  After the speaker, we read through a gospel tract as a group.  I led the discussion about the scriptures by asking them specific questions.  Some of the guys were familiar with gospel, having been raised in church or exposed to other ministries such as opportunity camp.  They were all open and eager to discuss the gospel.  We also read through a short study guide that accompanied the tract.  It was difficult to gauge the genuineness of their response.  I led them in the acceptance prayer written on the tract, and they repeated after me.

Next, we ate lunch with them.  It was taco day.  I would rate the food as being slightly worse than high school cafeteria food.  After lunch they reluctantly went back to their cells for an hour or so.  In the afternoon, though, I was able to spend more time with them.

Getting to know these guys really opened my eyes.  They were emotionally and spiritually broken.  Unlike most of the teens I’ve come across before, they did not put on a tough guy front.  These fellas were real and honest.  They all said the same thing, “I just want to go home to my momma.”  It broke my heart to hear the pain in their voice as they told me their stories.  They were living in the consequences of their sins, and they knew it.  They wanted to get out, and never come back again. 

But some of them have already come back, several times.  I asked them what went wrong, what was the root cause.  They all gave the same answer.  They hung out with the wrong people.  When they would first get out, they were repentant and swore to go on the straight and narrow.  But soon they began to associate with their “homeboys” who negatively influenced them back into sin, crime and bondage. 

This reminds me of First Corinthians 15:33,

“Do not be deceived, bad company ruins good morals”

So please pray for these five young men.  Pray that the Father will draw them to Himself.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will convict them of their sin and show them their need for salvation.  Pray that they have ears to hear and hearts to understand the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.  Pray that they may be transformed and set free from the bondage of sin and death so that they may live for the Glory of God.

The key to a successful business.

Location, location, location.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Christmas Lights

6824 lights, 9 extension chords, 28 manhours, 6 curse words, 3 marital spats, and one role of electrical tape.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5