Sunday, August 31, 2008

Duct Tape

This picture is of my dad holding our grandson Jonathan who is now 10 months old. Life is kind of like the duct tape that is on my car right now it is very temporary. I never would have thought on the day this picture was taken that we would be having his funeral before Jonathan was a year old.
The plastic underneath our car sagged and began to drag the ground on our way to the church tonight. The deacon who helped to duct tape the bus took some duct tape and made a temperary fix on the car so we could get it home. It held up very well and I will go in the morning to see about getting the permanent fix done if they are open on labor day. I have been asked to post some pictures of the car but have not taken any yet. I will get a picture before they fix it and try to get it posted here.

I will preach at the nursing home at 1o in the morning and then preach a grave side service at 11. I plan to take the bus in for inspection if the shop is open on labor day if not I will get it done on Wednesday. Sunday I plan to preach about the suffering of our Savior preparing the people to observe the Lord's Supper Sunday night. Tomorrow afternoon will be spent getting ready for Wednesday night. The 4 1/2 hour drive down to Moss Hill will be spent in preparing the Sermon for Sunday while my wife drives. I will be driving the truck back. That means Janie will have to drive 9 hours in one day. I have done this before but she never has. It will be worth it to have the truck back. Well I am off to bed. God bless you.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Its Bound to Happen

The longer you live the more you say "its bound to happen." The picture is of my in-laws when they were just starting out in their life togther.

We have put over 51,000 miles on our new car in 15 months. Being on the road that much hitting animals is bound to happen. We hit a deer a few months ago and now we have hit a racoon. This time there has been significant damage to the car and we will have to put it in a body shop to have it repaired. We plan to drive down to Moss Hill to get our truck so we will have transportation while our car is being fixed.


We had a good day today. I spent the morning with one of the deacons of our church and we duct taped the seats on the bus. After lunch I left it with him to finish and went to work on some Bible studies. At one point all of our deacons were at the church working today. Three of them were working on the A/C unit. It looks like they will have it ready to go for Sunday. We found a note at the church left by the cleaning ladies that said they found another snake in the church and that we should check into it. We may have an interesting service if a snake should come crawling through the auditorium during our worship.


There is a major huricane entering the Gulf and I pray that there will be no one hurt by it. Houses and things can be replaced but lives cannot. My daughter and son-in-law are 50 miles inland and do not plan to evacuate at least for now. We will be driving down there about the time it will be hitting that area. It should have lost its punch by then so we will just be slowed down by the rain. There should not be any traffic going down and probably little if any coming back.


We got a lot done in Henderson at the home place. I burned a lot of trash and my brother moved the trailer for me. He came to late for me to do any mowing with the tractor but things are looking better there. We plan to spend a few more hours next week on it and try to keep making progress. I will take my mower over next week since I will have the truck and get the yard mowed. I can also crank the tractor and start dealing with the heavier items that will need to be moved. Going to try to get some firewood week after next to be ready for cool weather. The main source of heat in the house is a woodburning stove.


I have changed my mind on the text for Sunday morning. I came across a sermon by Bro. Davis that was really exciting to me and will preach that tomorrow. I have my sermon ready also for the nursing home on Monday morning and for the funeral which I have right afterward. The only thing I lack right now is to finish up the sermon for Sunday night but that will not take long. God bless you.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Good Deeds


I spent yesterday afternoon with my father in the ministry Bro. Davis. I went with him to pick up his car that was in the shop and it was not ready so we went back to his house to work on a couple of plumbing projects. While I was working on that Janie was at our house in Henderson doing some cleaning there when a man came to the door wanting a ride into town. Janie had no car with her at the time because I had dropped her off on my way to see Bro. Davis. She told him she could not help him that he might try one of the houses on down the road. He then asked if he could come into the house and change clothes but Janie refused that request as well. The man left and Janie locked the door and called me. I was worried of course but the Lord took care of her. She will not open the door to a strange man again. After finishing the pluming job at Bro. Davis's house and picking up his car I return to our house in Henderson and helped Janie clean up around there. We had supper together and went grocery shopping for her mother. Had a good nights rest and that was how I spent my day off. Good deeds are how we are to love one another. We are to love in deeds not words. The picture is of my youngest daughter doing a good deed helping with the dishes at her grandparents house.
I will go by TBI today for some doctoral work there and then go see my mother. My younger brother said he would be coming over to mow her yard this afternoon so I will get to see him as well. He said he would help me to crank my tractor and I will use it to mow the yard at my house. It is grown up real bad and I need to move the trailer that is in the yard to a safer place. I am worried about the yard looking junky for you can be fined if you have trash piled up on your property. I want to get it cleaned up as soon as possible it would look bad for my name to be in the Henderson paper as having been issued a fine for trash on property. I will burn trash today and when I return next week I will bury the ashes and smooth over the back yard. In a few weeks it should all look real good. I fixed a roof leak yesterday while it was raining. That is the best time for fixing a roof cause you can see where the leak is. The house needs lots of work and I will take it a little at a time. We will be back in Hillsboro tonight and I have an appointment with a bus tomorrow morning early to repair its seats.

I plan to preach from a text (1 John 3:18-24) that Jason talked to me about on Wednesday. It really caught my attention and I have not been able to put it out of my mind. I will put the finishing touches on it tomorrow and it should be ready to go. God bless you.

Monday, August 25, 2008

35th Anniversary


Today is the 35 anniversary of the day I asked Janie to marry me. She said yes of course and my life with her has been wonderful. She is sweet, loving, and affectionate. We, having met on July 11th and our first date on July 21st, only dated for five weeks before becoming engaged. We had both prayed to God and He brought us together. Her mother and my oldest sister were working together at the newspaper office in Henderson and they were responsible for our meeting. I moved back to Texas after living in Massachusetts for ten years. The picture above was taken at her sister's wedding on August 17, 1973. Eight days from when this picture was taken I picked Janie up when she got off work and I took her to the park. We took a walk and I popped the question. She said yes and when we got back to the car I gave her an engagement ring. I also knocked a hole in my muffler that night. Janie was a telephone operator when I met her. She had finished one year of college and was driving a yellow 1973 Opel GT. My father-in-law still has that car parked in his back yard. Janie, I love you, and want to thank you for saying yes! It has been a great 35 years. God bless you.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Oh Happy Day


God wants us to worship Him. He loves us every minute of every day. It is right and good for us to pause our busy lives and to deliberately gather together and lift our voices in praise of the God who has fed us and clothed us and provided our every need. He loved us and died for us. It is a happy day when we pause to praise His name. We had a great worship service today.
This week we plan to repair the seats on the bus. I will be leading the singing at the nursing home in the morning. I will do some visitation tomorrow and then will go to the office and get some studying done. Thursday I plan to spend some time with Bro. Davis and work on the Web site and make some plumbing repairs at his house. Friday I will go to school while Janie spends some time with her mother. I will check on my mother and maybe do a little work at my house in Henderson before returning to Hillsboro. All of this is subject to change of course according to God's will. God bless you.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Spam for Breakfast


I am having a spam sandwich for breakfast. That seems odd but it is noon and I have not eaten since I got up this morning so this is breakfast for me. We got back early this morning from helping my daughter and son-in-law move. The picture is one I took with my phone at the barber shop. I took my father-in-law to the barber and on the way he asked me if there were any chance that we would see Charlcye. Since she and Janie were in Tyler I answered "no we should not run into her." I wondered what his concern was and he said he had not put his teeth in and if she saw it he would be in trouble. I enjoyed spending time with him and his mind is still as sharp witted as ever. If I make it to 84 I believe that I too will have earned the right to leave my teeth at home.
I met with the Dean at TBI and got lined out on what I will have to do to get my Doctor's degree. I will have to first of all write a 5000 word prospectus. This document will discribe my area of research and the subject matter of my dissertation. Then upon approval of the 5000 word prospectus I will begin my research and study of the "Song of Songs." I will have to write a 50,000 word thesis and will have to site something like a minimum of 60 sources. It will be a lot of work and I have one year to finish the prospectus and two years to finish the dissertation. You can expect that some of my research will find its way into this blog so stay tuned.
We are off to work on some things here at the house and then to get what we need to repair the seats on the bus at church. One of our deacons has volunteered to help with this project and I will call him later on this afternoon to let him know how I made out getting the supplies we will need. I will be preaching from the book of Acts this Sunday. God bless you.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Lebus


I went with my mother this morning to the bank and to Wal-Mart (see picture). After a good visit with her I drove over to Longview to visit Lebus Mfg. Company. It was good to see all my old co-workers. They all seem to be doing just fine. There had been a lot of changes since I left there almost six years ago. I plan to go back again in December for another visit. I have been spending this afternoon working on the sermon for Sunday. After a couple of hours of study I was not making the kind of progress I needed to on the text so I pulled off of that and went looking for another text to preach from this Sunday. I will need a lot more time on the John text, much more time than I have between now and Sunday. I will preach from Acts chapter 12 where Peter was released from prison by an Angel of the Lord. I have intitled the sermon "Unstopable." I will be at TBI tomorrow morning and then helping my daughter and her family move Friday afternoon. Hopefully all will go well. God bless you.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Doctor Hiking


I went over to Corsicana today and with the gift card from my son and some of the birthday money I received from others I bought a set of treking poles. They are very light poles and I really like them. I had unknowingly left my cell phone at the house and upon returning I saw that I had missed a call from TBI. It was one of my instructors informing me that the faculty had voted to offer me a chance to participate in their Doctoral program. I will talk to the church about this tonight and with their blessings I will tell the school that I would be honored. It will be a lot of work, and I mean a lot of work. I would like to do my dissertation on the Song of Solomon, which is, in my opinion, the most difficult book of the Bible. This will require me to spend quite a bit of time at TBI both consulting with my advisor and researching in the library there. I figure it will take about 6 hours a week for about a year and a half to finish this dissertation. Their rules require a huge amount of sources to be cited and a minimum of what seems like a billion words. Then it must be professionally printed and bound. What I would take from such an endeavor would be a thorough understanding of the Song of Solomon and a discipline in research and study which few ever attain.

Back to hiking, after checking my messages I sorted through my hiking gear and culled a lot of things which represented a lot of bad ideas. Walking 24 miles in one day will make you re-evaluate your needs. You can get by on a whole lot less than you think. I had a folding stool in there that weighed more than my tent and sleeping pad combined. It made me laugh when I uncovered it. The new hiking poles are reallly light and smaller than my old pair. I looked at hiking boots and tried a pair on for size. They were really comfortable but the true test of a shoe is 9 miles. How they feel after 9 strait miles determines if they are good. The problem with that is that you can't return them after you have walked that far in them. The picture is of me on a hike in Mineralwells, Texas during the fall of the year. It got down to freezing that night for there was frost on our tents that next morning.

We have a meeting tonight at the church of our Mid-week Bible School workers. We will discuss the schedule and who is going to do what. I am preaching tonight from Ezekiel 37 the valley of dry bones. I still let my imagination go wild when I read that text and put myself in that valley as those bones came together. It would have been an awesome sight. I am on facebook now even though I am not complete sure what that is. It is like a blog but different. God bless you.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Birthday


Today was my birthday. It was a good day. The congregation of residents at the nursing home sang happy birthday to me. I had led the singing and turned the service over to the one who was to deliver the message and that is when they suprised me with the song. I had a few phone calls and a lot of birthday cards. My son sent me a gift card from Gander Mountain that had this picture on it. This picture was taken a couple of years ago when I went out to hike with my brother in California. We are standing at the Mexican border at the start of the Pacific Crest Trail. After I have redeemed the card I may do as my son suggested and make a refrigerator magnet out of it. I am 55 years old and really it does not feel any different than 50 or even 40. I get stiff if I sit too long but I enjoy walking and hiking and try to walk at least an hour every day.
I received a call from Lebus Mfg. company. The man who was my replacement as the supervisor in the Die Shop called with a software problem. I had him to email me over the files involved and I fixed the problem and sent it back to him. It was good to hear from them. The lead man that I worked with for so many years is going to retire in December after 43 years with the company. I hope to be able to go over and be there for his retirement party. Their business is good and there have been many changes in the past 5, almost 6, years since I left to move to Hillsboro. I am a little amazed that they still use the software that I wrote. I am going to try to go by the plant to see them on Thursday. I will not be able to stay long with them but I do miss the friends that I worked with 5 days a week for some 27 years.
Sunday was a great day and it is raining right now and cool. We will be going over to Henderson to help my daughter and son-in-law move to Moss Hill. I think I mentioned before that I have some banking business to take care of for my mother while I am there. God bless you.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Garage


A Garage is a building or indoor area for parking or storing motor vehicles. The garage here at the parsosnage has always been that plus an area to work and to store things not worthy to be stored in the house. The garage is now CLEAN!!! Janie and I worked at it most of the day. We piled the things we were going to keep on one side of the driveway and the stuff we were going to throw away on the other. We kept everything that belongs to our son which he left when he moved his family to France. We are going to sort those things and store them somewhere safe. I am going to tackle the storage building next. I think that I can throw away everything out there. I will have my truck to help deal with those things.
My oldest daughter with her husband and children will be moving Friday leaving my house in Henderson empty. We have had the phone turned off but will keep the electricity on so we can have it for when we go there to remodel and check on our folks there. We are going to go to Henderson next Thursday. I have some banking business to take care of for my mother and will help my daughter and son-in-law move. We will go with them to their new home and will bring the truck back to Henderson and leave the trailer there and then bring the truck back to Hillsboro. I have a number of things to take back to Henderson and will need the truck for that. I will be taking pictures of the remodeling of my house in Henderson. The process will be slow because I will not have a lot of time to spend on it and also it is expensive to remodel and I will need to set aside some money for it.
I am looking forward to the services in the morning. I went over the sermon this morning when I first got up. I looked over the Sunday School lesson this morning and tonight before I go to bed I will look over the text for Sunday night. We have business meeting tomorrow night so will do a short sermon. God bless you.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Summer Vacation is Over


We picked up the bus and the van today and they are ready to go. Next week I will make the rounds on the bus route and spread the word to the kids that we will be ready for them in September. We have a meeting of the workers this coming Wednesday where we will lay our final plans. Vacation is over and school starts at our church September 3rd. The Picture is of my daughter-in-law and granddaughter at the Grand Canyon.

This Sunday I will be preaching from the book of John. I am looking forward to this sermon which will be entitled "Seven Things Pilates Need to Know", based on the seven questions Pilate asked. I have never heard this text preached from this point of view. Pilate is a lost man who is faced with a decision of what he will do with Jesus. Pilates of the world need to listen to this Pilate's questions.

Baptistville.org is in the works so check it out. God bless you.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

TBI


I went to the opening day at TBI and had a good time. There were three messages preached by three different men and they were all good. There were 8 first year students and 2 of them are kin to me. My son-in-law and my nephew are both signed up and ready to go. I could not help but think about my first day at TBI and what a long journey that seemed to be. It took me 9 years to finish TBI and I would not take anything for that experience. I pray they will stick it out for it will be a huge blessing to them.

I continue to fight some sort of cold. My voice is deep today after a hard coughing session last night. I have been running a low grade fever since Monday but I feel fine. If I run fever tonight I may call the doctor tomorrow. We have an appointment to take the school bus in for service after lunch. Janie will follow me up there as I drive the bus. We will pick it up on friday. I am at the office right now and will put the finishing touches on Sunday's sermon. Then tomorrow I will work on Sunday night's sermon. The picture is of my daughter and son-in-law after my dad's funeral. God bless you.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Weekly Chores


We had good services at the nursing home this morning. Afterward we enjoyed a good visit with one of the ladies of our church who lives alone. We took our church van to the repair shop and left it there to be fixed. We will be going over to Henderson tomorrow afternoon and will attend the TBI opening day activities. I have worked hard today to try to get caught up on those things which I have to get done each week. I composed "From the Pastor" and got it emailed off to Janie so she can do the bulletin this week. I studied the Sunday school lesson for next Sunday and have it ready to go. I just finished looking at my text for Wednesday night and have it ready to go as well. On Wednesday nights I go strait through the Bible and one sermon from each book. I will skip Jeremiah because we are covering it in Sunday School. I will preach from Lamentations chapter three this Wednesday. Thursday is take the school bus to the shop day. They said for me to call in advance and they would have the bay ready for me to pull right in. Hopefully they will have it ready on Friday and I can take it to get the inspection sticker renewed. We will then be ready to pick up our Wednesday kids. I spend a lot of time on weekly chores. The things that have to be done every week need to be done first. Any time that remains after these chores is used for other projects like cleaning out the garage and working on websites.

I have done very little work on the Baptistville.org website. There is much to do there and I will get it done little by little. I think however I will clean my garage first and I may do that this Saturday. I have been a little sick today, running a low grade fever this afternoon. I will head for bed and see if a good nights sleep will make me all better. I have too much work to do to be sick. The picture was taken with my cell phone at Canton trades day. This booth is one of Janie's favorites. God bless you.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

The Clark Place


I recently took my wife, her 91 year old uncle, and my mother-in-law for a ride. We went to visit a couple of cemeteries where some of their relatives were buried. They told us stories about the various ones who were in each cemetery. As we drove along my wife's uncle would point out a house or an old house site and say "that is the so-in-so place", giving the name of the person who either lived there years ago or who lived there currently. I have often heard property referred to in this way. I have a place in Henderson that I bought 32 years ago. It was the Pierson Place before I bought it. In years to come people will drive by and say that is the Clark place, no longer calling it the old Pierson Place. I have a better place than the one in Henderson. I have a home that is not made with hands. I will live there so long that they will always call it the Clark Place. No one else will own it after me because it will never be taken from me by death. You see I believe that Jesus Christ is my savior. I cried to him while lost in my sin and already condemned. I begged Him to forgive me and to save my soul. He saved me that day and reserved for me a home in heaven. It waits for me even now. I long to see that "Clark Place" which Jesus has reserved for me. The picture is of my old tractor out there on the old Clark Place. She is a Ford 1700, 2 cylinder diesel. I bought her used back in 1982.

This week is stacking up to be another busy one. I hope to see my brothers and sisters in Christ down at Hewitt this week. I have missed visiting with them. They have been so kind to me and they are such a joy to be around, just like the folks at Walnut Street. Bro. Davis asked me last week if I would go in view of a call to Pleasant Hill MBC. I told him I would think and pray about it. They are good people and I have fond memories of bringing up my children in that Church with Bro. Davis as our pastor. We were there for 18 years. I did prayerfully consider the prospect but told him Friday that I would not. I strongly believe that I am where the Lord wants me to be. Things are going very well at our church now and it has taken some 5 1/2 years to get to this point. People are responding to God's call to service and have rolled up their sleeves and gone to work. It is truly a joy to pastor such a people who want to work for Jesus.

I plan to travel over to Henderson again this week but on Wednesday this time. I want to attend the opening day at TBI, my old seminary. I need to get with the President of the school about some things and I want to encourage my nephew and my son-in-law as they begin their school year. I hope to get our churches school bus serviced and ready to go and also our church van needs some work so will take it in for repairs. I am so looking forward to our midweek Bible School. With plenty of workers and lots of kids it should be a huge success. We had six souls saved last year and it is my prayer we will have more this year and maybe get some of the parents to come as well.

I have deacons meeting to attend tonight and expect that to go well. We will have business meeting next Sunday where I fully expect to be able to call my daughter as is my custom and say those famous words "I survived another one." God bless you.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Happiness


I like the following definition of happiness: Happiness is not doing what you like but liking what you do. If what you do is pleasing to God it is twice blessed. You like doing it and God likes you doing it. God is thus happy and so are you. I love pastoring a church. It allows me to serve God in so many special ways. I get to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with lost people who so desperately need the Lord. I get to teach others how to share the Gospel. I get to tell people about the future and warn them of what is about to befall this earth. I get to help people when they are in trouble. But you know when I was a deacon that allowed me to do the same things. And you know before I was a deacon I was allowed to do the same things. So happiness does not depend upon your title, it depends upon your attitude and upon doing God's will. As I write this blog Janie is helping our daughter with thankyou notes. They seem to be having fun with it.

Janie and I will head over to Henderson this afternoon and spend the night with her parents. I will go over to Bro. Davis's house and spend some time there which will make us both happy. I plan to also go by to see my mother on Friday. Saturday is Janie's uncle's 91st birthday. We want to make that day special for him and will spend that morning with him, which will make him happy, before heading back to Hillsboro. The picture is of my grandson Caleb and a friend over in Paris, France. Be happy and God bless you.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Handicap Parking


Some laws ought not to have to be. The law that says you are not to park in a handicap parking spot if you are not handicaped is just such a law. People ought to think of others and when you are healthy and mobile then you ought to park farther away letting those who are less mobile have the closest ones. At our church we do not have spots marked for handicap parking and at church you certainly should not need them. There are several laws like this on the books that are inacted just to make people do what they ought to do out of common curtesy. What is your motivation for not parking in a handicap parking place. If you don't park there because it is against the law then you need to rethink your motives. You ought to do it out of love and compassion for those less fortunate than yourself. On the new earth were there will be no more sea there will also be no more handicap parking. No such laws will be needed there not only because there will be no handicaped people there but because people there will do that which is right out of a pure motive of love. I think I shall start working on my motives now so I will be ready for then.

I have not felt well today. I can not put my finger on the problem just not feeling 100%. I ate some chicken soup for lunch and I think that helped. At seven I am suppose to pray at the city counsel meeting so I will get my tie on and head that way in a little bit. I am glad that I live in a town that still has public prayer. I pray at the school board meetings and at the county comissioner's court meetings. They need prayer and our city certainly does.
The tropical storm ED... is begining to impact us here in Hillsboro. It has clouded up and is cooling down. The wind is picking up and I hope we get a good rain. The picture is of my father and I remodeling my house in Henderson back in 2001. God bless you.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Meeting


Our meeting on Sunday went very well. We had a meeting of those who wanted to help in our midweek Bible school and the response was good. It appears that we will have enough volunteers to get the program going. I plan to contact the kids and get them ready to go and start the bus route the first Wednesday of September. I am excited about this outreach. We had six saved last year and I am praying that this year we will get some of the parents to at least visit in our services.

Saturday before last we had the District Ladies Auxiliary meeting at our church and the program the ladies put on was great. The food was exceptional. We had to rush away to get to our son-in-law's ordination service and that meeting went well.

This Thursday I plan to meet with Bro. Davis and spend the day with him. We are going to work on his website and get some more of his sermons uploaded. I am going to try to meet with him 2 days a month and I always enjoy my time with him.

I am about to have an online meeting with my son and his family. It will be good to talk to them and see them. We will be going over there on the 27th of October and get caught up on all the hugs we have missed.

I am looking forward to meeting with the folks down in Hewitt. We missed seeing them this past month due to a busy schedule. We enjoy our vists with them.

I have a meeting set up for tomorrow afternoon with one of our church members. It will be a chance to encourage and fellowship together. Christians need one another "so much the more as ye see the day approaching."

I will meet with the Holy Spirit of God this afternoon in my study as I open His sword and study it. Janie will probably have a meeting with the equipment down at Curves this afternoon. May all your meetings be blessed. The picture is of Janie (in the center) and her sisters and mother with her grandparents. God bless you.