Git-R-Dun

"They are going to have to fight me for it" I replied when two of the ladies who bring devotionals at the nursing home on Monday mornings showed up. It is rare that all three three of us show up at the nursing home at the same time. I led the singing and preached a sermon that I had prepared Sunday night after church. It was a good service with about 50 or so residents attending. Sunday services went very well. The first picture is of a mother and daughter singing a special right before I got up to preach. These two sing very well and the song they chose was perfect for the sermon. The second picture I place here only because I often take and post candid snap shots of Janie and use them often against her wishes. She took this candid shot while I was preaching and as pay back for all the pictures I have posted of her I will post this one of me.

Clint's mother sent me the following text message: "As everyone knows, we are at Zale Lipshy hospital for rehab and it is going great. Thanks to a lot of prayers and God's grace Clint is well on his way back. God is great and thanks to all for everything." He is doing well. He is able to wear his regular clothes and they have had him walking up and down stairs. Hopefully he will get out of the hospital soon though he will have to return each day at first for therapy. I join with her and thank you for your prayers for him.

I had more on my plate today than I could get done. That use to bother me a lot but now I know that most things will keep until the next day. I have tried to properly prioritize my tasks and work on them as efficiently as I could. Having done my best I will leave the rest for tomorrow. God bless you.

Choir Practice

The church choir met at the choir director's house and had supper together. There was a real good turn out of people. It was called Christmas in August. We went over the Christmas program and it looks like it is going to be a good one. He plans to have the performance the Sunday night before Christmas. The program is about 40 minutes long. Our choir may be small but it is enthusiastic. We had a great time of fellowship.

I will preach 4 sermons tomorrow. The first at 10:00 from Second Peter, the second at 11:25 from Revelation 15, the third at 2:30 from Revelation 19, and the fourth at 6:15 from 1 Corinthians 5. Monday I will preach one sermon at 10:00 and build one sermon at 6:00. Monday will be visitation day. I need to visit a couple of church members and a lady in the nursing home in Waco. I am glad to see cooler weather arriving. It is suppose to be in the 90's this week instead of the 100's. I spoke with my mother on the phone and she is doing well. My brother's (Pictured above) have been taking good care of things at our place in Henderson. Mother said that my brother's cranked the tractor and mowed the field between the two houses. They also cleaned up mother's drive way, trimming the limbs back so she can see before pulling out into the road. I sure am thankful for my brothers. They set me free to help others and get my school work done.

The House of Mourning

It is better, the Scripture says, to go unto the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. Those who work in a nursing home have, perhaps, a better work place than those who work in a nursery if for no other reason than perspective. If the day of ones death is better than the day of ones birth as the Scriptures have said, then funerals are better than birthday parties. Our first order of business today was to attend a funeral. There were about 30 people there and unlike a lot of funerals there was no grave side service. We made our way back to Hillsboro where I went to the bank with our missions treasurer to help him with some bank business. Our church voted to pay off the language school over in France and we went there to see about a wire transfer. It did not go well. While Janie was at curves this afternoon I took a walk and got in a little over three miles. Supper consisted of half a baked potato while watching the news. After I finish this blog post I will try to take care of some loose ends, relax for a bit then head for bed. The picture is of my newest son-in-law sitting on his bunk at camp. I took the picture while sitting on my bunk. God bless you.

We had a safe trip to Henderson Wednesday night. I was given an audio book for my birthday and it helped the three hour drive pass more quickly. It is a good book and according to the box it is 7 hours long. I have listened to over half of it and will finish it by the time I get back to Hillsboro.

Janie and I took time to walk this morning. I snapped this picture while on our walk. We went to see Bro. Davis and he is doing okay. He seems very weak and lethargic. Sis. Davis' sister died yesterday and the funeral will be tomorrow. I will either be going to the funeral in the morning or sitting with Bro. Davis at his house during it. I will work on my thesis tonight since the funeral tomorrow will take up most of the day.

After supper I worked on cleaning up my in-law's carport a bit. Thought I had better come in and work on the thesis instead so I better get started. God bless you.

Diet

I love a diet where you never get hungry. This picture is of a typical breakfast meal. It consists of a glass of juice, one egg, and one piece of sausage. I have discovered that I am no longer allergic to peanuts. I ate half a peanut butter sandwich for lunch today and it was so good.

We had an extra long Bible study session this morning. You know your are enjoying a study and discussion when the time gets away from you. I like small group Bible Study.

We had a strong thunder storm come through this afternoon and lost some limbs out of the trees. After the storm passed we visited at the hospital and then went to visit two of the families from our church that live north of town. The first stop we made they had just lost 2 trees to the storm. One of them in the front yard and one in the back. It just blew them right over. The second visit we made they had had no rain at all. We returned home to watch the news while we ate supper and then got back to work critiquing a paper written by one of my fellow pastors.

Bro. Davis was feeling some better today and Sis. Davis' sister is near death. They are under a lot of stress right now and I ask you to pray for them. Clint is still doing well and making good progress. They still have high hopes that his right hand will not lose any fingers. I was told he ate two hamburgers the other day so it sounds like he is doing well. We are all looking forward to the day he comes home from the hospital.

I still need to do some work on the sermon for Sunday and I have not yet prepared for the Sunday school lesson. Sunday afternoon I will be preaching at the nursing home. I have a sermon ready for that service and for Monday morning when I will be preaching at the nursing home again. I just wanted to stop and blog a little before proceeding with the next job. I find it best to get your work done early in the week because you never know what is going to come up. God bless you.

Davis

We made the two hour drive to Tyler this morning to see Bro. and Sis. Davis. He is very weak and not feeling well. His worse days were Friday and Saturday after having Chemo on Wednesday. I will return to their house on Thursday to help out. I hate to see him suffer. The picture is of me and Bro. Davis when I graduated from TBI in 2003.

I worked on www.baptistville.org this evening finishing up Dr. Ray Brooks' website changes. He has given me several sermons to put on there and I got all of his Revelation sermons uploaded and linked. He has taken a very unusual approach to the book of Revelation so you might want to check it out.

I have a very long and busy day planned for tomorrow starting with Ladies Bible study in the morning and ending with the next episode of Tribman being completed. The Bible describes the Great Tribulation as being like a woman in travail (Matthew 24:8). The pain starts out slow and then increases in intensity and frequency until the end. Tribman's experiences will also grow in intensity until the end.

My Song of Songs Thesis will take off on Friday this week. I expect to get some serious translation work done and will really push to get that work done as quickly as possible. After the translation work is over including my interlinear, smooth translation, and paraphrase, I will begin to research the canonization of the book. I am excited about this project and am anxious to complete my book. I don't expect it to be a New York Times best seller but I hope it will help Bible students in the future. God bless you.

Fellowship

Well let me try this again. I just wrote this blog on the Tribman blog and so I deleted it there and tried to copy it here and it did not work. So here goes again.

The church had a fellowship after services today in honor of my birthday. The services were good and the special that our music director sang had me on shouting ground. Our attendance was up and the food afterward was great. I got lots of cards and gifts and spent this afternoon writing thank you notes. Tonight we have Junior Choir practice before our services and the business meeting right after services. In the morning we will head over to Tyler to check on Bro. Davis and help the man who had surgery last week get back home to Hillsboro. Thursday I will spend my day off with Bro. Davis, Lord willing, and Friday morning at school. I have much work to do at the school and will spend about four hours in the Library.

I talked to Jason this afternoon and they are doing well. I had to get from him how much he owed the language school so I could report that at business meeting tonight. He owes $15, 747.00 roughly, depending on the exchange rate. Tonight at business meeting we are going to consider paying this off out of our churches general fund.

The picture is one I took a few months ago after one of our evening services were over. Janie and I turn the lights out and lock up after services. I snapped this picture while waiting for the sound booth computer to shutdown. God bless you.

Stacini

Stacini is a nick name I have for my oldest daughter (pictured here with her 2 sons). It is pronounced "stay-seen-knee." We had a good day with her, her kids, and her husband. They head home tomorrow and I may or may not be headed for Tyler in the morning. The church member that had surgery may need help getting back to Hillsboro so we may need to go there in the morning. I called bro. Davis today and the chemo is taking its toll on him. He was not feeling well at all. I almost dropped what I was doing to head strait to his house to help and encourage him. He seemed a little low. If we do go to Tyler we may make a quick stop in to see him before going to the hospital there.

I made a foxhole radio but it does not work. I think the razor blade or the "cat whisker" may be the problem. When I have it working properly I will post pictures and the story of how I made it. I really like my day pack. It is small and light and holds what you need for a full days hike. In one of its pockets I have placed some survival items in the event I was to get lost in the woods. It contains a first aid kit, fire starter, emergency blanket, whistle, compass, and a rain poncho. I am going to take it on the hike with my brothers in October.

Well I better head for bed in case I have to head out early for Tyler. This second picture is of my mother-in-law admiring the new lights in her lower cabinets. God bless you.

Vacation Over

Our Vacation is over. We got a lot done and it is good to be back home. Our oldest daughter and her family are here with us and though I did go to the office for a while today I did spend some time with the kids. We got home about 10:00 on Wednesday and the kids arrived at 2:00 Thursday morning. We had a belated birthday party for Ruth as you can see from the picture. The second picture was taken by my brother of me on the trail.

I got to talk to Jason today and they are doing well. They have no cell phone signal at their new house so to make a phone call they have to drive about 2 miles which is not real convenient. They are doing fine.

I ordered some software that is required by the School. It came in today and I have installed it. It contains a lot of books in electronic form which relate to my Bible studies. It looks like it is going to be a good program. It is called Logos.

I spent a couple of hours cooking today. Homemade beef stew and homemade yeast rolls both turned out well. I do like to cook. Well, the grand kids are in bed and I should head that way too. God bless you.

56

Our day began early when Janie and I loaded a dead electric scooter into the back of a van. We showered, dressed and at 7:00 departed for the Hospital. We spent most of the day there while one of our church members was having surgery. During the surgery I took the dead scooter to the repair shop and waited there till it was finished. I got back to the hospital where we continued to wait. After the doctor said the surgery was successful we ate lunch at the hospital and headed back to Henderson. We stopped at the bank and then at Wal-mart to get some gas and a birthday cake. We picked up some sandwiches at Whataburger for Janie's parents. While they ate their lunch in the den Janie and I had a birthday party in the kitchen. Just her and I eating cake together. It was good. I finished installing a new light switch which now gives her light in the lower cabinets. After that job was through I went to the den and shelled some peas.

The hike with my brother is on for tomorrow morning at 6:o0 so I got my day pack loaded and ready to go except for water, which I will do in the morning. I look forward to doing 15 miles with him and we have a lot to talk about. Janie will spend the day with her parents and then Thursday morning we will head for Hillsboro. The pictures are of my day today. I am going to go for a walk this evening with Janie and then retire early. God bless you.

Lights On

My son-in-law, Scott, gets to his church early each Sunday morning to turn on the A/C and lights. This Sunday Morning I went over early as well and found him vacuuming the carpet. He and his family sang a special and it was very good (See the picture). Scott and I went to a cafe just a mile or so north of their house and got some hamburgers for lunch. I also bought 2 pies which were outstanding. We had a good visit and then about 3:00 we headed back to Henderson. We took a nap first thing since both of Janie's parents were napping when we arrived. After supper I installed some lights in the kitchen pantry, one light for each shelf (see the second picture). I also secured some wires that were hanging down under the stove top and now the pans fit a little better under there.

I will rise early in the morning and go over to Tyler to have our car worked on at the dealer. They had to order a part for it and it came in. I have already paid them so there will be no charge. I need to call one of my church members to see if he is going to have surgery in the morning or not. If he is I will run over there for that surgery while I am in Tyler.

I talked with Bro. Davis and he said he was pretty tired out. He ended up driving to Hillsboro Sunday morning instead of Saturday night. He went to the parsonage for the afternoon and took a nap. I will go by his house tomorrow to get the key to the parsonage back. I suspect that this will be the last time for a while that He will be able to fill in for me when I am gone.

Well I am going to work on next weeks Tribman then head for bed. God bless you.

Moss Hill

We are in Moss Hill. I will be preaching in the morning services. Bro Davis is feeling well and should be at the parsonage right now. I may try to call him in the morning to make sure all is well. We surprised the grand kids when we got here and they seemed glad to see us. I talked by skype with my younger sister and she is doing well. We are enjoying our vacation. I posted the Tribman blog that I had written earlier in the week. Plan to compose the next episode Monday but not release it until Saturday. The picture is of us sitting on the couch with the grand kids plus a friend. I was reading Rumpelstiltskin to them before bedtime. God bless you.

Threadsalve

Well there has been a change in plans. Due to a problem at the church in Elkhart I will not be preaching revival services next week. We plan to go ahead with our vacation. We are going to go to Moss Hill tomorrow and visit with our grandchildren (Stacie and Scott too). Sunday morning will be spent sitting next to our grandchildren while my son-in-law preaches the morning service. I look forward to hearing him again for he did an outstanding job at church camp. We will return to Henderson Sunday night so I can take my car to the shop Monday morning. Tuesday my brother and I will go hiking and I'm looking forward to that. Wednesday is still up in the air as to where we will be but sometime that night we will be back in Hillsboro. Our grand kids are coming to Hillsboro on Thursday and staying through Saturday and that will be fun.

My wife's Uncle Trenton wanted to go check on his "meadows." He wanted to see if they were ready to be harvested for hay. They were and as we drove through the fields he kept pointing out that the field had a lot of Threadsalve (Western Horse Nettle) in it. The little flower you see in the picture is Threadsalve. It has sharp stickers on it's stems and it's fruit is poisonous to livestock. We had a good time together and again he taught me much about ranching.

I had a good visit with Bro. Davis yesterday. We did a few chores around his house and got in a good visit. He is taking Chemo and his first dose has not bothered him yet. He fully expects to be filling in for me Sunday and though he was tired today he said he felt fine.

My fees are paid at school and I have ordered a Bible software that is required for all Seminary students. The $100 versions is required but I wanted the $400 version so that is what I ordered. It contains a huge library of books and other resources and will be a big help in my research of the Song of Songs. It should be at the house when I get back home.

Well I have a bit of electrical work to do in my mother-in-law's kitchen so before it gets too late I better get to work. God bless you.

Vacation

Well we will start our vacation right after tonight's services and here is what we will do on vacation. Day one: Janie takes her dad to Tyler and spends the day with him at he cancer center while he gets his treatment. Meanwhile I will be at school in the morning paying my fees and starting my research. At noon I will grab a quick bite and head over to Tyler to help bro. Davis with some chores around his house. Then its back to my in-laws to install a couple of lights in her cabinets. Day two: I will go to school while Janie takes her mother to Tyler. After school I will grab a quick bite and run by and see my mother for a while. I am going to check on my brother, Steve, while I am over there to see what his plans are for next week. I would like to get in a morning hike with him Monday if possible. Then its back to the in-laws to get the rest of her through the Bible questions arranged and printed out. Day three: I will check on Janie's Uncle Trenton and visit with him a bit. He might want to ride around and check on his cows or some such thing. Day four: We leave early that morning to go and spend the day in Elkhart where I will preach both services. Day five: I hope to go for a day hike and get back in time to get cleaned up for preaching the evening services. Day six: We may go for a ride and do some sight seeing with the in-laws if they are up to it. Return in time to head over to Elkhart again for services. Day Seven: Go to Elkhart and spend the day then return to Hillsboro after the services. Now doesn't that sound like fun? Especially the preaching part. I am looking forward to the revival services.

Tonight we have a meeting before services to see if we have enough workers to have the mid-week Bible School. From what I am hearing we should have enough to carry on. If that is the case the bus starts running the first Wednesday night of September. The picture is of me walking to the church one morning a few months back. God bless you.

Baptism

I came across these pictures on my computer today. They were taken at Walnut Street Baptist Church. This first one is of me and my granddaughter Lilia practicing for her baptism upstairs behind the baptistery. The next one is right after she was baptized and the third is of her being congratulated out in the foyer. The man in the wheelchair is our missions treasurer.
We are going to Cleburne, Texas tonight and when I get home I plan to work on the foxhole radio. I went to Radio Shack to get a few things that I needed and was showing the salesman a picture of a foxhole radio. He was impressed. When I get it finished I am going to take it by there and show him how it works.

I am just about packed for vacation next week. Janie bought me a day pack for my birthday. It is small and light with a water blatter built in. It has room for other things such as food, first aid, and a survival kit. I have ended up lately doing a lot of day hiking. I will take it along when I go hiking with my brothers in October because I can leave my camping gear in the car. Well I must run now. God bless you.

Tree Trimming

I cut a large limb off of one of the trees in the front yard today. It was hitting the roof and needed to be cut off. I started early before it reached that 100 degree mark. I got it cut up and Janie helped me move the pile to the side of the street. I worked on the bulletin for Sunday after next and have it ready to go. The nursing home has been quarantined so we did not have services there this morning. I used the day to get ahead on some work since I will be on vacation next week.

This first picture was taken in our Teen class Sunday morning. The teacher of that class also teaches High School in Hillsboro. Her lessons are very effective. This lesson was about proper foundations. The second picture is of the Sun set as seen from our church parking lot. You can see the church bus waiting for our mid-week Bible School to start back up. We have the letters to put the name on the side of it and will try to get that done before long. We have a meeting for those who will help work in the Bible School this Wednesday. It is my prayer that we will have enough workers to keep it going.

I am going to attempt building my foxhole radio this week. I will take lots of pictures and share them here.

Clint had surgery today and this is the text message I got from his mother: "Surgery grafted chest again went ok but in lots of pain" He has a long road ahead of him and many obstacles to overcome. Please utter a prayer for him even now.

I have already composed the next episode of Tribman but will not post it until Saturday. Tomorrow night we will be going to Cleburne, Texas. The mother of one of our church members died and the family visitation will be there at the funeral home. The funeral will be Wednesday morning at 11:00 so we plan to return to Cleburne to attend that as well.
(Ecc 7:2) "It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart." God bless you.

Work Station

This picture is of me at my work station. In our evening services I preached a sermon from the Song of Songs. I will start back to school this week and will begin the work on the Song of Songs by translating the book into English. I have finished translating the first chapter and will start on the second this week. I will be carefully comparing my translation with others and will also look at the Septuagint which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. This process alone will give me a greater understanding of the dialog and narrative. It will be tedious work but very rewarding.

Tomorrow after the nursing home service I plan to mow the yard and trim some trees here at the parsonage. I need to clean out the garage and since it will be 100 tomorrow I plan to eat lots of watermelon and drink plenty of water. God bless you.

Last Week Before School

This ends our last week before school. I will pay my fees next week and start working on that Doctor's degree. We had a busy time in Henderson. We ended by stopping in for a visit with Bro. and Sis. Davis. He begins Chemo Therapy next week so please pray for him. I plan to go with him for his treatments each week and then continue pouring water on his hands as long as I can.

I was able to get a light installed under the upper corner cabinet in my mother-in-law's kitchen. I also beveled and sanded the sharp edges of the counter top. Janie cut her finger on the counter and that moved that project to the top of my list of things to do. I put about an 1/8 inch radius on the edges of the counter and sanded them real good. I removed the threshold from the door between the kitchen and the hall way and replaced it with a metal one. It is much smoother for the electric wheelchair to pass over. It does not look as good as the one that was there but it is much more comfortable for her.

We spent over a $1000 on our car Friday. The extended warranty we purchased covered one of the things that needed to be repaired except for the $100 deductible. The car now has a new timing belt and water pump and should be good for another 90,000 miles.

The picture is of our granddaughter, Hannah sleeping in the cafeteria at church camp. I am going to now go and compose the next episode of Tribman. God bless you.

Good night Clint

I had a good night with Clint there in Parkland Hospital. We started off with a movie and then turned the lights out so he could get some sleep. He slept in increments of 10 minutes. He just could not get comfortable. His arms are in braces which cause him to be unable to move them at the elbow. His left hand looks good but the right is not so good. A few times he asked me to tell him something and when I asked what he said anything. I talked at length about the Song of Songs and about the Resurrection and rapture of the saints. I told him the story of a hiker who has hiked the PCT many times. I told him about my hiking experiences and out of all this talking I am not sure how much of it he got. The lights were out and I could not see his face so he may have slept through most of my ramblings. I like Clint, he is a hard working, honest, young man. I got to the hospital about 8:30 and left the next morning about 8:30. I did not sleep at all and he kept me busy needing something about every 15 minutes. I hope to spend another night with him soon, I know that his mother sure could use the break.

We are in Henderson today and spent the day with the Taylor's at their doctor's appointments. We dropped our car off at the dealer to have the timing belt, water pump, and other work done on it. It will cost about $1000.oo in all but if beats walking so I won't complain. In my younger days I might have tackled the job myself but not now. We are going to work on some projects here at my in-law's house tonight and tomorrow. We will pick up the car late tomorrow afternoon. The picture is of me and four of the six boys we took to church camp this summer. We had a good time. God bless you.

Letters

We went by our churches missions treasurer's house to drop off some checks and his mother, pictured here with Janie, was folding Jason's monthly report getting them ready to mail out. She is such a sweet lady and has been a faithful member of Walnut Street for years. She used to clean the church building years ago.

I have been working on a work sheet which one of the pastors at camp gave me. It has to do with the second coming of the Lord. I am critiquing it for him and it is quite a work out. The author of this work sheet is clearly trying to lead the student down the path he wants him to go. If you are not careful you can be led astray. I plan to share this with the Ladies Bible study group when I am finished with it. It will help them to know how to watch out for those who would mislead them.

I will be teaching the Ladies Bible study in the morning and later on take a short nap to prepare for spending the night at the hospital with Clint. He came through his surgery today without any problems. Here is the text message I got from Cindy today "Just got here went ok hand and right thigh worked on." I will head for Dallas right after I pray at the Hillsboro City Counsel meeting at 7:00pm.

Well I am headed for bed. It was a good day and I am looking forward to tomorrow. God bless you.

Day by Day

We had a baby shower for a couple at our church this afternoon. It was very well attended as you can see from this picture. I was asked to call out the names of those who gave the gifts as they were opened. They got a lot of nice things.

I am enjoying the writing of the Tribman blog. It is a strange thing to be the author and creator of a fictional character. I have complete control over what happens to him. I can make his day go well or cause it to be full of misery. Its kind of like what God can do for us. God has set forth a wonderful promise in His Holy Word and it goes like this: All things work together for good to them that love the Lord and are the called, according to His purpose. I love the words to this old song written by Lina Sandell:



Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for! fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.



Every day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.



Help me then, in every tribulation,
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till with Christ the Lord I stand.



I plan to spend the night with Clint Rogers Tuesday. He will have to put up with me from about 6:00 pm to 9:00 Wednesday morning. I am looking forward to it even though it will cost me a nights sleep. I may blog from his room and let him send you all a message. He might like to check his email since I know he has not done that in over 107 days. I expect his in-box will be pretty full.
Better head for bed. I will preach at the nursing home in the morning and go to the bank and post office also. Tuesday morning will be Ladies Bible Study and Tuesday night will be spent waiting on Clint. Wednesday I will take a nap and then get ready for the services. Thursday and Friday will see us in Henderson taking Janie's parents to there separate doctor's appointments. Janie's shoulder was much better today. God bless you.

Clint Rogers

Clint is out of ICU now and this is the last text message I got from his mother: "He has moved to wound care and rehab floor and on his way to getting better all due to God's healing hands and lots of prayers Thanks to everyone for prayers." The fund raiser for Clint ended today and went very well. I had a good visit with those who did most of the work and Clint is blessed to have such friends.

We will have a baptism at the close of our services Sunday morning. I will be preaching from Revelation 14 Sunday morning and "Was it Samuel or was it not?" We will find out Sunday night. The picture complements the picture in my last blog. It is of Janie rolling the finish product to its resting place. God bless you.