Memorial Day

My two brothers and my oldest sister along with my mother went to put flowers on my father's grave today.  I would have loved to be there with them but I preached at the nursing home this morning.  I did a Memorial day sermon for them and it was a good time.  Janie and I took a rather long break from work today and watched a couple of Christian movies.  I had to fight back guilt which whelms me when I am not working.  I could not fight it back completely for during the movies I did get the church bulletin done for Sunday.  I also started work on a new sermon and then set it aside for later study.  I chose a text for Sunday's sermon and have that sermon ready to go except for immersing it in prayer and meditation.  I am thinking about going to the church here in a bit to get something from my office and then over to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. We are going to need to get ready for our trip to West Virginia which is but 3 weeks away.  Tomorrow after Bible study I plan to read and make out some more note cards for my thesis. I am going to pick out the songs for Sunday and email them to our backup song leader so that if he is able to lead Sunday he can use them and if not I will lead them. I wanted to blog first.   

I was dreading the trip to the ABA meeting but now I am looking forward to it.  I just needed an attitude adjustment.  The sermon for Sunday is about attitude.  When we travel to these meetings we usually bring food with us and eat most of our meals in our room.  In 2008 we took a microwave with us to use in the room.  It saves a lot of money plus we enjoy not standing in long lines because 2000 people all turn out for lunch or supper at the same time.  We also man the booth in the exhibit hall for Jason and so meals have to be quick.  I expect to get 50 mpg on the trip and that will also keep the cost down.  The room is the big expense at nearly $100.00 a night for 6 nights.  There was a time I would have saved 1 night and just drove strait through on the way home.  I am too wise (or too old) to try that now.  Well its off to pick out the songs for Sunday.  The picture is of a picture of Janie's grandmother Annie (Gentry) Jones who died of complications from diabetes at the age of 67. They say she sure could cook. God bless you.

Whole Hearted Worship

Back in the 1960's I was the song leader at Emanuel Missionary Baptist Church in Ayer, Massachusetts. The picture is of me back then, I am playing on the piano the only song I know "There Is a Fountain." The picture below is of us out in front of the church in Ayer.  One Sunday morning the only ones present in the service were me, leading the singing, my mother was playing the piano, my father sitting on the front row, and my two brothers who were sitting behind my father. My brothers were not singing, my mother was not singing, and my father was not singing. I was leading no one.  I thought on it a bit and then right in the middle of the second verse I stopped singing.  The only sound in the auditorium was mother playing the piano.  My father had been looking at his Bible.  When I stopped singing my father looked up and what he did not do still amazes me even today.  He did not rebuke me for stopping, he did not rebuke my brothers for not singing.  I could see in his face an unusual expression, one I would never see again.  He had been silently rebuked by his son and his son was right to do so. My father picked up a song book and began to sing as loud and as enthusiastically as he could. 

Today I led the singing at our church services.  Both our music director and his back up were out with illness.  It fell upon me to lead the people in worship.  I prayed late into the night last night for God to prepare my heart for worship and also the hearts of the people.  I gave the choir a pep talk before services began.  When I opened our service with prayer I asked God to move the hearts of the people to worship.  Now, the LORD can only move those people that are His and those willing not to quench His Spirit.  My prayer was answered and many sang with great zeal while others showed no enthusiasm for worship at all.  I was truly full of joy as I praise the LORD with singing.  The evening services were held in our Sunday School classroom because the A/C in the auditorium is out.  I let the people choose the songs and we made a truly joyful noise unto the LORD.  All in all this has been a great day!!

Enthusiasm is contagious.  If every church member would be filled with the Holy Spirit of God and have a genuine enthusiasm for God's Word and worship the church would grow by leaps and bounds and lost souls would be saved.  It is my prayer that God will move His people with His Holy Spirit and cause them to be REVIVED AGAIN.  God bless you. 

Lead, Led, Read, Read

I am glad I did not have to learn English as a second language.  The past tense of lead is led but the past tense of read is not red.  Why is that? 
Janie mowed her parents yard yesterday (pictured).  She was covered with dirt and dust by the time she was finished. I wish I had gotten a picture of her.  She was as dirty has I have ever seen her.  She went strait to the shower. I had changed the lawnmower blades while she was at the doctor's office with her father. I used my impact wrench and that did the trick. The blades came right off and the new ones went right back on with no problem. I cooked supper while Janie was mowing.  I did not ask permission from my mother-in-law to do so.  I opened her freezer and dug through there and found the oldest package of peas she had.  They had been put in the freezer the year Janie and I moved to Hillsboro.  I took out some roast that she had cooked and frozen three years ago.  I put both of these in the same pot and cooked them together.  When they were through I spooned the chunks of roast out of the peas and put them on a plate by themselves.  I made some macaroni and cheese, put everything on the table while my mother-in-law set out the plates and place mats.  Janie finished her shower and we were ready to eat.  My mother-in-law had never thought of cooking roast and peas together in the same pot.  "It saves electricity" I said "and saves washing a pot."   
We are back in Hillsboro having arrived at 1:16 this morning.  I have been working on the sermon for Sunday and stopped long enough to make a pot of homemade chili.  Normally when it is 94 degrees outside you would not think about making chili but I was hungry for it so with the inside temp at 80 I made chili. We had to run to Wal-Mart to get a few things and now its back to work, reading.
I may be leading the singing tomorrow in our morning services.  I ought to have the sound man put Jason  upon the big screen via skype and have him to lead the singing, he inherited his mother's musical talents not mine, thank the Lord. I lead the singing at the nursing home at least once a month and enjoy doing so.  I will enjoy leading others in worship tomorrow.
My sister, Jean, made her trip by car safely to my mother's house.  Mother will enjoy her company for the next couple of days.  I think Jean heads back to Colorado on Monday.  God bless you.

Puzzle Done

The Jig Saw Puzzle is done.

We finished the puzzle.  Janie did most of it while I was reading.  I had a good talk with Jason today and he and his are doing well.  I talked for an hour with my brother, Steve, also doing well.  I "IM'd" with my daughter Sarah this afternoon, she is well.  We are now at my in-law's and they seem to be doing well.  My father-in-law has an infection so is on anti-biotics.  Hopefully this will solve the problem with his eating.  Janie and her sister, Connie, will be going with my father-in-law to the doctor tomorrow.  While they are away I am going to try to fix their lawn mower.  When I get that done I will read, read, read.  God bless you.

This is Hewitt Texas

I spent most of today reading.  I finished one book on the Song of Songs and started another. Meanwhile, Janie was working at her computer when the silence of our living room was broken by her voice saying "This is Hewitt Texas" then the silence returned.  What she said made perfect sense to me and I completely understood the remark. It needed no response from me. 

I am studying the Song of Songs which is Solomon's.  The book is difficult to understand and interpret. Some believe that the Song of Songs is locked and mankind has lost the key.  Some believe that we can not know what it means with any certainty. When you read it, though you know all the words, you still don't understand what it means.  You might not understand what Janie meant by "This is Hewitt Texas." You have the tools you need to find out.  You can call me or Janie and find out. You can email me or Janie and ask and we will tell you.  You can comment on this blog and ask and I will explain it to you.  You have the tools to rightly interpret Janie's meaning of  "This is Hewitt Texas." 

I believe that the LORD did not give to us a book and have its copies survive some 3000 years and yet deprive us of the tools to study and rightly divide that we might understand it. I do not believe that we have lost the key to unlock the Song of Songs. The key is the same that unlocks any sacred writ. Prayer, leadership of the Holy Spirit, proper reasoning and logic, knowledge of context, of culture, of customs, of true history, of language, and of literary types, just to name a few, are the tools we need to unlock the meaning of this book.  Many preachers ignore this book because of the time and energy required to unlock its meaning.  They say it is just not worth the effort.  They have 65 other books to deal with and this one is a very small one, relatively speaking. I have confirmed one thing in my studies thus far: This is the most difficult book in the entire Bible by far. 

Janie's father fell today and they had to call 911 to get some help getting him up.  He did not break anything and is doing ok.  He will be going to the dentist tomorrow to see about his sore mouth.  He is not eating much at all.  He will go to see his cancer doctor and to get a cancer treatment on Friday.  Janie will take him and I will take her mother to the beauty shop or vice versa.  We hope to see sister Davis sometime during this trip, Lord willing.  The picture is of the book I started reading today.  God bless you.

So Much to Learn So Little Time

I have so much I want to learn. Having attended and graduating from college I realized how little I knew compared to what there was to know. College just opens your eyes to see how far you have to go.  I am working, as you know, on my Doctor's degree.  I read for hours today and learned much but what I learned is so small compared to what I want and need to learn.  I want to learn something about "MySQL" database. I looked into what it would take and it seems it is not going to be quick and easy like learning to blog. 

I enjoy sharing what I learn with others, that is to say, I love to teach.  I spend an average of 4 hours a week teaching.  I spend an average of 16 hours a week studying to learn. The rest of the time is spent applying what I have learned, putting knowledge to use or ignoring what I have learned. Some things I learn knowing that I will need to teach them to others.  Some things I learn to make work easier.  When asked if I know a thing of which I am ignorant I have no qualms about saying "I don't know." I also have no fear of learning new things.  I like it. I just don't have enough time to learn all I want to know.  I expect that when I walk the New Earth I will have all the time I need to learn all that I want to learn.  What a wonderful day that will be. The picture is of me, Janie, and my parents when I received by Bachelor's from TBI. 

We had a good Bible study this morning and good services down in Lorena tonight.  We were blessed to have visitors in the services there.  Tomorrow I will spend most of the day reading books on the Song of Songs. I will break up my reading sessions with some exercise. My wrist has not done well today.  The ring and pinkie fingers of my right hand were numb and at times hurt.  I don't have that problem with the brace on.  I left it off a little to long today.  I will not make that mistake tomorrow.  The second picture is of our grandchildren Joshua and Ruth. God bless you.

Adventure

Janie and our granddaughter Hannah

I mowed the yard this afternoon.  It was hot out and I thought that allergy season might be over for me so I did not wear a mask nor did I take an allergy pill.  I sneezed and coughed for a while during and after mowing.  I guess I was wrong about that allergy season.
I have picked out a text and sermon for Sunday morning and night, worked on the lesson for Wednesday night, finished and emailed the bulletin for Sunday.  I am now ready to work on my thesis for the next three hours.  I just thought I would blog first.
Our oldest daughter called and they are doing well.  They are considering how they are going to spend their summer vacation.  Scott is thinking about going on a mission trip to Thailand and while he is gone for three weeks Stacie is thinking about making a trip to Michigan to see Scott's mother.  They certainly have a sense of adventure.  Travel to a country in political turmoil and drive cross country with five small kids in a used mini van.  Sounds kind of like an adventureous 52 year old man that I know who went snow sking for the first time in his life and then later tried to hike across the desert miles from any help and who still has dreams of hiking across the Grand Canyon. 
Well its off to thesis research land.  God bless you.

Euphemisms

"I don't get out much" is a euphemism for being ignorant.  That is to say that that phrase sounds nicer than saying "I am ignorant."  "He passed away" is a euphemism for "He died."  Euphemisms sound better than blunt reality. Today I heard a phrase that sounded funny.  One lady said to another "I love your ear screws."  What is an ear screw?  I knew what it was from the context of the remark.  I googled "ear screws" and sure enough they make earrings for people with non-pierced ears that are literally a "C" clamp. You tighten the screw to clamp the thing to your ear lobe.  Seems like that would be uncomfortable. Janie does not wear earrings though she used to. An elderly lady once told me the story that she heard one lady say to another concerning her ear screws that "If that were a growth on your ear you couldn't get to the doctor's fast enough to have it removed."  Talk about being blunt, that takes the prize.
I preached a sermon on how you can know that you are saved.  It was a very blunt sermon.  I used no euphemisms whatsoever.  I used the plainest of terms to tell my congregation just exactly what you must do to be saved.  If you have not done this you are lost and headed for hell. Euphemisms have a proper place in language.  They can be used to comfort those in grief.  They can sooth hurt feelings. They can admonition and rebuke gently and persuasively.  Euphemisms have no place in the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  People need to hear the truth as plainly and bluntly as it can be told.  There are six things you need if you have not been saved.  If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior you need these six things.
1. You need to believe in God. (Hebrews 11:6)
2. You need to believe that the Bible is God's word. (2 Timothy 3:16)
3. You need to know that you are lost and condemned. (John 3:18)
4. You need to know how to be saved. (Acts 16:31; Luke 13:3; Romans 10:13)
5. You need to want to be saved. (Acts 26:28; Acts 24:25)
6. You need to repent and believe in Jesus Christ NOW. (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Tomorrow morning I will be preaching at the nursing home. It would not surprise me at all if I used some euphemisms when speaking to that audience.  They need and deserve soft words and gentle phrases of greatest respect and honor. 

Tuesday is Bible day as well with the ladies in the morning and Faith MBC of Hewitt in the evening.  I will enjoy both immensely. The first picture is of the church building where our newest son-in-law is now the pastor. Sarah called us today and asked what Monday would be good for us to go with them to Dallas to spend the day sightseeing.  We agreed on June 7th, Lord willing. She wants to go see the aquarium in Dallas and then go to some very large mall of which she is familiar. The second picture is of Janie's roses on the north end of our house in Hillsboro. God bless you.

Warp Speed

Janie and I painted the bunk bed finishing up about 1:00 Saturday morning. I got up late and spent the morning reviewing the sermon for Sunday.  Janie attempted to mow her parents yard but ran into some technical difficulty.  One of the blades bent and since both blades were in bad shape they had to be replaced.  I took her into town to buy new ones.  The effort to replace them was unsuccessful.  It is going to take some extra work and effort to replace the blades, a job I will have to undertake on the next trip. Not being able to fix the lawn mower it was off to deliver and setup the bunk bed. As you can see from the picture that task was accomplished successfully. 

We went over to my mother's and fixed the light.  It was not a complicated fix.  The picture is of mother's painted barn of which she is very proud.  Janie drove us home while I slept in the car. It usually takes three hours to travel from Henderson to Hillsboro but when you fall to sleep during the journey it is like Star Trek's warp speed you get there in a matter of minutes or at least is seems that way. 
I will head for bed now and get up early for prayer and mediation.  I expect good services tomorrow and a good VBS meeting afterward.  God bless you.