Draw Closer

Of all the holidays, I enjoy preparing the New Years Day message the best. I am a goal-oriented person and so I like to challenge God's people to set goals for their spiritual lives for the new year. New Years is a time of fresh beginnings and renewed vision. This year, though, I am going to simplify and challenge God's people to just one thing: Draw Closer to the Lord! In I Kings, Elijah the prophet had just won a great victory and was spiritually exhausted. The Lord met his physical needs before He met his spiritual needs. He allowed him to rest and then fed him. Then the Lord spoke to him with a still small voice. The Lord's voice was not found in an earthquake, or thunder, but in a still small voice. It was not found in the spectacular, but in the simple. In other words, God was inviting Elijah to draw closer to Him. That is my challenge to God's people in 2010. Draw closer to the Lord. Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you". I believe all of our spiritual (and secular) goals can be met if we are faithful with the primary thing: nurture a close relationship with Jesus Christ. For instance, if our greatest need and goal for 2010 is faithfulness, when we draw closer to the Lord, it will certainly motivate us to be more faithful. The Lord is good, and we will want to spend more time in His Word. We will want to be faitful to our church where He is being preached and taught about. We will desire to spend time in prayer with Him. May I challenge you to just one thing this year? Draw close to Jesus. You will not regret it.

preacher/paddler Christmas ornament

O.K. so this is not "Thursday Morning at the Country Bean". It's more like Monday evening in the Ova living room. Last Thursday morning our laptop was in need of some repairs. So, I'm posting this evening. One of the favorite Christmas gifts I have received is a Christmas tree ornament given to me a week ago Sunday at church. The ornament is of a man sitting in a kayak. On the side of the kayak is the word 'preacher'. I have included a photo of the ornament. What makes this gift special is that it was given to me by Lisiana. Lisiana is a 3 yr. old girl in my church. She probably had some help with the ornament from her parents Mike and Tiffanie. Thank you, young lady, for the very thoughtful gift. The preacher/paddler ornament is proudly displayed on our Christmas tree.

Thursday Mornings @ The Country Bean

I believe in living a scheduled life. So, every week, right on schedule I have a vanilla latte at The Country Bean in Paola, Ks. I have decided to write my weekly blog at this coffee shop each week. This is the first and I am calling it "Thursday Mornings at the Country Bean". The Country Bean is the best kept secret in Miami County. This blog will probably revolve around two of the things I most love to do: Pastoring and paddling. Sometimes I will blog about spiritual things. Maybe some Scripture or some thoughts from a recent message I preached. Other times I will blog about the latest kayak trips I have taken. (Yes, I intend to paddle through the winter.) For those who do not like to read, I will include pictures. Though this is the first post with "Thursday Mornings @ The Country Bean", feel free to check out past posts. And, please, leave some comments.

Windy the GPS

We were in LA last May to receive a Masters Degree from West Coast Baptist College. We were following Windy's (our GPS) instructions on our way to Anaheim. When you graduate in California, you go to Disneyland! Windy was telling us to take a certain exit. We had to cross eight lanes of traffic with the cars going 80 mph! I said that I knew a better way to go. We ended up in downtown LA at a standstill in rush hour traffic. Chris and Johnnie got separated from us and ended up in south LA! Not a great neighborhood. Moral of the story? Listen to Windy. She knows the directions a lot better than anyone else!

So, I was on visitation a couple weeks ago. I was making a visit on a family in Linn County. Windy told me to take a right on Lookout Rd, which is a gravel road. I remembered the LA incident, so I followed Windy's instructions. The gravel road soon turned into a farm road with no gravel. We recently had torrential rains, so the dirt road turned into a mud road! I put my Blazer into four wheel drive. It was after dark and you can imagine my surprise when I came to a creek that was more like a raging river, due to all the rain. The road was narrow, so I had to back up for two miles in four wheel drive. I finally found the family by following my instincts! Moral of the story? Windy had been telling me for some time that it was time to update the maps. So, when it is time to update the maps, you should probably do that. Spiritual lessons? 1) Trust God by faith when He gives directions for our lives. 2) The Bible is our atlas of maps to give direction in life. We need to update it regularly by reading it daily.

Photos: Last Two Kayak Trips

I took some photos on the last two kayak trips I took to Hillsdale Lake in eastern Kansas near the Kansas City area. My wife got a new digital camera for her birthday so I inherited her old one. I took some photos of sunset from the lake, and I noticed some interesting patterns some trees made in a cove. My wife tweaked the photos on the computer so they are balanced and have a better use of light. I hope these photos give some idea of what it looks and feels like to be out on the water in a kayak.

52 Miles of Shoreline

I finished paddling all 52 miles of Hillsdale Lake this past week. Each week I would paddle 3-4 miles, usually on my day off. I paddled in all kinds of weather. From a low of 48 degrees to a high of 88 degrees. I paddled one day in a light drizzle. I paddled all six of the creeks that flow into Hillsdale as far as I could possibly go. The most scenic was definately Bull Creek that flows from the north into the lake. I paddled this creek to probably within one mile of I-35. Some of the more interesting wildlife I saw was a doe with her fawn, several bald eagles, and muskrats. The picture is the last leg of the journey in a cove just south of the Jayhawk Marina. The cove was pretty calm, though the main part of the lake had big whitecaps due to 30 mph winds from the north. Going with the whitecaps I surfed at about 10 mph. Going against the whitecaps I probably went 1/2 mph. The project is over for this year, but that doesn't mean I won't paddle. I will be out on the water on different lakes with my 'yak that Kaitlin calls 'Lava'.

Biking the Flint Hills Trail

I recently biked the Flint Hills Trail starting at Pressonville Rd and biking four miles almost to Rantoul, KS. This is the most scenic part of the trail. It follows the Marais De Cygne River with wooded hills along the sides. I actually found a place on the river that had whitewater! That is unusual for Kansas. It looked like level II rapids. I will have to try paddling it someday. While I was biking, I stirred up a flock of turkeys. It was an enjoyable morning. God is good.

Mr. and Mrs. Dove

I have noticed the pair of doves eating in our front yard a couple of times lately. They must nest around here somewhere though I have not found where. I looked them up on Wikepedia and discovered that they are Eurasian Collared Doves. They have a black collar around the backs of their necks. Every time I have seen these birds, they have been in pairs. My guess is that they mate for life. It seems that in the animal kingdom that God made some animals that do not pair and mate for life, and some that do. I think the latter is a good example for human beings. The Bible teaches the concept of one man for one woman for one lifetime! I also discovered from Wikepedia that the female dove sits on the eggs during the nighttime and the male during the daytime. Interesting. In the Bible, the dove is a symbol for the Holy Spirit. And we believers are commanded to be as wise as a fox and as harmless as a dove.

paddling the wade branch creek

The plan was to get up early today and drive to Springfield, Mo. so my son Justin and I could paddle the White River. (Lake Taneycomo) We were going to put in at the fish hatchery and paddle to the boat ramp near downtown Branson, which is about 7 or 8 miles. I was a little nervous about all the rain the area has had recently (about six inches) and so I called the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The recording said that Table Rock was at flood stage and they were releasing a lot of water into the White river. They said that any activity on the river would not be safe, so the trip was cancelled. However, I did paddle Wade Creek on the Wade Branch of Hillsdale Lake. It was 46 degrees when I put in this morning and there was no wind. That is heaven for a paddler (no wind). I paddled about two miles until the creek was too shallow to go any farther. I had to portage three times. Three ducks were ahead of me about 20 yards. I'm sure they had never seen anything like my orange/yellow/red kayak with a human in it. I could never get any closer than 20 yards. They matched my speed and stayed ahead of me. It wasn't the White River but it was a very enjoyable time out on the water.

Mini Ozarks in Kansas

This week I paddled at Cedar Creek Resevoir just southwest of Garnett, Ks. This is a very pretty lake that is surrounded by cedar trees, as well as oaks, walnuts, willows, maples etc. The shoreline is rocky and there are tall limestone bluffs. It is like mini-Ozarks in Kansas! My Humminbird depth-finder told me that the water was 69 degrees, and there were plenty of fish. The deepest part of the lake I found was 31 feet in the main channel towards the dam. It was a beautifully clear day of about 58 degrees with a slight wind. I had to praise the Lord for His handiwork!

Getting Out There

I like kayaking because there are several different purposes 'gettting out there' and paddling can fulfill. You may want to just get out on a lake and relax and pray, and kayaking can fulfill that need. Or you may want to have a good upper body workout. You can paddle miles and get in good shape. You may enjoy birding and seeing wildlife, and paddling can you get you much closer to wildlife than observing on land. So far this year I have seen box and snapping turtles, water mocassins, timber rattlesnakes (yes, rattlesnakes can swim), muskrats, a doe and her fawn, herons, ducks, swans, doves, bluebirds, bald eagles, western meadowlarks, sea-gull kind of birds (I don't know what they are called), huge carp relaxing in the shallows, bass jumping, coyotes, and sea dragons. OK, just kidding about the sea dragons.

7 Things You May Not Know About Your Pastor

I got the idea to post some little known things about myself from my son's blog. I have listed seven things that you may not have known about your pastor: 1. My eyes will not stay closed when I pray. I am really praying, my eyes just refuse to close. 2. My obsessive/compulsive disorder tends to center around food. My food CANNOT touch on my plate, and I eat my meals in a certain order. Divided plates are the best invention in history! 3. Growing up, I wanted to be a scuba diver or a race car driver when I grew up. 4. I have a very real fear of heights. Or, maybe
its a fear of falling. Or, maybe its a fear of the sudden stop at the end of falling. 5. My sport in high school was swimming. I was on the swim team at Wyandotte Swim Club and Wyandotte High School. (I have absolutely no fear of water). 6. I love music. I listen to all kinds of music, except for rock, rap, or opera. I have a 'world music' collection from cultures all around the globe. 7. Nothing, or no one has made such a profound change and influence in my life like the Lord Jesus Christ. I trusted Him at age 16 and nothing has been the same since!

The Depths

I have taken a break from paddling my kayak around the 52 miles of shoreline at Hillsdale Lake. I usually paddle about 1-2 hours every Monday and am probably about 2/3 of the way through with this project. I have branched out to some other lakes lately. I have paddled Wyandotte County Lake in Kansas City, KS, Clinton Lake just west of Lawrence, KS. (rock chalk Jayhawk!), Olathe Lake in Olathe, KS, and Longview Lake in Kansas City, MO. Earlier this year my wife got me a Humminbird Depth and Fish Finder for my birthday. It is specially designed for kayaks. The screen is worn like a wristwatch and the sensor is on a float. This unit tells the temperature of the water, the contour of the bottom, as well as depth and whether there are any fish. The deepest point I have found at Hillsdale has been 48', Wyandotte County Lake 62', Clinton Lake 48', Olathe Lake 39', and Longview 64'. This is an amazing high tech age we are living in! We are not able to detect the depth of a man's spirituality, though. That is something that is discovered by time and the way a man lives. Eventually, a man's spirituality, or lack of it, will reveal itself. What is in the well will come up in the bucket!

Is it a Pumpkin or a Weed?

We have a flower garden along the side of the garage in the backyard. A vine started growing and my wife would not let me pull it out with the other weeds. She said it was a pumpkin plant. I said it looks suspiciously like a weed. Huge orange flowers would bloom and then fall off. This has been going on all spring and summer and NO pumpkins. I was going to pull it again and my wife said, "Lets give it a little more time, I am pretty sure it is a pumpkin." To this day there is no sign of a pumpkin. We'll give it some more time because I think pumpkins are harvested in the fall. (I really believe I am going to be able to tell my wife this fall, "I told you so".) This whole ordeal kind of reminds me of some professing Christians. They claim to be believers, and they may know the language and appear to be believers, but there never seems to be any fruit. Jesus talked about the wheat and tares. Tares look like wheat, but they are not the real deal. Every plant that has sunlight, water, and good nutrients in the soil will bring forth fruit. Every believer that has Sonlight (Jesus), water (the Spirit), and good nutrients (the Word of God) will bring forth fruit.

Can I be sure I am going to Heaven?

I would not be a very good friend if I knew how to be sure one could go to heaven and kept it to myself. You may have wondered if anyone could be sure they would go to Heaven when this life is over. The good news is that, yes, one can be sure. I John 5:13 (the Bible) says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God". There are four things that you must understand to be sure you are a child of God and that you are on your way to Heaven. 1) You must understand that you are a sinner. As a human being with a sin nature, you can do nothing to earn salvation or merit heaven. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) 2) You must understand that your sin will cause you to spend eternity in Hell. "For the wages of sin is death..."
Death here is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire. (Romans 6:23a) This is bad news, but the third and fourth things one must understand is very good news! 3) You must understand that God loves you and provided a way of salvtion so your sins can be forgiven, and you can become a child of God. "...but the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23b) "But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8) 4) You must understand that if you put your trust in Christ's death on the cross for you, and call out on Jesus to forgive your sins, Jesus will save you and begin a relationship with you. "For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13) Why not pray right now: "Heavenly Father, I know I am a sinner. Please forgive me. I now trust Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. Come into my life and begin a relationship with me. In Jesus name, Amen." If you have trusted Christ, please contact my blogspot so I may rejoice with you and help you to get started right in your new life with Christ!

The Flint Hills Trail

My daughter Kaitlin and I loaded up our bikes and headed out to the Flint Hills Trail just west of Osawatomie today. We biked the trail about four miles N.W. and then returned four miles for a total of eight miles. It was an enjoyable ride through prairie and then along the Marais De Cygne River in a wooded area. We loaded up on sunscreen and bottled water. Kaitlin was pretty tired by the time we returned, but enjoyed the ride through the countryside. The Flint Hills Trail is a rails to trails project that really accentuates the subtle beauty of Eastern Kansas. We don't have mountains or ocean beaches in this tall grass prairie land of Kansas, but there is a simple beauty all around if we are willing to be aware and observe a little closer. It seems to me that after our salvation in Jesus Christ, that our relationship with Him is nurtured the same way. Jesus is not loud and pushy and does not clamor for our attention. But, if we are willing to seek Him a little closer, we can have a relationship with the Lord that has a hidden, subtle beauty. It's important to be aware of the physical world around us, but, it is much more important to nurture a relationship with Jesus Christ.

I love the USA! The city of Paola (north of Oz) always has their fireworks display at Miola Lake on the eve of the fourth of July. Tim Bailey and I had the best seats at the lake for the display. We launched two kayaks and watched the display on the water. It was a perfect night, not too hot or muggy, and the fireworks were good. An hour or so before the fireworks, I taught my daughter Kaitlin and Tim's daughters Allexis and Allie Bailey to paddle. They wore a PFD and I didn't let them get too far from shore. I think they really enjoyed it. What a great privilege to live in a nation where we are free to pursue our hobbies and enjoy our families. God bless the U.S.A!

30 Wonderful Years

My wife (Debbie) and I celebrated our 30th anniversary last week. I should say we celebrated phase I of our anniversary. She had surgery and so we were a little limited in what we could do. We went out to eat. Phase II of our anniversary will be in a couple of weeks when we go the New Dinner Theatre in Overland Park and see The Sound of Music. And then phase III is the big one when late this summer we will fly to San Antonio and see the famous Riverwalk and go to Sea World. (How can Shamu the whale be in San Diego, San Antonio, and Orlando at the same time?)
My wife is pretty, smart, a world-class cook, and a very good pastors wife. I am fortunate to be married to her. If I had it to do all over again, I would marry her in a heartbeat!

Rise Up Like Eagles

Monday I paddled my kayak up the Little Bull Creek arm of Hillsdale Lake. It was a beautiful morning and I saw a lot of wildlife. As I was paddling back to the put in/take out I noticed three bald eagles in a huge nest high up in a dead tree. The nest was huge. I saw one adult bald eagle with the white head and white tail and two young eagles. The young ones do not have a white head yet and are mostly brown. As I paddled by (not too close), the adult eagle left the nest and soared on the wind current. It was a beautiful sight. It reminded me of the Scripture in Isaiah that says that they that wait on the Lord will rise up like an eagle. The eagle I saw did not do much wing flapping to stay aloft. It just spread it's wings on the winds of adversity and floated! Perhaps that is the way we should approach adversity. Wait on the Lord and then soar with wings like eagles. Live above the circumstances.

Yesterday I preached a message called "Walk Worthy". It is based on Ephesians 4:1 where the Bible says the believer is to walk worthy of the vocation to which he is called. In other words, we should be a good testimony and representative of the Lord Jesus Christ in our walk out in the world. I preached this because there seems to be such a disconnect between the way some Christians live at church on Sunday and the way they live at work or school on Monday! For example, a lady I know worked in the jewelry department at Wal Mart. She said the item that was once most shoplifted was the WWJD bracelets. I'm pretty sure Jesus would not do that!

I gave three key words in the message that can help the believer 'walk worthy' throughout the week. The words are 1) YIELD (to the Holy Spirit) 2) APPLY (apply the Word of God, don't just file Bible facts away like a computer) 3) USE (your spiritual gift ) Eph. 4:7-15.

In this very wicked age we are living in, may we not just make a difference, but may we be the difference. A difference that doesn't differ doesn't make a difference.

Oz Preacher/Paddler

Welcome to my first blog. The name of the blog is Oz Preacher/Paddler. Preaching God's Word and paddling my kayak are two of the things I like to do best. Oz is the nickname of the town of Osawatomie here in Kansas (where else?) where I pastor.
Sometimes I will post some thoughts about Bible principles I have observed in day to day living. Other times, I will post some thoughts gleaned from being on the water in Lava, the name my daughter has given to my 12 foot orange, red, and yellow kayak. You may wonder what is spiritual about kayaking. I think people make way too many distinctions between spiritual and secular. I believe everything we do should be to the glory of God.
I paddle for three reasons: 1. To get alone with God in the great outdoors 2. To exercise (paddling is a good upper body workout ) 3. To see wildlife and nature from a different perspective. All three of these reasons are spiritual. We all need to spend time with the Lord. We all need to take care of the temple that God has given us, and we need to appreciate the world that God has created for us to live in.
The Bible says, "whatsoever ye do, do it heartily unto the Lord, and not to men"