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.