Christian Athletes and Their Daily Walk
Today was another hard day for St Louis Cardinals fans. We said goodbye to Darryl Kile this morning at a memorial service held at Busch Stadium. Darryl's passing has affected so many in the St Louis area. The Cardinals are a team loaded with Christians. The one with the most visibility lately seems to be Mike Matheny. How would our daily Christian walk be if we spent 7 months per year working 12 hour days, 3 months of which are spent on the road? It may seem like vacation dream to many of us who don't have to live it, but how do you take care of your family when you are away from home? Take it from someone who as a USAF officer and has spent an average of 150 days away from home over the last 10 years or so. It can be very difficult to maintain your Christian witness on the road! How do you teach your kids right from wrong, evil from good, God's way verses the world's way, when you are living out of a suitcase for half of the summer? I have the highest respect for Christian athletes that continue to dedicate each and every day to the Lord and act as role models and mentors for all those people who look up to them. It is hard enough to maintain your Christian walk when you are in familiar surroundings, with an 8 or 9 hour per day job, and with all the things in your life going right. Praise God for those athletes who take their relationship with God seriously! It is so important in times like the ones the Cardinals have gone through this last week with the passing of Darryl Kile and Jack Buck.

Our New Trailer: "The Nomad"
We picked up our new trailer last night. It is a nice, clean, sleek 27 foot Nomad. Hopefully "The Nomad" will give us many years of pleasure just as "Old Faithful" did. We hope to take it up to Northern Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota just after the 4th of July. We just can't pass up the opportunity to go to the Mall of America!

FBCOF Wednesday Night Bible Study
I am looking forward the First Baptist Church of O'Fallon's Wednesday Night Bible Study tonight. I am feeling a little drained today and could use some "filling up" tonight. The Bible Study is led by Rusty Bean and seems to be just what the College and Career students want. It will be a good chance to fellowship with younger brothers and sisters in Christ, to build on our relationship as a unified body of Christ, and to get recharged for another busy weekend in the College and Career Department.

Bible Verse of the Day:
Ephesians 4:11-13-- And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

We have a 29' camping trailer ("Old Faithful") that we bought brand new in 1987. Our family enjoys towing our camping trailer around the country and seeing the sights. Well, "Old Faithful" has seen better days. It has been a great part of our family and has served us well. When you are a part of the Armed Forces you get used to moving around the country or around the world and we have lived in the trailer whenever the Air Force has moved us. On one move from North Carolina to Sacramento, California we lived in the trailer for 6 months. It was a great time that my wife and I wil remember for the rest of our lives. We've towed "Old Faithful" coast to coast 3 times and have enjoyed every minute of it. But, in today's disposable world nothing is sacred any longer; not families, not cars, not jobs, definitely not trailers. So, we went out last week and bought a replacement for "Old Faithful." Our new movable home is a 27' Nomad that weighs in at about half of what "Old Faithful" weighs. It should be a lot easier to tow with the Blue Cloud (our 1991 Ford F-350) and should allow us to burn up less precious fossil fuel on each trip. It is a wonderful new place to call home. We bought the new trailer from a firend and we pick it up tonight, so today I put "Old Faithful" in the resale lot on base at Scott Air Force Base. The price is pretty low, so hopefully "Old Faithful" can get adopted by a new family. I guess we will have to come up with a name for our new trailer. Stay tuned......

We have friends visiting from Colorado Springs. They used to live next door, but 2 years ago the Air Force moved them to another location. We took "Old Faithful" out there last year to visit them. Colorado Springs is such a beautiful place that has so much to offer. The mountains, the weather, the traffic! It is a super town that I would love to live in some day. Anyhow, it's great to have Laurie and Andrew back visiting for the week. Our kids miss each other and they add a lot of spice to our lives whenever we are around them. It will be tough to see them go.

Bible Verse of the Day:
Proverbs 18:24-- A man of too many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother

Yesterday was a great day at church (First Baptist Church of O'Fallon). We offered Vacation Bible School for Children this last week. Attendance was around 800 kids between 6 months old and 6th grade. Thre were 26 Children that either came to know the Lord or rededicated their lives through VBS this week. What a great ministry VBS is to the local community. Last night the VBS Children performed a musical for our evening service. It was wonderful to see 200-300 Children all singing their loudest for the Lord. Praise God that our church has such a great Children's ministry. It is making an eternal difference in the lives of so many people. Parents are coming to the Lord because their Children attend VBS. Amen!

The 9:45 Bible Study was good. We are a new class at church and have only been meeting since March 24, but we are continuing to grow and get deeper. Each week the students seem to be getting closer to each other and coming out of their shells a little more. The goal is for us to begin acting and perfoming functions as a true body of Christ, not individual believers. It will take some time, but we are slowly moving in the right direction.

Bible Verse for the Day:
Romans 1:16-- For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Well, it has been a difficult week here in St Louis. On Tuesday we lost Baseball Hall of Fame Cardinal announcer Jack Buck. On Thursday we lost Rich Barklage, a helicopter pilot/traffic annoncer for NewsChannel 5. And, today we lost another great guy Cardinal Pitcher Daryl Kile. I have always said that bad things come in sets of three. Hopefully, it is over for a while for St Louis. These tragic events continue to remind us that we are small, finite, and insignificant when compared to God, the Creator of the Universe. I can't figure out why He chose to want to have a relationship with us. But, I'm so thankful that He did!

It will be an interesting Sunday Morning Bible Study tomorrow morning at First Baptist Church of O'Fallon. I know we will talk about our own mortality and how God can both save us from eternal separation from Him and at the same time give us an opportunity here on earth to enjoy the incredible life that He gave us. I can't imagine going through a week like this and not having a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Bible Verse for the Day:
Ephesians 3:20-21-- Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen