Well, my Dad had a little better day today. He ate a little more and spoke a couple of more words. He still seems disoriented, and is very shaky, to the point that Sharon must feed him. But, he is making a little progress. Because he felt a little better today they did not go to the hospital. They will visit his doctor on Monday and she will probably admit him for more tests.
I am still worried about him, and I think it was either a stroke or a very quick onset of Alzheimers. Either way the prognosis isn't good.
Please pray for my Dad, his name is Dick. Please pray the the Lord gives strength to both him and his wife Sharon as they go through this. And please pray for the salvation of both of them. They both attended church at times in their lives, but neither one has ever given their life to the Lord. I have been praying for their salvation daily for about 10 years, but it is never too late.
Thank you for your prayers.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Friday, September 16, 2005
My Dad's Health
I got a phone call from my Dad's wife last Saturday and she told me she was taking my Dad to the Emergency Room. He had bee vomitting all day and was very shaky. They couldn't find anything wrong with him other than his upset stomach so they released him. I have been trying to call him all week and would get Sharon, but she said he couldn't talk because he wasn't feel up to it. The last two days I haven't been able to get through. Finally I got through this afternoon. From what she told me today it sounds a lot worse than she told me at first. It sounds like my Dad might have had a stroke. He has been vomitting all week, has only said 2 words since last Saturday, is shaky, and very disoriented. They will be going back to the hospital tomorrow for more tests. Please pray for his health and for all of us surrounded by this situation.
A 30 Year High School Renuion Shocker
As you can tell from the last post, this hasn't been a very good week. Last night wasn't a good time either.
I haven't had too much of an interest in High School reunions. But, this year marked my 30 year reunion. I live in St Louis, about 2000 miles from the high school I graduated from (Crescenta Valley High School in La Crescenta, California), so I didn't attend, but have had some wonderful connections with my old classmates through E-Mail and our alumni webpage. In particular I have gotten to spent time with Mark and John a summer ago and have had a flurry of E-Mail traffic come through from my fellow Fremont Elementery School alumni. They are a great group of people.
But, last night I was looking through my alumni webpage and noticed that a favorite friend of my named Nancy had passed away. I knew Nancy from Junior High and High School and we had attended church together for many years while we were in school. I was a bit troubled by the write up about her on the alumni page.
Nancy was one of the sweetest and most caring people I knew. But the In Memoriam write up said,
Sadly, Nancy passed away in January, 1995, shortly before our 20th reunion. Since learning of her death, it's haunted me that I couldn't help her. If only I'd known of her troubles, I might have been able "be there" for her. So, this is my way of "being there". Nancy was a lovely, kind-hearted person, who gave of herself. As a very talented artist, she saw the world through, perhaps, different eyes, but eyes that saw and interpreted the world beautifully in her art. She was a free-spirit, but down-to-earth in many ways. Nancy had a way to make you feel "better", like everything was going to be OK. And it usually was. Unfortunately, Nancy made some choices that eventually took her away from all of us. She will forever be remembered for the dear person she was, and her friends will hold close to them always, the memories of the true angel that she is.
This doesn't even sound like the same Nancy. So, last night I E-Mail one of my freinds, the one who wrote the in memoriam and asked him what had happened to Nancy. Larry told me she had passed away from a heroine overdose. I was floored and am still floored today. This can't be the same person I went to church with and thought was so sweet.
Apparently Nancy had met someone that she later married that got her into all sorts of things I could never have imagined. I am left speachless. How does someone who walked the Christian walk abandon all that they stand for and end up perishing from a herione overdose? How does someone ruin another persons life, a person they love so much that they marry and plan to stay together forever, so completely?
I guess I'll be pondering these questions for a while. I didn't sleep much last night after hearing Larry's explanation of what happened. If you have any words of encouragement please leave them here in the comments for all to see.
I praise God that I know I am secure in my relationship with Him, but hearing this scares me for the type of life my kids will grow up living. They love the Lord, like Nancy did when I knew her, but it is hard to think that this could happen to them. It kind of shakes your world.
I haven't had too much of an interest in High School reunions. But, this year marked my 30 year reunion. I live in St Louis, about 2000 miles from the high school I graduated from (Crescenta Valley High School in La Crescenta, California), so I didn't attend, but have had some wonderful connections with my old classmates through E-Mail and our alumni webpage. In particular I have gotten to spent time with Mark and John a summer ago and have had a flurry of E-Mail traffic come through from my fellow Fremont Elementery School alumni. They are a great group of people.
But, last night I was looking through my alumni webpage and noticed that a favorite friend of my named Nancy had passed away. I knew Nancy from Junior High and High School and we had attended church together for many years while we were in school. I was a bit troubled by the write up about her on the alumni page.
Nancy was one of the sweetest and most caring people I knew. But the In Memoriam write up said,
Sadly, Nancy passed away in January, 1995, shortly before our 20th reunion. Since learning of her death, it's haunted me that I couldn't help her. If only I'd known of her troubles, I might have been able "be there" for her. So, this is my way of "being there". Nancy was a lovely, kind-hearted person, who gave of herself. As a very talented artist, she saw the world through, perhaps, different eyes, but eyes that saw and interpreted the world beautifully in her art. She was a free-spirit, but down-to-earth in many ways. Nancy had a way to make you feel "better", like everything was going to be OK. And it usually was. Unfortunately, Nancy made some choices that eventually took her away from all of us. She will forever be remembered for the dear person she was, and her friends will hold close to them always, the memories of the true angel that she is.
This doesn't even sound like the same Nancy. So, last night I E-Mail one of my freinds, the one who wrote the in memoriam and asked him what had happened to Nancy. Larry told me she had passed away from a heroine overdose. I was floored and am still floored today. This can't be the same person I went to church with and thought was so sweet.
Apparently Nancy had met someone that she later married that got her into all sorts of things I could never have imagined. I am left speachless. How does someone who walked the Christian walk abandon all that they stand for and end up perishing from a herione overdose? How does someone ruin another persons life, a person they love so much that they marry and plan to stay together forever, so completely?
I guess I'll be pondering these questions for a while. I didn't sleep much last night after hearing Larry's explanation of what happened. If you have any words of encouragement please leave them here in the comments for all to see.
I praise God that I know I am secure in my relationship with Him, but hearing this scares me for the type of life my kids will grow up living. They love the Lord, like Nancy did when I knew her, but it is hard to think that this could happen to them. It kind of shakes your world.
I Used To Be A Fervent Christian
"I used to be a fervent Christian". This is the second most disappointing statement I have heard in a long time. It came right after the most disappointing one.
A week ago our ministry at McKendree College hosted a good friend and a dynamic brother in the Lord, Phil Nelson. Phil is the collegiate evangelism strategist for the Illinois Baptist State Association. He is so bold in the faith and shameless in his witnessing that I feel convicted about my lack of witnessing every time I am around him.
Before our Thursday night service Phil and I had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Dr Jazz in Lebanon, Illinois. A lot of the students active in our collegiate ministry work at Dr Jazz. Last Thursday we were served by a young lady that had been to our ministry a couple of times last year. One of Phil's callings is to make Jesus Christ an issue in every setting he is in. He also never wastes an opportunity to try to get people to refocus on their relationship with God. So, after we finished eating he asked our server his first questioin , "I am a campus minister and I always ask, If you were to die tonight where would you go?"
Knowing that the server had been to our ministry and had heard the Gospel explained last year I knew she would say, "I'm going to heaven." And she did! I was very proud.
Phil's next question is, "Why do you believe you will go to heaven?"
Knowing that the server was well trained last year the few times she attended our ministry I knew she would say that she believes she will go to heaven because the blood of Christ her Lord covers all her sins.
What was her reply? "Because I have done right with most of the people that I come across."
What? I couldn't believe I heard her say that. She thinks she will go to heaven because she is a good person? To hear that out of someone you have taught Bible Study to is shattering. It was the most disappointing statement I have heard in a long time. It made me reevaluate what I have been doing and whether or not we are reaching students with the proper message in our ministsry.
Then Phil askes the server if she has any religious affiliation. And her reply? "I used to be a fervent Christian." Another horrible thing to hear.
"Why?"
"Because there are just too many hypocrites in the Christian faith," she responded.
Phil did what I thought was an excellent job in explaining to her that her relationship with the Lord is a personal thing and she shouldn't let the hypocracy of others get in her way of pursuing a relathip with God.
I was floored, maybe I take the ministry we do at McKendree too personal, but it really shook me last week. We can't make students believe in the Lord and we can't force them to make a commitment to Him. That isn't our responsibility. Our responsibility is only to present His word. I guess I took comfort in one of my favorite passages,
Isaiah 55:10-11:
10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven, and do not return there without saturating the earth, and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,
11 So My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and will prosper in what I send it [to do]."
Praise God that if we present His word it will not return empty!
I know that the server at Dr Jazz will be running this scenario over and over through her mind the next few weeks. And I know that because of Phil's obedience to witnessing she will be pondering her future. Praise God for the faithfulness of servants like Phil.
A week ago our ministry at McKendree College hosted a good friend and a dynamic brother in the Lord, Phil Nelson. Phil is the collegiate evangelism strategist for the Illinois Baptist State Association. He is so bold in the faith and shameless in his witnessing that I feel convicted about my lack of witnessing every time I am around him.
Before our Thursday night service Phil and I had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Dr Jazz in Lebanon, Illinois. A lot of the students active in our collegiate ministry work at Dr Jazz. Last Thursday we were served by a young lady that had been to our ministry a couple of times last year. One of Phil's callings is to make Jesus Christ an issue in every setting he is in. He also never wastes an opportunity to try to get people to refocus on their relationship with God. So, after we finished eating he asked our server his first questioin , "I am a campus minister and I always ask, If you were to die tonight where would you go?"
Knowing that the server had been to our ministry and had heard the Gospel explained last year I knew she would say, "I'm going to heaven." And she did! I was very proud.
Phil's next question is, "Why do you believe you will go to heaven?"
Knowing that the server was well trained last year the few times she attended our ministry I knew she would say that she believes she will go to heaven because the blood of Christ her Lord covers all her sins.
What was her reply? "Because I have done right with most of the people that I come across."
What? I couldn't believe I heard her say that. She thinks she will go to heaven because she is a good person? To hear that out of someone you have taught Bible Study to is shattering. It was the most disappointing statement I have heard in a long time. It made me reevaluate what I have been doing and whether or not we are reaching students with the proper message in our ministsry.
Then Phil askes the server if she has any religious affiliation. And her reply? "I used to be a fervent Christian." Another horrible thing to hear.
"Why?"
"Because there are just too many hypocrites in the Christian faith," she responded.
Phil did what I thought was an excellent job in explaining to her that her relationship with the Lord is a personal thing and she shouldn't let the hypocracy of others get in her way of pursuing a relathip with God.
I was floored, maybe I take the ministry we do at McKendree too personal, but it really shook me last week. We can't make students believe in the Lord and we can't force them to make a commitment to Him. That isn't our responsibility. Our responsibility is only to present His word. I guess I took comfort in one of my favorite passages,
Isaiah 55:10-11:
10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven, and do not return there without saturating the earth, and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,
11 So My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and will prosper in what I send it [to do]."
Praise God that if we present His word it will not return empty!
I know that the server at Dr Jazz will be running this scenario over and over through her mind the next few weeks. And I know that because of Phil's obedience to witnessing she will be pondering her future. Praise God for the faithfulness of servants like Phil.
Thank You Erin
Erin,
I owe you the world's biggest apology. I am terribly sorry and deeply embarrassed that I haven't pass on a word of thanks yet for the tea and the encouraging note. Your envelope came while I was on vacation and when I returned I was immediately immersed in a new semester at the McKendree College Baptist Collegiate Ministry and then leading the Air Mobility Command geographic information support for Hurricane Katrina. I walked into my kitchen at home last night and began shuffling papers around and uncovered your envelope. I felt terrible. I can't believe it was covered up for nearly 2 months! I guess it shows what a state of panic I have been living in lately.
Anyhow, I read the incredible note, brewed some wonderful tea, and relaxed for a few minutes last night; exactly what I needed. Praise God I have a wonderful friend like you. Please accept my apology and a heartfelt belated wish for a happy blogging birthday!
I owe you the world's biggest apology. I am terribly sorry and deeply embarrassed that I haven't pass on a word of thanks yet for the tea and the encouraging note. Your envelope came while I was on vacation and when I returned I was immediately immersed in a new semester at the McKendree College Baptist Collegiate Ministry and then leading the Air Mobility Command geographic information support for Hurricane Katrina. I walked into my kitchen at home last night and began shuffling papers around and uncovered your envelope. I felt terrible. I can't believe it was covered up for nearly 2 months! I guess it shows what a state of panic I have been living in lately.
Anyhow, I read the incredible note, brewed some wonderful tea, and relaxed for a few minutes last night; exactly what I needed. Praise God I have a wonderful friend like you. Please accept my apology and a heartfelt belated wish for a happy blogging birthday!
Saturday, September 10, 2005
This Week At The Gate
Thanks to all of you who came out this week to help us kick off a new year at The Gate. We appreciate the great turnout.
Wednesday Night we had a super Bible Study with Emma leading us in "Being Real With The Lord." Thanks Emma for a wonderful evening dedicated to knowing what it means to be truly broken before the Lord. It fed right into Thursday Night when Phil Nelson came and shared with us about our responsibility to make the Lord an issue in each class we take and use our lives on campus as an opportunity to tell others about our Lord. Thanks Phil for a convicting evening. I came away knowing that I haven't taken my responsibily to share Christ as seriously as I should. I let way too many opportunities to make Christ an issue slip by.
Please join us this week. Here's what we have planned:
Monday Sept 12:
Men's Bible Study at 8:00pm at Mike Cheeseman's Apartment in West
Women's Bible Study at 8:30pm at The Gate
Tuesday Sept 13:
Prayerwalk at 6:30am in the McKendree Quad
Wednesday Sept 14:
Bible Study at 7:30pm at The Gate
Thursday Sept 15:
Bible Study at 7:30pm at The Gate
Lounge Worship at 9:00pm at The Gate
The Gate is located at 225 N. Monroe St, Lebanon, Illinois. Here's a link to a Yahoo Map of the Gate. Link.
Visit our Blog located at http://opengate.blogspot.com for the latest information on meeting times, events, and news.
I hope to see you this week. God bless you all.
Rick
Wednesday Night we had a super Bible Study with Emma leading us in "Being Real With The Lord." Thanks Emma for a wonderful evening dedicated to knowing what it means to be truly broken before the Lord. It fed right into Thursday Night when Phil Nelson came and shared with us about our responsibility to make the Lord an issue in each class we take and use our lives on campus as an opportunity to tell others about our Lord. Thanks Phil for a convicting evening. I came away knowing that I haven't taken my responsibily to share Christ as seriously as I should. I let way too many opportunities to make Christ an issue slip by.
Please join us this week. Here's what we have planned:
Monday Sept 12:
Men's Bible Study at 8:00pm at Mike Cheeseman's Apartment in West
Women's Bible Study at 8:30pm at The Gate
Tuesday Sept 13:
Prayerwalk at 6:30am in the McKendree Quad
Wednesday Sept 14:
Bible Study at 7:30pm at The Gate
Thursday Sept 15:
Bible Study at 7:30pm at The Gate
Lounge Worship at 9:00pm at The Gate
The Gate is located at 225 N. Monroe St, Lebanon, Illinois. Here's a link to a Yahoo Map of the Gate. Link.
Visit our Blog located at http://opengate.blogspot.com for the latest information on meeting times, events, and news.
I hope to see you this week. God bless you all.
Rick
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Hurricane Katrina Help
Hey everyone,
Below is an E-Mail from Serena Butler of the Illinois Baptist State Association to the BCM Directors. She is planning a hurricane relief trip during Christmas break. Please see the details below. Please keep this in your minds as you plan for your vacation.
God bless you
Rick Marshall
Subject: Hurricane Relief and Mission Trip
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 10:38
From: "Serena Butler" serenabutler@ibsa.org
To: BCM Directors
I hope that the first two weeks or so of school are going well with you. On top of regular things that students deal with at this time, they are now feeling the effects of Hurricane Katrina. I have several students from my group at ISU that have been effected by family members losing their homes and not knowing where to go for help. One student was planning to begin seminary at New Orleans in January, so his plans have changed.
Many of you may know that I took a group of students to Florida over Christmas break to help with cleanup after the hurricanes of last year. I have received several emails about a trip to the Gulf Coast this coming Christmas break and am in the process of planning such a trip. If you or your students would like to go, or would like more information, let me know. There is a strong possiblilty that we could send several teams to different places if there is enough interest.
By now you should have also received some bookmarks to help with promotion for Axiom.
If you have specific prayer requests, please let me know so that I can intercede for you.
In Him,
Serena
Below is an E-Mail from Serena Butler of the Illinois Baptist State Association to the BCM Directors. She is planning a hurricane relief trip during Christmas break. Please see the details below. Please keep this in your minds as you plan for your vacation.
God bless you
Rick Marshall
Subject: Hurricane Relief and Mission Trip
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 10:38
From: "Serena Butler" serenabutler@ibsa.org
To: BCM Directors
I hope that the first two weeks or so of school are going well with you. On top of regular things that students deal with at this time, they are now feeling the effects of Hurricane Katrina. I have several students from my group at ISU that have been effected by family members losing their homes and not knowing where to go for help. One student was planning to begin seminary at New Orleans in January, so his plans have changed.
Many of you may know that I took a group of students to Florida over Christmas break to help with cleanup after the hurricanes of last year. I have received several emails about a trip to the Gulf Coast this coming Christmas break and am in the process of planning such a trip. If you or your students would like to go, or would like more information, let me know. There is a strong possiblilty that we could send several teams to different places if there is enough interest.
By now you should have also received some bookmarks to help with promotion for Axiom.
If you have specific prayer requests, please let me know so that I can intercede for you.
In Him,
Serena
Friday, August 19, 2005
Thoughts on Google Earth
Well, just incase you haven't heard of it before, Google has unveiled the BETA version of its latest product Google Earth. What an incredible program. It takes us a step beyond MapQuest and Yahoo Maps. Although it doesn't provide the same level of detail as MapQuest and Yahoo for driving directions, it does provide some great information that is wonderfully designed. Instead of providing maps it provides digital imagery for those who may want to visualize the world in a little more real fashion that the static maps provided by internet mapping tools.
Google Earth is also supported by the Google Earth Community. The community provides support, news, archives, data searches, and a bulletin board. As of August 19 there are already over 83,000 members. The community can be used for posting.
Why do I like Google Earth so much? Google Earth is a very valuable visualization tool. I can describe to someone how to locate my house, and I can direct them to MapQuest or Yahoo Maps to see the street and address structure, but the best way to find my house it to provide someone with a visualization of where my house lies in relation to other things (houses, intersections, landmarks). It provides someone who is looking for my house with some situational awareness while they are out looking for my house. Google Earth does this much better than any other mapping tool I have found.
In my current job as a consultant to the US Air Force we are creating a product very similar to Google Earth, but it is designed for the Air Force to visualize its installations and the battle space. Imagine a 3-D version of Google Earth with real time aircraft traffic, weather, and installation data on it. An aircraft can depart from an Air force installation and you can follow it as it transits the world. When it comes close to its destination you can zoom in to find a deeper level of visual and annotated detail on a seamless, integrated image. That is similar to where we are headed in the next couple of years. What I do isn't Google Earth, but a similar product. It is a very powerful tool that senior commanders will use to visually remain aware of all the thousands of moving parts in the military system.
Tips for using Google Earth:
1. Remember that the imagery is static and doesn't depict real time pictures. You can't see your car parked in the parking lot right now. Most of the imagery is "flown" once or twice per year and some of the imagery can be several years old.
2. Remember that some of the annotations on the imagery may not be accurate. The annotations can be provided in an open format, so they may not have any quality control before they are posted. If John found an ATM down the street he can place the location of that ATM on Google Earth, even if he is a block or a mile off.
3. Create your own address books using the "Add Folder" and "Add Placemark" functions. You can do some really creating things with the program.
4. Google Earth is free. Don't buy the upgraded version unless you have to. Most people will never need the capability to use the tools the upgraded version contains.
5. Google now owns Google Earth and Blogger. Both are currently free programs and I can hardly wait until they have both integrated into a tool that leverages the visualization tools of Google Earth ease of blogging with Blogger. The images from Google Earth are a little too large for posting on Blogger right now. The detail on Google Earth isn't used well on Blogger.
Google Earth is also supported by the Google Earth Community. The community provides support, news, archives, data searches, and a bulletin board. As of August 19 there are already over 83,000 members. The community can be used for posting.
Why do I like Google Earth so much? Google Earth is a very valuable visualization tool. I can describe to someone how to locate my house, and I can direct them to MapQuest or Yahoo Maps to see the street and address structure, but the best way to find my house it to provide someone with a visualization of where my house lies in relation to other things (houses, intersections, landmarks). It provides someone who is looking for my house with some situational awareness while they are out looking for my house. Google Earth does this much better than any other mapping tool I have found.
In my current job as a consultant to the US Air Force we are creating a product very similar to Google Earth, but it is designed for the Air Force to visualize its installations and the battle space. Imagine a 3-D version of Google Earth with real time aircraft traffic, weather, and installation data on it. An aircraft can depart from an Air force installation and you can follow it as it transits the world. When it comes close to its destination you can zoom in to find a deeper level of visual and annotated detail on a seamless, integrated image. That is similar to where we are headed in the next couple of years. What I do isn't Google Earth, but a similar product. It is a very powerful tool that senior commanders will use to visually remain aware of all the thousands of moving parts in the military system.
Tips for using Google Earth:
1. Remember that the imagery is static and doesn't depict real time pictures. You can't see your car parked in the parking lot right now. Most of the imagery is "flown" once or twice per year and some of the imagery can be several years old.
2. Remember that some of the annotations on the imagery may not be accurate. The annotations can be provided in an open format, so they may not have any quality control before they are posted. If John found an ATM down the street he can place the location of that ATM on Google Earth, even if he is a block or a mile off.
3. Create your own address books using the "Add Folder" and "Add Placemark" functions. You can do some really creating things with the program.
4. Google Earth is free. Don't buy the upgraded version unless you have to. Most people will never need the capability to use the tools the upgraded version contains.
5. Google now owns Google Earth and Blogger. Both are currently free programs and I can hardly wait until they have both integrated into a tool that leverages the visualization tools of Google Earth ease of blogging with Blogger. The images from Google Earth are a little too large for posting on Blogger right now. The detail on Google Earth isn't used well on Blogger.
Monday, August 08, 2005
A Missional Vacation
The history for this post starts out a couple of weeks ago. We have owned a camping trailer for several years, but the trailer had bunkbeds for the kids and was getting a little small for us.
My son and daughter are growing up and the bunkbeds are no longer able to endure the stress for someone who is bigger than I am. So, my wife and I found a 9 year old motorhome for sale at a great price and headed off on a family vacation to the mountains of North Carolina.
At the last minute we decided to tow our car behind us, a decision we will never regret and never have to make again.
When we left Interstate 40 near Knoxville, Tennessee headed for Cherokee, North Carolina we understood why got such a great price on the motorhome. The transmission gave up on us and we were stranded in Sevierville. We were stuck and had to be towed into the nearest campground, the Knoxville East KOA. It was a long and very hot day and although we weren’t amused, the Lord had His hands on everything that was going on.
I called the campground to see if they had room for us and the owner said they had one nice spot left that was long enough for us to be towed into. Off we went on a tow to the campground. What a great place! The campground owners (Gary and Jane Carty) waited around for us after hours and helped us get parked at a wonderful campsite. When the motorhome was being unhooked from the wrecker Gary invited us to attend a church service they have in the KOA campground store on Sunday mornings. I told him that I was a campus minister back home in Illinois and it started an 11 day conversation that just got better and better. Gary came back and offered us a free home made pizza that the campground sells to campers and we loved it. Some of the best pizza we have ever had, and it came at a time when we were at a low spot. Thanks Gary and Jane for the help.
We noticed when we were being towed into the campground that it was located on a hillside overlooking the baseball stadium hosting the Tennessee Smokies “AA” baseball team. All the campers moved their chairs to the edge of the hill to watch the game. It was nice to relax after a difficult day and Gary and Jane and a few others came by to ask how we were doing and to give us some moral support.
Sunday morning church service at the campground was excellent! There were about 3 or 4 families who worship regularly at the campground and several other campers there. I estimate there were 25-30 people at the service. The Lord worked throughout the service. Lee led us in worship and Lenny preached the message. Gary and Lenny did a great job leading communion. They are three wonderful servants of the Lord.
Sunday night we watched another Tennessee Smokies baseball game and it followed with a “Building 429” (One of my favorite Christian bands) concert at the stadium. It was like sitting in our living room and watching it on TV. Good stuff.
On Monday we had someone look at our motorhome and they determined we needed a new transmission. The parts would take a week to get to Knoxville and they estimated it would take one day to fix. So we knew we would be around for at least a week. We studied the map and found out there was so much more to do on the Tennessee side of the mountains than the North Carolina side that we began a series of day trips to explore The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
We spend the better part of the week hiking trails in the park: Clingman’s Dome,
Laurel Falls,
The Gatlinburg Trail, and parts of the Appalachian Trail. We also saw Sivierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg.
We had an incredible time. And all week long Gary and Jane treated us like we were family. My kids bought all the candy they could eat from the campground store and I bought all the Ben and Jerry’s Double Chocolate Fudge icecream they had.
On Friday evening a camper came into the campground that had a family member with a medical emergency at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, about 30 minutes away. Gary and Jane told me about the difficult time the camper was having and we each prayed for him that day. On Saturday we were told that his family member had passed away. When we go through tough times it is so comforting to know that someone is praying for us. Gary and Jane told me this is one reason why they got into the camping business, because it gives them the opportunity to help out people in all sorts of situations. They are true servants of the Lord, and God placed them in our path when we needed some help. I didn’t hear back on the situation that the camper was in, but I know the Lord used Gary and Jane to minister to him.
The Lord provided the opportunity for me to preach in the Sunday morning service the next week. I preached from Psalm 73 on how we need to have an eternal perspective when we go through trials as Christians because the Lord has control of all our situations and we need to trust Him that His way is best. It was something the Lord has laid on my heart since the beginning of the summer. Thank you Gary, Jane, and Lennie for letting me preach. I hope the Lord used my words to reach someone.
What did I learn from vacation?
1) I learned a great lesson on missional living. I always think of vacation when I think of camping, but there are a lot of people out there who are camping because they can’t afford anything else. Gary and Jane have intentionally placed themselves in a position to help a large group of people who are struggling through life and the Lord is using them because they have answered the call (Isaiah 6:8). I have taught my students many times that we need to go to where the lost are and share Jesus with them there, not expect them to come to us. Gary, Jane, Lennie, and Lee are living that on a daily basis. Praise God for their ministry!
2) I learned that the Lord really is in control of all our situations. He can use the situations that look the bleakest to us in order to create seams of light that shine and illuminate a lost world.
3) I also learned that I shouldn’t go through life whining about my situations. The Lord gives and takes away (Job 1:21). I should be content with what the Lord has privileged me with.
4) I need to consciously place myself and my family in situations where I can help people understand that the Lord loves them and has their situations under control. Life is pretty messy some times and that is when people are most vulnerable to understanding that there is a higher being in control of whatever happens in their lives.
My son and daughter are growing up and the bunkbeds are no longer able to endure the stress for someone who is bigger than I am. So, my wife and I found a 9 year old motorhome for sale at a great price and headed off on a family vacation to the mountains of North Carolina.
At the last minute we decided to tow our car behind us, a decision we will never regret and never have to make again.
When we left Interstate 40 near Knoxville, Tennessee headed for Cherokee, North Carolina we understood why got such a great price on the motorhome. The transmission gave up on us and we were stranded in Sevierville. We were stuck and had to be towed into the nearest campground, the Knoxville East KOA. It was a long and very hot day and although we weren’t amused, the Lord had His hands on everything that was going on.
I called the campground to see if they had room for us and the owner said they had one nice spot left that was long enough for us to be towed into. Off we went on a tow to the campground. What a great place! The campground owners (Gary and Jane Carty) waited around for us after hours and helped us get parked at a wonderful campsite. When the motorhome was being unhooked from the wrecker Gary invited us to attend a church service they have in the KOA campground store on Sunday mornings. I told him that I was a campus minister back home in Illinois and it started an 11 day conversation that just got better and better. Gary came back and offered us a free home made pizza that the campground sells to campers and we loved it. Some of the best pizza we have ever had, and it came at a time when we were at a low spot. Thanks Gary and Jane for the help.
We noticed when we were being towed into the campground that it was located on a hillside overlooking the baseball stadium hosting the Tennessee Smokies “AA” baseball team. All the campers moved their chairs to the edge of the hill to watch the game. It was nice to relax after a difficult day and Gary and Jane and a few others came by to ask how we were doing and to give us some moral support.
Sunday morning church service at the campground was excellent! There were about 3 or 4 families who worship regularly at the campground and several other campers there. I estimate there were 25-30 people at the service. The Lord worked throughout the service. Lee led us in worship and Lenny preached the message. Gary and Lenny did a great job leading communion. They are three wonderful servants of the Lord.
Sunday night we watched another Tennessee Smokies baseball game and it followed with a “Building 429” (One of my favorite Christian bands) concert at the stadium. It was like sitting in our living room and watching it on TV. Good stuff.
On Monday we had someone look at our motorhome and they determined we needed a new transmission. The parts would take a week to get to Knoxville and they estimated it would take one day to fix. So we knew we would be around for at least a week. We studied the map and found out there was so much more to do on the Tennessee side of the mountains than the North Carolina side that we began a series of day trips to explore The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
We spend the better part of the week hiking trails in the park: Clingman’s Dome,
Laurel Falls,
The Gatlinburg Trail, and parts of the Appalachian Trail. We also saw Sivierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg.
We had an incredible time. And all week long Gary and Jane treated us like we were family. My kids bought all the candy they could eat from the campground store and I bought all the Ben and Jerry’s Double Chocolate Fudge icecream they had.
On Friday evening a camper came into the campground that had a family member with a medical emergency at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, about 30 minutes away. Gary and Jane told me about the difficult time the camper was having and we each prayed for him that day. On Saturday we were told that his family member had passed away. When we go through tough times it is so comforting to know that someone is praying for us. Gary and Jane told me this is one reason why they got into the camping business, because it gives them the opportunity to help out people in all sorts of situations. They are true servants of the Lord, and God placed them in our path when we needed some help. I didn’t hear back on the situation that the camper was in, but I know the Lord used Gary and Jane to minister to him.
The Lord provided the opportunity for me to preach in the Sunday morning service the next week. I preached from Psalm 73 on how we need to have an eternal perspective when we go through trials as Christians because the Lord has control of all our situations and we need to trust Him that His way is best. It was something the Lord has laid on my heart since the beginning of the summer. Thank you Gary, Jane, and Lennie for letting me preach. I hope the Lord used my words to reach someone.
What did I learn from vacation?
1) I learned a great lesson on missional living. I always think of vacation when I think of camping, but there are a lot of people out there who are camping because they can’t afford anything else. Gary and Jane have intentionally placed themselves in a position to help a large group of people who are struggling through life and the Lord is using them because they have answered the call (Isaiah 6:8). I have taught my students many times that we need to go to where the lost are and share Jesus with them there, not expect them to come to us. Gary, Jane, Lennie, and Lee are living that on a daily basis. Praise God for their ministry!
2) I learned that the Lord really is in control of all our situations. He can use the situations that look the bleakest to us in order to create seams of light that shine and illuminate a lost world.
3) I also learned that I shouldn’t go through life whining about my situations. The Lord gives and takes away (Job 1:21). I should be content with what the Lord has privileged me with.
4) I need to consciously place myself and my family in situations where I can help people understand that the Lord loves them and has their situations under control. Life is pretty messy some times and that is when people are most vulnerable to understanding that there is a higher being in control of whatever happens in their lives.
Lack of Posting
Sorry for the lack of posting lately. We were on vacation and unexpectedly broke down and were sitting in a place for 11 days that had limited, to no, internet capability. I'll be posting again soon (hopefully later today) and I have some great things to share.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)