hunting 4 Christ

Nacogdoches Rodeo

2010-04-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

This year we had a great time in at the Rodeo in Town. We bought 1,000 ticket and worked with some churches here in town to help fill the seats at the Rodeo. Impact Cowboy Church of Nacogdoches, Jubilee Christian Center, Holly Springs Baptist Church, Fredonia Hills Baptist Church, Trinity Baptist Church, Calvary Baptist Church, Nacogdoches Sheet metal and supply, and several other churches helped with the tickets. Our goal was to fill 1,000 seats and we did a great job along with the help of our church friends.

On Saturday we rode on a trail ride that ended up at the Rodeo. We had John & Betty Kitchens, Mike Pennington, myself, as well as some personal friends that we all had. We thought it was going to be a 14 mile ride but we were informed that it was a 18 mile ride. I think my horse was a little tired afterwards as were we all.

All the people that participated in the trailride were allowed to ride in the Grand Entry for the Rodeo and it sure was a long time coming.

The MVP of Church

2009-10-30T07:02:00.000-07:00

THE PREACHER'S WIFE
(Author Unknown)

Our preacher is a man of God,
He truly loves the Lord;
He gives the greatest sermons,
His congregation's never bored.

He quotes the scriptures without looking,
He shares the Good Book without end;
He knows each member of the church,
And calls each one his friend.

He constantly is working,
Both at the church and in his home;
He is very dedicated,
And spends much time with Christ alone.

He spends hours on his sermons,
Which are truly God inspired;
He works almost around the clock,
And is often worn and tired.

While we give him due respect and love,
His wife is often missed;
Though a sweet and caring, loving soul,
She's not always on our list.

Oh what a shame ... we lose so much,
For this woman's full of love;
And when our preacher married her,
Was he not directed from above?

She knows her Bible just as well,
And with such gentleness,
Has that woman's quality of warmth,
That a man oft doesn't possess.

She can embrace, and soothe, and hold,
Can even offer kisses;
Sometimes this kind of love's required,
And a man can't always do this.

While our preacher is God's shepherd,
His wife excels in little lambs;
We need her just as much as him,
All this is per God's plan.

She stands behind her husband,
Like a shadow, ever there;
Like fresh air, always needed,
Of which no one is aware.

She will put her arms around him,
When he is down and blue;
Why comfort him, this man of God?
Because he's human, too.

She performs her mundane duties,
Like pressing clothes and washing shirts;
Because she is so eager,
To have him look just right at church.

When services are over,
And he is waiting by the door;
We shake his hand and thank him,
Sometimes she's smilingly ignored.

She never seeks attention,
But is content to aid and serve;
With a quiet consecration,
She holds her talents in reserve.

So, all you members of the church,
What I am trying hard to tell ...
That when God chose this preacher's wife,
'Twas for the rest of us, as well.

Show that you appreciate her,
At the church door, shake her hand;
Hug her around her shoulders,
And behind her, take your stand.

- Author Unknown

ladies gone bad

2009-08-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

And funny thing is that insurance companies think that men are a higher risk.

What's that?

2009-07-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

Five ways to get rid of your pastor

2009-07-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

1. Sit up front, smile and say "amen" every time he says something good. He will preach himself to death.
2. Pat him on the back and tell him what good work he is doing in the church and community. He will work himself to death.
3. Increase your offering in the church. Then he will suffer from shock.
4. Tell him you have decided to join the visitation group and win souls for the Lord. He will probably suffer a heart attack.
5. Get the whole church to band together and pray for him. He will get so efficient that some other church will hear about him and give him a call. That will take him off your hands.

Boy that stinks!

2009-05-28T21:04:00.000-07:00

This last week I had a rude awakening, I drove to my house in Venus, TX and I noticed a set of tracks going through my yard going around to the back where the storage shed was at. Whoever it was decided that my riding lawnmower was better off in their possession rather than mine. They also thought that it was ok for them to back up over my septic tank to get to the storage shed. Well now I have to to some extensive work to my septic tank as well as replace the lawn mower.
I have insurance but it sure bothers me as a man who works hard to maintain what he has about how to feel about this.
There is a part of me that wants the person who stole the riding lawnmower to get on it and it blow up on him as he is riding it.
The other part of me as a man of god God feels like I am supposed to be able to forgive. Well I know what I am going to do. I will be praying for God to defend me and walm me through this. What do you think you would do?

John Wayne

2009-05-12T06:05:00.000-07:00

I think this is why Cowboy Churches are growing like they are. Enjoy

funny cartoon

2009-03-05T05:41:00.000-08:00

We have only just gotten started. Wait to see what happens after two years

talking about stress

2009-03-03T20:12:00.000-08:00

How do you do when the pressure is on?

shopping in Nacogdoches, TX

2009-03-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

Pittance in time.

2008-11-15T20:50:00.000-08:00

What I don't get about elections.

2008-10-29T04:51:00.000-07:00

Looking at this years election I stand confused about the church in the process of politics. This year we have a history making election in regarding our first African American candidate or a female vice president candidate.

I am starting to get a little concerned about this election because the race is turning out to be by about other issues rather than the the issues that it should be about. I understand how the unchurched people would vote, but what bothers me is how the church is voting. So far it has turned out to be a election that is being decided through race voting for their candidate rather than voting about core religous beliefs.

I believe the first thing that I have to look at as a christian is how does the candidates feel about abortion, and marriage being one man one woman, and how they feel about Israel and how we should defend her. So far I know who I am voting for, I am not one of the undecided people they keep talking about. It is not hard to put the candidates record up to concideration to truely see how they will vote for future decisions on issues.

This President will have to make some hard decisions such as economy, defense, foreign relations and affairs. Who ever wins will be in need of prayer and it is our duty to pray for our leaders. Let's just make sure that we vote on Kingdom of God issues and not just personality, charaisma, or race. We need someone in the White House who can hit the ground running.

Life goes on!

2008-10-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

I have been going crazy lately, on Oct 5th we celebrated our one year anniversary at Impact Cowboy Church. We were blessed by having some great men and women of God come be with us and see what we have been working on. First Mike & Jane Bailey came down Saturday so as to minister to my ministry team and volunteers, and boy he brought a message about volunteerism and the power of being a volunteer. We knew we had heard the Word of God afterwards.

My personal Pastor/Mentor and friend came down and ministered to the congregation on Sunday morning. He brought a very prophetic word for this church an for me as well. I ministered about enlarging our tents and securing our future by not holding on to the past. I had been guilty of that as a Pastor. I realize that by trying to hold on to the people from the past I was not lead the people of the present and of the future.

On Oct 19th we were out celebrating my wife's 40th birthday and I started feeling really bad. I laid down on Saturday night hoping that some sleep would cure the problem but it never would even let me get some sleep. I had a fever that was bouncing around 102 to 103. Needless to say I was not able to preach that morning. One of our Elders Rex Crenshaw felt like the Lord gave him a message the day before so he preached and I went to the VA hospital in Shreveport, LA where they admitted me. I apparently had a bad sinus infection that was going all wrong. They told me Monday that I was close to dying if they were not able to hurry and break up all the congestion. My fever was staying around 104. Finally everything started draining and we felt better about how things were going. I spent from Sunday till Wednesday in that hospital. Not to mentions when I got there they started working on me then got dirverted to another person who code blued and eventually they were not capable of saving her life so she died in front of me. Some how that did not instill a lot of confidence in me toward my doctors but they eventually came through for me. I have been back one week and I am glad to be back I sure did miss everyone.
blessings

busy times

2008-10-13T08:55:00.000-07:00

It feels like forever since I have been able to blog. Oct 5th we celebrated our one year anniversary at the church so we had a big dinner on the grounds and we had a blessing in having my pastor David Kerr and his wife Debbie long with Mike and Jane Bailey come down to be with us.

Pastor Mike ministered to my leadership team on Saturday night and he did a great job teaching about how America had to step up and defend itself against professional military with just volunteers. Eventually we overcame and was victorious. He was able to show that the church even though it is under attack, we can overcome the enemy by who we serve. We have to rise and and serve a cause that is bigger than ourselves.

Pastor David ministered on Sunday and he gave us a prophetic word about going on past the hurts of the past and look to the joy of the future. He spoke about Isa 54 and said to enlarge our tents and lengthen our cords and strenghten our stakes. He spoke over me about leading those that want to come and the ones that want to leave will leave. I am reminded that we are always on a journey. We are like migratory animals we need to keep on the move and keep looking for new feeding grounds, if we don't we will eventually wind up starving to death. My biggest fear is that ICCN would become a "us four and no more type of church"

This week I gave a message about enlarging our tents and getting ready to change and why we should be looking to serve our Lord through reaching out past our comfort zone. I am the first one to say as a Pastor it hurts to see people leave and I would want everyone to stay but sometimes you have to go ahead and let them go.

I am now looking forward to the future and what God has in store for us. I hope to see you here soon.

Pastoral up's and downs

2008-10-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been going through some rough times at the church. I was beginning to doubt that I was the man for the job as Pastor to this church. Finances were not looking good this month and I was about ready to start crying in my root beer. I guess my biggest fear was that I was possibly failing God and the trust that he put in me. That is a lonely feeling. I had began to think that I had lost my "MOJO" to quote Austin Powers (how many pastors use him as a quote?).

I had a bad day today and was thinking that I was off to a bad Wednesday night till God showed up and showed out! We started off late with dinner and we did not even get started till 10 minutes late for the service. We had prayer request come up and God just started using our prayer request to fuel our faith. I thought we had had church way before we ever started a message.

The Lord gave me message out of Jer 23:13-29 He was talking about false prophets and how they had not spoken Gods word, what hit me was one verse said they had not been in his presence or his council, if they had they would be speaking words that gave life, (paraphrased) Then he sent me to Luke 18 dealing witht the widow that constantly bugged the judge and she finally got what she sought after. We have to keep going after what we want. God never promised anything to be easy, just his company

What the Lords showed me was that although we go through many up's and down's like the picture of the mountains, we have to keep going and we have to keep seeking out God. We as pastors are not immune from stupid thinking! As a matter of fact sometimes we have a lot more of that than people think. We sometimes feel alone and that we have no one to talk to. God wanted me to see tonight it is up to him to bring the increase not me! It is only up to me to bring me, not the increase.

I don't know if any of you have ever felt like a fake or not but I will tell you that I have felt like a fake, thinking that the people will eventually see through me soon enough, till I finally figured it out if you remain transparent they will see through you, but as a man of God they will see Jesus through you.

If you are ever in a place of trying to find yourself and trying to find out what God wants of you just remember all he wants of you is ALL of You and nothing less. He wants the brokeness, the nakedness, and the willingness to continue to serve him.

Blessings

The problems of the church

2008-10-01T04:44:00.000-07:00

SEVEN PROBLEMS OF THE CHURCH

1. The Unbended Knee
2. The Unread Book
3. The Unattended Church
4. The Unpaid Tithe
5. The Unrealized Cross of Christ
6. The Uncompassionate Heart
7. The Unconcern for Lost Souls

--Author Unknown

I don't know with that many UN's maybe we should call it the problems of the UNchurched.

Just a another day!

2008-09-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday and I am now officially 40 yrs old, don't laugh Rob you are not far behind me.
So I thought that I would leave a word of wisdom for everyone on my blog, but for some reason I can't remember what it was. I guess it is true there is something that begins to disappear at 40 but just can't remeber what that thing is. Any way Happy Bday to me
Stan

Christ Alone By Lynette Woods

2008-09-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

I came across this poem and it hit me in the gut which there is plenty of, but hopefully it will put you in a different frame of thought for a moment to reflect on how God is working in you and your life.

"Who shall not reverence and glorify Your name, O Lord? For You alone are Holy. Rev 15:4a

If seeing Christ alone does not make me want to look and keep looking only at Him, Then I may as well just concentrate on what I can see here and now on this earth instead.
If hearing Christ alone does not matter much to me, Then I may as well seek and listen to the opinions and advice of other people instead.
If touching Christ alone does not thrill me, Then I may as well look for excitement, amusement and pleasure in this world instead.
If Christ alone does not make me know I am wanted, Then I may as well look for some people who will need and want me instead.
If Christ alone does not make me laugh at myself and my many blunders,Then I may as well laugh at other people instead.If Christ alone does not make me sing every song for Him,Then I may as well sing for myself or other people instead.
If Christ alone does not cause me to grieve and pray with Him for others,Then I may as well pray and cry tears of self-pity for myself instead.
If Christ alone does not soften my heart by causing me to identify with Him in His sufferings,Then I may as well experience the suffering caused by my hard-heartedness and rebellion instead.
If Christ alone does not share His thoughts with me,Then I may as well be occupied with my own thoughts instead.If Christ alone does not share His heart with me,Then I may as well be affected by those things which affect me and my affections.
If knowing Christ alone does not make me give up on myself, Then I may as well defend myself (using His Word if need be).
If knowing Christ alone does not destroy my pride and ambition, Then I may as well promote myself (using His Fame and Glory if need be).
If knowing Christ alone does not make me content to be unknown by man, Then I may as well create and maintain a good name for myself (using Christ's Name if need be).
If knowing Christ alone does not bring me face down to the dust,Then I may as well stand tall and accept people's admiration and appreciation (on His behalf, of course).
If I do not submit to Christ alone hiding me in Himself so that only He may be seen,Then I may as well expose myself so people will look at, admire and notice me.
If Christ alone does not fulfil my need for Love,Then I may as well prostitute myself by looking for love from people instead.
If Christ alone is not my only anointing,Then I may as well manufacture my own version by manipulating people's emotions.
If Christ alone is not my only qualification and definition,Then I may as well get a title and some credentials from man instead.
If belonging to Christ alone does not satisfy my need for acceptance,Then I may as well join a group of people and commit myself and my time to them.
If knowing Christ alone does not make all other relationships pale by comparison,Then I may as well concentrate more on my relationships with people here on earth than with Him.
If receiving Christ alone does not in turn release me to freely give because of All He has given,Then I may as well just take all I can from both Him and others and give nothing.
If Christ alone does not give me freedom to trust and obey what I have heard Him say to me personally,Then I may as well disobey and do what I (or other people) want me to do instead.
If Christ alone does not go along with my plans or use me as I desire,Then I may as well just use others for my own ends and make things happen myself.
If trusting Christ alone is not deemed sufficient for anything and everything I may encounter,Then I may as well do whatever I can to ensure my success and survival in all areas of life.
If Christ alone does not have first place in my life,Then I may as well go any place I like, whenever I like.If Christ alone does not have control of my life,Then I may as well exercise my rights to do and say whatever I believe to be right.
If Christ alone is not my Teacher and Unveiler,Then I may as well just accumulate and articulate the knowledge of others.
If Christ alone is not my Wisdom and Light,Then I may as well jump to conclusions based on what I think I see from the light of my own candle.
If Christ alone does not make me know true Peace and Joy, Then I may as well fill my life with many things and many people instead.
If Christ alone does not bring me real Rest,Then I may as well keep myself very busy so I don't notice my internal lack and restlessness.
If Christ alone is not becoming the essence of who I am,Then I may as well spend time 'finding myself' and bolstering my poor self image.
If Christ alone is not my Life,Then I may as well just live for myself and forget about eternity.
If Christ alone has not proved to be more than sufficient for any trial I face,Then perhaps my trials need to be repeated...
If Christ alone is not enough for me, Then perhaps I am a hypocrite using His Name...
If Christ alone is not the Love of my life, then who is?
If Christ alone is not my reason for living, then what is?
If Christ alone is not real to me in every aspect of my life, then am I being unreal?
If Christ alone is not enough for me, then do I really know Him at all?

If Christ alone will make me nothing,Then He will be my Everything.
If Christ alone is the One Thing that matters to me,Then the "many things" will totally lose their power and ability to trouble me.
If Christ alone will open my eyes, then I will truly see because of Him.
If Christ alone will open my ears, then I will genuinely hear because of Him.
If Christ alone will break me, then I will be gloriously free because of Him.
If Christ alone will touch me, then I will be completely healed because of Him.If Christ alone will breathe on me, then I will really live because of Him.
If Christ alone will feed me, then I will be fully satisfied because of Him.
If Christ alone will come and live in me in spite of my total unworthiness, Then I will be worthy because of Christ alone.
If Christ alone will come and show me that I am irrevocably and completely His,Then I will be lost in the wonder and glory of being joined with Christ alone!
If Christ alone is what I see, then HE will be seen through me!
If Christ alone is what I hear, then HE will be heard through me!
If Christ alone is what I touch, then HE will be felt through me!
If Christ alone is what I eat and drink, then HE will be tasted through me!
If Christ alone is the Fragrance I wear, then HE will be smelt through me!If Christ alone is all I know, then HE will be known through me!
If only Christ alone will come and make us One...
If only Christ...
Yes, COME Lord Jesus!

Little Alex

2008-08-25T05:20:00.000-07:00

One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex standing in the foyer of the church staring up at a large plaque. It was covered with names and small American flags mounted on either side of it. The six-year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the little boy, and said quietly, 'Good morning, Alex.' 'Good morning Pastor,' he replied, still focused on the plaque. 'Pastor, what is this?' The pastor said, 'Well son, it's a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service.' Soberly, they just stood together, staring at the large plaque. Finally, little Alex's voice, barely audible and trembling with fear asked, 'Which service, the 8:30 or the 10:45?

You might be a liberal if!

2008-08-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

* You might be a Liberal if, You blame the oil companies for high gas prices, but believe in doing everything humanly possible to keep them from drilling for more oil.
* You might be a Liberal if, You'd have no problem with a Democratic President talking with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Kim Jung-Il without conditions, but would be very upset if he started seriously negotiating with Republicans over national security or energy issues.
*You might be a Liberal if, You don't see a conflict between "supporting the troops" and trying to insure that they lose the war that they're fighting.
* You might be a Liberal if, You think the solution to an underperforming economy is higher taxes, more regulations, and publicly attacking businesses, but don't understand how that relates to the phrase, "The beatings will continue until morale improves."
* You might be a Liberal if, You're surprised that people don't think you're patriotic just because you were photographed not holding your hand over your heart during the national anthem and made a big deal out of refusing to wear a flag pin.
* You might be a Liberal if, You tell everyone who'll listen that Bush is "worse than Hitler" and that Republicans are fascists, but you never stop to consider that if that were true, you'd be dead or in a gulag already.
* You might be a Liberal if, You think Christmas songs at school plays shouldn't be allowed because they might offend people who don't believe, but don't understand what the problem is supposed to be with government funded "art" that defiles Christianity.
* You might be a Liberal if, Your idea of "reparations for slavery" is white people who have never owned slaves giving money to black people who were never slaves, more than a hundred years after slavery ended.
*You might be a Liberal if, You "assure us that deterrence will work, but when the time comes to deter, (you're) against it." -- Ann Coulter
* You might be a Liberal if, You think celebrities are just exercising their right to free speech when they criticize conservatives, but believe that the celebs are having their First Amendment rights abridged if anyone criticizes them for their comments.
* You might be a Liberal if, You called George Bush, "George Herbert Walker Bush," and George Allen, "George Felix Allen," but think someone referring to Barack Obama as "Barack Hussein Obama" is a racist.
*You might be a Liberal if, You think we should give condoms to thirteen year-olds because "they're going to do it anyway," but feel that we can get rid of every gun held by criminals in the U.S. simply by making them illegal.
*You might be a Liberal if, You think Anita Hill was telling the truth about Clarence Thomas, but Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Linda Tripp, Dolly Kyle Browning, Sally Perdue, Kathleen Willey, and Juanita Broaddrick -- among many others -- are all lying about the Clintons.
*You might be a Liberal if, You "are willing to do whatever it takes to defend the American public from terrorists...as long as the French and Germans say it's OK."
* You might be a Liberal if, You continually claim that we don't do enough for the poor, but you want to add 12-20 million more of them to the ranks by giving illegal aliens American citizenship.
* You might be a Liberal if, You blame "society" for creating the conditions that turn people into criminals, but you don't think that gives "society" even more of a moral obligation to lock those criminals away so that they won't hurt innocent people.
* You might be a Liberal if,There's a conflict between America and any other country, over just about any topic, and you're more likely to side with the other nation than your own.
* You might be a Liberal if, You believe that fanatical Muslims who want to fly planes into our skyscrapers aren't a serious threat to the U.S., but Christians are.
* You might be a Liberal if, You think we can improve our health care system by putting the same government that brought us FEMA, ICE, Airport Security, and the IRS in charge of it.
* You might be a Liberal if, You believe that conservative criticism of Barack Obama's abilities is primarily driven by racism, but actual race-based criticism leveled at Clarence Thomas, Michelle Malkin, and Condi Rice by liberals obviously has nothing to do with race.
* You might be a Liberal if, You live in a great and free nation like America and can use phrases like "audacity of hope" or "speaking the truth to power" without the slightest hint of irony.
* You might be a Liberal if, You say, "Why do they hate us?" when America is attacked and "we're just furthering the cycle of violence" when we retaliate.
* You might be a Liberal if, You generally mean "threatening to the interests of the Democratic Party" or "Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton needs some more money" when you use the word "racist."
*You might be a Liberal if, Your first thought after hearing that someone who publicly criticized murderers actually murdered someone himself is, "What a hypocrite!"
*You might be a Liberal if, You tell anyone who'll listen that our elections are fraudulent and then you fight tooth and nail to prevent states from requiring a photo ID to vote.

Cardboard testimonies

2008-08-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

I was sent an email with this you tube movie check it out it is awesome http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ

Long cool drink of water

2008-08-12T15:32:00.001-07:00

A friend sent me an email that made me laugh please enjoy.

German Speaking Texan
In central Texas, there is a large German-speaking population. A farmer walking down a country road notices a man drinking from his pond with his hand..The farmer shouted: 'Trink das wasser nicht. Die kuhen haben dahin gesheissen.' Which means: 'Don't drink the water, the cows have messed in it.'The man shouted back: 'I'm from New York and just down here campaigning for Obama, I can't understand you. Please speak in English.' The farmer replied:
'Use two hands, you'll get more.'

Retired?

2008-08-07T05:47:00.000-07:00

Working friends frequently ask me what I do to make my retirement interesting. Well, for example,the other day I went into town to get the WallStreet Journal so I could track my investments. I was only in the store forabout 5 minutes.
When I came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. I said, 'Come on, don't you have anything better to do than write a retired person a ticket? Why aren't you out chasing crooks or child molesters? He ignored me and continued writing the ticket.
I called him a 'Nazi.' He glared at me and wrote another ticket for having worn tires. So I called him 'Barney Fife'. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he wrote a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more I abused him, the more tickets he wrote.
Personally, I didn't care..... I came downtown on the bus. The car that he was putting the tickets on had a bumper sticker that said "Obama in 08". I try to have a little fun each day now that I'm retired. It's important to my mental health.

God's power is made perfect in my weakness part II

2008-08-04T07:08:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
Recently I have had my world turned upside down with me breaking 8 ribs and going into the hospital for 5 day. I went in on a Wednesday and came out on a Sunday and think God was wanting me to see something that he was doing in the lives of Impact Cowboy Church and although that go.

I had come to the point where I had my hands on everything going on not by choice but just because I was the Pastor and felt I needed to do more than my part to show people that I am a loving and concerned pastor that cares for his flock and is not scared to get in and work right along side of them. I was becoming a workaholic without even knowing it.

When the accident happened I could not be there to make sure everything was going on as normal which really bothered me, but here is the thing that really showed me a fresh new look at God caring for me. People started rising up and taking on things that my wife and I normally did and did a great job at it. Others took up the teaching slack for me, Rex, Keith, and Billy. Darlene started organizing meals for us and I am sure took care of getting the church sanctuary ready.

Here is what I figured out God don't need strong people because if he did he would have been on Goliath's side and all the Giants that are mentioned in the Bible. He would have used the mightiest warriors to win the battles. The Romans would have been the people to continue the work of the Lord.

But the truth is that God did not want those people, he took people that were discouraged, in dept, wounded, depressed and made them in to the mighty men of Israel. God wants to find the least of the least and raise them up to display his Glory. I guess in my shape God is getting some Glory because I am having to rely on his grace.

Our church has been growing steadily this last Sunday 83 people there. God is good just always look to God and know that if it is too big for you to do it is just the right size for God.

Beware of the Meds

2008-07-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

I dedicate this post to a friend of mine named Darlene, Yesterday was the first day back at the church since I went to Hospital. Darlene came up and told me that I better go back and recheck the spelling in my last blog, she was able to realize that my meds were probably messing with me. I got a good laugh this morning looking at it as I did a spell check.

As a Pastor I walk a thin line with medications not wanting to get hooked or being so medicated that I don't make sense at what I say. Last night I took my meds so that I would have a clear mind so I could speak, but the pain made it hard to keep my thoughts together. Dang if I do, Dang if I don't.

In the midst of being home and healing I have seen a lot of people stand up in the gap for my wife and I and I am thankful for their personal ministries to us.

We have so many people to thank, so today I will start off with Darlene, Darlene thank you for being the woman of God that you are, sometimes I can't express how important you are to us but remember we LOVE YOU, you make this worth it for us being here. You were here from the beginning which you will always have my respect for. Thank you for making me laugh at myself, and thank you for watching after my words, even when I am a little impaired.
We love you Darlene,
stan

His power is made perfect in my weekness.

2008-07-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

This last week has been a hard and trying time for me because of something that happened to me. This last weekend I had a family that lost a loved one and I knew that my place was to be around to help support them in their time of mourning. I was to speak at a memorial service for their loved one. It was special because they had a chance to lead his Father to the Lord, and his whole family was in a position where they may be willing to receive Jesus as well.

Friday night they day before I am to speak at the memorial service I went with my brother in law and a friend to look at a horse that was for sell. I knew that I should not have gone but I went anyhow just for the fellowship time, and to get my mind of of the memorial service.

Mistake number 1 when you are about to try and do something big for God don't do anything to ruin your chances. I got up on the horse and rode him for a about 20-30 minutes. We started to figure out that he was spur shy and he WAS NOT A FINISHED HORSE! I should have known when he bucked off my brother in law that he was going to give me trouble as well, but you know sometimes we have more faith in our abilities than we have abilities. Romans 12:3 says we should not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to.

Well to make the a long story short I got bucked off and got hurt bad. I did not want to got to the E.R. because I knew I had to speak at the memorial service on Saturday morning so I tried to get patched up and self medicated to get me through the morning. When it came time God gave me the strength to speak with strength even though I was having a hard time physically. After the memorial service I went to the E.R. where they promptly told me I had one broken rib, gave me some med's and sent me home. I went to the church and preached, God gave me the strength when I did not have any of my own. We had three people come to Christ and about five or six stand up to say they wanted to get right again with the Lord.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (The Message)
Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

The point that I want to make, is even in my case even with the bad breaks, God was so much stronger than I and was able to get me through it to bring Glory to himself. Remember God is able and we are not.

Behind the scenes.

2008-06-10T05:10:00.000-07:00

As Pastors we get up every day trying to find a way to prepare our sermon delivery so that it might be polished and seamless. In Bible College at Christ for the Nations they taught us to make sure that the seams are not obvious in between sections. I came across this video that is sometimes how us Pastors feel as we are trying to minister. We pray that everything goes well but sometimes they don't. Watch this video and see if you can relate.

Poetic Justice

2008-06-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

Don't it bother you when you are around people and they can't seem to get off their cell phones? I have one pet peeve, I hate it while you are preaching someones phone goes off and the they answer it during service. Here is a bit of poetic Justice.

Where are the Signs and Wonders?

2008-06-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been challenged in my faith as a Pastor because I have begun seeing Signs and Wonders in the Ministry that is beginning to blow me away. We have a lady in our Church that received a healing from blindness. She is celebrating a freedom from blindness and is driving up and down the road in her pickup, now we are having to pray that she don't get any speeding tickets.

RecentlyI have been hearing about churches where revivals are happening and that signs and wonders are pouring out. I have not been able to experience any of these outpourings personally and was beginning to think that maybe I was never to experience it first hand. I even did not get to be the one to lay hands on this person to pray for deliverance of blindness, believe it or not it came through her obedience rather than by anything I did. I had been preaching about tithing and she took the challenge that I gave her and started giving just a little bit, then a little more then she received a healing. Can you imagine that healing might come from just simple obedience?

I had talked to her before about healings and she had told me that she was not "a Word of Faith Person". She told me it was a challenge to be around me when I told her to take authority and get the works of the enemy out of her life. Well through her obedience she received a healing that totally blew me away.

This week I preached a message about Gideon, I came across a Chapter in Judges 6 as I was studying that is making me rethink about my faith and what God is doing in the present day Church.
Judges 6:11-14 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."
13 "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."
14 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

The Lord showed me that the outside world is looking in at the church and is asking where are the Signs and Wonders that are talked about in the Bible? Too many people are wanting to preach about the seven secrets to a successful marriage, or they preach junk like the prosperity message, Like Dr. Phil says "Hows that working for you?" Pastors are packing in the house with numbers of people wanting to have the ALMIGHTY SECRETE when the truth is that the Pastors are so conditioned to giving what the people want rather than what they need. Our Pastors are no longer able to preach about signs and wonders because that might require faith rather than curiosity. God is wanting the men and women of God to be walking around as victorious people not people who are looking for the next greatest self help sermon.

I have nothing against helping families with communication tools to help their marriages but we can not change the message to fit our wants. I Believe that as Pastor's we need to start preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am just crazy enough to believe that where ever the Preaching of the Gospel is the Signs and Wonders will follow.

The only thing that we need is time in the Presence of the Lord. Prayer is the key to any kind of revival. Where ever you see revival breaking out it is usually because people have been praying for it to happen. I had Bible teacher of mine say " pray there before you go there".
What are your comments?

Bleberry festival

2008-05-07T05:17:00.000-07:00

Here in Nacogdoches, TX we have a big Blueberry festival every year. This is a big deal for us and is always a lot of fun with bands playing all day and venders set up selling their goods, food being sold every where.

Caye and I will be having a couple of friends coming down to visit and I am always excited to have friend come and see us here. I love this town so much that I love to show it off to my other fiends that don't live here. If you would like to check it out here is the website. http://www.texasblueberryfestival.com/BB_events.htm

God is so Good!

2008-05-05T05:41:00.000-07:00

This last Sunday we finally made our break to our Sunday Morning Service. I anguished over that for some time but I knew that the Lord was leading us to do it. When it came time to get ready to start I was holding my breath because they did not start coming in till about 10 minutes before service, but when they did come they all came at once. We had 49 people there and we had a great move of the Spirit during Praise and Worship.

I can't tell you how hard of a decision that was for me but I knew that it was the right thing to do because we were competing with every major event on Saturday night. This last Saturday night we had a major concert in town with Blake Shelton and Casey Donahew. If we had been on Saturday night we would not have had a great turn out.

I was pleased to see a new beginning at ICC. We have some new families that are coming and I feel like they are wonderful additions to our family and can't wait to have a chance to take them out and have dinner with them so we can get a chance to get to know them a little better.

One thing about becoming a Senior Pastor that you learn fast, that is, you need God to be with you every step of the way. You can't afford going around making decisions that just seem right, you have to seek the Lord and remain teachable. I said this week that God is always speaking for those who will listen. Sometimes we need to just stop and listen, Amen!

Stuck in the mud!

2008-05-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

I am my letter from this weeks bulletin. I have been going through some tough times this week and this little incident put everything into perspective for me, I hope it helps you out with things that you are dealing with.

This week has been a hard week I have had to walk through some trials by fire as a Pastor as well as having a Personal hard time. I have been working pressure washing a fence on a ranch on Hwy 7 trying to make some extra money to help offset some expenses that we have as a Family. It's not hard work but it is a tedious type job. Sometimes you wish something would happen just so you could have a little excitement. Well you know the old saying "Watch what you ask for, because you just might get it". Well I got my excitement this week and it only cost me a little pride so far.

I was pulling a big pressure washer behind my pickup, which had about 500 gals of water in it. I was in the ranch owner's driveway and I decided that I was going to turn around and back to the barn. When I tried to turn around I swung wide and went off the driveway just by a foot or so to get that little extra space, but what I did not know was that the yard sprinklers had been going and the grass was wet. Can you see where I am going with this? I got STUCK with my drive wheel stuck in the grass just one foot off the driveway. I tried to pull out, but I couldn't get it out. I called a friend, and after careful consideration, we decided to unhook from the trailer and move over. The weight of the load was keeping the truck stuck.

I was reminded about what Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
No matter how far off the narrow path you go, you are not on the road that leads to life. So let's make sure we don't off roading and slinging mud everywhere.
Blessings,
Pastor Stan

CBS19.tv - Trail Riders Benefit

2008-04-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

This whole weekend we are helping sponsor a trail ride event in honor of Frank Fields a wounded Iraq war veteran. Please watch and let me know what you think. CBS19.tv - Trail Riders Benefit

What kind of Minister are you?

2008-04-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a friend over and we went out to dinner along with my family. After we got back we turned on the T.V. and Jurassic Park III was on, so we sat down to watch the last part of the movie. I am not a huge Jurassic Park fan so I don't have all the names of the characters down but this guy in the picture which I know has been in the first three movies said something that has me thinking hard about who I am. In the movie he is about to get eaten by a group of raptures and this young man pops some smoke grenades which drives the raptures away then the young man comes in and rescues the older guy. He then takes him to his hide out where they are talking and they figure out that they are both science type people.

The older man finally says's that "He has concluded that in this world there are two types of people, the first group of people are astrologers, and the second group of people are astronauts. He then said that astrologers like to study the stars from the relative safety of their labs or in the comfort of their own home and come up with theories about why things work or don't work. They don't risk anything other than their reputation.

He then said that the Astronauts were people who were educated but were driven to strap up and take the dangerous ride to get into the middle of their work and were willing to risk all to investigate what they were studying.

I have a question for you as Christians. Are you the safety type person who has faith but is not willing to risk much to learn about it and keep your thoughts to yourself afraid that you might be laughed at or ridiculed, or are you the type of Christian that would be willing to put your faith to the test and be willing to risk your life upon it?

I feel like Jesus has a desire for you to be willing to leave your atmosphere (comfort Zone) and get out there to make a difference for the Kingdom of God. Remember nothing has ever been gained or won with out a risk to go get it.

Branded

2008-04-05T05:21:00.000-07:00

God is so faithful and good to us here at Impact Cowboy Church. We got a chance to bring in a country gospel group called "Branded" to te church and we are excited about it. We will be having them here on April 19th our services will start at 6:30 pm and it is going to be a good time so if you are anywhere near by come by and see them. You can look them up on their website at http://www.branded-duo.com/
They have one song called "above the noise" that a friend of our named Dwayne Williams http://www.texasteddybear.org/ told us about that we fell in love with. Come out and see us.
Blessings

Good times

2008-04-05T05:09:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon I was excited because a friend of mine brought his family and will be ministering this weekend at the church. Sometimes it feels so good to have friends around that can come spend some time with you.

I am proud that he is coming to see the Church that we have started, and I am proud of the people that we minister to. I feel like I have finally found my purpose in life and I hope to share my joy with other people.

We took Rob, Brooke, and Amanda to a country concert last night in a town not too far away from us where two of my praise and worship members play and the whole time that I was there I wanted to be standing up there with them. I have new friends here that only God can give. I feel like I am at home. Please pray for Rob as he is going to be ministering tonight and I expect that the Holy Spirit will annoint an bless his words.

Taming the tongue

2008-03-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend I preached out of James 3 and how it concerns the dangers of the tongue. I was looking for a way to make a lasting imprint in peoples minds about the tongue. We bought one at a meat store and everytime I wanted to make a point I would hold it out and show them how to hold the tongue. Anytime you want to say something about someone Hold your tongue, you want to tell a lie hold your tongue, You want to curse someone with the same tongue that you praise God with, Hold your tongue. I think people got the picture I hope you enjoy the picture and get a good laugh and in the mean time "Hold your tongue"!

Welcome back to reality.

2008-03-21T04:34:00.000-07:00

A friends sent me this letter I thought I would share it with you.

A father passing by his son's bedroom, was astonished to see the bed was nicely made, and everything was picked up. Then, he saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow. It was addressed, 'Dad.' With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and read the letter, with trembling hands. '
Dear, Dad. It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend, because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom and you. I've been finding real passion with Stacy, and she is so nice, but I knew you would not approve of her, because of all her piercing's, tattoos, her tight Motorcycle clothes, and because she is so much older than I am. But it's not only the passion, Dad. She's pregnant. Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods, and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many more children. Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana doesn't, really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it for ourselves, and trading it with the other people in the commune, for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want. In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS, so Stacy can get better. She sure deserves it! Don't worry Dad, I'm 15, and I know how to take care of myself. Someday, I'm sure we'll be back to visit, so you can get to know your many grandchildren. Love, your son, Joshua.

P.S. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Jason's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the school report card that's on the kitchen table. Call when it is safe for me to come home :)

Funny letter

2008-02-25T20:43:00.000-08:00

Someone sent me this e-mail so I thought I would share it, enjoy.Roping A Deer...Names have been removed to protect the stupid!Actual Letter from someone who writes, and farms.I had this idea that I was going to rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it.The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that, since they congregate at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet a way), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home.I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope.The cattle, having seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having any of it.After about 20 minutes, my deer showed up -- 3 of them. I picked out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw my rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me.I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold. The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation.I took a step towards it...it took a step away. I put a little tension on the rope and then received an education.

The first thing that I learned is that, while a deer may just stand there looking at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that rope.That deer EXPLODED.

The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a colt. A cow or a colt in that weight range I could fight down with a rope and with some dignity.A deer-- no chance.That thing ran and bucked and twisted and pulled. There was no controlling it and certainly no getting close to it. As it jerked me off my feet and started dragging me across the ground, it occurred to me that having a deer on a rope was not nearly as good an idea as I had originally imagined.

The only upside is that they do not have as much stamina as many other animals.A brief 10 minutes later, it was tired and not nearly as quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed to get up. It took me a few minutes to realize this, since I was mostly blinded by the blood flowing out of the big gash in my head.

At that point, I had lost my taste for corn-fed venison. I just wanted to get that devil creature off the end of that rope.I figured if I just let it go with the rope hanging around its neck, it would likely die slow and painfully somewhere.At the time, there was no love at all between me and that deer. At that moment, I hated the thing, and I would venture a guess that the feeling was mutual.

Despite the gash in my head and the several large knots where I had cleverly arrested the deer's momentum by bracing my head against various large rocks as it dragged me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some tiny amount of responsibility for the situation we were in, so I didn't want the deer to have it suffer a slow death, so I managed to get it lined back up in between my truck and the feeder - a little trap I had set before hand...kind of like a squeeze chute.I got it to back in there and I started moving up so I could get my rope back.

Did you know that deer bite? They do! I never in a million years would have thought that a deer would bite somebody, so I was very surprised when I reached up there to grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist.Now, when a deer bites you, it is not like being bit by a horse where they just bite you and then let go. A deer bites you and shakes its head --almost like a pit bull. They bite HARD and it hurts.The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is probably to freeze and draw back slowly. I tried screaming and shaking instead. My method was ineffective.It seems like the deer was biting and shaking for several minutes, but it was likely only several seconds.

I, being smarter than a deer (though you may be questioning that claim by now) tricked it.While I kept it busy tearing the bejesus out of my right arm, I reached up with my left hand and pulled that rope loose.That was when I got my final lesson in deer behavior for the day.Deer will strike at you with their front feet. They rear right up on their back feet and strike right about head and shoulder level, and their hooves are surprisingly sharp.I learned a long time ago that, when an animal -- like a horse --strikes at you with their hooves and you can't get away easily, the best thing to do is try to make a loud noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal. This will usually cause them to back down a bit so you can escape.This was not a horse. This was a deer, so obviously, such trickery would not work. In the course of a millisecond, I devised a different strategy.I screamed like a woman and tried to turn and run.

The reason I had always been told NOT to try to turn and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a good chance that it will hit you in the back of the head.Deer may not be so different from horses after all, besides being twice as strong and 3 times as evil, because the second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the head and knocked me down.Now, when a deer paws at you and knocks you down, it does not immediately leave. I suspect it does not recognize that the danger has passed. What they do instead is paw your back and jump up and down on you while you are laying there crying like a little girl and covering your head.

I finally managed to crawl under the truck and the deer went away.So now I know why when people go deer hunting they bring a rifle with a scope so that they can be somewhat equal to the Prey.

Country Worship

2008-02-19T08:11:00.001-08:00

I came across a video and it asked me a question, Let's see if it will ask you the same questions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVQxh3VZ_UQ
Enjoy,
Stan

A true companion

2008-02-12T21:34:00.000-08:00

A relationship between a man and his dog, Does anything else need to be said?

This weeks sermon

2008-01-25T07:38:00.000-08:00

I am preaching this week about the difference between the Mosaic Tabernacle Worship and Davidic Tabernacle Worship which will be interesting to see. The difference in the two are vast. Mosaic Worship was reverent, solemn, ritualistic, done with animal sacrifices, and just plain dead.

As for Davidic Worship was loud, exuberant, joyful. David was said to even went in before the Ark of the Covenant and just lounge around in the presence of the Lord. He saw how the relationship with God was personal not sacrificial.

I know that when I try to get ritualistic in my Worship of God I am dead and have no power at all, but when I take care of the relationship with God then I am able to handle what all comes down the path.

This week I will beginning to talk about Worship and what is it and why is it important for Cowboys and Cowgirls to openly worship and glorify God in such a way that there is freedom in worship.

Please be praying for me because to turn a ship it takes speed, momentum and endurance. Amen.

Blessings

The Master's call

2008-01-24T07:02:00.000-08:00

Awesome video. Let me know what you think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbwPV9-gfAY

A real cowboy?

2008-01-24T06:51:00.000-08:00

I came across this video thought it was funny have a good laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2w6CHFbSLk

New Target Game.

2008-01-22T16:28:00.000-08:00

I found a new way to get some practice for those moving shots. I think this might be a great tool to use to sharpen your shooting skills and increase your chances of hitting your target. What do you think?

Rev Charles

2008-01-22T16:22:00.000-08:00

This weekend I came across this guy named Rev. Charles, I am thinking about having him come out to the Cowboy Church as a quest minister. What do you think?

Revival

2008-01-19T06:45:00.000-08:00

This last week Caye and I went to a revival meeting at a friend of ours church and we went so we could have a chance to ministered to. Sometimes as pastors we keep going till we hit the red light saying that we are running on empty. It is sad thing to see a Pastor who has run out of fuel or can no longer get fired up about the Lord.

This week has been a time of me taking inventory of my spiritual life and evaluating on how to improve my spiritual life.

In the 40's, 50's, and 60's they used to have large tent meetings and they would put up sign saying revival meeting and the whole town would show up with either expectant hearts or at least a inquisitive spirit. People no longer care about what is going on in their spiritual lives much less church and that is something that I know God wants to change. I think sometimes that God must be sitting on his throne broken hearted and crying because his people do not come to him for comfort or fellowship.

Can you imagine what it must feel life as a parent if one of your children has a Father-Daughter dance and she does not come ask you to take her, that she would rather go by herself? How much would it hurt?

I feel like God is calling Caye and I into personal revival like no other time before and I am planning on sharing my heart with my congregation tonight. I know that if you call yourself a leader and you turn around and look and no one is following you you are just a man out for a walk. I am going to see how many people will follow with me. I know that revival is something sought after, fought for, and treasured when found. I want God to move in my life so bad that I can't stand it any more.

I have also become very sensitive to how we speak about the Holy Ghost. We have tried to put the Holy Ghost down on our level instead of us trying to reach out to him and raise ourselves up to him. I had a teacher back in Bible College named Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt and he taught on Characteristics of revival. In his class when he prayed he used to refer to the Holy Spirit as "Sir" I used to think that was kind of different but the Holy Spirit showed me that it was a matter of respect that Dr. Hyatt had for the position of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we need to make sure that the Holy Spirit is not the Looked over part of the Holy Trinity. It recently has bothered me to hear people say that they were in a church service somewhere and " the Holy Spirit fell" in the church like the Holy Spirit is clumsy or something . I hate that term because I know what they are trying to say but more accuratley what they should be saying is that the scales fell off their eyes for a brief period of time and they recognized or was able to see or feel the Holy Spirit moving in their hearts at that time. You see the Holy Spirit is always constant he does not move around on different levels he stays steady. We are the ones who look like the heart monitor always going up or down. Sometimes either on our way up or down we cross his path and become aware of his presence. In Isaiah 55:1-9 says that he is given an invitational for you to come join him, he also says that his ways are not our ways, and our thoughts are not his thoughts. "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor." Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The Holy Spirit is with you all the time not just when you come across him. In Romans 8:11 says "And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you". If you are a child of God you have access to God at any time.

Matt 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Please be praying for revival for yourselves, my family, and for Nacogdoches, TX

Blessings

Church Growth

2008-01-13T08:37:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody, welcome back to my blog spot. After the deer hunt we have been able to get the deer meat processed and we came up with about 150 lbs of deer meat. We have started distributing the meat to some families in the church that we wanted to bless. It was well received and I think we will have a better hunting season next year because we are hunting for other people as well. We have an awesome group at our church and I don't think I would trade them for anything.
This last two weeks I have been amazed at the growth we have had in our church. Last week we had 61 people this week we had 67 and it seems like each week we just keep growing. I love to see new people come into the church. I met a couple of new people this week that my heart just went out to and I hope to see them come back again.
I am excited to see that we are about ready to kick off our women's ministry here in a couple of weeks. We are sending at 6 ladies to go a conference called "COWGIRL GET-TOGETHER" sponsored by Cowgirls of Faith on Friday evening, January 25th and Saturday, January 26th, at the Living for the Brand Cowboy Church in Athens, Texas. Please be praying for our ladies that they would come back refreshed and renewed.
Blessings,
stan

West TX Hunting Trip

2008-01-02T13:35:00.000-08:00

This weekend my brother in law Keith"Cookie" Wright and I went to his inlaws place in west Texas to do some hunting for the end of the year. We have had some hard hunting this year trying to find anything here in Nacogdoches, so we were excited to have an opportunity to go and get a free hunting trip in God's Hunting Country. We got 7 deer in 2 days enjoy the pics

My Son

2008-01-02T12:35:00.001-08:00

While I was away this weekend my wife took my son to the park and took a bunch of pictures to show me what I missed and made a movie of it. Enjoy

A gift

2007-12-29T06:44:00.000-08:00

This Sunday morning my brother in law and I are leaving to go to a ranch on the outskirts of Kerrville, TX. We are going to be hunting there for a few days. They say that the Axis deer are coming right up to the front porch. Well I thought that might be a big exaggeration but they sent pictures that prove it.

I am excited because I have never been able to hunt for axis before. They are a beautiful animal and much larger than a whitetail. This year we are going with a purpose. I have two families in our church that could use some good deer meat and I am dedicating this hunt to the Lord so I can provide for others. I even hope to keep some meat for my freezer. Please pray for a bountiful harvest

My Mommy the Dancer

2007-12-23T13:33:00.000-08:00

One day a fourth-grade teacher asked the children what their mothers did for a living. All the typical answers came up -- teacher, nurse, businesswoman, saleswoman, doctor, lawyer, and so forth. However, little Justin was being uncharacteristically quiet, so when the teacher prodded him about his mother, he replied, "Well my mother's an exotic dancer in a cabaret and takes off all her clothes in front of men and they put money in her underwear. Sometimes, if the offer is really good, she will go home with some guy and stay with him all night for money."

The teacher, obviously shaken by this statement, hurriedly set the other children to work on some exercises and then took little Justin aside to ask him, "Is that really true about your mother?" "No," the boy said, "She works for the Democratic National Committee and is helping to get Hillary Clinton to be our next President, but I was too embarrassed to say that in front of the other kids."

Sorry just a little humor, I hope you can laugh at this.

My Anniversary

2007-12-22T07:38:00.000-08:00

Well today is the day that is so special to me because today is my anniversary. I have been married to Caye the love of my life for six years now. I know it seems like we have been together all of our lives.

Proverbs 18:22 He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.

God has blessed me big as we say in the Cowboy Church.

A wise Cowboy

2007-12-21T07:06:00.000-08:00

A friend sent me an email with this radio call in from a young cowboy, I sure was humbled by that child , it goes to show out of the mouth of babes praise is perfected, enjoy. http://www.godtube.com/view_video?viewkey=d5d4ee2c067a456e7c0f

Back to basics

2007-12-15T07:14:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody, I have started a new blogspot for the church it is at

http://www.impactcowboychurch.blogspot.com/ so I am gong to get this one back to be my hunting blog. I am attaching some pics of my first Doe this season. My brother Keith is in the Pics as well. He helped me clean her and it sure is good to have help. Enjoy

New Beginnings 11-3-07

2007-11-05T13:43:00.001-08:00

This weekend has been great. Starting on saturday we had 1 baby dedication, 3 baptisms, and 1 salvation. It was an awesome night. On sunday I went and preached at the Piney Woods Cutting Horse Association and got to take some members out to it and later we all went to lunch. This was the first Baptism service se have had and boy was it fun.

Our new chuckwagon

2007-10-18T07:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of our new chuckwagon. We found it in Woster, Ohio so we are about to take a road trip to go get it. We will leave sunday morning and hopefully be back tuesday. Our Chuckwagon cook is so excited I may have to get him to calm down so he don't have a stroke or something.

It sure will look good going down main street with our new logo on the side

ICC livestock

2007-10-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

Cowboy churches are a little different in the fact that they usually have some livestock that belongs to the church. We are no exception now. The only thing now is I am starting to feel like Gus Mccrae on Lonesome Dove with his two pigs because that is what we have now.

We caught two wild pigs that we will fatten up and serve as our "guest of honor" for our first Christmas dinner. Yum Yum come get some.

We have a black one and a red one. The black one thinks he is a real rank twister but I don't think that his foul attitude is going to save him though. The word crafty would cover this mean little critter, but I think in the end the only thing that will cover him is going to be Kraft BBQ sauce.Enjoy the movie and don't laugh too hard.

Blessings

first two services at ICC

2007-10-16T05:52:00.000-07:00

Good Morning, I know it has been awhile since I blogged, I have been busy running around trying to get everything taken care of so we could have our first church services.

Let me start and say that starting a new church is not for the weak at heart or for someone who has a not so strong marriage because the stress could cause a heart attack or divorce. I am fortunate that after loosing 53 lbs that I am healthy as a horse and my marriage to my beautiful wife is strong enough to bend and be flexible.

I am very excited about the first two services we had and am looking on to the future. I am going to buy the Baptism Tub today (8ft long water trough). I am hoping to have our first baptism service in about two weeks. I hope to have a good crowd around for that and our first baby dedication will be the 2nd weekend in November.

Our first service we had about 70 people total and the 2nd service we had 43 but we had to compete with the big Piney Woods Fair so although it looks like we went down we had several people call and say that they was going to the fair because it is only once a year and or was going out of town.

I can't wait to see what happens this weekend because it just get's better all the time. I am lucky to have the friends and support staff that have come around me to help me get this started and no one person can do it alone. As a matter of fact I have to lay the credit down at the feet of my staff because it is because of their hard work and contacts that we have been able to grow. I do know how important it is to take care of your staff so we are trying to plan our first staff get a way even if it just one day.

Our praise and worship team we are calling the "On the fly band" because they just flew into our lives and came along right when we needed them. Only God can bring about something like that. I love the sound that they have. It is old style honkey tonk country music put to christian lyrics and old gospel songs. As a matter of fact I thank most of your honky tonkers would feel right at home in our service. We have already had one salvation and several baptisms lined up to be had so I am hanging on for the ride my life.

God Bless,

Launch Date

2007-10-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well tomorrow we will kick off our new church plant called Impact Cowboy Church of Nacogdoches. Along with the help and support of Liberty Fellowship and The Vine Fellowship of Arlington, TX we are about to kick off our new work. The thing about Cowboy Church is that there is at least a little cowboy in every American. We as American always pull for the under dog and we fancy ourselves as people like John Wayne in the movies. We walk around with a little swagger and we have confidence that can't be shaken but we all know as people we have our flaws. John Wayne in his personal life had many flaws such as alcohol and women. Two big weak points for most men, although he is remembered for being larger than life he still died of Cancer I believe.

Please don't think I dislike John Wayne because I love to catch a good J.W. movie but he represents the fallen man in all of us. In my first two messages I will be preaching about a Biblical character named Nehemiah and he was the real Godly version of John Wayne. He rode into town with a purpose and didn't care who he offended because he served God. He was a real cowboy at heart in Neh 2-11-15 It talk about Nehemiah going out to inspect the walls of of Jerusalem well he went riding on horse back at night so he could secretly examine the wall now with the wall being torn down and rubble being everywhere he had to be a good horseman just to make the ride. Well when he got together with everyone he told them what God wanted him to do and man they came on board with him because he was a leader.

One last thing and it is a small thing but most cowboys have had to deal with alcohol at some point in there life. So did Nehemiah he was the cup bearer for the King, you could say that he got his start serving alcohol because I don't think too many Kings had cup bearers to get them a glass of milk. ;-D just kidding

Next week I will be talking about the revival that broke out once they started listening to the Word of God. I am excited to see what God is doing for us and I hope you will be able to come see us in Nacogdoches, (ROB)

Blessings,

New Logo

2007-09-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

We just got our new logo. I fell in love with it. It represents a church that got roped in by the Holy Spirit and was branded for Christ and now through the Power of the Cross are reaching out to the Western Heritage culture, Let me know what you think.

Stan

My little buckaroo

2007-08-30T07:04:00.000-07:00

Recently Maw Maw went shopping for Jonathan and got him all fixed up with some Wrangler jeans, boots and belt. Aunt Pam got him a few western shirts so I had to take some pictures of my little buckaroo. Recently a friend of my mine named Rob gave me a cd of a country singer named Rodney Adkins and on that cd was a song called my little buckaroo (I think). It is about how a father notices that his son is growing up and watching daddy in everything he does. Well Jonathan is growing up fast I hope you enjoy the picture.

And so it begins!

2007-08-29T06:37:00.000-07:00

We are back from a trip to Fairfield, TX where the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches hosted a Cowboy church planting school. It was a two day event which kicked off Saturday at 12:15 pm and lasted till 9pm and ended with a concert of three different Cowboy bands. It was a great time to be had by all. On Sunday it started at 7am with a chuck wagon breakfast and then started our classes and went on till about 2:30pm.

The one thing that I forgot to tell you was that the temperature was around 100 degrees outside both days and yes after two days of sweating it sure felt good to be back home in our home. Although we were lucky we had our fifth wheel camper so we did have hot showers and A/C at night. We were probably a lot better off than 90% of everybody else. There were people sleeping in their horse trailors and in hotel rooms that were rather quiet expensive.

I was able to take my core group with us to the school. There were 7 of us all together. Keith Wright which is my brother in law which will be our lay pastor of chuck wagon cooking, Rex Crenshaw which will be one of my starting Elders. Darlene Estes which is our Singles Director, Joe and Leigh Rush a sweet couple with a great heart for youth. He used to be a Pro Bull rider. He is either aweful brave or really crazy, which to be honest you need to be a little of both to want to work with Youth, and then there was Caye and I.

It was a great time, and there was about 400 people there for the school. There are going to be a lot of cowboy churches started this year. They think there will be 250 cowboy churches by 2010. Cowboy church is done differently and is more comfortable for those people that are not of the traditional church mindset. It is about bringing people to God in an enviroment that they can understand. When you come to a cowboy church you may hear country and western praise worship music that you might think sounds like honky tonk music and I love it. Sometimes you can look up during praise and worship and see a couple doing the two step or the jitterbug swing during worship. I don't think you will see that in a traditional church. Maybe we need to all rethink our pirpose of church.

We can't expect the lost to jump to when we start reading KJV, it just ain't going to happen, and yes "ain't" is a word in the Cowboy church. Cowboys want to know how God relates in their lives and they are not complicated. It reminds me of Joe Friday "Just the facts!" They want to know that you are a straight shooter and that you don't have any hidden agendas and that you just don't want their money. Which the average cowboy don't have money to throw around. They are loyal people when they are attached to someone or something. They ride for the brand and yes God even wants to save cattle rustlers and horse thieves although everyone else wants them hung for their crimes God wants to pardon them.

So in the spirit of doing something different we are going to be doing team roping's and team ranch rodeos as well as trail rides. God is spreading his grace on Cowboy Churches because they are missionary minded because they are reaching a lost people group right here in the U.S.

Blessings,

stan

What a blast!

2007-07-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

What a blast I had this weekend. I went to go preach at a church in Denton, TX that has been in the middle of a major change. The Pastor has stepped down and the congregation has been in a hard place. I was sent there to love on them and for the first time I experience a side of ministry that was so awesome. The Lord gave me direction to just be real with them so I let formality take a back seat and just speak to them like they were old friends that I had not seen in a while. I found it strange that they had certain things that the old pastor would not allow and when they told me about some of them I decided that it was time to so them something different. I got to walk the isle and even touch them as I walked by. I saw there hearts melt when I would stop by and and touch a man's shoulder or just spend time sharing with them the word that the lord had given for them.

It did not go exactly like I planned but I think it was better. I got them to laugh, some cried, some shouted back in rejoicing and praising the Lord. I asked them if they would be willing to be interactive in praising the Lord and they responded. It was fun and I am thankful I had they chance to see people respond to my antidotes of life. I was explaing that my wife and I were about to go to Nacogdoches and how I thought is was funny that the Lord would send a cowboy from High Springs, FL to start a cowboy church in Nacogdoches, TX and how I thought that was an oxy moron and they started laughing but agreed that God had a sence of humor as well.

I hated to leave because I think my 15 month old son found him a girl friend there, and it was great to watch him play with her. Any who all said and done it was awesome. Thanks Pastor David for the chance to share with them.

Blessings

Surprise

2007-07-14T06:52:00.001-07:00

Impact Cowboy Church of Nacogdoches

Surprise, I have interesting news to share with you. After months of planning and trying to conceptualize the church I am going to start has some what changed into something a little different than I originally planned for, but it is awesome to watch God shape and mold something to bring about his plan to being reality. I started meet with people in Nacogdoches about starting our church and things started coming evident pretty quick. First I had always planned on having a church that was in the country side of life. For instance I was thinking about having praise and worship with the country and western sound and I had thought about rustic design for the church, but what everybody really wanted in the town was a Cowboy Church. The more I started thinking about it the more I started to see that they already have enough "church" on every corner but you usually want see many cowboys there because it is too much for them. They want a place where they belong and can feel like they can contribute with their unique gifts that are not in much demand at a normal church. At a cowboy church if you can rope you can easily lead someone to Jesus.

In Nacogdoches we have a coffee shop called Java Jacks and trust me they have some awesome coffee in you are ever in town they are better than Starbucks, but any how on their sign out front it says "Down the street from ordinary". Well that got me thinking and I had to ask my self did I really want to do something for God or did I just want to do something? I know that I want to do something for God! The closest Cowboy Church around is about thirty miles away. This way I am not trying to edge in on somebodies so called turf or their corner of the Kingdom.

Most Cowboy churches are usually Baptist and in fact it has become one of the fastest growing church planting concepts that they have, but I am not Baptist I consider myself practically Charismatic. I came across a church that changed my life called The Vine Fellowship and a Pastor named David Kerr who believed enough in me to allow me to serve with him. I have always been different than most people at our church but that was how God has made me and I love the fact that I grew up on farms and ranched for a time of my life and that I like hunting and have a passion for sharing it with others so they can learn to enjoy God's creation for themselves. I have been studying 1 Corinthians and in chapter 12 it talks about the Body of Christ, well although I am doing something just a Little different I am still in the same Body and I think that is the awesome ways of God how he uses different people to do the same work but yet in a different way.

A friend of mine named Rob is always excited in showing people how to discover and use their spiritual gifts. Well I am getting excited about the same thing except I am going to a different type of people.

I will keep you informed as I get information.

Blessings,

Stan

Strange days

2007-07-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

I had meetings with two of the leading pastors here in Nacogdoches yesterday and they both asked me not to plant a church here because it is already strained in the area and they have had a downturn on finaces here in town. I thought it was funny thought how one of them wanted me to go start a church in Lufkin saying that it was more fertile ground and even offered finacial help in doing so. These were the same people who several months ago said that it would be great to have the help here in town.

Frustration is the word of the day around here, the job market is looking pretty rough and we will be leaning on the Lord to get us through. I am having to pick myself up and dust myself off and go on. Please pray for me and my family for wisdom and financial backing.

Blessings,
Stan

Rain rain go away come back another day.

2007-07-05T07:43:00.000-07:00

Well friends, I am in Nacogdoches, TX where I want to move and we have been taking a few days to relax because of the rain and thought that a good couple of days down time would be awesome, but it has never quit raining yet and the extended forecast shows the next eight days with rain and thunder storms. I am in a coffee house here in Nacogdoches called Java Jacks and it is raining so hard it is going sideways.

I knew something was wrong when I heard a knock at the door and saw Noah, he wanted to borrow a can of coffee, it really bothered me when he asked if I thought it might last for 40 day's or not. What was that about? Sorry enough with the bad jokes. I am just a little sad because of the weather and wanted to see anyone felt the same way I do.

I am trying to make appointments with the local pastors here in town to get to know some of them better. I am also wanting to get hooked up with the ministry alliance in town.

Well that is what is going on with me today,
Blessings,
Stan

Dealing with disapointment

2007-06-26T12:29:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those days where everything you were hoping for went down the drain? Today is one of those days for me. I am dealing with a personal loss of something that I was really looking forward to, and today I found out that it was not to be. (won't mention what because of a personal nature)

I am now looking forward to getting started on what I need to do to secure my dreams. I am looking at starting a new church in Nacogdoches, TX called "Impact Church of Nacogdoches" Our slogan is "Impacting people at the point of their needs". I am now presently trying to recruit staff members and people that will be glad to serve the community that they live in and believe in. I have found that when dealing with people that you want to pour into or serve, sometimes they can and will let you down.

I am ex military and so I believe in a feeling of team work and a sense of pride in supporting those who you have served and those who have served you. It is hard to expect people to be loyal to you if you have not been loyal to them. That is the way I live my life. For those I serve I do so with extinction. The Army Rangers have a credo that say's that they will leave no one behind dead or alive it makes no difference. I feel that you should never have to worry about where I stand if I am serving you or your command I will "stick".

Today I talked to a friend who was serving as a replacement pastor for a large denomination who did not give him the support that he should have been given and was eventually asked to live his church after uprooting his whole family to take over this church that was being run by one family that was related to everyone in the town. So when he got there to relieve the old pastor the church got up and walked out and staged a protest by walking out after worship was over every sunday. Thing started changing for them and they began having 3-4 families attend and was beginning to turn things around. I have seen a change happen in my friend that broke my heart. He is ex military as well and needed the support of his chain of command and they walked out on him and asked him to leave so they could bring back the old pastor who they were not happy with in the first place. Jodi was a complete company man for this denomination if you would like to call it like that. When people serve you remember they are usually trying to do the very best they can to do at what you want them to do without the benefit of your support or experience.

So as I look for people to help me in my new venture, it is important that to find people who will "stick" in the hard times. I call them "peanut butter" type people. I know that is a crude way to look at people but take a spoon and put it in a jar of peanut butter and get a big spoonful. When you pull it out turn it upside down and watch what happens. Nothing, if it is good peanut butter it will not move it will "stick" to the spoon. I am not looking for jello type people who are always wiggling around and don't stick to anything except the pan that they were made in.

I know that is a strange analogy but it is fitting. Please look around at your work, and family enviroment and take notice of the people who "stick" and support them with all your heart because they don't run from a fight and they try to do what is best. Who knows it may be you that needs someone to come along side of you and say's don't worry I don't leave any body behind.

I know it is a strange post but just some thoughts I have been thinking about. Please leave any comments

Family time in a time of transition.

2007-06-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since I blogged, but I have been in some serious transitions in my family life. This picture is of me and my wife at deer camp on Christmas of 2004. This was before the birth of our Son Jonathan. On April 11, 2006 He was born and boy let me tell you that is when life got turned upside down and inside out. He came into this world weighing 9lbs 14oz, which is bigger than the average baby. When he came into our lives so many things changed for good never to go back to the same ever again. In this picture Caye and I look so happy but it can't compare to the happiness we have today because of our son.

Well just as the change came by adding him into the family we have made some more drastic changes that will forever change our lives and how we live. Three weeks ago I went into the hospital and discovered that I have diabetes and it I had probably have had it for a while. I was lucky to find it when I did. As a result I have to change my life style and how I live and eat. I have lost twenty lbs since I have had to change my diet. It is hard and frustrating but I am getting through it. My wife has been a rock for me because she started taking the diabetic diet with me so that I would not have to do it myself. Having a support staff or group means everything to me because she is showing me that she loves me and wants me to be around so we can share our old age together. She has even lost six lbs since we have been on it so she even take advantage of a strange situation.

Last Sunday we wrapped up our last week at the the church were I was on staff as associate pastor. I have been a part of that family for over eight years and have seen a lot of ups and downs, good times and bad times, but I would not trade them for anything. The reason we are leaving is so we can go start a church plant in Nacogdoches, TX. We are excited about it and yet scared as well. I was taking to a friend here recently and he asked how I was so sure that God was calling me to do it? You see he went to start a church plant and it did not work out and he lost faith in what he was doing and he stopped trying. Well when it was boiled down I told him that what was left was an unchangeable or unshakable hunch of what I am supposed to do. Well I have been thinking about that here recently. My wife turned in her notice at her school where she is a teacher and she gets paid through August and since I am no longer on staff I no longer receive a pay check. I will admit that right now I am scared to think about the possibilities of what is happening with us. We are trying to sell our house and let me tell you it is a time of severe change. I am a man and I don't handle change well and through it all God reminds me in Psalms 68 it say's Let God arise and his enemies scatter. I know that I am a man of God who get's scared but it not fear that disqualifies you but how you handle the fear. In war and on battle graound through out the world we have had men that have sucked up the fear and performed great acts of heroism and we have had great men lock up in fear and just give up.

This is a time of gut checking and asking myself will I let my fear for my family out wiegh the fear of the Lord. I stand strong in nowing that "As for me and my family we shall serve the LORD." Please keep checking in for updates on our church planting and my upcoming deer season hunting stories.

Firearms refresher course

2007-03-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

FIREARMS REFRESHER COURSE
1. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.
2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
3. Colt: The original point and click interface.
4. Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.
5. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?
6. If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.
7. "Free" men do not ask permission to bear arms.
8. If you don't know your rights you don't have any.
9. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.
10. The United States Constitution (c) 1791. All Rights reserved.
11. What part of "shall not be infringed" do you not understand?
12. The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians
ignore the others.
13. 84,987,543 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
14. Guns only have two enemies: rust and politicians.
15. Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.
16. You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
17. 911 - government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.
18. Assault is a behavior, not a device.
19. Criminals love gun control -- it makes their jobs safer.
20. If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.
21. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.
22. You only have the rights you are willing to fight for.
23. Enforce the "gun control laws" we ALREADY have, don't make more.
24. When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.
25. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.
IF YOU AGREE: PLEASE PASS THIS 'REFRESHER' ON TO 10 FREE CITIZENS
"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not."
- Thomas Jefferson

Computer addiction

2007-02-12T07:12:00.000-08:00

I came across this and thought all you computer junkies might enjoy.
*Have you begun using the words "dot com" when addressing the Father in prayer?
*Have you begun feeding your mouse instead of your pets?
*Do you refer to Bill Gates as "Dad"?
*Has the TV remote control been missing and you don't care?
*Do you wake up at 3:00 AM to go to the bathroom but check for your e-mail first?
*On an airplane do you hold your laptop and put your child in the overhead compartment?
*Is your monthly phone bill delivered to you in a box?
*When facing temptation do you try to click it off?
*Have you stopped calling on parishioners because they don't have a modem?
*When preaching on Heaven's splendor, do your descriptions sound more and more like Silicon Valley?
*At a new parsonage would you rather Netscape than landscape?

If you've answered "yes" to any of the above you may have a problem, too.

Deer Evangelism season

2007-01-22T08:30:00.000-08:00

Food for thought!

For all the hunters that are wondering why they never see deer when they go hunting on Sunday's well it is because they have picked up on the fact that if you are in the woods, you are not in the church.

Thanks to www.reverendfun.com look them up it is a great comical relief.

Living in a life of opposition

2007-01-01T19:57:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been in a situation where you think everything that you touch messes up and there is no way to stop it? That has been my whole last week.

We went to Nacogdoches, TX for the Christmas break to get away and do some research for our church plant that we will be starting there. I went there thinking that it was going to be a great time and we were going to celebrate our 5th year anniversary and that is where the record player scratched and everything went down hill.

My Mother in Love (MIL) had put in a 30 amp plug on the electric pole for my Brother in Love (BIL) and me to hook up our R.V.s into for power but when you use a friend of a friend don't be surprised if you get less that professional work. The R.V. needs 110 with 30 amp circuit and he wired it with a 220. Well it fried our converter, microwave, and alarm clock and thank goodness that the frig and the A/C was cut off or they would have been fried. That was on December 22th which was my anniversary date. Do you get where I am going?

Let's put it this way wives do not like missing there anniversary dinner because their husbands are outside at 10 pm trying to work on a problems that is way above their heads. It was actually one week later before we could go have that dinner at Red Lobster.

I had friends that showed up out of town and wanted to go hunting with me on our property so she felt like she was getting the short end of the stick and she probably was. I was recently reminded that our Doctor that delivered my son Jonathan was talking to Caye and I about when we make plans God laughs at them because we try and take care of things ourselves and not look to God for his answers. I was beginning to think that it was a rain on stan's day parade or something like that.

Not to mention the rain storms that came and dropped 4-6 inches of rain overnight on us and got everything all muddy. We were able to get the camper in the shop the day after Christmas and get the essentials fixed. Total damage will end up around $400.00. Not to mention when the electrician came out and looked at the electrical socket he said that he should have figured out it was 110 and not 220.

I was not able to get a shot on any deer or pigs and had to endure the birds that kept coming up and stealing our corn that was meant for the deer and would make noises that they had to go to class to learn how to annoy humans and they really excelled in the annoying part. It was like having to endure nagging for hours at a time with out being able to say a single word.

By Saturday things started to calm down and trust me I am leaving out a lot of stuff because you just would not believe me if I said anything else. I got my dinner with my wife who was beginning to think that I was getting closer to being accepted as being a human, not quite but I will take what I can get at that level.

So guys remember right when you think you have everything thought off there is something else unforeseen. Prov 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.

Seek God when things are going wrong and don't try and fix things yourself.

First Buck!

2006-12-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

This is a friend of mine named Loran Richardson, he is a youth pastor at a church called New Freedom Church in Webb, Alabama He was able to harvest this buck on Saturday it weighed close to 175 lbs Nice buck!

I wanted to take the time to brag on him because of what he has been able to do as a youth pastor. He has served with integrity and with hard work and faithfulness and with God's favor has done some great things there. In fact he sponsored a city wide worship event this summer that had multiple church and multiple denominations attend and help participate. Matt 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. I can see since he has been faithful in the things of God, God is blessing him in many areas. I am lucky to have him as a friend and what makes it all that more special is that he is only 24 yrs old. I love seeing the young people serve God. I see people like him as special because in his generation the people are a different sort of people, He is like Caleb in the fact that he has a different kind of spirit. He continues to be a great source of joy to me.

In Alabama they have an over abundance of deer that he can hunt for, but he is about to come here to Texas to do some hunting and I am getting excited about it. I am hoping some of his good fortune will rub of on me. I can honestly say that he is a righteous man and has stayed true and I think the reward shows in his life by his fruit. Good job and congrats Loran. If you want look him up he is at www.newfreedomchurch.org The church that he serves at is an awesome church as well. Check them out and enjoy.

What Christmas means to me this year.

2006-12-13T11:28:00.000-08:00

This has been a long and difficult year as well as a deeply rewarding year to me and my family. It started off with my wife having to be on bed rest so she would not have a miscarriage and trust me that was not fun for her. I had to help her with the things she could not do and for a person who is used to doing something herself it is hard to rely on someone else to do it for her.

Well, God is good and delivered her through that time and the baby came. We named him Jonathan David King Because he had been prophesied that he would be a Gift of God which is what the name of Jonathan means, David after my spiritual Father which means Beloved of God and King because that is our last name and I feel is appropriate because we serve the King of all kings.

Financially this has been the hardest year I have seen as an adult but God is good and just to save and he has. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Heb 10:23 He has always provided even when I began to doubt.

I have seen a relationship with my father and my brother be restored and fall away again. They are leaving and moving back to Florida because they don't like living here and find it hard to fit into our lives because of our faith differences. I am one that believes that just the minimum is not ok. I feel like if I carry the Cross brand, I should ride for the Brand (an old cowboy saying.)

I nearly lost my wife for the second time due to a ruptured appendix. She had been walking around for two days with it being ruptured and fortunately God stepped in and kept her protected with a deposit of fat that plugged and sealed the rupture so nothing leaked out.

My son just turned eight months old and and he is making me prouder everyday. So this year I plan on sitting around the table and giving a long testimony of the things that I am thankful for this year.

I am also in the middle of planning for a new church plant that is to be called "Impact Church" in Nacogdoches, TX. The word Impact means to have an impact or effect on; influence; alter. I always have liked being a impact player in sports or business and I can't wait to be an impact player for the Kingdom of God in Nacogdoches, TX. It is the hardest time of my life but also the most exciting time of my life. A new beginning and unfortunately an ending of what I am doing now. I wonder sometimes what it will be like to be away from my church family and friends but I get reminded that Pastor spoke over me at a staff retreat that I am about to shoot out of the starting blocks and that they would be there to cheer me on. He also told me that I would be a long distance runner, and this is how my race will be run always looking down the road looking for the Son to rise and never stopping nor giving up. That is my charge, something different, something new, I am sure glad I have the assurance of God, because without it I would run away screaming.

God you are Awesome, I love you and can't wait to see what you will do with us this next year with all the changes that are coming for me and my family.

Love you, Stan

Toys for Tots rejects Jesus Doll

2006-11-14T14:28:00.000-08:00

Here is a little article that I thought funny. In a time where the world needs Jesus and the only person that could make the Marines obsolete, they turn down the gift. I guess I can understand to a degree, but how sad is it when we can not spread the truth, and how strange it is that we can not give away a represenatation of the person who Christmas was all about. What do you think?

LOS ANGELES - A talking Jesus doll has been turned down by the Marine Reserves' Toys for Tots program. A suburban Los Angeles company offered to donate 4,000 of the foot-tall dolls, which quote Bible verses, for distribution to needy children this holiday season. The battery-powered Jesus is one of several dolls manufactured by one2believe, a division of the Valencia-based Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Co., based on Biblical figures.
But the charity balked because of the dolls' religious nature.
Toys are donated to kids based on financial need and "we don't know anything about their background, their religious affiliations," said Bill Grein, vice president of Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, in Quantico, Va.
As a government entity, Marines "don't profess one religion over another," Grein said Tuesday. "We can't take a chance on sending a talking Jesus doll to a Jewish family or a Muslim family."
Michael La Roe, director of business development for both companies, said the charity's decision left him "surprised and disappointed."
"The idea was for them to be three-dimensional teaching tools for kids," La Roe said. "I believe as a churchgoing person, anyone can benefit from hearing the words of the Bible."
According to the company's Web site, the button-activated, bearded Jesus, dressed in hand-sewn cloth outfits and sandals, recites Scripture such as "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." It has a $20 retail value.
Grein also questioned whether children would welcome a gift designed for religious instruction. "Kids want a gift for the holiday season that is fun," he said.

Gay liberals being critical of religion.

2006-11-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

I came across this article and it was like a good kick in the head. I got hit twice because I am a war vet from the first Gulf War and now I am a Pastor. With out voicing my OPINION about this I wanted to put this out there for discussion and see what people had to say about this subject.

OK just to start it off I think Elton John has a very one sided gay outlook on this and I am not one for wanting to call someone on the carpet without reason but in this article he say's "there is a general lack of leadership in the worlds religions," I for one think that is a load of cow chips because he is living a very immoral life as a homosexual and if has not listened to religous leaders about his life style, he surely will not listen when it it concerns a world view that is not tolerant to his personal views.

Let me know what you think.

Religion should be outlawed because it lacks compassion and promotes hatred of homosexuals, gay pop star Elton John said in an interview.
The singer was speaking in a special "gay edition" of The Observer newspaper's Music Monthly Magazine, where he shared his views on subjects ranging from being a music icon to Prime Minister Tony Blair's stance on the Iraq war.
At a time when religion is the subject of fierce debate in Britain over the right to wear the Muslim veil and other faith symbols, John complained there was a general lack of leadership from spiritual leaders.
"I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. From my point of view, I would ban religion completely," he was quoted as saying.
"Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate. The world is near escalating to World War Three and where are the leaders of each religion?
"Why aren't they having a conclave? Why aren't they coming together? I said this after 9/11 and people thought I was nuts. Instead of more violence why isn't there a meeting of religious leaders?" he said.
"It's like the peace movement in the Sixties. Musicians got through to people by getting out there and doing peace concerts but we don't seem to do them anymore.
"If John Lennon were alive today, he'd be leading it with a vengeance."
John complained that too many people were protesting online to take to the streets, highlighting the effectiveness of the February 2003 march against military action in Iraq that mobilized millions around the world.
With spiralling violence in Iraq, such opposition to Blair's backing of the United States had "come back to bite him on the ass," he added.
On homosexuality, the 59-year-old -- who sealed a civil partnership with his long-term partner, the Canadian film director David Furnish in December last year -- said he was happy to be viewed as the "acceptable face of gayness."
He also vowed to continue his fight for gay rights and
AIDS' charities: "I can't just sit back; it's not in my nature anymore. I'm nearly 60 years old after all. I can't sit back and blindly ignore it and I won't."

Servanthood vs Dictatorship

2006-11-08T10:54:00.000-08:00

3 John 1-14
1 The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
3 It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth.
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you.
6 They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.
7 It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans.
8 We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.
9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us.
10 So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.
11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
12 Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone, and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
13 I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink.
14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

This a story about three very different men but noteworthy enough for God to tell us about them so we can understand the difference between servanthood and dictatorship. In the Christian world we have what is called the Five Fold Ministry- Apostle, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher and it is easy for people to loose sight of them being servants to the flock.

I have always seen the five fold ministry as being fingers and the flock as being the palm of the hand. When in operation the fingers work in unison with the hand to get the work of God done here on this earth. I think it really holds true when you take your fingers and close them back up to the palm, they work together to protect and to serve the hand. We are to serve the bigger part of the body not take precedence over the body.

The first man was a servant named Gauis who was a treasured friend of the Apostle John. John had said that he had heard about his love through the service of the Brothers through the people he had served and was proud that he was walking in the Truth. John had commended him for his faithfulness to hospitality toward the Brothers when came through his area doing the work of the Lord. They would come to his house and he would serve them with the Love of God through hospitality. Most of the people he did not know, but he worked not for fame nor fortune but through the spirit of servanthood. He knew the commandment that he was to love his neighbor, and he also knew that he was doing something more important than serving himself. Gaius was not a man to complain about serving these men of God no matter how late they showed up or how long they stayed, or how much they ate and drank he counted it all Joy. I am sure that he put out a lot of his own money and time serving them without much compensation other than the joy of being a servant of God.

The second man was Diothrephes who John stated always wanted to be first(not a good sign). He had given in to pride, jealousy, and slander. He had taken over the church and would not listen to the eldership of the faith, he had begun to slander them, and would not receive any of the brothers. He had started trying to stop others from serving and receiving the Brothers in Christ and would go as far as even throwing people out of church for being servants to the needs of the Brothers. Can you imagine that? It was so bad that John himself stated that he wanted to come and have a talk with Diothrephes, talk about being humbled I sure would hate to have to be in that room when that went down. The bottom line was that his pride had disqualified him as a leader and needed to be confronted with the Truth.

The third man was probably a Pastor or teacher named Demetrius. In verse 12 Demetrius was being introduced as man that is well spoken of by the people and even the Truth itself. My study bible says that if Truth could speak it would speak on Demetrius's behalf. He was probably the man that carried the letter from John to Gaius which would also serve as an approval of him to preach and teach the Truth. Certainly Gauis opened his home to receive him as a respected man of the faith. I think that is a pretty high praise from John himself.

John had showed us three different types of people one a True Servant, one a thug/dictator, and one a Minister of the Gospel. It also shows that when good character is revealed, it is noticed and when bad character is shown, it is also dealt with. I think the relationship between John, Gauis, and Demetrius is exactly the same relationship we need in the church today.

May we always have Fathers of the faith that commend us, watch over us, correct us, and approve of us.
May we always have servants that serve and may we always have leaders that are proven trust worthy through time.

Sir, Please shut up!

2006-11-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

For a man who tried to build himself as a war hero in the last presidential race, "U shore aint got know cents!" I am a War Vet myself and what you think is a lack of education I call Patriotism, what you call stupidity I call Honor , what you call ignorance I call Loyalty.

Let me tell you one thing sir, and I use that term loosely, I have never been so embarrassed by a member of my Gov't as what you did this week. I do realize that you are not a man of Honor, nor are you a man of Integrity. The comment you made, or should I say tried to make, shows that yes even after the clinton/lewinski ordeal we went through there is still a new low that I did not think possible to sink to, and fear not you found it.

You are a man who should be living a distinguished life as an Elder Statesman. You should have more intelligence or at least decency to understand that our Men and Women in the Armed service are doing something that is good, decent, and honorable. They are trying to bring stability and order in a part of the world that needs it badly. Please remind me who was it that came in and started working on making sure that schools were built, power was available , and water was running, well it sure was not you. Who is laying down their lives to defend a people from pure evil, I will give you one guess and yes you guessed it right, it is not you. Who is standing Guard tonight in a cold check point defending his brothers in arms while you and your wealthy wife live in the lap of luxury in a nice warm house that most of us true Americans will never be able to afford.

That sir, which is a term you do not deserve, takes true nerve to criticize the American Service men and women for doing what they thought they should be doing which is defending our moral responsibility of defending the world from terrorist.

I also would like to know how you would be able to look at a wife, a mother, or a child who has lost a loved one in the service of our Country and tell them, "Well Bless your heart, your loved one died because he was too stupid to go to college and get good grades."

Sir, which I use sarcastically, I understand your wife is French if I am not mistaken, I am sure that France would open up their arms to receive you as a citizen so please leave and don't even worry about getting your passport stamped because quess what even the custom agents are defending our Country or on second thought go ahead they may need the practice of doing a body/cavity search. Sir, which you are underserving of being called. Have made a complete fool of yourself and everything America stands for, good day and good bye.

Stuck in the rut!

2006-10-31T14:33:00.000-08:00

Here it is one week before the start of rifle deer season here in North Texas and there is a cold front coming in. It makes my imagination run wild of visions of being hunting and the rut kicks into full gear. Big monster bucks coming out looking for love in all the wrong places. Generally deer are very timid creatures that almost will never come out into the open, but in the rut they have one thing one their mind and do you want to guess what they are thinking about. They have one thing that they can think about and one thing only. In deer language it means "let's par-tay!"

Enough with the kidding around, What happens is that the Bucks get so intent on the does that they are not concerned with anything else around them. If you are lucky enough to ever to be able to watch a buck chase a doe you will notice that he has thrown caution to the wind and has given in to the desire to do what they were created to do and that is to thrive and reproduce a strong new generation of deer so that they will ensure survival of deer as God created them.

I think that as Christians we could learn a lot about our faith walk by watching deer. The Apostle Paul spoke in Phil 3:12-14 "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Just as the deer are pressing on to take hold of the goal and to win the prize so should we be in such a state of mind that nothing will sidetrack us and hinder us from doing what we were created to do and that is to Worship God without any distractions and to reproduce a strong generation that will in turn chase after God with same desire to be near their creator. That is what God wanted from man before the fall of Adam in the garden. I believe God was deeply hurt when that happened and I also think that he is over joyed when his children want him as bad as we want to breath and I am sure that in that, we achieve what GOD created us for and that is to be with him.

May we all stay stuck in the Rut. Happy hunting

Deer Season is finally here!!!!!!!!!!

2006-10-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

Praise the lORD! It is almost deer season! I am a hunter and love to see the change of the weather knowing that deer season is right around the corner. I really don't ask much in life but my hunting is one thing that I can do that relaxes me like nothing else can. Unfortunatly, when I go hunting I don't need to harvest a buck every year, but it is the time out in nature seeking after God that I need more than any thing.

It is an awesome experience to be able to go to the deer camp and sit in my tree stand with no distractions, I feel like I am drawing closer to God every year because I find that I need him more and more every year. To me it is like I am having Revival with in my Spirit just like some denominations schedule a yearly revival meeting at their churches so do I in the East Texas Pineywoods.

I find as a new dad wanting to be a Godly father to my son, there is more and more that I don't know about being a father. I find that I am so desperate for God, even to the point that I can not stand to be without him and his direction for my life, and that is when my soul cries out in a desperate need of God.

A couple of weeks ago my Pastor wrote about when a deer is running from something it will have a strong desire for water to the point that is the only thing on it's mind. I know that as a hunter here in the south that this is true because when the deer's body is under a high degree of stress it produces something called Lactic acid which can help the body produce emergency energy in case of a need for a quick get away, but when the body produce too much over a long period of time it can start turning back on the body and can slow down a deer to the point of exaustion or even death, unless it gets to water and and is able to drink. It has a way of resetting the metabolic system of the deer which causes the deer's body to start healing itself.

I find that I am like that deer under extreme physical stress longing for that water except for me it is God that I long for. With out him I will die because my body was never made to take the stress of this life with out him. He is my Savior and my friend. Psalms 42:1-2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

As the writer of Psalms 42 asked God "When can I meet with you?" we need to get out and spend time with God. Ask him when can we meet I bet he want tell to get your people to call his people so you can do lunch together some other time. He is there for you when you are ready to spend time with him.

Please take the time to pass down these two legacies to your children.
1) As being a hunter
2) Being a Hunter for Christ.

Blessings and happy hunting

Standing alone

2006-10-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

Today I received an email from a man that I consider to be one of my spiritual sons. He asked for forgiveness for a few things which was between us. Not realizing that I still love him and miss him. He recently got married to his long time girl friend and moved away to train for the Olympics. I am so proud of him and all he is trying to do. I am watching from afar hoping he will let me back into his life again and to be able to speak the Truth to him.

The biggest thing that came up between us was that I wanted to see him step up and be what God called him to be as a leader and he was just not able to see himself as a leader but someone outside of the group looking in. Just like in this picture if you are standing alone it makes you an easy target for the enemy and allows the enemy to keep you from achieving all that you can for the Kingdom of God.

In the military we used to say that "better sense is the better part of valor", and that "the only hero's that we knew of were dead men." We used to try and teach our men not to be dead hero's but alive men who did their jobs that saved the lives of a lot of men, that is called team work. So remember before you allow yourself to wonder too far away form the herd ask yourself why are you making the decision to be separated from the group and what good can become of it.

For the young man that wrote me today, I will not mention his name but, I love you and miss you. I will pray for you and your marriage and remember you always have a place in my house and my heart.

Blessings,
Stan

Unshakable Faith

2006-10-05T06:49:00.000-07:00

When you see the caption it talk abouts an intense time, but I have found when you are out in the deep end of the water you will always have intense moments but remember "If God is with us who can stand against us. Don't let the threat of danger stop you from doing what God has called you to do.

True Faith

2006-10-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

Here is a real heart breaking story of how Jesus Christ will help you and walk throught the the hardest times that you can have. The Amish people are usually very peaceful people who tend to keep to themselves so they can stay away from the sin in the world and live quiet and productive lives. Here is a clip from a news article that blew me away. See how a mother of one of the slain children can forgive the shooter simply because Christ forgave us. Our hearts and prayers are with the families of all the school shooting victims this week.

‘They honestly have forgiven’
Meanwhile, Rita Rose, a local nurse and midwife who delivered several children in the Amish community, told NBC’s Ann Curry that the mother of a 13-year-old girl who died has forgiven Roberts.

“She holds no ill will toward the shooter. She’s very forgiving. Christ forgave us, and we in turn forgive, and they honestly have forgiven,” she said. “Even last night, there was no anger toward the shooter.”

Rose described the teenage girl, who she did not identify, as “just beginning to blossom; she was very sweet.”

She added that the tragedy would likely strengthen the religious beliefs held by the Amish community, despite talk from outsiders that the lack of a phone or other modern amenities might have averted or cut short the tragedy.

“There’s two things that happen to your faith,” she said. “Either you let it go and get bitter, or you grow stronger — and we’ll grow stronger.”

Honesty does not mean always mean Integrity!

2006-09-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, in Long Beach, California, a fellow went into a fried chicken place and bought a couple of chicken dinners for himself and his date late one afternoon. The young woman at the counter inadvertently gave him the proceeds from the day—a whole bag of money (much of it cash) instead of fried chicken. After driving to their picnic site, the two of them sat down to open the meal and enjoy some chicken together. They discovered a whole lot more than chicken—over $800! But he was unusual. He quickly put the money back in the bag. They got back into the car and drove all the way back. Mr. Clean got out, walked in, and became an instant hero. By then the manager was frantic. The guy with the bag of money looked the manager in the eye and said, “I want you to know I came by to get a couple of chicken dinners and wound up with all this money. Here.” Well, the manager was thrilled to death. He said, “Oh, great, let me call the newspaper. I’m gonna have your picture put in the local newspaper. You’re the most honest man I’ve heard of.” To which they guy quickly responded, “Oh no, no, don’t do that!” Then he leaned closer and whispered, “You see, the woman I’m with is not my wife...she’s uh, somebody else’s wife.”

I hope you were able to laugh at the story but there is a ring of truth to it. Honesty does not always mean integrity. Men take care that you do not become like Mr.Clean. Remember that being named Mr. Clean does not make you clean only the Blood of Christ can make you clean.

Living a transparent life.

2006-09-28T06:34:00.000-07:00

Recently we have had some controversy going on about a football athlete that has come to play for our local professional football team. There were and still are some rumors flying about that he may or may not have tried to commit suicide. I for one am tired of hearing about every move this particular man makes and wish the news media would allow him to settle in to what he is supposed to be doing here and that is playing football.

This morning I sat watching the news and saw him trying to explain what happened. He tried to explain that it was a mistake and that the police report was wrong, because it said that he admitted that he was trying to hurt himself. He stated that is was all a misunderstanding of what happened and their was no reason to be alarmed. His publicists states that he has twenty-five million reasons to be happy referring to his three year contract of course.

There were rumors that he was depressed because of a break up with his girl friend and was not being allowed to see his daughter, and with the news coverage that he gets it would be hard to have some down time to recover after a personal loss of a relationship like that.

I am not passing judgment on him but I do see a person who his crying out for help. Sometimes we put up fronts so that people can not see the present living conditions of where we are living our lives. I saw this picture and thought how we as people usually live in a house trailer while we try and keep up our appearances and ride around in some flashy vehicle.

When we try showing a different life and not showing who we really are people will always attack you wanting to know what is going on and they will not stop till they find out something that they think you are hiding. It is better to live a transparent life style so that people can see right trough us and know what is going on.

In John 1:46 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." Nathanael apparently live a very transparent lifestyle so that there was not "misunderstandings" about him. I see that as a wonderful compliment from the Lord about him at that time. I know that you may not see the connection between the two situations but it is there. We as men have to realize that we are human and we have our faults but it is ok to show when we are hurt and need help. We are not called to be Supermen but called to be men that are super.

Remember there is only one that will never let you down and that is Jesus Christ. He is our Hope of Glory, anything less is just hype and that always fails.

T.O. we love you, but more so Jesus Christ loves you. I am praying that you can receive the love and comfort that only he can give you.

How a Hunter tells the weather.

2006-09-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

This is for all the hunters that go hunting regardless of the weather. It is the most accurate and up to the minute weather forcaster available, enjoy.

In case you can't read the sign...

If the rock is wet, it is raining.
If the rock is swaying, it is windy.
If the rock is hot, it is sunny.
If the rock is cool, it is overcast.
If the rock is white, it is snowing.
If the rock is blue, it is cold.
If the rock is gone, your in a tornado.

Sign of the times.

2006-09-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

My mother in law sent this to me and I got a kick out of it hope you enjoy.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2006 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7 Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
9. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.
10. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. ;-D

Get up!

2006-09-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a bad fall and your dad or someone of importance tell you to get up and dust yourself up and get back in the saddle and not let it get you down. Well here are some ways to help you get up. Enjoy

1. Wake Up! Decide to have a good day."This is the day the Lord hath made;Let us rejoice and be glad in it."Psalms 118:24

2. Dress Up! The best way to dress up is to put on a smile.A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks."The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.Man looks at outward appearance,but the Lord looks at the heart."I Samuel 16:7

3. Shut Up!Say nice things and learn to listen.God gave us two ears and one mouth,So He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking."He who guards his lips guards his soul."Proverbs 13:3

4. Stand Up! For what you believe in.Stand for something or you will fall for anything."Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time,we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good..."Galatians 6:9-10

5. Look Up! To the Lord."I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

6. Reach Up! For something higher." Trust in the Lord with all your heart,And lean not unto your own understanding.In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path."Proverbs 3:5-6

7. Lift Up! Your Prayers."Do not worry about anything; insteadPRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING."Philippians 4:6

How Texans think.

2006-09-19T12:02:00.000-07:00

A Texan was stopped by a game warden in East Texas recently with two ice chests of fish, leaving a river well known for its fishing.
The game warden asked the man, "Do you have a license to catch those fish?"
"No, my friend, I don't have a license, they are my pet fish."
Warden: "Pet fish?"
Texan "Yep, every night I take these fish down to the river and let 'em swim around for awhile, then I whistle and they jump right back into this ice chest and I take them home."
Warden "That's a lie because fish can't do that!"
The Texan looked at the game warden for a moment and then said, "It's the truth. I'll show you. It really does works."
Warden "Okay, I've GOT to see this!"
The Texan poured all the fish back into the river and stood and waited. After several minutes, the game warden turned to him and said, "Well?" "Well, what?" said the Texan. "When are you going to call them back?" "Call who back?" "The FISH!" "What fish?"
Moral: Texans may not be as smart as some, but we ain't as dumb as most. You smart ones have a good day.

Motherly wisdom

2006-09-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

I OWE MY MOTHER:

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE. "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."
2. My mother taught me RELIGION. "You better pray that this will come out of the carpet."
3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL. "If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"
4. My mother taught me LOGIC. " Because I said so, that's why."
5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC. "If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."
6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT. "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."
7. My mother taught me IRONY. "Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."
8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS. "Shut your mouth and eat your supper."
9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM. "Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"
10. My mother taught me about STAMINA. "You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."
11. My mother taught me about WEATHER. "This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."
12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY "If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"
13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE. "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. "Stop acting like your father!"
15. My mother taught me about ENVY. "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."
16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION. "Just wait until we get home."
17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING. "You are going to get it when you get home!"
18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE. "If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."
19. My mother taught me ESP. "Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"
20. My mother taught me HUMOR. "When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."
21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT. "If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."
22. My mother taught me GENETICS. "You're just like your father."
23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS. "Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"
24. My mother taught me WISDOM. "When you get to be my age, you'll understand."
25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE. "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you"

The day the whole world changed. Remembering 9/11

2006-09-11T06:34:00.000-07:00

There are few things in life that are worth remembering where you were at when something happened, such as when JFK was shot, when Ronald Reagan was shot, the day you got married, the birth of your children, and many more things that are of a major importance in the world in which we live.

I have Sept 11, 2001 eternally burned into my brain because of what happened. I remember the day like it was five minutes ago. I remember being at work and being told of what had happened and going back to a t.v. and seeing the second plane flying into the other tower. I remember that the anger swelled up inside of me and I wanted to see an unleashing of destruction upon the people responsible. I wanted to see them wiped off the face of the earth. Surely that was our right, right?

At that time I was a Bible College student working to recieve a Pastoral Studies degree time, and I remember my faith being questioned about what had happened but I was reminded of 1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. I knew at that moment that I had to quit playing around and get to doing what God was calling me for. At times it takes something very dramatic to wake us up and make us realize that there is a real enemy and a real danger. I am thankful that I did not know anyone personally that died as a result of the attacks but I do know that our lives are affected greatly though.

To the families that lost loved ones I am so sorry that you had had to experience a loss like this due to the ignorance of the terrorist that did this. My prayers are for you and my heart goes out to you. I pray that God gives you the comfort to help you through your trials 2 Cor 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

We will never forget what has happened and we should never forget the people that are sick with all sort of illnesses from working at ground zero. You all are heros aand we owe you the gratitude of the whole U.S.A.. Thank you for your sacrifice. We love you.

"Be still and know that I am God."

2006-09-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

I recently got an article published in a magazine called the "Christian Sportmen" so I thought I would share with you.
Blessings,
stan

It is the middle of August in North Texas and the only thing that a true sportsman here can think about is the opening of dove season on September 1st. The hunting fever as I call it is starting to run through the area like a disease unchecked. It is a time for Fathers to buy their sons their first Remington 870 pump shotgun or their first hunting rifle so they can share in a time honored heritage of hunting that we treasure so highly, that we long to pass it down to the next generation. Every father dreams of watching his son take his first dove, turkey, or deer as long as the son does not outdo the father. Even though there is a pride in watching them, there is also a competition between them. It can be an awkward thing for a father to watch his children become of age and knowing that they are not too far away from becoming adults themselves who will go out and start their own families. It is a right of passage to manhood and a circle that we pray will never be unbroken. It is also a symbol of our own desire to go out on a walk with our heavenly Father and do well so that he might look down on us with that same fatherly pride.

Due to waiting for the right person God had for us, my wife and I are just now starting in that direction to having children. Although we do not have children yet we do have two dogs that seem to be like our children though, and recently I learned the greatest thing that sometimes we need to relearn over and over from my dog Sam, which is a Welch Springer Spaniel that I found at the animal shelter. I remember the day I found him there as I walked into the shelter and all of those dogs there were going crazy barking and running around trying to catch your attention when low and behold there was this beautiful bird dog just sitting there looking all noble and proud, he was just dead calm while he was in the middle of pure chaos as only a bird dog can. Well he won my heart with that peaceful demeanor and after going back home and making a fool of myself with this crazy story about this dog to my wife, after taking her to go see the dog she agreed that he could come home with us, thus started a relationship that I treasure to this day.

He has a simple life here at our house. He keeps us company and gives companionship to our other dog Mitzy, (which is an entirely different story). For his and our entertainment he likes to play fetch with his squeaky toys and he takes a great interest in the birds in the yard by watching through the front door or off the front porch. I know that he will never win any awards for being a championship bird dog, but Sam is secure in our relationship because he knows that his master loves him, feeds him, fellowships with him, provides all of his medical needs, and will give him all the little squeaky toys that he can handle. The only thing that I as his master ask of him is to be happy to see me when I come home and sit there in devoted fellowship and let me pet him, (which is beneficial to both him and me).

When Sam wants attention he will come up to me and lay his head on my lap and he will stay there for hours or until I recognize him and give him the attention that he longs for. You may ask what does all this have to do with the price of shotgun shells at the store, well it don't have anything to do with that at all, but it is about a great relationship with God.

Two weeks ago we were having one of those worship times at church where the presence of God was so evident and strong I took note at one song we were singing that said "I just want to lay back on you and breath and hear you speak". Well I was reminded about Jesus' brother John when he rested back on Jesus and he just rested in him and was close enough to hear God breath, if you get close enough to hear him breath you will be able hear him speak. That day I was moved in worship but later that day I was still saying Jesus where you are so I can lean back on you. Well Sam walks up to me and lays his head on my lap and starts wagging his tail and low and behold the scriptures comes to me out of Psalms 46:10-11 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Well the more I thought about it the more I saw my relationship with God was just like my relationship with Sam but reversed. There are times when I come home and if he does not meet me at the door I know something is wrong. He has probably had an "accident" or he has royally messed up something in the house. When that has happens the peace in our relationship suffers because he is hiding under the bed because of the shame that is upon him just like Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:8-10 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you? He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

I feel that God was hurt that day to see the ones he so dearly loved trembling in fear before him because of the shame of disobedience had entered into them. I know that it did not take him by surprise, but it still hurt him because the relationship with his children was stained the same way the hurt and pain comes across me because of the breaking of the trust I put in him to take care of my house and to protect it. I know Sam will eventually let me down from time to time because he is not perfect because he is just a dog. I also have learned that like Adam and Eve he will hide under that bed not wanting to face me because he knows that he hurt me and brought shame into the relationship with his master and he don't want to see me hurt or upset. If left up to him he would hang his head and leave and never look up again and become a refugee from my fellowship knowing that he can never make it up to me.

God had to sacrifice his own son at Calvary to atone for the sins of man so the relationship could be restored John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Just as God made the first move to reconcile the relationship with man, I find it is up to me to make the first move to reconcile the relationship between Sam and I and because I love him I would give anything for that dog within my power to protect him and to keep him beside me, I am the one who comes down to where he is at and talks to him. I have to punish him for some of the things he does but there are times when he has accidents that are not his fault because maybe he is sick, or was left in the house too long. I have to remember that he will always feel guilty and will be in constant need of reassurance of our relationship. I try to be a forgiving master and that is when I see the greatness of God even in my weakness he is my Master and will lean down to find me and reconcile the relationship we have which I can not do. God wanted to walk in the garden and talk to Adam and Eve, even as I want to get in the truck and go for a ride with Sam. The next time your dog puts his head on your lap and wags his tail, honestly ask yourself if you have spent time in the lap of your master our Lord God.

May your hunting year be joyful and safe and make sure God shares your tree stand with you, and you with him. Stanley T. King Psalms 128:2

Check out my new "hunting dog"

2006-08-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

July 1st
This is my new "hunting dog" called "BEAUREGARD" I got him from a Cajun that said he was trying start this new breed called "Gatorhoulas" I was skeptical at first till he told me that they were cousins to a Catahoula hound.

July 5th
I'm getting worried because he is supposed to be a fully trained hunting dog but I have not been able to get him to release the prey yet. Although he will fetch the game he just wants to play tug a war. He is a playful little pup, maybe a little too playful, I thought I was going to have to wrestle with him over the pig but we were able to come to an understanding I guess.

July 8th
I have I noticed that he has an attitude toward other dogs for some reason. When other dogs come around he wants to square off on them and fight them. I guess some dogs are like that though.

July 14th
I think today I am going to start leash training Beauregard. I can't wait to take him to the park. I think everyone is going to take notice of him. He will probably will catch everybody's attention. I will get back with you later on how it goes.

July 16th
Leash training did not go as I had hoped for. For some reason he kept fighting me when I tried to put on his leash. Anyhow I do think he is pretty smart because he knows what I mean when I say sit or lay down he does that pretty well. I am trying to figure out how to stop him from trying to fight with the other dogs because he just like to play a little rough.

July 20th
A game warden came by the house and started asking me if I had noticed anything strange because there were a rash of neighbors that have reported their dogs and cats missing. I told him thanks for the warning so I could watch out for my new dog.

July 28
I think I am going to train Beauregard to be a duck hunting dog. I took him down to the lake today with a friend who was training his dogs for the up coming duck season and boy he took to that water like he was born for it. He was a better swimmer than the other dogs because they apparently drowned they never came back. My friend sure is torn up about it.

August 2nd
Last night someone tried to break into the house and I guess Beauregard scared them away. He scared them so bad they left behind their shoes I guess they were trying to be quite and they left behind a pistol grip Mossberg 12 gauge pump shotgun. Boy I have always wanted one of those. I think I've found a new type of hunting- guard dog. I highly recogmend them and if you would like I will introduce you to the guy that sold me mine.

Signed

I. M. Looney.

The real truth about hair loss

2006-08-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered why a man's hair loss always happens in horse shoe patterns? We now know why! According to a recent tabloid magazine the little man that lives in the laundry room that has been stealing your socks has sent his son out to do the chores and mowing the grass is his favorite chore. In fact when he was interviewed he said that he likes it so much that when he grows up he wants to be a professional crop circle artist. Enjoy.
Blessings

You know what I mean Vern?

2006-08-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered how certain sayings get started? Growing up I used to hear them and say what does that mean? Sayings like
1) "I love you to death"
2)"if you are waiting on me your backing up"
3) "I can love you from a distance"
4) "I brought you into this world and I can take you out!" I also like the one about
5) "If you find a shiny penny pick it up and it will bring you good luck for the rest of the day."

I see life a little differently I guess. I would rather say
1) "I will love you till the day that I die"
2) "Look, I am going on ahead do you want to join me or stay behind?"
3) "I just don't like being around you.
4) "You are making me mad and I am about to fix your problem!
5) "If I find a million dollars it would make my day as well as a lot of other people because I can tithe on a million dollars and bless a lot of people as a benefactor.

What it all come down to is this do you want people to always wonder what you mean or are you willing to be direct and leave no doubt about what you say.
We have more relationships that fail we because we don't say what we feel and we don't feel what we say.

We need our Yes to mean a Yes and our No to mean No. I have found that when I speak up for how I feel about something I notice a huge change in my relationship with my wife and friends because we can get down to the root issues and deal with them and move on. Trust me the things that hurt the most are unresolved issues because they will reach up and bite you when you are least prepared to deal with it.

I did some pre martial counseling with a couple one time and after I finished the first session with them they had realized that they had nothing in common and broke up and quite coming to church at our church. Well you may ask what did I do to break them up and was that the right thing to do? Yes it was right, because they had realized that they had never effectively communicated together what they wanted or needed from each other so when I showed them how to communicate then they realized they were not right for each other. That was not meant to say that it was easy for them it hurt but they got through it. I still get picked on for breaking them up but I know it was not me that broke them up but was them being able to understand that their relationship was not built on communication which come through trust, but on something else that was not strong enough to stand the test of time.

The next time you feel like you don't want to take the time to communicate in the correct way just remember that "every pitch you do not swing at is one you never get back." Or "You can strike out by not swinging as well".

Blessings,

Winds of change

2006-07-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

November 9, 1989 is one of the most important day's in all of history. That was the day that the Berlin wall fell. There was a lot of things that led up to it though. It was the beginning of the end of the cold war and the balance of communism was swinging back on itself. Communism was beginning to fall away through out the world because the oppression of millions of people can only last just so long.

Eventually when the desperation starts to take over, people will reach out to do the impossible. There were people that were so desperate that they would try to break through the wall and it's security perimeter only to die a sad death of being shot to death in cold blood. It was a revolution that was brought on by the oppression of the basic human rights to live, love, and worship.

I was stationed there as a young man in the military at that time and the excitement was in the air. The world was holding it's breath waiting to see what was going to happen. President Ronald Reagan had stood at the wall and had called for MikhaÃl Gorbachev to knock down the walls. That was not a popular thought in the Soviet world but no longer could the threat of violence hold people slaved in fear. There is a point when a person can no longer be threatened to keep them in control and in fear.

About that point in time a song came out by a group called Scorpion called "The winds of change" that held the embodiment what was going on at the time. The lyrics were a cry of a generation and spoke of what was happening not on in Europe but all over the world. Some of the lyrics went like this

"The wind of change Blows straight into the face of time Like a storm wind that will ring the freedom bell For peace of mind. Let your balalaika sing What my guitar wants to say,
Take me to the magic of the moment On a glory night Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams With you and me. Take me to the magic of the moment On a glory night Where the children of tomorrow dream away in the wind of change".

That generation knew that they did not want their children to be born into communism and that they wanted their children to be free to think and to dream and to share ideas. They wanted what I had already had and I did not realize what exactly I had. It took seeing other people starving for what I had to make me understand what I really had.

Looking back in time I thought that I would never see anything more incredible than that but I have. I have seen that the people of God have been oppressed and not able to live the life that God had intended for us to live because we were all being held captive in our own hearts with our on "Wall of shame" keeping us stuck in a world of oppression where we are starving and cold and living a life waiting to die. But when we get desperate enough to want to get away from that life we will be willing to risk our safety to break through the barriers that hold us captive. We can not be stopped from reaching out to the one who can speak for us.

As Ronald Reagan spoke as the leader of the free world for the people who could not speak for themselves, Jesus Christ was the one who laid down his life for us. He went to Calvary which was a dark place of death much like the Wall of Berlin, so that he could carry our death sentence away by the sacrifice that only he could make. Looking at the picture here you can see the Crosses that were on the other side of the wall calling us to please come to the savior because he has already paid the price with his life for your freedom. Always on the other side of slavery andTierney is freedom and Joy. Psalms 68 says that God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. Rest peaceful knowing that you will be singing when he leads you out, no longer living in a sun scorched land.

Ronald Reagan spoke for a portion of the world in one point in time, but Jesus spoke for the Whole World and throughout all of time. When you are desperate enough for that breath of freedom just cry out for Jesus and the "Walls of Shame" will crumble and fall. It did for me, and I can now say that there is freedom in my life now. This is one time when I can say that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Blessings.

Diary of hunter deer

2006-07-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

Since hunting season will be coming soon I thought I would refresh your memory of what can happen at the deer camp.
Blessings,

Diary Of A Deer Hunter
1:00 AM Alarm clock rings
2:00 AM Hunting Partners arrive, drag you out of bed
2:30 AM Throw everything except kitchen sink into pickup
3:00 AM Leave for deep woods
3:15 AM Drive back home to pick up gun
3:30 AM Drive like crazy to get to the woods before daylight
4:00 AM Set up camp, forgot the stupid tent
4:30 AM Head for the woods
6:05 AM See eight deer
6:06 AM Take aim, squeeze trigger
6:07 AM Click
6:08 AM Load gun while watching deer go over hill
8:00 AM Head back to camp
9:00 AM Still looking for camp
10:00 AM Realize you don't know where camp is
NOON Fire Gun for help---eat wild berries
12:45 PM Rescued
12:55 PM Rushed to hospital to have stomach pumped
3:15 PM Arrive back at camp
3:30 PM Leave camp to kill deer
4:00 PM Return to camp for bullets
4:01 PM Load Gun--Leave camp again
5:00 PM Empty Gun on bug that is bugging you
6:00 PM Arrive at camp--see deer grazing
6:01 PM Load Gun
6:02PM Fire Gun
6:03 PM One dead pickup
6:05 PM Hunting partners arrive at camp dragging deer
6:07 PM Fall into fire
6:10 PM Change clothing, throw burned ones into fire
6:15 PM Take pickup, leave hunting partners & deer in camp
6:25 PM Pickup boils over due to hole shot in block
6:26PM Start walking
6:30 PM Stumble & fall, drop gun in mud
6:35 PM Meet bear
6:36 PM Take aim
6:37 PM Fire Gun, blow up barrel that's plugged with mud
6:38 PM Mess pants
6:39 PM Climb tree
11:00 PM Bear leaves, wrap gun around tree
Midnight Home at last, Falling on knees thanking God for safe delivery of situation.
Next Day Watch football games on TV, slowly tearing up hunting licenseinto small place pieces in envelope & mail to Game Warden.

Time of transformation

2006-07-17T13:11:00.000-07:00

Hello, it has been a time of transformation in my
family this week. My father has sold his home in Florida and moved here to be close to his new Grandson. I have been doing a lot of shopping for him and found him a real nice 31 Ft fifth wheel RV to live in. It is beginning to be a very stressful time for me because I am spending his money for everything getting things lined out and it bothers me to spend a large amount of some one else's money.

I have not lived with or around my Father since I was fifteen years old and I have come to the conclusion that we are two completely different people. He stresses over everything and I don't stress at all, he smokes I don't, he is small and I am large, I am reaching out to do what God wants me to do and he just wants to follow after me, I am a leader and he is a follower.

Trying to find common ground is hard but I am not shrinking back from the challenge although I probably will buy some Tylenol. God has been faithful to me and I will not back out of this yet just because it looks like it is going to be hard to deal with. I am so glad that my son will have the time to spend with his Grandpa that I did not have. I want my family to be whole again. The pic is dads new camper. It has these things called slideouts that slide out to make more room in the camper to move around, so it transforms to make room so that you can live in the camper much like our hearts transform so Jesus can live in our hearts. Unlike our hearts the slideouts can only go so far but our hearts can keep growing for Jesus kind of like slideout with out limit. I hope that my heart can keep growing and make a mansion for Jesus. Silly I know, but please understand what I am trying to say. We all can take a little time to grow in God till the Day we move on be in his presence.

As a young pastor I know that my family must be in order and I know that God has delivered to me this opportunity so I shall go forth and make the best of this situation. I thank God that I am able to see this as one of the greatest things that has happened to me but if in the mean time you say hi to me and I snarl at you please don't take it personally my heart is sliding out and the hydraulic pump is out and I am having to manually slide it out a little at a time.

Blessings, stan

Looking back to the past.

2006-07-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

Here recently I received a phone call from a director of a international Christian outdoors magazine called "the Christian Sportsman" letting me know that they published an article that I had submitted to them over a year ago. Well you could imagine my surprise when they called, I had almost forgot that I had submitted it to the magazine. When he told me that he had published the article which was called " Be still and know that I am God" I had to get back to my computer and reread what I had wrote.

I was surprised how much it ministered to me personally because I had wrote it in one the worst possible times in my life which I will not talk about right now, but I was amazed when I saw what God had done with my wife and I throughout that year. God had come in and healed a great loss in our lives and has blessed us with a new baby boy. He had taken our hurt and turned it around and gave us joy.

So when you look back at your painful times in your life, remember they come to pass not to stay. I have found God in my sad days and danced with him in my celebration days. If you want to see what God is doing in your present life and your future all you have to do is look to your past and see what he has done for you then and then you will see what he is going to do in your present and future life.

Blessings