ARCHIVE GALLERY

June 2009

June 16, 2009 

We are recovering from a week at the West Texas Nazarene District family camp!  As the worship leaders, we were intricately involved in two services everyday along with the evangelists, Dr. Lenny Wisehart and Dr. Larry Lott.  Both of these men were fantastic speakers and we were both challenged by their messages.  Most services ended with many people at the altar crying out to God.  It is such an honor to watch as God moves in other people’s lives and as they respond to His Spirit.  There were many miracle stories of what the Lord did during the weeklong camp, but my favorite is of a couple who came with major marital problems.  In fact, they were separated, but brought the family to camp with the hope that God would intervene.  Can you believe that?  God did intervene and they renewed their vows on Friday!  How wonderful to partner with hurting people and urge them towards the only One who can really help. 

Kennedie stayed with a friend in Fort Worth for the week.  She is at youth camp (the same camp we were at last week!) this week, so we are missing our daughter!  Two weeks in a row without her seems strange, but she is maturing quickly.    If you know her but have not been with her in a while, you will be amazed at the spiritual maturity that is developing.  She is sensitive to the Spirit and she is not fearful of responding however the Lord urges her to do so.  So, KC is enjoying his time without his big sister and he had a blast at the family camp.  Between a million friends, a great kid’s program, the pool and the zip line, he could not have had more fun.  So many people ask us if the kids enjoy the way we live and “what about socialization??”  Socialization is a problem for us…but NOT the lack of it!  

The concerts have gone really well and our schedule keeps filling up.  Please continue to pray for the Lord to open the necessary doors for us…and for our safety.

Just a week ago, we woke up at 3:15 AM smelling smoke.  Randy searched for something burning inside and outside of the RV.  Finding nothing, we shut off the air conditioning just in case. Two days later, I found a light switch in the top of a clothes cupboard that had melted.  To this day we are amazed and very grateful that a fire did not start in that cabinet, which is made of all wood.  There were three pieces of clothing that were charred and the plastic of the light melted everything together.  God’s angels truly protected us.  Your prayers are vital and we thank you for caring enough to spend some time praying for us. 

We are preparing to fly to Michigan for a private party in Maumee, Ohio that we have to sing at on Friday and Saturday, and then back to Texas for a Sunday morning concert.  Please pray for energy, safety and the kids as they are staying here in Texas with friends. 

June 24, 2009

We are doing great!  Last week was a full one, for sure.  Wednesday night found us returning to Flatwood Baptist Church in Decatur, Texas for the second time that week.  We had their Sunday morning service which ended with many people getting up out of their seats and going to someone in the congregation and asking forgiveness for an offense.  It was really a sight to see.  Pastor Doug took the mic after our challenge to the people and took it a step further!  It was awesome!  Forgiveness is freeing and honors God…so it was incredible to watch as one by one, people stood to their feet and put action to the moving of the Holy Spirit.  We cannot tell you how incredible it is to speak on an issue without knowing how God is going to use it.  Pretty amazing.  Even our kids reconciled some issues with each other…after a quick argument as to whether or not they should actually go to the altar together.  As Randy and I were singing and playing quietly for background, we were watching our kids in the back of the sanctuary.  They couldn’t agree about going forward or not…she wanted to, he didn’t.  They ended up hugging and crying together (I think more of the tears belonged to her…figures) and getting some issues straight.  As we watched (while we were still singing) we got so choked up…we just stopped singing and Randy played for a few measures until we could pull it together.  That lump in my throat hurt!

We ended up returning on Wednesday night to sing at their outdoor barbecue and volleyball night.  Let me just say:  it was HOT!  Not Michigan in the summer hot…Texas in the summer HOT!  We will post some pictures and you will see how wilted we looked!  But, nonetheless, we had a great time and even got to play volleyball.  KC had a blast and Kennedie was at youth camp, so she missed the event.  Getting back to the RV by 11 PM, we finished packing for an early morning flight to Detroit. 

Thursday through Saturday was spent with Brad, Lee, Kristine and Kylene Munn at the Maumee Bay Resort in Toledo, Ohio.  We flew to Detroit, met my folks who had picked up a borrowed sound system for us, grabbed a quick dinner with them and our dear friend Blythe, jumped in my parents van with the equipment and drove to the Resort.  We didn’t have to sing until Saturday afternoon, so we had some time on our own.  That was great!  What a beautiful place this is…right on Lake Erie and a lot to do.  Kristine and Kylene graduated from high school and celebrated with quite a few family members.  They sort of combined a graduation with a family reunion and invited us to come and sing.  What an honor to be a part of people’s lives at pivotal points.  We loved being there!

Getting back to Dallas/ Fort Worth airport, we were greeted by the Garcia family, who kept the kids for us.  They dropped us all off at the RV and we hit the sack!  Up early the next morning for a concert at Hurst Church of the Nazarene, we kind of felt like we had been hit by a truck!  Starbucks cured that…and we had a wonderful morning worshipping with this church family.  We have been there before and we love Pastor Byron and Dana.  I told her that I could really be friends with her…not superficial friends, real friends.  You can just tell she is the kind of woman who would be honest with you.  I like that!  Usually.  Anyway, they had to leave right after the service on a trip to Florida for the Nazarene General Conference, so we were on our own for the rest of the day.  Just as well, we were exhausted and would not have been much fun!  We celebrated Father’s Day with Randy and enjoyed finally being all together for the first time in over two weeks. 

We are still recovering!  Two nights ago I went to bed at 8:45 and slept until 8 the next morning.  Wow…and summer has just begun! 

Please continue to pray for us!  We have a mission from the Lord and we want to be responsible with it.  You are a part of that!  Thank you and have a great week.

June 30, 2009

We worshipped with Fort Worth First Church of the Nazarene on Sunday morning.  Pastor CB Glidden and most of staff were in Orlando, Florida attending the Nazarene General Assembly at least 30,000 other Nazarenes from around the world!  We were honored to step in and fill the gap for him that day.  That is one of our joys…giving staff a well needed rest! 

It was a great day and my favorite part was when the Lord answered my prayer in a very specific way.  We always ask God to fill us with His Spirit in a powerful way and take over.   Every Sunday, we walk into a congregation having no idea what is going on in that flock and who is going to be there.  I can think of nowhere else in society where we have people ranging in ages from newborns to hundred year olds in the same group. Our culture usually divides everything using age, commonality or gender.  But, in church, everyone is together!  New believers, mature believers, the young, the old, those who like music and those who don’t, and so on.  What a challenge to love each other!  I think, that is one reason it is so tough to have unity (other than Satan himself sabotaging our oneness in Christ so as to cloud the reality from the world that Christ actually is the Messiah!!)

 So, I always ask the Lord what He wants me to share about rather than just assuming that I should share what I think would work well into the next song!  Now, we do that, meaning we try to blend everything together, and if you have been at one of our worship concerts you understand what I mean…hopefully. 

Now you must know that, lately, God has really challenged both Randy and I about hell.  We don’t talk about it enough.   We are meeting more and more people, many of them Christians, who do not believe in hell.  In fact, a common heresy today is that this life, for many, is actually hell.  Impossible!  Hell is a real place and the bible gives specifics in many places, although many do not believe (see Matt. 5:22, 23:33, Mark 9:43, Luke 12:5.)   God is not in hell…and God is here…so….it is impossible for this to be hell!  We know that this life, for many, is extremely difficult and they may think they have walked through hell.  However, hell will be much worse…God will not be there.  That, I believe, will be the worst part - the total absence of God.  Jesus talked about hell and gave us warning of the perils of eternity in hell.  But, many do not believe.  Therefore, when many do not believe, a counter-part philosophy is born.  For instance, if there is no hell…than everyone must go to heaven!  I know that is a much easier thought to live with, but it could not be anymore untrue.  A person must have a relationship with God through Jesus to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and have their name in the Lambs book of life (Acts 4:12, Rev. 3:5, 13:8, 20:15 Phil 4:3.)  That is what God has said in His word. 

So, we are very concerned with what we see in the body of Christ today.  An alarming notion that everyone will be saved and the perils of hell do not really exist!  That is why, we believe, that God is challenging us to talk about scriptures that lead to this discussion and tell people about the incredible plan of salvation! 

Sunday morning, God took me to Luke 14:22-30 where Jesus is talking to the disciples about whom and how many will be saved.  He says many will not find the narrow door that leads to the Kingdom.  I began praying and asking Him very specifically if He wanted me to share this passage and challenge the people to really think about their acceptance of this truth.  I asked the Lord to confirm specifically if that is what He wanted me to do.  To you, it may not seem like a big deal to stand up in front of 200 people in church and talk about hell and heaven and the choice we all find ourselves in.  But it is a big deal and it can be very intimidating.  I want people to like me…and invite us back!  So, we continuously pray that like Christ, our words would be filled with love and peppered with grace while only speaking the truth of the Word, versus a watered down version of truth, which, honestly, is easy to do – extremely dangerous and wrong, but easy. 

As usual, Randy was introducing the song before I was scheduled to give a ten minute testimony and challenge, when he suddenly began to talk about the “narrow, skinny door that most will not find!”  God as my witness, especially in that slot, I have never heard him talk about the narrow, skinny door.  And to have him describe it as “skinny,” to me, was just icing on the cake!  Now, do not misunderstand, Randy has talked many times about choosing Christ, salvation and the fact that He could return at any moment and we must be ready before it is too late.  But never before that song and never with those words.  He spoke for two or three minutes on that topic in such a beautiful way and the Holy Spirit just filled me from head to toe.  I cannot describe to you the feeling! I think that I was more excited that God answered my specific prayer in such a specific way and that I understood God’s instruction to me.  That, to us, is the foundation of our lives.  Listening to Him and obeying, no matter what the cost.  And what is so awesome, is that HE is the one who touches the listeners ears so they may hear.

A woman came to me after the service with tears, grabbed my arm and said, “I haven’t been in church for 7 years and this is our third Sunday back.  I needed to hear what you had to say.  Thank you.”  She didn’t say much, but how she said it spoke volumes.  They say that eyes are the window to the soul…and I saw a woman who was getting right with the Lord. 

I am still floating on the fact that God spoke to us and again, blessed us with the opportunity to tell people about Him.  It is quite a feeling and if you want that too, just ask Him to use in the lives of other people.  Ask specifically and then pick up your bible and start reading.  The gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) are a great place to start.  I tell the Lord, often, that I am trusting in the relationship that He has established with me and that I am trusting in His word that I believe with all my heart.  I often tell Him that I do not understand all of it…a lot of it…but I believe anyway.  

Thank you for praying for us.  Have a great week.