Good morning,
We are on the road. We have been in Tulsa, Oklahoma for a week, now we head to Norman, Oklahoma today. Thanks for your prayers for our travels.
We all go through heart aches and trials as well as those good times, In all we need to be thankful.
Be Thankful*
Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don't know something, for it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations, because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge, because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you're tired and weary, because it means you've made a difference.
It's easy to be thankful for the good things. A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks. Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.
Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
LaVon and I are truly thankful to God for each of you. Thank you for your continual support and interest in our ministry by investing yourself in many ways as partners with us: by prayer, e-mails, phone calls and your financial gifts. Without any of these we could not continue what God has called us to do and that is to share the living water with the world through the RV ministry.
Have a great day, love you, pass it on.
Don
Greetings in the precious name of our risen Savior,
We are on the road. We spent last night in Waco and today we are headed to Tulsa, Oklahoma and will stop somewhere before we get there. Thanks for your prayers for our travels.
Friday is the Road to Sunday: Good Friday is the day we remember the crucifixion of Jesus, but there’s more to it than remembering: our task as preachers is to call people to the cross. We want to embrace the resurrection, but Jesus calls us to the cross, too. The famous sermon says "it's Friday, but Sunday's coming!" More properly, the point of the story is that Friday is the road to Sunday. There's no Easter Sunday without Good Friday. There is no resurrection without the Cross. Our job as pastors is to tell the truth to His people: there's a Good Friday for all of us.
NO GREATER LOVE
It was February 1941, Auschwitz, Poland. Maximilian Kolbe was a Franciscan priest put in the infamous death camp for helping Jews escape Nazi terrorism.
Months went by and in desperation an escape took place. The camp rule was enforced. Ten people would be rounded up randomly and herded into a cell where they would die of starvation and exposure as a lesson against future escape attempts.
Names were called. A Polish Jew, Frandishek Gasovnachek, was called. He cried, "Wait, I have a wife and children!" Kolbe stepped forward and said, "I will take his place."
Kolbe was marched into the cell with nine others where he managed to live until August 14.
This story was chronicled on an NBC news special several years ago. Gasovnachek, by this time 82, was shown telling this story while tears streamed down his cheeks. A mobile camera followed him around his little white house to a marble monument carefully tended with flowers. The inscription read:
IN MEMORY OF MAXIMILIAN KOLBE
HE DIED IN MY PLACE.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13 (NLT)
LaVon and I are truly thankful to God for each of you. Thank you for your continual support and interest in our ministry by investing yourself in many ways as partners with us: by prayer, e-mails, phone calls and your financial gifts. Without any of these we could not continue what God has called us to do and that is to share the living water with the world through the RV ministry.
Have a great day, love you, pass it on.
Don
Good morning, from the RGV,
Well, this is my last post from the Rio Grande Valley. We will be leaving Monday. Please keep us in your prayers. As you know, gas prices are headed to $4 a gallon, but I know God is still in control. I was reading this morning and we received an email from a friend that her husband just walked out on her and their children. Then I read this devotional from David Jeremiah:
Brick by Brick
Therefore we do not lose heart... the inward man is being renewed day by day. - 2 Corinthians 4:16
Thomas Carlyle labored with intensity on the first volume of a three-part study of the French Revolution. He felt it could be his greatest work. He loaned the manuscript to his friend John Stuart Mill to read, and Mill read it by the fire. One morning the maid, cleaning the room and seeing the scattered pages on the floor, threw them in the fire. When Carlyle learned his manuscript was burned to ash, he sank into abysmal depression. Some time later, still desolate, he saw a brick mason through the window. The man was standing on a scaffold, singing and whistling to himself as he built the wall of a house one brick at a time. Watching him, Carlyle decided he would write his book again, one page at a time. His history of the revolution became famous, and he is remembered as one of Scotland's literary giants.
Perhaps you've lost something very valuable to you. Don't give up. Tomorrow still holds a bright promise, and the Lord blesses faithful, plodding work. Let's take it step-by-step, day-by-day, and moment-by-moment.
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,
moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine. - Daniel Whittle
LaVon and I are truly thankful to God for each of you. Thank you for your continual support and interest in our ministry by investing yourself in many ways as partners with us: by prayer, e-mails, phone calls and your financial gifts. Without any of these we could not continue what God has called us to do and that is to share the living water with the world through the RV ministry.
Have a great day, love you, pass it on.
Don
Good morning, from the RGV,
We are coming to the end of our time here and I urge you to be in prayer for our travels and financial needs. I want to thank each of you who have given to our ministry; without you we could not continue.
Don't Leave Shore Without Him!*
A young naval ensign was completing his first cruise aboard a large destroyer. He performed so admirably in executing all his duties that he was given the honor of getting the ship underway. In his excitement and enthusiasm for being given such an honor, he went through every procedure carefully, wanting to further impress his superiors. However, in setting a new record he broke an old rule. As he was sterring the ship out of the harbor, the first Officer quietly said to him, “Ensign, you have overlooked one of the unwritten rule of the sea. Make sure the Captain is on board before you get under way.”
Even though we are eager to get under way we need to make sure the Captain is on board. When look at all we are expected to do and what we need to get done, we need to ask the Lord to be with us every step. As I preached last week, first of all, Pray and ask God on board.
Psalms 139:10 (ASV) Even there shall thy hand lead me, And thy right hand shall hold me.
LaVon and I are truly thankful to God for each of you. Thank you for your continual support and interest in our ministry by investing yourself in many ways as partners with us: by prayer, e-mails, phone calls and your financial gifts. Without any of these we could not continue what God has called us to do and that is to share the living water with the world through the RV ministry.
Have a great day, love you, pass it on.
Don
