Central in Leander

This past Sunday - the 14th - I preached for a friend. What made this special was several things:

1. My daughter and son-in-law (not to mention my grandson) attend this church. So it was good to be there with them
2. Five years ago, I was music director of this church
3. The pastor is a longtime friend of mine. We met while in college back in 1977 (yea I know ... a long time ago).

Well, the pastor needed to go to Minnisota to take is daughter to college so since I had the Sunday open, I agreed to fill in for him. It was fun to be back on familiar turf again.

Osborne, KS meets Leander, TX

Tonight we had the honor of having Billy and Shelley Neumann as our guest. As you can tell from this picture all was not as expected. Our son-in-law is a police officer and he came to our house. While there, he noticed that there 'might' be some need for investigation. This resulted in the unfortunate situation that followed.

Both Billy and Shelley were searched and 'detained' while their children were placed under arrest. It was an eventful evening to say the least.

Actually it was fun to have them as our guest and we hope they had fun as well. No one was really arrested or searched ... although I was a little concerned about the white substance in the baggies that Shelley was carrying around ... then I found out that it was laundry soap ... so she says! :-)

Garden City, KS

This week I was with Rev. Mike McVey of Fellowship Baptist Church in Garden City, Kansas. Mike has been here 8 years and has done a great job of transitioning this church into the 21st Century. Sometimes I get so weary of churches that are stuck in the 50's with no way out. It's a breath of fresh air to encounter a church where you can worship God without all the legalism baggage tagging along.

I lost a friend this year because of his legalistic stand. Basically, he refused to see me because he found out that I was in a church that he disagree with. It was a Baptist church ... just not a Baptist church of his choosing ... they had drums on their platform and sang those new fangled contemporary christian music songs ... you know the 7/11 kind (sing the same phrase 7 times and repeat the last word 11 times) or something like that. I don't know and really don't care. It's just frustrating that a 15 year friendship had to end (not of my choosing) because someone had decided that I am a rebel because I don't have the same viewpoint as he does. It is so silly and shallow. Anyway, I am ranting and will get back to the post at hand.

"Garden" as the locals call it, is a small town ... and a huge city compared to Osborne, KS where I was last. It's hot here this week ... 105 the last two days. That's stinking HOT!

The people of Fellowship Baptist are really sweet. This is the second time I have had the joy of being in Garden and at Fellowship. Bro. Mike had three really sharp boys ... actually young men:

1. Justin is the oldest and is working in Peublo, CO as youth director in one of the churches.
2. Josh is next in line. Josh is helping his dad in the music and youth areas of the church ministry. I can see this guy going a long way in life and ministry.
3. Last (but not least) is M.J. - Michael is about to start his second year at BBC Boston. His desire is to become a Missionary. He wants to go to South America. I told him that this "New England" area girl that he is dating will have to really relax if she ends up marrying him and they move to South America. (You would have to know the contrast between the two to really appreciate the humor in that).

It was a good week that I enjoyed a lot. Garden City is quickly becoming one of my more favorite places to visit ... I would have to say that it's the people that make the difference (because there is not a whole lot of anything else to do in this town). :-)

From Garden I will travel to Gardner, KS. This is outside the Kansas City area. I will be doing an Informational CD for this new church in the area. This ought to be fun. Then I will head back to Osborne, KS to preach from Billy Neumann while he is on vacation. Then home on Monday. On Tuesday, Rachel and I plan to go to Sea World, San Antonio and meet up with Billy Neumann for a day of fun. Then the Neumann's will stay at our house on their way back home. All-in-all, it will be a well-rounded trip.

Until next time - Have a great week!