Merry Christmas

Since I don't have any more meetings this year I thought I would just take a moment to say Merry Christmas to everyone. This has been an absolutely wonderful year. There have been more blessings than I have time or space to share with you. God is so good.

I am reminded of the verse in Isaiah 9:6 which says: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders. And his name shall be called; wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of peace." How adaquate of who God is, not only at this time of year, but all year long.

He is Wonderful: This takes care of the dullness of life. We are surrounded by the miracles of modern science yet nothing compares to the wonder of God. True wonder has depth and value. It possesses the whole person. Jesus is called wonderful because His life was wonderful, his name is wonderful and his death is wonderful. He came to die so that we might live. Add to that the wonder of His love, resurrection & ascension, the wonder of salvation, grace & forgiveness. What a wonder He is!

He is Counsellor: This takes care of the decisions of life. We all need counsel - Jesus is the counsellor. He counsels us in our decisions and direction. Giving counsel to His children is one of God's most gracious works. What makes Him such a wise counsellor is that He is God, but He was also man. As our counsellor he loves us, encourages us, is patient, knows our heart and prays for us.

He is the Mighty God: This takes care of the demands of life. We need spiritual power; we get that from the mighty God. Think of that - a baby in a manger is called mighty. Yet he was. His birth affected the heavens and the stars. It affected the Magi. It shooks King Herod and his court. What a mighty God! The greatest act of power that He performed involved His death & resurrection.

He is the Everlasting Father: This takes care of the dimensions of life. Being the everlasting Father means that he is the originator of eternity. You and I cannot grasp eternity as we have a beginning and an end, but He has no beginning and no end. He fathered eternity. When we accept the gift of salvation He fathers eternity in our lives. We become a part of eternity. In sending His son to earth, God cause eternity to invade time. Jesus lives now to give eternat purpose and quality to our lives.

He is the Prince of Peace: This takes care of the disturbances of life. Peace, which is the word we use from the Hebrew word 'shalom' means "the possession of adequate resources." When you think of Jesus as the Prince of Peace immediately you think of his character. You cannot separate peace and character. What we do depends a great deal on what we are. The secret of Jesus' peace was the Father. He lived as you and I must live; He loved the Father, trusted the Father and this gave him peace. Being the Prince of Peace involves not only his character, but also His cross. It took God's Son, coming to earth, to strike the final deathblow at sin. At Calvary, He was made sin. The cross is the great meeting place. It took the blood of the cross to make peace between sinners and God. He now reigns as Prince of Peace. Jesus give us peace not to keep but to share.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders. And his name shall be called; wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of peace."

MERRY CHISTMAS!

Houston/Galveston

This weekend was really good. First of all ... on Friday I celebrated 27 years together with my sweetheart. I want to thank Bill Campbell for allowing us to be with him on Friday night and be a part of his Christmas banquet. We had a great time and Bill ... as always, is a wonderful host. But for those who know him and Joyce, you all know the Joyce is the reason Bill is so great ... she rubs off on him.

Bill put us up in a nice hotel and requested that we get the best room in the place due to it being our anniversary. It was a special treat and we really enjoyed it.

We then met up with our Son and Daughter-in-law (and of course our grand-daughter) and did some shopping in Old Towne Spring before heading South to Galveston. We had a great time with family and look forward to our kids being back in Austin later this week.

We then headed south to Galveston where we were with Dennis Hankins. Dennis and Teresa are doing a great job in Galveston. Saturday night we joined then with their annual Christmas party. It was a great time of fellowship in a very relaxed atmosphere. Then I was pleasantly surprised as I walked in to the building as Dennis is in the middle of some major renovations.

This building literally had no lobby to speak of. They have moved the auditorium wall back 12' to allow for a lobby now, added new carpet to the sanctuary, painted, applied wainscoating (sp) all around as well as removing a couple of doors and adding new double doors. They also enlarged the platform and upgraded their computer system . It will be a huge facelift for the church when all is done.

I had a wonderful time of fellowship with the Hankins. One lady walked out this morning, wrapped her arms around her pastor's neck and looked at me and said, "I love my pastor." She was old enough to be his mother, and it was one of the sweetest displays of genuine love and appreciation that I have seen in a long time.

The people of Bible Baptist Church are always a joy to be around. This weekend was just as I expected ... and huge blessing to me personally.

We topped the weekend off by driving out to the seawall to get some pictures of the ocean. I'm sure that will be able to use some of these pictures of the sun setting over the ocean somewhere. :-)

Odessa and San Angelo, TX

This past weekend I was in Odessa, Texas for the Sunday morning service. This is the second time I have been in this church and like before, I had a great time. I preached two messages (one for Sunday School and one in the AM service). In Sunday School I preached on "Approval" then in the AM service I preached on "Where Have All The Feelings Gone?" The greatest part about being in Odessa is that one lady accepted Christ at the end of the service. That is always exciting.

I have known the pastor, Bro. Cecil Maxey for many years. In fact, he has known me longer than I have known him as he started a church in Bakersfield, CA right about the same time my dad took a small church in Delano, CA. At that time I was only in Kindergarden, so I don't really remember him. Later in life, dad took a church in Denver, CO and Bro. Maxey happened to be in Parker, CO (a small community just outside of Denver) where he was starting another church. By this time, I was in Jr. High so I do remember him and his family. We reconnected again about five years ago when he invited me to come to his church and host a prophecy conference. I can say that I really appreciate his friendship.

From Odessa, I made a mad dash S.E. to San Angelo. I was able to make a 2.5 hr. trip in just under 2 hrs. Less traveled roads can sometimes be very good for making up needed time. I arrived at my destination right on time and got everything set up for the evening service then went to check into the hotel.

Joe Bourgeois (pernounced "Boo-shwa" - yes it is French) is the pastor. He has been there four years. It has been a difficult four years as he took a church that was struggeling. Today there is excitement in the church and they are making slow but steady progress. Most of the problems that were causing the church to die a slow death have now been dealth with and it is moving, step-by-step in the right direction. I presented one of the messages from my prophecy conferece during this service then stayed over for the Central West Texas Fellowship Meeting where I provided special music and preached on Tuesday.

Overall, it was a great weekend.