I know its been a while since I blogged but things have been kinda’ hectic around the house. Between work, church, M’s work and The extraction of a few wisdom teeth, its been pretty busy.

This week we have had revival and it has been great! What a privilege to have our old pastor from Casey come down and preach the revival. It’s good to get preached to for a change and to hear Tom once again brought back a lot of memories. Tom is one of the greatest pastors a church could ask for and I hope that a little bit of him can rub off on me.

Last night he spoke about putting God first and it was just what I needed to hear.
The text that he preached from was Matthew 6:33:
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
The “all these things” that this verse is talking about is all of the things that we need.

It makes sense, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and he owns me too so why wouldn’t I want to put him first?

Then this morning on the radio Michael Easley was talking about abiding in Christ. He made the comment that you never see a grape struggling to be a grape, it just happens, as long as it abides in the vine.

I guess God is just trying to tell me to trust in Him and make sure that I am abiding (depending on Him for every nuance of my existence) in Him.

By the way the wisdom teeth thing went just fine. Ol’ doc Fonner plucked them like strawberries (the kind of strawberries that grow out of your face and bleed when you pluck them). No joke, from the first one to the fourth one, it couldn’t have taken more than three minutes.

Anyway, four teeth and two nights of revival later and I am feeling pretty good and my
“spirit tank” is pegged on “F”.

Today as I did my civic duty and voted, I really felt the weight of what I was doing. With each circle that I filled in I wondered: “is this the right candidate to choose for the job?” “have I done adequate research?”. This was a time when I really needed the one thing that is so illusive in an election year – TRUTH.
I believe that truth is absolute. I don’t think that truth is a matter of one’s own opinion, you’re either right or you are wrong. I hear a lot of people say that they can believe whatever they want to believe, and I guess I would have to agree but I wouldn’t recommend it. Somewhere along the line somebody has to be wrong.
To see if truth is subjective try this experiment: The next time you are at a crowded McDonald’s, cut into the front of the line and try to place your order. I would say that at least one person will politely explain to you that what you are doing is not going to be tolerated. When they do, stand up for what you believe – tell them that you believe that your place in the line happens to be at the front. And if they disagree accuse them of being intolerant.
You will find that Truth has once again ruined an otherwise beautiful expression of personal liberty.
Here’s what I’m driving at. Whether you are trying to decide where to stand in line or who to vote for or what to do when you grow up, a standard of truth is absolutely necessary. That standard can’t exist in our own minds because we are all different and whether we admit it or not, sometimes we change. It’s got to come from somewhere bigger than us and our feeble reasoning.
I believe that this standard is found ONLY in the Word of GOD. After all he did speak this universe as we know it into existence, didn’t he. I would say that God can probably handle the simple decisions that we face every day without effort. We just need to consult him. And another great thing about God is the fact that he doesn’t change.
Malachi 3:6-
“For I, The LORD, do not change…”
Hebrews 13:8-
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”
My grandpa always says, as he holds up his worn out old Bible: “the answers to all of life’s questions are right here in this book”. He is right, if you are going to know how to live in this world, you’re going to have to read the manual that the designer wrote.
So if you constantly find yourself standing at crossroads, not knowing which direction to turn- get out the manual and read it. It never changes and it will never be obsolete and it just might save your life (your eternal one, that is)

Day trip to so. Illinois

Saturday Melissa and I had the pleasure of going down south to take in some fall color with our friends Bill and Pam. God gave us PERFECT weather for the trip which provided excellent light for several scenery pics like the one here. This picture was taken atop one of the cliffs overlooking the mighty Ohio river at Cave-in-Rock, IL.

We went to several spots along the way like Pounds Hollow, Rim Rock, Garden of the Gods and One Horse Gap Lake. I would recomend the trip to anyone.

We really got to see a lot in one day. we left Newton at about 7 am and were home by 6 pm. I would say that the fall color will peak in about a week or two, so if you're going you got about three weeks to get it done.

I would also recomend a little greasy spoon in Rosiclaire called Nanny's Place. It is in a little white building just as you come into town and there is no sign except one that says "ICE CREAM & SANDWICHES". Good food, I'm talking deep fried country goodness, big burgers and RC cola on tap.

So if you have a Saturday with nothing to do, go straight down hwy 130 till you get to Illinois 1 and head south till you hit Shawnee National Forest and just get lost down in "God's country", you'll be glad you did.

Tagged...

I have been tagged by the sweetest thing to ever draw a breath of air, My wife and the infamous author of the Blairbunch blog.

GROUNDRULES:

Write 6 random things about yourself on your blog

(or in my comment section if you have no blog)

Tag 6 people at the end of your post

If you are tagged, do it and pass the tag along.



1. I LOVE salmon patties even though they stink up my house.



2. My feet NEVER smell bad.



3. Watermelon makes me sick.



4. I used to have a car named "mango" (the little red neon)



5. I think that the velveeta brand of mac and cheese is not as good as the kraft creamy.



6. I probably think too much about food. 50% of my facts have to do with food. maybe that's why it's getting so hard to tie my shoes.



I, Pastor Ray, being of sound mind and medeocre health hereby tag:

Delbort, Jace, "Nichols News", "The Frey Five", Billy Big FEESH, Papaw Jerry.

Simple but profound...

When my wife and I went into our little boy’s room tonight we discovered that he had placed several small objects into one of the electrical outlets. My immediate response was to launch into what I like to call a “high-energy motivational instruction session” or what my wife affectionately calls “screaming at the kids”.

I was doing my best to help the boy remember never to do that again when he suddenly burst out “I JUST CAN’T HELP IT!”

He often responds to chastisement this way because though he has the desire to do the right thing, the wrong thing is just too appealing. Before I could respond to his dilemma with a three point sermon on self control, my wife interjected with a simple but profound solution.

She said:
“If you feel like you want to do something wrong, come and get me and I’ll help you find something better to do”

I was taken aback at how simple, and at the same time, how Christ-like her solution was. This is the same kind of advice we are given in the book of James for when we are tempted.

James 4:7-8a
So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts…

We are all kind of like a little kid sometimes. The desire to do good is in us, but we succumb to the appeal of sin.

Next time I am enticed by the appeal of sin I think I will follow my wife’s advice:
I’m going to call on God and he will help me and show me something better to do.

Man, I love that woman.

Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

This afternoon I was able to get into the woods, something I love to do. And to make it even better I was able to go with my dad who lives in Idaho, and my little boy. We had a great time as we walked through the patch of woods that I hunt and we even got to see a few deer.

Every time I hunt it seems like God always allows me to at least see a deer. I think that this is the best part about being in the outdoors. There’s nothing like being on God’s turf and seeing it operate under his rules. It makes me feel like a fly on the wall in a great big room.

In Job chapter 39 God explains this idea about nature being his territory:
Have you watched as the wild deer are born? Do you know how many months they carry their young? Are you aware of the time of their delivery? They crouch down to give birth to their young and deliver their offspring. Their young grow up in the open fields, then leave their parents and never return.

Its scriptures like this that really clue me in on the fact that if I see a deer, let alone if I am able to harvest one, it is because God brought it to me. That really puts things into perspective for me and it makes hunting an experience that brings me closer to the Lord.

This is the way that God has set it up, just like in the book of Acts, God showed Peter a vision in the sky of all sorts of wild animals and he told him to “kill and eat”. God has provided us with animals so that we can feed our families. Now I don’t think that means we are all supposed to hunt or that it is wrong to be a vegetarian, but I have to wonder – if we’re not supposed to eat animals, then why are they made out of meat?

A good day and a chilly lake.

About five years ago I started working at evapco and I met a guy named Billy. My first impression of Billy was that he was a typical Greenup redneck, but as I got to know him a little better I found out that he was a pretty good guy.

One day I decided to invite him to church and when I asked him if he went to church anywhere I was surprised to hear him say that he tried to go to “Sunday school” every week. When I asked him where, he said – CIPS lake. This was the beginning of four years of discussions and questions about things like whether the Bible was true or if Jesus was the only way to heaven.

All through this time I prayed for Billy, that he would see that Jesus was the only way and that he would accept him as his personal savior. I prayed for Billy EVERY day, sometimes many times a day, the same way I do for all of my friends and co-workers. He would often ask me a question and I would give the best answer I could, but as often as I could I would ask him “are you ready to accept Christ yet?” and he’d say “maybe someday”.

Well, to make a long story short I asked him that same old question here recently and I was caught off guard when he said that he had! It wasn’t too long after that that he also expressed the desire to be baptized.

So tonight at about 6:00 pm CST at Sam Parr State Park I baptized Billy and It was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had (it was also my first baptism).

I read a short scripture about a guy in the Bible that wanted to be baptized and the only condition in that story was that the man had to believe in Jesus with all of his heart (Acts chapter 8). One thing I know for sure after tonight is that Billy believes with all of his heart. I’m as sure of that as I am my own salvation.

The great thing about it is that to be saved all that you have to do is believe. Believe that you don’t meet God’s standard of righteousness and accept that you’ll have to get by on the righteousness of Christ. He paid the penalty for our sins when we couldn’t, that’s his gift to us. All you have to do is accept it – BELIEVE it.

That is what Billy did and tonight he was baptized to do what Jesus did and to symbolize the death and burial of his old life and the beginning of a new one. While baptism doesn’t save you, I do feel that it is so important because it is that First step of obedience as a Christian. Billy decided to do this purely out of a desire to please God, I didn’t have to breathe a word about it (that’s how you know it’s the real thing).

Billy You’re the real thing, and I couldn’t have picked a better candidate for my first baptism than you.

Enjoy the pics.