In less than two weeks, we will be celebrating the birthday of Jesus. It is an event that divides history into BC and AD. It is an event that caused angels to rejoice, shepherds to wonder and worship, and wise men to bring gifts. It is a time of the year that is holy to us as Christians. It is certainly worthy of our celebration. The God of our universe has chosen to come and dwell among us as one of us.

He laid aside his royal robes in heaven and took on the unlikely garments of human flesh. A baby. God chose to become a helpless infant. Creator - depending and trusting the created for His sustenance and life. He would grow up facing all the struggles and joys of life. He would walk among us, see and respond to human need with compassion, face betrayal and death for us, and conquer the final enemy of death. Mind blowing reality. No one could have concocted a more incredible plan. Yet, He did.

As a result of what He has done, we can now enjoy a new relationship with God. Jesus is our brother. We can call God, “Daddy.” We can relate to Him now as his beloved children because our elder brother has made it possible for us to be adopted into the family. We are forgiven because of what He has done. We can relax in God’s arms and know that He really understands all that we go through. He in one of us. Fully human - fully God. God - with us.

Because of all He has done and all He is, I choose to bow before Him in this season and say “Thank you.” I long to receive every benefit (gift) He has come to impart. I choose to not dilute the incredible message of Christ with the pressures of a secular “happy holiday”. It’s Christmas. He has come. God loved the world so much, He gave His Son. Joy to the world! The Lord has come! Let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature sing…

I say, “Merry Christmas”.

Make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver and the other gold.

These are the words of a song I learned at Girl Scout camp when I was a child.  One of the drawbacks to constant traveling is not being able to participate in ongoing groups for fellowship with other believers-church prayer groups, choirs, Bible studies, etc.  It’s impossible to develop any sense of continuity in the short term.

However, God has let me see over these past 6 months that He is able to meet even this need in my life.  He’s given me a vision for the long term.  Wesley & I have ministered in eight states from Texas to North Carolina in that time, and I’ve been blessed to visit with many dear friends from across the country.  Friends we’ve known, loved, and ministered to and with for over 30 years!  Friends we have a “history” with.  Friends made of gold.  I’ve even gotten to visit cousins I hardly ever see.

And along the way, I gather new friends whom I carry in my heart.  Over these last 3+ years that I’ve been traveling full-time with Wesley, I’ve visited with so many precious women.  We’ve shared our hearts, and God established a bond between us, even though we only had 4 short days to know each other.  No, most of you haven’t heard anything back from me, and I need to work on that.  But I carry you in my heart and think of you and pray for you often.  And I am grateful to both God and you for your love and prayers for Wesley & me.  Friends made of silver!

“We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly.”
1 Thessalonians 1:2

Gratitude is an important part of the life of a believer. All through Scripture we are called on to give thanks and praise to our God. In the Old Testament, David had the Ark of God brought into the tent he had provided for it and “He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to make petition, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel” I Chron 16:4 When the wall was rebuilt in Jerusalem, at the dedication Nehemiah said, “…I had the leaders of Judah go up on top of the wall. I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks.” Neh 12:31 The Psalms are filled with thanks like this… “I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. ” One thing I have noticed in many of David’s Psalms is that he seldom says he FEELS like giving thanks or praising God, he just declares that he WILL do it. It is because of who He is and what He has done that we express our gratitude. Most of the Psalms of David were written while he was in a cave hiding from King Saul and his armies. Yet he chose to praise God whose love endures forever.

Psalms 136 says it well…
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. who made the great lights– His love endures forever. 8 the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever. the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever… to the One who remembered us in our low estate His love endures forever. and freed us from our enemies, His love endures forever. and who gives food to every creature. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.” Psalms 136 1-9, 23-26

During these days when so many things seem to be uncertain, we can choose to look back into the face of a loving God and give Him the praise and thanks He deserves. It’s not about what we have, but it is about Who we know. In 1 Thess. 5:18, Paul reminds us “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” He is worthy. He is worthy. He is worthy of our praise.

Have an awesome Thanksgiving.

This was our second visit to Johnson City, KS,  a small town in Southwest Kansas. We met some of the greatest people you could ever hope to meet.  It was a fantastic week of revival there.  The pastor, Don Hastey, has only been there since June, but the people are very excited about his ministry there.  We had a great time with the children in BibleQuest, too.  You talk about some excited kids.  They were some of the most enthusiastic we’ve worked with in a while.  They really got into the memory work and loved singing the songs.  I’ve posted some pictures to give you an idea of how much fun we had in this church.

The adults were enjoying the storytelling format for the revival.

Listening during the sermon.  They were leaning forward and paying attention.

Time for memory work.

Felicia helping some kids with their Bible memory.

They did love the stories!

The took every spare minute to work on memory.

This boy is helping me illustrate what faith is.

They were very eager and ready to answer the questions I asked.

The kids did a great job showing their stuff.  Isn’t this a great looking bunch of boys and girls!

Look at the smiles on these hard working medal winners!

This was a return visit to Pineville, FUMC.  We were last there about five years ago.  It was a great time of ministry with their new pastor, Ricky Willis.  We’ve known Ricky and his family for over 25 years but we haven’t had the opportunity to work together in a revival before.  This church has a great heart for evangelism and missions.  It was a joy to work with them and see the great passion they have for the Kingdom.  BibleQuest was a big hit, as you will see in the pictures below.

Next stop, Johnson City, Kansas.

Rapt attention…

The kids seem to love the stories the best…

These kids were really listening to the story.

Closing Program of BibleQuest.

The proud medal winners.

Felicia and I have known Bud and Karen Reeves since all our children were home. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been in his churches. It was a joy to be with him in FUMC Hot Springs. The staff and committees had certainly done their jobs and we reaped the results of all their prayer and labor. Great crowds, great response, great church. I’ve included some pictures here to give you a little flavor of the week.

Great time with the kids in BibleQuest.

Don’t they look Great!

Here are the proud medal winners.

Can you believe methodists would show up like this on a week night?

I love having Felicia helping with worship. She has such a heart for praise.

Cowboy Dan (Daniel and the Lion’s Den) doin’ his thang…

Gideon teaches us all how to trust God when the odds are against us.

I had the privilege of speaking to a group at the high school.

Next stop, Pineville, Louisiana.

We had a fantastic time in Los Alamos.  This is the fifth time I’ve been in revival with Dave Ring.  He has a history of having the church ready for renewal!   Los Alamos was a most interesting place.  It has a great history surrounding it as the home of the invention of the atomic bomb.  I probably spoke to more PHD’s in one building than I ever have in the past.  I believe there was even a nobel prize winner in the house.  But, even scientists need Jesus!  There was a warm reception to the presentations of the Gospel and a genuine appreciation for the use of storytelling.  They also had a strong music program and some fantastic talent that shared in each service.

Here is the picture of the BibleQuest medal winners.  It was a small, but excited group of kids.

This was my fifth time to be in Monett. What a great church. They are in a new sanctuary since I was there last, and it is beautiful! They are rightfully proud of it. They put a lot of effort and time into making sure it would be a great place for worship. The acoustics were perfect, the audio/visual was great, and the technicians were well trained. The pastor and staff had really worked hard to make sure that Dayspring would be a great success. We had good, enthusiastic crowds and heart-felt, exuberant worship. We had a good old-fashioned “pig roast” on Sunday evening that brought in a good crowd from the community. We saw a good number of them back each night.

One of the bonuses was that I had the privilege of speaking in three of the community schools. The pastor commented that he was amazed at how hundreds of kids were so attentive to the story and responded so positively to the message. I love getting opportunities like this.

BibleQuest was a lot of fun. Hundreds of verses were memorized! The place was buzzing with excitement each night. One night, three of the high school kids who had been in my BibleQuest when they were in elementary school, came in and sang the books of the Bible from memory. They still knew them! I was impressed!

Felicia and I are going to be in Los Alamos next week where we will be working with Rev. Dave Ring. I’ve had the joy of being in just about every church he has pastored in the past 20-plus years.
Pray with us that God will use these days to bring true revival to this community.

Here are some pictures of the BibleQuest and the medal winners…

I am sorry it took a while to get these pictures up, but here he is.