Wonderful Sunday Morning!

Hello everyone. I just have to comment about how proud I am of our kids to take a stand and give their commitment to purity. It was wonderful to see both middle schoolers and high schoolers taking a stand in what they believe the Lord would have for them to do....and that is to stay pure and save themselves for their future spouses. I am really proud of Jess and the Student Ministries team! The Lord is truly blessing our children, church, and youth in our community. Way to go Jess!

I also have to say that I am very proud of our kids on the youth worship team. They are committed to worshiping our Lord each and every week. They did so well leading worship yesterday morning. I believe the whole church was blessed. Most of all, I believe the Lord was blessed!

I am looking forward to going to the Southern Baptist Conference in Casper with Pastor Shaun and Pastor Jess this Thursday and Friday. While I am gone, Pastor Shaun has asked Woodburys to lead worship for Palm Sunday. Thanks Woodburys for giving myself and the worship team a break while the conference is going on. This really relieves me from worrying about the practice time. I also get to work with my wife in the nursery this Sunday morning. I haven't gotten to do that for a long time!

I'm am so pleased with the direction that our church is heading. The Lord is really blessing us! We want First B to be a place that we can gather to give God all our worship and glory. We want to continually bow before our King!

Sunday Worship Celebration!

I want to again invite you to come to our 5th Sunday worship celebration this Sunday, March 29, 2009. Of course we will have our 8:30 a.m. Early Celebration, and please come to our baptism/ dedication service at 9:45 a.m. At 11:00 a.m. the Student Ministries Worship Team and I are excited to lead the congregation in worshiping our Lord Jesus Christ! These kids have been so dedicated and committed to singing and playing their instruments for the Lord. They get better and better at worship every time I hear them. Remember....they are not the future church...they are the church NOW! Please join us as we lift up and glorify our God!

Thoughts for today!

What a busy week...and it's only Tuesday! Just have a few thoughts on my mind...just gotta put them down.

* What a mighty God we serve! I am so thankful for His strength from day to day!

* I thank God that I am finally pulling out of the stomach flu and getting my strength back.

* I can't believe how weak I felt Sunday morning being propped up with the stool.

* Thank you for all of your prayers. I have felt them as I am recovering!

* It's so good to be back to work, working with the boys at the Wyoming Boys' School.

* I've gotta get ready for the youth worship for Wednesday and this Sunday morning. Looking forward to working with our young people. We really want to celebrate our Lord with you!

* My wife, Sandra, bless her heart, is such a hard worker. I am so proud of what she is doing in our church nursery, working with Worland's youth swimming program at school, leading middle school girls youth, keeping up with our little farm chores, raising kids,......and the toughest thing of all...putting up with me!

* I'm looking forward to following my boys' running, hurtling, and throwing in this year's track season! Go Warriors! Go Braves!

* Baseball season is just around the corner! Little League.....Babe Ruth.....and Lord, please! Please let there be enough kids to play Legion Baseball this year. Lord...please don't let Legion Baseball die in Worland. Is this okay to add to my prayers?

* Lord...will this be the year for the Chicago Cubs???????

* Our puppy, Jella "Bella" Bean, is so much fun! What a character running all over the place with those short little Corgi legs and no tail!

* I've got to say.....thanks again to the folks who are a part of our Worship Team at First Baptist! You guys are awesome! Thanks for all of your help and understanding with me being sick and all last week. You pulled through greatly for last Sunday worship and worship at the boys' school. God bless you guys!

Loss of a dear pet....

Even at my age, I never would have thought that a little tiny puppy would be something that my family and I could get attached to in such a short time (4 months). This was a tough couple of weeks because the little Welsh Corgi pup that we had... was put to sleep. We found out that she had a genetic kidney disorder. Her name was Hanna Bun-anna Bean. Yes, we are sad that she's gone, but my family and I were talking about the laughter, fun, and playing that we all had with her in the midst of a stressful past few months. We thank God that we had little Hanna even for a short time. God really put her into our family at the right moment. I wish you could have seen the youth group kids playing with her!

Well....now we have Jella "Bella" Bean...another little Corgi. She's healthy and doing great. She's even more playful than Hanna was.....well.....we guess you just need to come over and see for yourselves!

Be Acceptable in The Lord's Sight!

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

Let's all be encouraged by this verse. Remember, the Lord is our strong tower, our fortress when we're weak.

It is my prayer today, Oh Lord, that what I say to others out of my mouth and the thoughts that I have, will be pleasing to You. I want to please you in every way, Lord. Help us all to meditate on you in our hearts. Often times we get going in our busy lives and forget to meditate on You throughout the day. Lord, you reign forever and ever! You are our strength and our Redeemer!

The Lord is Salvation, Strength, and Song!

What a tough week this has been for a lot of people, including myself. Thankfully we have scripture to encourage us! Psalms 118:14 says, "The LORD [is] my strength and song, And He has become my salvation." Praise the Lord! It is amazing how in times of trial, God is faithful. He is our strength. Sometimes we don't understand why we go through trials, but we can grow from these trials as we are continuing to be molded in the vessels that God wants us to be. We are not immuned to trials, but we are reminded by one of my favorite sections of a verse from Joshua 1:5.....God promises.."I will not leave you nor forsake you."

No matter what...I want to encourage you in good times and in the bad that we all need to look at the bigger picture. Christ is our salvation and He gives us a hope that a lot of non-Christians just don't understand. We have joy knowing that in this world we are just passing through to be with our Lord. But....Non-Christians need this joy too! Let's pray for one another that the Holy Spirit gives us opportunities to reach the non-Christians.....that way they can get rid of the "non-" and be a part of His Kingdom too. Let us have a song in our hearts and worship HIM!!!