Immanuel...

Matthew 1:23- "and they will call Him Immanuel- which means, God with us..."
The other day while reading the "Christmas" story I noticed something I had never noticed before. His name shall be Immanuel which means God with us. I have even sang the song that has this same line in it, but for some reason it hit me different this time. God with us...I had never really stopped to ponder on what that means. This means that no matter where we are, how far we've fallen, how sick we are, how bad we feel, how bad life has beat us...God is still with us! What a relief to read those words. I had to put my Bible down and praise God for a few moments when I read that. Even thouh we can't see the solution to our problems, God knows what lies ahead. With all the health issues I've had recently this was really nice to read. I have let that stay with me for a few days now and it has really made a difference at how I approach everyday situations. As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ let us also remember...He is with us...God Bless until our next meeting.

Tony

abundance...

In John 10:10 we read, "the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come to give you life in abundance..." that is paraphrased of course and is more than likely the Huerta's version. It still says alot. The thief has come and has taken all he wants from today's families and we have let it. Too often we feel helpless in a fight against things that we can't see and before we realize it we've lost the battle. How many times have we been too busy working in order to sustain our families and provide all the things we "need". Christmas time is one of the most stressful times for many, and it should be the best time of the year to celebrate the birth of our Saviour. Instead of celebrating His birth we worry about what to get in-laws, how to decorate better than the neighbors, how to buy better presents than everyone else, and even how we're gonna top last year's gift! What about Jesus? Where does He fit in this picture? Every year at this time we start to hear about saying, "Happy Holidays" over "Merry Christmas", and how one is more correct than the other. I say we just start saying, "Happy Birthday, Jesus" to one another and see what people say about that...shoot, what if we started greeting one another that way all year. We say Jesus is the reason for the season, but if He's in our hearts then He's the reason for every season. Satan loves division and confusion. How about we get on the same page and remind him that we're not confused. We know why we celebrate! God Bless and "Happy Birthday Jesus!"...

Tony

Blast from the Past

Wow, what a weekend! On saturday we celebrated my wife's birthday, then on sunday we had a birthday party for my oldest daughter, Selah. It was a great weekend getting to see old friends and talking about the good ol' days toether. In this photo, I am pictured with Sylvia Lawler and Sally Murff. Sylvia was our church secretary at FBC Junction, while Sally was our daycare director. Eventhough their titles said one thing they wore several hats in their jobs. To me these two ladies were the ones that made everyone's job alot easier. I'm pretty good at proposing ideas, but don't know about logistics. These ladies made sure it came to life. I don't know how many hours we spent in prayer for one another and for our families. I love to hear a mother's prayer. After I left our church in Junction I lost touch with some, but these ladies have always been in my heart. Now we work in three different places doing three entirely different jobs but we still have a common bond, Jesus.
We are about to embark on a new journey as I have accepted a new job as Youth Minister in Winters. I don't know what the future holds for my health or my family. I do know one thing though: I will be making more new friends! I am excited about the opportunity to serve the people of Winters and really feel that God is going to bring complete healing to my wounded body. "I will restore your health and heal your wounds..." Jeremiah 30:17. I live by this verse and look forward to every morning to see what God has for me. I always try to look to the future, but sometimes it's nice to stop and remember the past, because that's what made us who we are today...stop...remember...thank God...blessings...

Tony

Wait...

I got to spend the weekend doing Christmas shopping. Spent a whole day shopping, not for myself, but for others. What a day it was. We had a very unusual day in a sense that we spent the day as a family. This doesn't happen very often for us. The day started great as we left home at a decent time and arrived in Abilene just in time for a great lunch at Abuelo's. This is exciting stuff. Once we were stuffed, the fun began. As we piled our basket, I began to people watch. People watching is one of my favorite hobbies. I love to watch bored husbands and over eager wives buying for everyone they can think of. I heard one conversation that was made up of a wife explaining to her husband why they needed to buy a certain nephew a gift this year. This would be only year they would have to buy for this person because they're moving out of state. Most people were excited to be there, however their were those certain few that would have rather been out with friends or on a deer lease somewhere or anywhere but shopping. We ended our great day by taking our daughters to the theatre for the first time. We went to watch Tangled, the story of Repunzel. It was so neat to see my oldest daughter walk in to the theatre for the first time. Her eyes lit up, and she couldn't believe the size of the TV screen. As I watched her, I suddenly remembered why God compares us to children. All day they were dependent on me and their mom. I want to become so dependent on God that I won't be able to move unless He tells me where...Let's all become His children and dependent on Him again. The only way we can hear Him, is to talk to Him...Blessings...

Tony

"I'm Going Fishing..."

"I'm going fishing..." John 21:3

I love to read these words in the scriptures because I don't know how many times I have uttered these exact words from Peter. These words are usually heard when hard times hit. In the text Peter has denied knowing Christ. Jesus has been beat, battered, and crucified. I don't think Peter is having a very good day. Some of the other disciples holler out to him and he basically says, "I need to get away." Often when I need to get away from everyone and/or everything after a stressful day or week, I respond like Peter. "I'm going fishing...", I think this will become my new life verse. The funny thing is that if you keep reading the story you find that some others went with him. If you read more the story turns out like my fishing trip. Jesus appears on the shore and asks, "have you caught any fish?" Their answer is very much like mine, "no". They had been out all night fishing and had caught nothing...I've been there before!
Fishing is a funny sport in so many ways. Fishermen will spend thousands of dollars to try to outsmart an animal that has a brain the size of a pea. I've learned that it's not really about fishing, but rather it's about your surrounding. It's about solitude, it's about nature, it's about man vs. fish, but for me it's about becoming one with God. We all have that special place where we feel closest to God. As we prepare for this Christmas season I want to challenge you to remember what we are celebrating. Let's get to that special place as often as we can. I pray that I not go fishing, but that I go catching...God Bless...
Tony

How Big...

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness, come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God." Psalm 100:1-3

I recently heard the story of a student who was in seminary. Having all this knowledge he had learned in his last semester, he approached his pastor and asked, "Pastor do you think there's other life out there on other planets?" His pastor looked at him and simply said, "no". The student was astonished with the answer and began to plead with his pastor, "if there isn't other life out there, why would God spend all that time and effort to create all these other planets and galaxies?" The pastor looked at him and smiled and said, "what time and effort..." I love the response because our God is so big and awesome that He just shakes His hands and galaxies are created! My mind cannot begin to fathom how big God is. I have reached a point in my life where I don't really care to read books or memorize verses or even want to read my Bible, but I want to know God! I want to know more about God, who is God, how can I hear God, how can I know God better? I know how important it is for me to read my Bible, and memorize scripture, and sing His praises, but sometimes I have to get away and just be silent for a bit. Have you ever been scared to be alone with God? Have you ever had an uncomfortable silence with God? I have. It's weird, scary, and yet it's exciting to hear what He is going to say. How big is God? Look at the sky and try to wrap your mind around how big He is...Blessings to all of you and let Him be big in your life this week! God Bless...
Tony

Worship

Psalm 24:3,4 "Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart..."

Worship...what do we think about when we hear the word worship? For some it's a car, or a girl/boyfriend, a certain food item, or even a place they have visited. I have been thinking really hard about this thing that we Christians call WORSHIP. What exactly is it? According to the dictionary the word can be a noun or a verb. I am not going to bore you with a secular view of Worship, but I am gonna share with you about my experience with worship.
Worship is something that happens to me when I quit trying to serve God and let God take over. Sometimes I'm driving and see something majestic and I just have to Worship God right there. By the way if you're driving and decide to worship, please don't raise both hands and close your eyes! Sorry, safety first! Sometimes my girls are screaming at the top of their lungs and my wife is cooking dinner and as I am trying to piece everything together, I worship God and thank Him for what I have. Let me stop for just a moment and let you respond. When was the last time you worshipped our Lord and Saviour. I don't mean just thanked Him, I mean when was the last time you let God take control to the point that you had to snap out of it? When was the last time you asked God to become real in your life, in your home, in your family? It's been too long. The photograph today is a picture of the Old Guerrero Church on the Mexico side of Lake Falcon. This picture was taken two years ago before all the pirate turmoil began. It was taken by a great photographer named Mae, who owns House of Mae photography in the Metroplex. What a great picture of a place I could go to worship! Can you imagine pulling up in your bass boat to worship Jesus...WORSHIP...what does it mean to you...God bless you this week.

Tony

Run Forrest Run...

Yesterday was such a pretty day. We sat outside with the entire family and I watched them run and play. Did you notice the key word, "watched". It felt more like spring than fall. They were playing their own version of "hide-n-seek" which required alot more running than I remember ever doing. As I watched them run from one spot to another it was really pretty cool because I knew where everyone was hiding. It reminded me of how we try to hide from God to do things that maybe aren't so pleasing to Him, but in the end He knows what we were doing anyway and we end up having to confess to Him what we did while He wasn't "looking". There's a story in the Bible about a man named Jonah. Jonah was a prophet and in fact he has a book all to himself in the Old Testament. Really Jonah is in your Bible; don't tell anybody but I had to use my table of contents to find it! Jonah was told by God to go to a place called Nineneveh. This town was really corrupt and the people were really bad. It would be like God telling me to go to AUSTIN! Just kidding! Jonah thought there was no way he was going to Nineveh so he thought he could outrun God and hide from him. He hopped on a ship going in the opposite direction, but guess what...God knew exactly where he was. God wreaked havoc on that ship until Jonah was thrown overboard and swallowed by a big fish. Many think it was a whale, but I think it was a big ole bass...(this is my version). The fish puked him up on shore and Jonah did as he was told.
How often do we play hide-n-seek with God? Do we really think we outsmart God? Then why do we do it? I know there are many decisions that you are struggling with just as I am. I hope that you have a real talk with God before you make up your mind. Let's make Him real in our life this week! Let's not have a "Jonah" kind of week...God Bless your socks off...
Tony

Useless?

As I was getting ready Sunday morning, I opened a drawer in our bathroom and came across the most useless object in our home. It was way back in one of our drawers. I reached in there and pulled out this odd looking object that has no purpose in my life at this moment. What is this useless object? My hairbrush! I have no hair therefore my hairbrush has been rendered "useless". I had forgotten I even owned a hairbrush. I forgot what color it was, what brand it was, how soft it was, I had lost all memory of even owning a hairbrush. I wonder if this is what we do to God sometimes? The less relevant that brush became in my life, the farther back it went in that drawer. It was sheer coincidence that I found it while on the hunt for something else. So it is with God, if we don't talk to Him daily, if we don't seek Him daily, if we don't spend time with Him on a daily basis, we tend to stick God in a drawer somewhere and kind of forget about Him until we need something again. Have you ever noticed that when things are going good for us God becomes irrelevant in our lives. As soon as we need something, then we go to that God drawer where we left Him and start to frantically search Him out! God is too good to be put in a drawer. He longs to be a part of our daily lives. Where is God in your life at this moment...Let's let Him be relevant in our lives again...Have a blessed week!

Tony

Grow Up...

Have you ever been frustrated, but you find yourself repeating the same mistake over and over again. You know better, but somehow before you realize it you've made the same mistake again. I find myself in this predicament quite often. There's a verse in Romans 7:15 that basically shows us that Paul experienced the same problem. In this verse he is asking, "why do I do the things I don't want to do, and don't do the things I want to do." It is refreshing to know the man responsible for more than half of the New Testament, the "ultimate" Jew, the apostle struggled with sin just like we all do. Our youngest daughter turned two last week and we tell her over and over not to do something, but as soon as we turn our heads she does exactly what we told her not to do. We are very much like my daughter. God tells us not to do something because he knows better, but as soon as we think God's not looking, we do what we were told not to do. I want to challenge you all this week to quit repeating the same sin over and over again. Something I do to help me out is to read my Bible daily and I try to pray through situations instead of praying about situations. Have a great week and God Bless you this week...

Tony

Go Already!

I have been feeling really good this week! In fact I have been feeling so good that I spent a few hours every day working on my boat. It's not new, fancy or real pretty, or coveted by anyone, but it's mine and it's paid for. It's an older boat and requires some TLC and lots of attention. My wife made a comment in talking to one of my cousins that got me to thinking. She said, "he does this everytime he's gonna go fishing. He spends all his time getting ready and then he's too tired to go..." After she said this I thought about it and how true that statement is about the church today and Christians in general. We spend all our time preparing for what we want to accomplish and when it comes time to produce we don't have the energy. I worked on the wiring, the fuel line, cleaned it, and hopefully this week will power wash it. Am I doing this because it needs it, or am I doing it because I need it? So many of us go to church looking to fill a void in our lives. We try to fill it with programs or studies, but what we really need is to get real with God. It's good to do all the things I did to my boat, just like it's good for us to be at church. However, I didn't catch any fish because I never got on the water. Most Christians do all the Christian things, but only at church. We're too scared to go against the flow in public or at work. When was the last time you prayed before a meal at a restraunt? When was the last time you TOOK someone to church that has never been? When was the last time you did something that made you uncomfortable? You're ready! Matthew 28:19, tells to go into all the world! Please notice that one little word, "Go"! Let's quit stalling and do what we're supposed to this week. Oh yeah, pray for me that I get to take my boat out and bring home dinner! God Bless...

Tony

How good are you?

This photo was taken in Abilene in 2005. I got 1st place at that tournament. That was the first tourney I had played in years and was kind of a joke. I felt pretty special carrying home that trophy. All eyes were one me! After being praised by many for about 30 minutes and taking pictures with my trophy, isn't amazing how your parents always know what to say. My mom walks up to me and the first thing she says to me is, "golly mijo! You looked really overweight out there!"
Have you ever heard the term, "the older I get, the better I was..." That's what I've been dealing with these last few days. Round 4 of chemo is over! Thank God, but this round was really tough. I went in on Thursday and they were ready for me, but I only thought I was ready for them. If you talk to my wife, she will tell you that the days before chemo around our home it feels like we're going into battle. Because we are. We read scriptures together, we pray together, and we all work as one finely tuned platoon ready for battle. I may do the physical part of chemo, but it affects my entire family. My wife is like a 5 star general commanding the troops and preparing the logistics. Finally, the day has come and I walk out the door I know I am covered in prayer and my weapon is ready, my Bible.
On Friday night, I knew I wasn't feeling very well. I was starting to feel really bad. As I laid in my bed I began to feel sorry for myself. Oh boohoo poor me. I had told myself I was gonna pray, but instead I began to spout off to God in my head how bad I was feeling. I reminded God how I had served Him, how I always tried to keep my cool on the tennis courts. I also reminded God what a great speaker I once was...during one of those pauses as I laid there and tried to remind God about something else that made me so good, a nurse walked in and began to apologize because she hadn't been in my room in over an hour, (I'm pretty low maintenence). I was about to really tear into her when she said, "we have a man on this floor that is really sick and he may not make it through the night..." These nurses know that I'm always asking them what I can pray about for them. Just like my mom, she really knew what to say to boost my confidence. She reminded me where I needed to be and what I needed to be doing. Praying...
As I reflected on the weekend this verse came to me, 2 Corinthians 7:10, That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
God bless you this week and let us be strongest when we're on our knees...
Tony

It was a big day at the Huerta household on Sunday. Training wheels came off our 4 year old's bicycle. She did great and I'm happy to say everyone is still in one piece and still married! One of the things I noticed about her riding was how unbalanced she was until she got going a certain speed. As soon as she slowed down, she would lose her balance and begin to fall. As I saw this it reminded me about our walk with the Lord. So many of us add so much to our lives and then complain about how busy we are, but yet that's where we find our balance. This is complete opposite of what scripture tells us to do. In Psalms 46:10, it says, "Be still and know that I am God." The world wants us to go "faster, faster" but God tells us to slow down. Romans 12:2 says, "do not be conformed, but be transformed..." my paraphrase.
I want to challenge you to slow down this week. Do you know that I already saw Christmas trees in stores! Let's slow down and listen and watch for God moments this week. When we pray we don't have to do all the talking, let's let God talk to us. Please keep me in your prayers this week as I go for what we are hoping is my last round of chemo on Thursday! God Bless you all and thanks for reading.

Tony

"Praise God"

Today I went and bought a new fishing license. Not really surprised they have gone up again. A freshwater license is now $30. I don't mean to sound "old-fashioned", but it wasn't very long ago they were only $15. Along with the new license I received a new booklet with all the new laws and regulations for 2010-11. It made me think about lots of things. For instance, what if God changed the rules for getting into heaven every year. What if every person had to read the entire Bible in order to get to heaven? What if God fined us every time we did something wrong? Aren't we glad that God isn't about a bunch of laws, but rather it's about Him! As I sat outside earlier today and felt the air cooling and watched leaves falling I got to peek into heaven just a little bit. My daughters sing a song that says, "My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do..." I believe we have all sang that song, but how many of us are living that song? As Fall rolls in, I praise God for the beauty he is letting me see. As we go along this week let's take time out of our busy schedules to thank God for who He is and not changing the rules on us every year. I am also grateful that God's gift of eternal life is "free". His price never increases. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." How does someone like that write something that goes out of date! Thank you God for your beauty that surrounds us! God Bless

Tony

"Road Trip"

This week we are blessed to have one of my best friends share a "life experience" with us. John Whitworth is one of my fishing buddies and although we seldom catch fish, we always come back with a story. John is a graphic designer for Kerr Screen Printing in Kerrville. John is married to Melissa (Gannaway), together they have two children. Thanks John!

*****Last weekend my family and I were headed out of town to celebrate Labor Day weekend. I got in my truck to leave work and found out that my battery was dead. I was finally able to get my truck started but knew I needed to replace the battery before we got on the road. "I don't have time for this! I can't afford this right now!" I grumbled. It was miserably hot outside, and I didn't have time to go to the store, install a new battery, and get all sweaty and stinky right before our road-trip! I wasn't in a very good mood as I pulled into the local auto parts store. I walked inside and was greeted by a very friendly and heavily tattooed man. I told him about my car troubles so he tested the battery and confirmed it was time for a new one. My attitude shifted as he offered to install the battery for me! This was great, because I didnt have to get dirty before our trip.

As he worked on my car, I struck up a casual conversation and quickly learned that he was a cancer survivor. He said he had battled cancer that had spread throughout his body and he has been free of it for about six years! The more we made small talk, I started to feel that tug on my heart. Have you felt this before? Its that feeling you get inside when you can feel God nudging you to share your faith.

"Not now God!" I thought to myself. "So uncool. Just let this guy fix my car and get on my way. He'll think Im a lunatic!" After a quick internal battle with God, I decided to be bold and take courage. I would try and share.

A quick little trick I learned from the book, Share Jesus without Fear, is that you can turn any casual conversation into an opportunity to share with one simple, non-confrontational question, "Do you have any spiritual beliefs?". So, I tried to work up some nerves(kind of like jumping off a high-dive) and took the plunge.

"So, do you have any spiritual beliefs?" I asked.
"Sure" he replied, "I think there is a God".
I followed up with, "So, do you believe in a heaven or a hell?"
He paused, and then said, "Yes, but to tell you the truth, my dad just died about a year ago, and I'm still struggling with that."
Ouch. Door Slammed. Point taken. How could I go on witnessing to this guy? I didn't want to seem like an insensitive jerk and tell him that without a relationship with Christ, we can not be with God in heaven. What can you say?

God gave me the words. I explained to him that I have a very close friend, that recently lost his father, and has been battling cancer himself. We now had something in common. He really opened up to me, and we had a great conversation. I explained how we are all sinners, and need a savior. I explained how Jesus paid the price for our sins, and that if we trust in Him we are saved. I explained that I believe my battery died that day so that I would meet him, and share the gospel with him! It really was an amazing chain of events. Did he accept Christ right then and there? No. Was it a "success"? Yes, I did all I could do, I shared. We cannot save anyone, only Christ can. It is our job though to tell people what the Bible(God's Word) says! I would like to hope that I planted a seed in his heart and one day he will accept Christ.

I learned a few things that day:

***1-God can take something that may seem bad to us, and use it for his good! Sure my battery died and I'm out a hundred bucks, but was able to share the gospel with someone in need!
***2-God calls each of us to share our faith! Even though it may be "socially awkward", who am I to keep such a wonderful and free gift a secret!
***3-Duralast batteries have a two year warranty.

I tell you this story to encourage you! When was the last time you told somebody about Jesus? If you know Christ as your savior, I pray that you will answer the call to share your faith! A great book I recommend is, "Share Jesus without Fear"...google it. It gives you really easy ways to share the gospel.
If you aren't a Christian, or if you aren't 100% sure you'd go to heaven if you died tonight... open a bible and read Romans 10:9-11. You can always write Tony at PocoLoco if you have any questions about all this "Jesus-stuff". It's actually pretty easy, as it is a free gift for all that accept! Billy Graham put it best when he said that God made it so easy that even a young kid can do it! Our salvation is by faith alone.

Have a great week,
--John

Well round 3 of chemo is HISTORY!!! It has gotten a little tougher to take, but it's understandable with all that has gone through my body already. This round made me pretty sick, it really upset me and messed with my body in a lot of different ways. I know that by the grace of God, I will get through this. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for all the friends I've got. Anytime I start to feel down, I receive a letter or someone comes by and cheers me up! Last week was tough on the Hardin family and PocoLoco Ministries lost a great friend in Jay Hardin. It is now our turn to uplift the Hardin family. They are good friends of ours from Junction. Jay was truly one of my best friends and we must continue to pray for Becky, his wife, James, his son, LaVerne, his mother, and Hardy and his family. God bless you Hardin family and comfort you during this time.
The other day some friends of ours came over and brought us some homemade lasagna. They froze it for us and left us instructions on how to heat it up and get the best taste out of it. Believe me, it was very tasty! As long as my wife was home to heat it up for me, it was perfect. One day she was gone and I got hungry. I remembered the lasagna that was in the refrigerator just waiting for me. All I had to do was microvave it and I would be in cheese nirvana...Nobody was around so I snuck in the kitchen and warmed up some of this tasty treat, but just enough for me. I was in a bit of a hurry since something was on TV that needed an audience. Apparently, I didn't heat it up long enough, because as soon as I dove into the first bite, it was very hard and cold! I'm not gonna say it ruined my appetite, but it did make me gag a little and think twice about putting a mouthful of food without testing it first! What should have been one of the best tastes I've ever experienced turned out to be one of the most unforgettable experiences I've ever had.
I was quickly reminded of the verse in Revelation 3:16, that says, "because you are neither hot or cold, I will spit you out of my mouth..." (my paraphrase). Did you know that God hates a "fencewalker", someone who doesn't commit to serving him completely. Some of us want to serve Him, but only on sundays and wednesdays, or only when we're around certain people. God wants us to be faithful to Him all the time. 24/7/365! I want to challenge all of us this week to serve God faithfully all the time. It basically comes down to this..."If you ain't radical...you ain't spit..."

Thanks Cindy Hardin for the lasgna and the inspiration for this devotion!

Tony

Weekly devo...

Well it's finally here. I'm talking about football season of course! This last week was great to have that cooler weather and enjoy some football. I feel like I need to share a story here to let you know where I'm coming from:
Day1 - Per his daily ritual, Satan walks through his domain to see that everyone is sufficiently miserable. As usual, he pauses to take special pleasure in the pain and agony displayed by the new arrivals. However, on this particular day he spots a lanky Texan smiling and looking as though he's at a picnic. "Hey you!", satan yells, "the temperature in here is a constant 95 degrees and the humidity is 90%! You're supposed to be miserable!" "Maybe so, but it feels just like Houston in June to me. I had a ball on those hot summer nights at Gilley's", says the Texan. Miffed, satan decides to adjust the temperature up 100 degrees and the humidity to 95%.

Day2 - On his daily stroll, satan notices everyone appears exceptionally miserable today. He remembers the smiling Texan and decides to see how he's faring today. To his surprise, the Texan has unbuttoned a couple of buttons on his shirt, but he still looks happy and carefree. Satan cries out, "Hey Tex, what are you smiling about now?" The Texan replies, "well today reminds me of those Willie Nelson 4th of July picnics. Boy those were some great parties. This really irritated satan, who promptly turns the temperature up to 110 degrees and the humidity up to 100%.

Day3 - Satan dispenses with his daily stroll and goes straight to the region of hell where he would locate the Texan. Sure enough, he finds the Texan, shirt off, with huge grin on his face. "Okay, so what is it this time?" Satan asks. "Well, it's just like Dallas in August. Man we had some fine times watching the Cowboys on Sunday afternoons." Irate, satan determines to put an end to this charade. He sets the terperature down to zero degrees with a 25 mile per hour wind.

Later that day, he decides to check back on that fool hardy Texan. He finds him huddled and shivering...lips blue, arms folded, snow in his hair and icicles hanging from his mustache. But bigger than Dallas, there he was laughing out loud and cheering. "I GIVE UP!" declared satan. "What in blue blazes could you find to be happy about now?"

The Texan replied, "Well, this can only mean one thing...The Aggies have finally won a National Championship!" Gig'em Ags!

Sorry, it's been a rough day and I needed to smile about something. This Texan found a way to enjoy any situation and give satan fits. I know it's only a joke, but when was the last time you made satan throw a fit? When was the last time you made satan look your way? Let's take whatever life throws at us this week and make the best of it. Psalm 118:24, says, "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." God bless...

Tony

From the other side...

Hey guys this week I thought it would be neat to let my wife, Mindy, post some of her thoughts about what's going on around here. As far as my health goes this week we have a Dr.'s appointment in Abilene. This will be a regular check up. This weekend has been really good! I have been outside tinkering and making myself really tired. I also did a few jobs! I still have no voice, but I am feeling pretty good all things considered...Let's pray that I have a good report this week, I will post as soon as I know something...Now I'll turn it over to my wife.

Tony

Have you ever heard anyone say, "don't pray for patience unless you're prepared for God to allow you to go through circumstances that require much patience?"
Well, lately during our evening family devo we had been asking God to show us how to love others the way He loves us. We want to glorify God in all that we do. Since we have been in many hospitals and doctor's offices lately, I remind our girls of this before we go inside the building. The last couple of weeks I feel that God has really been working overtime on this transformation in my life. We have been confronted with some of the grupiest and most incompassionate people I have ever had the privilege of meeting. They have been nurses and volunteers which is sad because of how many hurting people they encounter. So after I bite my tongue and I respond nicely, I pray for them. The truth is they don't know all the details of our family's condition, nor do I know the details of their lives. Tony and I have decided that if this is the mission that God has planned for our family then we will faithfully try to reach as many people for Him as possible! We have in no way desired this broken road set before us, but we want to be better "ambassadors for Christ" as we travel to the "moutain top". Our young girls are not always the most welcomed guests in the medical facilities where we are sent, but they can make the hardest faces melt to smiles. Selah will remind us at night to pray for people we have seen or met at the doctor's office. This isn't really my first choice for a classroom, but our visits have definately increased our prayer life!
The next time you get grumpy service, remember you don't know what may have broken that person's spirit or heart. Don't react, take it personally and growl back, but rather lift them to God in prayer. I know it's not always the easy choice, but it will help your spirit too. Tony has a plaque in his office that reads, "Be patient God isn't finished with me yet". Humorous? Yes! Honest about all of God's children? Most definately!
May God bless you all this week with people that increase your prayer life!

"This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'they are my people', and they will say, 'The Lord is our God'."

Thanks,
Mindy
Zechariah 13:9

Another update!

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I will be brief about my health this week mainly because I don't feel too great, but I felt bad I had not updated you on the situation so that you will know how you can pray this week. Today is Thursday and round 2 of chemo is complete. This round was very tough and I know it's gonna get tougher! My voice is still gone and this is really hard on me. I went to Abilene for a check up last thursday or so I thought, they admitted me and went ahead and did round 2, out of nowhere! I was not really mentally prepared as strange as that sounds. I have been home a couple of days but I haven't got back to 100% yet. I'm sure it will take some time. I am praying that God will show me something good that chemo did this time around in three days. Last time I was able to start eating after three days so I'm really looking forward to what He has in store for me this time.
Speaking of praying, I tend to do quite a bit of that these days. I was looking at Jesus praying and saw something interesting. Some of you may already know this, but this is what God has revealed to me this week. I always try to recite the Lord's Prayer when I'm not feeling well. This week while in the hospital, God led me to the "real" Lord's Prayer. It is found in John 17. Here we find Jesus praying in the Garden right before He's crucified. In Matthew, we find the Lord's model Prayer, but here we see Jesus hard at work, praying. I discovered that this chapter is broken in four parts. Please understand this is my version of it and it is not written in stone.
In John 17:1-5 Jesus prays for Himself
John 17:6-19 He prays for the 11 disciples that were still with Him
John 17:20-26 He prays for all believers that were still to come. Can you believe that? Jesus was praying for me and you at the Garden before He was crucified!
Then in John 17:20-26 He prays for the unity of the church.
What a great thought...Right before Jesus was arrested and beaten and crucified He took time out and remembered to pray for us! My mind is not big enough to fathom this concept, but then again I've never been known to be the "sharpest" tool in the shed...God bless you this week. I hope we take time out of our busy lives to say a prayer for someone else even during our time of crisis...

Tony

P.S. In case you're wondering what my family does while I'm in chemo for four days. My wife took the girls to the Children's Museum in Abilene. It was inexpensive and as you can see they had a blast. We highly recommend this as a family event. I also ask that you notice the question that I have posted this week. I thought it was a pretty tough one...

Well here we go off to another great week! Just a quick note about my health and then a short devo. As far as my health goes, this has been an exciting week. Lots has happened since I last posted, the two major things are this last wednesday I had a feeding tube put in. I am eating fine, but my Dr. seemed to think it would be a good idea since we don't know what the future holds and I was losing weight pretty quick. Thank God I have not had to use it and my appetite has been pretty good. My wife made my favorite tater tot casserole and I ate the whole thing by myself over the last few days! That was exciting! Another unexpected event that has occurred is that God has decided I no longer need a voice! I now talk with a speech impediment. If you call my phone and I don't answer this is why. I am now talking with a very heavy tongue and I am very difficult to understand. My daughters think it's hilarious when I try to discipline them, but I guess they get their warped sense of humor from their mom...
Again, I cannot tell you how overwhelmed we have been by the love we have received in so many different forms! I am feeling really good and I am really missing being around students and preaching. Since I cannot really preach a vocal message, I have a feeling I will be posting a little more regularly. I have a Dr.'s appointment this coming thursday in Abilene. I covet your prayers. I guess they will tell us when we do our next round of chemo.

Isaiah 53:5, my paraphrase says, "by his stripes I am healed..."
Since I have been diagnosed, again, I have really had an encounter with God and we have been talking about this situation. I thought about it the other day, about the difference in my relationship with God now, and my relationship b.c. (before cancer). I love to drink Starbuck's coffee, as some of you may already know...(hee hee). There's nothing like sipping on a Venti 2% cappacino with sugar, wet! Now some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. Others have not yet seen the light to know what exactly this is. This is basically 20oz. of "heaven of earth". If you think you can handle it, you can eat a Reese's Peanut Butter cup with it, and you will be a changed person! It is the sweetest, most tasty treat on this side of heaven! I am sitting here drooling on the keyboard as I type this because we do not have a Starbuck's here in Brady. I love Starbucks and they have their own lingo when you order in there. They try to be responsible to the coffee growers and the enviroment and often feature stories about who grew your coffee beans and what part of the world it was grown. My true encounter with Starbuck's came the first time I pressed my lips to that cup! It's like time stood still. That was my first encounter with Starbuck's. Before this encounter I could only talk and imagine what Starbuck's was like. After I had the first taste though, then it became an encounter! I now feel like the hand of God has touched me. I have had that encounter with God. That's what's different. Many of us can talk the Christian lingo. We can wear the Christian clothes. We know the Sunday School answers, and we can quote scripture with the best of them, but we have never felt the hand of God.
Let me encourage you to check yourself right now. Where are you and where is God? Are you and God one right now? John 3:30, says, "I must decrease and He must increase..." Let's stop talking and start walking! I pray that we all have an encounter with God this week that is obvious to all...God Bless your socks off!

Tony

Change...

Time really seems to get away from me these days and the funny thing is I don't know why. All I really do anymore is sleep! Let me see if I can get everyone caught up as to what's going on in our world. I have always been a man who thanks God for everything, but here lately some things have been tough to accept. I guess since we last visited lots has happened around here. I have started chemotherapy again! Not very excited about it, but it's happening. Praise God we got through the 1st round with very little excitement. I am very tired and sleep all the time, but Mindy says that's nothing new! I try to work when I can, but the heat is not good for me and I have been advised not be around large groups of people. I can have visitors, but sanitizer is a must. I am doing my treatments in Abilene and it is working out ok. At time's I'm not a happy camper, but then I remember that I'm there as a representative of Christ. I don't know how others treat those nurses, but I know when they see my Bible; they're watching ME. I do my best to be a representative of Jesus in ALL situations. I have started doing a little better now that I'm at home, but often put on a strong face for my girls and remember Philippians 4:13, " I can do all things through Christ who strenthens me..." All of a sudden this isn't just a T-shirt logo anymore. I know that you want to know what you can do for us to help us. I am going to list some things people have done, but don't expect you to do the same, however I want to show how awesome our friends and family are, I will not name names. Someone has finally bought our car from us, which is one less payment we have! Praise God!Someone else in our family paid our utility bill last month! I am not a person who accepts gifts very easy, but God has really taught me humility here lately! While I had treatments in Abilene, my wife and girls stayed at the League house which is $35 a night, the first morning my wife went down they told her it was paid in full for as many nights as we needed it! God is so good! I have found out that I don't have wealthy friends, but we have FRIENDS. I am writing this through tears, because God's love is so great! It is so awesome to receive cards and letters, they really lift us up. Please continue to pray for my Awesome wife, I don't know how I would function without her. Keep praying for healing, because I know regardless of what doctor's think, I know who the Great Physcian is...God Bless you to all my friends and I will write more later, sorry if I rambled.

Tony

And we're back...

Wow, it seems as though it's been forever since I've done this. Let me tell you it feels really good to be doing this right now! As some of you know I haven't typed in a month, let me explain why. I have been a very sick little man! Since my last devo, I have lost 18 lbs. That's not a good thing, I was not trying to lose weight. As you all know I have already had one bout with cancer in my throat. I began feeling sick about two weeks ago, but just kept trying to move on. Last thursday my world nearly came to an end. I had already been to see the doctor and had been diagnosed with pneumonia. I came home with an antibiotic, after three days of not eating and still feeling really bad, I developed a cough that would make me pass out. I knew that wasn't a good thing. I finally had enough and asked my wife to take me back to the doctor. I knew I didn't have the strength to get to Fredericksburg so off we went to Brownwood ER.. We arrived at noon, (so I'm told) and they began to run tests on me. I was admitted and spent the night in Brownwood. The next morning is when all hell broke loose! Friday Morning they came in and said I had fluid around my heart that was not supposed to be there and it needed to be relieved, but they couldn't do that there. They would need to send me elsewhere. They sent me to Abilene Regional where I would spend the next week. They did a procedure on me to remove all the fluid and check the fluid to see if maybe my cancer was back. I am now recovering from that procedure and we're still not certain on results from that fluid. It seems as though I am starting to ramble so I will stop for now. I just wanted to update all our prayer warriors and let you all know that I have seen too many miracles to count in the last couple of weeks to mention. I will be mentioning some of them as time goes by! Thank you for your prayers and let's keep it up! I didn't post a picture of myself this week because I don't think you all would recognize me. I am down to 120lbs.
God Bless

Tony

God is good...

Friday Update...

This has been such an awesome week and the power of God has been so obvious! I could not wait until tomorrow to tell of all that God has been doing in our lives. If you will recall, in last week's episode we had lost our camera. We don't lose things like this. It's amazing how God reveals Himself to us in everyday, simple ways. Yesterday (Friday), I was on my way to the store and topped a hill, my truck died! I was going fast enough that the momentum allowed me to pull off the highway. I phoned my wife and informed her of my situation, then I phoned my mechanic. Some may wonder why I called my wife before I called my mechanic? The logic is simple: my wife prays about EVERYTHING! I tried to start the truck several times and it wouldn't work. I sat and prayed and called the mechanic, not two minutes after the phone call I tried the truck again and it has not done it again. Some say this is coincidence, I say this is God smiling back at us. Monday we went camera shopping and decided we weren't giving up on our old camera yet especially after pricing new cameras. Today, (saturday), I got a call from my sister telling us she found our camera on her dresser! Again, same may call this carelessness, I am gonna go with God looked down at us and smiled! Today I was doing a job that was way over my head with my limited knowledge. I spent about an hour in the humidity trying to figure it out. I finally asked God to lead me in what to do next...He did! It worked! Some may call this trial and error, I'm gonna say it was the Power of God!!! God is good...All the time...

Tony

Luke 15...

Luke 15...is what many refer to as "the lost chapter". They call this "the lost chapter", not because it was missing or was added later or anything like that. The reason this chapter is called "lost" is because there are three parables and in it three things are lost and then are found. In the first parable there is a shepherd who has one hundred sheep. He loses one and leaves the ninety nine to search for that one until he finds it. Then it's party time! He calls his friends over and they rejoice because he has found that one that was missing! In the next few verses we find a lady who has lost a coin. She turns her house upside down looking for that coin until she finds it! After finding her coin she calls her friends and throws a party! In the last parable we find the story of the "prodigal son". Here we have a man who has two sons. The older one decides to take his inheritance early and goes off and squanders it. When he comes back home after he has spent all he had and ate with pigs from the same trough, his father welcomes him home with open arms. These three parables are awesome. They end the way they should. I love this chapter so much that my very first sermon I preached came from this chapter.
Well my friends, it doesn't always end the way it should. Please allow me to tell you my story. I decided on Sunday that I needed to go baptize some minnows that had made a decision earlier in the week. What's a fishing trip without a camera? I asked my wife for the camera and...wait for it...wait for it...the search began! We dropped the ninety nine things we were doing to go and search for that one that was missing...no rejoicing. We turned our house upside down searching...no rejoicing. I went ahead and went fishing...a little rejoicing. The prodigal son returned from fishing...and still no payoff! There is no picture to go with this devotion because there is no camera. We have no idea where it is. One minute it was here and the next it was gone.
The camera can be replaced. Prayers are still being sent as I write this. The camera is probably somewhere really obvious. As I searched for this camera it made me realize how much you miss something you had once it's gone! Perhaps some of us had a relationship with Jesus at some point, but we have wandered off the path. He is still there. Maybe we want that relationship but we think we're too busy, or not good enough, or too far gone in life! Good news, God is still there seeking for us to come back. My prayer for this week is for those who once had a close relationship with God, that they come back, so we can have a party together someday! God Bless

Tony

Happy Mother's Day!

The local news station was interviewing an 80-year-old lady because she had just gotten married -- for the fourth time.
The interviewer asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like to be marrying again at 80, and then about her new husband's occupation.

'He's a funeral director,' she answered.

'Interesting,' the newsman thought. He then asked her if she wouldn't mind telling him a little about her first three husbands and what they did for a living.
She paused for a few moments, needing time to reflect on all those years. After a short time, a smile came to her face and she answered proudly, explaining that she'd first married a banker when she was in her early 20's, then a circus ringmaster when in her 40's, later on a preacher when in her 60's, and now in her 80's, a funeral director.
The interviewer looked at her, quite astonished, and asked why she had married four men with such diverse careers.
She smiled and explained, 'I married one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go.'
I can't even begin to tell you what a mother means to me! After watching my wife work around the house all day I want to ask her when the last time she had a hot meal was or when the last time she enjoyed a shower without people knocking on the door to ask where something is, or how about when was the last time she did something for herself! Moms are simply amazing! I thank God every day for mine and for the wonderful mother that my children are blessed with...God Bless you mother's, I can honestly say, "you are my heroes!"

God Bless,
Tony

Wow! What a busy time this has been for all of us! I slacked off a little last week and didn't get to put up a devo. I appreciate all the feedback I received and all that asked where it was. That makes a person feel good! Have you ever found yourself in a really strange situation and you try to make sense of why or how you got there? I am currently in one of those "pickles." By now most of you know that I am no longer Pastor of the church where I was serving, however I am still working with the youth out there. This makes for an interesting conversation. When someone askes how things are going out there, I never know if they're asking about the church or the students.
Another thing that is really strange in my life right now is the fact that we don't have a "home" church. What I mean by this is that we are not attending any church at this time. Why? Maybe it's because I don't know how to shop for a church. I have always worked at the church I attended. I didn't know church shopping was so exhausting. The churches we have attended have really been kinda cold and fairly stuffy with no real sense of purpose or direction. That is a very harsh statement to make, but if I was to list the places we have visited I think you would agree. This has me really concerned about where churches are going and/or what churches have become.
I have started to really look at myself and evaluate who I am. What do I believe? Why? I have started digging a little deeper into the scriptures to see what they have to say about all this. I have started reading the book of Ecclesiastes. Here we find Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived and he has some pretty deep insights on some of these questions. I'm sure I will be posting some of my findings soon. Those who are reading this and are current church members; let me encourage you to support that church as much as you can, good churches and staff are hard to find. If you are not attending church right now; let me encourage you to continue that search. I really miss the fellowship of church. I also miss seeing choir members dozing off during long announcements, children's sermons going out of control, and those deacon prayers, you know the one's we ALL have memorized that we can lip sync and nearly finish for them!
Here is a quote I read that is really standing out in my head, perhaps you can apply it as well..."God will never change, this is why our faith must rest on His identity and not necessarily His activity..." Sorry I didn't post last week, but maybe this will give you something to chew for a few days!

God Bless You
Tony

John 16:33, says, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world."

This past week I was blessed with the opportunity to work out in the country all week. I am not a morning person! I usually tell people that, "I will be there at the crack of noon!" If I'm up before 10am, there had better be lots of fish involved! I was able to drive down one of the prettiest stretch of blubonnets I have ever seen. I was excited to be driving out to the job before noon. It was nice to drive and talk with God about "things" and where I fit in and stuff like that. It was during one of these mornings that I had the chance to reflect on life and think about what is really important to me. In my wandering, I let my mind go too far and my pondering turned to worry. It was really nice to remember this verse and hear God tell me that He has overcome the world!
Today is my birthday and normally this isn't a big deal to me. This birthday is pretty special though. In November of 2008, after being diagnosed with throat cancer I was told to get my affairs in order because I didn't have very long. This birthday, according to some wan't supposed to happen. God is good and with Him all things are possible. By the grace of God I am still here and enjoying my beautiful girls and my wonderful life! My oncologist told me how he loves to be wrong, then he challenged me to prove him wrong. I knew I couldn't do it, but I knew that God is bigger than any illness including CANCER!
This week I pray that you let those words ring true, "take heart! I have overcome the world"...God Bless

Tony

"It is Well..."

It is Well with My Soul...

Horatio Spafford was a 43 year old lawyer. He lived in a north side suburb of Chicago, with his wife Anna and his five children. In 1871 his only son died. A few months later, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 consumed Spafford's real estate investments. He lost his entire life savings.
Two years later, Spafford and his family decided to take a vacation to Europe. However, Spafford was delayed by last minute business. He sent his wife and four daughters on the S.S. Ville Du Havre as scheduled, promising to follow in a few days. On November 22, 1873 the ship was struck by an iron sailing vessel, and it sank in twelve minutes. 226 people were killed. When the survivors of the shipwreck landed in Europe, Anna Spafford cabled her husband, "Saved alone. What shall I do?" Spafford immediately left Chicago to bring his wife home.
In the midst of his sorrow, while sailing near the place of his daughters' death, he wrote the words to the hymn..."It is well with my soul."
In Spite of their tragedy, in 1881 the Spaffords moved to Jerusalem to meet the needs of the people. Through their service the Spaffords were able to share Christ with the local Muslim and Jewish communities.
When was the last time we stopped and thanked God for all we have? Today was a very odd day for me. I began my day visiting with a good friend who has been given a few months to live and ended the day with several teenagers singing about being a "generation that seeks God first..." God has plans for all of us, but sometimes I wish the path was a little more obvious...Let's all pray this week that God will reveal something to us that's brand new and makes us excited about who He is all over again! God Bless...

Tony

Matthew 19:14..."Let the little children come to me..."
The Lord blessed us with a beautiful day yesterday! We had the opportunity to go outside and the girls were able to run, play, and scream all they wanted. We hid eggs since friday and the funny thing is, they weren't tired of it by sunday! It never got old to them. It shed some new light as to why Jesus wanted the children to come to Him. If we come to Him as children, we don't tire of Him, we just want more of Him. At one point the girls were watching us hide the eggs and they were just as excited when it came time to look for them! God wants us to search for Him on a daily basis. I wish everyone could have seen the expressions they would make as they found an egg. It was priceless. God has laid out many blessings for us. They're scattered throughout our life. I hope that I am as excited when I discover one of these blessings as the girls were each time they found an egg!
My prayer for us this week is that we get excited about discovering who Jesus is in our lives and each time we discover something new about Him, I hope we share it with others!

Tony

Due to my illness, I can't sing very well. A few weeks ago my daughter asked me to sing Amazing Grace with her at church so I did. This was not very comfortable, but I did it anyway and it felt great!

Hey guys, last week was a little crazy and therefore we didn't have a devo. I appreciate all the emails about it. As we enter this Holy Week my prayer is that not a day goes by that we don't think about what Jesus endured during this week. I want to share a message that's been heavy on my heart this last week. I was reading in the book of Matthew 8:28-34. I have these versed probably a hundred times or more over the years and I recently noticed something...at the end of verse 34, the people ask him to "leave their region..." Why?
The people ask Jesus to leave because He made them uncomfortable. They were happy with their lives the way they were. They went to work, came home at the end of the day, and probably talked about what was going on in the marketplace. As Christians, we don't like to be uncomfortable. We don't like people to stir things up in our lives. We don't like to see homeless people, we don't our services changed, we don't like things out of the ordinary. We like to be in control of what's going on. This week I want to challenge you to do something uncomfortable. Don't ask Jesus to leave your region, instead, invite someone to church, call that someone you haven't talk to in a while, maybe go back to a church and visit...Just a thought!

Tony

John 3:30 I must decrease, Christ must Increase...

So many times throughout my life I enjoy hearing people telling me how great I am. A few weeks ago I preached a message that I was pretty proud of delivering. After the service I had several people approach me to let me know how much they had enjoyed my message. After about the third person came up, I started thinking, "how dare me to think that was my message!" That was not at all my message, that was God's message. God gave me that message, God delivered that message, and God let the people receive that message! All I did was to be a mouthpiece. I don't know how many of you have ever seen a mouthpiece, but a mouthpiece is usually pretty gross and stinks!
Over the last few weeks God has really been dealing with me about who He is and who I am. I am nothing without Him. The verse today is very simple...He must increase in my life and I must decrease! My prayer this week is that I become smaller so that Christ can become bigger in my life! God Bless you all during "spring break"!

Body of Christ...

We are the body of Christ...1 Corinthians 12:12

Have you ever been walking around late at night in the dark and accidentally hit your toe or your "funny bone"? Not so funny after all, huh? Scripture tells us that we are all a part of the body of Christ. When one of us is "injured" or not pulling our weight, then we are causing the body to limp. Day after day I watch my wife in amazement at how she is able to do things with one arm. My wife is not missing an arm or injured, but she has a very attached little girl that refuses to let her do anything with two hands. My wife loves our daughter so much that in order to please her, she is constantly learning to do things with one arm.
Sometimes I feel that maybe that's what I do to the body of Christ. I cause the body of Christ to limp because I'm not where I'm supposed to be with Christ. Maybe I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Throughout this week, let's ask ourselves, "am I causing the body to limp?" It's not easy doing things when we get hurt and limp. Let's not cause the body to be limping this week!

Tony

What's wrong with this picture? Some may say it's not the prettiest boat they have ever seen, or it's not the fastest boat. The thing that's most wrong with this picture is that the boat is not in water and is therefore useless. On Sunday mornings many of us get all dressed up and we look really nice, but we are not being used how God intended us to be used. A boat out of water is nothing more than a "lawn ornament", we tend to sit in "our" pew at church and listen to a message and sometimes we even hear a pretty good joke! Most of us sit at church, but we're nothing more than "church furniture".
Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has plans for all of us. Plans to make us prosper. How are you being used for God? A boat requires much upkeep, and so do we. We have to stay sharp and focused. We have to stay in the Word. I always worry about whether or not I am in God's will. Recently God showed me that as a Christian it's harder to be outside the will of God, than in His will. May our prayer this week be that we can constantly search for what God has for us so that we are not "useless".

Tony

Devotion for 2-22-10

Arise and Go...Matthew 9:5-7

We see in these verses that Jesus commands the sick man to "Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house." As a result of this man's obedience, he was healed. Great things can be accomplished if we are obedient. Let's look at some from the Bible who were ready to Arise!

Elijah-I Kings 17:8-10
Elijah was told to go to the home of a widow, in a city made up of mostly heathens. He was to look for a widow and take the last of her food! It didn't make sense to Elijah, but he was obedient. The reward was great...her barrel of meal and her cruse of oil never ran out. She fed herself, her son, and Elijah. Her son falls sick and dies, Elijah revives him! All because Elijah "Arose to the occassion!"

Jonah- Jonah 3:1-10...It didn't make sense to Jonah to go the first time. He tried it his way first, but in the end God gave him a second chance. He took the second chance and "Arose" and went. Great things happened because he went...he preaches to the Ninevites and a whole nation of heathens got right with God...

These are just two examples of people who "arose and went". The Bible is full of people who didn't know what God wanted them to do, but they were ready. Have you asked God what He wants you to do? Are you ready to "Arise and Go" or are you gonna "Sit and Stay"? The choice is yours...

Faith

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

What is faith? Faith is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. Often when I'm fishing I'm hungry, cold, tired, or after consuming a gallon of coffee and 2 pecan loafs before 7am maybe I'm not feeling so good. I may not be feeling so well, but I keep on fishing because I know that the next cast could be the one that brings in the "big one".
When I wake up in the mornings, especially mondays, I really don't want to go to work, but then I look at my family and realize it's not all about me. I go to work to provide a living for my family. I have faith that the more I work the easier it will be to pay the bills. If I study, the tests will be easier. If I pray I will have a better understanding. If I ask God, then I will receive.
Where have you put your faith today? You had faith in that chair you're sitting in to hold you up to read this...Do you have more faith in a chair than in a loving Jesus, who died for us?

Let's be aware this week of how our faith will be put to the test...

(Not our wedding picture!) Selah was almost here!

Hey Guys and Gals...Just wanted to share a neat little story about Valentine's Day...I don't mean to sound like the Cliff Claven of the bunch but I found this interesting:

I wonder how many of you remember the story behind the origins of Valentine’s Day. You know, it is called Saint Valentine’s Day for a reason.

Approximately 250 years after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there was a priest by the name of Valentine. He lived in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius, who was committed to rebuilding the once-great Roman army. However, he believed it was important for men to volunteer for armed service, rather than drafting men into service against their will. But, given a choice, most young men in the Roman Empire refused to serve. They’d rather stay at home with their wives and children that go off into battle.

Claudius came to believe that only single men would volunteer for service, so he issued a royal edict that banned all further marriages. He actually outlawed weddings in the Roman Empire, earning himself the nick-name Claudius the Cruel.

Valentine thought it was ridiculous! One of his favorite duties as a priest was to marry people. So after Emperor Claudius passed his law, Valentine secretly continued performing marriage ceremonies. He would whisper the words of the ceremony, while listening for soldiers on the steps outside.

One night, Valentine did hear footsteps at his door. The couple he was marrying escaped, but he was caught. He was thrown in jail and sentenced to death. Valentine tried to stay cheerful. Many of the young couples he had married came to visit him in jail. They threw flowers and notes up to his window. They wanted him to know that they, too, believed in love.

One day, he received a visit from the daughter of one of the prison guards. Her father allowed her to visit him in his cell and they often sat and talked for hours. She believed he did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and performing weddings. On the day Valentine was to die, he left her a note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. He signed it, “Love from your Valentine.” That note started the custom of exchanging love notes on Valentine’s Day. It was written on the day he died, February 14, 269 A.D.—a day that was set aside in honor of a man who gave his life for God and for love. Now, every year on this day, people remember Saint Valentine, but most importantly, they think about love.

On a side note, Mindy and I will be celebrating 12 years of marriage this Sunday. God Bless...Tony

I know that I'm not supposed to worry, but sometimes I just can't help it! I know that God is control, but I just need to be reminded sometimes. I recently read this and I can't remember where. It helped me get through some tough situations and I hope you will take it to heart. Enjoy...


Ephesians 5:18
Give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ...

It's not a new truth to many of us that prayer is a great comfort in uneasy times and a mighty warrior against worry. I am convinced, however, that we are confused about the way prayer actually works for us in such stressful and difficult times.
Does Paul's call to prayer mean that when we pray, all things we worry about will gone? Does this mean that all our struggles will be gone? No, not necessarily!
If prayer doesn't always change our situation so that it no longer worries us, then what is the value of praying? Here is the answer! "Prayer does not always change the situation and make it better, but prayer always changes us and makes us better."
Prayer, especially prayer accompanied by thanksgiving, is the perfect answer to a heart that is overridden with anxiety.

Weekly devotion for Feb. 1, 2010

It seems as if I spend lots of my time waiting! Have you ever heard the phrase, "hurry up and wait!" I think that has become my life's motto. In bass fishing there is lots and lots of waiting. Here are a few things I have learned while waiting to catch fish and have applied them to my life. I have learned a few things about waiting.

Psalms 27:14

I. Be patient while waiting..."wait on the Lord"

Many Christians are impatient. We want things to happen according to our time rather than God's time. If things don't happen according to our time we start the blame game. We must be patient while waiting. God's timing is always best. He is never too early or too late. (Luke 21:19).

II. Be Postitive whle waiting..."Be of good courage..."

We tend to become negative and discouraged when we have to wait. Waiting can be difficult at times, but we must continue to look for the good and not the bad. (Philippians 4:8). We need to stay positive while waiting.

III. Be productive while waiting..."and he shall strengthen thine heart"

Someone once said, "the secret of patience is doing something else in the meantime..." We cannot do it all on our own and therefore we need God's infinite power. (Isaiah 40:31)

IV. Be persistent in waiting..."wait I say, on the Lord"

The Psalmist persistently tells us to "wait on the Lord" WAIT, WAIT, WAIT...

We hope everyone has had a great 2010 so far! Sorry, we have been so behind here with our ministry newsletter and all that we are doing! There are lots of different things going on with our ministry. We are hoping to have this blog updated every week in order to let you know what is new with the ministry. We will have a weekly devotion on here for sure! Here is the first one for 2010!

A lesson in Obedience...READ 1Samuel 15 1-35

The 1st king of Israel faced disastrous consequences because he failed to obey God. The hardening of his heart and his casual attitude to the partial obedience caused him to be rejected as King. He lost his kingdom and eventually lost his life. As we analyze the reasons for Saul's disobedience, we look at our own lives to consider our own walk and obedience to God. Having a 4 year old running around our home, we use the word OBEY quite a bit these days. This is not a new problem. Let's look at Saul.

How did Saul disobey? He obeyed only part of the Lord's command to destroy all the people and livestock. He spared Agag the king and the best of the livestock. Saul's obedience was not 100%! Verse 20
Then he denies his disobedience in Verse 13. Then in Verse 15, he tries to pass the buck and blame his soldiers.

Why did Saul disobey? Verse 11 says he turned away from the Lord. Verse 17 says pride came into his heart. Verse 24 says he was afraid of the people.

What happened because Saul disobeyed? In verse 24 he acknowledges his sin. In verse 25 he asks for forgiveness. In verse 26-29 God rejects him. God gives his kingdom to David.

Can we see today the consequences of disobedience? More than all the sacrifices and religious observances, God wants us to obey Him! Are we obeying God in all the areas of our lives?

Jesus said, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." John 14:21

Something to think about...Tony