Storm Approaching

 Yesterday afternoon we started getting reports that a severe storm was approaching. One of our families from the church drove through it and sent out warnings that it was headed our way. The local weatherman kept breaking in the program we watched to give additional warnings. We could see on the radar where the storm was and where it was tracking next. 

I walked outside to look at the sky. Sure enough the clouds turned dark. I saw neighbors out looking at the sky as well. The winds howled and suddenly the temperatures dropped dramatically. The signs gave every indication the storm would be a big one. I prayed for protection for our family, property, and for others before going back inside. 

There is a much more severe storm coming in the future. That storm will be the worst in history. It will not last for hours or days. The storm is the Great Tribulation and it will last for seven years. The storm will come in the last days. Days that appear to be at hand. Days where the full fury of God will be unleashed on planet earth and those who rejected His repeated offers of love and mercy. In a series of pounding judgments increasing in severity, a good portion of the world's population will be wiped out in cataclysmic events. 

God has warned of this coming storm through the Bible, preachers, prophets, and signs in the sky. Most refuse to heed the warning. They will ignore the warnings until it is too late. They will find themselves in the middle of a storm they cannot escape nor find shelter. The only shelter is a relationship with Jesus Christ through faith believing for salvation. [John 14:6] It is the only refuge from this perilous storm to come. 

Mockers mock such warnings as this one and scoffers scoff. They refuse to heed these attempts to save their lives from impending peril. Fools say there is no God. Others look to history and refute that many have warned before and nothing happened. They fail to see that we are on time clock ticking down to the end. Every second we inch closer to the end. The approaching storm ripe with the fully fury of God draws closer. God's delay is His compassion to keep giving people chances to heed the warnings. [II Pet 3:3-10]

People take precautions when a severe storm is approaching. We did last night. Others did as well. Why do so many not take the predictions of a far worse storm that will doom them to eternal condemnation seriously? They are lulled to sleep by a godless society who espouse these storm warnings as unreliable or fictitious. Mark it down readers. No matter where you live, no matter your connections, no matter your economic status, and no matter how prepared you think you are, if you have not put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for pardon of your sins and the purchase of your salvation, YOU ARE DOOMED until you have done so. Nothing else and no one else can save you from that coming storm. You have been warned. 

The Journey Home

 Friday morning I got up with a 500 mile journey home in front of me after an annual prayer retreat. I had an early breakfast and then got into the Armada turned left on my route back home. It was one of those tasks that you have to wrap your mind around and gut it out. I can't say I looked forward to the destination but I sure looked forward to getting home. My route included Hwy 287 all the way to DFW with a short detour on I-35 through the thick of metroplex traffic with road construction. Then back to 287 all the way to Claude, TX with a right onto FM 207 to Borger and then a connection with Hwy 136 back to Fritch. 

The first let went smooth through Corsicana and onto Waxahachie. Past Waxahachie the traffic thickened. Moving into Mansfield the traffic got heavier. My first real text of the day was just ahead in Arlington and tons of road construction. Tight turns, boxed in lanes, and navigating new detours made that leg of the journey a challenge. All in all, I persevered and made it into Fort Worth proper. More heavy traffic as usual to get to the other side. I had to grip the wheel a little tighter and be on much higher alert. A little nerve wracking. 

Finally got through the congested DFW area. Then, it was just a long jaunt to Wichita Falls which is a mid sized town. The only concern is making sure you are in the left two lanes to take the Amarillo exit and not the exit leading to Oklahoma. After that, it was just small town after small town, multiple road construction zones, a couple of road side rest area pit stops and a refueling stop. It was perseverance. 

Over eight hours after I started, I pulled up to 411 Coronado St, Fritch, TX. It was a long journey, but I made it back home. 

That reminds me that we are all on a journey home. Many of us as followers of Jesus are on a journey home to Heaven. That is our ultimate destination. It may not be easy to get there. The only ticket for entrance is trusting the Lord Jesus for salvation. There will be detours, bumps in the road, and a few delays along the way. God never said the journey home would be easy. The reward at the end will be worth it. 

My reward upon returning home was to behold my brown eyed brunette beauty of the past 35 years. I also was blessed to see our oldest son and his wife along with Tucker. It was well worth the 500 mile endurance test. Not nearly as rewarding as when we get to see Jesus and enter into an eternal home where roads are paved with gold and the only light is the majestic glory of God. 

No matter what our journeys on earth entail ,a moment with the Lord will be worth it. A million times worth it. Every trial, every set back, every test, every triumph, every tribulation, and every sorrow will be worth it. I thank God that the end of our journeys will be home. An eternal home. We have to persevere to get there. There is an end to our journey. One day followers of Jesus will get home. 

Retreat

 

 

The word retreat has several meanings. It can mean to withdraw from a dangerous situation. It can also mean a period of withdrawal for prayer, meditation, and study. The latter is how I choose to use the word for this article.

I got up early this morning to begin a 500-mile pilgrimage to a two-bedroom house I affectionately call my “Prayer Cabin, nestled in deep East Texas. If you follow Hwy 287 south you could easily drive right past this place. The prayer cabin is not visible from the road. It is located about a mile down a dirt driveway and oversees a 90-acre private lake. There are rolling hills of pasture on the far side of the lake across from the cabin. A Pine Tree thicket is deeply rooted to the left including a gently flowing stream. To the right sits the large log cabin house where the owner and his family stay when they frequent this place. The lake also winds around a bend to the right going back nearly to the highway, but invisible from the road.

God has blessed me with the opportunity to come to this place of retreat at least once a year for the past 34 years to pray, write, seek God, and read. This place used to be very rustic. A flood damaged the whole place, so it had to be renovated. Everything is new here, but none of that is why I retreat here. This is holy ground for me. I’ve had profound encounters with God in this place. God has inspired and enabled me to write several books in this secluded sanctuary. There is no television. No internet. Nothing to entertain me or to look at it another way, nothing to distract me.

I brought a few clothes, some books, my computer, and journal. The only sound I hear is the tapping of these keys and the whirling of a ceiling fan. It is completely isolated except for my host who manages this place and he gives me plenty of space. Why go through the trouble to leave Brenda, the flock I shepherd, incur the expense of gas to get here and the toll on my body to make the drive?

My soul craves time alone with God. The kind of time when I can spend long sustained seasons in His presence. I crave time to think and write things that stir within me. I desire to slow down, rest and be renewed before the busy summer ministry season begins. Time devoted to spiritually recharging. Time to sleep if my body needs recuperating as well.

Retreat is what my weary and worn soul craves. Brenda and I hit the ground running hard a little over a year ago in Fritch, TX. She recently retreated with some high school friends. Now it is my turn. God is here. This is sacred dirt. He has graciously met me in many profound encounters over the past several decades. I prayed before I got here that this one would be best retreat yet. Seven people surrounded me last night after the service laying hands on me and praying for my time away. I know all too well how time flies here. I want to make the most of it. Signing off from the prayer cabin at 5:46 p.m.

Finished

 I've carried a dream in my heart since I was twelve years old. I wanted to be an author. I cannot explain where it came from or exactly when it started. I always loved to write. Creative writing assignments in school excited me. I wished for more of them. While other students groaned in complaints, I eagerly grabbed my pen and furiously dreamed up stories writing with passion. Other than playing professional football, and God calling me to preach, the only thing I dreamed of doing was writing. 

I celebrate today finishing the rough draft of another book. I titled the book, Only Believe: The Power of a Transformational Jesus Touch. I poured my soul into that book. The book touches on Jesus stories from the Gospels. It is a book of hope and written to encourage faith in people. We are nowhere near ready to go to print. I just finished the rough draft. Now the work starts. Proofing, editing, eventually shopping it to publishers, choosing page layouts, front and back cover designs, and after all that we go to print. The work does not stop after that. Then the book has to be marketed. Hopefully people will purchase copies and be helped by it. 

Today, I celebrate finishing a project close to a year in the making. There were set backs along the way with constant demands on my time. One set back nearly brought the whole project to a devastating end before it was finished. Back in late 2025, I wrote feverishly to finish the book before the end of the year. I was nearly 75% complete, when after a writing session suddenly I lost everything on the computer. Nothing was saved. I had saved the work each step of the way. Then it was gone. There was some glitch in the computer that erased months and months of work. 

I cannot even begin to describe the way I felt. Sick to my stomach. I could not believe it happened. Shock. Devastated. Crushed. Grieved. These feelings touch the surface. I do not have the words to describe the depth of those emotions. I wanted to cry, but no tears formed. I barely functioned for days. A technology expert looked at my computer and was able to recover a portion of the book. I still lost at least one third of what I wrote. The church got me a new computer and the remaining part of my book was saved on a thumb drive and downloaded onto the computer. That incomplete manuscript sat dormant for five months. I could not bring myself to go back to write on it again. I wrote blogs and articles for our newsletter. I just couldn't bring myself to work on that book. That is until three days ago. 

It started with a question from someone about whether I had done any more work on the book. I went to the file and opened it for the first times in months. The cursor blinked at the end of the recovered portion and I asked God to inspire and help me finish the book. Three days later I typed the last word of the last sentence and put down the last period. Finished. God enabled me to finish the project He initiated me to start in the first place. Now to devote my time to more blogs and my next book to be titled, Shake The City: A Revival Story. This is a book about a 23-day revival that broke out in the First Baptist Church in Seminole, TX where I served as pastor. I leave next week for a prayer/writing retreat to begin that work. 

There is a sense of contentment that comes with finishing anything. Many people start projects and do not complete them. When God calls us to start something, there should be an obligation to obey to completion or God releases us. We can all look around to see books we started reading but never finished or home projects that started with great gusto only to fizzle out with frenzied schedules. Quitting can become a habit. So can finishing. So, go ahead and finish the project you started. Resurrect that dream you gave up on too early. Let us finish for the glory of God. [Gal 6:9]

Insignificant

 Millions of people feel insignificant. What about you? Insignificance means to be too small to make any impact. It means being so unimportant that nobody listens. It means having minor worth so that there is little to no influence on those around you. How many reading this feel like you qualify on all those fronts? You feel small in this world. I spoke to a cleaning lady for an organization a few years ago. While I worked there I made a point to notice her and speak to her each day. She was very quiet and went about her job dutifully never drawing attention to herself One day she made a statement I have not forgotten. She commented, "I am just one of the invisible people around here." She saw herself as just a cleaning lady. I saw her as a person who did her job well without complaining. She had significance in the eyes of God and those who took time to notice her. She was not invisible even if she felt that way. 

Perhaps some of you feel invisible. You do not have a high profile or respected vocation. You get overlooked. You feel unimportant. You feel insignificant. If that is you, I have some good news from you. We have to go all the way back to the book of I Samuel. Let me set the context. Israel's first king Saul disobeyed God, and God determined to remove him from the throne and chose another king. In I Samuel 16, the prophet Samuel goes to Bethlehem to trust God to reveal who would be the next king. 

God instructed Samuel to go to Jesse's house. Jesse brought in his sons. Strong strapping men. From oldest to the youngest each son was presented to Samuel. Eliab stood before Samuel and Samuel thought, "Surely this is the Lord's anointed." God spoke, "God does not look the way man looks. Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks at the heart." I Sam 16:7 One by one each of Jesse's sons stood before Samuel and God rejected each of them. Samuel inquired if Jesse had any other sons. Jesse indicated he had the youngest who was out looking after the sheep. 

There is only two ways to interpret this. Either David was not summoned with is brothers because it was too inconvenient to call him from the fields and to leave the sheep unattended. Another interpretation is that David seemed so insignificant to his father that he did not bother to call him believing the other seven sons were seen as more important to Jesse. I lean toward the second view. 

David was the youngest. The runt of the litter. He was probably picked on by his older brothers. He had the job of watching the sheep. Maybe his brothers did the same job too, but we do not read that. The brothers ridiculed him in chapter 17 asking about his few sheep. David is described as ruddy meaning red, with beautiful eyes, and handsome in appearance. He walked into the room unsuspecting that his entire life was about to change. His destiny was not be a shepherd for life. God had a bigger destiny. To rule as a king.  When David stood before Samuel, God spoke, "Arise and anoint for this is he." I Sam 16:12 God handpicked David to be the next king. There would be training before he would sit on the throne through tribulation. God chose David. A son and brother everyone else overlooked. Everyone but God. 

I Cor 1:26-29 reminds us that when God is looking for people to go on mission for Him, God chooses the weak, the foolish, and the despised to shame those who are wise, strong, and noble. Put another way, God chooses insignificant people to do very significant things for Him. That is great news. You may feel overlooked by everyone, but God sees you and just might choose you to do something very significant for His glory. People who get passed over in junior high and high school might be the ones who accomplish great things for God. God sees invisible people. He sees those whom others view as insignificant. God chooses and uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. God sees you. You hold great value to Him. Wait on Him and surrender to Him. Make yourself available to Him. He might chose your seeming insignificance to do something very significant just like He did with David. 

Sin Will Cost You

 The battle against sin is as old as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Since then, every person who trod this planet, with the exception of the Lord Jesus Christ, has sinned. Sin stains the pages of scripture. Sin makes headline news everyday. Sin is the topic of gossip when another person fails morally.  Educated and uneducated alike struggle with sin. Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Church Christ, Assemblies of God and non denominationals all struggle with sin. Preachers and pew sitters all face the same temptations to rebel against God. 

Sometimes sin is fun. That is the reason people do it. Just because it is fun does not make it right or a healthy choice. Sin will cost you. Sin will cost you more than you ever wanted to pay. One decision to eat forbidden fruit in the garden has cost humanity for thousands of years. The tempter will always be ready to entice people to choose sin over choosing submission to God's way. Sometimes people get away with transgressing without suffering immediate consequences. There will be a day of reckoning. A day when God calls people into account. There are other times when people pay the price for practicing sin. 

The ultimate consequence is eternal damnation to hell. Any person without a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ will suffer eternally when they die or at the glorious appearing of Jesus and the rapture. Those left behind will endure great tribulation. If they never turn to Jesus, they will discover the cost of sin to be horrific. People who die without ever repenting of sin, turning to Jesus as their Redeemer, and trusting Him to be saved will find the high cost of sin a terrible trade for the temporary pleasure they enjoyed. Eternity is a long long time to be wrong. 

There are other costs as well. The addict probably did not think one sip, one toke, one shot, or one pill would lead to a life of slavery to substance abuse. The sexually deviant did not think one moment of passion could turn into an unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease. One click on the computer or the phone can lead to bondage to debauchery. Even to criminal activity. 

The cost of sin included Jesus dying on the cross. I thank God that the grace He offers through His substitutionary death is greater than sin. He forgives sin. Read Ps 103:12 and I Jn 1:9 for a reminder. His grace is greater than the cost of our sin. He is willing to forgive. Praise Him for pardoning people. That does not mean that there might not be consequences. Gal 6:7-8 God will forgive the adulterer, but that does not mean that the spouse will. The act of adultery could cost a person their marriage. God will forgive the embezzler. That does not mean that charges will not be filed and incarceration follow. God will forgive the abusive parents, but that does not mean the children will stay in the home. 

Sin will cost you more than you ever wanted to pay. It can also lead you further than you ever wanted to go. Addiction, abuse, theft, rape, murder, abortion, lying and so much more. We best stay prayed up and keep our head on a swivel so that when temptation comes, when sin is crouching at the door ready to pounce on us, Gen 4:7, we must trust that God has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness II Pet 1:3 and a way of escape I Cor 10:13. Jesus also has the power set slaves free from sin. Praise God His grace is greater than sin.