Seven Months of Reading

Over the last seven months, I've had some time to catch up on some of my reading. Since it is the end of the year, I thought I would give a run down of the books I have completed and those I am still working through and will complete in January 2014. It has been a while since I shared the books I have read over a period of time (here is my last post about that). For what it is worth, here they are (pages include footnote, which I normally read)....

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Book Review: Pastoral Leadership Is...

Christian Leadership is always a sticky subject to handle. We know as Christian Leaders we are to be different than the world so "baptizing" secular leadership principles, which usually focuses on the personality of the leader, does not always seem the best way to go. However, there is a need in 21st century churches for biblical, pastoral leadership. So how should one lead biblically? What does it mean to be a pastor in the post-modern,...

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Wait for It...

After a few posts of eclectic topics, I wanted to get back to posting about Nehemiah. In Nehemiah 2, we see the movement of Nehemiah from Babylon to Jerusalem, from servant to leader, and from consuming sadness to consuming vision. The chapter begins with Nehemiah standing before the most powerful man in the world and being asked by this powerful leader for anything Nehemiah wanted. When asked what Nehemiah wanted, Nehemiah went to someone more powerful than any man - He went to the God of Heaven. God would lead him to ask the right thing from...

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Unique Trains - Addendum

In the previous post, I have pictures of some unique trains. My friend, Brian, who works for the railroad, informed me that I was close on my guesses of what these strange machines actually do. However, I was not exactly correct and he guided me to understand each piece. I wanted to share that information for my memory and for anyone else interested. I guessed the first engine, which was unusually long, cleaned the rocks that lay in between the rails. This is, in fact, what that machine does. It picks up the rocks, cleans them, and then returns...

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Another Funeral, Another Road Trip, and Unique Trains

I attended another funeral today in Sterling. Since the lady who passed was the wife of a fellow pastor in my Association, I went to support him. Sterling is only about an hour from my house, so it was nothing close to my 970 mile trip in my previous post. However, whenever I go on some sort of road trip, I have been trying to take my camera because I always see something I want to remember or something unique. This road trip did not disappoint....

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A Funeral, Swink, and a Sleeping Indian

I recently took a 970 mile road trip which covered three corners of Colorado. I left on a Friday morning to go to La Junta to attend the funeral of my friend's father. I did not know him but I wanted to support my friend. His father was a church planter, a pastor, and essentially a missionary in Eastern Colorado. It was encouraging to hear everyone speak of how he led through prayer, raised up leaders, and served the Lord all his life. Because...

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Mine! Not Yours!

The first chapter of Nehemiah plunges us right into the story of God's people about 100 years after some of the people had returned to Jerusalem. Even after so many years, Jerusalem was exposed and vulnerable to attack because the wall had not been rebuilt. We are immediately introduced to Nehemiah, the one God will use to change Jerusalem's condition. When Nehemiah heard there was trouble with the people of God, that is, the wall had still not been rebuilt, he first went to God. He stopped what he was doing, wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed....

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Keys to Remember Nehemiah

I have been spending a lot of time in Nehemiah in my personal time with God and I have truly been growing through this great book. One of the tools I have been attempting to utilize is identifying a key verse for each chapter so it would be easier for me to remember the flow of the book. I want to post these verses first, for me so I can see them laid out in order to see if they indeed work as mnemonic devices. Secondly, I would like to have any...

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Deal of the Day

One of my favorite places to get books is the Nazarene Bible College's Library. This is for two reasons. First, when the library has books for sale, hardback books are 50 cents and paper backs are 25 cents. It is hard to pass up a 50 cent book. The second reason is that because it is a Nazarene school there are always a bunch of Baptist books that they are clearing out (I really don't know if this is why there are always Baptist books for sale but...

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Best. Mascot. Ever!

Ah...Texas. Home of seriously scary obsession of High School football and great High School mascots. I saw the BEST mascot EVER yesterday in New Braunfels, Texas. I am not sure you can make out the picture on the left so in case you can't, here is another pictures which is a clearer indication of their mascot. Now, before too many crazed Texans send me hate mail or something, let me assure I am not making fun of this mascot. Instead,...

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How I Spent My Day - 9.5.2013

Here is how I spent my day...well, part of my day. I needed a piece of trim to get a color match at the store for some touch up but I could not find an inconspicuous piece to take off the wall. Then I found this small piece behind a door. By the time I got it off, it was in three pieces. So, now, not only do I have put on the trim in some places that don't have it, I have to fix this little area. Something about two steps forward and one step back...

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My Gravestone

" What do you want written on your gravestone?" This is a question that is asked by many to get people to think about how they want their life remembered. I have spend some time...not a lot but some...thinking "What would I want on my gravestone?" Or maybe more accurate a question is "How would I want to be remembered?" I have been reading Dave Earley's book Pastor Leadership Is... and in the chapter about Feeding God's Sheep he has this quote: At...

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How I Spent My Tuesday and Wednesday

  I live in beautiful state. One of the great benefits of living in Colorado is that when the state convention has conferences, I get to travel to various parts of the state and enjoy the beauty our God has created. This last Tuesday and Wednesday I attended a conference in Buena Vista, Colorado. As I drove there, I had to stop and take a picture of this scene (you HAVE to click the image for a larger picture - really...). Truly, what a beautiful...

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I'm in Good Company

During the sermon today, we read this passage in Luke where Jesus reads Isaiah and then preached a short, short sermon (nine words, in fact). The crowd's reaction to that sermon made me think I am in good company. And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the...

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Screens and Grates

I have not posted anything new since I have gotten back from Honduras because I have been completing several "honey-do's" around the house. Now that my schedule is a little more open than in the past (long story), I have some time to get some of the items off the list that have been there for over four years. First, I repaired every window screen on our house. You may not be able to see it in the picture (click picture for larger image) but...

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Pictures from Honduras #6

For my final posting of pictures from my mission trip, I thought I would post some of the fun parts of the trip. These are some of unique things that I saw or did and some of the fun people I met (Click pictures for larger images): The two ladies in this picture with me were the translators for the group from Houston. Donya is on the left and Ruth is on the right. They never really translated for me officially, although Ruth translated for me...

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Pictures from Honduras #5

Honduras is a beautiful place and while we were there we had very nice accommodations. I love the scenery while we traveled and the hotels where we stayed were comfortable and friendly. Here are some pictures about the places in Honduras (click the pictures for larger images): The first hotel we stayed at and the last one we stayed at was the La Qunita in La Ceiba. It is nice hotel with a restaurant and a pool. I did not take advantage of the...

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Pictures from Honduras #4

One of the things I most appreciated while in Honduras was the Hondurans inhibitions when worshipping God. At every church service I attended while I was there, the people sang with all their hearts, prayed with fervency, and listened to the Word of God intently. It was quite refreshing. Here are some pictures about what I am talking about (click on picture for larger image): Before every service, people would come forward and use the stage as...

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