Conference Thoughts

 I checked the Prescott church's website to see who was announced out of their conference. For the first time  I did not know anyone who was announced. I recognized two names for changes. This must be a sign of getting older and of not living in Prescott anymore.

Several of the bigger regional conferences plant their own churches out of their own conferences now, so there were not as many churches planted out of the Prescott conference. Seven international and six domestic.

Conference is about more than planting churches. And an aging church does not plant as many churches now as they once did in earlier years. When we were announced pastor Mitchell had a pool of disciples who he was working with and training. As you age that pool gets smaller.

My friend in Prescott was exhausted by serving at conference. I remember those days. The folks in Prescott work their fingers to the bone to serve the conference body.

Conference is an exciting time. Make sure you attend a conference in your area.

Where's The Peace?

 If it bleeds, it leads. So is the motto of most news gathering organizations.

It's never so bad, that it can't get worse. Or so the say.

Peace blows so few bugles in most of us. Or so they say.

King David needs to get saved. He is a whiner.

Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell. I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell. Not me. I am happy  living where I am. Save your cliches and dogmas for someone who cares or for some unstable soul who you can manipulate.

If life goes from one catastrophe to another, from one crisis to another, you either live in the middle east, or you are not saved. Jesus gives us peace. Jesus gives us a living hope. 

Two Or Three

"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." Mat. 18:20

This past Wednesday, because of the weather, our service was smaller than a normal midweek service. But as we started, this verse came to my mind. And I was able to rejoice and to worship no matter who was or wasn't there. Pastor preached like it was a full house. People got saved. It was a good midweek service.

Note that the Lord said where 2 or 3 are gathered. Not 20 or 30. Not 200 or 300. Not 2000 or 3000. Just 2 or 3. God is not put off by a small church or a lowered attendance. God cares about His church. And Jesus makes His presence known even to a small church or a small group. 

You do not have to have a big crowd to get the Lord to take notice. You do not have to have multitudes to attract the Lord's attention. God is interested in even one sparrow that falls in the wilderness. He cares about you and I even if we live alone.

A crowd draws a crowd. But two or three draw the Holy Spirit if they are gathered in Jesus' name. 

Weather As Judgement?

 In the Bible we read how God uses natural disasters as a means of judgement. Rarely is it fire and brimstone like Sodom, or an angel with a sword killing people. As I watch the coverage of the tornado and river flooding and rain hitting our area and as I hear the fear and the frustration in the reporter's voices, I am reminded how terrifying natural disasters can be.  Weather is something you can watch or experience, but you cannot change it. Only Jesus can rebuke the storm and it stops.

It is no wonder how God uses the power of nature to show His mighty power to an unbelieving world. The amazing thing is how people will survive a storm or fire or flood and feel like it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be. They never connect the dots to think that maybe God is trying to get their attention.

Pray for us here in south Texas.

Conference Thoughts 2026

 I remember when pastor Mitchell used to say that the Prescott conference was a "people's conference". I do not fully understand what he meant by that, but we had so few churches out that the bulk of the crowd was just folks, not pastors.

I also remember when I first noticed that the Prescott conference speakers were preaching to their fellow pastors, and not to any regular folk.

One more thing that I noticed was how conference became primarily about planting churches. That the whole reason for existing was based on the number of new works planted, not on the quality of the ministry during the week.

Conference sure has changed over the years. 

Mountain Climbing

 The mountain climber carries a lot of weight to climb a mountain. He carries gear and tools and even ropes. He carries food and water and dry socks. It takes a lot of work and a lot of gear to successfully climb a mountain.

But, what about once you have climbed that mountain? Once you are sitting on the top, what do you need? For a while at least, you need nothing. You can take your pack off and just sit there enjoying the view. You can take a selfie to prove that you made it. You do not need to carry your gear once you have arrived.

This is true of life. As we age we find that the things that were so important when we were younger do not matter at all now. We find that there is much less life yet to live as to make us stop putting off things for a later day. That later day is today. It is time to stop worrying about your bank account and your weight. If you are a widow it is time to stop thinking about getting married. You have too little life left to spend it on what have become unimportant pursuits.

This is hard to do in our youth orientated Fellowship. It always about go ye and fasting and striving for perfection instead of surveying how far we have come and how good God has been to us. I am not planning for my next big achievement or my next adventure. I am wondering what to do when I can no longer take care of my house on my own. Where to live when I cannot take care of myself anymore.

In mountain climbing, the only way to succeed is to climb higher. However, you cannot live on a mountain top. So we see that life is not all upward and onward, it involves climbing back down and going back home. For me, this is what retirement is all about. Climbing down and returning home.

On Idolatry

"They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molded image. thus they changed their glory into the image of an ox that eats grass." Psalm 106:19-20 

Over and over again in the old testament God criticizes the idolatry of the children of Israel by mocking the image they worship instead of God. He always talks about how they eat grass or cannot see or speak or move on their own. All of this is true. But it made me wonder; what is it about idolatry that makes it so enticing to people?

This is a subject that I know nothing about. I have never prayed to a statue or prayed the rosary of burned incense to an image. But I have suspicions about why this appeals to people. 

First, I think that it is the pageantry associated with pagan worship. The music and dancing and other activities that go with idolatry. The spiritual buzz that people get when they practice this.

Second, I wonder if their are supernatural manifestations that accompany idol worship. There must be something more than tradition or ritual. Are there voices or visions or other manifestations? Something happened while Moses was up on the mountain that caused the people below to go crazy that was not just because of a golden calf.

People will practice false religion for a long time out of tradition or habit. But at some point something supernatural or spiritual must have happened to command such fear and devotion.