Taking Root

 Moving to San Antonio has been one of the hardest things I have ever done. Adjusting to a new place and a new church and new people. Living close to children who I have not lived close to in years. There have been times in the past 18 months that I wondered if I had made a mistake moving here and I wondered if I needed to move again.

I am beginning to think that the Lord let me go through all of this so that I would not be tempted to do something like this again. 

I am beginning to like it here. I like this city and this church and these pastors. I am even starting to enjoy singing in Spanish, though I still have no idea what I am saying. And I enjoy spending time with family and friends. I have gotten my house decorated as I like and I have done all that needed to be done to make this house safe and secure. 

I believe that better days are ahead. And that I am putting down roots here.

Christ Is The Reason For Living

 One thing that I am noticing about this generation is that they don't want to grow up. They have money and support and don't need to work a job. So they spend their lives trying to stay happy.

Being happy is an empty life. Life was never designed to only provide you with experiences and adventure. Life is not an IG photo or a YT travel documentary.

Only in Christ do we find the answer to our reason for living. We were created in God's image and we will not be at rest or at peace until we find our rest in Christ.

Jesus promises us life more abundantly. He asks us to believe and trust.

Wisdom Available

 A poor man's wisdom may be despised. But that does not make him any less wise. It just robs you of the wisdom he could share with you. If you would take the time to draw it out of him. Like over dinner?

Water Baptism Service Tonight

 It was great to see new converts getting baptized after church tonight. A long line of people all obeyed the command to be baptized in water. 

We do our water baptism in a horse trough outside. It gets the job done. Our new building does not have a baptistry inside.

My prayer is that the Lord would baptize these new converts in the Holy Spirt so that they will speak in tongues like we do.

Church Picnic 2.0

 Today was supposed to be our fall church picnic and bbq. That didn't happen. So our home Bible study group did our own get together. We grilled some meat and had all that goes with it and we ate together and fellowshipped together and I had a great time.

I am glad that I feel more and more welcome and at ease with this group of people from church. I am glad we didn't just blow it off and do nothing. I hope we can do something like this again.

Esteeming Elders?

 As I grow older I begin to think more and more on issues regarding aging. Today I was thinking about how in some cultures elders and the aged are held in high esteem and sometimes viewed as head of the family or household. Many Asian cultures esteem elders highly. So do some Indian tribes. In the US it's not so. 

Here is one thing that I was mulling over today. As an elder you are somewhat an expert on some things. You know how we got where we are today. You know what worked to bring us to this point in our development. Are those things that were once true always true?

There are truths that are always true. There are things that work now but there is no guarantee that they will work again going forward. Elders sometimes are not wise enough to know what we need to do to move ahead in life. They can, by reason of what used to work, become resistant to new ideas or new applications of old truths.

God is eternal. He is always fresh and relevant. His word, by it's nature, is still a light to make our way clear. God is still working. The story of the church is ever adapting to it's area of influence. It may take some work but the Bible still applies to the important things of life today and is as active and powerful as the day it was first written.

Changing Plans

 Our fall church picnic that was scheduled for this weekend has been cancelled. Turns out the park was not available. So our home study group will have our own BBQ this Saturday. We will talk about the when and where this week. 

Y'all are welcome to join us if you want.