Shepherds

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! Hope your holiday season continues to be full of blessings and joy!

No better way to start off this week's note, than to talk about the Christmas Market. Lisa, Tania and their crew, got things started off Friday around noon, bringing all the gifts from our secret hiding place to the fellowship hall. Lots of help from our friends at Grace were on hand helping sort, price and hang. By 5 or so, Santa's helpers were finishing up!

Saturday morning, by 8am, there was a line of folks waiting to get their tickets. We had rearranged the chapel for a gathering area, full of hot coffee, pastries and Christmas movies playing on the big screen! When 9 am rolled around, everybody was in place to open the doors. Pastor Juan and all our friends from Grace showed up to help with the shopping, wrapping, and taking the gifts out to their cars, keeping the food warm and the coffee hot. As Lisa has already posted on our Facebook page, lives were changed on both sides of the aisle! We almost doubled the number of folks from last year who shopped! What a blessing for everyone involved.

Scott visited the camps to find everybody doing fine. Our Christmas gifts for our friends got lost in the mail, so Scott took time out of his busy schedule to go shopping for them and then on Christmas morning, he delivered the gifts. What a huge blessing!

Tuesday evening, we gathered in the fellowship hall for a meal prepared by Vicky and her elves. A big crowd of boys and men enjoyed it all. We then moved into the chapel and Brother Rickie led the study reading from Exodus chapter 3, talking about Moses and the burning bush.

Thursday we had small meal and a small crowd. Glad there was a small crowd, because that meant, folks were with their families. The highlight of the evening was we got to talk with Joey on the computer! We had worked it out to Skype him and we got to visit for a long while. I don't understand all of it, but it was Friday morning around 7:30 in the Philippines. He is doing fine, missing all of you. He wanted us to tell you how much he appreciates all your prayers for him, he can feel them. He will try to call us again on another Thursday.

Continued prayers for our friend Jerry. He had a heart attack Saturday morning at the center. Our friend, Mary, had a baby aspirin to help with the attack. As the paramedics told us, because of the aspirin, they were able to get him to the hospital in time. So Ardis wanted to tell everybody, she bought a jar of baby aspirin and it is in the medical kit, which is in a front cabinet in the kitchen. 

Prayers for our outdoor friend Brad. We finally got to see him Wednesday. He was still not awake but holding his own. While we were there, we called his mother. She was very appreciative of our call. We held the phone to Brad's ear and his mom told him she loved him and to get better. While she was talking to him Brad twitched! The only movement he made while we were there. She thanked us for looking out for him and asked us to please continue visiting him.

Your prayers are working, Ginellen was feeling well enough to make it to Grace's Christmas Eve service. She still has a long road in front of her, but each day gets a little better. Please continue your healing prayers. 

One of our long time friends, John Sauls will have a birthday this coming week, December 31st. Happy Birthday John!

It has become a tradition for our Monday Grace men's Bible group, to read the birth of Jesus. We read from Luke and Matthew, reading from Isaiah this year. Tuesday evening we read from Exodus. A thought came to me as we were reading Tuesday evening about Moses. Evidently Pastor Juan had the same thought, shepherds.

We all know, God choose shepherds to announce to the world. He could have chosen kings or priests or rulers, but He chose the least of them to show them what had happen, shepherds. In Exodus chapter 3, the passage starts off by Moses tending the flock of his father-in-law. Not only was he tending sheep, Moses decided to take the flock as far away from people as he could get!

Well we know the rest of the story, God found Moses and convinced Moses, he was going to lead God's people out of slavery. God did not chose a king, or a priest, or a ruler to lead His people, He chose a shepherd.

God is good about finding just the right person to do His task. God wants folks with lvoing hearts, that can humble themselves and allow His Spirit to flow through them. Just like you!

Moses tried to get out of his job, like we do. He was not a very good talker, he did have the education, he did not have the courage, all good excuses, but nothing God can't take on. In verse 11, Moses said to God, who am I to do this task? verse 12, God said to Moses, I will be with you.

As we come into a new year, we will be faced with challenges, but also many glorious opportunities God will put before us. How will we respond? We can make all sorts of excuses, deny it happened, don't listen, but we won't receive the blessings of God if we do. Yes, it will be uncomfortable at first. It will seem overwhelming at times, but remember as God told Moses, I will be with you! Amen!

As celebrate the end of another year and the coming of a new year, may we all follow the path Moses took, allowing God to lead as we follow! Peace and Joy to all!

Ask, Seek, Knock

Happy Friday to all and to all a good night! Ooops, I stole Santa's speech. Hope your week was filled with joy and peace. What a special time of year it is!

Our Saturdays continue to be colorful as we go about God's work! Our visits to the camps brings us comfort and joy, our work with our basketball team brings us peace and compassion, our work in the kitchen with bread, gingerbread houses, and lunch brings about blessings and smiles.

We have come to a close of our first semester of our learning to read program. Our children received goody bags on Wednesday. Such sweet children, such caring leaders, brings us laughter and excitement.

Tuesday evening, the men and boys of the community gathered for the reading of the Word. Matt read from Matthew 7 verses 7-12. Ask, Seek, Knock. All action words, requiring us to get out of our comfort zones to find Jesus. Are we willing to do so? What will you find if you do?

Santa and Ms Abbie led our chapel with songs of the season. Brother Chester led our worship with words from God's book. Our Christmas banquet was enjoyed by lots of our neighbors and friends. Santa joined in on the fun, handing out smiles and candy to the children. Pictures of the evening are posted on our Face book page. Seeing old friends, meeting new family brings us blessings and peace.

Continue to lift up Karl as he continues to heal from his pacemaker procedure. It was a good week for Ginellen with no pain, so please continue your healing prayers for her. Prayers for one of our longtime friends, Amanda. She had knee replacement surgery and is home recovering. She is in lots of pain and discomfort.

This Friday starting at 1 until?, we will be at the center getting our Christmas Market ready for Saturday. You are welcomed to come and enjoy the afternoon. Then Saturday morning starting at 9, the Market will open for business. All sorts of jobs will be avaiable for you to come and have fun.

Next Thursday, Christmas Day, we will have a meal starting at 5. 

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Do you want to know Jesus? Do you want to have a relationship with Jesus? Do you want to experience the blessings of Jesus? Ask, seek, knock! Pretty simple, straight forward, no gimmicks, just do it!

It hit me Tuesday afternoon, we can seek Jesus in many different ways. We can seek Him through scripture. We can seek Him through relationships. We can seek Him by being obedient. We can seek Him by being faithful.

Tuesday afternoon, I took my wife shopping for the first time in six months. It was the first time she has felt like getting out. As we parked the car and walk towards the store, she grabs hold of my hand and we walk hand and hand! During her trials this year, we have prayed for healing but also, I think God is healing us in ways we did not expect!

Tuesday evening, we had a room full of young boys in the circle for Bible study. Many months ago, Matt, Byron and others were clearing a vacant over grown lot, full of weeds and trash, preparing a place where basketball could talk place. We were hoping the neighborhood children would come, but we had no idea God wanted more. Now we have a group of boys, not only learning to work together as a team, but learning about Jesus! Our boys now have a league in which to compete in!

Last Thursday, Lisa tells the Board about all the unexpected funding we have received this month. Allowing us to receive a new air conditioner and heater for the chapel, to complete the renovation of the Bright House I, and meet our financial obligations for the year. We have been asking for God's direction and asking us to follow His will not ours all year long.

Did everybody see Ardis' post in Facebook about her and Vicky's experience at Wal Mart this week? They are in line, with baskets full of toys, hoping not to break the budget. A gentleman asks what is all the toys for, his heart takes over and takes half of the toys and pays for them himself!

We have been experiencing God's grace and blessings in our community for years. Over and over, He comes through, just when it seems all is lost. God is always there for us. He wants a relationship with us. He will provide for us. All we have to do is Ask, Seek and Knock!

As we come to the fourth week of Advent, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, let's pause for a minute or two or three and know for everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; the one who knocks, the door will be opened! Not maybe, not sometimes, but the door "will" be opened! Opened to a world of blessings we have no comprehension of what God can do! Amen!

Enjoy this week with your family and love ones. A special time, a joyous time, a time to experience what Jesus can do for us all!

Light and darkness

And you said prayer doesn't work?! I know you are all wondering if we found our lost dancing elves? Well we did! Our flock is whole again, thank you Lord. Hope your week was a special as ours was!

This past Saturday is another example of you just never know what is going to happen when we visit the camps, we had joy, tragedy and then peace. Turner was fine, more quiet than normal, then we get the news from Robert about Brad, but ended on a positive note as we were treated to a hot bowl of chili prepared by Smokey! I have been copying Joey's newsletters for Smokey. He has them taped to his wall so he can pray for Joey every day, isn't that amazing! Smokey has become the resident chef for his neighbors, so each weekend, he cooks up a pot of various meals for the guys. When we were there, "Dennis the Menace" was bringing a pot of rice to Smokey to go with his chili!

Our Monday and Wednesday learning to read activities continued. This coming week will be our last with the children for this semester. We can always use a smiling face or a lvoing heart to play with the children. Join us from 3-5.

Tuesday evening, Matt led our men's Bible fellowship by reading from 2 Corinthians chapter 7. We sometimes need to share with our brother or sisters, things that they are doing, that may not be of God. It is out of lvoe we do so. As it says in verse 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret.

Thursday evening was started off by our friend Wes, as he played Christmas carols as Willie sang and shared the Word. Willie talked about Acts chapter 20 verse 24, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me. . . We need to stay true to God's plan for us. Peaches cooked up a delicious meal for us all, bags of groceries were handed out, clothes given away. A great evening.

Lisa updated the Board on several things following the meal. Lots of huge donations have come our way. Enough to get our new Air conditioning and Heating unit installed in the chapel. More funds have been given for us to remodel the Bright House I. And still there is more funds available. What a huge blessing from God and from the people of God! Chris Broadwell was there to help us, who are Facebook challenged, to learn the system to help improve our page. Watch out for upcoming "likes" "followings" "posts" whatever those may mean?!

Continued prayers for Brad. We had Brother Elbert make a visit to see Brad on Wednesday. Brad is still heavily sedated, but Brother Elbert felt Brad was fighting for his life. Prayers for Karl. His pace maker procedure went well, not in the recovery mode. He will be home bound for a month, the hardest part of his recovery! Prayers for Matt and Vicky. Matt's mom is not doing well. Always hard as we deal with the aging of our parents. For so many years they have taken care of us, now we have to deal with their health problems as our roles are reversed and we become the care givers. William needs our prayers. He was at Bible fellowship Tuesday evening. Good to see him, but he is struggling. 

Blessings for a safe return home for Beth and Charley's son Wes. Wes has been in China for several years teaching English but he is back home. What a great Christmas for the Ackermans!

We will have our Christmas meal this coming Thursday. Hopefully the guy in the red suit will make it, to visit with the children young and old!

Our setting up of the Christmas Market is fast approaching. Some will be at the center this Sunday evening working with the Grace youth. Next Friday, December 19th starting at noon, we will be setting up the fellowship hall and turning it into our Christmas Market. Saturday, Dec. 20th will be the market starting at 9. All sorts of help will be needed. Please let Lisa know if there are certain jobs you would like to do and just come and help out where needed. Guaranteed to be fun and joyful!

We had challenges this week. I was reminded again where we are and what God has us doing. Over the past 20 years, we have experienced great joy but also great challenges. In our community, we will always have challenges. Our task is to turn our challenges over to God and move forward. Over the years, it would have been easy to say, we are out of here, we don't need this. It would have been easy to give up and walk away. Satan would have liked that! 

We have been asked to follow a path laid out by God, into uncharted territories, knowing there will be pitfalls, but also knowing there will be blessings. The blessings far out weigh the obstacles!

I am reminded again, we are part of a community where darkness is more prevalent than the Light. At times, it seems like the darkness is winning, but we all know who is in charge! God will not let the darkness win. I was thinking about our community and seeing pockets of light in our community. One of our tasks in the coming year is to see if we can connect those lights in our community, like a string of Christmas lights and see how bright God's light can shine!

I am also reminded, God is watching how we react to our challenges. If we turn and run, God will not bless us. It we stay and fight, God will honor us with more blessings. It's up to us to decide which way we go.

Jesus chose to stay and fight the battles. He chose to come to this earth for us, knowing what would happen to him. He chose to be born in a place where the common man would be, not the rich and famous. Our obstacles are His. Our cries are heard by Him. Our heartaches are felt by our God. We are not on this journey alone, God is right there with us. His light will never go out! Amen.

Have a great week as we celebrate the third week of Advent and the coming of our Lord and Savior!

Lost on rocky ground

The first week of the last month of the year is over, wow! So much to be thankful for! God sent His son to walk among us to learn from him, to learn to love like him, to learn to bring peace and joy to others. Time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior!

Our camp visits were very nice. Not sure I have mentioned it before, but wanted those of you in Shreveport to be on the look out for billboards for a new mayoral candidate! Robert said, when his disability checks begin to come in, he wants to run for mayor! He wants to start his campaign by first putting his pictures on billboards! Not sure that is what you are suppose to use your checks for?! But I guess it could be worse!

With school back in session, our reading classes continued this week. We some new faces join in on the fun helping our children with their reading. We can always use more help, so please drop by for a visit between 3 - 5 Monday and Wednesdays.

Tuesday evening, Brother Elbert led the men's Bible fellowship reading from Mark 4: 1-20. The farmer sowing seeds on various types of ground. The men shared, at different points in their lives, their ground was not made of good soil. Thankfully the farmer never gave up and one year our ground was good and produce bountiful crops!

Thursday was started off by our friend from our men's Bible fellowship, Rickie West. As he put it, he offered words of encouragement, not there to preach! Spencer got our month of chapel started off right by the singing of some Christmas hymns. Brother George's church provided the food and fellowship for our meal. A big crowd for the first of the month made their way from the meal to the food pantry.

Hopefully everybody saw our article in the local paper concerning the Christmas Market. The link is on our Facebook page. I brought Byron the article and he promptly put it in his pocket so he could take it home and show his family his picture in the article. First time that has happened to him.

Prayers go up for Karl this morning, as he is receiving a pace maker. He said, when he goes to sleep at night so does his heart! The doctors want to be sure they can keep his heart beating at a steady pace during the night. Prayers for Charley Ackerman. He had a stroke several weeks ago. They are working with the VA hospital to determine the course of treatment. Prayers for Ginellen. She continues to adjust to life with an "appliance" strapped to her stomach. The one blessing, is her bottom area has not hurt since this last procedure. She goes to the doctor on Tuesday to determine what is next. Prayers for Joey. So nice to see his posts on Facebook and to hear his voice on the phone. His challenges in a foreign land are big. Help Joey continue to be strong in his faith and obedience.

In our Monday night Bible study we read from Luke Chapter 15, talking about the lost sheep. Not sure God had this parable in mind when we put up our Christmas decorations!? 

Unfortunately, putting up our holiday decorations has fallen on me these past two years. I enjoy all the lights and pretty stuff once it is out, but putting the stuff out, is a pain! I spent last weekend, decorating the tree, putting out the nativity scene, lined our mantel with nutcrackers, put out reindeer and flashing lights on the hearth. All very nice and colorful, until Ginellen asked where are the dancing elves?

I had worked tirelessly for two days, everything was just right, lights a flashing, baby Jesus sleeping in the hay, garland was hung, but we were missing dancing elves!  I will admit, I wanted to sit back and admire a job well done. I said to Ginellen, all the decorations are nice, we don't need dancing elves. But she would not have any of that! The elves were lost and we need to find them. Our kingdom of decorations are not complete until we find them!

Aren't we glad Jesus does not sit back on his throne and say, most of my flock is doing what they are suppose to be doing, but there is this one person, lost, does not have my heart, they need me. Most of us would say, look at the 99, a job well done, but not Jesus! Jesus goes out of his way to find us and bring us back into His Kingdom. Aren't we glad He did not give up on us!

When our ground was like rock, or full of thorns and the Word was given to us or shown to us, but we did not hear it or take it to heart, Jesus did not stop throwing out His blessings on us. Don't give up! Jesus didn't!

A life full of Jesus will present challenges. People will react both negatively and positively to us. It is easy to receive a compliment, but hard to live with a complaint. People will let us down at some point. but Jesus never will. Don't give up, Jesus didn't!

We all have been lost from time to time. We all have strayed. We all have been on rocky ground. But don't give up, Jesus is always watching out for us, always doing what He can to bring us back into His Kingdom! Amen.

Hope you all have a great second week of our Advent season. God is good! All the time! Amen! Oh yeah, pray we find our lost dancing elves!