Too Good to be True

The weather has been tremendous here in Katy this week. Low humidity, temps in the 70's, no rain. Days like this are few here in Texas so we enjoy them while we can. Soon it will be brutally hot and humid. As I watch the weather report from across the nation I am once again reminded why we left Chicago and never moved back! The weather! By normal standards the winter was fairly mild up north. When winter finally hit, however, it hit with a vengeance. By my count three fairly heavy snowstorms hit and left some areas virtually shut down for a few days. I kept watching the weather forecasts and thinking to myself, "When is it going to hit?" Having lived there for many years I knew winter had to show its ugly head sooner or later. The mild winter had to be "Too good to be true."

So many Christians live their lives with this mindset. God blesses and things are going great. A believer in his mind thinks, "Can this good thing last?" He lives his life waiting for the bottom to fall out and for things to turn sour. Even when the sun shines and there are good days he cannot enjoy the blessing because he is waiting for the other shoe to drop.

You know it is true that life is a cycle. There are good times and there are bad times. You need to remember that the bad times never last and they are usually not as bad as we allow our sanctified imagination to make them out to be. Christian, get out of the habit of focusing on what may go wrong and enjoy what good God is doing right now in your life. He loves you and wants the very best for your life. 

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." - 1 Cor 2:9

Here is another biographical entry from Haley Simpson.

Marci Simpson is known for her passion for gardening. She grows two types of things: a variety of plants you grow in the ground, and 8 spiritual plants that are currently growing in her home. A wonderful woman and an excellent mother, Marci also homeschools 6 of her 8 children; her two oldest being graduated from high school. She is a genuine servant of God, and a blessing to our church. "We had been looking for a church for about a year and growing discouraged when we decided The Church At Katy was our church," she said, "What attracted me to it was the use of the KJV of the Bible, traditional hymns sang in the services, and the family integration and atmosphere. To me, church is a family event and I like having my kids sit with me during the service."

Ever Stop Worrying?

When our kids are little we stress over every step they take when they are learning to walk. Our hearts stop when we see them going up or down the stairs. Lifting themselves up around the coffee table always makes the heart race.

The first few days of school are always a parent's nightmare. Will they do ok? Will they make good friends? Will they get on the right bus?

Don't get me started on the teen years. Driving - do we ever stop worrying? Dating - Don't want to think about it.

Kim said to me this evening, "Do we ever stop worrying about our kids?" My answer is - NO. While we know that we are supposed to do the best job we can to raise them with a healthy fear of the Lord and leave the rest up to God, we can't help but worry if we did a good enough job. God is trustworthy. He will do His part, it's our part we worry about.

Its kind of like a ship builder who spends years of his life building a sailboat. The day finally comes that he takes the boat down to the ocean for its maiden launch. As he lowers the boat into the water he thinks back to the days in the shop when he was glueing and nailing the boards together. He remembers one day in particular when he was in a hurry and may have taken a short cut. Or he may remember when he skimped on the materials in order to save a little money. Launch time is here now and he has apprehension. Will his little ship stand up to the rough seas?

Thats what it is like for a parent and his child. Life can be rough. Sending your child off to face this old world is scary. There are forces out there that are just plain evil. Your child must face them sooner or later. Only what you have invested in them in time past will help them.

Ever stop worrying - NO!

"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." - Pro 22:6 (O Lord let it be true in the life of my children.)

This week I would like to introduce you to another member of our church. Caryn Peng Ho. Here is a short testimony.

My name is Caryn. I got saved when I was 16 years old. After graduating from high school, I had an opportunity to attend Pensacola Christian College where I received most of my Biblical training and became grounded in my faith in Christ. 

I heard about the Church at Katy through a very close friend of mine. Before that, I was serving at a local Chinese church as a pianist. I love Pastor Taylor's messages, the church families, and that it was close to home. This year would be our fifth year at the Church at Katy. My family really loves this church. I have learned how to be a submissive wife, a lovely mother, and an obedient child. There are always something or someone I can learn from. 

Currently, I am serving as the church Treasurer. 

The Heart Beat of God

As a pastor there is no greater joy than to know our church is doing what pleases God. I firmly believe that God is well pleased with a church whose thrust in ministry is to see the gospel of Jesus Christ spread around the globe through the ministry of foreign and local missions. We just completed our fifth annual missions conference. What a blessing it was to be able to spend time with some of God's choicest servants. We shared our conference with two missionary families. One whom I've known for a number of years and one I just recently became acquainted with. My soul was stirred and challenged once again as these missionaries shared their call and burden for their chosen ministries.

John and Esther Shrader, along with their eight children, are on their way to Zambia, Africa. Of course this field is dear to Kim and me because we lived there for a number of years. We know first hand what John and Esther are facing. We know the sacrifices they will have to make to live in that place. It was a sweet time of fellowship with these dear folks. You can see more about their ministry at: www.http://teamzambia.com




Bob and Vicky Taylor are the directors for Heartland Baptist Missions. Their heart is to serve those families who are with their board. There is not enough space on this blog to tell you all that they do and all they need. I will leave you with just a few thoughts about these sweet friends. Bob and Vicky led a team of college students to our ministry in Ghana back in 2005. For ten days they labored and served not only my family but our church family as well. The college kids came prepared to serve and be a blessing. They were taught that by Bob and Vicky. Learn more about their mission at: www.http://heartlandbaptistmissions.org

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."      
                                                                                3 John 4

Humility

Kim was recently listening to the radio while working in her craft room. She heard a man speaking on the subject of humility. He  defined humility in a way that really spoke to her. When she shared this with me I thought this would be a good subject to put in the blog. The Bible says there is nothing new under the sun. We seldom have original thoughts anyway so I am "stealing" this thought in order to share it with you.

How often have you heard people say about themselves that they are worthless, no good, or just plain awful? I have heard many people live their lives with this cloud surrounding them echoing the Biblical words, "I am a worm." This is their attempt to be humble. Humility is a grace that we should attempt convey. But what is humility? Jesus was our best example of this virtue. He certainly would be a good one to follow. So how did he portray humility? Did he go around telling everyone how worthless he was? Did he have a dark cloud around him? Not at all.

What the speaker on the radio said that day was. "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less" - CS Lewis. Humility contains the aspect of putting others and their benefit ahead of your own. I recently got a flyer in the mail for a youth conference. They were calling it "iConference." Taken from the term the iGeneration where we obsess about our iPads, iPods, iPhones, iMacs, etc., the play on the word "i" was obvious. We are living in a me first generation. Rev 3:14 is address to the Church at Laodecia. This church is characteristic of the church in our historical timeframe. The word Laodecia means "rights of the people." Boy does that ever make sense. Look around and notice the clamor for the rights for gays to marry, the right of the mother to terminate her unborn child, the rights of illegal immigrants, the right to bear arms, and the list goes on and on. We are obsessed with our rights.

Jesus came to "give himself a ransom for many." He demonstrated the greatest degree of love by dying on the cross for the sin of mankind. The Bible says, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Jesus demonstrated the greatest degree of humility by putting others ahead of himself. He died so we might live.

A New Adventure

Maybe I am going through a bit of a mid-life crisis or maybe I have just lost it a little bit. Either way, I recently bought a ukulele. OK, now that the laughter has died down a bit I just want to say, I AM HAVING A BLAST. I started playing guitar when I was just a little guy about 10 years old. I was never very good but I loved to play. I have played all kinds of music in my life. At Christmas time I bought JB a small ukulele just for the fun of it. I had it around the house for about six weeks prior to giving it to him for Christmas. During that time I could not help but pick it up and play around with it a little, you know just to check it out and make sure it was not broken or anything! I enjoyed it so much I started looking around for a good deal on one for myself. I have gotten on the internet and began teaching myself how to play. One day I want to be able to play well enough to play in church. At least there not too many people will laugh me out of the building! Anyway, thats my story and I am sticking to it.

"Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings." - Psa 33:2

"David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy." - 1 Chron 15:16

"I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel." - Psa 71:22

Logan the usher

This week I want to introduce you to another church member. My dutiful assistant, Haley, has been preparing bio's for me to include so this is her first contribution.

Logan Simpson is one of our ushers at The Church at Katy. He works as a computer tech guy for some of the local schools in Houston. At 22, Logan is also a talented comic book artist/illustrator , T-shirt designer, and is developing his own T-shirt company. When asked what he enjoyed most about the church he said, "I really like our pastor. He has a great style in his messages, and I appreciate how he adheres to the truth. He isn't afraid to talk about the touchy subjects, and he really hits the nail on the head." (Thanks for the props Logan the check is in the mail!!!)

Do It As Unto the Lord

Kim and I have been doing a marriage counseling session each Friday night with another couple. This is the second time we have used this particular teaching material. One thing that stuck out in my mind this time through is the statement, "whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord." The basic premise or principle this taught me is that I am to show my love to my wife as though I were showing my love to the Lord. When I do this, her actions are secondary. It does not matter what she does or what she says. I am loving Christ through her. If you stop and think about this it changes everything. So much of what we do in our relationships is based on responding to what others say and do. Would your arguments with your spouse stop if you thought you were relating to God? I dare say this one thought will revolutionize your marriage.

Pastor Nixon Ackon is one of the missionaries our church supports. Nixon is a missionary with the Rock of Ages Prison Ministries in Ghana, W Africa. I first met Nixon back in 1998 while I was living in Ghana. I was out in town soul winning and inviting people to our newly established church, Rehoboth Baptist Church in Takoradi. I went to a little hardware kiosk to follow up with the lady who owned the store. Nixon was there doing the same thing for his church. We began to talk about our respective churches. He claimed to be a Baptist pastor but as we talked he confessed that he only chose that name for his church because he had met some people from the USA that were Baptists and he wanted to associate with them. He asked if we could work together. I asked him about what he believes the Bible teaches about certain things and realized very quickly we were not in agreement doctrinally. I invited him to my house where, for the next several months,  we studied the Bible together, in particular the doctrines that make me a Baptist. Soon after that time Nixon went back to a Baptist Bible Institute and studied further, was eventually ordained in our church, and has been serving the Lord faithfully ever since. Nixon, his wife Mary, and their children were a very faithful family in our church for many years while we served in Ghana.

Home Sweet Home

Earlier this week we returned home from an eleven day, 3,600 mile trip that took us through ten states. It a great trip as trips go. We got to see a lot of family and friends we had not seen for a while. We did not get to see everyone we wanted to because of work schedules and such but it was good. Micah (our now 13 year old) got to see and experience a beautiful snowfall. We were able to attend our son JB’s junior classical guitar recital. The time away (coupled with many hours behind the wheel) afforded me the opportunity  to do a lot of meditating, thinking, and planning. I must confess that I needed the time away.

As good and enjoyable as the trip was, Kim and I both said when we walked through the door, “It is so good to be home.” Most of us have had this feeling of getting back home after an extended time away. Why is it so? What makes home such a great place to be? 

Home is a place where we can be ourselves. If we want to walk around barefoot and in our PJ’s we can! If we want to kick back and do nothing at all, we can. If we want to raid the fridge for a little indulgence, no one cares. Most of the time it is a place where we can be who we are without wondering if we are offending someone or getting in someone else’s space. We don’t have to be on edge. And the valleys in our mattress fit us perfectly.

This is the feeling one should get when he comes to church regularly. Church should be a place where you feel comfortable being. It should be a place where you fit in and can be who you really are without putting on a facade. It should be a place where you look forward to going.

“Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”