Remebering the Cost of our Freedom

The site is overwhelming. Acres upon acres of headstones, covering the graves of soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in service for our country.

To this day we live in freedom. But freedom will never be appreciated as much as it should be unless we realize that it came at such a high cost. We work, play, worship, recreate and travel where we want. For over 200 years we've never known anything different.

With freedom comes responsibility. You and I must commit to live our lives as citizens in such a way as to honor the fact that it is a privilege to be an American. I've traveled many places in the world, seen more sights that I ever knew I would see, and have felt the oppression of being in a communist state. While I can clearly enunciate the problems with our country, I still believe that we live in the best place...America. I love to travel the world, but I love the fact that America is my home.

As a believer, I am aware that I experience a freedom that no oppressive government or communist state could ever take away. I live in eternal freedom because of what Jesus Christ did for all of us on the cross. His death was the ultimate sacrifice...all for you and me.

May you and I wake every day in the freedom of our nation, to live in freedom we experience because of grace, and determine that how we live will show how very thankful we are for all we have and all we experience.

"Get up...the game's only half over."

On New Year’s Day in 1919, Georgia Tech played the University of California in the Rose Bowl. Shortly before half time, a man named Roy Reagals recovered a fumble for California. Somehow he became confused and he started running 65 yards in the wrong direction. A team mate tackled him just before he would have scored for the opposing team. When California attempted to punt, Tech blocked the kick and scored a safety.

The team headed off the field and went into the dressing room. As they sat on the benches, Reagals put a blanket around his shoulders, sat down in the corner, put his face in his hands and cried like a baby.

Coach Nibs Price was silent. No doubt he was trying to decide what to do with Reagals. Everybody just sat there. When the timekeeper announced three minutes till the end of the half, the playing time, Coach Price looked at the team and simply said, "Men, the same team that played the first half will start the second."

The players got up and started out -- all but Reagals. He didn't budge. The coach looked back and called him again but still he didn't move. Coach Price went over to Reagals and said, "Roy, didn't you hear me? The same team starts the second half." Reagals looked up and with tears in his eyes he said, "Coach, I can't do it. I can't do it. I've ruined you. I've ruined the University of California. I've ruined myself. I couldn't face that crowd in the stadium if my life depended on it." Coach Price reached out, put his hand on Reagals' shoulder and said, "Roy, get up and go on back. The game is only half over."

None of us know what kind of year 2008 will be. What we do know is that as long as God has us on this earth, He has a purpose for our lives. Until then, the game is not over. He will give us all we need to keep on going, in good times and bad, in moments of victory and even in moments of defeat.

Psalm 27:1-2 (NIV)
Of David.

The Lord is my light and my salvation--
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life--
of whom shall I be afraid?
When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.

Papa's Letter to Olive

Dear Olive,
November 20, 2007, was a day that I had been looking forward to for a long time. We anxiously waited at the hospital for your arrival. I will never forget the look on your Daddy's face when he came out to the waiting room to show us pictures of you, our first grandchild. As he held up his camera, he told us that your name was Olive Elizabeth Haas. The baby we had been looking forward to since Mother's Day was finally here. We were so happy.
The first time I held you in my arms was an incredible moment. You are the daughter of my daughter; you are my granddaughter. I felt as if time had made moments out of years. It seems like just the other day that I held your Mommy in my arms and looked at her like I was looking at you. I thank God for the blessing of you and the home you were born into. Your Mommy and Daddy are pretty special people as you will find out soon enough. You were blessed to be born to a mom and dad that will love you and do whatever is necessary to provide everything you need. And, best of all, they love Jesus with all of their hearts and they will teach you about Him and show you Him through their lives.
Nana and I are going to have such fun with you. We will make many happy memories together. You will always know that we love you and that we want to be with you. We know you will face many kinds of experiences during your life. Some will be easy and some will not be so easy. We will help you to know that if you put your trust in God and rely on His Word, He will bless you in more ways than you could ever imagine. You have a wonderful life ahead and we look forward to what God is going to do through you.

I love you,
Papa

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."

The Smile of Thankfulness

The sight overwhelmed me. It was May 2006, and I was at a school somewhere in Kenya. Our team had gone to spend some time with children who had lost both parents to AIDS. Gathered in the courtyard of the school were over 300 children. It was just the beginning of what I could hardly believe I was seeing.

At one point I looked down to adjust my camera and my eyes saw the feet of one of the boys. One foot had a shoe and one foot was bare. My eyes immediately glanced upward to see who had only one shoe. There he was...smiling as if he had everything in the world to be happy about. I found myself somewhat in disbelief. Could it really be that a boy, having only one shoe, could smile so big? It was a certain smile and my eyes were not failing me. Indeed, the face you see on the right and the feet you see on the left are from the same boy. He was probably about 12 years old. Both of his parents had died of AIDS. He lived in an orphanage. He came up to us to greet us and thank us for coming to his school. I shook his hand, hugged him and told him it was an honor to be at his school. I thanked him for his friendliness and for the warm greeting he and the others extended to our team. In a few moments we parted ways. I turned to walk away with tears in my eyes. My heart had been blessed by the warmth and love of a boy with a thankful heart...a boy with only one shoe.

I will never forget the experience. That sight is locked up in the vault where countless other memories are stored, sights that I have witnessed all over the world. But never had I seen one having so little with such a smile.

As I approach Thanksgiving next I am reminded of how good God is and how I live with blessings too many to tell. I pray that in every way and in every circumstance I might convey thankfulness.

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Ordination to the Gospel Ministry in a Remote Place

This picture was taken in a remote village named Groserea in the region of Oltenia in the southern part of Romania. Only a bumpy, gravel road is the path that will take you to this place. The living conditions are unlike most Americans have ever seen, let alone experienced first-hand. But in that place, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is alive and well.

This service took place on November 4, 2007. In this picture, I am one of five pastors that are leading in an ordination prayer for my young friend, Dani Hardut. He accepted Christ when I preached at a youth camp in Romania in 1999. He has been special to me ever since. I have watched him grow in his relationship with the Lord and follow God's call to the gospel ministry. He and his wife Gia, have a baby boy named Timothy. At this point in their lives, they believe God has placed them in this region to spread the Good News.

Following their footsteps, I am reminded of the words of an old song that says, "Wherever He Leads I'll Go." Truly this young couple are living out that statement. They are among a growing number of young adults that I have the privilege of knowing that have sold themselves out to the will of God for their lives. How richer I am for knowing them.

I could wish that every American Christ follower would make a commitment to go to a place like this and spend some time ministering to the people there. The many comfortable aspects of our ministries are worlds apart from what is taking place in various parts of the world. We must remember that this world is not our home; we are here only for a season. Our home is in heaven. May we all, until we get there, make every effort to pray for servants like Dani and Gia, to give financially to missions, and to discover a way to go on a short-term mission trip that will open our eyes to the wonderful things God is doing all around the world.

Do Unto Others

Cruising for less than you think…

Two years ago, Cookie and I took our first Disney Cruise. Our experience was one of the most delightful experiences we have ever had. Half-way through the week something happened that was nothing we would have planned but turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

On the fourth night we returned to our stateroom around midnight. As we approached our door we could feel moisture in the air. As I opened the door I heard the sound of dripping water and quickly realized that something was wrong. Water was coming from the ceiling and the floor on one side of our room was soaked. I quickly called for help and moments later one of the ship's personnel quickly came to our aid. We were told that we would have to pack our bags and that someone would help us take them upstairs to a lounge area while we waited to be assigned another room. It turns out that a pipe had broken inside the wall and about 7 other staterooms also experienced flooding.

The Disney personnel were outstanding in how they treated us and with remarkable efficiency, tended to our needs in a most timely manner. While we were waiting we listened as several other passengers made unkind, even caustic remarks about "How they paid good money for this cruise and didn't deserve for something like this to happen." Cookie and I were amazed at how unkind and demanding some of those other passengers were, expecting to be well-compensated for the trouble they were experiencing. When one of ship's personnel asked how we were doing we assured them that we were fine and not to worry about us. About an hour later we settled into our newly relocated stateroom and went to sleep.

The next day the phone in our stateroom indicated that we had a message. We were being asked to meet with one of the captain's staff. We did. There was an apology for the trouble we had experienced and the gentleman told us that Disney was prepared to compensate us by refunding 25% of the cost of our present cruise and give us vouchers for 25% off the cost of a future cruise. We could hardly believe our ears. But there was more. We were told that the Disney staff shared about how we treated them during this midnight crises, with kindness, patience and with a spirit of not demanding anything. Such had not been the case with the other guests who had experienced their staterooms being flooded.

So, because we had been nice, because we had treated others like we would have wanted to be treated, Disney refunded that cruise 50% and gave us vouchers for 50% off a future cruise. We were ecstatic!

So, we just got back from another week-long Disney cruise. It's like we have experienced two cruises for the price of one. You see, it really does pay to do the simple things like treating others like you want to be treated. God has a way of blessing us when we are obedient to Him.

"Do unto others…as you would have them do unto you."

You never know how God may bless you for doing what He says. We've been on two cruises now for far less than you would think.

And no, we didn't pray for our stateroom to be flooded this trip!

Safely in His Hand

You may have already guessed. The little guy on the left is me. I'm in the hand of my father. So...here's the story of how God spoke to me through this picture.

I graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on May 15, 1981, with a Master's of Divinity degree. During my time in seminary, I was privileged to pastor a country church, Patillo Baptist Church. Cookie and I drove out each Saturday, stayed in a trailer on the church property and would return home to Fort Worth on Sunday evening. During that spring, we were anticipating the arrival of our first baby. As graduation approached I was longing for God to open a door that would allow me to be employed full-time as a pastor. May ended, June came and went and there was no call.

We went to Strong, Arkansas to spend 4th of July holidays with our friends, David and Laura Wilson. David had graduated a semester ahead of me. He was pastor of First Baptist Church of Strong, a church running about 200 people in attendance. They lived in a pretty brick parsonage. They were settled. We had a great time with our friends and then made the 5 hour drive back to Ft. Worth. The car was quiet much of the way. It was obvious that what they had is what we longed for, to have a place to serve that would allow Cookie to stay home and be a full-time mom with our baby that would arrive in October.

Later that night when we prayed I cried so hard. I poured my heart out to God and asked Him to open a door. I knew I had been faithful to surrender to His call and complete my theological studies. Now I was ready for Him to open a door. Days passed.

A couple of weeks later I was looking through some loose photographs that were special to me. I came across the one you see here and God spoke to me powerfully through that picture. It is as if He said,

"You see how safe you were in your dad's hand as he held you? Do you see the smile on your face as you looked into his? He protected you...provided for you and loved you. I am your Heavenly Father. Don't you think my love for you far surpasses that of your earthly dad? Trust me. I have something very special for you. Wait on me. Be patient. I love you more than you can imagine."

Within a few days our telephone rang. It was the pastor of our home church in Orlando, Jim Henry. He was calling to ask Cookie and me to pray about flying to Orlando and talking to them about leading a church that was practically dead. They asked me to lead it to turn around and grow and be a dynamic church for Jesus Christ. After a week, we called and said we would come for a visit. We met with Brother Jim and other leaders. Cookie and I drove around the east side of Orlando. All we could see was a vast sea of people that needed to be reached. God's calling became evident to us. First Baptist Church of Orlando voted unanimously to call me as the Mission Pastor of Parkway Baptist Church. We began a brand new ministry there on September 6, 1981. My how God blessed those years. I thought so many times about how God had spoken to me through that picture and what He had promised. How great is our God!

Yesterday, October 1, 2007, made 16 years since my dad died. I think of him often. I will always be grateful for his commitment to provide for me, including an education. I knew he was proud of me.

Today I thought about all of this and about the fact that the One who spoke to me that summer day in 1981 is not dead. He is very much alive. His faithfulness to me has been shown over and over again. He safely holds me in His hand and He will never let me go. He provides everything that I need. His love means more to me now than ever.

Whatever experiences you go through, remember that if you have put your faith and trust in God, He holds you in the palm of His hand. And because of that, you are forever blessed.

I am reminded especially of these verses:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future." Jeremiah 29:11

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch out of my hand. " John 10:27-28