Doggles

Doggles.....now your family pet can have eye protection just like you. This is a picture of my sister's dog Avery. She is wearing (reluctantly) the gift I bought for her this Christmas. I think these things are cool enough to wear on the slopes, but they are just a bit uncomfortable on the nose. Yes, I tried them on. I thought they looked good too.

Fire in the Sky

"By day the LORD wen ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people" Exodus 13:21-22

I wonder how long it took the people of Israel to forget that this pillar of cloud by day was offering so much relief to them. Since God was so consistently there, they probably forgot how close he really was. This sometimes happens in medicine. Someone is on a medicine for so long they begin to think the medicine is not working because they don't feel different. It isn't until they come off of this medicine that they realize how much it is helping them.

I find that I do the same thing with God at times. I become some comfortable with His presence that I forget how much I need Him. I start losing my time in the morning more and more until I find I am a week behind in my reading. How do we do this with a God who is so loving and so gracious to us. If we only knew the scorching heat he was protecting us from we would run to him first thing every morning and cling to him until we fall asleep every night.

"The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance" Psalm 16:6

Sunset at Roca Blanca

"I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me" Psalm 16:7

I need a sponsor for Christmas

This child needs a sponsor. For only $28 a month you can help this child in many ways. $28 dollars is about the same as 1 date night for a couple, one ticket to a Razorback football game, half of one new XBOX game, need I go on?

I have been sponsoring a Compassion child from Mexico for 5 years and enjoy it very much. I think the best thing about the program for me is receiving the letters I get from my sponsor child, Erika. I had the privelage of meeting her this past February while on a trip to Mexico. She was so excited that I was coming because she wanted to know that I was "real". Many of her friends had been telling her that I did not exist and I think she was starting to believe it. The first thing she wanted to do when I arrived was to take me to her school to show me to her friends. Many of them now want a sponor also.

If you want to sponor Abdul, all you need to do is to click here. If you don't feel led, maybe direct someone else who would to this site. He has a birthday coming up in one month, so make his wish and become his sponsor.

Shotgun Rules

Just in case anyone has a question about the Official Rules for Calling Shotgun, click here

Clouds

"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty. The Eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" Deuteronomy 33:26-27a

Saudi Arabia part 2

"Although S.A. signed the U.N. charter, which guarantees freedom of religion, Saudis who confess Christ face the death penalty if discovered. Still, a growing and substantial number are secretly seeking and finding Him. All converts discovered in the past have been executed."
-Pray for the preservation and multiplication of believers, and the legalization of Christianity for Saudis. Pray that Saudi believers may be able to meet together in safety and have access to God's Word. (Operation World)
The "persecution index" for Saudi Arabia is #1 in the WORLD.
-Pray for the persecuted Christian in S.A. and their families.

If you ask yourself "What if God called me to S.A.?", it makes you really think hard about your commitment to the Lord, knowing you would be going to the country that basically kills every Christian that is discovered. How would you prepare for going to a country such as this, even if it was for a business meeting, knowing you couldn't take even your Bible or you risk possible execution? We really lose perspective here in the States.

Sunrise

"The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets" Ps 50:1

Operation World: Saudi Arabia

In light of what we have been discussing at The Grove, I would like to start "publishing" a nation each week to pray for. I chose S.A. this week b/c of what is going on there with the recent terrorist attacks.

Drew mentioned the book "Operation World" in church, of which I recently obtained a copy of at Grace Church while hearing one of the author's Jason Mandryk speak. I will mention ways to be praying for S.A. throughout the week based off of what I read in Operation World.

Pray for "easing of tight control, and for freedom of religious expression".
Pray "that the Saudi believers may be able to meet together in safety and have access to God's word".

Harris Creek Falls

"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells" Ps 46:4

"Then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine" Proverbs 3:10