Y'all pray, please.

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I believe in the power of prayer.  I really do.  So, I'm asking y'all to pray over a couple of things.


First off, I'm asking y'all to pray for rain in Northwest Louisiana.


I've never been one to bitch about hot weather, because I despise Winter.  And, even though we've been over 100 every day for so long that I can't remember when we weren't,  I will not complain.  I handle hot weather just fine.  But, I'll confess that the drought is wearing on me.  


I've lived all but four of my almost 52 years here in NW Louisiana, and I know for certain I've never seen it this dry.  I mean, I can drink a bottle of water and tinkle dust.

This here is my normally beautiful, green St. Augustine grass.  

 BTW, those leaves you see are from our pecan tree in the back yard.  The dang pecan tree is already shedding due to the dry weather!

Yep!  My normally beautiful, green St. Augustine grass looks like crap.  I would try to lay it off on chinch bugs, because they feast on St. Augustine grass.  But, I can not.  


Nope!  Chinch bugs always start from the pavement/sidewalk/driveway/whatever, and work their way in.

As you can see, this here is what it looks like near the concrete.  

Not Chinch bugs!!!

This here is the front yard at Andy's Place.  

We've got a bit of green beneath the Native Oak that keeps enough shade all day.  But the rest of it is just a testimony to how miserably dry it is here in NW Louisiana.  So, would y'all please bombard the throne of Heaven?  Please!


The second thing I'm asking y'all to pray about is for a friend of mine (we'll just call him "Mr. E").  I went to see him  today.  I knew he was in a rehabilitation facility, and when I got there the nice lady at the desk told me that he was not there.  He had been taken to the ER at a hospital just across the street.  I was like, "DANG!" and found my way to the ER, where I visited with Mr. E for a good long while.


I love the old guy.  Really, I do.  He is one of the finer men I've been blessed to know.

I'm not going to bore y'all with all the details about how I know him, or about his condition, or what we talked about.  I'm just going to tell you all that before I left his bedside he asked me to pray...and to ask everybody else to pray.


Mr. E needs it...and he asked for it.  So, if you've got a spare prayer stored up somewhere, I'd appreciate y'all spending it on Mr. E.

And, rain for NW Louisiana.  Don't forget about that, please.

Thanks, y'all.
  

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

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OOOOOPS! Pastor uses the "F Word" in church...

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On a spiritual note...

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I'm giving up meat for Lent.  That's right!  No beef, pork, or fowl of any kind!!!

But, I'm not giving up fish.  Jesus fed fish to folks, so I'm hangin' with it.

Friday Night Lights...

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Okay, it's time for a tear-jerker.

Our good buddy, and regular contributor, Paul the Fireguy sends this along.  


You might have mixed emotions about this (as I do).  But, ya' can't deny that Christian folks that do Christian stuff have WAY more impact on the lives of those that have, or just might fall through the cracks, than all the gubmit programs combined.


First, the computer letter he sent, and then the related video.  (I rarely ever post 6 minute videos, but I wanted to give y'all the option of looking at the story).

In the fall of 2008, there was an unusual high school football game played in Grapevine, Texas.  The game was between Grapevine Faith Academy and the Gainesville State School.  Faith is a Christian school and Gainesville State School is located within a maximum security correction facility.

Gainesville State School has 14 players. They play every game on the road. Their record was 0-8. They've only scored twice. Their 14 players are teenagers who have been convicted of crimes ranging from drugs to assault to robbery. Most had families who had disowned them.  They wore outdated, used shoulder pads and helmets. Faith Academy was 7-2. They had 70 players, 11 coaches, and the latest equipment.

Chris Hogan, the head coach at Faith Academy, knew the Gainesville team would have no fans and it would be no contest, so he thought, “What if half of our fans and half of our cheerleaders, for one night only, cheered for the other team?" He sent out an email to the faithful asking them to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send," Hogan wrote. "You're just as valuable as any other person on the planet."

Some folks were confused and thought he was nuts. One player said, "Coach, why are we doing this?"

Hogan said, "Imagine you don't have a home life, no one to love you, no one pulling for you. Imagine that everyone pretty much had given up on you. Now, imagine what it would feel like and mean to you for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."

The idea took root. On the night of the game, imagine the surprise of those 14 players when they took the field and there was a banner the cheerleaders had made for them to crash through. The visitors stands were full. The cheerleaders were leading cheers for them. The fans were calling them by their names. Isaiah, the quarterback-middle linebacker said, "I never in my life thought I would hear parents cheering to tackle and hit their kid. Most of the time, when we come out, people are afraid of us. You can see it in their eyes, but these people are yelling for us. They knew our names."

Faith won the game, and after the game the teams gathered at the 50-yard line to pray. That's when Isaiah, the teenage convict-quarterback surprised everybody and asked if he could pray and he prayed, "Lord, I don't know what just happened so I don't know how or who to say thank you to, but I never knew there were so many people in the world who cared about us."

On the way back to the bus, under guard, each one of the players was handed a burger, fries, a coke, candy, a Bible, and an encouraging letter from the players from Faith Academy.

What an incredible act of Christian witness and kindness and goodness that was. 

-Dr. Tim Thompson

Our wish for you all...

"...in all our trials, born to be our friend..."

BE BLESSED TODAY!

HE ain't there!

As Miss Elizabeth used to say, "Thank God for Jesus!" 

I just loves me some Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir...