Gaither Weekend

On the first weekend of April, Sharon Bivens & I headed to Fort Worth for a weekend of music. It was a Gaither Homecoming weekend beginning on Friday night and ending Saturday night. Many people do not understand how we can sit through so much music, but I LOVE IT!!! It's so much fun!!! Sharon & I have been going to concerts in Fort Worth for 25 years or longer.

Friday night began at 7:00 p.m. and ended around 11:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon began at 1:00 and ended around 4:00. Saturday evening began at 6:00 and ended about 10:00. So as you can see, we sat through 12 hours (and possibly more) of music! I'd go again this weekend if they were coming back. LOL!

I put together a slideshow - for anyone who's interested. My next goal is to attend National Quartet Convention. An entire WEEK of music!!

We Haven't Completely Disappeared!

Just wanted to let you all know we haven't fallen off the end of the earth. LOL!!

In the past few weeks I attended a weekend of Gaither Homecoming Concerts in Fort Worth with my friend, Sharon, and IBC MusicFest with our Music Director, Kassie.

Cameron has been to New York City with the Rider High School ACAP Choir.

Gene has been to Texas District Conference in Lufkin.

Chad has been holding down the "fort" for us all to get home from our travels.

We have pictures to post and details to publish. Hope to get those up ASAP.

Have a great Wednesday night!

Easter

Easter was wonderful around Life Tabernacle! God is still doing incredible things and changing lives. We had around 140 visitors - probably more - the final count won't be in for a few more days.

This morning Gene preached a message entitled "His Dying Wish." I'm so thankful that Jesus' dying wish was for me (and you) to have abundant life. We baptized one this morning and had several in the altar. I'm so excited to see these lives changing!!

After the morning service, the kids had an Easter egg hunt. They always have fun with this.
Tonight was good ol' Apostolic church! God moved into our worship service in a mighty way. After a time of prayer and worship, Gene preached "Miracles at Midnight." Awesome message delivered from a passionate pastor's heart. I can't wait to see what miracles come to pass for the saints of Life Tabernacle!!

I always insist that Cameron and Chad let me take Easter pictures. It's an adventure to say the least. Here are a couple of the results. I have MANY of the process but not enough room to share those with you. Let's just say, they hear a lot of exasperated sighs from me - then they do more to get me to react more. I wouldn't trade those times for ANYTHING!!!
Below is the "annual" picture to see how tall they are. Looks like Cameron still has some height on Chad, but we're not sure how long that will last! Chad is anxious for the day he is taller than his "big brother." As for me... I'm looking up to both of them now!!!
You know, there is nothing greater for me than to see my boys worshiping God. Tonight was one of those times when I found myself in awe of how God is moving in their lives. I'm so thankful they had the opportunity to attend Holiday Youth Convention this past week. They came home telling us of the messages they heard and how God had spoken to them. Thank you to Bro. Michael Ensey and Bro. Scott Graham for preaching to their hearts. Thank you, also, Bro. Ensey and the Texas Youth Committee for your dedication to make these events possible. And thank you to Bro. Trevon Norman (LT Youth Minister) for taking the time for our youth to attend this event.

This last picture is of Chad and Heidi Jordan. I just thought it was adorable and had to share it with you all!
This week will be a busy one. Kassie (LT Music Director) and I leave Tuesday for Music Fest in Indiana. Gene has District Conference in Lufkin beginning Thursday. Cameron is headed to New York City with the Rider ACAP choir on Friday. Chad will be with Grandma & Grandpa - being spoiled rotten!! LOL!

I pray that you all have a tremendous week and that you experience miraculous events in your life!

Remembering 30 years ago today...

I remember this scene so well.  I cannot believe it has been 30 years ago.  As we heard the sirens and looked out our back door to this sight, I can still remember the still in the air, the roar of the "train" and the fear in my heart as I saw this tornado getting larger.  April 10th will always be linked to the words, "Terrible Tuesday" in Wichita Falls.  It looked like it was headed straight for us.  In the picture above you can see three funnels just touching down right before they became as single, 1.5 mile wide funnel.  The building to the left is McNiel Jr. High, where I attended school.  The picture below is of the school afterward. (My tennis racket and clothes are in that pile somewhere!)  It is not the strongest, nor the largest on record, but it is one of the most destructive because of the wide 8 mile swath it cut through the middle of the city.

Today I remember a friend of mine, Richard Sherman, who was a student at McNiel at the time.  He lost his life in the storm, from what I remember, because he thought the tornado had passed over and raised up from the ditch too soon— the eye of the storm is calm.  42 individuals lost their life on that day.  The warning system was a great blessing that day, as it saved many lives by making them aware of the coming storm.

An interesting note:  After the tornado, scientists studied the destruction and noticed an important thing--in houses that weren't completely blown away, there was usually an interior closet or bathroom still left standing. People who took refuge in these rooms generally survived the storm. Since that time, weather experts have encouraged residents to take advantage of these interior rooms, which is why you hear that recommendation when a tornado warning is issued.  I can still remember being amazed by the little closets still standing when the rest of the house was completely gone!

We started school the next week at Rider High School, which was also partially destroyed.  The Jr. High went from 6am to noon and the High School went from noon to 6pm for the remainder of the school year.

The years have come and gone, but it is strange how those kind of days never go away.  These things have a way of making you solemn.  Ricky died April 10th, 1979 in this tornado and my friend, Tim Hodgson, died May 30th, 1980 in a truck rollover I was in.  They changed my perspective on life and living.  

I guess today is just a day of remembering...

because I am also remembering One named Jesus, who gave his life for me.  I will not have it be in vain.  His death is my salvation.  He also changed my perspective on life and living.  I will never forget.

Spring Blast!

What a great time we had this weekend during our Spring BLAST... Building Lives And Spreading Truth! Children's Evangelists Joseph and Autumn Castorina were our guests for this weekend and we enjoyed their ministry. Friday night was a night of Building Lives at a children's workers training seminar. We were Spreading Truth with a Neighborhood Block Party at Fountaingate Apartments on Saturday and services on Sunday.

Above, you will see the moveable mic stand that Bro. Castorina used for his "Elsie" song. The mic stand was quite talented! We even had sound effects as you can see in the first picture. The wind was portrayed nicely by our music director and we even had an owl portrayed by Mr. Media himself! Bro. Joseph Ouellette, our Children's Minister, did an incredible job of putting the weekend together and leading Sunday night. He is the best!

We were so excited to have 4 filled with the Spirit and 3 baptized this weekend! God is working in the lives of MANY people and used the simple fun of a children's service to reach young and old alike. We already have two that have said they want to be baptized on Easter, this next Sunday. We're ready any day to see new ones commit their life to God!

It seems so much harder these day to take time and sit down to blog! Why is that? I am trying, I really am.

UPDATE: We are now closed on the house in Pflugerville. No more payments or utilities there! Yippee! It felt so good having them all turned off! All of our stuff is in the new house (mostly still in boxes) and we are enjoying it. Our oven and microwave have still not come in, Cameron doesn't have a light yet and there are no mirrors (or a door knob!) in their bathroom. I will post pictures when we have our things arranged.

Harvest Continues...

We are so excited to report that we had 9 more baptized on Sunday and several received the Holy Spirit. God is drawing people to us and we are reaching them where they are. There is an excitement in the air! One of those baptized Sunday was contemplating suicide last week and his friend had attended our Community Day. The friend called a contact from our church who was able to share God's love. This Sunday, both of those men were baptized in Jesus' Name and received a tremendous touch from God. After they were baptized, they hugged and one of them began crying out, "We're not drug addicts anymore!" It was priceless! The price was paid by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I believe that makes 27 baptized this month! One of those, who was originally reached by our pantry ministry and baptized during choir practice on a Monday, has passed away suddenly only two weeks after coming to the Lord.

Community Day Sunday we had one of our new lifer's delivered from cigarettes. He told us that his son said, "Dad, you look so different!" I even noticed a change in his looks before he told me of his deliverance.

This past Sunday night was our first bilingual service and it was incredible! The music, testimonies and the Word of God will always be remembered. "It is our moment." Get the glove and be ready to catch the ball! God is throwing it our way. You might want to carry an umbrella in faith that I preached about, too! :) I feel a downpour coming on! (I love these illustrations. It helps us retain what God is saying to our hearts.)

There is so much more...story after story. Just stop one of us and we will happy to spill it all over you! We so enjoyed the ministry and burden of Ken and Julie Cook. They definitely got in the trenches with us and helped us push this harvest over the top. These 3 weeks will never be forgotten and we WILL continue to personalize those who are missing from the family of God. Got to get to work.

Community Day 2009!

What an awesome time we had this past Sunday! We planned a Community Day and publicized it only by word of mouth with postcard flyers. We had 4000 of those flyers, canvassing neighborhoods and apartments all over Wichita Falls.  Ken and Julie Cook have been with us for two weeks,  teaching and preaching about the missing souls in our city.

Our sanctuary was filled with new souls.  We had at least 403 in service, including 67 in our Kid's Xtreme Service!  We had 301 the Sunday before, so it was a huge increase.  Our vans were filled to capacity and many saints used their cars for transportation.   The picture above is of the altar service, where everyone repented.  This was followed by 13 souls being baptized in Jesus Name and at least 4 being filled with the Spirit.  (I just heard of another one this morning!)  It was incredible!

The baptismal tank was busy!  We ran out of robes and had to reuse them!

Outside, we had the inflatable bounce houses/slides, burgers and giveaways.

God is really opening doors into the lives of these souls.  Words cannot describe the awesome experience!  More of these times are on the way.  The harvest is NOW!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful bride of 20 years! I have finally been able to sit down, find a picture on the laptop and put a post up. We have been packing our things all day and we don't have internet service, but....somewhere around us does! ;)

Karla, this year been a little different, but what a wonderful ride it has been! My wish is for an even greater year for you this coming year. You are a wonderful and fun-loving person who loves to be around others! In fact, our time with the Shaw's and Frazier's tonight was just what you love! I love you for who you are and am so proud of all you do. Your mother and daddy would be even more proud of who you are today. I love you!

We enjoyed a great dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and it even included cheesecake! Now we are all full and ready to get some needed rest. More packing tomorrow...

Exciting times!

This morning we had 1 filled the Holy Spirit and 3 baptized in Jesus Name!  

God is continuing to give us a harvest.  We now have 20+ new disciples of Christ that are being cared for.  It is quite a responsibility to nurture these new ones into a complete relationship with Jesus, but we are enjoying it!  Ken and Julie Cook, our evangelists, have been so awesome and have become a part of the body here.  We are so excited to see the church on the move.  Our crowd in the sanctuary was awesome this morning, back to what it was with the children in there with us.  Our kid's church, Xtreme, was full, too. They had a whole van load of new children!  Spanish church last night was packed out!  My heart is overwhelmed to think of what God is doing in our midst.  

Next Sunday is Community Day and we are looking forward to a large number of visitors.  We passed out over 1800 flyers yesterday and will give over 2000 more this coming week.  A waiter in Red Lobster came up to us today and told us that he will be coming next week with his whole family.  He still has our card that we gave him over two months ago!  God is leading the hungry into our paths... all of us.  Expect it, Life Tabernacle!

We leave after service tonight to go pack our things in Pflugerville.  The movers will pick up the boxes and furniture on Wednesday and we will finally have our things on Thursday.  We have almost forgotten what we have!  We will get back with you soon.

Okay...

I have to at least say something here!

Life Tabernacle is in the midst of MarchImpact with 24 hour prayer and fasting each week. This past week was our technology fast. This meant that we put aside all technology (non-work related), so I did not read or post blogs. It has been quite an eye-opener and has made an impact. This week we are fasting food for a day, next week we are fasting negative talk and the last week of March we will be doing the Daniel's Fast - no meat, sweets, etc. We are desparate to move beyond normal.

We started a time of training and harvest with Evangelists Ken and Julie Cook this weekend. They will be with us for three weeks. Yesterday we had two filled with the Holy Spirit and two baptized. Tonight during Choir practice, we had two more baptized! This is the just the beginning of what God is going to do. We have pictures that maybe we will find time to post soon. We will be having Community Day March 22nd and a bilingual service on March 29th. God spoke to us three times last weekend and again yesterday morning. Yesterday He told us that it was happening. Paraphrased— "Get ready for our backsliders to come home, our coworkers to begin to respond, those we have been working with for so long - they will make a move!" UNREAL! UNCOMMON! But happening. He is the God of this city! "Greater things have yet to come, Greater things are yet to be done in this city!" That song we now sing sums up exactly where we are. "He's the light in the darkness, the hope for the hopeless..." We enjoyed Keith, Carla, Mallory, and Taylor being with us last night at church, spending the night and having some fellowship time today.

Our house is in contract in Pflugerville!!!! YEAH! This means that must move our stuff out during the "harvest time," but God is going to help us. Our new home is getting floors laid this week and our kitchen wood floors are being redone at the beginning of next week. God worked a miracle to get our baby grand piano here! Sam Gibbs Music, here in Wichita Falls, sold pianos to someone in Austin and this meant that they had to deliver them. Then on the way back they stopped and brought our piano home! Thanks, Bro. James and God. He knows just what we need. The last two weeks have been non-stop painting and finishing at the house. Thanks to my Dad, Rita Frazier, Felicia Frazier and my wife for kickin' in and helping get things accomplished! The office staff at the church is incredible - Kenny Frazier and Priscilla Venegas are invaluable.

Right now, I am going to get some sleep....