Freda Green Homegoing...

Freda Holley Green, 77, passed away Saturday, May 23, 2009.

Funeral: 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in Mount Olivet Chapel. Interment: Greenwood Memorial Park. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Mount Olivet Funeral Home.   Survivors: Husband, Johnnie; two daughters, Connie and Judy; and nine grandchildren.

What a wonderful lady my aunt was.  Above you see her with her daughter, Judy King of Calgary, Alberta.  She was told 21 years ago that she had 6 months to live because of a disease that hardens your lungs.  She defied their prognosis and lived life to the fullest, all the while in pain.  She was full of laughs, life and had a direct line to God.  She was a part of starting the church we now pastor.  When Grandpa moved to Wichita Falls to start the church, Freda quit school to go to work and help support them during that time.  She played the piano for church, all three songs that she knew!  Her sacrifice is now a blessing to my family and everyone else who attends Life Tabernacle, Wichita Falls, Texas.

Our love and sympathy go to her two surviving daughters and her husband.  Thankfully, my wife and I were able to go with Dad (her brother) and Mom to see her on Friday.  She knew we were there and we had a time of prayer.  She passed away the next morning. We will travelling to Fort Worth this afternoon to be with them for the visitation tonight and the service tomorrow.  

Swing wide the pearly gates, she's home!

Ladies of Life Tea

Tonight was the annual "bring-a-friend" tea at Life Tabernacle. It was a great success. Special thanks to Priscilla Venegas and her crew that put the whole thing together. It was beautifully decorated and everything was wonderful.
Our theme this year was: "The Finer Things in Life - Friends & Chocolate" (thanks for the idea, Tracie). Of course, with that theme you know we had to have chocolate - and lots of it. There were chocolate cupcakes, a chocolate fountain, mocha punch, hot chocolate, and I don't know what else. LOL!

Of course, we also had sandwiches, meatballs, fruit, muffins, iced tea & hot tea to balance out all the chocolate we were consuming. We had five doorprizes - three of which were boxes of Godiva Chocolates. The other two were devotional books entitled "Hugs for Chocolate Lovers."

Joseph Ouellette organized a group of men to take care of the serving so that all the ladies could enjoy themselves. Thank you to him and the guys that came to help!!! And thank you to the young ladies who came to take care of the kids so the mothers could relax and have a great time.

As part of the program, Veronica Eddie had some readings she shared having to do with friendship. And Kassie Dutton sang a beautiful song about the best friend you could ever have.Stacey Shaw was our speaker for the evening. She did an incredible job. She spoke on the ingredients of friendship - comparing them to the ingredients that go into making a chocolate cake. She ended up by talking about the friend we have in Jesus Christ. Stacey is a very close friend of mine, and I was overjoyed that she and her daughter, Brooke, were able to come.

I am very thankful for the lives that were touched by Life Tabernacle tonight. There was a sweet presence of God as we were closing, and I'm quite sure I saw tears on some faces of those in attendance. Only God knows what is accomplished through these events.

Concert Slideshow

WoW! Concert and more...

All I can say is, "Wow!"  I have never been to a Choir Concert that ended on such a note.  The house was completely full with chairs sat out in the back.  There was an excitement in the air and every song brought praise to a God Who loves us.  The choir, trios, vida contantes and children's choir were right on and driving, if I can explain it that way.  By the time the last song and our cardboard testimonies, the river of the Spirit was flowing waist deep and above!  In the middle of the song, we had people kneeling at their pew praying and had some praying long after everyone else was gone.  

I talked with one of our new contacts from Community Day as tears were streaming down her face... she sought after Him wanting a complete transformation in her family.  He loves us and no one could deny that fact after being there.  Stories continue to come in about who was there and what happened to them.  A special thanks to Kassie Dutton, our music director, all the musicians, sound/media techs, usher/greeters, nursery staff, and every saint that promoted and worshipped.  You were all a part of this success.

Two weeks of prayer and fasting preceded this concert and many months of committed personalization with our contacts.  Postcards were sent to our guests that came to Life Tabernacle in the past few  months.  I am sure that miracles will be reported from this night.  

We will not stop here, though.  

We are three weeks away from our next whole-church outreach... a neighborhood block party.  We will now shift our focus to this neighborhood and God's desire for the residents.  We will first mail postcards to its 750 homes and then followup with door to door outreach the day before.  It is a predominately Spanish neighborhood and we are continuing to build a Spanish church.  Because of this, we will be offering English (ESL) classes twice a week this summer, Friday night and Sunday morning Bible studies and anything else the Lord opens the door to.  He orchestrated the English classes and provided the teaching materials through the WFISD.  July 12th is our next Sunday night Bilingual service.

Before the Block Party; the Ladies Tea is this coming Tuesday with Stacey Shaw, Austin, Texas speaking, Pentecost Sunday is May 31 and we will also be training our church members on Discipling twice a week during this time.

We are gaining ground.  We had so much fun at the concert and it truly is a joy to see lives impacted like they were.  It makes everything worth the time and effort!  

P.S.  We have been slow in posting to our blog, but so much is happening and so fast... it's all excuses, but they are true.  We are on Facebook and that has taken much of our attention.  It doesn't take so much time to sit down and type status updates as it does to write posts here.  We are still committed to this, though.  It is a great journal of all the happenings in our life.  I can still hardly believe all that has happened since we started this blog.  All I have to do, though, is click on the earlier year's posts and relive it all!  Wow.  What a ride!  Can't wait to see what He is up to now. 

 (I don't have any pictures of the concert!?  Only a few snapshots of after and rehearsal.  Sorry.)  

It's all about Him...

There is something so special about Him and His Name.  Transforming, in fact.  When our frail humanity, with all of it's shortcomings, comes in contact with this Holy God... transformation happens.  What we cannot handle, change or understand - He can.  I stand in awe at the miracles that are in our midst.  There are testimonies all around us.  I have one.  Do you?  Why don't we share it with everyone today?  

Our lives are truly all about Him, now and that's the way it is supposed to be.  We were created to know Him, to walk and talk with Him; for His glory.  From the concert program above, it became apparent to me that tonight is all about Him!  I can't wait to let my praise be heard.

Join us tonight...7pm.

Mom's are great...

...they give us more than cake!

Moms just know what you are supposed to eat, wear, say, go, ...everything...

Us Dads just say, "Whatever."  Cake for breakfast?  Sure.  I don't have to fix anything that way!

I am so glad God saw fit to provide us with someone in our lives who really pays attention to the details and cares enough to spend time getting them right.

My wife, Karla, is a great mom to our boys.  I give her honor today for making our home a place of refuge and fun.  God and family are the important things in her life and for that we are blessed.  We could not function without her, as I proved a few Wednesday nights ago when she was out of town!  We love you.

My mom, Joann, is such a sweet and faithful lady.  I am blessed to have a Mom who loves God and has served Him through all of my life.  She is also a great grandmother!  Thanks for every kind word and gesture of love.  You are loved.

Happy Mother's Day!  

May it be the best ever.

In Honor of Mother's

I hope all of the beautiful mother's in my life have a wonderful day tomorrow. Enjoy this video and know that you are loved and respected by many.
Happy Mother's Day!!!

2009 Life Tabernacle Choir Concert

EVERYONE IS INVITED!!!

New iPhone Application

I bought the iPhone Application Colorsplash yesterday and have been having so much fun with it. If you have an iPhone, this is definitely worth $1.99.

What happens is this: You can either take a picture with the iPhone camera or use a picture you already have on the iPhone. Colorsplash makes it black & white then you add back in the color(s) where you want it.

Below are some examples that I've done. Everyone should put this on their phone - it's more fun than a game. LOL!!

Pictures

I spent several hours yesterday scanning old pictures into my computer. I had so much fun looking through albums, so I thought I'd share a few of the "oldies" with y'all.

This first picture was taken at El Chico in Wichita Falls the day after we got engaged. This would have been in August, 1988!!! "We've come a long way baby!" LOL!!!!!
What can I say? I have a wonderfully goofy family. We were in Lufkin and all of us were fixing to head home. We had been at District Conference. Keith and Nathan just loved to have fun - here's the result when I told them I wanted a picture (early 90's).
Cameron is just a few months old in this picture - so it would be early 1992. He was born in October of '91. These are my grandparents - Grandpa & Grandma Pound - my mother's parents. They were wonderful Christians. Grandpa was a song leader and loved every minute of it. We even had "song-service" when we all got together as family for whatever the occasion.
Okay... So here's a couple more... just because they're SO CUTE!! The first one is Cameron. The second one is Chad.
I hope you've enjoyed a little walk down my memory lane and that this brought a smile to your face. I may post more at another time. Until then, remember to enjoy every moment of life as it comes. Don't live in the past all the time. And don't constantly be looking to the future. If you live that way, you will miss out on the wonderful things happening around you TODAY!!