Prayer, please!

I am sending out a request to everyone who reads this blog...

We still own our house in Pflugerville, and it needs to sell!!! I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are in the will of God.
I know what the "market" says about houses selling.
I know the economy is down.
I know all these things.
But... I know we serve a faithful God who hears when we pray.

I would also like for you to pray for Wendell & Linda Elms' house to sell and for Andrew & Mandy Elms' house to sell.

I believe God has a plan and that when one sells it can be like a domino effect. Thanks for believing and praying with us!!

Trying to "ketchup"...

So many things have happened, that it is almost too hard to comment!  We were so blessed to attend "Because of the Times" last week in Alexandria, Louisiana and heard from God in a mighty way.  We enjoyed seeing many friends and family in the 2400+ person crowd.

It was our privilege to have Nathan and Ronda Hurst (Karla's sister) with us in our services on Sunday on their way home from BOTT to Hollister, California.  His ministry is incredible and I will not soon forget the message from Sunday night.  It is a life-changing one.  You can listen to it on our church website audio page.  We had two receive the Holy Spirit that night for the first time and others were refilled.  God is adding to His church and it is exciting!  We so enjoyed spending time with family and hated to see them go.  

We received word this week that the church in Pflugerville, under their new pastor, Chad Harper, had three receive the Holy Spirit in the last two weeks and are scheduling 16 new Bible studies!  We are so excited.  They have also purchased property and are remodeling again, but this time they own it.  There is no feeling like knowing something you put your life into is progressing.  Thank you, Jesus!

Today, there is no school here.  It is 23° and ice is covering everything.  I have some appointments, so I guess I will go see if the Jeep will slide through it all.

Random "ketchup", but this is our life!

Rushing, Mighty Wind...

Many of you have already heard, but I just had to stop and give an account of the weekend for our records if nothing else. God did some amazing things! This was a turning point weekend.

We finally have everyone in the computer and our new attendance system is underway. This is the second week to have it up and going and we had 272 in attendance this past week. We are believing God to go over 300 shortly. They say that this is a barrier and once you get past it, you will be to 400 in no time. Whatever the case, we are ready to break into areas that we have not been before, not for a number's sake, but to see lives impacted.

Saturday night we had 7 guests with us in the Spanish service and God's spirit was poured out upon them! Most of them were refilled and touched greatly by the service.

Sunday morning, we had 25 guests with us in service. A family of five, who only speak spanish, came in and sat on the back row, using our listening devices and interpreters. God dealt with their heart and they prayed during altar time. They returned Sunday night, and in the middle of praying for the sick, God began to touch the gentleman and he was filled with the Spirit and his wife was very close to it. After talking to them, they told me (through Bro. Ojeda) that he had once had the Spirit, but it had been 4 years since he was in church. He said that he was seeking God for a church and as they drove by, he felt God tell him that this was the place. He asked God to give him a sign during the morning message and He did. They had not been invited by anyone. Come to find out, their children are in class at school with two teachers in our church. They were so excited to find a church home.

After this "altar time" we went on with service. As the choir sang, the was a rushing mighty wind come through the auditorium. I really don't know how to explain it, but it was a gushing move of God that actually swept the sanctuary and it continued for an hour or so. At some point, God spoke through tongues and interpretation. I can only remember parts and it may not be exact words, but in essence, He said, "Can you see it? Can you see what I am doing? Bring me the hurting. Bring me the destitute. Bring me the sick. I will answer their cry. This is beyond what you can imagine. There will be victory." He laughed several times in the message and as He repeated, "There will be victory," the noise of the crowd swelled in a shout of victory that sounded like a freight train coming through. I honestly can say that I have never experienced something so powerful in His presence.

During all this time, we had a brand new young man receive the Holy Spirit, and two more backsliders that were visiting with us refilled. We also had a young man who was there for the second time, weeping and seeking to be filled.

Those who received the Spirit last weekend, were back in service today, worshipping and getting refilled. That is key to their survival!

There was no flesh that could glory in what was done today. It was God and God alone. May you have a blessed week. I'm expecting miracles!

"Nothing"

HAPPY "NOTHING" DAY!!

According to Paul Harvey News, today is National Nothing Day. It has been set aside as a day with no holiday or special occasion to observe.

So... I hope you all are enjoying this day of "nothing." Yeah, right. 

Have a spectacular weekend!!

New House Pictures & "The Message"

I hope you all are having a wonderful 2009. We are! God is doing mighty things in Wichita Falls. Life is just exciting.

I thought I'd post a few more pictures of the progress on the house. It always goes slower than you want it to, but once it's finished, we will be very happy with the results.

The MANY colors are beginning to disappear.

New bathroom cabinets have been put in.The entertainment center has been installed in the game room.

We are looking forward to moving in - hopefully not too far in the future. Life is busy and will only get busier, but that's the way I like it most of the time.

One more thing: Cameron gave me a "Message" Bible for Christmas, and I love it! I'm reading in James and this passage caught my attention.

James 1:22-25 (The Message)
"Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don't act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like. But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God - the free life! - even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action."

I don't want to just be a "hearer" of God's word, but I want to take action on what He is speaking to me personally and to us as a church.

Those of you who are still keeping up with blogs, I pray you have a great "rest of the week."

Holy Spirit Rain and more....

Just wanted to let you know that we had two receive the Holy Spirit this morning and two baptized this past week. We are excited to start the new year off with a bang!

The gentleman who was filled this morning was baptized about a month after we came and he has been getting his life together. He works with a fine gentleman in our church (who has been a great witness and friend) and has talked with me multiple times in the intervening months. He came in this morning and told his friends that he was coming to get the Spirit today! He didn't leave disappointed. In fact, he joined us at the front during worship and started a downpour.

Saturday afternoon, our Junior Bible Quiz team members had an Exhibition Tournament and it was awesome! We are so excited for the children that are involved. They go to their first tournament two weeks from yesterday. One of the members won second place at Nationals last year paired with someone from another church, so he is experienced. Everyone else is brand new to it all, so I think they are doing great for the first year. Thanks to Chris and Christina Isom for their dedication to this cause.

Saturday night was service for Tabernaculo de Vida and God was so near. We had an extended prayer time at the close of the service with a lingering sweet presence of the Almighty. I believe we will see results from the faithful support of this church plant in 2009. We are ready now for the Spanish speaking community. God will fill it.

Have a great week. He cares for you.

2008 in Review

While reading other blogs, I was inspired to write a "year in review." But... instead of writing, I decided to show you through pictures (thanks for the idea, Lori). Hope you enjoy it - if you can sit through the WHOLE thing! LOL!

Back in Gear!

What an awesome time we had yesterday! Most everyone was back home and the church was full. Oh sure, we could fit more in, but the gaps have been filling and that's great. We started our new attendance system yesterday, although most of those who attend would never know. I won't bore you with the details, but we are excited to finally be able to keep up with the totals within our computer software. This allows us to keep a more accurate record of everyone who attends the various functions (Sunday classes, General services, Spanish services, youth activities, etc.)

We were privileged to baptize another soul last night and today started our 30 Days of Prayer focus. We are so happy to have Sis. Ann Deaver as our new Prayer Coordinator. She is doing incredible! She is a prayer warrior herself and has some exciting ideas that we will be enjoying as the year unfolds.

We had a guest in service with us, Bro. Jonathan Johnson. He was at the Lighthouse Ranch for Boys during the time that my father-in-law, Murray Layne, was director. He is living for God and preaching the Gospel!  He just wanted to check in with someone kin to Bro. Layne. 

  

He told me stories, in just the few moments that we got to talk, that will always be in his memory and have impacted his life. He could not believe how in love a couple could be at the Layne's age! Jonathan remembers Sis. Layne even sitting on Bro. Layne's lap one day as he explained, "This is the love of my life, boys. This is what you want for your life!" He also said that Bro. Layne's hand would shake, but when it came time to stand up to one of the bully boys, there was power behind that hand. This young man and Joe Navarro, who also was at the ranch at that time and attends our church, had a chance to catch up on the years.  Joe spoke a few weeks ago and is pictured at the bottom of this post.  We failed to get a picture of Jonathan. You never know the impact that your life and actions will have on people for years to come. We better do what we can, while we can.

I'm glad to be "back in gear" because that means the wheels are turning again. Have a productive week.

Stay away from McDonalds...

With all of us making "that" new year resolution, I thought I would remind you to stay away from McDonalds. The picture above is titled, "McDonald's Reaches Africa." Maybe you have seen it before, but it made me laugh! I think I will wait until next Monday, though. It is the logical time to start watching the fatty foods. We are still in holiday mode and school starts then and the weekend is coming and you know, I don't want to start today!! :-) Don't you feel the same way?

Happy New Year 2009

We are excited about the new year and what it will bring! We spent last night celebrating our friends and family in a wonderful service and a time of fellowship afterward. We enjoyed a look back at 2008 through the "Year in Pictures." It was a blast! We had a casual get-together with soup and games.

All sorts of games were being played...
and talking and talking and talking!

We welcomed some "new" folks back home! The Petty family have purchased a new home in Wichita Falls.

Sis. Janet is usually behind the camera, so we caught this one of her!

Wii cow races! Really cool on a projector!

May you have a wonderful 2009 and see marvelous things happen in your life. We love all of you - our family and friends. You make life fun!