Wow! It has been a while! What's going on?

 

I know, I know, I have not written a blog since June 25th. 

I love writing and sharing my thoughts in this format. But, MAN, has it been crazy busy? I have one more week of CRAZINESS, and then I pray things will begin to get into a rhythm. I often tell people, especially young people, "When you get old, BORING is a good thing!" I can't wait for things to get boring!

 So, what have I been doing?

Stephanie and I teach 6 BIBLE GROUPS each week, and I do one-on-one mentoring at least once a week. We LOVE IT and are overwhelmed how God is using us! We have also opened our doors to "the meeting place" for several groups to host meetings and joined a team planting a church in Fort Wayne. All of that is enough, but we also took six days off to take our granddaughter on her trip before starting her senior year of high school. NEXT UP - I preached Thursday night and am preaching again twice on Sunday. This week, I will be serving at a big motorcycle event in southern Indiana. 

AM I TOO OLD FOR THIS? 

NAAAAHHH - it builds character! 

Even though I haven't written much, I have still been deep in biblical study. One of the things I am studying and loving is the book of Revelation. We are still early at the beginning of the book (we are just starting the trumpet judgments.), but I am finding this book very practical and learning a lot more than I expected. This is one of my favorite verses so far:

"God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near." (Revelation 1:3)

This verse really convicted me. Pastors rarely teach out of the book of Revelation, even though most people are fascinated by it and want to understand it. I don't know of any other book in the Bible that tells us we will be blessed by reading it to our churches. AND I always viewed this book as documentation about things to come, prophecy and apocalypse. Yet, this verse says that we will be blessed if we OBEY it. I always thought we just read it to increase our awareness of things to come. Sure, "the end is near" should be an incentive to go out and share the gospel, but that message is just the tip of the iceberg.

I am so blessed to be serving the Lord in this capacity. Teaching people, asking questions, helping them search for answers is not a burden, but a great joy. Yes, life of some of our people get messy. Relationships aren't what they should be and sin still abounds. But, I am so thankful that regardless of the trials and struggles, people continue to seek and come seeking more from the Lord. Praise God!

Well, I might have a chance or two to write before I leave on Wednesday, but if not, I will see you or write more consistently when I get back!