Sunday on the Coast

We had a good number this morning with great singing. The group from Shelbyville, TN are great singers and they added a lot to our worship. Their preacher, Jeff Smith, was here today and I enjoyed meeting him. Our summer youth intern is here. Will Collins will be working with us for the next few months. Will is a talented singer and musician. I'm looking forward to having him around. This morning I preached from Psalm 103 on What The Fatherhood of God Means to Me. After that I taught a class from some notes by Norman Bales on the subject of Overcoming The Obstacles to Happiness. Both were well received as far as I could tell! Margaret hasn't been feeling well so the kids and I ate at La Fiesta Brava for a Father's Day lunch. Now I like to eat there often, so in one sense it wasn't special...but to be with them was special to me! This afternoon I went to the hospital and visited a 96 year old man who fell through his ceiling to the floor. He is in bad shape but good spirits. I also visited a lady whose house we are working on. She was especially appreciative of the prayer we had together. Then I went to Wal-Mart. I bought some tires a few months ago and one of them lost a segment of tread recently ... so they replaced it. I ran into the Boswells there, and we enjoyed an hour of conversation while we blocked an aisle. I got a haircut also ... and the stylist was upset about an unruly customer. Let's just say that I was a bit nervous at her anger and she was bearing down with that buzzer a little harder than usual. I just finished TORN ASUNDER: The Civil War and The 1906 Division of the Disciples by Ben Brewster. Ben preaches for the Airline Drive Church of Christ in Bosier City, Louisiana. I am speaking there Wednesday night and wanted to read his book before getting there. I picked it up at Tulsa back in March. I really enjoyed this small volume (133 pages) and learned some things I did not know about our Restoration Movement history. Of interest to me was the difficult relationship between J. W. McGarvey and David Lipscomb, and the failed effort of T. B. Larrimore to get those two to find common ground. I recently was sent a very old copy of Larrimore's Letters and Sermons in a volume that is barely hanging together, but still readable. I would encourage you to purchase a copy of Torn Asunder and give it a read. I recently ordered and received in the mail new books by John Alan Turner and Dallas Willard. A certain author who reads my blog promised a book via mail, but I haven't received it yet. :) Of course if you are in the Shreveport / Bosier City area, I would love to meet you Wednesday night at 7:00. I'll be speaking on the subject, "We Need Each Other" ... and I'll tell you more about that later. Sometimes people who come to work choose to stay in a hotel rather than in the warehouse bunks we offer. That poses no problem to us. While talking with Loree Boswell today, she mentioned the Moss Point Oaks Bed and Breakfast. Now I know it sounds like an oxymoron to say to your friends that you went to the Coast to do hurricane relief and stayed in this wonderful bed and breakfast! Stop laughing! I will say this, it is a beautiful place, they have a breakfast included in the price, and it is less expensive than the hotels in the area. I promise not to laugh at you if you stay at the B&B, but I wouldn't tell your friends back home. Well, that's all the news here that I know. I hope to give you some more thoughts tomorrow. This will be a busy few weeks ahead with lots of travel... but I will have to give you that info in a post very soon. I will say that if there is a church in Western Kentucky or Central-Western Tennessee that would like me to come and visit and report on our work on Sunday, July 2, let me know as quickly as possible. Thanks!