daddy4ms

The community is invited to join me & others for a Dad & Kid Trip to Salina Waterpark this Saturday, June 28 Meet at church (610 W. Randall, Hesston) at noon to ... leave. Eat before you arrive. Admission prices are Children, ages 0-2: Free; Children, ages 3-17: $3.50; Adults, ages 18-61: $5.50.  

Here are a few pictures from Wednesday:

Today, I am headed to Atlanta with Bethany for the International Christian Retail Show.  I look forward to time away with my bride to celebrate our anniversary which was last week.  Also, it will be fun to receive free books and gifts and to meet authors.  Check back throughout the week for pictures!

This week, about 280 4th-6th graders from the Southern District are gathering at Tabor College for Junior Camp. I helped plan the evening all camp activities. Below you will see pictures from water day on Thursday.

In the adult Sunday School class I teach, we are going through our church's CHRIST acrostic. We have finally reached the letter "T" which is transparent relationships.  For this letter, we are looking at the "one anothers" in Scripture using Grace in the Empty Spaces by Mark McPeak as a resource.  This is a great resource for discovering how we are to treat each other in the body of Christ and beyond.

One of the books I picked up at Exponential this year was Transformed by Caesar Kalinowski.  He was one of my favorite workshop speakers.  Here are several quotes from his book: all of those disciplines are meant to be a means of creating space and time for God to act, for the Spirit to speak to us in intimate ways. The discipline itself is not what changes us--it is God's grace that does. The Bible teaches that if we are in Christ, we have become part of a family of missionary servants, sent as disciples who make disciples. For years I believed the bumper sticker theology that told me I was a "saved sinner" instead of the truth that I am now a saint (member of God's family) who still sins. It is not that we have to live this way. We get to. Sharing life together, centered on the gospel, is the closest thing this side of heaven to walking with Jesus in the flesh. Most of the things we've learned to do as missionaries just involve normal, everyday activit...

Today, I am sharing some more promises of God from the book of Exodus.  These were published by Kenneth Boa online.  The Lord is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (3:6).   The Lord took the Israelites as his own people, became their God, and brought them out from under the yoke of the Egyptians (6:7). The Lord raised up Pharaoh to show him his power and to cause his name to be proclaimed in all the earth (9:16). The Lord is faithful to his covenant promises and delivers his people through his powerful right hand (14-15). “Who among the gods is like you, O Lord?   Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” (15:11).

I finished reading Gospel at the end of April. I highly recommend the book.  Here are more quotes on relationships, generosity, and mission: It's impossible to really experience the grace of the gospel and not be transformed into a person of kindness, generosity, and love. You destroy the evil in someone by showing them extravagant grace. You are confronting them for their sake, because you are saddened by what their sin is doing to them, and what it is doing to your relationship. We should give in grateful response to a God who gave everything for us. When we give to God primarily in order to get more from Him, we are not worshipping God; we are using Him. Gospel-centered giving, by contrast, is characterized by freedom. We give in joyful response to the grace of Christ because there is nothing we'd rather do with our money than glorify Him and see His kingdom come on the earth. a spirit of generosity is simply not something you can produce by establishing a sta...

Here is a new song we sang in worship today:

Today is our 16th anniversary! I am thankful for the blessing of a wonderful wife, mother, manager, and follower of Christ.  I look forward to many more years together.  Love you, Bethany! I can't wait to celebrate this weekend and then again in Atlanta.

Here are the last few promises I will share from Genesis: The Judge of all the earth will always do right (18:25). God promised to bless Abraham and make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.   Through his offspring, all nations on earth would be blessed, because he obeyed God (22:17-18). You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (50:20)  

My post for today is over at http://www.1corinthians13parenting.com/blog/  today.  It is on Father's Day and the best gift we can give our children--prayer.  Please check it out!

I started sharing some of the promises of God from the book of Genesis last week.  Here are a few more for you today:  Abraham believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness (15:6). God established his covenant with Abraham and greatly increased his numbers, so that he became a father of many nations (17:2, 5).  Nothing is too hard for the Lord (18:14).

Listen to this song I heard driving to Newton this week. It was refreshing to me as we had just talked about "living water" as we journey through the Gospel of John at Hesston MB. Also, I love the message of thriving instead of surviving, digging deep to know God's love, and sharing that love with others. 

I was asked to write a post about our Conection 2014 speaker, Ed Stetzer for the new USMB website.  Go check it out and read why Ed Stetzer will be a great speaker as we gather in July in California.  The website is here. You can also register to attend the conference at that site as well. 

As I mentioned yesterday, we sing and are encouraged and share the promises of God.  But how many do we actually know?  Today, I am beginning to share the promises of God from Scripture.  Today, we look at the beginning of the book of Genesis. God made man in his image, in his likeness, and gave him dominion over the earth and all its creatures (1:26-28). God blessed the descendants of Abraham, and all peoples on earth have been blessed through them (12:2-3; 18:18).

We sing about them.  We are encouraged by them.  But do we know them?  What are the promises of God?  Today's Bible verse reminds us that all the promises are yes in Christ.  I will be sharing various promises of God over the next few months.  Check back often. 18  As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19  For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20  For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 21  And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22  and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 1:18-22)

Are you standing on the promises today?  Listen to this medley of songs by Selah.