29 May 2009

ON THIS DAY 

Yes its true, I am 59 today... and, I am holding:) After all, I never knew I would be this young when I got this old. And though no one day makes me feel less or more about me, still, when folks remember you so kindly, as many of you have this day, it warms the heart. So that when Mom called! This lady from whose flesh I came and by whose hands I learned loves touch, to say, "Happy Birthday, Son", I cried. And why? Well, does she not know me more than all? Oh God! Are YOU not MORE of this very same? How could a man turn from his mother? And how dare turn I from you? John. 3:16

ON THIS SUNDAY 

This Sunday our church will take a giant and historic step forward in preparing for its next years. Our early days are over. Temporary buildings have outlasted their usefulness. And the ministry of this wonderful church to this community now impacts people 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. We realize that in these economic times what we might want must play second to what we must do. For this reason I am excited about the proposal by our Building Committee and agreed upon by our Board of Trustees. So that Phase IV of our facilities will be accomplished in 3 steps, which will provide us needed space for education and ministry and improve and enhance the worship center we called 'temporary' 13 years ago.  (Don't you know God has a sense of humor)

If you are a church member of ParkwayHills, Plano, and have not pledged to our 'Opening Doors' campaign, please consider doing so. We will invite you all, through sacrificial giving large and small, to help us realize our goals of completing the planned Phase IV steps. We are committed to not increasing our debt, and grateful that the debt we do have is decreasing each year, placing less and less strain on our operational budget to percentages far less than most. 

Till Sunday, or next time, then...

Pastor Sam

26 May, 2009

I remember the day quite well. It seemed the entire church of Northway Baptist, Dallas, had joined us for the event. There I was walking back and forth between the Presby Dallas delivery area and waiting room, giving up to the minute reports to those who'd arrived. Then, at around 2:00 p.m., I went back one last time, now scrubbed and ready, and there found my bride, saying, "this is it"   She asked me, "what's going on out there?"  And I smiled to say,"there's a party going on." And so began what since has never changed - the 26th of May 1985, @ 2:38 p.m. - the birth of our daughter, Taylor, and the start of our party, FOREVER!

I would not question whether parents love their children less or more than we, but would add that much of what God has taught us since that day has been strategically accomplished through real-life application with both our children. They are a constant source of His challenge, blessing, responsibility and hope.  They remind us everyday of God - both the love side with its exhilaration, and the faith side with its, at times, anxiety and fear - and they speak to us, still, of how love does not possess but gives.  

It has been said that the rightful start for the 'disciple-er' of faith is his/her home.  I agree. Even when such appears frighteningly suspect. For, if not there, then where? And if there, then everywhere!   

Pastor Sam

Rainy Day's and Tin Roofs

I don't know exactly why I'm this way, but rainy days feel good to me.  Especially the slow, drizzling, kind. When weather comes in like this my favorite thing to do is to sit in our front room and look out the window to imagine that all of Dallas is being covered by a blanket and snuggling into repose.  My TV is off.  My computer is on only if I want it to be.  And my journal and Bible are close at hand.  

Now this happens with me because of a fond memory.  The memory of my boyhood, before my grandparents built their new 'brick' house (circa, 1959), and when they still lived on a small farm in the community of Pt. Enterprise outside of Mexia, Texas.  The old wood house was humble, but oh so fascinating to me.  It was heated by one large fireplace that opened on two sides - both into the parlor (or company) room and the main bedroom. The large kitchen, the center of all activity, featured a cookstove that never went out, which kept the backside of the house warm. On both the front and back of the house, under a grand, high-pitched roof, were two large porches. The back porch was 'screened in,' for summer sleeping - and the front for evening 'rocks' and watching the road.  The parlor (with it's fine furniture, crystal dishes and porcelain pretties) and main bedroom featured polished hardwood floors, but all other 'off'' rooms, including the kitchen, were covered by layers of linoleum - tacked down and worn through in places to reveal other layers from days gone by.  

Now my favorite memory from this old house is of cold or stormy nights - when we kids would be put to bed in Mama May and Papa's (pronounced Paw Paw) bedroom, out of the way.  There we were kept warm, and there we would enjoy their grand 'feather bed.'  Sometimes! (and oh those sometimes) after being tucked carefully in, and long after the rest of the house grew quite and the embers from the fire had died down, I'd awaken to a winter's rain peppering softly down on that grand, tin, roof.  Laying there, listening to that sound, I felt no fear, no threat, just a sense of being 'covered' - by love, safety, and forever. The storm - with its lightning and thunder -  brought no angst to me, just a joy of the covering that my body (and soul) felt inside.  I suspect it was the same covering as felt by King David as he hid in caves in the Judean hills. The same as that felt by Joshua, Peter and Paul as they lay in the prisons of their lives and times.  There's, too, was a covering greater than money, beyond circumstance, and one brought to them by God's love. 

So, yes!  A rainy day holds fond memories for me.  Memories of a feather bed, an old house, and a grand, tin roof.  But more, of the security that we can know in Christ as He covers us with His love.  

I am praying that your day - whether of rain or sun - will find you knowing the grace and mercy of Christ as your cover, as well... forever.   

Pastor Sam 

inspired by rain and Psalm 139:10-12