Wrather Thoughts

Malachi

2009-09-27T08:07:00.001-05:00

Malachi Struthers, a ten year old boy who fought cancer (neuroblastoma) for five years, and was our foster son for a brief time, passed away early yesterday morning. Malachi always began his prayers by saying, "Thank you Father for my life."

Tax Season is Over!

2009-04-17T10:06:00.002-05:00

Tax Season is finally over and Jeanie will be able to work more normal hours instead of the 13 to 14 hours a day she has been working. She was actually home yesterday all day which was wonderful!

Our Christmas

2008-12-25T09:59:00.002-06:00

We enjoyed visiting our son and his family at Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Our grandsons have grown and we had a great time with them. Returned home on Christmas Eve and will visit Jeanie's mother today.

Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!!

Wintertime

2008-12-16T10:36:00.003-06:00

It is definitely winter time here in Sweetwater, Oklahoma with temperatures down in the teens this morning. We had a light dusting of snow and it looks like there is still some light snow falling.

Our water was off this morning for a few hours but is back on now. That happens sometimes out here in the country especially in cold weather. In some ice storms we have been without water for several days at a time.

A group from our church went caroling Sunday afternoon and we cancelled services Sunday night as the weather was already turning bad and I am still trying to rest my voice but it is improving.

Update - Nick and Ed

2008-12-03T13:12:00.001-06:00

Nick's eye is healing well with no infection. Did not learn much about his vision from the doctor on Monday. He will return for another check up in January.

I will be having a small surgery on Friday to remove an ulcer on my vocal cord muscle. Will not be able to preach for a few weeks.

Thanks for all of your prayers!!!

Update - Nick's Eye Surgery

2008-11-19T14:11:00.001-06:00

Update - Nick's Eye Surgery

We are back home in Sweetwater. The doctor checked Nick's eye this morning and all is well. The prognosis has changed, however. When we talked with the doctor three weeks ago he said there was no hope for any vision and the surgery would only salvage the eye to prevent it from having to be replaced with a prosthesis. The doctor said this morning that Nick would have some sight in the eye but that it was too early to say how much. The vision can continue to improve for six months after surgery. This morning Nick did not have any vision in the eye but apparently there is now hope that will change as the eye heals. God is at work giving hope where there was no hope before!!

Thank you all for praying and please continue to pray for Nick!!!

Our Recent Trip

2008-11-13T16:53:00.000-06:00

For those who have not heard, our son Nick has lost the sight in one eye because of a detached retina and will be having surgery next week to stabilize it so that it won't have to be removed. After we found out about this we decided that we would go ahead and take a trip to Branson that we had planned for later. Nick is mentally handicapped with Down Syndrome and he has been a fan of the Oakridge Boys since he was a little boy (He is 30 now.). We thought it would take all of our minds off of what had happened and the surgery and I think that it did do that.

The eye surgeon told us when he said that Nick would not have sight in that eye that it was "Unfortunate." While listening to the Oakridge Boys they sang a song from their Christmas album. In the song a family has some bad things happen to them and repeatedly they say it was "Unfortunate", "Inconvenient", and then they say, "The most inconvenient Christmas ever was Was the first one, when God came so far To give himself to us So when stress hits each December How it helps me to remember God is with us most when things just can't get worse The most inconvenient Christmas ever was… was the first." It spoke to my heart and to Jeanie's.

I think we know why we needed to take the trip as we found God touching our hearts once again at a critical time in our lives.

Blessings!

Nick's Eye

2008-10-31T18:19:00.000-05:00

Nick had cataract surgery on both of his eyes last year. The same follow up was used with both eyes and all seemed to be fine. However, several months ago one of the eyes developed "Traction Retinal Detachment." Because it was so long ago when it occurred scar tissue developed which prevents there from being a restoration of the vision in that eye.

The surgery on November 18th will involve the following: "Scleral buckle, uitrectomy with membrane peel, laser air/fluid/gas exchange and silicone oil, left eye." If nothing was done to the eye it would shrink and eventually have to be removed and be replaced with a prothesis. There is little hope for any vision in the eye.

Thank you for all of your prayers!!!!!!

Hillary is Dead

2008-10-21T22:38:00.003-05:00

In her short life she had been a source of much joy to the entire family. She had her own beautiful personality and expressed it in many ways. She not only had a beautiful personality but she also was beautiful. Hillary was one of our cats and was six months old when she was run over early Monday morning. It is surprising how sad you can become over the loss of a cat!

The world is a little less beautiful than it was prior to Monday. However, I realize that since we were going to have Hillary's stitches from being spayed taken out that afternoon that it could be that Hillary somehow saved us from some problems. Since because of road construction it now takes 45 minutes to drive to the vet's location many things could have happened. I tried to start one of our cars this afternoon and the battery is dead. Which means that if I had had trouble at the vet's with the car or on the way that Jeanie would have had to come and pick up the cat while I was taking care of the car trouble. That would have meant that we both would have been traveling on what is sometimes a dangerous road. I think that Romans 8:28 is true and it could be that Hillary fulfilled her purpose in life by saving ours. Maybe we will know someday when we no longer see through a glass darkly. Thank God for all of His creatures and for one very special little creature named, Hillary!!

Storms

2008-05-23T22:52:00.004-05:00

Thunderstorms are flaring up across the Texas panhandle and into western Oklahoma tonight. A couple of tornadoes have already been spotted. Jeanie and I were talking earlier about how with the technology that is now available it is much easier to spot and verify that tornadoes have touched down. In the past when we were children our parents listened to the radio and there was little valuable information available about the storms. Our parents would put us in the storm shelter and they would go out and watch the clouds. They were blissfully unaware of how many tornadoes were touching down and causing damage all around them.

Nowadays we know very well that there are tornadoes and that they are very dangerous. However, some people still tend to ignore the danger just like in the past as in out of sight out of mind. But that does not make the danger any less real. Sadly, for too many they ignore the danger until it is too late and they find themselves in the path of the storm without taking the precautions that they should have taken.

Hopefully and prayerfully no one will be injured tonight and the property damage will be limited.

Update and Prayer Requests

2008-05-21T09:27:00.002-05:00

We've been away from home for a couple of days and returned last night. I plan to try to setup the projector again today. I messed up the resolution Sunday morning and may have to call for help. Definitely a learning experience.

Several Prayer Requests:

Inspiration for new devotionals

Our church appears to be in a summer slump already

Children and youth camps

Vacation Bible School - dates & workers

Finishing reconstruction process of repairing tornado damage to church building

Still Standing

2008-03-08T21:18:00.002-06:00

The last couple of weeks have been difficult as an 18-year-old young woman from our church passed away. She was here one Sunday, full of life and the next week she is gone. We had known her for most of her life. This week the son-in-law of our chairman of deacons was killed in a plane crash. Today was the funeral and nothing easy about any of this for the family.

We have had the bricks replaced on our church that was blown off from the tornado. They were finished with this just a week or so ago. I've noticed that there are some imperfections in the brick work. However, the steeple that we had repaired and that is now back up on top of our church is not perfect either. I told everyone then and I think the same is true with the brick work - we need to remember that the building has been through a tornado. It has taken some hits but it is still standing.

Those who are a part of our church know that we have taken some hits in the past couple of weeks too but we are still standing. Most Christians if they have been Christians for very long know what I am talking about. You've taken some hits too but you're still standing. The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:58, "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." The apostle Paul knew whereof he was talking about because he had taken more than his share of hits too, but he was still standing firm for the Lord and we need to do the same.

Grass Fires and Monitor

2008-02-02T22:59:00.000-06:00

We had a large grass fire a couple of miles from where I live yesterday. Burned one vacant house and came close to burning a double wide mobile home and some other houses. Fire departments from all across the area responded and fought the fire through the afternoon and into the night. Still some fires flaring up today. Likely that a cigarette thrown out of a vehicle caused the fire.

Today we had a few second outage or surge of electricity and my monitor stopped working. The computer appears to still be booting up but the monitor just will not work. Had surge protectors on everything and the protectors seem to be okay. So, will be looking at monitors next week. Meanwhile, I'm using my laptop that I usually only use when we travel. When I started the laptop I found that where we stayed up last I had picked up some malware "Instant share" that is continually trying to install along with an error message. Very irritating! I've ran my anti-virus and ad aware programs but it is still there. Some other people have had the same problem so hopefully when I have more time I can take care of it. It takes me longer to do everything on the laptop because I don't use it as much and do not have everything on it that I usually use. Of course Romans 8:28 is true I the good thing about this is I'll be replacing the old monitor with a much nicer one that I have wanted for sometime. Praise God!!

We had a very good men's breakfast this morning with 13 of us here. We used to have a men's breakfast once a month but this is the first time we have had one in more than a year.

Starting a new Sunday School class tomorrow for young adults and I am excited about the possibilities for that class.

Electoral Process

2008-01-21T12:02:00.000-06:00

It looks like all that we will hear on the news for some time will be the campaign for the Presidency of the U.S.. We do need to be praying for all of the primary elections and the candidates that God's will would be brought about in every aspect of the campaign so that we will have the President that God wants us to have.

Mother's Funeral

2007-12-06T22:53:00.000-06:00

My Mother's funeral service will be tomorrow, Friday, December 7 at the Martin's Funeral Chapel in Elk City, Oklahoma at 2pm. I will be preaching the funeral message and would appreciate your prayers. Thank you!!

My Mother has gone to be with the Lord

2007-12-04T05:55:00.000-06:00

My Mother passed away early Monday morning. She apparently had a stroke a little over a week ago. She had been in a nursing home since May 2005. She knew the Lord as her Savior and the Lord has been merciful to her to take her home to be with Him.

Bonita Faye (Taliaferro) Wrather passed away Monday, December 3, 2007 at the Hensley Nursing Home in Sayre, Oklahoma. Bonita was born on the family farm south of Canute, Oklahoma, October 21, 1925 to Edwin (Ed) Zachary Taliaferro and Verla Elvina (Marical) Taliaferro. Bonita married Wayne Wrather on May 14, 1943. When Bonita’s parents retired and moved to Elk City, Bonita and Wayne moved to their farm south of Canute in about 1952 and lived there until entering the nursing home.

Bonita helped on the farm in the early years of marriage. Later she worked at Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base for five years in the cafeteria and as a key punch operator. Bonita enjoyed plants and crafts of all kinds. She operated a small greenhouse for many years and gave painting and other lessons. She had many interests including playing the accordion and piano when she was young. Bonita was a member of the Canute Methodist Church.

Bonita is survived by her sister, Fern Turner of Sayre, Oklahoma; a son, Ed and Jeanie Wrather of Sweetwater, Oklahoma; and, a daughter, Reta and Bob Wagner of Bermuda; also by Bob and Jan Allen of Cawker City, Kansas a cousin of Wayne’s who lived with the family while he attended high school at Canute. She is also survived by five grandchildren: Ruth Ward of Owasso, Oklahoma; Robert and Janet Wagner of Sachse, Texas; Ronald and Nikki Wagner of Valencia, California; Clark and Libby Wrather of Broken Bow, Oklahoma; Nick Wrather of Sweetwater, Oklahoma; and by ten great grandchildren (Cooper, Colton, and Conner Ward; Ashton and Criston Wagner; Ryan and Miranda Wagner; Madison, Mason, and Max Wrather) and a host of other relatives and friends.

My Mother

2007-11-30T15:15:00.000-06:00

Not much change in my mother's condition. She does open her eyes and close her eyes but that is not frequent and her eyes do not move. She is non responsive as far as I can tell unable to move in any way on her own. Continuing to pray for the Lord's mercy for her.

My Mother is Ill

2007-11-29T18:04:00.000-06:00

My mother who has been in a nursing home since May 2005 appears to have had a stroke and is mostly non-responsive. Not sure how long she can live like this without hardly any water or food.

I pray that the Lord will have mercy on my mother and take her home to be with Him soon.

Grace to the Humble

2007-11-28T23:01:00.000-06:00

The Burning Bush Devotional
By Ed Wrather

11.28.07

Grace to the Humble

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.” So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer. - Ezra 8:21-23.

Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. - 1 Peter 5:5-7.

In 1996, we had only been at a church for about a year when we realized that our son, who has Down Syndrome and is mentally handicapped, was severely depressed. We were not sure what to do but felt that we would have to move to another church and another place so that Nick would be able to receive the help that he needed. We began to pray wanting to hear from God about this. I sent out some resumes and we continued to pray. It was then that my wife and I both felt that we should go to the Southern Baptist national convention that was at New Orleans.
Arriving there, we found that Dr. Ronnie Floyd the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Springdale, Arkansas would be preaching a couple of the sermons. Both of the sermons were about prayer and fasting. Dr. Floyd shared how his entire church had been fasting and praying for many weeks for the sermons, he would be preaching. One sermon that was preached just before noon one day had a tremendous impact upon us. We left for lunch and I found myself driving in heavy traffic, which usually would have made me a little tense in an unfamiliar city. However, all I had was peace. Peace that was beyond anything that I had experienced since the time that I was saved. Through that sermon, the Holy Spirit touched our lives in a supernatural way.

We committed ourselves to fast and pray for a week about where God wanted us to go. On the seventh day of fasting on a Sunday afternoon, a search committee called and in a few weeks, I accepted the call to Trinity Baptist Church in Weatherford, Oklahoma. In Weatherford, my son Nick found the help that he needed and recovered from his depression.

On Friday, June 13, 1997, God did an amazing thing in my life. A couple of weeks before at a family gathering I heard my Uncle say that my great grandfather, George Richard Marical had been involved with a Pentecostal Holiness Church. Now I knew when I moved to Weatherford that my great grandfather had lived there and had owned a grocery store. I knew that he had died in 1929 but that was about all that I knew. I decided to dig into this a little deeper. We went to the county courthouse and found my great grandfather’s will and estate papers.

From the papers that we found we were able to locate where my great grandfather had lived. It was only about four blocks from where we were living. According to the papers we had found, my great grandfather had been a trustee of the Pentecostal Holiness church and when he died the estate paid off the remaining amount owed on the church building and land. I was intrigued to know where the church had been located. With the lot numbers and legal description in hand, I went to city hall to look at the plat of the city. The lots of the church were located at...! The church where my great grandfather had been a trustee and had attended was located at the very same location as the church that I then pastored!

I have told that story so that you will understand how powerful a tool fasting can be in your life. I will never make another major life changing decision without fasting and praying. Whatever the problem you should at least try fasting and praying. Because fasting is a way of humbling yourself before God and God “gives grace to the humble.”

Facebook

2007-08-09T13:46:00.000-05:00

Join facebook.com and be my friend. Just do a search for my name or email address (wrather@dobsonteleco.com) and send me an invitation to be your friend. You can also be my friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/edwrather or use the custom MySpace link: http://www.myspace.com/reloc.cfm?c=2&id=e7a49a40-a44f-45ef-a6a3-f16693b1dbd9

My facebook friends are more numerous with currently 394 and there is a Burning Bush Group there that you can be a part of us well. My MySpace friends are fewer at currently 3 but one of my friends there is helping me to improve my page. As I have found out some prefer MySpace over Facebook and some prefer Facebook over MySpace. Hopefully, through this I will be able to have more meaningful interaction with the subscribers to the devotionals and others that find me through the Burning Bush website, this blog or in some other way.

A Difficult Summer

2007-08-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

I think that this summer has been the most difficult of my life but it could have been worse. We started off with the tornado on May 5 and still have not gotten the damage repaired but may have some work done this month. My Dad was very ill and passed away on May 24. My wife was staying at a hospital with her sister for a few days as her sister had had a double knee replacement surgery. A long time member of our church passed away the next day and his funeral was on Saturday and my Dad's was the next Tuesday.

We had to immediately try to finish cleaning up my parent's home so that a cousin could move in to take care of it and pay some of the bills. When I had just finished with that we became foster parents for children that we had known for most of their lives because their father had gotten another arrest.

The boy's cancer had been in remission but almost immediately upon our having them placed in our care we learned the cancer was back and he had four tumors. Chemo was begun and nearly every day it was necessary to drive the children somewhere to take care of something.

Last Wednesday the boy was placed with another foster home that can do this on a longer term basis since my wife has to return to work soon so we can maintain our health insurance. We found out Friday that the latest bone marrow biopsy shows that the bone marrow is free of cancer. I believe it is an answer to prayer.

We were driving to see our son and grandkids at Broken Bow when we learned that my mother-in-law had broken her ankle and cannot put any weight on the foot. So we drove 400 miles back on Friday so my wife can stay with her mother.

During all of this we are having to deal with the issues surrounding my parent's farm and DHS trying to place a lien on it and force the sale of it. Not sure yet what is going to happen with that. I have a sister but she lives in Bermuda and so most of it is up to me to take care of. My mother is still in a nursing home not far from where I live in poor health mentally and physically.

We have also had our own health issues - so I have been a little distracted.

Update on Malachi

2007-07-26T23:15:00.000-05:00

This is an update on Malachi a seven year old with neuro blastoma cancer. They were putting in a port in his chest on Monday a week ago. The surgeon ripped an artery and they had to split his chest open to try to save him and still nearly lost him. He was in intensive care for four days. His chest is wired together just like after open heart surgery. They put the port in Tuesday of this week after giving him a transfusion and then sent him home.

Malachi is living with us as foster child but I have known the family for a long time. He is gradually getting to where he can move around slowly without too much pain. He is still all bandaged up from the surgeries and lines. Next week on the 31st he will have a bone marrow biopsy again. We are only able to continue as foster parents through the 31st of this month because my wife must return to work. She has not been able to work since this began five weeks ago and she must work so that we can maintain our own health insurance.

I spent eight hours yesterday in a courthouse hallway waiting for a hearing in family court concerning the chidren's custody. The judge basically did a Judge Judy imitation and it was difficult to communicate to her the seriousness of the situation about Malachi. He will probably need to go back to San Francisco in order to obtain the treatment that he needs. This will probably only require a couple of weeks and then he can return to Oklahoma to take the medication. There are various trials of treatments going on across the country all the time but the one that has the medication that was effective for Malachi is not offered in Oklahoma. It is a sad situation and the father because of his substance abuse has severely complicated the situation.

Thank you for your prayers it is a heart wrenching situation for us. You should hear Malachi pray as he prays as someone who has known the Lord for decades of time.

Thank you for your prayers!!

Back Home

2007-07-22T17:41:00.000-05:00

I spent last week at Falls Creek Youth Camp. We shared a cabin with two other small churches and there were ten young people in our church's group. Of our group four were saved, three made recommitments of their lives to the Lord and all of us indicated that God has spoken to us during the week.

There were some rocky moments when two of our campers stole a golf card for a ride back to our cabin but no one was hurt and nothing damaged.

Last week Malachi a seven year old boy with cancer who has been living with us temporarily came close to dying when an artery was torn during a surgery to install a port for chemotherapy. They had to split his chest open just like with a heart surgery in order to stop the bleeding. He was in intensive care for four days and is still in the hospital. They will try again to put the port in tomorrow on Monday (Please pray).

On Wednesday I left camp to go to Oklahoma City to see Malachi and that was when the campers stole the golf cart so I had to hurry back to the camp. But God used this incident in the lives of those involved to bring about good.

Youth Rallies and Kid's Retreat

2007-06-11T16:14:00.000-05:00

This past Friday and Saturday evenings we had two great youth rallies at FBC Sweetwater which were led by Myron Halford and the FBC Bronte TX youth group. They also led a Kid's Retreat for five and a half hours on Saturday which was wonderful in every way. The entire event was concluded by their taking over the youth Sunday School and then the morning worship service on Sunday. Every part of these events were wonderful, fantastic, awesome...!!!

Helping FBC Bronte's youth pastor, Myron Halford, were three additional adult sponsors: Leah Rosson, Billy Jones, and Valerie Jones. Myron has done an excellent job in molding these young lives to create servant hearts and a great drama team. Leah has led in the creation and growth of the praise band which touched our hearts.

I cannot say enough about the young people from FBC Bronte TX - they are simply incredible individuals and I know God has great plans for them all.

My Father Has Passed Away

2007-05-27T20:02:00.000-05:00

Services for my father will be at 2:00pm Tuesday, May 29, 2007 at the Martin's Funeral Chapel in Elk City, Oklahoma. Here is his obituary:

Wayne Eugene Wrather passed away Thursday, May 24, 2007 at the Hensley Nursing Home in Sayre, Oklahoma. Wayne was born at Chillicothe, Texas, November 17, 1922 to James (Jim) Wesley Wrather and Willie May (Siniard) Wrather. The family moved to western Oklahoma south of Canute in about 1927. Wayne graduated from Canute High School in 1942 and married Bonita Faye Taliaferro on May 14, 1943.

When Bonita’s parents retired and moved to Elk City, Wayne and Bonita moved to their farm south of Canute in about 1952 and lived there until they entered the nursing home. Wayne farmed all of his life but had several other careers along the way. He was proud of being a truck driver and worked for Howard’s Propane for several years. He drove all kinds of trucks - propane trucks, gravel trucks; trucks carrying farm equipment and cotton to the compress. He worked some as a roofer and worked for several years in maintenance at the Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base. His last career was working 14-years as a parts man for Schreck Farm Supply at Canute and it was a job that he greatly enjoyed. Wayne was a member of the Canute Methodist Church.

Wayne is survived by his wife, Bonita of Hensley's Nursing Home in Sayre, Oklahoma; one brother, Jesse and Dorothy Wrather of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; one step-sister, Ella Mae Thompson of Blanchard, Oklahoma; a son, Ed and Jeanie Wrather of Sweetwater, Oklahoma; and, a daughter, Reta and Bob Wagner of Bermuda; also by Bob and Jan Allen of Cawker City, Kansas a cousin who lived with the family while he attended high school at Canute and has been very much a son to Wayne and Bonita. He is also survived by five grandchildren: Ruth Ward of Owasso, Oklahoma; Robert and Janet Wagner of Sachse, Texas; Ronald and Nikki Wagner of Valencia, California; Clark and Libby Wrather of Broken Bow, Oklahoma; Nick Wrather of Sweetwater, Oklahoma; and by ten great grandchildren (Cooper, Colton, and Conner Ward; Ashton and Criston Wagner; Ryan and Miranda Wagner; Madison, Mason, and Max Wrather) and a host of other relatives and friends.

Aftermath of Storm

2007-01-21T09:15:00.000-06:00

We received about seven inches of snow which has so far been kinder than the ice. No church today but hopefully the snow and ice will all melt off this week. The first time that I remember that we have cancelled services two Sundays in a row plus last Wednesday.

To view the huge snowflakes that we received for just a few minutes Saturday afternoon go to "Sweetwater Photos" at www.theburningbush.org/sweetwaterphotos.html. CNN showed the photo repeatedly Saturday afternoon and evening. At least two huge snowflakes may be seen toward the top of the house with bricks as background.

My primary email address wrather@dobsonteleco.com stopped working yesterday afternoon. The last time this happened I received no email for about four days and most of the email was zapped out of existence. So, if you want to send me an email or you have sent me an email since yesterday morning please send it or send it again to edwrather@theburningbush.org or edwrather@yahoo.com. Thanks!!

A New Year with New Challenges

2007-01-08T23:26:00.000-06:00

The New Year sermon series is going well with two sermons completed in the Change Your Life series. A new email group was started for pastors, preachers, and others interested in receiving my sermons, the Burning Bush Preaching Group. You can subscribe to the group by sending an email to bbpreach-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

New challenges with my father having another light stroke and being hospitalized last week. Hopefully, he will recover enough to go home again.

Hope you have a very blessed New Year!

Merry Christmas!!

2006-12-25T08:06:00.000-06:00

We had a very nice day yesterday on Christmas Eve. Our only service at church was the morning worship service which was attended by about 50 people. It was a very sweet service which touched all of our hearts. At 3:30pm seven of us headed down to Erick, OK for the Erick Nursing Home Service. We sang some Christmas carols and I shared a brief message based on the Christmas Profiles in Courage devotional. After arriving back home we headed to Wheeler, TX to buy a few last minute items before the grocery store closed at 6pm. We opened our gifts last night and had a great time of family Christmas!

Today I am taking my Dad to see my Mother at the nursing home at Sayre, OK and give them their gifts. Jeanie and Nick will meet us there. We plan to go this afternoon to my mother-in-law's in Elk City for Christmas with her. Later we may travel on to Weatherford to spread some more Christmas cheer.

May all have a Blessed and very Merry Christmas!!

One Comment on Saving Christmas

2006-12-13T21:52:00.000-06:00

Here's the one positive comment that I was able to find today about the devotional "Saving Christmas":

"I think this is a danm good idea. Scrapping christmas for a year means that retail businesses will lose billions of dollars and be forced to take a stand in support of Christmas. The Pastor mad the point that we should show people how the minority is ruining our country by forcing us to be sensitive toward them. Believe me, I love Christmas. It's the greatest time of year. But when we start bending over backwards to cater to everyones needs, something has to be done. Maybe we should boycott all the holidays."

Here is the complete devotional, "Saving Christmas" so you can read it for yourselves and make your own comments right here on Wrather Thoughts:

Saving Christmas by Ed Wrather
12.10.06

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. - Proverbs 1:7.

He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: holy and awesome is His name. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever. - Psalm 111:9-10.

I awoke in time this Sunday morning to see several newscasts about the removal of some 21 Christmas trees from the Seattle-Tacoma Airport in Washington state. It was reported that a rabbi had threatened several times to sue and had issued an ultimatum, which the airport took seriously. The rabbi wanted a menorah to be displayed. To avoid litigation the airport is simply removing the Christmas trees.

The tyranny of the minority has gone too far! As we know the power of the pocketbook trumps all in this society. Therefore, I propose a boycott (i.e. commercial/business aspects) the 2007 Christmas season in order to save it. Let us give them what they want for one year - no Christmas. All Christians should simply make their own gifts or give what they already have, buy nothing extra, put up no outside Christmas decorations and travel nowhere extra for one Christmas season. Allow the people of this country to see what happens when the minority gets what it wants. If the country decides that they would like to have Christmas in 2007, they can contact their legislators and demand that a Protection of Christian Christmas Symbols constitutional amendment be passed. Please spread the word! Please post this on your website. Send it out with all of your emails.

The secular world has no fear or understanding of our God. The secular world has only contempt for the symbols of Christianity and for Christmas in particular. At the current rate of removal of Christian symbols from our public area of life, it is just a matter of time before they are completely prohibited from public view. It is time to take a stand. It is time to make a statement. If we will do it together, it will make a difference and the symbols of our faith in the public area of life can be preserved.

Let us save Christmas in our society by not having Christmas in 2007. Pass this along to everyone that you can. Send it to your legislators. Send it to the President and Presidential candidates. Most importantly pray, pray that the symbols of our faith may be maintained and preserved. Let us put an end to the tyranny of the minority and save Christmas.

Emails and Christmas Trees

2006-12-13T21:34:00.000-06:00

After I wrote the devotional about "Saving Christmas" I expected to receive a massive number of critical emails. Perhaps I did. Perhaps that is why the dobson server crashed. Because from the time the devotional was sent Sunday afternoon until this morning the server was down. Sometimes God just spares me from critical comments because He knows I'm so weak. Praise God for His wisdom!

Anyway for one of the comments critical and one of the comments in favor you can read the comments at this link: http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2006/12/10/what-is-wrong-with-this-picture/

Thanks again for all of your emails! I'm sure I would have enjoyed them!

The Holiday Update

2006-11-29T21:55:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is ahead but you know that. I am into the holiday season and have also arrived in the writer block zone. Every year in December I have trouble writing but it has come earlier this year. It could be because there are many things that are happening and many things that need to be taken care of. They are also known as distractions or as some have labeled them, "the tyranny of the urgent."

I hope that you will not become distracted by the many events of the Christmas season at least not too busy to remember to include God in your daily lives.

Where we live it looks like a snow storm headed our way tonight so winter really is upon us.

Be Blessed!

Revivals

2006-09-29T18:34:00.000-05:00

Our revival at FBC Sweetwater, OK went well with Steve Cody as our evangelist. Enjoyed hearing Brother Cody speak.

Beginning Sunday I will be preaching at a revival at FBC Carter, OK. It begins Sunday at 11am with the Sunday evening service at 6pm and the Monday through Wednesday services at 7pm. I am looking forward to the services and believe my voice is almost well and should be fine.

Another Difficult Week

2006-08-21T12:54:00.000-05:00

There seems to be a recurring theme here for the past several posts ie Very Sad News, Difficult Week and now Another Difficult Week.

Last Monday I chipped a tooth, went to the dentist on Tuesday, caught a cold or a virus on Wednesday, had a two hour root canal (or as I refer to it, the root canal from hell) on Thursday. By Saturday my cold or virus had gotten worse. Saturday night I got up to go to the bathroom, felt sick and headed back to bed. The next thing I knew I had fallen and hit my head on something. I now have a black eye. Wasn't sure if I would be able to preach Sunday morning but did preach Sunday morning but stayed away from the rest of the days activities.

I am feeling somewhat better today but still coughing and have a headache. I am now wondering if I have the flu or maybe it is just the cold from hell? Hopefully, next week I will NOT be writing a post about One More Difficult Week.

Difficult Week

2006-07-25T11:17:00.000-05:00

Last week was difficult for us personally. My neice's husband, Lincoln Ward, died a week ago on Saturday. My wife stayed the week at (except for one night when traveling to the funeral) Falls Creek which is a youth camp. They experienced extremely high temperatures all week along with other challenges. I drove the church van with the young people to the camp on Monday. Drove back home because my Dad was having trouble with his air conditioning. Drove back to camp on Tuesday to pick up Jeanie and drove to Tulsa where we stayed the night. Wednesday morning we attended Lincoln's funeral and then drove back to camp and I drove back home. Finally was able to get my Dad's air conditioner going again on Thursday. Drove back to Falls Creek and drove the van back at the end of the week. Drove a total of about 1800 miles for the week.

Thankfully, God provided us with the strength but I was unable to write any devotionals during the week.

Very Sad News

2006-07-15T23:26:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

My niece's husband, Lincoln Ward, was killed tonight while riding his brother's motorcycle. They have three boys still in school. Lincoln was a veterinarian, a great father and husband.

Please pray for peace and comfort for this family. Please pray too for the extended family that they will all look to the Lord for strength and direction in their lives.

Thank you for prayers and faithfulness!!

Ed

2006-07-13T09:09:00.000-05:00

My voice is continuing to improve and I was able to preach both services last Sunday. It may have been as much as two months since I last preached twice on Sundays. Sunday morning I preached the message "Limited Vision" which is now posted at the Burning Bush website and Sunday night I preached a "Vision for Us." I believe that God is beginning to move in our church and community. I believe that God is opening new doors for distribution of the devotional booklets, and God is expanding the reach of the website with 117 countries having visited in the past year. We are unable to see all that God is doing but He is at work and we must join Him in that work wherever it leads.

2006-06-21T12:11:00.000-05:00

We arrived back home Monday at about midnight from our trip to the Convention. We drove about 3500 miles on our trip through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. Distributed cards promoting the Burning Bush website during the trip. If you received one of those cards please send me an email and let me know. It's good to be back home!!

2006-06-11T22:59:00.000-05:00

So far in our travel to the Southern Baptist Convention and side trips to do some work on our genealogy we have found that the friendliest people were found in Fayetteville and Shelbyville, Tennessee. In fact they are some of the friendliest, kindest people that I have ever encountered!! One of them told me a story about how they had once had a man from New York move to their area. Whenever they would drive by his house and he was outside he would turn away when they drove by. Eventually they just stopped and asked him why he did that. He told them that people in New York did wave at people and they told him that he needed to start waving if he was going to live there! Maybe we all need to be a little friendlier and kinder.

2006-05-18T22:00:00.000-05:00

Outpatient surgery today to remove polyps on vocal cord went well with no problems. Should know Monday or Tuesday whether they were benign. Thanks to all those who prayed and are praying about this problem with my voice!!

2006-05-17T20:53:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I will be having a couple of polyps removed from my vocal cords. I have been having more and more problems speaking since January 2005 when I had the flu. Hopefully and prayerfully this will solve the problem. It is somewhat embarrasing to be preaching and then to suddenly not be able to say anything. This happened to me on Easter Sunday this year with a full sanctuary. Many did come back Sunday night and I accused them of just coming to see if my voice would stop again. I have not preached very much since then. Of course it is not as bad as the man who wrote in his book that he had a problem when he first started preaching with fainting. He would be preaching and then just suddenly faint. It did result in larger crowds because everyone wanted to see if he was going to faint again. The problem eventually went away but it did make him draw closer to the Lord. My physical problems have drawn me closer to Him as well.

When the enemy comes, when the problems come, when things don't work out like we thought they would, when someone stabs us in the back, we need to focus not on our circumstances, situations, problems but upon the Lord. As the writer of Hebrews puts it in Hebrews 12:3, "Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful man so that you do not grow weary and lose heart."

2006-03-04T10:18:00.000-06:00

It has been a long time since I have posted anything on my blog. For many months I have dealt with my parent's unfortunate situation and it has drained much of my time and energy. Thankfully, the situation for me has been improving. Medicaid has been approved for my Mother who is in a nursing home and that will allow my Father to continue to live at home as long as he is able.

I have also found someone that will take my Dad to see my Mother a couple of times a week and along with others who have helped out and are this will give me much more time for ministry. Hopefully, I will be able to begin to catch up on many of the projects that have been stalled. Even though it was a time of little extra time some devotionals have been written and a new updated website has been launched at www.theburningbush.net. (The old website at www.theburningbush.org is still active.) The new site is not yet finished but progress has been made.

I have also had some health problems over the same time period from May 2005 to now. However, I believe that my health is gradually improving.

Thanks to all who have prayed about these situations and for me!! Be Blessed!!

2005-06-21T08:20:00.000-05:00

Update on Family Crisis: Caring for my parents has taken much of my time for the past month. Because of that devotionals have not been written or sent. Beginning with the 06.20.05 devotional I will begin resending devotionals written in 2003 and add in new devotionals as I am able to write them. Only the new devotionals will be posted in the archives. Your prayers are still needed for this situation with my parents. Thank you for your support, understanding and prayers!!

2005-06-03T23:11:00.000-05:00

Over the past several weeks I have been having to deal with a difficult family crisis. My father had been trying to take care of my mother who is an invalid at home by having caregivers 24 hours a day. The cost for their care and for household costs should be no more than $7,000 per month. However, in a little over 4 months beginning the first of January 2005 more than $100,000 went out of my parents bank accounts. The caregivers were taking advantage of them financially and also providing very poor care. It finally reached a point with only $262 left in their bank account that someone at the bank reported the situation.

My parents were sent to a psychiatric wing of the local hospital for two weeks of evaluation. My mother was sent to a nursing home on Thursday and my Dad has returned home but will require much attention from me and others.

I am concerned that the people who took advantage of my parents will not be prosecuted and will go on to take advantage of others. The primary caregiver who moved into my parents home and took over everything was: Catarina R. Arrelanes aka Catarina Ramirez Arrelanes; Catalinia Arrelanes; Catarina Hernandez; Catarina Sandoval; Catarina Ramirez. She is about 58 years old.
Her son Fernando Hernandez age 36 was also involved and has been in prison in Texas for various offenses and is believed to be living at Hammon, Oklahoma now.

When Catarina left she loaded up everything that she could of value including two lawn mowers, and two vaccum sweepers. They charged telephone calls on AT&T of $300 to $600 per month for many months. They charged items to my Dad's Discover card like $224 in tattoo equipment. They called 900 numbers and watched ugly movies on Direct TV pay per view. In a 5 week period Catarina received direct payments of $11,400 and wanted $2200 more. There was also $12,000 in cash that went out of my Dad's account during that same 5 week period.

Please pray that Chris Kelly the assistant District Attorney in Washita County at Cordell, Oklahoma will do his job and do something about this situation so others will not have to go through this.

2005-04-30T11:17:00.000-05:00

It is amazing to me when I receive an email from someone asking to be removed from the devotional subscriber list and that do so in a rude and obnoxious way. Why should this surprise me? Because I provide an absolutely free product which those on my subscriber list not only have to sign up for but they also have to respond to a confirmation email from the address subscribed.

Here are some of the emails I have received:

Please see that I'm not on your list; I do not want to hear from you again.
(First email I had received in regard to removal.)

Apparently this is spam because i told you to remove me from your mailing list.
(First email I had received in regard to removal.)

Get me off of your mailing list before I file charges for harrassment!
(First email I had received in regard to removal.)

And those are just a few. It is discouraging to receive such an email and I think that those people who send them intend for them to be discouraging and are trying their best to be rude and obnoxious. I have actually received very nice unsubscribe emails from someone who was Jewish and another person who said they did not believe in God.

I think a good question for all of us may be whether we think it is okay to be rude to someone that we know is a Christian? We would never think of acting that way to someone who is lost but if a fellow believer happens to believe a certain doctrine a little differently than us or states something in a way that we would not do we then think they are fair game for our rudeness?

2005-02-03T23:13:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, we served lunch at the BCM (Baptist Ministries) at Southwestern Oklahoma State University at Sayre. Shared the devotional, "A Telephone Pole in the Kitchen". Set up another distribution point there for the devotional booklets for a total of four.

Hopefully, my writer's block is about over since I have written two devotionals this week and hope to write another one tomorrow.

Sent an apology email today to my son and hope he forgives me. Talked to my sister and I'm thinking that I probably need to apologize to her. I may be getting further behind on my apologies. So, if I have offended you and you are reading this I am very sorry. Please accept my apology. I'm not sure why apologies are so hard to make when they make you feel so good when you make them.

I was very ill last night after our Wednesday night service. It is a continuing problem (hospitalized for nine days August/September 2003) that is very unpredictable. However, there is nothing like being very ill to make you want to live each day to the fullest and to take care of things that you may have neglected (as in apologies).

2005-01-10T13:28:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I sent the final devotional in the Refocusing series which I put together to make the sermon I preached also yesterday. There was a good response to the invitation and I am hopeful that it is a great beginning to the new year for our church. I believe the foundation has been laid to enable us to experience revival in the year 2005.

Distribution of the Burning Bush Devotional Booklets is continuing. Requests for free booklets continue to flow in through the website. There are now three distribution points for booklets in our area. Two are at convenience stores in Sweetwater, OK and the newest is at a convenience store in Sayre, OK. Additional distribution points are wanted.

2005-01-03T16:27:00.000-06:00

The year 2005 has arrived! Every year has its challenges and not doubt this year will be no different. I hope and pray that the Burning Bush ministry may expand and reach even further during this year. How to do that is the question. Every day brings more addresses that have bounced. Everyday brings a few more subscribers. How do I effectively use the resources that I have to bring about a net gain of subscribers every day? How do I motivate current subscribers to become recruiters of additional subscribers? Suggestions are welcomed!!

2004-10-29T13:22:00.000-05:00

My health is improving since I started a no sugar diet three weeks ago. I have lost 12 pounds and my blood pressure is better controlled. Hopefully this will reduce the possibility of more ischemic colitis attacks. The last one was on September 13 of this year. This is the same thing that I was hospitalized for a little over a year ago for nine days. I believe my improved health is the result of many praying for me.

Last Sunday was the start of the One Month Challenge. I challenged our congregation, including myself, to live for one month like they knew God would want them to live. I believe that the change will be so dramatic after a month that we will never want to go back to our old way of sinful, lazy living.

2004-07-03T23:45:00.000-05:00

Today, God surprised me! Which isn't really a surprise because usually when He moves it is surprisingly wonderful. How is it that you think that the situation you are in is unchangeable and will always be a certain way - but God changes it? How does He do it? We usually see God described as a God of wrath and judgment and discipline. However, I am coming to find out that God is a God of love who enjoys surprising you with His goodness. When He does that. When He gives you what you so obviously do not deserve what does that do? What it does it make you want to be more like God wants you to be than you ever have been before. Because of His generosity and goodnes you find yourself desiring to go beyond where you are in His service, to go beyond where you have ever been before. I praise You my Lord! You are worthy of honor glory and praise! You deserve my very best and you shall have it because of your lovingkindness!

2004-06-13T22:54:00.000-05:00

Been on the road for the past few days travelling about 1300 miles through Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana. We've enjoyed our trip and are feeling refreshed especially after the wonderful messages and music we heard at the pastors conference tonight. Looking forward to tomorrow.

2004-05-11T08:21:00.000-05:00

After viewing the video of my preaching last Sunday I was upset that I had not done a better job. I know exactly what many of my problems are when I am preaching but it is another thing all together to change. For example I know that I say "a" all the time as Jeanie reminds me but even knowing that it is difficult to change. I know that I look at my notes too much and I have been trying to do better. It seems that when I am tired I do worse than at other times. Last Sunday I had preached through the entire sermon eight times prior to actually delivering it on Sunday morning. The Sunday before that I had been through the sermon nine times. It may be that I actually need to go through the sermon 15 or 16 times but I run out of time and energy before I can do it. Perhaps the key is in the planning of my week so I can start earlier in preaching through the sermon. Each time I go through the sermon there are usually some things that God shows me that needs to be changed or added.

I know that many preachers have a much better memory and delivery than I do. I know that some do not even have to prepare a sermon they can simply stand up and begin to talk and the words come to them. I know that some do prepare their sermons in written form as I do and yet they are able to preach without looking at their notes and without going through the sermon so many times as I do. I also know that God can use my preaching in spite of my flaws and that He does use it. It may be that this is the best that I can do.

When I was still in junior high and high school I was very introverted and shy. It was painful for me to speak in front of people or to be in conversational situations. That has improved but I am sure that it still causes stress.

Considering my preaching abilities and my own unholiness I sometimes wonder how God can put up with me. Surely there are many others that could do a much better job. Lord, forgive me for how I have failed you and help me to be all that you want me to be.

Please pray for me! Thank you for your faithfulness, support, and prayers!!

2004-05-10T14:10:00.000-05:00

For a few weeks we have had a four and a half foot brown snake in our back yard. Probably a bull snake but we didn't want to walk out of our back door and step on it. We had not been able to kill it missing it several times. Sunday as we were going to the church Jeanie saw the snake next to the sidewalk curled up in the grass. We could barely see it. I dropped a 50 lb bag of rocks on top of it so it wouldn't get away and then I was able to kill it. We usually have a few snakes come through our yard in the summer but not many. We have never seen a rattlesnake or copperhead in this area although south of us there is a large area with many rattlesnakes.

We were in Oklahoma City Friday and Saturday. I took my lapel mic to Ford Audio and hopefully they will be able to find out what is wrong with it. We also needed to pick up some more material for Vacation Bible School which will soon be here on May 24. We came back by my parents and Jeanie's mothers to visit with them and give them their Mother's Day gifts.

Started a new blog yesterday for the Sweetwater, OK news. There no one really recording the news in our area at this time and hopefully this will fill the gap and be useful to the people in the community. The new blog is located at: http://sweetwaternews.blogspot.com or there is a link on the Sweetwater, OK webpage at www.theburningbush.org/Sweetwater.html.

2004-02-11T13:33:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, February 11, 2004
We have gone through my and Jeanie’s health problems including the removal of a small tumor from my left cheek (monmorphic adenoma). Healthwise we are much improved although I have gained back much of the weight I lost. I am just now recovering to the point of moving forward with all of the ministry projects. It has taken much longer than I thought to get back on track with everything. But if I continue moving forward progress is made and is being made.

I have completed a new booklet of devotionals “Making It Through The Night” which includes devotionals related to my hospital experiences and it is now available free to those who would like it. There has been an increase in requests for free materials in the last few days. Maybe that is because I finally have gotten caught up on orders that accumulated while I was ill. Free booklets have been sent in recent months to California, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Virginia. Outside of the USA booklets have been sent to Canada, Lebanon, Nigeria, and the Philippines.

2003-10-27T11:12:00.000-06:00

The Burning Bush Devotional
(Over 9,000 subscribers in 75 countries)

10.27.03

Good Works

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:8-10.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. - John 3:16.

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. - John 5:24.

According to Barna Research Group polling, many teens have beliefs that are “inconsistent with the Bible.” Barna says that 53 percent of teens believe that Jesus was not perfect but committed sins. Also two-thirds of teens believe that satan is not really a living being but just a symbol of evil. In addition, 60 percent of teens believe that they can earn “eternal salvation” by doing good works.

Why is earning your way to Heaven by doing good works “inconsistent” with the Bible? Because the Bible clearly indicates in Ephesians 2 that salvation is a “gift.” The dictionary defines gift as, “Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation.” Most likely, you have received a “gift” from someone during your lifetime. When you received the “gift”, were you required to pay for it or work for it? No! Because if you had to pay for the “gift” or work for the “gift” it would no longer be a “gift” but a purchase or compensation.

Ephesians 2 also gives us a reason for why salvation is a “gift” and not something that you have to earn through good works. The reason? “…lest anyone should boast….” What if you could work your way to Heaven - what would be the result once people did arrive in Heaven? In Heaven, the result would be that people would begin talking about what they had done in order to gain entrance to eternal life. Some people would believe they had done greater things than others and would therefore be proud of what they had done. These people the apostle Paul believed would be boasting about the good things they had done to earn salvation.

Doing good things will not earn you salvation but good works should be the natural result of your receiving the free “gift” of salvation. Paul says in verse 10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Once we have eternal life through Jesus, we should have a desire to follow his example of doing good things. Good works do not save you but if you are truly saved you should be doing good works.

Has someone ever given you a free gift that you did not receive? My step-grandmother for many years had been giving me a Christmas present even after my grandfather had passed away and she had remarried. The first Christmas that I was married, she told me that she had a Christmas present for me and I just needed to pick it up. To my shame, I never picked up the present. It would have been a free gift but it was not a gift since I never received it. Sadly, many have and will do the same thing with God’s free “gift” of salvation. Have you received God’s “gift?” If not, why not open up the greatest gift you can ever receive in life right now? Ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart and life. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and be your Lord and Master. Words will not save you but if you mean it in your heart, you will receive the “gift” of eternal life.

2003-10-21T22:29:00.000-05:00

Today is my mother's birthday and we took some time to visit her and my Dad and had a good visit. We also visited with my mother-in-law. Visits like these are joyous but also difficult because of the decline in the health of those we love. Of course we remember the great times we had with them in the past but know they cannot be repeated. If we knew then what we know now we would have treasured those times even more greatly as we were experiencing them.

2003-10-21T22:25:00.000-05:00

The Burning Bush Devotional
(Over 9,000 subscribers in 75 countries)

10.21.03

Boring

It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. - 2 Samuel 11:1-4.

A 25-year-old woman in Germany became a little upset over the Saturday night television viewing options. She was angered because of the slate of boring programs and even more boring reruns. Her solution? Probably what we all ought to do - she threw the television out of her fifth floor apartment window. Veronika K. told newspaper reporters, “There was nothing decent on so I just threw the thing out the window.” Thankfully, no one was injured as a result of the falling television set and Veronika later calmed down and watched another television with her family.

Veronika’s real problem is not with boring television programs and reruns. Her real problem is that she is so bored she relies on what the entertainment industry happens to provide to give her enjoyment in life. Boredom is a dangerous condition as King David found out. David’s boredom was a result of his shirking his responsibilities. How did he shirk his responsibilities? His army along with his mighty men were out fighting battles during “the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle….” It was during this time that David grew bored and found some adulterous entertainment with Bathsheba. David was in the wrong place at the wrong time and apparently so was Bathsheba. Maybe they were both bored. Bathsheba may have been bored because her husband was out fighting battles and was exactly where he was supposed to be.

It has been said that “idle hands are the devil’s tools” and there is much truth in the saying. Allowing yourself to become accustomed to the boring and non-productive activities of the world is just asking for trouble. The world sees nothing wrong with laying around all day every day and doing nothing. Unless you miss work or cause someone else some inconvenience and then the world does care.

How can we avoid the trap of boredom and unproductiveness? The Bible says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).” How do we “walk in the Spirit?” In Romans 6 we are told, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God (Romans 6:12-13).” The key thought for avoidance of boredom and for walking in the Spirit is presenting yourself or submitting yourself to God. Instead of allowing sin to reign in your life give yourself to God - walk in the Spirit. If we have given control of our lives to God and are walking in the Spirit we will not be bored.

There are always choices in life and we can choose to be bogged down in the worldly choices for entertainment or we can step outside of the world’s boring box. We can willfully submit ourselves to the will of God and in doing so we will find that we have been given the cure for boredom. We will have life!

2003-10-20T22:30:00.000-05:00

The Burning Bush Devotional
(Over 9,000 subscribers in 75 countries)

10.20.03

While Waiting

And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are--northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.” - Genesis 13:14-16.

When I was saved 33 years ago, I received the first glimmer of God’s call upon my life to preach the Gospel. However, being a baby Christian I quickly forgot about it. In 1979 while my wife and I were sponsors for a group of young people at camp during the summer God spoke to me again. This time it was clear to me that He wanted me to preach His Word and I was willing. Jeanie was not as willing and could see little evidence in my life of any capability of preaching or of being a pastor. This was perhaps one of the most painful moments of my life - hearing God’s call but being prevented from responding. It is difficult having a calling, a vision, a dream from God and not be able to immediately launch out to see it fulfilled.

Abraham encountered something very similar in that God gave him a promise, a dream, a vision, a call when he was about 75 years old but the beginning of the fulfillment of this did not occur until much later. In fact, Abraham was about 25 years older before his first descendant, a son, was born. Think of all those years of knowing what God wants in your life and you want it too but it is not happening. Why Lord? Abraham and Sarah try to bring about the dream through their fleshly efforts. First, they try adoption, and then they try having a substitute mother but neither of those courses of action was God’s will. God had another plan even though it did not seem feasible according to human wisdom.

From the perspective of 24 years, I can see why God used my wife as a timing mechanism. From 1979 to 1990, God moved in my life to grow me and prepare me to be able to be a pastor. Through the hours of prayer about why I was waiting and when the waiting would be over, I came to recognize the Father’s Voice. Through the years of reading and studying God’s Word, I grew in knowledge and wisdom of His will and plan. Through the years of increasing responsibility in the church God molded me into the shape necessary for future service. God did much the same in the life of Abraham. During those years of waiting God molded Abraham into the father that was needed - a father of faith.

I can laugh and rejoice now about how God used my wife to delay and then as an indication that the time had come for the call to become a reality. Because when God revealed through prayer and His Word beyond any doubt His will - Jeanie was more than ready at that point to move forward in faith with me.

Looking back now, I can see that for Abraham and me those years of waiting were not wasted years. No, those were valuable years of preparation for the service that was ahead. Without those years, I would have been at a loss when encountering many of the situations that I have faced as a pastor. With those years, I have been able to be an instrument God could use to a much greater extent than without the years of waiting.

Has God given you a promise, or a dream, or a vision, or a call? Are you frustrated because you have not seen fulfillment? Are you tired of the waiting? Are you anxious to move on to the next stage? It is in the waiting that God prepares you for the fulfillment of what He has for you. It is through the praying and the searching of His Word that you grow to become what is necessary to effectively fulfill all that God wants for your life. Don’t rush this time! Work hard at the preparation that you know is needed before you can be what God wants. Remember God is never late and He is always, always on time.

2003-10-09T15:26:00.000-05:00

We had a nice Bible Study and Prayer meeting last night and the Lord blessed us with 3/4 inch of rain.

I went to Elk City this morning to pick up a prescription and some other things. Jeanie is working at home today and seems to feel better. Thank you Lord for helping us to get well!!

2003-10-09T15:22:00.000-05:00

The Burning Bush Devotional
(Over 8,000 subscribers in 75 countries)

10.09.03

Changing Course

Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” - Acts 9:1-5.

A thief in the Vancouver area received a little surprise while trying to make off with a roll of copper wire. The wire was connected to a generator that was running and when the thief tried to disconnect the wire, his shoes were blown off and he was burned. He received a 27,000-volt electrical shock. He was found wandering in a nearby railroad yard without shoes and with second-degree burns. The 41-year-old man is recovering from his injuries but will face criminal charges. According to police the man is “well known” to them.

You have to wonder if an unexpected 27,000-volt jolt that blows your shoes off is enough to make a career criminal change his vocation? Certainly, it should give him something to think about. Saul prior to his conversion had an experience that was just as shocking. Saul was on his way to persecute some more Christians in Damascus believing that he was serving God in doing so. However, God intervened in his life. The Bible says, “…suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.” That is an understatement since the light, which Saul encountered, was so bright in blinded him.

Saul was headed in one direction and when he encountered the resurrected Christ, the direction of his life was completely changed. The shock of this encounter with Christ was so great that Saul eventually became the apostle Paul and a part of the group that he had been persecuting. Paul was not the first and not the last to have the direction of their lives radically changed by a shocking encounter with Christ. Those who came after Paul most likely did not see a blinding light but their encounter with the Lord was no less shocking or life changing. Paul’s life was changed when he came to understand that he had been wrong in persecuting Christians and in his heart committed himself to follow Christ.

For some people it might take more than a 27,000-volt jolt to change the course of their lives. What they really need is an encounter with the living Lord Jesus. What about you? What would it take to change the course of your life?

2003-10-08T10:51:00.000-05:00

Last week Jeanie had her radioactive thyroid treatment to kill her thyroid since it is hyperactive. She is finally doing better physically.

I had my doctor's appointment in Oklahoma City on Monday and he does not think I will have any more problems. A scope is scheduled for the last part of November. However, my digestive system I know still has some problems and I will continue to try to eat better and exercise more.

Wrote another devotional last night and hopefully will be able to get back on track with writing and everything else. Last Sunday we had the best attendance since I have been home from the hospital and I hope that continues.

Jeanie is still working at home and has gone to Elk City today to drop off some completed work and pick up new work.

2003-10-08T10:30:00.000-05:00

The Burning Bush Devotional
(Over 8,000 subscribers in 75 countries)

10.08.03

The Fool’s Way

For he sees wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, and leave their wealth to others. Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. - Psalm 49:10-11.

On September 1st in Denver, a man told friends that he had been planning to jump from a moving car. He was not planning to commit suicide but wanted to feel some pain so that he would have the courage to have a tattoo. The 20-year-old during rush hour jumped from a car moving at about 40 mph and he was killed as a result. Another foolish and dangerous stunt was done by a teenage boy in Missouri. For some reason he felt like he needed to demonstrate his pain tolerance and he did this by hitting himself in the head with a skateboard. He then invited a friend to hit him in the head too, which resulted in his being knocked out with one blow, and sadly, he died just a few days later.

What is it that makes a person a fool? Is it the doing of what every sane person knows a person should not do? Is it the saying or writing of words every sane person knows a person should not say or write? Why do they do such things? For young people it is easy to say that they feel invulnerable and that they have a sense because of their youth that they will live forever. For those older as the Psalmist indicates some even in the face of much evidence to the contrary believe they will never face death. Ultimately, whether young or old it is the belief that they will never have to face any consequences for their actions. This belief comes from a lack of a fear of God.

The Book of Proverbs, which contains so much wisdom in the first chapter, says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7).” The lack of knowledge and wisdom, which results in foolish actions come from a person’s contempt for wisdom and instruction and ultimately contempt for the Lord.

How do you avoid being and acting like a fool? The Bible is very clear about this in many passages of Scripture. In Proverbs 9:10 for example we are told, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” To be wise and act with wisdom it is necessary to have a respect and reverence for God. King Solomon indicates that this is the beginning of all wisdom.

Are you a fool? Most of us have been fools at one time or another to some extent. We can avoid foolishness by having true respect and reverence for God and in doing so we will begin walking on the path of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

2003-09-30T21:40:00.000-05:00

The Burning Bush Devotional
(Over 8,000 subscribers in 75 countries)

09.30.03

Leaving It All Behind

Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels. - Luke 9:23-26.

My recent hospitalization began suddenly as the onset of my illness was unexpected. Arriving at the emergency room, we were unprepared for a long stay but that was the least of our concerns. When I was transported to a larger hospital in Oklahoma City, my wife hurriedly packed a few things to take with us. During my stay in the hospital, I came to appreciate some of the things I had left behind. When I was finally able to brush my teeth, I did so with a toothbrush the hospital furnished and it was very flimsy and I was always thinking that it was going to break. The first day I was allowed to take a shower there was no shampoo but the shower was still wonderful. Of course, there were so many things that were suddenly left behind. Things like the concerns of the pastorate, Internet ministry, so many friends, and unfinished projects. When I arrived finally back home and was able to walk through the house without all the wires and tubes it was a special joy.

In order for us to be a true disciple of Jesus, it is necessary for us to leave some things behind. We must deny ourselves our previous sinful way of life. This may include friends who would drag us down into sin again. It may include places that we know would bring temptation into our lives that would be hard to resist. It may include access to the Internet if we are unable to resist the temptations that are available online. It will include those things that enabled us to sin in the past like drugs, alcohol, memberships, telephone numbers, and a multitude of other things. It is important to leave behind those things that would lead to future sinful behavior (Romans 13:14). Deny yourself and leave them behind.

In order to deny ourselves we must take up our cross. The cross is an instrument of execution and we must put our selfish, sinful desires to death. When we have died to self, we will be able to deny ourselves and follow our Lord. To do this we must lose our lives and take on the life of Christ.

Someday we will all face death. Death may come suddenly for some and slowly for others but it will come at some point. It is important for us to face the reality of this fact. By doing so we can be prepared and our loved ones can be prepared. Someday we will have to leave behind every material thing that we have accumulated over a lifetime. We will also have to leave behind our family and friends at least temporarily. There will be no returning to the physical life we know now at that point.

When we contemplate the leaving of everything here on earth behind for eternity, the words of Jesus have much greater meaning. Jesus says, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?” Yes, we may gain great wealth and material possessions but of what value are such things when we depart from this life to the next leaving everything behind?

2003-09-30T21:39:00.000-05:00

This past summer was the most difficult of our lives but God has carried us through it all.

2003-07-21T14:25:00.000-05:00

Long time no blog! Had a great service at our church yesterday with three baptisms! Jeanie will soon be working at home instead of driving to work everyday. We can hardly wait!!

2003-02-20T08:41:00.000-06:00

Update on my physical health: God has forced me to become more healthy. No sugar or caffiene for over two weeks and have already lost 12 lbs., blood pressure is back under control and I do feel much better. Hopefully can continue to improve diet and exercise.

Yesterday our church served lunch at the Sayre College's BCM and there were around 27 students served. Matt Townsend the director did a good job with the event. Attended a youth evangelism rally last night with our youth director, Nick and six of our young people (or students as they seem to be referred to with increasing frequency). It was a good and meaningful evening.

Jeanie is in the midst of tax season working late every night and on weekends. Hopefully this will be the last one she will have to endure.

After arriving home last night I was idealess about a devotional and still have no ideas this morning. It must be devoblock!

2002-12-07T23:13:00.000-06:00

Had a difficult day today. Still not well physically and having some struggles spiritually.

2002-06-20T14:59:00.000-05:00

Unable to send devotional so far today because yahoo groups has both of my email addresses listed as bouncing and will not accept mail from those addresses (wrather@logixonline.net and edwrather@theburningbush.org). Also when I tried to unbounce my address I found that the page did not have an unbounce button and also could not post directly to the groups. I have sent an email to support@yahoogroups.com but they have very unresponsive in the past. Please pray about this situation. Thanks!!

2002-06-11T11:24:00.000-05:00

The good news is the computer is still working great!! And that means the devotional has been written and hopefully I'll be able to have everything a little more organized which will make for less consumption of time.

The church building is more or less complete for now and basically needs clean up. Planning now for dedication of the building and an open house toward the end of the summer. It will be great to have everything back in its place and organized in my study and else where in the church facility but it will take a little time.

Our grandson Mason will be having some more tests at some point in time when the surgeon is able to set that up. More testing on nerves to see how they are affected by his problems. Another baby Mason in our community has been in Children's Hospital for a couple of weeks but will soon be home.

Our youth minister and some of our youth group are on a mission trip this week with Cheyenne, First at Tulsa. They are involved in Backyard Bible Clubs and it should be a great and meaningful week for all of them. Our Firefighters Appreciation Day went well and our speaker Tim Dorsch a volunteer firefighter, EMT, and chaplain (Also pastor of a church at Fairmont, OK) did a great job. We were all blessed!!

2002-06-07T09:20:00.000-05:00

Update on the computer: Received hard drive and memory of proper size but had to install it myself. Computer now seems to be working well and hopefully will continue to do so.

Started writing devotional again this week and plan to deliver the devotional on a regular basis. Worked on website for several hours yesterday, primarily on the devotional archives which were in poor shape. Also still working to backup/save all material and files on disc so will be better prepared for any future computer problems.

They have stopped work on the church building and it is for the most part finished. There is still some minor things that need to be done and clean up outside. Also still need large area of concrete to be poured north of the building for parking and a place to play basketball. Not sure when they will return to do that because we have been waiting for about five weeks now. Settling back into my study and will someday have all of my boxes unloaded and things will be back to normal.

This coming Sunday is Firefighters Appreciation Sunday and Tim Dorsch a volunteer firefighter, EMT, and chaplain will be our speaker. We have invited all of our communities firefighters and their families to come and will be serving lunch.

The youth will be leaving Sunday afternoon on a Mission Trip to Tulsa and July 1 is youth camp at Falls Creek.

2002-05-29T10:35:00.000-05:00

Update on computer situation: Received a replacement tower from Compaq however, only has half memory and hard drive size as original. The person working on my account was gone for about 10 days but finally returned yesterday and after I talked to a tech admitted that they needed to give me the additional memory and larger hard drive. They will have to ship it to a local tech and hopefully this will take place sometime this week and next week the computer problem will be in the past. Actually the computer problem will work out for my good since the 5000 series computer has been replaced with an 8000 series which is better in every area including a faster speed.

Hopefully I will be able to begin sending devotionals regularly again next week.

Vacation Bible School was last week and Junior Camp is this week and soon will be a mission trip and youth camp. Firefighter's Appreciation Day coming up in a week.

We've had several burglaries in the area. They stole the church TV/VCR about a month ago. Last Saturday they broke in and stole a neighboring church's TV/VCR and sweeper. They also returned to our church and tried to break into the sound booth but only chipped away from wood. They found the new TV and VCR but left it setting on a table perhaps because they saw that I had engraved in large letters the church name and telephone number on them. A local natrual gas plant was also broken into and computers stolen. Our house is right next to the church and we also noticed that outside of one of our windows was several footprints in the flowerbed and flowers broken from where they had stepped. But we live in an isolated area so not much law enforcement can do at this point.

2002-05-10T10:48:00.000-05:00

Bad news is that the new computer still has the same problem. The good news is that I am getting used to using my old computer again. I'm trying to maintain a positive attitude toward Compaq but it is becoming more and more difficult to do.

Vacation Bible School will be here in a little over a week and workers bailing out. However, I have had no difficulty in recruiting new workers so far.

I am hoping and praying that the inside construction work will be completed by May 20 when VBS begins.

2002-05-07T21:50:00.000-05:00

Today the tech came to replace the parts in my computer!! Only problem now is the mouse is having trouble operating and frequently freezes up and have to turn off computer and reboot. But maybe the problem will work itself out. Hopefully I will be able to get back to some semblance of normal with my writing.

2002-05-03T09:58:00.000-05:00

Ryan is working out well as our youth director and the young people have responded well. Sunday is Senior Recognition Day. Seniors will be presented with a Bible from the church and a lunch will be served in their honor in the new fellowship hall.

Construction is still underway. Three of the south rooms have been almost finished. The remainder of the rooms are nearing completion hopefully in time for Vacation Bible School which begins on the 20th of May.

Two weeks ago I experienced problems with my new computer (a Compaq). A systems board was replaced and it worked for about two days and has been down since. Finally talked to someone from Compaq yesterday who said they would replace the memory, processor, and systems board however those items are on backorder and it will be May 7 before they can be shipped if they are available then. Then, there will also be a wait for the items to be received by the technician and date scheduled for installation. At this point I would recommend that no one buy a Compaq and if you are going to buy a new computer have a local technician build one that they will be able to work on. Most likely it will be cheaper and be much more trouble free. In addition you will have to deal with technical support runarounds.

This week has been a busy week with ministry. Some have been ill and in hospital in Oklahoma City. Phil Spencer passed away suddenly and his funeral service was yesterday. Wedding rehersal tonight and wedding tomorrow afternoon.

And tomorrow is my birthday!!

2002-04-05T11:11:00.000-06:00

Sunday is another big day for our church with Ryan Baker coming in view of a call to be our new youth director. I am excited about this and I believe the young people and everyone in our church is becoming excited about it as well.

2002-04-04T11:36:00.000-06:00

The south wing of our church building is a disaster area with all of the construction. Thankfully, it should be completed in a few weeks.

2002-04-02T11:54:00.000-06:00

Our grandson's sugery went reasonable well. Not everything is perfect but no major problems right now. I'm sure he will face many challenges along with his family in the years to come but God will walk with them through each one.

The Bible is so wonderful! I recently found this little story which was published in the American Bible Society Record in March of 1990. Here it is: Gaylord Kambarami, the General Secretary of the Bible Society in Zimbabwe, tried to give a New Testament to a very belligerent man. The man insisted he would roll the pages and use them to make cigarettes. Mr. Kambarami said, "I understand that, but at least promise to read the page of the New Testament before you smoke it." The man agreed, and the two went their separate ways.

Fifteen years later, the two men met at a convention in Zimbabwe. The Scripture-smoking pagan had found Christ and was now a full-time evangelist. He told the audience, "I smoked Matthew, and I smoked Mark, and I smoked Luke. But when I got to John 3:16, I couldn't smoke anymore. My life was changed from that moment." Aren't you glad God's Book is more than just words on paper?

2002-03-21T09:30:00.000-06:00

How the time flies! It has again been several days since I have been able to blog. Work is still moving along quickly with the new facility at our church. We will have our first event in the facility this coming Sunday. Construction will soon begin to refurbish the south wing of the building.

Our grandson Mason's surgery is still set for the 27th but they have moved up the time from 1pm to 7:30am. Hopefully and prayerfully all will go well.

What would you do if your religion was really meaningful to you? A survey was conducted to see if people took faith seriously how it would affect their behavior. USA Today, April 26, 2001 reported the following results:
87% would do more charity and volunteer work in the community
85% would do a better job raising their children.
79% believed we would see a decrease in crime.
69% said there would be less greed and less emphasis place on materialism.

So, do you take your faith seriously as revealed by your actions???

2002-03-15T14:52:00.000-06:00

We did vote Wednesday night to have Ryan Baker to come in view of a call as our new youth director on April 7th. Ryan appears to be a very sincere young man on fire for God and with much potential.

The carpet layers finished in the new addition last night and if the brick layers would come we would be close to having the facility finished.

Car problems again with Jeanie's car developing a strange sound which turned out to be the water pump and $168 dollars later it no longer has the noise.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

2002-03-12T12:00:00.000-06:00

Long time no blog!! Several things have been going on including a trip we made to my son's this last Friday and Saturday. This week Jeanie is having to work day and night to meet a deadline on the 15th. She made it home at about 1am last night. I think she needs another job before this one destroys her.

Today the carpet layers are to come and begin work and sometime this week the bricklayers are hoped to be coming as well. The new facility is looking very nice.

Making progress toward our having a youth director with an interview tomorrow.

Mason's surgery has been moved up one day to 27th which is a conflict with another situation for me but hopefully it will all work out.

2002-03-04T07:42:00.000-06:00

Ora Lee is home from the hospital and Ruth Holland is still in the hospital but improving. Pray for Jack Redman who is having surgery today in Altus, OK. Hopefully will be able to take care of several things today from car repair to ordering a computer for our treasurer.

The church voted last night to authorize the calling of a youth director which will enable us to be much more aggressive in our outreach to the young people of our community. It is an exciting time in the life of our church with this move and the building nearing completion.

2002-02-27T17:24:00.000-06:00

And it's Wednesday already. No prayer meeting yesterday because of the construction, cold, and one prayer warrior being in the hospital. One of the ladies in our church yesterday broke her ankle and bones in knee. Had a four hour surgery today and it will be a very long recovery. Pray for Ruth Holland.

Today we served lunch for the student ministries at the Sayre branch of Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Enjoyed sharing one of my devotionals at the luncheon but it is a little hard to do when most are talking and few appear to be paying any attention. Bible study tonight and I take my Dad to Oklahoma City to Dr. tomorrow. And time marches on and 5am may come a little early tomorrow morning. And Sunday is coming soon.

2002-02-26T08:43:00.000-06:00

It's already Tuesday and today is our prayer meeting. Must go to Sayre to visit Ora Lee who is in the hospital and go to the bank in Elk City and be back here by 2pm for our prayer meeting.

Here is something that has convicted me: A few years ago a woman named Peggy was diagnosed with cancer. She began praying that God would heal her—and not just heal her of cancer, but that he would make her completely healthy. Peggy had always had a bit of a weight problem and had never been very energetic, so she made some major changes in her lifestyle. She started walking every day and she drastically changed her diet. Eventually the cancer went into remission and she discovered that she was healthier than she had ever been in her life. She told her pastor, "I asked God to restore my health, and he said to me, 'Then start living like a healthy person lives.' When I gave up those unhealthy foods, I knew it would be for 20 years, not just a few months." Peggy started taking action in the direction of God's answer; that's asking in faith.

Convicting isn't it?

2002-02-22T09:27:00.000-06:00

It is Friday with many things to do today! Would like to try to get in to better physical shape. It is a constant challenge and I know that it will take a greater commitment than what I have been willing to give in the past. One thing I would like to do is to make better use of the time I spend on the exercise machine. I have started listening to tapes and listened to six chapters in the OT this morning in just 20 minutes. It is almost like speed reading but my comprehension seems to be better. "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God."

2002-02-20T09:07:00.000-06:00

We had a great prayer meeting yesterday! Bible study tonight. Jeanie is at Sayre again today but hopefully will be able to come home in time for church. God is moving and is moving in my life as well.

2002-02-19T11:16:00.000-06:00

It was wonderful having Jeanie home last night even if she was working most of the time. She is at Sayre today and hopefully will be home to work at home again tonight.

Today is our Tuesday prayer meeting which is a great joy in my life! I can already see the results of the prayer meetings as God's hand has begun to move. Prayer does make a difference!! Prayer changes things!!

2002-02-18T10:57:00.000-06:00

All went well Sunday with good services. Enjoyed seeing some of the young people here whom I haven't seen in awhile. Also had some other guests which was a pleasant surprise!

Jeanie worked at home Saturday and then went to Sayre to help count the votes at the Miss Sayre Pageant that evening. Hopefully things will be somewhat better for Jeanie since we have our old computer back and set up for her to work when she can at home. So even though she will still be working many hours if she is at home in a more comfortable environment out hope is that it will be less stressful for her.

The heating and air people are going to begin installation in the south wing of the building today. Construction continues to progress rapidly.

2002-02-15T10:57:00.000-06:00

Jeanie had another really long day arriving home at about 1:00 A.M. this morning. Not sure how late she will have to work today. Her co-worker who only let her boss know Monday that she was leaving actually only worked through Wednesday.

Sunday is FFA (Future Farmers of America) day at our church with those in the local chapter all attending together Sunday morning and we will have a lunch for them after the service. Sunday afternoon is the Erick Nursing Home Service so it will be a busy day.

Have been doing battle with the garage door springs. Another of them broke this week and they didn't have the right length so the longer spring doesn't work right. Will have them order two of the right size and strength today. I wasn't at home when this one broke but when the one before broke I thought there had been an earthquake because of all the noise and could hear something falling. Wouldn't want to be around it when it actually happened!!

2002-02-11T10:18:00.000-06:00

Jeanie just called and said one of her co-workers was leaving and that her last day will be Thursday. The difficult thing for Jeanie is that now she must learn in a few hours during the next four days how to do the work that her co-worker was doing. Jeanie will have to do all of her co-worker's work in addition to what she has already been doing. Since Jeanie is already working six days a week and arrived home Friday night at about midnight I don't know how she can possibly do this. Her co-worker leaving turns a difficult situation into a nightmare for her. It also is troubling since we would like to be able to see our grandson before his surgery March 28 and it is doubtful now that she will be able to have a full day to travel to do that. Also we planned to be there for our grandson's surgery in March and not sure how she can possibly do that now.

Last year the tax season was a terrible ordeal for Jeanie but it was magnified by her father being hospitalized for about three weeks during that time. The stress is mounting and it reveals itself in health problems. We must pray that the Lord will walk with her through each step of this time. We will pray that even though she may be in the furnace the Lord will be there with her to shield her and protect her, and strengthen her. In Your Name Lord Jesus we as this. Amen!

2002-02-07T10:57:00.000-06:00

Received call this morning from a woman wanting help. She is staying in a motel and says she has no place else to go and was wanting me to pay for a couple of more nights. Called and talked to the motel owner who said that night before last they appeared to have had a big party in their motel room and beer cans were all over the place. Of course I don't want to facilitate or enable her to have more "parties" but not sure what to do at this point to help her get going on the right path again.

It is sad how our lives can become so messed up when we leave God out of them. And even sadder is that many whose lives are messed up seem to think that living in that way is "normal." They think that because that is "normal" for them and they have never known any other way. I know that the only thing that will change this woman's situation is an act of God. Do I believe God is capable of doing that? Of Course! Will He? I don't know. I pray that He will move in this woman's life to somehow move her onto a new path that is not filled with evil. I ask this in Your Name Lord Jesus. Amen.

2002-02-06T10:40:00.000-06:00

It was not really a surprise but Yahoo has now taken care of my problem with the changing from one program to another. It was all done by about 10 last night. Amazing what can happen when you know the right people and I'm not just talking about Sue Decker who thankfully took a few seconds to help out of her very busy day. The Lord was the One that I knew because He gave me the idea for contacting those who could do something about the situation. Hopefully others who were in the same situation as me will have been helped by this as well.

The snow is about over here but still snowing in Sayre where Jeanie is today. Looked like a mess in Oklahoma City this morning. Some in western Oklahoma are still without electricity and hope that will soon be over for them. Bible study tonight and need to work on that. Just finished the devotional but still need to post it. With the faster computer I was able to unbounce over 600 subscribers to the devotional yesterday afternoon. Hopefully those soft bounce addresses are still good. Should be able to keep the bounces current now with the greater speed.

Clark and Libby have an appointment with the neuro surgeon in Dallas on Thursday and so hopefully we will learn more about what is ahead for Mason then. Please continue to pray for Mason.

2002-02-05T09:56:00.000-06:00

Hard to believe but it is snowing! I've noticed that we have developed a new phobia and it is very evident whenever our electricity blinks and we lose power for a few moments as we did last night. When it happens we immediately think "it is happening again and how long will we be without power this time?" as we feel around in the dark for our flashlights and candles. Let's see what could we name this most recently indentified phobia? Powerlossaphobia, or candlelightersphobia, or batterylifephobia, or generatorenvyphobia, or....

We had another building committee meeting last night and accomplished quite a bit and will meet again Wednesday prior to the service then. Nick and I went to Elk City yesterday and took care of several errands that needed doing. I actually found the connections that I need for the new faucet. I just need to put it all together now but it does look like it will not be easy. Visited Charles Fourier at the hospital who last Wednesday fell up at the store on the ice and broke his hip. He will not be able to put any weight on his legs for four weeks. Charles has been through a lot healthwise over the last several years.

Today the devotional has been written and is almost ready to be sent. Jeanie is working at Sayre today and may come home early if the snow continues. I may spend some time trying to learn how to use the Microsoft FrontPage demo that I received yesterday. Need to be able to improve the webpage but will have to invest the time to learn new skills. I've been having a problem with yahoo for some time trying to change my website from the old geoplus to the new webmaster program but for several months have been at an impasse. So yesterday I think I may have made a break through by contacting some of the executives at yahoo. For website owners one of the most frustrating things is that we have little way of communicating immediately with these people and we seem to be at their mercy as to when they get around to responding to us. However, after a little thought I was able to identify the email addresses of several yahoo executives based on their domain name of yahoo-inc.com. So here they are for all of you who have been having the same kind of problems I have been having:

Jerry Yang - Yang@yahoo-inc.com
He is the co-founder and chief yahoo and director.

David Filo - Filo@yahoo-inc.com
He is a co-found and chief Yahoo too.

Terry Semel - Semel@yahoo-inc.com
Chairman and chief executive officer and director

Jeff Mallett - Mallett@yahoo-inc.com
President and chief operating officer and director

Gregory Coleman - GColeman@yahoo-inc.com
Executive vice president, North American operation

Farzad Nazem - FNazem@yahoo-inc.com
Chief technical officer and senior vice president of communication services.

Susan Decker - SDecker@yahoo-inc.com
Chief financial officer and senior vice President of Finance and Administration

Susan Decker is the only one that actually responded. She kindly forwarded my email to Carolyn Patterson whom Sue says runs customer services and Sue apologized for the problems I had been having. It was a little thing but it did make me feel better. Last night I actually received a response from customer service (of course there was no human name listed in the email) but it was the first response I had received in over a month. Hopefully they will now take action to correct the problem I have been having of transferring from Geoplus to webmaster and I can be rid of the irritating ads on my website once again.

May you be blessed Sue Decker!!!!

2002-02-04T08:18:00.000-06:00

Had a great day Sunday of course every day ought to be a great day because every day is a day that the Lord has made. There are still a few in our community without electricity although those on rural water do have water. But there are still thousand in Oklahoma without electricity and it may be days or even weeks before it is back on for some of them. In my memory something like this has never happened to western Oklahoma. We do get used to the comforts of modern life! I have a new understanding of the saying, "burning daylight." Because without electricity daylight is the time to get things done especially if you only have oil or kerosene lamps. You would think because we have excellent lighting (when the electricity is on) at night that we could accomplish much more than our ancestors could. However, I doubt that we do.

Well here I am "burning daylight!" Better get busy!

2002-02-02T21:25:00.000-06:00

Back online after a couple of days of no electricity from the ice storm we had. Really thankful that we are warm again because many in Oklahoma are still without power and it may be that way for many more days. When you are used to the comforts of modern life it is hard to suddenly be without them. It does make you more thankful for all God has blessed us with. Actually it was somewhat of an adventure digging out the lamps and the flashlights and blankets but I think that had wore off by Thursday night and it was just miserable then.

Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday and my Sunday morning sermon is "The Super Bowl of Life." Actually it is going to be my Sunday evening sermon as well (one-half) because God has enlarged my territory and I am preaching at Buffalo church which is about four miles from us on Sunday night. Their pastor is speaking at Sayre about a mission project in South Dakota and so I am filling in for him. Their service starts at 6:00 P. M. (at Buffalo) and our evening service starts at 6:45 P. M. but I think it will work out fine and we can start later and our song service can be a little longer. Should be an interesting Sunday.

2002-01-30T10:38:00.000-06:00

Today is the day of the ice storm it has almost fizzled so far. But there does seem to be some ice on the trees and the sidewalk is a little slick. It's enough that Jeanie is staying home today which is wonderful! She stayed late last night so everything would be taken care of just in case she couldn't make it back today.

Wrote the devotional, posted the devotional, answered some emails, writing in the blog and I need to do the Bible study for tonight just in case the weather doesn't get any worse and we have church. We're hoping and praying for some moisture whether it is ice, snow, or rain because we have had a virtual drought for a while and the wheat is looking bad.

2002-01-29T10:26:00.000-06:00

Had to buy a couple of new tires for my car since there was a cut in the sidewall of one of the tires I replaced. Bought the 50,000 mile tires which demonstrates my hope that my car with 212,000 miles on it will last another 50,000!! Found what I thought I needed to hook up my new faucet but there is about a three inch gap which will need to be bridged so when I can I am returning to the lumber yard for more connections.

We are expecting a winter storm in our area with freezing rain to begin tonight and continue through tomorrow. It was a year ago Sunday when another ice storm hit.

Our Tuesday prayer meeting is on the schedule for today at 2pm. They are also planning to blow insulation into the attic of the south wing of the building today. Hopefully it will not cause too much of a disruption.

2002-01-28T08:51:00.000-06:00

Yesterday three of our men shared their testimonies in the morning service and it was very meaningful. Today is Monday and back to dealing with the mundane issues of life like having a flat tire on my car. I've got a little air compressor and plan to pump the tire up and drive to Elk City to have it changed. Still looking for the connections I need for the new faucet to hook it up. Need to set up the new computer desk. Need to do this and need to do that and here I am writing. So, you see where my priorities are!

2002-01-23T08:38:00.000-06:00

Today is our anniversary, 32 years!! The next 32 years are going to be great!! I know because I know what the last 32 years were like.

Had a good prayer meeting yesterday and it was finally the Tuesday prayer meeting on Tuesday. The devil was certainly busy on Monday with a man in our community committing suicide. Divorce seems to be rampant. The prayer coordinator at Altus, First was stabbed and left for dead in her trunk but she has survived and will recover. The perpertrator has been apprehended. Last week we heard the wife of evangelist Fred Fudge had committed suicide. While I was at Wal-Mart yesterday I talked to a pastor who told me of a man in his son's church who had recently committed suicide. The devil has been busy and we need pray more to keep him in his place.

Today is our delayed church business conference and we will also have our continuing Bible study in Colossians.

2002-01-18T08:37:00.000-06:00

The entryway was cut into the sanctuary from the new building yesterday and all went well. Final preparations are being made for the sheetrockers who are coming tomorrow.

Had a good prayer meeting yesterday and it is great to be around those who are concerned enough to pray and to take time out of their day to do that.

Got the new computer up and running yesterday but still need to transfer data from the old computer but must have the right line before I can do that. Hopefully, I can find one today. Need to finish up two sermons today and do the bulletin as well.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

2002-01-17T08:49:00.000-06:00

The speech judging went well although I never thought I would be a judge of those reciting poetry! It was a delight and refreshing to be around young people who were dedicated enough to work so hard on their presentations. I had the opportunity to visit with a young man who was also a judge at the contest. I know his father but have not seen him in several years. I think this was God's purpose in my being at the speech contest.

Exciting news! Federal Express called this morning and they are going to deliver the monitor for my new computer so I can finally put it all together. Hope it all works!

They are cutting the entry way from the new building into the sanctuary today which should be exciting as well.

2002-01-16T08:50:00.000-06:00

Received a call last night from my sister-in-law who teaches school and they need a judge for their speech contest today. So, I'm judging a speech contest this afternoon. Actually I am an experienced speech contest judge having been pressed into service by our agriculture teacher eight or nine years ago to judge an FFA speech contest. Another ag teacher had recruited for that contest an auctioneer as a judge. The auctioneer was a friend of mine that had been in my class and graduated the same year I did but had not seen in several years. I'm looking forward to finding out what God has in store for me today at this contest.

Judging the contest also means that Nick will go to his grandparents for the third day in a row. But Nick and his grandpa seem to be having a good time. Probably another thing God is taking care of at the same time.