Our deliverance draweth nigh! As much as I love technology – I hate technology. But this may the answer for being able to do the blog in a way that I will be able to update it and not lose everything. There is a despicable force in the universe determined to drive me crazy with this stuff but with the help of Moe Somji our web guy we may have vanquished the dreaded foe.<< MORE >>

OKAY LET ME EXPLAIN: Both of our kids have griped at me for not doing any posting recently but it hasn’t been by choice.  I have a laptop at home and when I have tried to post something I type the whole thing out and then when I’d try to post it, one of 2 things happened.  Either it just disappeared never to be found again, or the website refused to upload it.  Yes, I realize that I am technologically challenged but that’s just the way it is.  I really don’t mind being in the 21st century but I have to confess that I hate this stuff sometimes.  Anyway, I think that I have found the solution (which I did entirely on my own by the way).  The “test” I did worked.  Yeah!

Now let me bring you up to date.  “To make a long story short…” as they say:

TRIP TO MINOT, NORTH DAKOTA:  Linda and I are leaving early Friday morning for Minot where we were the Pastors of River of Life Assembly of God for ten years from 1989-1999.  They have grown so much that they had to purchase another building and we will be part of the dedication.  We are so happy for them.  Haven’t met the new Pastor yet but he has been very gracious to us and we are very appreciative.  The only problem is that it is still cold in ND.  It snowed in Grand Forks (where Leah, Paul and the boys live) just a few days ago. It gets down in the 50s still.  Anything under 70 is cold to me.  Anyway I will be returning by myself on Monday but Linda will be driving with Leah and the 3 boys (Jordan, Sam and Ben) to FL.  Our son-in-law Paul is a Captain in the AF and is going on temporary duty overseas for 5 months or so.  Leah and the boys are coming down to stay with us during that time.  We’ve moved a bunch of stuff around and cleaned out closets etc.  We are looking forward to it.

THE GIRLS ARE COMING TOO:  We’re really excited because Alyson and Lauryn our granddaughters from Baton Rouge, LA (Michael and Tara’s girls) are coming to spend a week with us at the end of May.  They will be flying for the first time by themselves.  We’re going to have a great time.  It will be awesome to have all 5 of our grandkids at the same time.  We’ve got several things planned with all of them and some things just with the girls since they’ll only be here for a week.

Gotta run for now…just glad that I finally figured this out.  Thanks for your patience.

Having trouble with posting. Hopefully it will be resolved soon. << MORE >>

Well the "Great Sex" sermon is over and I got several comments from people that appreciated that I even addressed the subject. I had assured them the week before that there would be nothing crass or crude about what I said but that I would be frank about it. If there were any that were upset about it they never said anything to me about it. While I don't shoot for controversy, it sometimes follows me because I believe that there are real life issues that need to be addressed in the church. A part of the reason that the world thinks we are irrelevant is that we don't talk about the things that they are dealing with. The church and especially pastors are going to have to go beyond where they are at if we are going to equip believers for the realities of every day living and reach out to the unchurched. We never have to water down the message and never should, but Jesus talked about the everyday issues of life. << MORE >>

IT'S NOT THAT I LIKE BEING CONTROVERSIAL BUT: If you saw the home page for our site you know that I am preaching this Sunday on "Great Sex." I've assured everyone that there will be nothing crass, crude or coarse about what I say but the Bible can be very graphic in its depiction of the love between married lovers. I know that it will make some people uncomfortable but this needs to be talked about in the church instead of on the street or in schools. << MORE >>

Our sales rep for the Tampa Tribune (Nick Novo, a great Christian brother) got us tickets for the Yankees last spring training game at Legends Field (now Steinbrener Field) in Tampa. The Yankees were playing the Philadelphia Phillies. Needless to say, as a die-hard Yankees fan, I had to be there. I wore my Yankees jacket that Linda and I estimate is at least 25 years old judging by the fact that there are holes in the pockets and that if I put anything in there - its gone....<< MORE >>

Okay, I need you to help me on this. I was thinking again (as I often do) about why things are as they are. I mean we often just take things for granted don't we? Here's what I mean. I love Clausen pickles and thankfully on Weight Watches pickles carry no point value. (BTW - I've lost about 20 pounds so far and have another 10 to go to get to my goal but I'm not allowed to say anything about it.) Anyway, have you ever noticed that a pickle jar is absolutely filled beyond belief! So that when you take off the little plastic thingy that goes around the jar head and you open the jar - it is deliberately designed to slosh pickle juice all over you (or me as it were). Can there be a diabolical conspiracy to create a pickle juice contamination in America? << MORE >>

I am 57 years old and I was surfing the channels tonight (Saturday) and came across the Wizard of Oz. Now this movie is almost 13 years older than I am. It came out in 1939, but no matter how many times I see it I love it. I am going to preach a series in the fall of the year on the Wizard of Oz. Just can't decide if I will use video clips or use actors dressed up like the main characters. Its true that "they just don't make them like they used to." << MORE >>

Linda took this picture of Michael and I at the Columbia Restaurant (http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/) in Tampa. The Columbia is over a hundred years old and has a great menu of Cuban foods. We each ordered something different convinced that "we would take some home for another meal." Yeah right! Well three cleaned plates later, I waddled out of the historic Columbia Restaurant. << MORE >>

Our son Michael is in Orlando again for a week. Its the last phase of some kind of business training that I guess is in very high demand in the corporate world. Its supposed to make him more marketable and upwardly mobile. Sure hope he makes tons of money. I am a firm believer that children should take care of their parents in a style to which they would like to be accustomed. We'll get to see him this weekend. He will be 32 years old on March 18th so we'll take him somewhere nice for dinner.<< MORE >>