New Blog Mirror

Do you ever see that tempting button on your blogger dashboard that says CREATE A BLOG? I have been eyeing that button for several months, and finally I decided to bite the bait. I am going to start posting more of my personal daily thoughts at http://brianhailey.blogspot.com

Go on, check it out.

Shari's Poem

I talked to Shari who gave us the report on Jasper, and she has given me permission to pass on the poem to you guys. She told me that God gave it to her to share. Be blessed...

Katrina & Rita’s Wrath & Aftermath

Winds of the world came . . .
Ravishing the land . . .
Blowing my life away . . .
Storm clouds of hurricanes . . .
Raining torrents . . .
Flooding family and friends . . .
Wind whirled . . .
Rains pounded . . .
Lightning cracked . . .
Mighty oaks crashed,
Power ceased,
People panicked,
Tempers flared,
And darkness descended . . . all around me
In the natural world where winds blow and floods flash.

Evacuated, fleeing for life, homeless, running scared . . .
What to take? What to leave behind? How to know?
Now a new town . . . knowing no one;
Just a trunk-full of treasures to call my own.

“Where is my God?”

Here, He is right here; here with me; He is within me!
He hovers over me and shelters me from all harm.

“I am with you always”
He promises
“And I shall never leave you.”

O, what perfect peace, what refreshing rest for my soul!
Knowing my Lord personally
Sustains me . . .
In the midst of all life’s storms.
Partaking in such an intimate relationship enables me to
Trust the Jesus of Galilee, the man who stills storms
With just a word.
And through this trust He uses me to turn to others –
To speak – To bless – Others who are more afraid,
More in need, more desperate, more without hope
Than I.
We reach out to each other – to hug, to comfort, to share a meal
And in doing so share the love of the Lord.

Rebuilding life . . .
Trying again to gain some normalcy.
But how?

Waiting in lines an entire day . . .
Filling out papers till hands cramp . . .
Staying on hold till you want to scream . . .
Red tape, frustration, red tape, then finally: “You don’t qualify.”
World government tries to help, but falls short.

Suddenly realization dawns: “Where can I go, but to the Lord?”
Yes, stop the hassle, take a breath, and smile . . .
My dependence is on God Almighty;
In Him alone can I trust!

I pray . . .
I ask . . .
I wait . . .
To see Him open Heaven’s gate!
Helping hands, safe shelter, encouraging words, hot meals, fervent prayers,
and the money comes . . . blessings for others and also for us.
Praise the Lord!
God’s bounty pours forth from His Body on earth!
Provision is here. God’s children taking care of one another.
Father smiles . . .
He is pleased . . .

Even though winds of the world come
They cannot blow my life away
For my life is safe and secure,
Hidden in Christ.
And even storm clouds of hurricanes
Cannot flood away my family
For my family is God’s family
And my inheritance is the Kingdom of God
Which endures forever!

So . . . blow winds blow . . .
Flood rains flood . . .
Flash lightning flash . . .
Crash trees crash . . .
Come what may . . .
I shall not fall
I shall endure to the end
With strength from Jesus, my Lord, my friend.

By Shari Gunter 10-4-05

Returning to Life in Jasper

I have another report from a sister in Christ in Jasper that has gone home since the hurricane's destruction. I'll post it here for you to read:

Check out my current blog
http://brianahiley.blogspot.com

Dear Loved Ones,
Just a note to let you know that we are all back home -- WITH electricity!! Yea!! Everything is hooked up again -- except cable T.V. (______ isn't too happy about that!) But life is trying to resemble normalcy again. We're still waiting on FEMA to decide to reimburse us for some of our out-of-town living expenses for about 3 weeks. Also have lots of clean-up to do, especially in the back yard where several trees are down and will need to be cut up and removed.

I think everyone affected by Rita or Katrina has learned that we take much for granted and you don't really know how blessed you are till you have to do without some luxuries -- like electricity (A/C and heat, lights, T.V., computers, clean running water, ovens and microwaves, etc.) I really missed just sleeping in my own bed and being able to relax in my own Lazy-Boy chair (which is the only place I can rest and my back doesn't hurt!

I am attaching a poem I wrote after our evacuation. We stayed with relatives and friends in several different towns for 3 weeks, but ended up at a Christian Retreat Center in Azle, TX where we used to live. They graciously offered us a fully furnished trailer house to stay in for as long as we needed. While there I finally took the time to get quiet before the Lord and He gave me this poem to share with others. Hope it blesses you.

Much love,
_________

Abstract Autumn Angles

_______________________
___________________ ____

Ant's-Eye View

What does the world look like from the view of an ant? This is a fun photographic exercise in imagination standing in someone else's shoes.


Our Home_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Tree Trunk Near our Home

Pipeline (waterhose) _ _ _ _ _ Tree-like Flower

More Fall Pics

Today was a most gorgeous day here in West Texas! I met my brother Joey for lunch, and we took one picture together. We both enjoyed in the bright sunshine and the cool weather. The temperature this afternoon was 22º C/ 75º F. Perfect!


After the wedding I stopped by Heavenly Rest Episcopal Church and took some pictures of their gorgeous building. Take a gander...
http://bdh98a.multiply.com/photos/album/27















I also took some pictures of my house and yard yesterday evening to show the progress of the fall here. There is still not much change, but just you wait...

Nancy Clinard's Wedding

Today I went to the wedding of the mother of Joshua, one of my former roommates. Nancy had been a widow for 11 years, and she came to ACU to study missions. She has served the Lord in various continents, and now she and her new husband aspire to serve the Lord together for the rest of their lives. It was a beautiful wedding!!!

Follow this link to see more pictures:
http://bdh98a.multiply.com/photos/album/26

Fiesta de la Paloma

Saturday Selvin and I went to a festival in Coleman, Texas where my parents live. It is called the Fiesta de la Paloma, not because they hold doves with reverence, but because there is so much dove hunting. I guess it reflects the Texan fascination for hunting.

This is a great place to learnn about central Texan culture and social interaction.

Looking on from Courthouse_ _ _ _ _Kids sliding on Giant Slide

A Beautiful Butterfly Wing _ _ __ _ _ Walking the dog


Typical Dancing _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Mysterious Selvin

Hurricane Recovery Update

Just to give you an update on the hurricane hit area, my fellow Jasperites are still without electricity. Texas Governor Perry is proposing to deliver electricity generators to East Texas to help provide energy to the areas living without. Potable running water has been restored to most areas. Please continue to keep our loved-ones in these disaster areas in your prayers.

Can the Holy Spirit Do It?

We we are evangelizing and planting churches in new cultures, do we have the responsibility to lay down a specific set of ethical standards for the developing community, making all ethical and moral decisions for them? Is that our role as the foreign aposles to the nations? What all is included, and what is included in the task of making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them to command all that Jesus commanded his apostles?

Lesslie Newbigin reflects on the writings of the late Roland Allen for partial guidance on this subject. Let's listen to what he has to say...

The central thrust of all Roland Allen's writing is expressed in the title of a posthumously published work, The Ministry of the Spirit. Allen's charge against modern missions was that they had been tempted by their alliance with colonial powers to act as though the mission of the church could be pursued in the style of a cultural and educational campaign, as though the object was to multiply replicas of the sending churches. In contrast to this Allen rightly saw that in the New Testament portrayal of mission the central reality is the active work of the living Holy Spirit himself. It is the Spirit who brings about conversion, the Spirit who equips those who are called with the gifts needed for all the varied forms of ministry, and the Spirit who guides the church into all the truth. The Spirit is not the property of the sending church of the missionary who is sent. It is not part of the missionary's duty to mold the new church into the style of the old. The Spirit is sovereign and free, and the missionary must trust the Spirit to do his own work. Where Christ is confessed, where the word of the gospel is preached and the sacraments of the gospel are administered, and where there is a ministry that links the new community to the wider fellowship of the catholic church, there Allen believed, the Holy Spirit must be trusted to provide all that is needed, and the missionary has done his or her work and can move on.*

What do you guys think?

*Lesslie Newbigin. The Open Secret: an Introduction to the Theology of Mission. William B. Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, Mich., 1995, 130.