Rita Hits East Texas

Rhonda & Willie's Place 4
Originally uploaded by Michael T. Gilbert.

I'm not sure where this picture was taken, but it resembles my neighborhood in Lufkin, Texas, thanks to Hurricane Rita.

Thanks again for the notes. I'm still concerned for those in the Golden Triangle area of Texas and those in Lake Charles, LA, which is still in flood-type conditions - that area got hit hard.

We finally got power back at home today about noon - a very welcome site as it was approaching 100 degrees in Texas today. I'm still concerned for the elderly here, particularly those in outlying areas without power.

It appears as those we had 5 deaths related to Rita - one due to a falling tree, two to car accidents and two elderly patients that just couldn't handle the move.

It's the little things that bring happiness. I'm looking forward to crunching on a piece of ice this evening for the first time in days.

Hurricane Rita Update

Hey all, My first official check-in online. Sunday at 10:15 am - we have power and computers back up and running at my office - and unbelievably cable for internet.

The home is still totally without power. We are all alive and well. Lufkin got hit hard, but not near as hard as Jasper Texas, just 45 miles southeast of us. Lake Charles, LA got the brunt of this storm - so, keep that area in your prayers.We had a minor leak from wind/water, some missing shingles and just mess. My neighbor across the street got a major oak through his house. Everyone's ok, but we spent all afternoon getting that tree off his house -- and he's looking at a $50,000 repair job easily - thank God for insurance.

Lots of downed trees and downed power lines. My Admin's daughter attends college at Lamar in Beaumont - she'll probably be home for a couple of weeks as the Golden Triangle took the bulk of the Texas damage. But, all is ok, nobody hurt, just some sore muscles and lots of clean-up to do. Thankfully, the business will be cranking at full speed tomorrow a.m.

Appreciate all the prayers and positive energy - I felt it yesterday. We effectively got a Cat. 2 hurricane through our city, it was no fun, lots of stress on everyone, but, again, we are all fine.

Any reports you hear regarding shelters shutting people out in Lufkin are totally false. I'll go into that more later, but I can tell you I saw day care centers, gymnastic centers and homeowners bringing total strangers into their places/homes -- which is totally ill-advised by the Red Cross. But, we had probably 3,000 stranded people here as the storm was bearing down.

Keep far southwest LA, and the Golden Triangle of SE Texas in your prayers.

Hurricane Rita

At the ripe young age of 44 I'm about to experience my first major hurricane. Rita is about 10 hours from landfall and appears she'll be crashing in between Galveston and Beaumont/Port Arthur. My prayers are really with the Port Arthur area, they are far less equipped to take this storm. It appears the eyewall will come very, very close to Lufkin and we'll get heavy winds and rain. My only real personal concerns are a couple of big oak trees near my back yard and getting water into my office. The family will hunker down and stay safe.

The uneasy feeling you get in times like this is eery. Our fair city of 35,000 appears to have doubled. There are cars, RV's, trucks everywhere with their hoods up, folks have crept through and just run out of gas. Today, Friday, Sept. 23rd, we are hoping/praying that fuel trucks make it here and get these folks up and northward before nightfall. Of course, this scenario plays out in a dozen other Texas cities as well.

I have a feeling my next post will find me with a newfound respect for hurricanes.

Beautiful Song

One of the two or three most powerful contemporary Christian songs I've listened to has got to be Shawn McDonald's Beautiful. What a powerful proclamation of God's sovereignty.

Beautiful

Written by Shawn McDonald

As I look into the stars

Pondering how far away they are

How You hold them in Your hands

And still You know this man

You know my inner most being, oh

Even better than I know, than I know myself

What a beautiful God

What a beautiful God

And what am I, that I might be called Your child

What am I, what am I

That You might know me, my King

What am I, what am I, what am I

As I look off into the distance

Watching the sun roll on by

Beautiful colors all around me, oh

Painted all over the sky

The same hands that created all of this

They created you and I

What a beautiful God

What a beautiful God

And what am I, that I might be called Your child

What am I, what am I

That You might know me, my King

What am I, what am I

That You might die, that I might live

What am I, what am I, what am I, what am I

What am I

What am I

What am I

What am I

What am I

You can listen to a cut from it here:

http://www.shawnmcdonaldmusic.com/media.php

New Orleans Poverty Map

New Orleans Poverty Map
Originally uploaded by tonguetyed.

Lord, there is no one besides You to help the powerless against the mighty..
II Chronicles 14:11.

This map highlights the abject poverty conditions in New Orleans. Seems these people have been somewhat forgotten. Millions pour in, but where does the money go. So many questions remain.

Relationship built on Mercy

Nailed to the Cross
Originally uploaded by pashellabarger.

"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us, he took it away, nailing it to the cross." Colossians 2:13-14

"...Christ came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst." I Timothy 1:15

We know that Paul had a very personal encounter with Christ. He was moving from one place to the next, devouring Christians like a man possessed by Satan. Then Christ simply ask Paul why he was hurting him. Jesus asked for and received a very personal relationship with Paul from that point forward. For that reason, Paul always knew his heinous past sins had been erased because he believed the message of the Gospel.

So, the question is -- why do we have such trouble receiving the same pardon and mercy from Christ? The question is not -- why do we continue to struggle with sin because Paul continued to struggle with sin - he tells us that in his writings. No, Paul received mercy and then moved to the deep, quenching waters of a mercy-filled relationship with Jesus. And, because of that, Paul moved well passed the pettiness of superficial churchy-type issues.

And, much more importantly, Paul was able to fully embrace and understand the message of Christ - that Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Tear the Roof off the House

I'm not sure where that hip, slang phrase came from, but it should have come from the Gospels. As Jesus was teaching in a crowded home - people were pressing in, cramming in, doing anything to be near this great Rabbi. Some men - probably early engineers - decided the only way to get their crippled friend to Jesus was down through the roof. So, they literally tore the roof off the house to get to him.

His healing hand, comforting words, strong spiritual presence - whatever it takes was the cry of many stories we read about in the Gospels. A great idea conceived by such a great spiritual hunger? It appears so. Surely we can discover a route to the nearness of Christ - but only if we seek him.

The answer

If you want to know the answer....
Originally uploaded by omj.

Reading through I Samuel I'm reminded that God gave the people what they wanted (a king) even though he knew it was the wrong answer for the wrong reasons and would certainly produce painful results.

The Israelites never really believed that God was big enough. 2000+ years later do we believe Jesus is big enough and "the" answer - or is our "king" our denominational doctrine/agenda?
Kind of like the old 8-ball we used to play with. Turn over the ball for a standard answer to whatever question we dreamed up.

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." -Dr. Seuss

Give us a King

Pavilion
Originally uploaded by elsie!.

In Samuel Ch. 8, the Israelites ask God's prophet Samuel for a king. Demand is really a more appropriate word - they had to have a king. God responds to this request in vs. 18-24 in a direct, painfully wise, and not too kind response.

God knew the end result - the Israelits yet again wanted something "real" to worship - a king. And God was yet once again apparently not big enough on his own for a full worship experience.

Samuel told the Israelites what the result would be - in short, an over-bearing government and a loss of personal freedom. Hmmmm, could that be repeating itself today? I'm not getting all political here, just wondering if we want so badly for things to be "just right" here in our community at world at large, that we make requests of God that have no eternal bearing.

I Sam. 8:4-22

4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead [a] us, such as all the other nations have."
6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle [b] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."
21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king."

The Storms of Life

I began this post several days before people had Katrina on their minds constantly. Kind of funny in a way almost, the pictures of the most ferocious looking storms I could find digging around online prior to Katrina were weak at best.

The devastation by Katrina has left me speechless. The acts of kindness shown by the good folks of Texas and so many other places has rekindled my belief in the Christian community.

In a simple group of words - "Peace, be Still" - Jesus calmed a major storm on the sea, eased fears and moved on. His power brings peace - if we let it. His presence brings communion with him - if we find the time for the presence. His love brings healing - if we accept his unconditional mercy and pardon.

Our personal storms are usually self-inflicted - the fruit of some bad decisions or chronic sin. Jesus seems small and far during those times. The storm brings pain and, hopefully, him into so much clearer focus.

Katrina - Lord Bless Them

orleans-mother-katrina
Originally uploaded by indi.ca.

Proverbs 10:3 - The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

John 16:33 - It is in you, Lord Jesus, that we have peace. In this world we will have tribulation, but we will be of good cheer, because You have overcome the world.

Lord, we pray for this family and the thousands of others grieving right now. I pray for Eleseanne Coco and her mother and grandmother who were transported to Houston. Give them peace.