Prayer. Few feel like their prayer life is sufficient. Put me in the larger group. The problem may be we know the word prayer, we just don’t know the fullness of the meaning. It’s like love. You can define love in a research paper, you can study love in a laboratory; but, you don’t begin to know love until you live it.

Prayer. I could call it solitude with God, time when it’s just me and God. I talk a bit, I’ve learned to listen more, I’m learning to forget all that stuff I’m “supposed” to do and just be with God.

Prayer. I could call it time with God and family. A group of believers joining together with God sitting right there in the group. I think we still talk too much, . . . but, maybe that’s just our way of reminding each other we share in their lives and encouraging each other to trust God. Have you discovered the joy of praying with your Live Oak small group family? That’s your mini-church, small enough to know how each person is doing in life while you do life together. When you have trouble, worry, sickness, crisis, great news, or joy, trust the brothers and sisters in your group and let them share with you in prayer.

While I’m thinking of it, our Live Oak elders meet and pray just about every Sunday morning at 8:00. We would be honored to serve you by lifting you and your family to God in prayer.

Prayer. I seem to do best when I just live with God. An on-line spiritual interaction that touches every moment of my day. Though, to be honest, it’s not always pretty. If I’m angry or even worse, I tell God. If I’m petty, I share that too. More and more, more and more of me is released to God. Oddly enough, I’m realizing it’s making it difficult at times to share with other’s in prayer. Even those closest to me. I still don’t like parts of me, I sure don’t like opening up those parts. I’m not sure how to work it out. But, I trust God will show me. If you have a moment, perhaps you would pray for your pastor about that, I’d appreciate it.

Prayer. It’s overwhelming to think about our Awesome Creator God loving to spend time with me and you.

Here’s a note regarding giving to help those in Haiti:

1. If you write a check or give cash, just write Haiti and the money will go to a missionary in Haiti to use on the scene.

2. Tim Phillips learned that if you would like to give specific medical supplies, Cross Timbers Church is making a collection and will take the items to Haiti. A link to a list of items and the details is at:http://dnn.crosstimberschurch.org/CTHome/HaitiRelief/tabid/561/Default.aspx

3. Keep praying for the people of Haiti and those giving aid.

Your brother,

brad

Our Finance Team pays close attention to our spending and helps us use the money given to Live Oak wisely. I thought to make sure everyone knows how we are doing, I’ll start keeping a regular update here in my blog. As you can imagine, I sure pay attention to the finances of the church. When Live Oak sold the old property, there was a profit. We decided to invest/commit a large portion of that profit in the move to Surrey Ranch. Why, to increase our effectiveness in reaching our vision of touching lives and families in our communities. So, we began at Surrey Ranch knowing that we would have higher expenses than present giving. We would use our savings. Well, Live Oak has been and continues to touch lives and families. However, giving has not risen as we hoped. A good projection is that at the present rate, our cash reserves and cash flow will run out in about mid-August, 2011. Most of our expenses are pretty much fixed and we already run a lean operation. So the ole’ cut expenses approach is not the answer. The answer is to increase our giving. The vision is clear, the need is great, now is the time to invest. Prayerfully consider giving and increasing your giving at this critical time in what God is doing through Live Oak.

Well it’s a new year and I’ve been asking God where I should focus my study for preaching. Here’s where I’m feeling led . . . to the Gospel of Mark. Mark was the first written record of the life of Jesus. Mark was a man of action. Reading Mark’s book is like walking alongside the disciples as they walked with Jesus. The word Gospel means Good News and God led Mark to jump right into the life changing teaching, healing and ministry of Jesus. The high point of Mark is dead-center and dead-on when he records Jesus asking Peter, “Who do you say I am?” and Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” Then, the second half of Mark deals entirely with the final period of Jesus’ ministry while headed to the cross and resurrection. I encourage you to start reading and studying the Gospel Mark as we walk alongside our Savior and Lord during his ministry.

Oh yeah, God has also laid several other messages on my heart that I’ll work in along the way. See you Sunday

Great job to everyone on the parade yesterday! Your smiles and warm greetings let lots of folks see God’s love lived by the families of Live Oak. Well done to the puppeteers and those who built the trailer/stage, the candycane handouts, the mailer, and getting everything together. A special thanks to Shannon for signing us up and getting us organized, Teresa and Steve for coaching the puppet team, Puppeteers and substitutes for an hour of fun, Steve and Michael for the stage, Dan for the handout/mailer, and everyone. Children would see the puppets and their smiles would cover their faces. I heard a lot of wow, awesome, Hi puppets, and just big belly laughs. It was a great time and the judges choose the Live Oak entry as the grand prize winner. Pretty cool, eh!

brad

Marv Knox did a great job sharing with us on Sunday morning while I was on-call. Marv is the editor of the Baptist state newsletter called “The Baptist Standard.” His editorials alone are worth checking out the site. This week, there’s a great article about a pastor of a church nearby who is fasting and camping out in order to raise awareness and aid for the homeless. Here’s the site: www.baptiststandard.com. You can also sign up to have the Standard sent to your email address.

Your brother,

brad

Difficult news from Fort Hood yesterday. Please join me in praying for the families of those killed and injured, healing to the injured and God’s presence in a real tangible way. Also, pray for Hasan.

Sunday we will talk and teach on dealing with the “horrible” part of life. God is here, God cares, God has answers.

Your brother,

brad

Well, I made it to Ohio to help out after mom’s surgery. She’s doing well and appreciates the prayers.
I’m wondering about something though . . . I’ve only flown twice since 9/11. On this my second trip, I wound up being booked on a broken plane. So, I got re-routed. Everything went well, I made it to Dayton at midnight, so that was fine. It’s just the extra time spent at DFW and Charlotte. It’s like life ends, a quasi-existence, surreal. I didn’t know anyone, couldn’t find a comfy chair and couldn’t stay focused on my book. I have a new appreciation for all you road-warriors. You have been in purgatory and paid.

brad

Tim Phillips has been inviting Teresa and I for months to go to experience HimProv. HimProv is a Christian improv comedy group that performs at BentTree Fellowship once a month. We went and brought along Teresa’s mom last night. It was great! What a wonderful show. We definitely have to let folks know about these talented actors. Teresa and Faye and everybody were laughing so hard that many were folding over in their seats. At one point I was worried a fella in front of me would go into cardiac arrest. But hey, it’s not such a bad way to go.

I laughed a lot, but many times I noticed I was truly enjoying the show, but not laughing out loud. I figured out why. I spent 11 hour days this week in an Interview and Interrogation Class. Excellent training and a huge amount of information to process. The goal, to find the truth. That information ranged from why people tell the truth to why they lie, what happens consciously and subconsciously, behaviors, speech patterns, you name it. We also discussed and read and watched interviews of subjects. Many of the subjects had committed horrible crimes, killing their babies, abusing women, murdering an ex, and other really bad stuff. Yes, I do have an opinion on the OJ case now. These were subjects that seriously needed to be held accountable for the truth. I realized during the show how much emotional energy these cases had sucked out of me. So, here’s the miracle. I believe God led Tim to invite my family to HimProv to fill us up with the fun of life. This morning, the view from my front window was again full of vivid colors.

There’s probably a lesson in my note somewhere . . . but, we’re headed over to a friend’s home to play cards and eat snacks. Just want to make sure my emotional fuel tank is topped off.

Your brother,

brad

PS: 2 bowling balls walked into a restaurant and asked the waiter to call a cab. Their ride had split.

PPS: 2 bowling balls walked out of a restaurant and knew they were in trouble when they saw their mini-van had a flat tire. Yep, no spare.

Ask Teresa or Tim about my jokes.