What is truth?

“Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”

Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. “

John 18:37,38 KJV

In a recent post I mentioned that I was planning on taking this blog in somewhat of a different direction. Well first of all, I never want to lose sight of the Gospel, so I pray that whatever I say here, no matter what the subject matter, is always anchored in His truth.

Spirit West Coast ‘07 – Part II

Sorry about that, the old creative juices kind of dried up for a couple weeks there. Well, they’re back and I have a lot to cover. We’ve been awful busy. Spirit West Coast was awesome! How can I describe it? The number I heard was 12,000. Twelve thousand people gathered together to celebrate the love of Jesus! I’ve never experienced anything remotely like it. The atmosphere was different than any other concert or music festival I’ve ever attended. I think maybe it was a feeble glimpse of what Heaven is like.

I also think maybe the unseasonably cool and excellent weather we’ve had the past couple of weeks is no coincidence. I like to think that God noticed all that praise to His name coming from Laguna Seca and thought he would send the beautiful weather back home with Karri and me and all the other people from Redding who volunteered and/or worshipped there. I want to go there every year for the rest of my life.

The smash hit discovery of the weekend for us was Family Force 5! Check ‘em out: www.familyforce5.com They look a little cheesy at first, but don’t let that fool you. Give ‘em a listen. They are just fun. Free downloads here: www.freegotee.com

Apparently they have quite a following, but Karri and I had never heard of them. Karri heard part of their set, bought the CD, got it autographed and we’ve been wearing it out for two weeks now. They’re coming to Paradise Alliance Church on August 24. We’re going.

We got to see Kutless, Third Day and Switchfoot on the main stage. All awesome performances. What a glorious long weekend celebration! Thanks, Jesus!

Spirit West Coast ‘07

We’re exhausted. Here’s some pictures from Spirit West Coast. So much to say, too tired to say it right now. More later.

My Testimony, Part 1

I was born in a small town in Texas in 1960. I was raised in the church. My parents had me “baptized” as an infant. From the time I started school I served the Lord. On Sunday mornings I wore red and white vestments and carried a small torch up the center aisle at the beginning of the service and back down at the end. It still amazes me that they would put a kid so young in charge of an open flame. It’s a miracle I never burned the place down.

My parents and my older brother and I all went to church together pretty regularly. I went to Sunday school. I learned the Gospel and the ten commandments and the Apostle’s Creed. I was blessed with a good foundation early on. Then, when I was about nine or ten, I remember my parents going to church less often. Dad would drop me and my brother off and go back home. Even when my parents started to fall away, they made sure my brother and I got that firm foundation. One day, my mom took me and my brother to spend the weekend in Houston with my grandmother. We skipped church that weekend, and when Sunday evening rolled around and it got dark and we weren’t getting ready to go home, I asked mom why. That’s when she said we weren’t going home again. After that weekend, the only time we ever went home again was every other weekend for visitation with dad.

My parents divorced and mom got an apartment for us in Houston. Everything changed. I don’t want to cry too much over spilt milk here. Suffice it to say I was confused and devastated. I never saw it coming. My parents were careful never to fight in front of the kids, which made the split even more of a surprise. I didn’t know they were having problems. Anyhow…