Enjoying The Sportsman's Paradise

While in Colorado last year I discovered that my new friend, Pastor Troy Lewis - who grew up in Steamboat Springs, doesn't ski. That blew my mind! Here's a guy, living in a skiers paradise and he doesn't ski? It made no sense to me! Then I started thinking about where I live. Our State is called The Sportsman's Paradise. People from all over the world come here to hunt and to fish. Yet, although I live literally minutes away from some of the best fishing and hunting in the world, I rarely engage in either of those activities! I've decided that should change!

A couple weeks ago, I made my first alligator hunt! My good friend, Greg (Spanky) Arsement, invited me to go with him and supplied me with a tag. (Louisiana requires them to legally kill an alligator.) We went to a lease in a swamp northeast of Baton Rouge and I killed this 7 1/2-footer while our Media Director, Richard Gaspard captured it all on video. We felt like real 'Swamp People' and Spanky made sure I received the appropriate Troy Landry-like encouragement - "Choot 'em!" The next day, Spanky went out and killed an 11-footer! (That's a real tree-shaker there boy!)


This week I made a duck hunt with my good friend Dennis Clark. He is an incredibly accomplished hunter and I had a really great time! We hunted Teal, which are smaller ducks that are amazingly fast and hard to hit! My right shoulder has a huge bruise from all the shooting! Watching Dennis' dog Topper retrieve the ducks we shot was something to behold! He is so smart, and watching him work with Dennis was a reminder of why we need to get out and enjoy all that Louisiana life has to offer! I'm truly thankful for our little slice of paradise!

1st and 2nd Samuel

Last year, when we brought Robin to Master's Commission on opening day, we told everyone we were dropping our little Samuel off at the temple. It was a tongue-in-cheek reference to the wonderful Old Testament story of Samuel and his mother Hannah's promise to dedicate her child to God. This weekend we brought 2nd Samuel and dropped him off at the temple too. (There are two Samuels - go check your Old Testament!)

Chase, who would have been a Senior this year, finished his remaining credits this summer so he could go to Master's Commission early. (He will still participate in our local Home School Network Graduation ceremonies in May.) We are very proud of him and we can't wait to see what God will do both in and through him this year!

Robin is doing her second year at Master's and will earn her Bachelor's Degree in Missions from the West Coast Bible College. Afterward, she plans to spend a year in Kenya assisting with planting a Master's Commission program there. We plan to all go to Kenya in January on a missions trip to see where she'll be working. Just thought I'd catch you up on what's happening with 1st and 2nd Samuel!

Makes Sense!

This weekend two of my great loves come together for what promises to be a wonderful time! I'll be kicking off a brand new message series at Crossroads that combines my love for preaching with my love for horses. The series is called Horse Sense.

The premise is simple: There are many similarities to what we do to train horses and the things God does to provide us with spiritual training. I figured, why not point out the comparisons and learn some things about what God wants to do in our lives? We'll be looking at the principals of trust and respect, harnessing the power we have in Christ, bridling our tongues and spurring one another on to good works! 

Our media director, Richard Gaspard, filmed a wonderful local horse trainer named Dwayne Desormeaux giving us some interesting insights into training horses. These short tutorials, along with everyone dressed in boots and jeans, some preservice games and a few surprises throughout the series will make for a lot of fun at Crossroads in September! Saddle up and come join us!

Families Reach Cities

A while back I attended a service where my friend Rich Wilkerson was preaching. He shared an incredible message about how families reach cities for God. His premise was that the Levitical Priesthood is a trans-covenant reality. Just like God chose a family in the Old Testament to serve as His priests, He also chooses families today, in this New Covenant hour to do His work upon the earth. He pointed out the many examples we see around us like Franklin Graham following in the footsteps of his famous father Billy, Joel Osteen taking over for his dad John, the list goes on and on. Rich pointed out that, growing up as a pastor's son, he was raised with the idea that you never attempt to persuade your children to follow you in the ministry. He confessed that he ignored that advice and told his four boys everyday of their lives that, although he wasn't sure what they would do for a living, he believed that they would preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth! Today, all four of his sons are involved in ministry. At the end of the service he invited all the pastors in attendance to come forward and dedicate their families to God. I was there by myself, but as I stood at the alter I took my iPhone and I held pictures of my children up to God and cried out to Him to use them in His service anyway He sees fit!

I am so proud of my kids and so thankful that both of them are in Master's Commission this year following the will of God for their lives! In addition, we just hired my nephew Jordy as our Youth Pastor here at Crossroads Church and it was one of the most thrilling moments of my life! Rich is right - Families reach cities!