"I look upon death to be as necessary to our constitution as sleep. We shall rise refreshed in the morning." ~ Benjamin Franklin

This will be your final wake up call here on this Wednesday, August 14, 2013.  My experience over the years in getting one of those hotel wake up calls has been pretty mixed. I've had a few that were missed altogether but fortunately I typically always woke up anyway. I've seen some folks use that as an excuse for not showing up at a meeting. Could be. Often they looked like maybe they also had stayed out too late but looks can be deceiving. I can't remember exactly when I stopped using an alarm clock or having wake up calls but I do know this, for me, I'm better off depending upon myself. I've talked to others who have told me that if they were to try and do that, they might just still be in bed at noon. I did know one fellow who had a big hang up about being unable to wake up on time. He tried the electric clock radio, and he tried the loudest alarm clock he could find. He still slept through them all. Finally, he bought one of the old fashioned huge wind up alarm clocks. He put a metal bucket across the room on his dresser. He put the clock into the bucket. When it went off it literally danced around and he had to get up and walk across the room to shut it off. That worked for him. I'm not sure what his wife thought about it. And, I'm glad it did work because for years he actually drove the commuter van I rode.

I started to say why did y'all let everything get in such a mess while I was away but then I remembered it was already a mess. One thing we know from studying true history, as in the Bible, we've pretty much had a messed up world since Adam sinned. From the get go, so to speak. We don't need revisionist historians to dig up dirt on folks from our past because we could have told them before that everyone has their own baggage. It comes with the package marked Fallen Humanity. What I don't appreciate is when they make up stuff or come up with far fetched conclusions not represented by the facts as we know them. They tend to do this when there is someone that we have always looked up to, say, like a George Washington, called the father of our nation. Many liberal historians don't like the image of George Washington as a great man who God used to help birth our nation. Did George Washington have failings in his life? Of course he did! He too had that Fallen Humanity tag on his life. However, he did show the way for us all with dignity and grace, and he pointed everyone to God and His providence in charting our nation's earliest days. It wouldn't hurt to have some of that medicine applied to today's bruised and broken system.

Yours truly praying for the services to follow.

The new members of the new Churches in Mexico treated us as honored guests. While they rejoiced in finally achieving the establishing of a God ordained independent called out assembly, they also clearly appreciated the labor and support that had come from their American givers, and they desired to show that respect. I was very humbled by their genuine respect. They asked many of us to sign their programs and one of the visiting Mexican pastors asked all the visiting men to sign his Bible. I had expected to be only an observer but felt humbled and blessed when asked to word an opening prayer for the organization of Central Baptist Church. I also was able to give a few words of testimony regarding our work with, our support, and our love for the Gallegos family. The theme woven throughout all these proceedings was that any and all praise should be sent up to God our heavenly Father since it was only by His grace, mercy, and His provision that any of these things could be accomplished. One last thought. Bro. Ernesto Gallegos Sr., 81 years young, has always stood out to me as a special servant of the Lord. I told some of the men in Mexico that while I can't fully explain it I've always connected Bro. Ernesto to the way that Moses was portrayed. Moses came down that mountain and his face glowed from his contact with Jehovah, so much so, they had to put a bag on his face. Just me. But, I feel that same way about this wonderful Mexican man of God. Have a great day and may God add His blessings to it. Amen.  ...More later.