"I have heard of some good old woman in a cottage, who had nothing but a piece of bread and a little water, and lifting up her hands, she said, as a blessing, What! all this, and Christ too?" ~ Charles Spurgeon

Welcome one and all. I am so happy to be able to greet you this morning, on this, Monday, July 13, 2026. My oh my, what a last few days! Last Friday we traveled down into the heart of mid-town Houston and the traffic was still busy as we were attending my granddaughter's wedding rehearsal. Thank God and GPS for getting us there on time. We turned around and did the same thing on Saturday evening. The GPS carried us into the location a completely different way and it exited us a different way as well. I was trying to think back when I came into Houston for a job interview back in October of 1969, I am almost certain I found the building I was looking for using a fold-up paper map. That was my first visit to a city as large as Houston and because of that, a number of embarrassing things happened to me that day and I will not dredge them up so that I can be embarrassed again. Needless to say, the fish out of water, the square peg looking for the round hole, the odd man out, and, other kinds of idioms, I fulfilled them all. That first visit was life changing because it ended up with a job offer that brought me and my family to the Houston area and we have made our lives here ever since. Given my map reading ability and the fact I didn't get past the tender foot badge in boy scouts, I could have easily ended up in Houston, Mississippi or Houston, Missouri, perhaps, Houston, Minnesota, and maybe I would have caught the notion I was on the wrong road if I found out I was headed for Houston, Alaska. And as they say, a lot of water has run under a lot of bridges in these past 57 years. Plenty of highlights and sadly, plenty of low ones as well, however, getting to officiate our granddaughter's wedding, our Kyleigh, or as we used to call her, Ky-Ky, it certainly is a memorable highlight I will always treasure. 

 

Yesterday, we also enjoyed a great time of fellowship, sharing, hearing God's Word taught and preached at our local gathering place at Mims Baptist, Conroe, just north of The Woodlands area where we live. I say just north but on some weekday travels there the traffic is bumper to bumper and there have been times when it took us one hour to get to prayer meeting or choir practice. Yep, eleven miles, folks, and, having worked in downtown Houston for nearly 25 years, well, on those long commute days it does bring back some memories. The old saying has proved itself time and time again: The more things change it is the more they stay the same. We enjoyed a great Bible study from the writing of Joshua where our teacher did a drill down on one of the great characters found in God's Word, Caleb. The passage we studied was how Caleb at age 85 proclaimed his fitness to get the mountain he was promised by Moses. He stated he had not lost any of his vigor since beginning his long journey to the promised land. Now, as I approach the 80th year of my sojourn with all of my aches and pains, my many doctors, my wonderful physical therapist, and a dozen prescriptions, to say I am impressed with Caleb is an understatement. He not only said he could do it, he did it folks! He did. He really did. (Joshua chapter 14) We then sang in choir and heard a great sermon from the first letter the Apostle Paul was inspired to write to the called out local assembly, church, meeting in Thessalonica, Greece. It was about our future as believers. It was about how our Lord is coming back and He is coming for us, dead or alive. Our pastor, the Dr. Bro. Jerry Chaddick, well, he knows how to shuck the corn, and, he laid it out for all to see. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) We returned home, ate a homemade tuna sandwich, played with Lil Miss Biscuit, and, then, I fell asleep. A good nap of nearly 3 hours. Wow! I end today's visit by reminding us all that our God is good. He is folks. He really is. Amen.