I’m in my car listening to the radio and Danny Gokey’s song HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET comes on.   As I listened to this song tears began to stream down my face. I immediately started thinking about the sweet girl that we are adopting from Colombia, our beautiful Cielo. Thinking about the sunrise on the other side of the darkest night that she is about to see makes me smile.  There is this one line in the song that almost goes unnoticed and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Later that day, I looked the song up on the internet and the lyrics as well. Sure enough, that line was there just the way I remembered. “HE HAD THE SOLUTION BEFORE YOU HAD THE PROBLEM.”  I will come back to that line in just a moment. But first, think about the massive problem going on in our world and country with children who don’t have a family. Children that want hope, love and to belong.

“According to UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund), there are roughly 153 million orphans worldwide. Every day, an estimated 5,700 more children become orphans. Children are often relinquished due to war, natural disaster, poverty, disease, stigma, and medical needs.”  “In the United States, there are approximately 437,000 children in the foster care system on any given day. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2016 (the last year of reported data) there were over 117,000 children waiting for adoption, but only 57,000 placements occurred.”  Let me say that I am grateful for organizations, orphanages, group homes, and foster families who are standing in the gap to help support the helpless.  It’s that line, “He had the solution before you had the problem” that I keep thinking about especially with this discussion on Adoption. 

Before there was ever a PROBLEM GOD had a SOLUTION. That solution is you and me!  We must have open hearts to see the need, open homes to welcome children into our family, and open wallets to support those who are able to adopt.  God speaks clearly to His followers in Isaiah 1:17 and James 1:27 that we are called to be the solution for this problem.  Christie and I are overwhelmed with gratitude for the generosity, encouragement and support shown to us during our adoption journey.  It’s an amazing feeling to know, as we step out in faith, our church family and friends are fortifying our steps and holding up our arms.  You are a blessing!  You are the sunrise on the other side of the darkest night for Cielo and so many others.  Let us continue to glorify God in this community and abroad as the Fulshear church of Christ in all that we say and do. THANKS FOR BEING OUR VILLAGE. 

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.  —  James 1:22,27

The good news of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) is the most important message for all the world and for all times. Our ultimate goal is to help bring those who have not obeyed Jesus into a loving

relationship with complete obedience to Him as Lord and Savior (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).

We have an opportunity every week to express our love for Jesus, worship Him with our hearts, and give of who we are and what we have to Him, our Great God, because of His wonderful love and

amazing grace.  We also have the opportunity to invite our friends and family to worship alongside of us each and every week. That's exactly what God Almighty wants us to do as followers of His Son.

We must encourage and invite our friends and family to come and share in this special time of

fellowship, preaching, and worship. Let's do our absolute best to have an attendance of 175 or more on Saturday and Sunday of our Gospel Meeting. This is a very attainable goal and it all depends on our commitment, conviction, and discipline to reach out to our friends and family and help bring them to the Fulshear Church of Christ to hear the Good News proclaimed during our Gospel Meeting with Stan Dauck, the minister for the Bernie Church of Christ in Bernie, MO (October 5-6). 

It is up to you and me so let's get busy and share the love of Jesus!

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.'" -- The Apostle Paul

In April of 1996, I was encouraged by a minister of the Gospel from a small town in Southern Missouri to get involved with Youth Ministry as a summer intern where he was preaching. I was working full-time at Emerson Electric, a company in Paragould, Arkansas, that built washer and dryer motors for many of the leading Washing Machine and Dryer Companies in the US. Ministry was not an interest of mine or a career choice for sure. I reluctantly agreed to intern on the weekends while continuing to work the 3rd shift at the factory full time. Needless to say that was a busy summer.  However, that preacher and that internship changed my life forever. I thank God often for that summer and experience!

That preacher still preaches for the same church with over 30 years of ministry there and he is just as encouraging now as he was then. The faithful brother in Christ and minister of the Gospel is Stan Dauck and he will be our Keynote Speaker for our first Gospel Meeting at the Fulshear Church of Christ!! What an absolute blessing he will be as he shares the truth of God’s Word, encourages us to continue to serve the Lord and helps develop faith in the hearts of the hearers (Romans 10:17). 

Who would have ever imagined that the encouragement offered to a young man on the campus of Crowley’s Ridge College by a faithful man of God ministering from the Bootheel of Missouri would have an impact in Fulshear, Texas?  And yet here we are in 2019 making a beautiful difference. Only God could be behind such activities. 

Make Plans right now to be a part of an amazing opportunity to grow in faith and participate in something special. 

“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, IT PLEASED GOD THROUGH THE FOOLISHNESS OF THE MESSAGE PREACHED to save those who believe.”  - The Apostle Paul

The story of the Woman at the Well in John 4 (especially verses 16-18) is a massive reminder that a PERSONAL conversation about SIN is not a PUBLIC proclamation for the whole world to know (via Facebook, twitter, instagram, phone calls, personal gossip, etc.)!  

The story shared by the apostle John concerning Jesus’ conversation with a sinful woman was God’s way to point out His GRACE and KINDNESS through Jesus Christ for a sinful world. "For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!" (Psalm 117:2).  Think about it, if Christ could save her, this extremely sinful woman, then He can save me!   

Let's learn to talk to people personally, privately, and NOT discuss PUBLICLY about a personal sin committed by any individual. Let's display KINDNESS toward others and be positive and encouraging in order to help them understand God’s Amazing Grace.

In the words of John Wesley, "Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can." 

LET’S DO GOOD, SHARE THE GOOD NEWS, AND LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY!!

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, [9] not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:4-10). 

Turning the page is exciting!! Looking forward to graduation, marriage, kids, a new job, a new town, retirement, or the next big thing!! Dreaming about what lies ahead keeps us motivated and moving. There are times when we start to look ahead. We even skip important aspects of a story in that we only focus on the ending (I learned that from Brent’s Wednesday night class recently).

Turning back the page to re-evaluate what we missed is important. Looking back helps us to appreciate the story. It keeps us grounded and on task at hand.

Psalm 23 is a beautiful and poignant place in our story! It is the most well-known of the Psalms and one of the most popular in the Bible. Almost everyone, whether religious or not, have heard Psalm 23 because it is quoted so frequently. It is a comforting Psalm that spiritually looks forward to feeding on green pastures, drinking from still/peaceful water. Anticipating a time of refreshing. The comfort that when difficult days do come (and they will) we have the assurance that Jesus will be with us. Always!!

Psalm 23 keeps us moving and motivated.

However, Psalm 22 is a place in the story that is as important (if not more important) than Psalm 23! Psalms are different and provoke different feelings. Psalm 23 presents confidence, assurance, and trust. While Psalm 22 is for troubled times. Almost everything that happened at the Crucifixion and most of Jesus’ words during his final hours were prophesied in the Psalms. The phrases will sound fa-miliar. Your mind will return Golgotha. You picture the cross and you sense the pain and agony. With our current series coming to a close we have been reminded of the importance of Psalm 22. This is about an obedient Son. Jesus, the suffering servant in Psalm 22 put His trust in His Father. We should put our trust in Him as well.

Turning the page is beneficial and every once in a while, turning back reminds us of the past in order to appreciate the future. Never overlook the important details of the moment in a rush to get to the next page.