Sunshine on my Shoulders!

With a nod to John Denver- the sunshine on my shoulders feels great today in Florida. It won’t be too long until the days warm up enough for the beach to really be inviting.

Thanks for the positive reception of my previous post. The discussion there is still ongoing and I soon plan a follow-up post.

Recently I have connected with old friends. My old Sardis Lake Christian Camp buddy Tom Lynch who preaches in the Nashville area emailed a couple of weeks ago. Back in the day at SLCC we had a blast. One of my former elders, Richard Peace, who now lives and continues his shepherding work in Paris, TX also emailed. He and his wonderful wife Connelle are doing great. I also enjoyed a recent phone conversation with Eddie Lewis. Eddie is on staff at the Germantown church near Memphis. He and his sweet wife Judy (who stays busy in her counseling work) are blessing many in that area through their ministries. And it has also been wonderful to reconnect with Otis Bowman who preaches for the Johnson Grove Church of Christ in Brookhaven, MS.

Speaking of Otis, a young man- Bubby Rushing- from his congregation will spend part of his summer here at Gateway as my preaching intern. I am excited about this- especially after meeting Bubby and his family. The Johnson Grove church is demonstrating great vision by sponsoring Bubby and encouraging his pursuit of ministry in this way. I received help from Robert Oglesby of the Waterview congregation in Richardson, TX in putting together this program. Robert has had summer preaching interns for many years and is a pioneer in this type of training.

Terri and I are looking foward to soon heading to the Pepperdine Bible Lectures on the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. This is such an uplifting event. Terri and I are scheduled to co-teach a class entitled “In the Belly of the Whale”. Terri is very nervous, but I am confident that she will do extremely well. If you have never attended this lecture I encourage you to consider it. Jerry Rushford and crew do an outstanding job of putting this together and hosting it- and the view just can’t be beat!

Before we leave for the lectures we will enjoy one of the highlights of the year at Gateway. Every April we host a benefit talent show for our Lithuania camp summer mission team. This year it will feature all in-house Gateway “talent”. We use that word loosely around here since I am on the roster to sing a Hank Jr. song, a Waylon Jennings tune (as a part of a medley) and to be one of the Temptations! It all should be a hoot.

If you get a minute check out this new blog. My friend Jim Miller is hoping it will become a focal point for discussing Christian singles ministry. 

I would also reccomend you reading Bobby Valentine’s latest post. Very powerful indeed.

As always- thanks for stopping by the blog!