Wimberley

Some of my blog friends may not know or remember, but over the Memorial Day weekend, Wimberley, TX had a great flood. In June, our Church, Kingsland Baptist Church, sent a group of men to work helping out the flood victims. They helped by removing flood material from the homes, then removing the cabinets, and finally, dry wall and insulation. Then they disinfected the whole area. After this dried, they were set to rebuild. Our church has joined the Texas Baptist Men’s Disaster Relief so our church can go better equipped and better trained to the next disaster. Sharon and I have also joined and taken our first training. I am going to go for Chaplaincy training for Texas Baptist Men in October. 

This past weekend, Sharon and I went to Wimberley with our Santa Claus group, Lone Star Santas. As I have mentioned previously, I have dyed my beard white, grown my hair long, and with age, my middle has grown. In fact, Sharon and I have taken some classes and we both have an Assoc. degree in Santa Clauseology. I also have gotten some new letters behind my name. I was Brad Black Th.D., now I am Brad Black Th.D., RBS, IBRBS. The RBS stands for Real Bearded Santa, and IBRBS is the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas. (HO, HO, HO) Anyway, I digress; Lone Star Santas also went to Wimberley to help the flood victims by giving out toys to the children affected.   

First, I have to describe the drive in to Wimberley. Wimberley is in the hill country and is just a beautiful drive. Wimberley is in a valley, so driving in looking down, the ravine is just breathtaking. We knew about the flood, and people had told us to look at the effects as we drove in, and they were right. As we drove in, we took the back way off I 10 using several farm to market roads. Several miles away we could see big brown brush piles of logs and debris that looked like they had been bulldozed out of the way. One section of the road had been recently repaved because there were dry washes on both sides and when the water came, it washed the road away. In other dry washes, we could see tree limbs and other debris still stuck in the fences. The most telling of the damage from the flood was the bridge going into Wimberley. It had been repaired, but it was not all pretty, it was ugly and you could tell it was hastily repaired. Once on the bridge, both sides you see a quarter mile wide gorge of twisted trees, and brown mess, just a dead zone. 

We went to the local FEMA Disaster office and set up several table with toys for the children. 

The first kid that came in was the one who had the most impact on me. He was about 5 or 6; he would not ever talk with me and always stood on the other side of his mother from me. He would talk with his mom and I could hear, but he never spoke directly to me. In fact, he would not even sit with me to take a picture with all his toys from Santa.

Well, I took him to the stuffed animals and that was great, then we went to the sports toys and he found a skateboard and he was all excited about that. In fact, it took a lot of urging to get him to go to pick even one more toy, but he finally went over to the boy table and got an Iron Man mask. The final thing we got him was a candy cane and as I was walking them out and the mom opened up to me a little bit. She told me that both the house she and her son lived in and her parent’s home had been destroyed in the flood. Now, the two of them and her parents were all living in a pop-up camper on the hill on their land. You have to put this in perspective, this is Texas, the whole summer it has been hot, and we have just gone through about two weeks of 100 plus degree-days. Our upstairs AC was out a week, and we had to sleep downstairs on chairs, air mattresses and couches, but it at least it was cool. I just cannot imagine all summer in a pop up trailer. 

She also told me that they had just chain sawed all the logs and knocked down all the walls and were down to the slab; however, they had a big pile of debris that they could not burn because they were under a burn ban. Therefore, instead of being about to start rebuilding the two houses, they were going to have to get a truck and haul all of the debris away. 

She told me thank you, she was happy for the toys so he would be able play with something and not be under her feet all the time. From what I saw, he was very clingy with his mom. I do not know what he was like before the flood, but it was obvious that he was very dependent on his mom for everything. 

The other thing that I saw that hit me hard, not so much with my first little guy, but a lot of other kids, was how important it was to have stuffed animals available for the kids. I saw several kids clinging to their new stuffed toy as they walked away, just thrilled to have something to love. I love this picture because that is why we were there, to show them love, and that stuffed animal was our proof that that was happening.

I must give credit, most of these photos are not Sharon’s and mine, but were taken by my fellow Santas, and a special thanks to Santa Clem. 

Kaleb is Growing Up

     This week our church had a men’s emphasis week. On Thursday, we had a men’s event with a speaker who encouraged men not to try to do it alone because Satan is out there like a roaring lion seeing whom he can devourer. Then today, Saturday, one of the core men’s groups had a father/son mission’s trip. 

     Kaleb turned 11 in December, however, he is a big boy and he looks older than he is. I thought he was too young to go to the men’s event. I do let him come to the men’s Bible study I lead, but a lot of that is because he is very helpful, he likes to study the Bible, he makes the muffins every week for the men, and plays host by getting the men’s coffee. However, I am not in charge of the men’s event so could not give that privilege to him.

     Kaleb asked early Sunday morning if he could come Thursday and I had told him no, it was just for men. After the sermon, there was a video advertising the men’s event. When Kaleb saw the video, he begged to come. I said no. Without missing a beat he said, “I will make muffins”. I told him that would be like 400 or 500 muffins just so everybody could get one. His gave the classic kid’s answer, “So.” You also have to realize that this is all going on during announcements and it was all I could do to keep from bursting out laughing. 

     Kaleb then asks, “Can I ask him?” pointing to Gil Harris, the man in charge of the men’s event. I said sure. He was bound and determined that he wanted to go and I saw that he was not going to take “no” from me. About this time, they asked us to stand for prayer. Kaleb got up, turned around so he could put his foot on the stage front like a starting block, and as soon as they said “Amen” Kaleb sprinted to Gil. I was concerned for Gil, because as I said Kaleb is a big boy and once you get him started it is hard to stop him. 

Well, Gil obviously said yes, in fact, he said, “I better see you there.” After Kaleb told me that he could go he also whispered, “And I did not have to say anything about making muffins.” I had to laugh then.  

On the way to the men’s event I told Kaleb about a blog I read from our Missions Pastor about how they were going to have a father and son mission’s trip. He was pretty excited, which to be honest, was what I had hoped. I had taken my older kids to Mexico when they were a little bit old then he is now and it was a real life changing experience for them. Therefore, Kaleb and I decided that if we saw Omar (our Missions Pastor) we would talk to him about it. Well, before the meeting, we saw Omar and talked to him about it and he invited us to come along and join him. 

     We enjoyed the men’s event, there were great videos, and the speaker was a retired Marine who spoke about a band of brothers and always having someone to have your back. The speaker gave out cards with a big 6 on the front and on the back, it said I have blank’s 6 and blank has my 6. When we got to the van that night, I talked with Kaleb and we agreed that we would have each other’s 6 and signed the cards. I am planning to get them framed. 

     Today we just got back from the mission trip we went to a halfway house ran by a church called Manna House. First, I have to tell you I got Kaleb up early and he was exited and wanted to go, this does not always happen in the early morning. We got there and started right in digging some ditches for water lines so they could irrigate their gardens. The rest of the day, we spent taking a big sand pile and using it to fill low spots on the grounds so later it can be used for more gardens or buildings. It sounds pretty mundane, but it was hard work and I am sore as I am writing this. Kaleb worked hard and tried to do everything; he even pushed the wheel barrel once even though he was the youngest son there (this is funny, you ask him to clean his room and nothing happens). However, Kaleb was upbeat and excited the whole time. We then had a service with the men from the house. This was nice. A couple of men told their testimony about how they got into drugs, got to a low point, and found Jesus and how they were trying to straighten out their lives. We also went out to eat with the men from the house and ate more Pizza (twice in 3 days is a little much for me).

On the way home Kaleb was all excited. He said, “I have now been on my first Father/Son Missions trip and it was cool.” He was also planning. He was saying, “We need to go back like every month and fill in more and then they could have a baseball diamond.” (I guess I should have mentioned that Kaleb is really into baseball and especially the Astros). 

     I say all of this to show that my little boy is becoming a man. You can see he is still a boy because of some of his actions and the things he says; but by Kaleb wanting to be identified with men and wanting to be around men, it shows me he will very soon be a man. I am losing my baby but I am gaining a man. 

Evangelism Skit

I wrote this several years ago while at another church and we were working with Evangelism Explosion. I wrote this version, but I got the idea from a play I saw at Willow Creek Church, also, years ago. I thought now would be a good time to publish this because I have had some deep subjects lately and I just need to get back to the basics.

(Stage is like a giant waiting room with several couches and benches. One bench is front stage left with two people on it. Joe is on the left side; Lilia is on the right. Several other people from church sitting or standing throughout stage. At back of stage is a door and next to it is a sign that says “Highway to Heaven.” When door opens snippet of song “Highway to Heaven” plays. Inside the door and up wall are chasing lights that look to be running up when door is opened.)

Open

(People milling about in quiet conversation until Angel speaks and all is silent.)

Angel (Yells): Todd, Kerry, David, Rylee

(The called all head toward Angel. When they all get there the Angel say)

Angel:  You may enter now.

(As the door opens “Highway to Heaven” plays and chasing light run. Brad enters stage Left)

Brad:  Hey Joe! Hi Lilia! (Brad is carrying a cardboard box w/ a cross and a Thomas Kincaid picture. Brad is also wearing his green AWANAS shirt and cross ring. Brad sits between Joe and Lilia)

Brad:  what happened; the church bus never stopped.

Joe:  Yah! We plowed into that gas tanker and that’s all she wrote. I heard Tod tell Rex that he needed to get someone to look at the brakes the last time he drove it. I guess Rex forgot.

(Awkward silence for a moment then Angel calls again.)

Angel:  Scott, Jane, Zack, Hannah

(They walk toward Angel as they get there)

Angel:  You may enter

(As the door opens, song plays again and lights chase)

(When door shuts)

Lilia:  What took you so long to get here? You didn’t have to lay there and suffer for a while, did you?

Brad:  No, I went back to the house to get a few things. I could not get to heaven without them.

Joe:  What do you mean?

Brad:  You know a few things to show God that I belong. Like my AWANAS shirt, and my cross ring, this cross, or this Thomas Kinkade picture.

(Brad pulls the things out of the box as he talks about them. Then places them back in the box when he finishes)

Joe:   I used to think like you and my life was a real mess… (Joe gives his EE testimony)

(When Joe finishes)

Brad:  Man, you have a testimony; I always said I was going to get me a testimony after I heard Nicky Cruz… but I didn’t.

(Immediately Angel calls)

Angel:  Joe, Tammy, Jenny, Joshua

(Joe sheepishly and slowly gets up and walks over to the angel)

Joe:  (in hushed tones to the Angel) I am trying to show Brad the way to get Salvation; can you wait about 30 min?

Angel:  (leans over and talks quietly with Joe) I am afraid it is too late for Brad. He died without Jesus. His trust is in those things, not Jesus; they will lead him straight to Hell. (Or substitute the Devil)

By the way, Joe you had talked with Brad hundreds of times, why did you wait until now.

(Joe hangs his head and even shows a tear in his eyes)

Angel: (Yelling again) you may enter

(Joe slowly enters the door “Highway to Heaven” plays and lights chase up. Joe looks back eyes red and tears)

Brad: (to Lilia) I knew Joe would make it, that testimony was good. But, he scared me when he was talking to the Angel that long.

Lilia:  Can I ask you a question?

Brad:  Sure

Lillian:  If you were to die today, do you know for sure that you would go to heaven?

Brad:  Dah uah! I am here aren’t I?

Lilia:  You know the Bible tells us that you can know for sure. Would you like me to tell you how I came to know I have eternal life?

Brad:  Sure, I bet you got a good testimony too.


Lillian: But let me ask you one more question.

Brad:  okay

Lillian:  If you were to die tonight and stand before God and He asked you, why should I let you into my heaven? What would you say?

Brad:  That’s why I went back to the house to get all this stuff to show Him.

(At that moment, out of the stage right door comes a hooded black creature. The face is dark maybe use a Darth Maul mask. He runs across the stage grabs Brad’s cardboard box and runs out the stage left door. Brad gets up and runs after the creature)

 Brad :( Yelling) Hey!!!!!

(Brad fellows him out at a full gallop. Outside the door it is total black [may have to place a curtain to get the effect.] Door slams shut and you hear Brad’s yell getting further away as he is falling, but he never hits bottom, then silence)

(Another awkward moment the Angel calls out)

Angel:  Lilia  …


(Black out)

Tattoos

Tattoos

I have to admit this blog is a little personal for me.  My oldest son (23) against my advice went ahead and got a Tattoo.  We had several discussions about it before he did it but did it any way.  Along with this I had a good friend at work get a tattoo with the verse “as for me in my house we will serve the lord.”  He wanted it in Hebrew I helped him out by coping the verse out of my Hebrew bible for him to give the tattoo artist.

 I admit that I am form the old school on this and believe that Tattooing is wrong and I gave the verse below

 

Leviticus 19:27-29

New Living Translation (NLT)

²⁷ “Do not trim off the hair on your temples or trim your beards.
²⁸ “Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the Lord.
²⁹ “Do not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be filled with prostitution and wickedness.

In this I included the context and it is where the laws were addressed for the Hebrews as they enter the promise land.  These are a list of things they were not to do that the pagans did in their religious services.

That is the heart of my son’s argument.  He says that he did not get the tattoo as a part of another religion.  In fact he got a very fancy cross over his heart to show Christ is in his heart.  I like the sentiment.  But I do not feel this is the best way to show this. 

Another point my son made is that Christ has Tattoos. 

The Rider on a White Horse

¹¹ Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and true, and in righteousness he doeth judges and makes war. ¹² His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. ¹³ He is clothed in a robe dipped in^[d] blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. ¹⁵ From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down all the nations’ and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

My son says that it is a Tattoo on Jesus thigh that says “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”, I am not sure that Jesus would have had that Tattooed on himself.  I think that it got put there by some miracles’ way.  

I was not convinced by any of these arguments that Tattoos are okay.  But I also told him there is forgiveness of sin and I know God will not keep him out of heaven for this and I still love him and always will.  And the same is true of any one of my readers out there that have a Tattoo.  I have a couple of Pastor Friend’s that have Tattoos they got while in the military, which they now regent.  But they know there is forgiveness in Christ.

Tipss

Tips

Recently there have been two articles on tipping a waiter that caught my attention and made me think some.  The most resent a football player for a Philadelphia team took a couple of buddies out to a trendy restaurant for lunch and he picked up the bill for $60 plus tips.  Well he only left a twenty one cent tip and also left his credit card on purpose to make a point.  Well the waiter took a picture of this and pasted it on the restaurants facebook page and was very derogatory to the player, the football team and the NFL.  This started a media storm and one celebrity said that tips were this man’s wages and that the football player was robbing the man of his wages and next time in Philadelphia he was going to give the waiter 1000 dollars to save face for celebrity’s.   

The player was interviewed on local TV about the incident.  He explained that the waiter was very rude to him and his friend.  The waiter also said some very derogatory things about football.  He said that a tip was for good service.  This waiter did not give good service; therefore purposely he only left 21 cents and also left his credit card so the waiter would know he could have left more but did not because of the poor service

. 

Sharon’s economic teacher told her if you have bad service leave 7 cents, a nickel and two pennies because the waiter would know that you searched you pocket and found that to leave a statement that it was bad service. Because if you leave nothing they will think you forgot.  I am thinking that what the football player left 21 cent it is the same idea. 

I have to agree I was always taught that a tip was for good service and was not the obligation of the patron.  As you know we have a time share in Disney and one of first timeshare I picked up a broacher on restaurants and education on fine dining.In it there were a couple of things I found interesting.  One was that a tip was customary for good service not that it was monitory.I think that Disney being a leader in the entertainment industry would know best what a tip is for.  It also said use a sliding scale for your tip it said for good service give 15% for better service give 18% and for great service leave 20%.  They also said that you do not tip on the tax.

The other tip incident was a pastor had went out after church one Sunday and they paid for several people to eat and the bill came up to over a 100 dollars the restaurant add a 18 % gratuity to the bill.  The pastor crossed the tip out and wrote I give 10 % to God I will not give more to man.  The waiter then took a picture of the receipt and placed it on his personal page and said some very unkind words about Christians, pastors, and God.  Because the post had the pastor’s name it got back to the pastor what had happen.  The pastor then called the manager of the restaurant and the server was fired for posting a patron’s name.

Another thing I want to point out before I get to the meat of this one is that both waiters posted receipt on Facebook.  One of the waiters were fired for this the other was praised for it.  I think it absolutely wrong that a name of a person should be posted on Facebook without their knowledge or consent. 

The real meat here is what the pastor wrote.  He said I will not give man more then I give God.  I understand what he was saying but I think this goes back to what I was talking about earlier.  A tip is for service it is not a gift.  The pastor thoughts are the opposite of the actor the actor thinks it is a right of the waiter to get the money where the pastor thinks that a tip is a gift. 

I do not like to be hard on pastors but because of this attitude of a tip they have driven away a possible person to Christ instead of drawing them in to Christ.  I went a long way for my point but it is that just little things like a tip can have an impact on heavenly things.  That is why the Bible says

Philippians 4:6

Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

  Do everything with prayer.  That says a little pray over a tip can go a long way. 

To my childern

To my children

The last couple of years I have been very sickly.  I have been in the hospital three times and I just had a bad case of pneumonia.  I can see in the eyes of my children that they are very scared and concerned for me.  My daughter came over to the house every day when I was very sick;to check about my health, and my oldest son was sending texts checking on me.  My baby (he is 11 years old, but he is still my baby) was sleeping in our room so he could help take care of daddy.   This was a big change to see their dad like this. I used to allow Josh, the oldest, to punch me in the stomach because I had taken some boxing in college and know how to hold my stomach and not get hurt.  But, the other day Sharon had to tell him he could not do that anymore. I am diabetic, and I take insulin in my stomach and it leaves bruises and it hurts if he would punch me.  Bekah used to love to wrestle on the bed with dad, even after she was married, she would love to come in after I had lain down and jump on me and wrestle around.  Sharon had to tell her to stop because I, and the bed could not handle it any more.   Kaleb misses out the most, because of my bad knees we do not go out and play ball, go to the park and other things that I did with the other kids.  They see their dad getting decrepit.

I know how they feel, I remember about 15 years ago, my dad got real sick, had a long stay in the hospital and when he left he was on oxygen.  It is that realization; that your dad is not immortal, and you are scared about what you are going to do without your dad.  He has always been there, your buddy, your adviser.  It is a very scary thought to lose that. 

I would like to address my children and say yes, someday I will die and it will probably happen before you are ready for it.  But I want you to know that I am ready at any time the Lord calls.  I know that all three of you are Christians and you are working to lead the next generation of our family to Christ.  My only regret is that God gave me so much and I do not think I used it the best I could have for the Kingdom of Christ.  I do not regret any time I spent with you, but I know that there was a lot of times when I just sat on the couch and watched movies or TV when I could have be writing or doing something else for the Lord. 

I also want you to know how proud of you I am.  Josh, I will be honest that some of the middle years I was really concerned for you and I invested a lot of prayer in you.  You at one time had your heart set on becoming a ballet dancer and you were well on your way do that, you had already started doing it professionally and even had a dance choreographed for you at Houston Ballet. But you also saw the bad side how there was corruption and favoritism and it crushed your spirit toward dance.  And you wondered for several years before you found Chick fi la.  It gave you direction, maturity and taught you a lot about business and how to better deal with people.  Also at Chick fi la you meet Lauren and she has helped you out greatly by being a calming influence and helps you live a healthier lifestyle.   I know you were not real happy with Chick fi la when you left but it greatly prepared you for your career as a banker.  I am so proud that you do not just have a job but a real career that you can provide for your family.

I am also proud of Rebekah the most obvious is our 1^st and 2^nd grandchild.  But also for finding a good job in something you love working with children, going to school and getting good grades.  You struggled though you High School years because of your learning difficulties but now you are working to get a degree online, which we found is one of the best ways for you to learn,  you have straight A’s.  That you have found a good husband in Seth.

Kaleb I am proud of you also: we are still learning about your strengths.  And one of them is compassion and helping others.  You helped your Grandpa when he had  two surgeries.  You have helped me in my different hospital stays and when I was home afterwards need nursing care.  Plus you are known around the church as a good helper.  We need to develop this God given talent of yours to become your career.

 To all my children all I ask of you is to carry on the faith in your children and your children’s children.  And hold fast to your faith.  And remember I love you.

                                                                        

Love

Dad.