Restarting the Blog

Hello Everyone:
I had an opportunity a day or so ago to come and check out my blog; all I can say is SHAME ON ME. I could not believe that the last time I blogged was August, 2012. I have to learn that it may be easier to get in the habit of trying to post everyday.

Over the next week, I will try my hardest to catch up on what has been going on in the Ministry; but for today, I will concentrate on the Van Ministry of our church. Well; let me give you the name of our church, the place where I have the privilege of being the Associate Pastor.

Lowell Assembly of God
995 Andover Street
Tewksbury, Ma. 01876
978-851-9800
info@lowellag.org

Over the past year, our van ministry has continued to grow. In speaking with the Senior Pastor on several occasions we tossed around the prospect of getting another van. We have one van already, but; sometimes on a Sunday Morning we need to make two, and on a rare occasion, three runs to get everyone to church on time. 

One day, both the Senior Pastor and I drove by a place that had a Mini Bus for sale. We both went to see it on another day, he liked it, so the church purchased it. We also decided to keep the van as well. Both vehicles are 15 passengers, including the driver. We wanted/needed to keep the seating at 14 as no one would need to obtain a special CDL License to drive either the van or mini bus.

Folks were finding it difficult to get into the van, but not so the mini bus, due to it having a center isle and low entry steps. The Van Ministry continues to grow and we are praying for the day to come when we will need both vehicles running for the morning services.

Here are some pictures of the new Mini Bus; Enjoy.

 In time we will need to get the wheel chair lift re-installed for more flexibility.

My Vacation Week

I have been on vacation since this past Monday, August 20Th, and I thought that I would share with you, some of the things that I did. My wife has been working this week, so I have been Home Alone, as you would say.

On Monday, I was not expecting to do much, but that changed early in the morning. After doing my normal Monday Morning chores, I called my oldest grandson (18) to see if he wanted to go to breakfast with his Papa. It turns out that he did so we went to Hudson, NH to eat and that is where our day got interesting.

After Breakfast, I asked him if he wanted to go for an adventure ride, too which he replied, YES. At that point we headed from Hudson, NH to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

First stop; "The Basin"

Here is the link to the video of the Basin...
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/25329956/video-2012-08-20-12-56-00.mp4

From the Basin, we traveled to North Conway, then into Conway, NH, had lunch and drove home. We had traveled a total of 294 miles. Yep; it was a great day being together and we arrived home at 5:30 PM. The grandson then went home, packed a bag and headed to his uncles house in CT.

Tuesday; I decided to stay home and chill. Watched some TV and just rested. Someone told me once that, that was what you are supposed to do on a vacation. REST!

Wednesday; I had breakfast with a few of the Radio Club Members (Normal for Wednesday) and then went to Andover, Ma. to watch trains, as this is one of my hobbies. Here are links to three (3) videos; (1) Commuter Train; (2) Amtrak from Boston to Portland, ME; (3) Freight Train.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/25329956/video-2012-08-22-07-55-17.mp4

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/25329956/video-2012-08-22-09-44-24.mp4

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/25329956/video-2012-08-22-09-20-42.mp4

Thursday: I was asked to go to my youngest daughters house in Hudson, NH for breakfast, but the catch is that I was the one to do the cooking. Her three children like the way I make French Toast, so those were my orders. Breakfast went well and I decided to wait/work at her house until her only daughter came home. She arrived home about 11:30 AM, and I asked my daughter what she wanted to do for lunch. Well; we ended up going to T-Bones for lunch. We called my oldest daughter and she came with her three youngest plus one little boy from our church that she watches a couple of days a week. So, it ended up to be a nice time with my two daughters and 6 of my 8 grandchildren for lunch. Here are the pictures...

Well; today is Friday; and I am at home doing the resting thing again; however, I plan on going to lunch and check out a BBQ place in town that I have never gone to before. I will let you know how it is/was. I will post a blog about tomorrow, Saturday, as I have plans for tomorrow. "Stand By; More to Follow"

Blessings:

A Sad World

I read a news item this morning about the 14 year old boy who was struck and killed by a car on Rte 93 this past Wednesday, late in the afternoon. The report stated that there is/was a possibility that he was having an argument with his mother. This, once again reminds me that we need to pray earnestly for the youth of our church. 

We are hearing more and more about this type of incident involvin

g children and their parents. We must remember that it is our responsibility to teach our children what the Word of God states...

Ephesians 6:1 KJV
(1) Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

Colossians 3:20 KJV
(20) Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.

ALSO:
Colossians 3:21 KJV
(21) Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

I truly believe that if you center your children in and around the Word of God, incidents like I have described above will be greatly reduced, if not eliminated. Bring your children to Life Application Classes and Youth Group. Help them to be well grounded; not well rounded.

A Bitter Sweet Trip to North Carolina

Hello Everyone:

For those of you who follow me on Face Book, you are aware that my wife's nice Lori (in North Carolina) is now on Hospice. About a week and a half ago; my two daughters stated that they felt an urgency to go and see Lori while she is still with us.

Some hasty plans were made, rooms were booked, routes were planned, other items were prepared, and a departure time was set for Thursday night, August 9, 2012 at midnight. The anticipation was so high that no one could sleep (mainly me, as I planned to do most of the early driving) so we ended up leaving at 10:00 PM. The van was packed with all that we were taking including, myself, my wife, our two daughters, and two grandsons (Ages 18 & 9).

At about 5:00 PM on Thursday night, I received a text from Lynne's sister Sheryl stating that Lori had been moved into Hospice Impatient in Durham, and she thought that we may want to change our plans, and not come down until the next weekend. That was not going to happen; we were all set to go and advise Sheryl of our decision. None of us that were going were going to wait until the next weekend. We could not even wait until midnight to leave, that's why we left at 10:00 PM. LOL

This trip was going to be bitter sweet, as we were not happy about the reason for driving to North Carolina, but I was looking forward to it, as I was going to be able to spend some time with my family members, (more on that later).

The drive was uneventful, we had no problems with the van; the weather was good, except for a short time of downpours around the Baltimore and Washington area. Three of us took turns driving so it made it a little easier. We arrived at Durham, NC about 1:30 PM; but we had made about 1.5 hours of stops for gas, food and just taking a break.

One of the compelling reasons for our trip was the fact that Lori had been in ICU for about a month and she was very tired of being their, so she informed the doctors that she wanted to go home, be on Hospice and be surrounded by her family and friends. That is all that my two daughters needed to hear; we were going.

Lori has also made a request of her mother; that was to celebrate Thanksgiving with everyone. Those plans were scrubbed for a short time, but then re-instated. Plans were to cook all the food at the house and bring it to where Lori was. There was going to be about 25 people for dinner.

On Friday night; we all went to see Lori as it had been about a year since we had seen her last. We saw a lot of changes to her physical being; but, her spirit as a fighter was not diminished, she just knew that things were not going according to her plans of getting better. You could feel the emotions running high as we entered her room, as all of us loved on her and told her home much we loved her and were praying for her.

Saturday afternoon, everyone returned to see her along with the addition of many other folks who wanted to be there with her. The food was all prepared and laid out on the big table in the foyer and we had an early Thanksgiving with Lori. I have included pictures below; enjoy:

After the dinner was over, Lori went back to her room and we waited until we could go in, in small groups to say our good-buys to her.

We believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord as personal Savior; we believe that He is still the Great Physician and is still the Miracle Working God. We believe that He can still heal Lori of her Cystic Fibrosis, but Lori is ready for whatever happens next. She has made her peace with her Lord, and that is important for all of us to know that. We all were glad that we made the trip to see her. If the Lord does not heal her, then we have seen her for the last time here on earth; but; will be reunited once again in the Sweet By and By.

I had mentioned earlier about being with family members. Here is what I mean! Love your children; love your grandchildren; spend time with them; don't let the busyness of life rob you of the Blessings that God has given you. Pray for your children; bring them to church; introduce them to a loving God, as we may not live on this earth forever; however there is an eternity that we will live somewhere. Teach you children to make the right choice, and that is to except Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Here are the pictures:

Walking With God

Here is a quick posting for today. I quoted this to a man in a nursing home that I visited today, and he asked me if I could print the following out, so that he could put it on the wall in his room. "I Did"

Today, God will walk beside you
He will walk in front of you
He will watch your back
He will lift you up
He will never let you down;

"If God be for us; who can be against us?
Romans 8:31

Have a Blessed Day:

My Dearest Helen:

It was in 1972 that we first met. My wife Lynne and I started to attend "The Chapel" in Melrose, Ma. I am not too sure as to who started going to the Chapel first Helen, or me. It was not too long after I started attending that Pastor Skane asked me to start to lead Worship on Sunday's. Soon after that is when I started to sing "The Lighthouse." Upon hearing that, Helen said (and told me later) that she did not know who that man was, but wanted to sing with him someday. A friendship started at that time between Helen, Lynne and myself and it continued to build through the years. I am not sure if it was in the early 70's we started to pay visits to Helen's home and met Danny and Marybeth, but they were very young.

Fast forward to the early 1980's. My wife and I had moved to Dracut, Ma. due to the job I had driving for a local bus company on charters and tours. I ended up traveling up and down the East Coast and into Canada.  When I was away, Lynne took our girls to the Lowell Assembly of God Church and she enjoyed it. When I was home, we attended the Riverside Assembly of God in Methuen, Ma. However; the day came when I gave up driving the bus and was home on weekends with the family. I had asked my wife Lynne with regard to what church we wanted to call home. She, without any hesitation, said, "Lowell Assembly of God."

I am not sure how long we were there, but it seems that it was not long before Helen and I were reunited and her wish came true as to have an opportunity to sing with me. Shortly after we started to attend LAG, Pastor Dick asked me to lead Worship, and if I can remember correctly (really not sure) Helen and I started to sing together. That only lasted a little while, as a young woman in the church named Susan MaAneney asked Helen and I if we would be interested in hearing some music that she had written. Helen and I listened and learned the song, as well as other songs that Susan has wrote, and not too long after that day, "The Gospel Messengers" was born. God has a plan; God always has a plan. I believe that it may have been as long as ten years until all the pieces (people) were in place, but Helen's dream of singing together, with an extra benefit of the third person (Susan) completing the Trio.

Time moved on and the Gospel Messengers, began to travel to other churches to sing and bring the Word of God; we were able to travel to the tiny churches of Central Maine, Newport, Vt. and even down to Virginia to Minister. The group lasted several years until Susan left, but Helen and I continued to sing together. When we traveled one of the hardest things that we had to overcome, was convincing people that Helen and I were  not married; people thought we looked like the Cambell Soup Kids (remember them on the label) and everyone thought that Susan was our daughter; even though Wayne (Helen's Husband) and my wife (Lynne) were with us, it still did not register in peoples minds. We had many a good laugh about that.

As Helen became ill, our singing days became fewer and fewer; but there were still times when the pastors would ask us to sing a song and Helen and I would sing an old standby "This is the Time I Must Sing."

Helen; the songs that we sang together in the years gone by, will never be sung as we did before. There will be a great void to my right, as you will not be there, but you have gone home to receive your reward for all the service to Jesus Christ that you have given and for the countless lives that you have touched, and will continue to touch in the years ahead till the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Enjoy your rest from all the pain and heartache you have endured, until we join you singing around the Throne of the Lord.

Memorial Day Cookout; Plus.

Memorial Day Cookout; Plus.

As a Minister, you may expect me to be blogging about something going on in our church, like weddings or funerals; which we have as of late. Or; maybe something that I have been preaching on; I will make mention about the Ministerial side toward the end of this post. But this posting is more on the side of human drama, some of my family to be exact.

The long Memorial Day Weekend started out to be just that. My wife had taken a couple of extra days off so she would end up having from Friday, until Wednesday off, which she had been looking forward too. As for me, I worked Friday and took Saturday off as I normally work Saturday’s and have Monday and Tuesday’s off. So my long weekend was to run from Saturday until Wednesday, with the exception of Sunday which is a normal day for me to spend at the church.

We had canceled the Sunday Night Corporate Prayer time due to the long weekend, which we do on the major holidays. One of my daughters had invited about 40 family, friends and folks from the church to come to her home for a Memorial Day cookout, which we knew would be fun, as it always is.

My wife and I had left the church after service and returned home to change and gather up the food (salad) that we were bringing to the cookout, and then headed to my daughter’s house to join in the fun.

Upon arrival, we got some of the food that was already cooked and sat down with the group that had already arrived. About 15 minutes after sitting down, I heard someone say that my daughter had left with her oldest son (15 year old) to take him to the doctor, which ended up to be the hospital.

As the story unfolded, we found out that during the morning church service, he had been experiencing stomach pains. When he arrived home, he settled down on the couch, but the pain kept getting more severe. A short time later we were informed that his white blood count was very high and the symptoms lead them to believe that he was having a problem with his appendix. Additional information received told us that a CAT scan and possible surgery was a good possibility.

With that news; my son-in-law, my wife and I left the cookout and headed to the hospital about 15 minutes away. We arrived and went to be with my daughter and grandson. The CAT scan was taken sometime after we arrived and then the word came that he would have to have his appendix removed.

Being a holiday, the hospital had to call in a surgeon and nurses to staff the operating room as well as recovery.  I believe that we arrived at the hospital about 4:30 PM or so, and my wife and I did not leave until 10:00 PM, which was after our grandson was out of the OR and going into recovery.

I really felt bad for my daughter and son-in-law, because as you know, any type of interruption in our normal lives can throw all the family schedule’s to the wind, which this incident did. My daughter spent the next two nights in the hospital with her son, while my son-in-law took care of the 13 and 8 year old at home, plus traveling back and forth to the hospital.

The good news is that life is getting back to normal. The grandson came home on Tuesday, late afternoon and he will be home for the rest of the week, but he is doing fine.

Now; to add a touch of the Ministerial portion of this posting; in today’s society, we have a tremendous amount of technology that we can use to communicate. I use it every day in my ministry, as it is a great asset. Most of the updates and postings this past Sunday were communicated by way of texting and Face Book. Many years ago, when someone would be admitted to the hospital, the person who was with the one being admitted would have to call home and let the family know what was going on, and in turn they would have to call the other family members and advise them of what was taking place. This would mean that you may not be able to get a hold of the person you were calling, and not be able to leave voice mail and such. The old process would take a long time.

Today it is much different; within just a couple of minutes of posting on a social media program, or by sending a text, everyone can be contacted at nearly the same time.

Upon finding out that my grandson was going to need surgery, I posted a request for prayer for him on Face Book, which I use to keep in contact with family, friends, folks from my church, as well as other Pastors and Missionaries. It was not until mid to late Monday morning that I found out how far my request for prayer had reached in a very short time. I received comments stating that folks were praying in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nova Scotia, and even a Missionary in Japan.

That my friend is the Power of Prayer, and yes God is still in the business of answering the prayers of His children. Don’t Believe It? Try it; become a Child of God and see if He won’t do the same for you and your family.

Blessings: