Happy Friday! 

I have 14 pages written on my pastoral care paper.  It needs to be a minimum of 15 pages.  I think with one more source and a little fleshing out it will be finished on Sunday out and ready for my editor!

Tonight we went to Metroflex Gym to watch Travis compete against other athletes who were attempting their personal best in the dead lift.  He broke his own personal best record of 765 lbs by lifting 770 lbs!  He lifted more than anyone else in the competition and the announcer, who is also the man who owns the gym, announced Travis as the winner in his division and as the World’s strongest Barista.  Congratulations Travis!

Tomorrow we are off to Walls’ Christmas Tree Farm to cut our Christmas tree.  I love this day.  I think the weather has prohibited me from getting some Christmas spirit, so this event always helps me feel some Christmas spirit.  I think it is the wonderful smell of the tree, the hot cocoa or cider, the rustic red barn and the Christmas cookies sold at the other end of the barn.  Or maybe it is the company…

Prayer: Lord, as I begin this day. I choose to follow You.  Fill me with Your Spirit, teach me Your truth, guide me onto Your path, and today, Lord, let my life shine for Jesus. In His wonderful name I pray. Amen.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.”

2 Timothy 1: 7

I am completing a paper for pastoral care on the Theology of Forgiveness.  I have learned so much about the depth and breadth of forgiveness. When I finish this paper I will begin to study for my New Testament test.

Today I really needed to complete the paper and told my family that I really needed every moment of today to complete this task.  I received a text message from Travis saying, “Mom, I need your help.”  So I stopped writing and helped my son.  I have been pretty stressed and somewhat nervous about not being able to finish the paper and spend all the time necessary to study for the test.  With the weekend being super busy with family and Pastor Susan’s memorial service of which I am a participant, I was seeing my time getting more and more limited. 

So today as I was helping Travis I prayed for God to stretch my time so that I could do all the things I needed to do. I also prayed for inspired wisdom and understanding to write good theology and remember what I studied.  God is interested in all parts of my life and will remain with me in all of these activities to the point of honoring the deadlines I must meet.  I believe I have a sound mind and I pray to remember all I need to remember and write a paper that will reflect sound theology based on scripture.  So if I continue to pray this scripture and you continue to pray for me then I know my tension will ease and all will be okay. So tonight let each of us pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit, with godly love, grace, peace and that Jesus will be glorified in each of us.

Take joy in this Advent journey.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep.  Count your blessings and say your prayers.  Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com     

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God. 

Happy Thursday! 

Prayer:  Lord, today give me a loving and compassionate heart. Give me the ability to look into the lives of those who are hurting and sow the seeds of the gospel. Remind me, Lord, that Your heart is “to seek and save” the lost . In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

“He who continually goes forth weeping; bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

Psalm 126: 6

Chuck Kelley was the president of New Orleans Seminary, according to the writer of my meditation, and made this statement, “Christians are a harvest-oriented people, living in an unseeded generation.” 

Technology has given us an enormous ability to distribute a single piece of information to many people with just the push of a few buttons. We do not have to speak directly with people anymore; we just read Facebook posts and emails.  Jesus said, “You all go! And as you are going, make disciples” (Matt. 28: 19, 20).  Jesus expects us to talk, use our voices and speak to others about the goodness of God through Jesus.

“Evangelism isn’t as much a program as it is an attitude.” People will know how we feel about Jesus when we show the love of Christ and tell them what God has done for us.  God cannot harvest an unseeded field.  If we speak with good seed and a loving heart the seeds are planted and the harvest is up to God. So my friends, let us ask God to allow us to be sowers of the word and plant the seeds of grace, forgiveness, love and kindness. 

Take joy in this Advent journey.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep.  Count your blessings and say your prayers (especially for a seminarian with one paper and a huge test for which to study).  Love you all and thanks so much, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com     

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God. 

Happy Wednesday! 

I am sorry for not having written in a day or two.  I am up to my armpits in a large pastoral care paper followed closely on the heels by a major NT test.  The plan is to complete the pastoral care paper on Friday and I am on the home stretch for this one. Then I plan to  study non-stop from Monday through Wednesday and take the test on Thursday morning at 8:00 AM.  Please begin your prayers now.

This weekend we are going to Wall’s Christmas Tree Farm outside of Terrell on Saturday.  Our family plus Sarah will be joined by Mike, Mandy, Olivia and Tatum.  We are so excited that Mike, Mandy and the girls are going with us. Tatum is our young cousin who is in remission from leukemia and is on a maintenance program.  She is able to get out now and be around others.  So hay wagon and hot chocolate, Christmas trees and family here we come!!!

Prayer:  This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. It is a day that You have prepared for me. While I don’t know everything I will face, You do. Give me grace to trust You for every event, every encounter I will make, and let my life be pleasing to You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”

Hebrews 11: 8

Today as I was writing my pastoral care paper I stopped to go to the kitchen to get a refill on my coffee.  I found myself praying, “Lord, help me to have the wisdom to write this paper and have it be found acceptable to my professor.  But more than that, help this writing reflect the work you have done in me through knowledge and experience as a witness to others of You.” 

Talk about stepping out on faith.  Five years ago I stepped out on faith and entered Brite Divinity School as an “older” student. At the same time, Brite Divinity School stepped out on their faith to accept me even though I had not been a student for thirty years.  I had not written a paper or read a scholarly work in forever and yet here we struck out on this journey together. 

I had fought God for a long time about entering seminary and the ministry and I was being disobedient.  God had been calling me for a long time and it took a major crisis to cause me to focus on God’s voice and hear His call. 

When God called Abraham, he obeyed.  His call by God caused him to leave home, family and business and yet he went.  Abraham went because he believed god and obeyed! 

Faith involves risk. If faith does not involve risk then it is not faith—not from the divine side, but from the human standpoint.  If we could see each step of our faith then it is not faith.  Sometimes it becomes necessary to do what God calls us to do without knowing the consequences. Abraham went into the unknown, trusting God. I entered seminary not knowing that I was being called into the pastoral care ministry. I just thought I would continue teaching in a different school.

And as I recall there were two young people  who chose the journey of a lifetime that began in a barn in Bethlehem and ended on a hill in Jerusalem. Let us ask God to teach us to trust and walk with Him and to obey so that our faith with grow.

Take joy in this Advent journey.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep.  Count your many blessings and say your prayers.  Love you all so very much, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com     

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God. 

Happy Monday! 

Prayer:  Thank You Lord, for the gospel!  Thank You, Lord, for giving Your life on a Cross and paying my debt so that I could be forgiven, set free, and know the joy and peace of salvation.  Help me, Lord, this day to share the Good News with someone who needs to be set free, too!  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

“He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”

Isaiah 61: 1b

I realize this passage is not from one of the first four books of the New Testament but it is so similar to the passage in Luke when Jesus comes into the temple, sits down and reads the Holy Scripture from the scroll (4: 18), “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free” 

In Isaiah we have a prophecy of the coming Messiah. In Luke we hear the fulfilling of this prophecy.  Both of these passages have as their authority being under the power of the Holy Spirit.  Each passage proclaims the coming of the servant of God who will proclaim liberty to captives and heal those who are broken. 

As we journey through this season of Advent let us “preach” as we are called in Luke 24.  We are called to preach repentance and the remission of sin to all.  We must not be ashamed of the gospel.  We must share the gospel.  Let us tell the good tidings of great joy that a Savior will come to us.  May our prayer be to see the world as God sees the world and help those with no hope to find hope in a forgiving God, filled with grace and love.

Take joy in this Advent journey.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep.  (after all, God slumbers not nor sleeps so only one of us needs to be awake!)  Count your blessings and say your prayers.  Love and blessings to you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com     

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God. 

Blessed Sunday and first day of Advent to you all.

Prayer:  “Thank You, Lord, for helping me to understand that my witness is directly related to my life.  Help me to be mindful that what You want to do in me is more important than what I want to do in me.  Help me this day through the power of the Holy Spirit to abide in You as You abide in me.  Amen.”

“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.  Whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God abides in him, and he in God.”

1 John 4:14

Happy Advent!  The season of Advent is the beginning of the church year.  Most denominations follow a lectionary throughout the year. Lectionary is a group of scriptures containing an Old Testament Lesson, a portion of a Psalm, an Epistle and a New Testament Lesson.  If you read all of these lessons in one sitting there is usually some type of common thread that connects them. 

Here’s the thing, from Genesis to Revelation, the connected story is the love story of God with us.  It is the story of Emmanuel.  We know of God’s love because of the story of the cross.  But even more powerful than that story is the intimate story of goes deeper than the Cross.  It is the story of God’s desire for His love to be in those who believe.  God loves us so very much that all he wants to do is to abide in us.  The life of the believer who abides in God’s love is a powerful witness for God in the world.  None of us can see God, but others can see God moving and living in us when we help others.  God gives us the powerful blessing of Advent every day of our lives because we carry “God with us” every day. 

Take joy in this Advent journey.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep. Count your blessings and say your prayers.  Love and blessings to you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com     

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.