Sunday's Comin

As we look forward to Easter Sunday this is a great video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naajYZSbWdw

Come

Jesus Says, “Come.”

By Lance Parrish

The story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus is a story that fascinates me. To my knowledge, Peter is the only human that has ever been able to walk on water (besides Jesus, of course). While I think that the walking on water is a powerful part of the story, I think we miss the point of the story because Peter walked on the water.

A short history study will lead one to learn that the apostles most likely couldn’t swim, which is huge since they were fishermen. Fishermen in that time never went out into water that was any deeper than they could stand in. People during the time of Jesus believed that water, especially water that was in motion, was the gateway to Hades – or the underworld. It was believed to be a place of death, and they feared being in water that wasn’t still.

Back to the story. The scene in Matthew chapter 14 is that of a storm, and the apostles are in a boat in the middle a lake. They are terrified, and Jesus comes walking up to them on the water. The apostles, thinking Jesus was a ghost (possibly from Hades), were screaming in fear. Jesus tries to calm them down, and Peter says, “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.” (14:28) Jesus responds simply with the word, “Come.” (14:29)

Jesus gave Peter a calling. Peter had to choice to make. Do I A.) follow his call for my life, though the journey to get to where he is seems impossible, or B.) stay in the boat and ignore this calling that I’ve asked for? Don’t we all find ourselves faced with this same dilemma at some point in our lives? Jesus is calling out for us to come to him, and we hesitate because the journey to get to him seems impossible. Peter didn’t hesitate. He knew the journey was impossible. I mean, for crying out loud, the guy had to walk on water to get to the point where Jesus was calling – of course it seemed impossible. Sometimes Jesus calls us to go through the impossible to make us realize that it’s by his strength and power that we can achieve all things.

Thought for the Day

Hosea knew how to accept challenges of life:

Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.

(Hos 3.17ff)

Prayer Request

Lynn Anderson one of my favorite ministers and writers in the Church of Christ has cancer. He wrote one of my favorite books called They Smell Like Sheep. Please remember him and his family in your prayers.

Happy Birthday Craig

Happy Birthday Craig! Our little boy turns 21 today. Hard to believe. Have a great day in the Big Apple! We love you!

Golf Courses

These were the four golf courses we played on our spring break trip.

1. Sierra del Rio (Elephant Butte, New Mexico)

2. Rio Mimbres Country Club (Deming, New Mexico)

3. The Links at Sierra Blanca (Ruidoso, New Mexico)

4. Sugar Creek Canyon Golf Club (Hinton, Oklahoma)

I would play all of them again, plus the following courses that we saw on our trip:

• New Mexico State University Course (Las Cruces, New Mexico)
• Sonoma Ranch Golf Course (Las Cruces, New Mexico)
• Butterfield Trail (El Paso, Texas)
• Sandia Golf Club (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
• Valle del Sol (Carrizozo, New Mexico)
• Inn of the Mountain Gods (Ruidoso, New Mexico)

New Mexico has some great courses. Very inexpensive and beautiful to play.

Happy Birthday Dad

Happy Birthday Dad. I hope you have a great day. Wish you could play golf instead of looking at the snow outside.

New Mexico Day 8

All I can say is that we had a great trip. We enjoyed the golf, the scenery and spending time together. Debbie read 2 books on the trip and I drove 2,500 miles.

I hate SNOW. We drove from OKC to Broken Arrow to pick up Jack in a blizzard. It got worse on the trip to Columbus. Jack slept the entire trip.

We have 8 inches outside with 4 more coming tonight. First day of spring today. Right!

New Mexico Day 7

After a night in Elk City, Oklahoma (Route 66), we hit Interstate 40 and headed west to find one last golf course to play before heading to Broken Arrow to pick up Jack on Saturday morning. Before golfing, I couldn't pass up my last donuts of the trip at Daylight Donuts in Weatherford.

We decided, with thunderstorms in the forecast, to play golf early in the day in western Oklahoma at Hinton. We were amazed as we drove up to a beautiful golf course called Sugar Creek Canyon. This is a jewel in the red rock canyons of Oklahoma. The front nine plays as a links course and the back nine is up and down through the canyons. I had heard about this course through the internet and avid golfers looking for the best courses to play.

We enjoyed 70 degree weather and hardly anyone else on the course. We couldn't believe the low price and no waiting as we played an enjoyable round.

After the golf outing, we headed to Oklahoma City for the night. We decided to go watch the movie, Shutter Island. It was a psychological thriller recommended by our son Craig. I liked it. Deb didn't. I promised her a chick flick in two weeks.

After watching the movie, we decided to head to Remington Park to watch the horse races. We have enjoyed this in times past. It was nice being indoors. It was rainy and cold.

I know tomorrow will be a long day driving. SNOW in the forecast.

New Mexico Day 6

Roswell is a unique place. Little green aliens running all around. With the Area 51 hype from the 1950's, the city is really fun to visit. We spent about an hour downtown visiting some of the gift shops.

Travel day. We then headed for Texas saying goodbye to New Mexico. We stopped at some craft and antique stores in eastern New Mexico.

We traveled through Hereford, Texas, the cattle capitol of the world then on to one of the most unique places in Texas, Palo Duro Canyon. It was a beautiful sight.

At Groom, Texas, we saw a large white cross along the interstate that is over 19 stories tall. A pretty sight across the west Texas landscape.

We then headed to Elk City, Oklahoma for the night. Vacation is about to end........................

New Mexico Day 5

Day 5 started out early saying goodbye to Las Cruces. We had a great time visiting and playing in the desert climate.

The day started out by heading east over the Organ Mountains. It was a beautiful trip as we drove over the range and into the desert of the White Sands.

We saw the military base as we headed to White Sands National Monument. The sands were unbelievable. The white gypsum looked like snow. We had fun playing in it.

After leaving White Sands, we had to vacuum the truck at Alamogordo. We really liked the city of Alamogordo. Great climate. White Sands to the west and 12,000 foot mountains to the east.

We then left for Ruidoso. We were in Ruidoso 13 years ago with our boys for a family church camp. We loved it then and still enjoy the ski and golf resort. Debbie and I played golf at the Links of Sierra Blanca. It was our first mountain golf course playing opportunity. The temperature was 65 and no wind. There was snow on the mountain peaks but only one small pile under neath a tree on the back side of the course. Guess who found it?

After golfing, we left for the Inn of the Mountain Gods, one of the most beautiful places in all the world. We ate a seafood buffet that was excellent. I ate about 25 shrimp and 2 prime ribs. I was a little hungry.

We left at sunset, saying goodbye to the mountains and drove to Roswell for the night.

New Mexico Day 4

Beautiful weather marked day 4 of our spring break vacation.

We ate breakfast at a Mexican Cafe in Las Cruces where I ate some excellent chorizo and eggs. After a quick sightseeing trip around Las Cruces and a visit to New Mexico State University, we headed west, 50 miles to Deming.

We played golf at Rio Mimbres Country Club. It's an 18 hole desert course that was very enjoyable. The crowd wasn't bad and we had 65 degrees and beautiful mountain scenery.

When we returned to Las Cruces, we went to the famous La Posta Mexican Restaurant for dinner. La Posta was built in 1939 and has alot of history and character. We even saw some of our Kansas friends there (Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz characters).

We leave for White Sands, Alamogordo, and Ruidoso tomorrow morning (plus more golf).