Today I lost a friend and the world lost a saint.  Buck Bewley was 84 years old and I had the honor of shepherding him for a decade.  During that decade Harrah Church went through many changes and Buck stood by my side the entire way.

This past weekend was one of the most rewarding weekends of my life.  It all started with my birthday on Friday.  I turned the big 40.  Its true and I am no longer in denial—I’m getting older but I felt special the entire day.

Once again we see God simultaneously moving in two different people to change them both.  Cornelius and Peter were both prepared by God.  Cornelius was prepared to receive Christ while Peter was prepared to deliver Christ.

Why do so many Christ followers have a difficult time relating to each other?  I think it has to do with having more trust in ourselves than we do the Spirit of God.

In Acts chapter 6 Luke provides some insight into Barnabas’ character by telling us that when his name is translated it means son of encouragement.

The second thing I do that helps me with my materialistic bent is to change the way I think about life.  I have been to Doropo, Ivory Coast and these people have nothing.  IF you look at the picture to the right its me in one of their kitchens. 

Sending Kristin (a member of HC) off to Africa yesterday got me thinking about the trip I took in 2007 to the Ivory Coast. This country in West Africa was my first mission trip and at the time of my visit it was engaged in a civil war. I was nervous about going but I [...]