This post will be published on New Years Eve, 2008.  That’s right, just under 24 hours after you read this it’ll be a brand new year.

2009 will be stylin’ and profilin’!

Personally, I can’t wait.

2008 has been a tremendously significant year in my life. From leaving one ministry to going to another to the death of my Father and my Mother getting weaker and sicker, all that and more is what made up ’08.

So, as you might imagine, I’m looking forward to 2009.

Not that I expect it to be an easy year, it won’t be.  The economy is bad and I expect it will remain so for a while. Meanwhile here at KCC the transition goes on, and like the economy I expect something will get harder before they get better.

In spite of what the recent election might have suggested to you – real change is never easy! Our President Elect is about to find that out if he doesn’t know it already. We are experiencing that here too.

And that’s okay. God knows all about this and has it factored into His plans. Everything is under control, even though it certainally doesn’t look like it!

Here’s to 2009!  Another year in God’s Great Plan, living under the Hand of Him who has it all under control!

Amen!

As almost all of you know, my father died this past July.  It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I still miss him, and that his influence still continues to be strong in my life, as it always will.

But yesterday something happened that would not have happened in the way it did if not for a decision my father made when I moved here to KCC in April.

He didn’t discuss it with me, which is probably good since I would have tried to talk him out of it. In fact when he told me what he wanted to do I did try for a moment, and then realized that if God had led him to take this step, it would behoove me to get the heck out of the way!

So I did.

Dad choose to start sending his tithe here to KCC, and to designate it for my mission trip to Myanmar. He told me that it was his goal to be able to pay for the whole thing, or just about, so that I wouldn’t have to ask the church to raise the funds. He knew times were tough and getting tougher, and this was what he wanted to do.

After church on Sunday our treasurer informed me that we had gone over the $3700 that I needed to raise this year. Turns out I did ask the church to help out, but was very low key about it.  Now it’s all taken care of, thanks to my Dad!

This brand new tradition will continue. I’m asking friends and family to follow along in Dad’s footsteps if you can, and give what you can. That way I can raise the needed funds, or most of them at least, without being a burden on our already very strained church budget!

In the future I hope to do more than one trip a year, we’ll see if I can do all the fund raising necessary this way. But for now it’s a start!

Thanks to all who gave, especially my friend who was here and is now far away again (can’t mention any names don’t you know!) who’s unexpected gift came in this week and put me over the top!

But most of all, Thanks Dad! You did it again!

Please Note:

[As part of my Christmas Blog Break 2008, I'm re-posting Christmas articles from the past!  Hope you enjoy and have a great Christmas and New Years - I ought to be back sometime after the first of the year - unless of course something comes up that I just can't resist! - Louie]

Originally posted: 12/27/2005:

There is a point to all this – so grin and bear it and please keep reading!

I’m writing this on the evening of December 26th, 2005. I started the day with my parents in Phoenix and am ending it back home in good old Parker AZ!

I actually went shopping this morning, with my Dad. We were both prepared for the huge crowds, long lines and nearly none existent parking spaces.

We found none of that! Frys Electronics had plenty of parking, and wasn’t crowded at all! Unfortunately they also didn’t have most of the stuff I wanted!

I did get the new CD recorder for the church – even if the sole remaining model cost more than I wanted to spend! From there it was home, pack up, hit the road, stop at Walmart – again no huge crowds – and the on home.

I ended up buying a new camcorder that I need for my upcoming mission trip to Myanmar online! I did try two stores first, but online shopping rides to my rescue again.

So what? Just this.

I had a good day, but a very mundane one. Full of the normal frustrations and opportunities that usually come our way. From driving on the freeway to hiking through the desert to buying electronics, it was a pretty normal American Day.

Which just might be the problem for a lot of people.

Read more »

Please Note:

[As part of my Christmas Blog Break 2008, I'm re-posting Christmas articles from the past!  Hope you enjoy and have a great Christmas and New Years - I ought to be back sometime after the first of the year - unless of course something comes up that I just can't resist! - Louie]

Originally posted: 12/6/2005:

I have the reputation of not liking Christmas. It’s completely undeserved but well earned after years of working hard to construct it!

But a few years ago I changed my mind about Christians celebrating Christmas. Formerly I had thought it was hopelessly commercialized and ought to be abandoned. However, I’ve changed my mind and think we ought to be focusing on celebrating it as a true holiday – Holy Day and focus on Christ.

What you end up doing with all the traditional decorations, etc. I could care less about! I still have no tree, lights, etc. and will not have any either! That makes it simpler for me to focus on the birth of the Savior, which is what it’s all about anyway. (For more info you can read my earlier post about this here.)

Which brings me to Psalm 123, one of the Psalms of Ascent. These Psalms are thought by many scholars to have been chanted or recited by the ancient Hebrews as they traveled up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord during their feasts.

This one is great, because it helps us focus on what’s important – and in the end what’s really most important is God and His Will for our lives. Look at what the Psalmist wrote:

I lift up my eyes to you,
to you whose throne is in heaven.
As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he shows us his mercy.
Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us,
for we have endured much contempt.
We have endured much ridicule from the proud,
much contempt from the arrogant.
Psalms 123:1-4 (NIV)

I love how centered on God this is! Christmas time is a time of incredible distraction for all of us – yet here we are reminded to look to God with love and devotion. Isn’t it strange how strongly we’ll defend calling it Christmas not Winter Break (or some other type of terminal foolishness) and then turn around and spend practically no time focusing on Christ Himself?

Read more »

Please Note:

[As part of my Christmas Blog Break 2008, I'm re-posting Christmas articles from the past!  Hope you enjoy and have a great Christmas and New Years - I ought to be back sometime after the first of the year - unless of course something comes up that I just can't resist! - Louie]

Originally posted: 12/9/2005 – this is the post that was quoted on Time Magazine’s site, got a lot of hits off that for about three days!

There’s a lot of controversy surrounding Christmas again this year. It’s become an expected thing and a staple of the media, especially the conservative and Christian media.

This year we’ve even got a brand new one. Oh joy – just what we didn’t need!

What is it? Many churches are closing their doors on Christmas Sunday this year. News sites are reporting on it, bloggers are blogging about it, and of course just about everyone seems to have an opinion.

One of the more interesting aspects to this is how the coverage is slanted. At CNN ,and Christianity Today, and Fox News the coverage is focused on what the Mega Churches are doing.

That’s not too surprising as they garner the majority of what little media coverage that churches get. Being that large and effecting so many people I suppose it’s only natural that whatever they are doing would be considered a much larger story than what us small fry do.

Bloggers are weighing in also – here’s a few just to wet your appetite: Ben Witherington, Mark Daniels,& Tod Bolsinger.

One of the funny aspects to this story is that the Mega’s are being blamed for this whole thing! The AP story that both CNN and Fox have on their sites says the Mega Churches discussed this together before making a decision!

Ooooh – Beware – a new conspiracy theory! I haven’t heard if Saddleback is going to meet or not, but hope they do if for no other reason than to knock a hole in this.

Read more »

Please Note:

[As part of my Christmas Blog Break 2008, I'm re-posting Christmas articles from the past!  Hope you enjoy and have a great Christmas and New Years - I ought to be back sometime after the first of the year - unless of course something comes up that I just can't resist! - Louie]

Originally posted: 12/22/2005:

This being Christmas week I thought I’d tie in this edition of Louie’s Laws with the celebration of our Savior’s birth.

The thought to do this occurred to me when I reviewed this post on the real meaning of Christmas – recieving not giving!

I must say I agree totally! For years now I’ve said that if no one will recieve then no one can give! I base this on what Paul tells us the Lord Jesus said, In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35 (NIV)

But there’s a problem here. Many of us have had the idea of being generous drummed so deeply into our heads that we feel guilty anytime someone wants to do something for us or give us a gift or thank us for something we’ve done.

I ought to know – I’m King of that tribe!

This was driven home to me years ago when I was fairly new in the ministry. I had organized a over night retreat in the Hualapai Mountains near Kingman where I was ministering (or trying too at any rate!). As part of this retreat I wanted to have an emotional, bonding ending to the whole thing, so I decided we’d do footwashing.

The idea was we’d sit in a circle and you’d take a tub and wash people’s feet while you told them something about themselves that you appreciated or something they had done to bless you, etc.

It worked well actually. I enjoyed it right up the point where I ran out of feet to wash! Then I was forced by those cruel circumstances to relinquish the basin and towel, pull off my shoes and socks and sit and recieve from my people in the circle.

Read more »

I’m joining a long list of bloggers who are asking for people to pray for David Wayne.  David is a Pastor and a Christian blogger. In fact his blog was one of the first I ever read.

He recently found out he has cancer, and the latest update isn’t good at all.

Please pray for our brother, his family and friends!

Please Note:

[As part of my Christmas Blog Break 2008, I'm re-posting Christmas articles from the past!  Hope you enjoy and have a great Christmas and New Years - I ought to be back sometime after the first of the year - unless of course something comes up that I just can't resist! - Louie]

Originally posted: 12/22/2006

I guess there’s no occasion that doesn’t generate some controversy or disagreement among people. You might think that Christ followers wouldn’t be so susceptible to that sort of thing. Yea you might think that if you’d never met any Christians before!

Of course we’re not. And today in my last post before Christmas I am going boldly where no one, or at least not many have gone before! Yea and verily my friends, it is time to unmask the evil heathen tradition that many believers practice even today!

What practice is this? What vile, hidden evil threatens to rise up and ruin our celebration of Christmas, like bad spiritual leaven?

It is the practice of opening presents on Christmas Eve!

Oh, don’t act shocked! You know it happens all around you, even amongst the most respectable members of your church it happens! Yes it does!

Should I ignore such a thing in the name of peace on earth and good will towards men? I say thee nay! (Besides, that’s a bad translation, here’s a better one, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14 (NIV)
Darkness has entered the sanctuary my brothers and sisters! We must unite and repel this seed that Satan has planted in the hearts and lives of many.

How do I know this is bad? Why am I labeling this as a Heathen practice? It’s quite simple actually. Like most profound truths this one is so simple that even a child can see it, though many adults vainly try and argue it down even though it darkens their soul!

It’s simple – Christians are supposed to follow Jesus right?

Well Jesus didn’t open any presents on Christmas Eve, because He hadn’t been born yet!

Hah! Take that all you Eve Openers! (Eve – Evil? Evil Openers – oh yes, the truth becomes ever clearer!)

And don’t think that you can compromise on this one either! Yes, I see you, you compromisers you! “Well we only open one gift on Christmas Eve, and do the rest Christmas morning.”

Hey, when you break one law you break ‘em all! So none of this trying to play both ends against the middle! Take a stand, be a man, fight the good fight!

Rah, rah, sis boom bah!

Okay now, if you’ve taken any of this seriously, you ought to know that I’m just kidding!

Lightening things up for Christmas okay?

I won’t be posting till the middle of next week – so have a very Merry Christmas. Whether or not you’re with family or friends or alone or what ever – be blessed!

But please, do try and avoid those Heathen influences okay?

Please Note:

[As part of my Christmas Blog Break 2008, I'm re-posting Christmas articles from the past!  Hope you enjoy and have a great Christmas and New Years - I ought to be back sometime after the first of the year - unless of course something comes up that I just can't resist! - Louie]

Originally posted: 12/21/2006

I shared most of this in my sermon Sunday, it’s based on an e-mail I received, and I’m sure some of you have too. The difference between me and you is that I actually wasted valuable time to check it out and see if it’s true!

However, I am seeking to redeem that time by not only using it in a sermon, but here in my blog as well! Have fun and enjoy!

The Reindeer Conspiracy!

What is it? Were these innocent animals cruelly used to secretly deliver explosives to the World Trade Center on 9/11?

Oh no my friends, this is a far older conspiracy than that! No doubt started by the Illuminati or somebody like that!

Think about this – every picture I’ve ever seen of Santa and his reindeer show them in various poses, and doing different things. But all those pictures have one thing in common – all the reindeer have antlers! Right?

And what are the reindeer’s names? Well according to this site the names are: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolf was added later.

So far so good. But look closely at those names. Aren’t most of them male? By my reckoning Rudolf, Blitzen, Comet, Dasher are certainly male names. While Cupid, Dancer and Prancer are male as well, but probably metro-sexual (yuck!). But still, that’s male.

The only possible female name in this is Vixen.

So what? Everyone knows the reindeer are male right?

That’s the conspiracy! Because thanks to an e-mail and research, I can now tear the veil off this ancient lie!

Santa’s Reindeer are female – all of them! How do I know this? Simple – according to every authority I could find. Only female reindeer have antlers in the winter! Male’s shed theirs, females keep there’s! Check out part of the chart below, you can click it to see the entire PDF file.

See? Proof positive that we’ve been lied too!

Sad to say but all available evidence points to Santa being a leader in the evil Illuminati!

Even worse, if these reindeer are male – then they are cross dressing males!

ARGH!!!! I don’t want to even think about that! (No, I didn’t share that in the sermon!)

I think that’s more than enough for one day isn’t it? Who knows what I’ll say tomorrow? You’ll just have to wait and see won’t you?

Please Note:

[As part of my Christmas Blog Break 2008, I'm re-posting Christmas articles from the past!  Hope you enjoy and have a great Christmas and New Years - I ought to be back sometime after the first of the year - unless of course something comes up that I just can't resist! - Louie]

Originally posted: 12/18/2007

When I checked my mail yesterday I found that someone had sent me a Christmas card. I suppose I’ve gotten about five in the mail this year, and of course there’s still plenty of time for more of them to find their way to my little mail box.

It’s nice to know that someone actually thinks I’m worth their time, energy and the expense involved in sending these things out. I suppose you could look at it as a compliment, or perhaps it’s a form of showing love and support.

Then again it could just be people kissing up to you, or simply blindly following their holiday traditions.

It’s been years since I sent out either cards or a “year end wrap up” kind of personal newsletter that some people like to use. I’ve also noticed that every year I get fewer and fewer cards in the mail. Is anyone at the Post Office thinking about this?

Doubtful.

I suspect my reason for not sending cards is the same as many, if not most, of yours. Money, cash, moolah, dough, scratch, benjamens, legal tender!

Or to put it another way – I’m cheap!

Yes, I admit it! Heck, I’m proud of it!

I love to give gifts, but want them to be something important to the person getting it, and hopefully to really mean something to them!

I’m afraid that most cards don’t fill that bill. Some do, but not many.

So if you know me, and are eagerly watching your mailbox for that spiffy Christmas card, you can stop now. It’s not happening. Sorry if that hurts any feelings out there -but I’m not sorry I’m not sending them.

I think spending that money on other, more meaningful things, is a better act of stewardship for me. You might be able to use your cards to really touch people’s lives and give them a needed shot of love and encouragement. If so – go for it!

But as for me and my house (the same thing since I’m single and live alone!) I shall be cheap and lazy and not send any!

Merry Christmas!