tex is up

It’s official, at least in my mind, fall is here. Even though temps will climb back to 90 for a few more days … fall in Texas arrives when big Tex goes up at the state fair.

Tex gets some new duds this year. Sporting new jeans and new shirt … someone said that he got a face lift in the off season … sheese … everyone is getting cosmetic surgery.

As a kid … the state fair was something I really looked forward to. Being in the marching band … we also got to march in the Cotton Bowl parade … always behind the Bud trailer with the Clydesdales. Our nice white shoes. eeeewww.

Ah, the promise of cooler weather … someday. On another note … in watching the Cowboy game last night they kept saying that it was humid on the field and that the Green Bay players had to get oxygen and take on IV’s …. BUT IT WAS 65 degrees. Our guys are used to it being 95 and humid … I guess that were just loving the temp.

Go Big Tex.

<< — wg

 

we want to help kirbyville

(photo from AP)

This post is an open invitation for churches or other relief organizations to use our help!!

As some of you know, we helped a family fleeing Ike last week house their 4 horses for several days. That family left last Saturday to return home to no power … but minimal damage to their homes … but the barn was gone. They were from the Kirbyville, Texas area. We have not heard much media coverage in the Dallas area from Southeast Texas … mainly Galveston and Houston.

I am a pastor of a local church and I want to help coordinate help to the Kirbyville … Jasper County area. My goal is to try and get as many other local churches involved in any type of relief needed. We are just like every one else … we have a little more time than we have a little more money … so our talents and skills will have to do for help. I know a number of carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and a bunch of semi skilled or non skilled folks who could come help in any way.

I have contacted “somebody cares” in Houston … but do not know any other way to contact local pastors in the Jasper county area. If someone could contact me today … I would try and get in touch with as many pastors in our area prior to tomorrow as possible … to find out who could come and when. We just need someone in the area to tell us what you need and how to get there.

Please contact me through this email address … give a phone number … I will return your call.

wgooden (at) yahoo.com

wayne gooden – pastor, and all around good guy.

 

again, stick a fork in it

(this is a reprint of a previous post, please excuse) Being a preacher for a bunch of years lends itself to times of hearing stories and seeing images in your mind … linking that together in some sort of logical form … for the purpose of teaching that truth to others. Today, while we rode the Goldwing, this truth came to me.

First off, it is no secret that the modern church has became spiritually obese. By that I mean … most believers think that the purpose of the church is to “feed them”. I have a visual of the Mike Myers character in the movie Austin Powers … saying “get in my belly.” That is not the purpose of the new testament church.

I can’t tell you how many living rooms I sat in … visiting prospective church members when I could recite this line from 90% of those visits. “We left our previous church and began visiting your church … because we just were not being fed.” In my mind I was going “oh great, if they come to my church I will have another mouth to feed.” I always wanted to stop those very sincere folks and ask … “how old do you have to be as a follower of Christ before you start feeding yourself?”

Anyway, today I got this visual of a FORK and began to think about the four prongs of the fork and began to ask myself … How do I know if I am getting spiritual nourished as a believer? I also remembered a cliche that has been around for several years … stick a fork in it … it’s done. Here’s how you will know if you are “getting done.”

F = Are you making FRIENDS and being friendly. Jesus said, “I no longer call you slaves … but friends.” Let’s not confuse the term friends and fellowship together. Fellowship is a church word that describes an activity. Friendship costs something … time, effort and love.

O = Is your OUTLOOK on life going forward?

R = Are you RETURNING to others better than what you receive?

K = Are your actions and attitude kind? Do you invent acts of kindness toward others?

This is a simple straight forward way of finding out if your Christian Education is just increasing the size of your head … or increasing the size of your heart.

I hope when others stick the fork in me … they can say … he’s done.

wayne gooden

 

no football here

It’s no secret that in our part of the world that high school football is “the” place to be on Friday nights. Here is a shot of a high school field in Delcambre, La by AP Photographer, Richard Alan Hannon. This photo was taken last Saturday. Wow.

Having school in South Texas after Ike … is sort of hit and miss. The lack of power is still the issue as thousands of utility workers from all over the country work around the clock to restore power. A lot of bloggers from this area report their food supplies running out, kids being restless, and major concern about their money running out by having to eat out.

Texas Baptists have always come to the rescue in disasters … they report serving 234,285 meals to folks during these days.

My alma mater East Texas Baptist University has been in the news quite a bit with helping Ike evacuees.

I did want to report that … the port of Galveston is suppose to re-open next Monday …. for cruise ships.

Youth Groups in the areas are stepping up and helping in small and big ways.

<< — wg