leaving, praying and loving

We had our last Sunday here in Boonville at Firm Foundation today. Class tonight was good, talking about Galatians 5 and my life verse, the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love (Galatians 5:6). We also talked about people trying to control others in the church by the imposition of their ideas as gospel.

Paul’s comments in Galatians 5 was that people try hard to make others do what they want in order to be holy. Pentecostals have been bad at that in the past, as have others. Sometimes people have such a strong picture of what they want that it is hard to imagine others not having that same picture. It is always wrong to mandate your ideas on someone else and call them God’s commandments.

After class, the group prayed for us. It was a moving experience and it was great. We will truly miss this group.

Next week, Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, we will be in Lincoln. In two weeks, we meet with the district representatives to talk about whether or not I am a wacko. If they decide that I am okay, then we will be appointed to Lincoln. We do not intend to retire, so we may be there for a long time. we certainly do not intend to ever leave there. We intend to make that our home until we die. I am so tired of moving. I want to set down roots, to have a place that when they think of a pastor, they think of me. We don’t have much time left – 25 years at the most, prob more like maybe 15.


I think I will always love these people. They are fine people and they accepted and loved me when I was beaten and rejected and alone. We have carved out a place here that I never expected to find, and I love them. Mel is the closest thing to a pastor I have ever had, and I love him.