Reformation Day

Martin Luther

Today is the 491st anniversary of the day in 1517 when Martin Luther tacked his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, starting, in effect, the Protestant Movement. The 95 Theses (written in Latin) protested the Catholic Church’s practice of Indulgences, or the selling of forgiveness to sinners for money. Luther realized that there needed to be a reformation from within the church because he knew that Jesus Christ had already paid for the sins upon the cross.

Church Door

Reformation Day is actually celebrated as a civil holiday in some countries in Europe and is usually mostly recognized by the Lutheran Church in the USA and is celebrated the Sunday before October 31.

Castle Church

The prayer for us is that God would reform our own hearts into something that looks like Jesus. May He make our hearts wholly His. My He help us to realize that Christ’s action on the cross is sufficient and that we don’t have to “earn” our way to Heaven.

For more information on Reformation Day, go to this website. Click on pictures for a larger image.

Gas Below $2.00!!!!

My sister, Pam, just called me to say that gasoline in Coweta, OK, (about 10 miles to the west of Wagoner) was selling for $1.99 a gallon!

What is it in YOUR neck of the woods!

An Honest Question for Obama Supporters

I promise this question isn't bait so that I can flame you. I really want to know:

Why do you support Obama even though he supports partial-birth abortion?

Zoo Pics

A couple of pics from the Zoo Trip. If I can figure out how to download them from my fancy new camera phone, I'll have some more.


The Little Darlings ready to board the bus.


Actual classroom learning experience!

Salt & Light

Jesus called us the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world".

Let's see what happens when we actually become salt and light!

Heat in the house tonight!

Well, the boys from "Alright Heating and A/C Inc." were at the house this morning to fix our furnace. After about thirty minutes of wrestling with frozen connections (rust, not ice) they finally removed the "smart valve" and replaced it with a new one.

I found out that anything with the word "smart" in it, means you can translate that to mean "expensive". I mean $302.00 expensive! Add on another $90 and you got yourself a bill!

Well, to be honest, we don't have to pay for it; that is a church parsonage maintenance issue. At least we'll have heat in the house tonight!

Praise the Lord!

Digital TV Conversion PSA

This is something fun I found from my friend, Steve Heartsill.

Frost on the pumpkin

Boy! Did it get cold last night! This morning, it was 25 degrees!

We pulled in our house plants and un-hooked the water hoses. Even at 8:30, there was thick frost still on my windshield.

Brrrr.

Our furnace is SUPPOSED to be fixed this morning. We bought a small space heater and had everyone sleep in our room last night. It was a toasty 70 degrees in there this morning!

Just in from the NWS

Statement as of 3:57 AM CDT on October 26, 2008

... Freeze watch in effect from Monday evening through Tuesday
morning...

The National Weather Service in Tulsa has issued a freeze watch...
which is in effect from Monday evening through Tuesday morning
for the following counties...

In Arkansas...
Crawford... Sebastian.

In Oklahoma...
Pushmataha... Choctaw... Pawnee... Tulsa... Rogers... Creek...
Okfuskee... Okmulgee... Wagoner... Cherokee... Muskogee... McIntosh...Sequoyah... Pittsburg... Haskell... Latimer... Le Flore.

A widespread and potentially significant freeze is expected Monday
night... with temperatures in the upper 20s to lower 30s forecast
across much of eastern Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas. Isolated
areas across far southeast Oklahoma may experience a hard freeze
during this timeframe.

A freeze watch means freezing temperatures are possible. These
conditions could kill tender vegetation. Later forecasts should be
monitored for potential freeze warnings.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++


I already scraped frost from my windshield on Saturday morning.

Oklahoma 58 - Kansas State 35

Wow! It started off like dynamite, but settled down in the second half. I don't think I'll ever understand the KSU onside kick they attempted so early in the game...

Boomer Sooner!

Headed to the zoo

I volunteered to chaperone my daughter's 7th grade field trip. I thought I was going on an overnight trip that included the Tulsa Zoo. I was wrong. It is an overnight AT the Tulsa Zoo.

Was sure we'd be spending the night at some nice little motel, eating pizza; you know, all the fun stuff of a field trip.

Nope.

We're spending the night in a conference room. On the floor.

Yippee.

Anything for the kids.

Something new from Blogger!

Hey, there is a cool new feature on Blogger. It is called "the embedded comment form". You know how when you comment on a post, it opens up another window or tab? Well, this new feature is within the post itself.

I have already implemented it on BoyneBlog. Try it out for yourself!

To see how to do it on your own Blogger Blog, go here.

36 degrees!

My indoor-outdoor hi-lo memory digital thermometer registered 36 degrees for a morning low today!

Due to the fact that we couldn't get our furnace to come on, it was 62 degrees in our bedroom!

Coming Home from Vacation

Usually, the last day of vacation isn't fun. But ours was.

First, we went to Krispy Kreme! (Yea for us)

Then, we worshiped at First Baptist Church, Branson.

Then, on the way out of town, we found gas for $2.27/gallon! (we later saw it for $2.21)

Then, we decided to have lunch at the Bass Pro in Springfield.

Wow! What a place. We have a Bass Pro in Broken Arrow, but it is rinky-dink compared to the original!

We had a late brunch at Hemingway's. If you get the opportunity to have Sunday brunch at Hemingway's, I highly recommend it!

Vacation Time!

Last week, the kids had fall break and Sally and I took a couple days off and we all headed to Branson, MO! I found a great deal on a hotel, The King's Quarters, which I would highly recommend. (I am rather reluctant to recommend it, however, because I don't want my secret to get out) Call the hotel direct for a better-than-internet price. There are many, many pluses of this hotel. Sally was impressed with its cleanliness. I was impressed with the price. The only real downside was that only one of the elevators was working. It was busy during checkout on Sunday morning.


We ate well and played hard. Thursday, we played Putt-Putt and went to the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum. Below is a limo with a jacuzzi.


I was a little put out with my children and putt-putt. We played twice and the second time, both kids scored THREE holes-in-one and I didn't even score one! Good for them!

Vacation Highlights

It is really hard to know what the highlight of the trip was for the kids.


They have both wanted wax castings of their hands for a long time.


Audrey has wanted them since she saw them in Pattaya, Thailand. FINALLY!!!


Or the live show that we got to see at Silver Dollar City.


I don't like how my girls are growing up and are starting to think that boys are cute. I don't like it at all. That was certainly NOT the highlight of MY vacation!

My Favorite Part

My favorite part (if there can actually be a favorite part) was our trip to the New Shanghai Circus to see the Acrobats of China. I would highly recommend this to everyone! It was well worth the price. There isn't a bad seat in the house, but try to get down front in the center. We were on the 10th row and it was great!


I've seen the Chinese Acrobats on TV, but it was NOTHING like the show in person. I found myself saying "wow" more than any other time.


The quote of the night had to have come from a little boy in the row behind us. During one of the incredible acts, where a woman is standing on one hand and doing all sorts of stuff, this little boy says in a stage whisper, "She needs to pull her tutu down!" It was so cute.

(They didn't allow pictures in the theater, but I pulled these off the internet.)

Fun at Silver Dollar City

Last Friday, we went to Silver Dollar City. We had a great time!


Emily in the big rocking chair.


Audrey & Emily: just in time for Halloween.


One of the attractions was a mule team.


My friend Martin and his wife Linda were there. Linda and I were the smart ones. Sally and Martin (waving) were the goobers.

More SDC Fun

Silver Dollar City was having their salute to the American Farmer. Their exhibition building was filled with old tractors and equipment.


A kerosene tractor from the early part of last century.


A "butter sculpture". You don't find the likes of this in the big city!


An old Case steam tractor.

Oklahoma 45 - Kansas 31

I almost forgot to post this! I've been out of town since last Wednesday evening. (I'll post about that tomorrow!)

Boomer Sooner!

Another Comparison

This is from the Wall Street Journal:

Who Am I?

I am under 45 years old,
I love the outdoors,
I hunt,
I am a Republican reformer,
I have taken on the Republican Party establishment,
I have many children,
I have a spot on the national ticket as vice president with less than two years in the governor's office.

Did you guess?




I am Teddy Roosevelt in 1900.

The Similiarities Are Uncanny

Vote NOBAMA

Ever Notice...

Ever notice how the people who are most vocal about things like "Save the whales" are generally the same people who are pro-choice?

Not all of them, but whole bunch of 'em.

Makes you wonder what is most important...

A Smile for Tuesday

We are having a unique event at our church this week. It is a revival specifically for senior adults. It is an associational event and we happen to be hosting it.

I needed 6 guys to take up the offering, so, I selected six of my pastor buddies. They went down when they called for the ushers. At the end of the prayer, the pray-er told the congregation to be seated.

Half of the pastors sat down on the front row INSTEAD OF TAKING UP THE OFFERING!

I thought I was going to die laughing! They aren't used to being on this side of the pulpit and were dutifully obeying the request from the speaker.

What a hoot!

Farrakhan Says Obama is the Messiah

This video is very short. I'll let it speak for itself.

[HT Les Puryear]

Sooners Fall to Number 4

This week's poll find the Sooners at number 4, at least in the AP poll.

Contrary to one commenter on the previous post claims, I was not making excuses. I very plainly said that "we beat ourselves". We just flat gave the game away.

Number 4 is a more comfortable spot. Number 4 is good. At least until the very end. Then, I want to be Number One again...

Boomer Sooner!

Oklahoma 35 - Texas 45

We beat ourselves.

There are two things I hate in college football; bad calls and biased commentators.

Those refs made some bad calls on both teams. Just call the game.

Brent Musburger has hated OU ever since I attended there back in the 80's. Just call the game.

Boomer Sooner!

76 Days until Christmas!

By the way, since it is now October, that means I get to put lights on the house NEXT MONTH!

Yay!!!!

Getting to be that time again

There is a cool breeze. There is just a hint of color in the leaves. You don't have to mow your grass every 5 days. Yes, it must be about that time of year again.

No, not autumn.

I'm talking about the RED RIVER SHOOTOUT!!!!

This weekend, my beloved Sooners will play Texas at a (supposedly) neutral venue, the State Fair of Texas in Dallas. (it isn't neutral; never has been)

I remember the first time I got to go to the big game. I was a sophomore. (Student tickets weren't available to Freshmen) It was incredible! Half of the Cotton Bowl Sooners, the other half Longhorns. I was disappointed my first time, because we lost in 1983. 1984 was worse, as we tied. We won in 1985.

I wish I could go this time. It truly is one of the great college football rivalries.

Boomer Sooner!

Dark Clouds

I've lived most of my life in Oklahoma. I grew up here. I have lived in other places, but Oklahoma has the majority of my life years, so far.

Here in Oklahoma, especially in the springtime, sometimes the sky grows dark. Sometimes it gets so dark that the street lights come on in the daytime. Sometimes it gets dark- and it gets green.

Green means hail. When you see a green sky, you better start headed for the "fraidy hole". When you see a green sky, you can usually turn on the TV to a local station and see where the tornado warning is. When the sky gets green, you might want to start praying.

I'm not an eschatologist. But Jesus, Himself, speaks of the last days like this:

And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. "Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. "Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! "But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. "Behold, I have told you in advance. "So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them. "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. "Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. "Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. "Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ''But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time,' and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(Matthew 24:4-51 NASB) (Red Emphasis Mine)

I will readily admit I am woefully inadequate to talk about prophesies and prerequisites for the end times, but since Jesus said that we are to learn from the parable of the fig tree, I can take my experience at looking at the signs in the sky to predict the weather and use it to look at the signs on the earth in regards to the end times.

Folks, if we aren't there, we aren't far away:

• Global economic breakdown
• Wars and rumors of wars
• Earthquakes and famines
• Hated by all nations because of His name
• People's love growing cold
• The Gospel being preached around the world
• False prophets and false Christs

In a manner of speaking, the spiritual sky looks green. We better start praying.

May God find you faithful when Jesus returns. I don't think we have too long to wait.

Gas below $3.00!

I passed by Wal-Mart last evening, here in Wagoner, and gas was $2.94 per gallon! (It is sad when you are excited about $2.94 gas!) In Muskogee, Wal-Mart gas was still $3.04. I did find a Phillips 66 for $2.98.

What are you paying NOW where you live?

Still number one

This week's poll is out. We'll see how long we can last.

Boomer SoONEr!

Oklahoma 49 - Baylor 17

No surprises here.

I think I saw my friend, Shannon, on TV in a WonderWoman suit. Right Shannon? ;-)

Boomer Sooner!

I've been published!

Well, at least one of my pictures has.

I was contacted by the OU Alumni Association the other day asking for permission to use one of my photos for their website. The Alumni Newsletter came out today and voila! There it was!



Here is the screen shot. You can click on the picture to make it larger.

The Great Debate

I just finished watching the VP Debate.

Hmmmm. Yawn.... I think I'll go to bed now.

Whose fault is it anyway???

A little light being shed on the current economic crisis...

[HT: Scott Gordon]

Prayer Request

Please pray for my wife's step-brother, Dwayne. He is in very bad shape in ICU at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa. I won't go into details, but he is now on a respirator.

The day I thought I was going to die

Today is the 21st anniversary of the Whittier (CA) earthquake. I remember the day quite well.

I had moved to Los Angeles after graduating from the University of Oklahoma. I moved there to attend the Church on Brady, under the leadership of Tom Wolf (now Dr. Thom Wolf). My friend, Randy Kluver (now Dr. Randy Kluver) drove out together and even got jobs at the same place (Graybar Electric Co).

I remember it being a very nice day. I worked in a big office building as a Manager Trainee. My current position was Customer Service Representative. I had already done my time as a company truck driver, warehouseman, sales counter rep., file flunky, and I was at my (possibly) last step on the ladder of success before management.

Me and my Graybar truck, 1986

I worked with a bunch of transplanted guys from the Midwest. The Operations Manager was from Nebraska and he trusted the boys from the plains, so many of us got jobs there. The guy who desk was next to mine was from Indiana (I think).

I remember getting there that morning and turning over my little daily desk calendar from September 30 to October 1. I commented out loud that I couldn't believe it was already October. Trying to add a bit of salt to the conversation, I went on to say that at that rate, our lives would be over quickly. I was intending to continue in that vein of conversation, hoping to have another opportunity to witness to those around me.

I don't remember the exact moment, but I remember a huge rumble and was knocked off my feet to the floor. Our office building was in an industrial area just to the East of downtown LA and I thought our building had been hit by a big truck or something. I had only felt a small tremor before and didn't know it was an earthquake.

The electricity went out and people began screaming. I literally dove underneath my desk and "hung on" for what seemed like an eternity, but in truth, was only about 45 seconds. It was a violent back and forth shaking (the earthquake, not me) that was pulling down our lighting fixtures, knocking things off shelves, and making me think I was going to die.

During the quake, I still didn't realize it was an earthquake. All I remember was trying to hang on to my desk and praying that God would spare me. It is the most terrified I have ever been, even until this day.

After the shaking stopped, we all emerged from underneath our desks. One of the secretaries was too terrified to move, so I sat with her and tried to comfort her. We then thought of "the boys in the warehouse". We were afraid that some of the electrical stock could have fallen and hurt them, so we all ran down to the warehouse. It was a mess, but no one was hurt.

An aftershock. Terror again.

After we came back from underneath our desks, I happened to think about our cars. We parked on the roof for security and I could just imagine that the roof could cave in. We all ran to the roof and I very timidly drove my car down the ramp first.

Another aftershock. Terror again.

All of our electricity was out which meant our phone system was out. No one had cell phones in those days. Several of our reps had special lines that were for special customers that didn't come through our PBX system. I happened to try one of those lines and it was still active. People began to call their families. The one secretary who I helped from the desk was too upset to dial, so I called her family and let her talk with them.

Another aftershock. Terror again.

I called my mom. She had just seen on the news where LA had been hit by a "bad" earthquake. She was crying and I kept trying to assure her I was OK.

Another aftershock. Terror again.

This time, however, I didn't do so well. The guy from Indiana had a baseball on his desk that he caught at Dodger Stadium. It rolled off the desk and ended up underneath mine with me. I remember picking up the ball, looking at it, and my fortitude just "giving away". My mind became a bowl of guacamole. I couldn't function anymore. I guess I was in shock.

I don't remember much about the rest of the day. I know that the aftershocks continued all week long. People didn't sleep much. At least 3 people were killed.

All in all, it wasn't a huge quake, or even a bad quake. It only registered 5.9 on the Ricter scale. But I'll always remember it as the day I thought I was going to die.