Campout was GREAT!!!

We had a great weekend at the campout in Morgan Mill, TX at Bent Tree Ranch. I have been told more than once that this was our best campout yet! It was possible because so many IronMen helped organize and participated. We had about 35 total people, 10 or of those were kids and they might have had the best time of all!



We shared with each other what it means to be an IronMan, how we can be better about leading our families, about our natural instincts and roles as men, and we learned about leadership from Joshua. I sure hope at least one of these discussions was beneficial for all those that attended.



Special thanks to Lane and Ryan for helping coordinate the food and drinks for the weekend. Thanks to Joel for sharing with us and helping me coordinate the spiritual side of things. Jim, we sure appreicate your generocity in letting us take over the ranch for a couple of days. It could not have been done without you guys!



We also got to ride horses, learn to rope from Bennie Peek (pro team roper), have quiet time in the woods, play football and roast marshmellows. One of my favorite parts of the weekend was finally getting to have a bonfire. The fire was awesome and we all enjoyed it!



Thanks to Alan Phillips for taking pictures (we will post them soon); Ken Boggs, Jeff Rackley and Bob McKinnon for preparing breakfast and lunch! Special thanks to our IM Comedian



Thanks to all IronMen that were in anyway involved. We look forward to next year's campout!



Stay Strong, PLD.

STP, an IronMan

The Journey ... Max Lucado

I drove the family to Grandma’s last night for Thanksgiving. Three hours into the six-hour trip, I realized that I was in a theology lab.

A day with a car full of kids will teach you a lot about God. Transporting a family from one city to another is closely akin to God transporting us from our home to his.

A journey is a journey, whether the destination be the Thanksgiving table or the heavenly one. Both demand patience, a good sense of direction, and a driver who knows that the feast at the end of the trip is worth the hassles in the midst of the trip.

For me, six hours on the road is a small price to pay for my mom’s strawberry cake. I don’t mind the drive because I know the reward. I have three decades of Thanksgivings under my belt, literally. As I drive, I can taste the turkey. Hear the dinner-table laughter. Smell the smoke from the fireplace.

I can endure the journey because I know the destiny.

For some of you, the journey has been long. Very long and stormy. In no way do I wish to minimize the difficulties that you have had to face along the way. Some of you have shouldered burdens that few of us could ever carry. You have bid farewell to life-long partners. You have been robbed of life-long dreams. You have been given bodies that can’t sustain your spirit. You have spouses who can’t tolerate your faith. You have bills that outnumber the paychecks and challenges that outweigh the strength.

And you are tired.

Let me encourage you with a parallel between your life’s journey and the one our family took last night.

It’s worth it.

As I write, the Thanksgiving meal is over. My legs are propped up on the hearth. My tablet is on my lap.

I have every intention of dozing off as soon as I finish this chapter.

The turkey has been attacked. The giblet gravy has been gobbled. The table is clear. The kids are napping. And the family is content.

As we sat around the table today, no one spoke of the long trip to get here. No one mentioned the requests I didn’t honor. No one grumbled about my foot being on the accelerator when their hearts were focused on the banana splits. No one complained about the late hour of arrival.
Yesterday’s challenges were lost in today’s joy.

God never said that the journey would be easy, but he did say that the arrival would be worthwhile.

Remember this: God may not do what you want, but he will do what is right … and best. He’s the Father of forward motion. Trust him. He will get you home. And the trials of the trip will be lost in the joys of the feast.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll close my eyes. I’m a bit tired from the journey, and it feels good to rest.

From In the Eye of the Storm Copyright (W Publishing Group, 1999) Max Lucado

Is Your Thermostat Broken?

Ironmen Edge 11/13/2007

Have you checked to see if your thermostat is working correctly? That may seem like the wrong question to ask your self when you woke up Tuesday morning, but it was the one posed to us yesterday morning by Joel. Ironmen Edge is fortunate enough that we do have two HVAC experts who study with us during this time, so they were able to walk the rest of us through how a thermostat is supposed to work. Joel also illustrated that women are a thermometer and that men are thermostats. Meaning that women, can tell the thermostat when things are getting overheated or too cold in our households and that the man of the household, or the thermostat, we have the ability change things to make the household live able again. Now, you may be asking yourself at this moment what in the world do you mean. What we really mean with this whole correlation is that as the man of the house we are to be leaders in our home and set the spiritual temperature of our home.

Let's look at Ephesians 5:23 "A husband is the head of of his wife, just as Christ is the head of the church." 5:25 "Husbands, love your wives the same as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. He died to make the church holy. He used the telling of the Good News to make the church clean by washing it with water. Christ died so that he could give the church to himself like a bride in all her beauty." 5:28" And husbands should love their wives as the love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself, because no one ever hates his own body, but feeds and takes care of it."

As men we are the head or the leader of our household. We can change the climate of our spiritual households. As we talked about how all this works out in our on families we noticed that by being in tune with our wives we can function as a proper thermostat in unison with the thermometer. By paying attention to the thermometer we can sense when things are getting too hot or too cold. And that the best way to adjust our home temperature is through prayer. Che added to this with a prayer that his family has been praying and uses to set the temperature of his household. Psalm 89:11 - Lord, teach me your ways, and I will live and obey your truths. Help me make worshiping your name the most important thing in my life." With this prayer they have been able to focus on the most important thing in this world and that is worshiping your name.

In summary, we found that we all have ways to adjust the temperature of our households and that if that means being prayerfully consistent, paying attention to our families needs, and placing our love, our faith, and all of our worship in Jesus name we are able to set the stage for family that is ready and willing to follow what ever God calls us to.

An Ironman,

Ryan

Campout Instructions

IM Campout is right around the corner. We will meet at LCCOC at 5pm on Friday, Nov. 30. We will carpool to Bent Tree Ranch and we should arrive around 7pm. Dinner will be provided by Hard 8 BBQ as we arrive. Here are directions to BTR:


Take I-20 west from Fort Worth proceed thru Weatherford approximately 20 miles, exit south on highway 281, exit # 386, proceed south approximately 15 miles to Morgan Mill, at the Baptist Church turn west on 1188, go west 1 mile to the top of the hill, turn south on county road 132, proceed 2 miles to the ranch on the right side of 132, you will see the name of the ranch over the gate, the entry has white Austin stone columns.

Here is what you should bring:
1. Tent
2. Money for dinner (approximately $10- $15)
3. Bug spray
4. Bible
5. Games (cards, football, baseball and glove, etc)

PLEASE CONTACT ME ASAP TO LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE COMING. I HAVE TO HAVE A NUMBER FOR DINNER! MY CELL 214-415-9568!

Kids are welcome if their father is present.

Please come and join us, we would love to have you!

Edge 10-24-07 - " Taking up his Cross"

This past Wednesday we had another great EDGE meeting at the church. Joel challenged us to really think about Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

During our conversation we all talked about this statement being a struggle for all of us. Do we really deny ourselves and pick up the cross and follow our savior? What does this mean? If we declare Jesus is the son of God, died for our sins and were baptised is that enough? We all felt that in order to truly follow this verse we must look at Luke 9:23. Although this verse is only one word different, it changed the way we all thought about Matthew 16:24. What if I was to tell you you must follow Matthew 16:24 and make sure you follow it DAILY? Wow!

We as Men and Women of Christ can not only "Do Church" and Proclaim to be Christians when it is convenient to us. We must make it a way of life; a conscious effort to deny ourselves immediate gratification and choose the daily pleasures that can be found in walking in HIS footsteps. Although they are not ovious, I bet if you look back at each day you can find a way you have been blessed daily (This was Ryan's wisdom).

This is difficult to do and was a unanimous struggle for all of us. I know that I personally struggle to keep my stride. I do think that this has been a great week for me in my walk and I know it is because my edge was sharpened on Wednesday. I hope more of my brothers attend on Wednesdays so we can keep each other sharp.

Lane
An Ironman!

IM Service Opportunity

This is a message I got from Michael Thames yesterday:

Stacy, pray all is well! This is short notice, but we are seeking some folks to help us move garage sale items from our location to Southside church this Friday. Is this something you could email out to the Ironmen? We could use help anytime Friday for set-up and moving and possibly Saturday afternoon for clean-up and taking things back to Fortress.


Please let me know if you can help out and I will let Michael know. Thanks IronMen for all you do.

SHARPEN THE EDGE!

When we miss the target... by Max Lucado

Read the first verse of Matthew’s gospel. Jesus knew David’s ways. He witnessed the adultery, winced at the murders, and grieved at the dishonesty. But David’s failures didn’t change Jesus’ relation to David. The initial verse of the first chapter of the first gospel calls Christ “the son of David” (Matt. 1:1 KJV). The title contains no disclaimers, explanations, or asterisks. I’d have added a footnote: “This connection in no way offers tacit approval to David’s behavior.” No such words appear. David blew it. Jesus knew it. But he claimed David anyway.

He did for David what my father did for my brother and me.

Back in our elementary school days, my brother received a BB gun for Christmas. We immediately set up a firing range in the backyard and spent the afternoon shooting at an archery target. Growing bored with the ease of hitting the circle, my brother sent me to fetch a hand mirror. He placed the gun backward on his shoulder, spotted the archery bull’s-eye in the mirror, and did his best Buffalo Bill imitation. But he missed the target. He also missed the storehouse behind the target and the fence behind the storehouse. We had no idea where the BB pellet flew. Our neighbor across the alley knew, however. He soon appeared at the back fence, asking who had shot the BB gun and who was going to pay for his sliding-glass door.

At this point I disowned my brother. I changed my last name and claimed to be a holiday visitor from Canada. My father was more noble than I. Hearing the noise, he appeared in the backyard, freshly rousted from his Christmas Day nap, and talked with the neighbor.

Among his words were these:“Yes, they are my children.”“Yes, I’ll pay for their mistakes.”
Christ says the same about you. He knows you miss the target. He knows you can’t pay for your mistakes. But he can. “God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins” (Rom. 3:25 NLT).
Since he was sinless, he could.

Since he loves you, he did. “This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:10 NLT).

He became one of us to redeem all of us. “Jesus, who makes people holy, and those who are made holy are from the same family. So he is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters” (Heb. 2:11 NCV).

He wasn’t ashamed of David. He isn’t ashamed of you. He calls you brother; he calls you sister.

The question is, doyou call him Savior?

From Facing Your Giants

God's Part, Our Part... Stacey Pearson

God is doing his part! Are we doing our part? Am I doing my part?

Jeremiah 29: 10-14 MSG
"I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out, plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen.
When you come looking for me, you'll find me.
Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed."

I know that God is doing his part, I just wonder if I am doing my part! God is so faithful that he gave Jesus to die for us and when this was written, it was much more difficult to pursue God. We have the HS in our hearts as a "deposit" and we can connect to that power anytime we want. Are we doing it, am i doing it? What does it take for me to "want it more than anything else"? Am I desperate for the Lord on a daily basis? Is my faith this real?

These are questions that come to my mind when I read this text and these questions pierce right through me. How about you?

In Pursuit,

STP, an IronMan

An Unearthly Love... Max Lucado

Your goodness can’t win God’s love. Nor can your badness lose it. But you can resist it. We tend to do so honestly. Having been rejected so often, we fear God may reject us as well. Rejections have left us skittish and jumpy. Like my dog Salty. He sleeps next to me on the couch as I write. He’s a cranky cuss, but I like him. We’ve aged together over the last fifteen years, and he seems worse for the wear. He’s a wiry canine by nature; shave his salt-and-pepper mop, and he’d pass for a bulimic Chihuahua. He didn’t have much to start with; now the seasons have taken his energy, teeth, hearing, and all but eighteen inches’ worth of eyesight.

Toss him a dog treat, and he just stares at the floor through cloudy cataracts. (Or, in his case, dogaracts?) He’s nervous and edgy, quick to growl and slow to trust. As I reach out to pet him, he yanks back. Still, I pet the old coot. I know he can’t see, and I can only wonder how dark his world has become.

We are a lot like Salty. I have a feeling that most people who defy and deny God do so more out of fear than conviction. For all our chest pumping and braggadocio, we are anxious folk—can’t see a step into the future, can’t hear the one who owns us. No wonder we try to gum the hand that feeds us.

But God reaches and touches. He speaks through the immensity of the Russian plain and the density of the Amazon rain forest. Through a physician’s touch in Africa, a bowl of rice in India. Through a Japanese bow or a South American abraço. He’s even been known to touch people through paragraphs like the ones you are reading. If he is touching you, let him.

Mark it down: God loves you with an unearthly love. You can’t win it by being winsome. You can’t lose it by being a loser. But you can be blind enough to resist it.
Don’t. For heaven’s sake, don’t. For your sake, don’t.

“Take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:18–19 MSG).

This is powerful

When you can, make the time to listen to this audio. It is from Max Lucado and is awesome! This will remind you of the Love of God. Here is the link:

http://maxlucado.com/316/events/radio/

Stay Strong, PLD

STP, an IronMan

IM Campout date set!!!

IronMen, we will have another campout Oct. 19-20 at Bent Tree Ranch near Stephenville. We will most likely meet at the church at 5pm on the 19th and carpool down to the best BBQ in the southwest (Hard 8 in Stephenville). After dinner, we will head to the ranch and have some great times together the rest of the night and the next day.

Bring your kids if you desire, they are welcome. Ask around to some others that have been to the campout in the past and you will see that these events are great times!

Let me know if you plan on attending. thanks and stay strong, PLD!

STP, an IronMan

UNT Football anyone???

I would like to know how many of you would be interested in going to a UNT football game with a group of IronMen. If you would be interested, please leave me a comment on this blog or email me at stp@pmiair.com . The dates that i am looking at are Oct. 27 or Nov. 10. Please let me know if you are interested.

PLD, stay strong!

STP, an IronMan

Dinner was Great!

Thanks so much to all that help prepare, serve and clean up the dinner on Wednesday night. I believe it was a success. Special thanks to Ryan and Angie for their hard work in cooking the meal, even if Ryan skipped out on us. I really appreciate the volunteers that helped to make this night a success!

PLD
STP, an IronMan

Guilt and Grace... by Max Lucado

Sometime ago I read a story of a youngster who was shooting rocks with a slingshot. He could never hit his target. As he returned to Grandma’s backyard, he spied her pet duck. On impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the duck was dead. The boy panicked and hid the bird in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching.

After lunch that day, Grandma told Sally to help with the dishes. Sally responded, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you Johnny?” And she whispered to him, “Remember the duck!” So, Johnny did the dishes.

What choice did he have? For the next several weeks he was at the sink often. Sometimes for his duty, sometimes for his sin. “Remember the duck,” Sally’d whisper when he objected.

So weary of the chore, he decided that any punishment would be better than washing more dishes, so he confessed to killing the duck. “I know, Johnny,” his grandma said, giving him a hug. “I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave out of you.” (Steven Cole, “Forgiveness,” Leadership Magazine, 1983, 86.)

He’d been pardoned, but he thought he was guilty. Why? He had listened to the words of his accuser.

You have been accused as well. You have been accused of dishonesty. You’ve been accused of immorality. You’ve been accused of greed, anger, and arrogance.

Every moment of your life, your accuser is filing charges against you. Even his name, Diabolos, means “slanderer.” Who is he? The devil.

As he speaks, you hang your head. You have no defense. His charges are fair. “I plead guilty, your honor,” you mumble.

“The sentence?” Satan asks.

“The wages of sin is death,” explains the judge, “but in this case the death has already occurred. For this one died with Christ.”

Satan is suddenly silent. And you are suddenly jubilant. You realize that Satan cannot accuse you. No one can accuse you! Fingers may point and voices may demand, but the charges glance off like arrows hitting a shield. No more dirty dishwater. No more penance. No more nagging sisters. You have stood before the judge and heard him declare, “Not guilty.”

From In the Grip of Grace

Two Awesome verses from Jeremiah

Check out these two awesome verses in Jeremiah:

24:7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

31:33-34 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach is neighbor or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord', because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.

I love the picture of God's faithfulness in these scriptures. In the midst of struggle and turmoil, God has a plan!!! We never have to doubt that.

PLD
STP, an IronMan

God Give Rest ... by Max Lucado

The teaching I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is light. Matthew 11:30

Paul had and interesting observation about the way we treat people. He said it about marriage, but the principle applies in any relationship. "The man who loves his wife loves himself" (Eph. 5:28). There is a correlation between the way you feel about yourself and the way you feel about others. If you are at peace with yourself - if you like yourself - you will get along with others.

The converse is also true. If you don't like yourself, if you are ashamed, embarrassed, or angry, other people are going to know it...

Which takes us to the question, "How does a person get relief?"...

"Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest" (Matt 11:28)... Jesus says he is the solution for the weariness of soul.

From When God Whispers Your Name

Headed Homeward... by Max Lucado

Aging is God’s idea. It’s one of the ways he keeps us headed homeward. We can’t change the process, but we can change our attitude. Here is a thought. What if we looked at the aging body as we look at the growth of a tulip?

Do you ever see anyone mourning over the passing of the tulip bulb? Do gardeners weep as the bulb begins to weaken? Of course not. We don’t purchase tulip girdles or petal wrinkle cream or consult plastic-leaf surgeons. We don’t mourn the passing of the bulb; we celebrate it. Tulip lovers rejoice the minute the bulb weakens. “Watch that one,” they say. “It’s about to blossom.”

Could it be heaven does the same? The angels point to our bodies. The more frail we become, the more excited they become. “Watch that lady in the hospital,” they say. “She’s about to blossom.” “Keep an eye on the fellow with the bad heart. He’ll be coming home soon.”

“We are waiting for God to finish making us his own children, which means our bodies will be made free” (Rom. 8:23).

Are our bodies now free? No. Paul describes them as our “earthy bodies” (Phil. 3:21 MSG). Or as other translations state:

“our lowly body” (NKJV)
“the body of our humble state” (NASB)
“these weak mortal bodies” (NLT)
“our vile body” (KJV)
“our simple bodies” (NCV)

You could add your own adjective, couldn’t you? Which word describes your body? My cancerous body? My arthritic body? My deformed body? My crippled body? My addicted body? My ever-expanding body? The word may be different, but the message is the same: These bodies are weak. They began decaying the minute we began breathing.

And, according to God, that’s a part of the plan. Every wrinkle and every needle take us one step closer to the last step when Jesus will change our simple bodies into forever bodies. No pain. No depression. No sickness. No end.

This is not our forever house. It will serve for the time being. But there is nothing like the moment we enter his door.

From Traveling LIght

IM Breakfast tomorrow

Just a reminder, IM Breakfast is tomorrow at El Concho Cafe at Hicks Airfield in Ft. Worth. The address is:

171 Aviator Dr.
Ft. Worth, TX 76179

Phone number: 817-439-1041

Call me if you have any questions at 214-415-9568. Thanks men and I hope to see many of you there.

Stay Strong, PLD!

VBS is successful

The IronMen want to give a special shout out to the VBS crew and participants. This year's VBS at LCCOC was a great success that wrapped up last night. The Galilee village was taken down last night and all the villagers were sent home, though not without powerful memories and newfound realization of who Jesus was and is today! Thanks to all the kids that came to "Galilee by the Sea". I hope that you had a great time! Thanks also to all the workers that helped in so many ways (there were more volunteers than ever before).

Special tribute to Paige, Rhonda, Kelli and Lane! You guys are awesome and yall did a great job. Yall worked together so well and i know you were a blessing to each other. Because of your hearts and efforts, the gospel was spread a little more and the amazing message of Jesus was shared in "real" ways to the kids and their parents. Now we can get ready for next year!!!

STP, an IronMan

Diving into Life Headfirst... by Max Lucado

Steve Lyons will be remembered as the player who dropped his pants.

The White Sox were playing the Tigers in Detroit. Lyons bunted and raced down the first-base line. He knew it was going to be tight, so he dove at the bag. Safe! The Tiger’s pitcher disagreed. He and the umpire got into a shouting match, and Lyons stepped in to voice his opinion.

Absorbed in the game and the debate, Lyons felt dirt trickling down the inside of his pants. Without missing a beat he dropped his britches, wiped away the dirt, and … uh oh … twenty thousand jaws hit the bleachers’ floor.

Within twenty-four hours of the “exposure,” he received more exposure than he’d gotten his entire career: seven live television and approximately twenty radio interviews.

Fortunately, for Steve, he was wearing sliding pants under his baseball pants.

Now, I don’t know Steve Lyons. I’m not a White Sox fan. Nor am I normally appreciative of men who drop their pants in public. But I think Steve Lyons deserves a salute.

I think anybody who dives into first base deserves a salute. How many guys do you see roaring down the baseline of life more concerned about getting a job done than they are about saving their necks? How often do you see people diving headfirst into anything?

Too seldom, right? But when we do … when we see a gutsy human throwing caution to the wind and taking a few risks … ah, now that’s a person worthy of a pat on the … back.

So here’s to all the Steve Lyons of the world.

Here’s to the Miracles, a choral group out of Memphis, Tennessee, made up of the mentally retarded and the stout-hearted. Just see if you can listen to them and still feel sorry for yourself.

Here’s to the hero of the San Francisco marathon who crossed the finish line without seeing it. (He was blind.)

Here’s to the woman whose husband left her with a nest of kids to raise and bills to pay, but who somehow tells me every Sunday that God has never been closer.

Here’s to the single father of two girls who learned to braid their hair.

Here’s to the grandparents who came out of retirement to raise the children their children couldn’t raise.

Here’s to the foster parents who took in a child long enough for that child to take their hearts—then gave the child up again.

Here’s to the girl, told by everyone to abort the baby, who chose to keep the baby.

Here’s to the doctor who treats more than half of his patients for free.

Here’s to the heroin-addict-turned-missionary.

Here’s to the executive who every Tuesday hosts a 5:30 A.M. meeting for Bible study and prayer.

Here’s to all of you reckless lovers of life and God, who stand on first base because you paid a price to get there.

So what if you forget about pleasing the crowd and get caught with your pants down? At least you’re playing ball in the pros.

Most of us aren’t even in your league.

From In the Eye of the Storm