create in me a clean heart

The song lyrics below were written in 1983 by Ron Hamilton. I had heard it many times over the years. I am sure it was written for one of the first "Patch the Pirate" stories. But today it was refreshed in my mind and became a new song in my heart. We had an afternoon Communion Service at Berean today and this was one of the songs we sang. It is taken from Psalm 51:10, where David prayed at a very low point in his life - after his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and basically the murder of her husband on the battlefield. Whether we have sins of action or thought, sins of omission or commission, we can pray as David did and God will hear our prayer. In this Psalm, David writes as a prayer, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

"Create in Me a Clean Heart"

verse 1
I came to the Lord with my heart full of sin,
Empty of purpose and troubled within.
My flesh had the vic'try, my heart sought release -
Lord, wilt Thou cleanse me and grant me Thy peace?

Create in me a clean heart, my Father.
Renew a right spirit in me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
May Christ be seen in me.

verse 2
I cried to the Savior, "Forgive me, I pray."
He granted cleansing and sins fell away.
My bondage was ended, my heart was set free;
Lord, nevermore may I wander from Thee.

Create in me a clean heart, my Father.
Renew a right spirit in me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
May Christ be seen in me.

Duluth welcomes the fall season

It finally feels like fall here in Duluth and we enjoyed the beautiful weather at the downtown Fall Festival today. (Of course, I look like a redskin tonight!) Along with arts and crafts booths all over downtown, music on two stages, the 25th annual parade kicked off the event at 10am today. I will post some photos later. There many floats, antique cars, Cub scouts and Brownies, the Duluth High football team and cheerleaders in the parade, along with music provided by the Duluth HS Marching Band, Peachtree Ridge HS Marching Band, the Duluth HS Marching Orchestra (that was a new concept) and the Atlanta Pipe & Drums (see videos below)

family news update

We now have at least two family members that travel for their jobs. Cindy's brother Carl travels often and was able to meet up with Stephen and Leah and the girls in Watertown, WI last month. Then this week he had dinner with Josh and Janelle in Hanover, PA. Our son Brandon also travels for his job. Recently he was in New York City for two days of training. He was able to visit "ground zero" and the New York Stock Exchange(Wall Street). His best friend Ryan happened to be in New Jersey at the same time and they were able to meet at the ESPN ZONE at Times Square to enjoy the Monday Night Football broadcast.

Speaking of traveling, Brandon and his fiance Rachel were able to visit her parents in the country of Uruguay in August. Brandon was able to meet his future in-laws in person. Rachel's parents are missionaries there. They had a great trip even though it was winter down there.

Cindy's brother Sam and his wife Angel had a baby girl in August. Josie Marie was 8lbs, 6 ounces at birth on August 16, 2007.

Our son Stephen and his family recently moved into a brand new apartment in Beaver Dam, WI. They were actually the first family to move into the newest building. They will be closer to their church and his job now.

Our niece April is a senior nursing major at Bob Jones University this year. She just sent this pdf link to the college newspaper. She and her friends are pictured at the bottom of page 5 enjoying their meal at Dr. Stephen Jones' home. That's neat - getting your picture in the
newspaper!

We closed on the sale of our home today in Jacksonville. Brandon and Rachel were able to purchase it. We are thankful that everything has worked out for both of us. We will begin looking for a home in GA hopefully around April or May in 2008 as we are renting a house in Duluth for a year.

give thanks for all things

It's human nature for us to go through our everyday life forgetting to thank God for His goodness. Many times when things happen to go wrong, our first response is the "woe is me" or "what did I do to deserve this?" attitude. This past weekend God used a little thing like a leaking tire to remind me again that He has promised to take care of us. Being new to the area, I had to decide on a new place to get my oil changed. I also asked them to check the air in my tires, which they did. Later Friday evening as we were going out to eat, I noticed the front left tire looked low. Whenever that happened in Jax, we would always take our car by the Big Chief Tire store and they would plug the tire for free. So on Friday night, I stopped at two tire stores and both told me that they do not plug tires anymore, but would patch the tire for about 22 bucks. That was not what I expected! I decided to have air put in the tire at NTB (the National, Tire & Battery Store) and keep an eye on it. The next day, on Saturday afternoon I checked the air in that tire and it had dropped 5 lbs of pressure already. After the Gator game ended, of course, I headed back to the NTB. After about 20 minutes, the manager came to find me in the waiting room to double-check which tire was leaking. I stood up and looked out the window to see five employees standing around my tire and I said to another person in the waiting room, "that does not look good." But come to find out, no one could find a leak! They decided to change the valve stem and then rotated my tires - for free! That was when I realized that God was taking care of my needs, according to his riches in Christ Jesus!

Happy Birthday, Charlie

Happy birthday today to Uncle Charlie Logan (my sister, Debbie's husband) down in Florida (that's seems so strange to write "down" in Florida)

Cindy serving Charlie more tea at our last family gathering in Florida

new music from the Pettit team

I always look forward to buying new music from Soundforth, the Wilds Music (Mac Lynch) and the Pettit Team. I know the music is going to be sound, traditional Christian music, and I will not have to worry about a rock beat. Here are three new CD's available from the Steve Pettit Evangelistic Association. You can listen to excerpts at the links below. You can order on line or my mail direct from the Pettit team for $14.00 each. If you are in an area where the Pettits (Itinerary) or the Galkins(Itinerary) are ministering this fall or next spring, then you can possibly buy them for a lower price than that.


Complete In Thee features the Pettit team, the Galkins, and the Northland Camp Singers and Orchestra.









"Give Me Jesus" is new from the Galkins team. Will and Christy Galkin traveled with the Pettits for many years before going out on his own. His team of musicians has produced this new CD.













"He Is" features the great vocal voice of Kevin Inafuku. This is his second CD and after traveling with the Pettit team for several years, he is now the music minister at Harvest Baptist Church in Guam.

Happy Birthday Casey

Wishing a happy 23rd birthday today to Casey Arthur in SC! It is very unusual for both husband and wife to have a birthday in the same week (yes, you have seen this photo posted earlier this week)

Kenny, Caden and Casey in a photo taken Easter Sunday.

along the journey

Thanks to the Lord, I am making progress on the healing of my broken finger. The Doc said today that it was looking good and healing well, showing some calcium build-up (more milk please) and he said that I no longer have to wear a splint. If he put the splint back on, it would become very stiff in two weeks. Since the little finger is stiff, I have to try to move it as much as possible for the next two weeks and if that doesn't work, I will have to go to therapy. So I had to promise to not pick up anything heavy and to not fall on it again. I have to admit it feels better not being in the splint. But I am already enduring some pain just from trying to make a fist, which I can not do yet without a little yelp!

Happy Birthday, Kenny

Wishing a happy birthday today to my nephew, Kenny Arthur, in SC. May your wish for a Clemson winning season come true! (They started the season right winning the Bowden Bowl)

cool beans and other stuff

Some interesting sites to check out include this one dedicated to crocodiles and alligators. But only for the brave of heart :) - this site is called the Underwater Times.com. Other links include sharks, whales and other underwater animals.

Here is a fun site for kids who love sports. It is called simply SI Kids.com (Sports Illustrated for Kids.) Some of you older "kids" out there might even enjoy this site.

Enjoy a free ice cream "creation" on your birthday at the Cold Stone Creamery. You can sign up at this site.

photo album

We have a few more photos Josh sent to add to our collection. These photos of Brielle were taken at her first birthday party on Saturday.

could not have said it better myself

Some of the interesting articles I have read this week on the web include this perspective from foxnews.com's Laureen Green, the new religion correspondent, titled "The Inaccuracy of Kathy Griffin's Remarks on Jesus"

The freedoms we enjoy in this country to speak freely and to live freely are directly related to that man who died on a cross 2,000 years ago. So, you see, Kathy Griffin, Jesus has everything to do with you winning that award. You live in a free country where your abilities can be recognized if you're willing to work hard enough.

An article posted this week at sharperiron.org and written by Aaron Blumer and is a well written article concerning a debate going on in Christian circles about the upcoming presidential election. Simply titled: Would You Vote for a Mormon President?

In any case, given our highly specific understanding of what a true Christian is, it’s unlikely that we’ll have one to vote for in 2008. Just by the law of averages, most candidates for high office will not be persons with a genuine faith in the biblical gospel of grace.

Once more, the Colonel comes through as Ollie North writes about last week - Democrats' Blatant Display to Impugn General David Petraeus

What happened this week to Gen. Petraeus — and less directly to Amb. Crocker — was far worse than what transpired two decades ago on Capitol Hill during the Iran-Contra hearings. When Adm. John Poindexter and I testified, we weren’t in command. By the summer of 1987 the admiral and I were simply staff officers, summoned to testify about past events. That’s entirely different from the smear that took place this week.

Happy Birthday Brielle

Guess who turns 1 year old today?

Yes, Brielle Michala was born one year ago! We hope she enjoys the toys and book we sent her. Mam-ma tried to find a last minute "cheap" flight, but to no avail. So we will miss out on the birthday party tomorrow in Pennsylvania.

What a difference a year makes!

Ollie North and the truth about Iraq

With President Bush speaking to America tonight about the status of the War on Terror in Iraq, I was reminded of this article posted at foxnews.com a few weeks ago by Colonel Oliver North. I think the President may have listened to the Colonel. Below is an excerpt from that article and you can read the entire article at this link to Colonel's Corner by Ollie North

This is the time for President Bush to seize the moment and go before the American people. He needs to go to Iraq — meet there with General Petraeus — and see for himself what magnificent young Americans are doing on the battlefield.

During World War II, Winston Churchill went to where his troops were fighting to encourage them and make a dramatic point. This is such a moment for President Bush. It may be his last chance to rally the American people to win a war we dare not lose.

Happy birthdays for today!

Wishing a happy birthday today to two people in our families.

On my wife's side of the family, Douglas Baggett, who lives in California, has a birthday today.

And then on my side of the family, my mother's brother, Uncle James Rice, who lives in Charlotte, NC, celebrated his birthday today.

Patriot Day, 2007

Congress has designated September 11 of each year as "Patriot Day" (joint resolution approved on Dec. 18, 2001)

click link below to read proclamation by President George W. Bush:

A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

September 11, 2001, was a defining moment in American history.

paradoxes of Scripture

I have added to my sidebar the link for the Institute for Creation Research web site (icr.org). They publish a devotional booklet called "Days of Praise," but you can also read each day on the web. This article was for August 20, 2007 and was written by the late Dr. Henry Morris titled "Paradoxes of Scripture" (summarized below) but you can read the article at this link...

1. To really live, we must die.
2. To save one's life, her or she must lose it.
3. To be wise, we must become fools.
4. To reign, we must serve.
5. To be exalted, we must become humble.

keeping up with the local players

The ball games always seem more interesting when someone from your home town is playing in a game. Last Saturday was unique in that way because three guys with ties to Jacksonville played in games broadcast that day, one in pro baseball and two in college football.


Chipper Jones

Of course, we have been watching Chipper Jones since he graduated from the Bolles school - playing for the Braves right out of high school. Now at 32, he has more aches and pains but still knows how to hit the ball.

Tim Tebow and Coach Urban Meyer

Riley Skinner

Then after watching the Gators play with Jacksonville native Tim Tebow at quarterback, I watched a little bit of the Wake Forest game where Riley Skinner, the quarterback, is also a Bolles grad. Even though I am not living in J'ville now, I still try to keep up with these and other hometown guys.

Brian McCann

Jeff Francoeur

Mark Teixeira

I just learned recently that Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann graduated from Duluth High School in Georgia (my new home town.) Right fielder Jeff Francoeur is also a local native (Parkview High School in Lilburn, GA) and Mark Teixeira who was recently traded from the Texas Rangers (July 31), played college baseball at Georgia Tech.

Happy Birthday to Kim and Christina

Happy birthdays go out to:

Kim (Baggett) Alexander in Texas celebrated her birthday on Monday, Sept. 3rd.

Christina (Blackstock) Williams celebrated her birthday in Arkansas on Weds, Sept 5th.

the Pipers, missionary update

We are happy to hear that our friends, Garth & Lynette Piper, will be home on furlough from the mission field in New Zealand. As you can read below, both Lydia and Garrett will be attending Faithway Baptist Bible College in Ontario, Canada. We wish them well and hope we get to see them while they are in the states.
Also, you might want to read Lydia's blog at myshowersofblessings.blogspot.com

Click on the photo to enlarge or to print
a copy of their latest newsletter below.

sign of the times?

Never thought we would see this - a gator and buckeye in the front window of Brandon's 4-runner - it must be true love!

Braves fans doing the wave

more fun at the Braves game on Labor Day - watching the fans do the wave as the Braves beat the Phillies 5-1

7th inning stretch at the Braves

We went to the Braves game on Labor Day, and always look forward to the singing "Take me out to the ballgame"

Braves game, Labor Day 2007

We enjoyed having company in our new home, so what better way to enjoy Labor Day than by going to a Braves game. It was fun to watch them win again, beating the 2nd place Phillies 5-1!

feeling like home

After living in Jax for the past 30 years, the move to GA was quite emotional. I began working in Norcross, GA on June 18th. We took our time finding a place to live in the northeast suburbs of Atlanta. God led us to the "perfect" house for us in the sense that both of us liked the house, the location, driving distance from stores, church, doctors, etc. By August 1st we had signed a lease to rent the house for one year. That same week, my employer paid Armstrong movers to pack up our belongings and move us - all done in the space of 4 days. Then I proceeded to have the utilities turned on - water, gas, electric, cable, phone, and internet. Finally, last week we were able to complete our changes with car insurance, drivers' licenses and car tags. Cindy's 1983 Chryler LeBaron convertible passed emission inspection and this is the last year for that car. Next year we can get an antique car tag for the convertible. We have unpacked all but one room of boxes, so it is starting to feel like home.

We are looking forward to having our first visitors today as Brandon and Rachel will be staying with us for the Labor Day holiday. We appreciate your prayers for us - I broke my right little pinky over a week ago, so I should be one-handed for another two weeks. Cindy is still working on a new job and she is doing a great job nursing me. (Now I know why she does not have a job yet.) And also pray for patience for me, this is very frustrating - even typing this blog with my left hand - everything is hard when you are right-handed and it feels like your good hand is tied behind your back. I must say though I make a good "back seat driver":)

Today we joined Berean Baptist Church which is in Lilburn, about 30 minutes from Duluth. The church is larger than Victory in Jax, but there are many opportunities to minister and the church is very traditional, with good conservative music and sound, biblical preaching.