Revival In Pictures - West Harrison, Indiana

I did not take the time to type up the report of our weekend. How about a Revival In Pictures post today? Maybe later I can get to the weekend. I hear that some of you come here just for the pictures anyway.(Grin) I hope you enjoy.

God bless and thank you for reading.

Davy

View Out The Front Window 9/12/2016

I interrupted Sunday's normal posting to say a little about the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. If you would like to read it, you can find it HERE. Those that have read it and responded, thank you.

Today I will put up the post that normally goes up on Sunday and tomorrow I will try to tell you about our weekend in West Harrison, Indiana.

This was our view out the front Window last week at West Harrison Pentecostal Tabernacle.

This was our view out the front door.

We will be having revival in Waynesville, Ohio at Dodds Pentecostal Church for Pastor Kelly Rogers Sunday September 18th through Wednesday September 21st. I appreciate Pastor Rogers asking us to come and I believe the Lord is going to help us in the services. Make plans to attend if you can at all.

Thank for reading.

Davy

Remembering 9/11/2001 15 Years Later

We will rejoin regular programming tomorrow, but today we pause to remember.



We must never forget the events of 15 years ago today on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. America was attacked on our own soil in the worst terrorist attack in history. 

The debris has been removed. Those lost have been honored. The memorial and museum have been built. Some of the buildings have been replaced. The families have pressed forward the very best they can. Some of the perpetrators have been punished. But we must never forget.

Many in the world would like us to forget.

Many in the press would like for us to forget.

Many in the government would like for us to forget.

But we must never forget.

Over 3000 thousand lives were lost in the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington D. C and when flight 93 went down near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 3000 plus lives!

Families were forever changed and scarred. 

Parents lost children. 

Spouses lost their companions. 

Friends were separated forever. 

Many businesses lost key employees. 

New York City Fire Department lost 343 firefighters. 

New York City Police Department lost 23 officers. 

New York City Port Authority lost 37 officers. 

Over 3200 children lost at least one parent.

How could we ever forget?

We visited the 9/11 Museum and Memorial in August 2016 and wrote a fuller report of our first visit in the summer of 2014. These two visits had a sobering impact on our family. We were seeing many of the film clips and pictures for the very first time. I have described it as an emotional punch in the gut.

The hours we spent there were some of the most sobering, severe and significant hours in my life. It is a place that haunts not only my sleep, but often even my waking hours. It may seem cliche but I assure you it is not, 9/11 changed our lives forever, even those of us that were thousands of miles removed from the destruction.

As we walked out of the museum the first time I knew I would be back as soon as possible. It told my family the same at that moment. There is too much information to absorb, too much emotion to process in one visit and probably too much to take in over several visits.

In the museum I came to the slow realization that we are not talking about a group of 3000 random people being tragically killed, which is heartbreaking in itself, but we are talking about 3000 individuals, all with families, hopes, dreams, ambitions and plans.

The personal cost, the personal hurt, the personal tragedies are completely overwhelming when standing on their own. To hear their voices, to see their pictures, to watch video clips of them with their families, to hear their loved ones talk about them is powerfully poignant. When you put it all together in one event and attempt to add up all the loss of real, living, breathing humanity, it is unfathomable!

Consider just one personal story. It is the story of Captain Terrance S. Hatton the commander of Rescue 1 in Manhattan. Captain Terry Hatton was killed in the north tower when it fell. 

His wife, Beth Petrone Hatton was the Executive Assistant to Mayor Rudy Giuliani. She was standing on the steps of City Hall as the World Trade Center collapsed. She knew exactly where her husband was at that moment.

Captain Hatton was a man of duty. He was 41 years old and had served the NYFD for 21 years. In those 21 years he had earned 19 medals for bravery including the highest award in the city, the Medal of Honor. He was considered by those that served with him as one of the best.

Beth Petrone knew all that. She knew her honorable husband would be on the highest accessible floor conducting rescue operations. That was his job and he did it well.

As she watched the tower fall, she instantly knew he was dead. The dust engulfed City Hall and Beth found herself holding handfuls of the debris thinking she was somehow holding her husband.

They found Captain Terry Hatton's remains two weeks later and buried him in the fashion of the hero he was. By then, Beth Petrone Hatton had learned she was expecting their first child.

Terri Elizabeth Hatton was born in May of 2002. She is a beautiful teenager now and she will never know her heroic father except for stories. He will never hold her. He will never tuck her into bed. He will never read to her. He will never walk her down the aisle. He is gone. Beth lost her husband and little Terri lost her Daddy, simply because he went to work that morning.

That is the story of only one man that died and it does not even include the hurt of his parents, his siblings, his other relatives, his friends or the men he worked with and all the rest he left behind.

Multiply that one story by 3000 plus stories and you have not even begun to scratch the surface of why we should never forget!

Maybe you will enjoy your family today. Maybe you will go to church and worship. Maybe you must concentrate today on walking through your own personal hardships or even tragedy. Wherever you are and whatever stage in life you are in, please take a moment to think about all that were lost on September 11, 2001. 

Take a moment to remember. Take a moment to consider what might have been. Take a moment to pray for Terri Elizabeth Hatton and many, many of thousands of others that are moving forward and trying to overcome each day.

I believe we owe them that much.

Thank you for reading.

Davy

Grandest of the Grands

Hey friends, this is Odie coming to you from West Harrison, Indiana. This has been a fabulous week. I enjoyed a few extra days at home. My parents worked lots of long hours at the Lazy OD Ranch. All of their hard work is paying off. Their many projects are looking fantastic. 

Since Wednesday night we have been in revival at West Harrison Pentecosal Tabernacle. It is a privilege to be here with Pastor Wade Hicks and the church. We are looking forward to our final two services. Tonight begins at 7:00 and Homecoming tomorrow at 11:00. Please join us for if you can. 

Tomorrow is also a special day set aside on the calendar to honor grandparents. I know I am blessed with the grandest of grands. I am thankful to God for the blessing He has given me in them. 

I wanted to take today to let my Mamaw and Papaw Boggs and Gran and Papaw Morgan know once again that I love you from the bottom of my heart! In fact "I love you" does not truly express my admiration for you. I love you more than my words can express.

 

 

I am thankful I get to see my grandparents as often as I do. I cherish every moment that I have with them.

I love spending time with you. Thank you for loving me and encouraging me. You all are definitely the best! I am proud to be your oldest granddaughter. That means you have loved me longer than any of the other grandchildren! Happy Grandparents Day!

Thanks for checking in. Have a great weekend!

Odie

Hungry For God

First of all, I was going through our lists of posts Thursday and realized that last Friday morning's post did not publish OR maybe it did publish and then "unpublished" for some reason. This is the third or fourth time that has happened in the last month but the other times I caught the glitch later in the same day and corrected the error. We were busy all day Friday and I completely missed it.

When I wrote Sunday's View Out The Window post I thought it was short on links for the week but I did not take time to investigate. It is up now and I included it in Sunday's links too. HERE it is. Keep in mind that it is dated material but not much I can do about that.

__________________

Hungry For God

I started revival Wednesday night at West Harrison with a subject that I find myself going back to time and time again. Not just in my preaching but in my personal devotions and prayer time. I desire an abiding and overwhelming hunger for more of God. If we are hungry for God then God has obligated himself to truly satisfy that hunger.

If we hunger for God, If we thirst for God, If a craving for  righteousness consumes us, God has promised to feed us and to satisfy us. It really is true that "We have as much of God as we want."

Joel Hemphill's old song tells the story.

I searched for Him 

And I knew not what I searched for

I longed for Him 

And I knew not what I longed for

Till I found Jesus

And I knew that I would search no more

He filled that longing 

Down in my soul

God will satisfy our craving IF we crave Him more than all the other things available!

There are so many things in life that are easily substituted for more of God. When we consume them we may be satisfied for a while. We may feel content. We may feel full and happy. We may not even realize that we have neglected to hunger after God and spiritual things because we feel satisfied and the hunger pains are gone.

Feeding on the world is like feasting on junk food. Gobbling the imitations the flesh supplies is like filling up on fast food. It tastes good. It satisfies our cravings. It is easily accessible. You can eat it on the go without much preparation or forethought.

But it will kill you in the end. It is temporarily terrific but finally fatal.

Inside of every man is a void. Look around you. Pay attention to all humanity running to and fro trying to satisfy the void inside of them. We fill that void with relationships, drugs, alcohol, vacations, friendships, houses, lands, cars, the latest fad or craze and a million other things. We fill the void but we are never completely satisfied. The world is always looking for "the next big thing."

Here is the reason for that. I believe the void inside every person is a God shaped void and only God can fill it completely. If you hunger for Him, He will fill you. If you thirst for Him, He will satisfy. If you search for Him with your whole heart, He will come to you.

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Hunger for God. Thirst after God. Search for Him. Listen for His voice. Eat what He provides. Follow where He leads. And let your soul delight itself in fatness!

You may live for 80 years on cheeseburgers, pizza, french fries, macaroni and cheese, lasagna, ice cream and candy bars. You may escape clogged arteries, diabetes and high blood pressure. You may be the exception to the rule. They may have to beat your healthy heart to death with a stick when you die.

But spiritual junk food will kill you dead. If you live to be 120 years old and die without a real experience with God, you will regret your spiritual diet for all of eternity.

God, please give us an astounding and breathtaking craving for you and nothing else!

When we sincerely hunger for God and crave the things of God, we will never be satisfied with imitations. We will never be content with the world. We will never be appeased by spiritual junk food. When you are hungry for a real move of God, only a real move of God will do!

Are you hungry for God? If not, ask God right now to give you an appetite for a genuine experience with God. Make it a daily part of your prayer life. Put it up at the top of your prayer list.  I will make you a promise that I found in God's word. God will satisfy the longing in your soul when you direct it toward Him.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Psalms 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

I am going to keep praying for more hunger. I am going to keep asking God for more of Him. I am going to keep preaching to encourage others to do the same. That hunger will change our lives. I believe that.

Thanks for reading today.

Davy

Travel Day - Waynesville to West Harrison, Indiana

Today was a short travel day but still requires all the work of a long travel day. Get the bus ready to ride, hook up the Green Machine and reverse it all when we arrive at the church, plus set up the sound system. Thankfully the driving part was very short so that makes up for it.

Dad and Mom brought Odie to the BoggsMobile and we pulled out of the Ranch about 1:00 PM. 

Our first stop was the new Flying J at exit 32 on I-71 to empty the holding tanks. We have been waiting a long time for this Flying J to open. It is only a very few miles out of the way for us when we are going south from home so that makes it convenient.

The drive around Cincinnati was smooth and traffic was light. It was a pleasant drive to West Harrison Pentecostal Tabernacle near West Harrison, Indiana. We have preached here several times and stayed here in our last fifth wheel but this is the first time having the BoggsMoble at the church. It is nice, comfortable and quiet.

We had a good first service and we are looking forward to God helping us all each service. The services will begin Thursday and Saturday at 7:00 PM but Friday night starts at 7:30. Friday is fellowship meeting for the area fellowship so they give them 30 extra minutes to gather in. Sunday's Homecoming service begins at 7:30.

On a very sad note, we have been trying to process some more tragic news since Tuesday night. Bro. Dake Goodwin died in a car accident while working Tuesday. Dake was a huge part of his Dad's church in Livingston, Texas. We were at Beech Creek Assembly, Pastor Don Goodwin and their wonderful church earlier this year. They are now heart broken and need God's help desperately and will for a very long time.

Long time friends of ours may remember us preaching several revivals for Pastor Bob Goodwin in Neosho, Missouri. Dake is Bro. Bob Goodwin's grandson. Please help us pray for this whole family.

Below are some pictures of Dake that Odie found for me.

2016

2013

Thanks for reading.

Davy