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A Visit to Lakewood Church

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One of the largest fellowships in the United States is Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas pastored by Joel and Victoria Osteen. Last Sunday morning, I attended one of their services for the first time. Lakewood Church meets in an arena where the Houston Rockets once played. Before going inside, I had to walk through a metal detector, plus have my backpack searched. I’m guessing increased security measures were enacted in response to a shooting that happened there two years ago. Since I arrived a half hour early for the 8:30 a.m. service, I took time to browse around. That included a huge bookstore. As expected, there were many of Pastor Joel’s books, but also some from other authors. Just before the service started, I picked a seat in the tenth row on the main floor (I could’ve sat closer but preferred an aisle seat). I also talked to an usher to make sure it was okay for me to take pictures. The arena eventually filled to about 25-30% capacity. That’s still a large crowd for an ear...
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Tests on the Train

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During the last couple of years, I’ve mostly traveled the United States by train due to Southwest Airlines adding baggage fees, and airports requiring a REAL ID (unless one is willing to pay an extra $45). One advantage to using Amtrak is you can have up to five pieces of luggage for free when going in between stations that check bags. At the time of this writing, I’m using another USA Rail Pass .  One downside of Amtrak is that their trains are frequently late. This past Monday, I was supposed to leave Saint Paul, Minnesota before 9 a.m. My train arrived over four hours later. As a result, I missed a connecting train going from Chicago to New Orleans (an Amtrak route I hadn’t taken before). That meant having to readjust my schedule.  Another inconvenience was the malfunctioning air conditioning on my train, which made me sweat in my seat for most of the journey. To add to my woes, my cell phone carrier went out of service for several hours. This was due to a nationwide ne...
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In His Order

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Over the years, I’ve become more selective regarding the kinds of churches I visit . No fellowship is perfect, and I’m careful not to adopt a critical spirit. However, I don’t want to sit through meetings void of the presence of God. I endured enough boring services at the religious institution I attended as a boy. Certainly, I won’t attend churches that affirm lifestyles that go against God’s word . I also shun fellowships that take potshots against the “ prosperity gospe l” and don’t have altar calls for salvation.  Another turnoff to me is churches giving out bulletins listing an “order of service.” It’s one thing for a pastor to have a plan of action. Many churches have a format of worship, announcements, offering, sermon, and an altar call. Some will add communion and baptisms at varying levels of frequency. However, if the pastor insists on sticking to a set schedule and doesn’t allow for sudden moves of the Holy Spirt, then it can become a dead religious meeting.  Du...
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A Tribute to Rick Keenan

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Rick, me, and Lee in 2014 Except for believers who are alive when the Lord raptures His church, every person will experience death. It’s sad when it happens to someone we know. Fortunately, there is comfort knowing we will see them again in heaven if they were saved. Last Sunday, a fellow evangelist who I worked with passed away. Back in 1998, I met Rick Keenan through Living Word Christian Center ’s evangelism ministry. Around that time, I started witnessing more on my own in addition to planned outreaches through the church. That included meeting Rick and others at the Mall of America. He advised us not to close our eyes while we prayed as a group to avoid attracting attention from security guards. During 1999, I made six trips to the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida. A couple of times, Rick invited me to live in his house while I made brief returns to Minnesota. Differences developed during my second stay there. Partially due to my missionary travels, we became estrang...
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Like Father, Like Son?

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One day following a church meeting, an elderly female friend brought up a question while we ate lunch. Her late husband was a pastor, but their son had no interest in becoming one. She questioned if the call to preach can be hereditary. I immediately thought of father-son ministry teams like Billy and Franklin Graham, John and Joel Osteen , John and Matthew Hagee, and others whose churches I attended. Some renowned preachers have a family legacy. For instance, Perry Stone hails from four generations of ministers. Kenneth E. Hagin had seen his son and grandson preach. Unfortunately, the latter was recently removed from his position at Rhema Bible Church due to misconduct (I pray Craig Hagin repents and is restored). It’s natural for some boys to follow in their fathers’ footsteps when it comes to their careers. However, that wasn’t the case for me. My father was an interior decorator, but that never piqued my interest. Instead, I worked as a disc jockey , plus various sales jobs bef...
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On God’s Time

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One sign we are living in the last days is an increasing number of people not keeping their promises. While we might think of individuals who dishonor their marriage vows or refuse to pay their bills, another way people break promises is not being punctual. The dictionary defines punctual as “happening or doing something at the agreed or proper time.” If we tell someone we’ll pick him up in five minutes, we shouldn’t purposely arrive 30 minutes later. I have a friend who has a weakness in this area. At least he apologizes when showing up late. On the other hand, I’ve dealt with people who frequently dawdle and don’t think it’s a big deal. What they are saying by their actions is, “My time is more valuable than your time.” Some cultures don’t value punctuality as much as others. While ministering in Germany, I noticed the Germans themselves were often on time, but a lot of the migrants there weren’t. One night I had to wait around for an Asian man I was staying with who took extra t...
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RAM Rant

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Have you noticed a recent surge in the prices of some electronic products? There’s a reason for that. RAM prices have skyrocketed because of increasing Artificial Intelligence consumption. According to ZDNet.com, “AI data centers will mop up 70% of all memory chips produced this year.” I first noticed signs of that a few weeks ago. Before the end of last year, I thought of buying a 5 TB external hard drive from Western Digital. A 4 TB drive I’ve had for over four years still worked, but figured it would be wise to get another one for backing up my computer files. External hard drives eventually quit working. Due to a temporary decrease in donations for my ministry, I’ve decided to wait. Then in March of this year, I felt it was time to purchase that extra hard drive. However, the prices on the Western Digital website were higher than before. Therefore, I opted to buy a 4 TB hard drive on sale at Best Buy. Back then, the electronics store sold that for $139 plus tax (I previously bou...
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