“How Kindly He Has Thwarted Me”

“How Kindly He Has Thwarted Me”

This morning we had a great Men’s Bible Study in Genesis 22, the passage where God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.

Today, thinking of the times God interrupted Abraham’s track in life by calling him to leave his homeland in Ur, asking him to circumcise all in his household, then commanding him to “send the bondwoman away”, and then to sacrifice his son.

His will was more difficult at first but more blessed after.


Robert Murray M'Cheyne
It was said of Robert Murray M'Cheyne, the great 19th century Scottish preacher, that "his soul was prepared for ministry...by much affliction in his person, by inward trials and sore temptations, by understanding the depth of corruption in his own heart, and by discoveries of the Savoir's fullness of grace."

In response to one of these trials at age 22, M'Cheyne wrote in verse:

He tenderly binds up the broken in heart,
The soul bowed down he will raise;
For mourning the ointment of joy will impart,
For heaviness, garments of praise.

Ah, come, then, and sing to the praise of our God,
Who giveth and taketh away;
Who first by his kindness, and then by his rod,
Would teach us, poor sinners, to pray.

For in the assembly of Jesus' first-born,
Who anthems of gratitude raise;
Each heart has by great tribulation been torn,
Each voice turned from wailing to praise.

M'Cheyne concluded: "How kindly has God thwarted me, so that I might learn to glory in disappointments."

Father Son Retreat Pictures

October 11

Father Son Retreat Pictures
When you gather fathers and sons together around God’s Word, you have a wonderful combination for blessing. This is what we had at the retreat.

Our goal for the Father Son Retreat was glorify the Father and the Son by exalting Their relationships; by helping fathers and sons make it to heaven; by encouraging them in their God given role so that He would be glorified through all generations.



Here are some of the shots we took at the conference:


The foundation of the universe is a Father and a Son at work


The father son relationship is foundational to all relationships.


Faithful fathers are a blessing far beyond their own years






"My son, do not forget my teaching" Prov 3:1








How powerful it is when Fathers and Sons pursue the Lord and delight in one another.









Scott Brown praying for Pete Schemm before his lecture.






The Water balloon launcher was in constant use from the beginning of the games to the dinner bell… Lesson: If you want to keep big and little boys busy, hand them a giant slingshot. They will find the ammunition and the target... till the cows come home.


Canoe Races were absolutely the best.







The Thorpes pumping water





I had just finished lecturing my team on how important it was to pay attention to the center of gravity in a canoe… Then, when we were portaging across the dam, and I jumped in for the last leg of the race, I de-stabilized for a lack of centered weight and I, Scott Brown flipped the canoe and got wet to the neck.






Early morning fishing tournament yielded many fish.



Jerry Mestas indeed was a fierce competitor in the Tug O War


Deborah Brown, the women of Trinity Baptist Church and many friends of the ministry joined to serve the fathers and sons… Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. A special thanks for Elizabeth and Rebecca Worden who came from Michigan just to help out.


Cookin chuck wagon style in cast iron pots over the fire.



Cheryl Garner and Emily Smyth cooking french toast


The Mestas Babies

Lester Barham… the man behind the scenes who makes it happen

My high school friend Dave Hiskey brought his sixteen year old son Reyn as a birthday present. Behold how good and pleasant it is for the brothers to dwell together in unity…


And his son reyn.


On Saturday night, Andy Davis was giving his very powerful address “Fathers and Sons: Stories of Courage”, and I thought that the third Great Awakening was being launched right before our eyes, as I heard dogs barking as they did in the revivals of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield… Well, it was not the third great awakening… they were real dogs – my dogs. Oh well.


See you next year: October 15-17

Take Apart T

Take Apart T

Assembling a Model T in 7 min 37 seconds.

What a day… A first experience: Assembling Model T. David and I had the privilege of “assisting” Marv Gage and other members of the AACA (Antique Automobile Club of America) in assembling a model T the way they did it on the Ford line in 1914. All the parts were set in place like they way they did it in the Ford factories. They were very nice to us even though I don’t think we had a positive impact on the speed.

We put it together and Reilly Reiner in the jacket cranked it up and ran it across the field.