Home Sick?

If you've been reading my stuff for long, or if you have been hanging around with me lately, you've heard me say that I've been getting this homesick feeling. I feel homesick for a place, yet I can't place my finger on where that place is.

This morning in one of the devotionals I receive in my email inbox, this one by David Wilkerson, he talked about this place.

Heaven.

He basically said the same thing that I've been saying for months now and quoted some of my favorite verses from the Bible.

I think what I and many others have been feeling can be summed up in this verse:

"Meanwhile, we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling." 2 COR 5:2

My biological earthly father's birthday is coming up in a few days.

My biological earthly Dad went home to be with Jesus 45 years ago! I was just a young boy, but I remember him and the day we lost him very well.

I remember cuddling up next to him on his hospital bed and talking with him for the last time. He kept looking up to the ceiling and watching the Heavenly Gates and the angelic beings as they were waiting for him. I will never forget the longing in his eyes. He hated to leave me behind, but his heavenly home was calling to him and he loved the Lord more.

That pic right there on the right is of he and I when I was about 6 years old. I can almost imagine what he is thinking as he is looking at me in that photo. He knows that he is nearing his time to leave this world and he is hating to say good bye to me. He is wondering what will become of me after he leaves me behind. I know he is having these thoughts because I have had them myself when I have looked at my own son and wondered these things. Also, people have told me about conversations he had with them about this. He hated to leave his wife and his son behind, yet he longed to be with HIS father - his Heavenly Father - to go HOME.

What a wonderful promise we have, this place we call home. I get more and more homesick for it everyday. I really don't want to leave any of my loved ones behind, yet my heart longs to be with my Heavenly Father, in that place where the soul never dies!

I miss my earthly Papa too. I know he is waiting for me with some of my other family members and friends gone on before. What a wonderful reunion that is going to be!

"And Heaven, its going to be a blast...
Oh Yes!
And you know, its gonna last.
The things of this world
they're gonna pass away
on that great reunion day!"

C. 82 'Bought & Paid For'
M. Steven Smith
'Great Reunion Day'

There is no way that we can imagine how wonderful heaven is going to be - not accurately at least, but I do sometimes day dream about it. Don't you?

I picture our loved ones doing their activities there, praising the Lord, singing, dancing, hanging out. Basically, just having a wonderful time of fellowship. Maybe even some kind of a picnic. Maybe even our pets are there, some of them. Who knows? Anyway, its our time to arrive. One of them notices you off in the distance, they recognize a familiar walk or stance. They look closer and see that its you! They yell to the rest of the group. "Mark is here!" (in my case) and soon all of them are walking toward you. The excitement grows. You notice it is them and soon, YOU are running toward them. They are running toward you! You embrace. You've finally made it home!

What a wonderful, beautiful place. What an amazing reunion!

And then, they take you to finally meet Jesus, face to face!

That day is coming friends! Its coming soon.



Love in Jesus!

Pastor Mark

Mark 2:17

smithsontheroad.com

“Serve the Jesus in front of you, no matter how distressing the disguise.”
- Mother Teresa - Matthew 25

I Lost a Good Friend Today

Today has been an interesting day.

It is the birthday of one of my oldest and closest friends in the world. John. We met in 1967. My family and I moved into a house on the northside side of town. The first morning after we spent the first night there, I was sitting outside in a lawn chair in the back yard and saw him spying on me from the woods. We became best friends immediately.

I always remember to call him on his birthday and he usually calls me on mine. 40 some years later! Thats pretty good friendship I think.

We also lost a non-human member of our family today. Misty Lou, our 16 year old minature poodle. That is her in the photo there on my lap a couple of years ago. She was an amazing gift from the Lord and lived a long and fun life. In the last couple of years, she had started to lose her eyesight and hearing, and recently she was pretty much completely blind and deaf. She got around pretty good though. She could smell where she wanted to go. However, it appeared that she was starting to lose her sense of smell too in the last couple of weeks.

Back in 1996, we were preparing to hit the road as missionaries. We wanted to bring a dog along, but didn't want a huge one or a dog that shed really bad. Our friends had a poodle and we thought that they would make the perfect road companion. The children, pretty young at the time, asked Jesus for a poodle!

We were sitting around a campfire at a campground and the kids held hands and asked Jesus to give them a poodle. The very next day... no kidding. The very next day, a lady drove into the campground with her window down, asking everyone she could find if they were interested in adopting a three year old dog. It was our Misty - a pure bred poodle!

No kidding! Isn't Father God amazing? Stuff like this happens all the time in our lives!

She lived with us as a member of our family for the last 13 years and we will never forget her. Its interesting how we can grieve the loss of our non-human family members. I am very sad this evening.

I've written about this before. There is something about the unconditional love of a dog. I think that God gives us dogs to help us learn about love. Misty was no exception. She would curl up and love you no matter what. And sometimes you didn't want her too!

You can pretty up a poodle with all the ribbons and fancy hair cuts you can possibly afford, but if there is a dead fish in the yard? The second you aren't looking, they will go and roll in it! LOL They are still dogs! HA HA HA

I don't know if dogs go to Heaven. I want to believe that they do, but the Word of God is unclear on the subject. I did find a really neat poem about it though:

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of Heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor;those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they each miss someone very special, someone who was left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; his eager body begins to quiver. Suddenly, he breaks from the group, flying over the green grass, faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into those trusting eyes, so long gone from your life, but never absent from your heart. Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together...

Author Unknown

Like I said, I have no clue if Misty or any of the other dogs I have loved are in a place on the other side, but I want to think that they are. They love us so much, and vice versa, I would hate to think that it all just ends when they die.

We will miss her, but will also cherish the memories we have. We are thankful to our God for the gift he gave us in her life and praise Him for the wonders of His creation.

Life makes us cry sometimes.

Love to all of you,

Pastor Mark

7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,
8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

1 Corinthians 2:7-9

www.smithsontheroad.com

Tropical Storms and Insurance Fraud

What some rain!

As you can see from the photo, the yards are pretty flooded and the rain is coming down! I noticed several pairs of animals standing in front of the church doors with questioning looks in their eyes! LOL

We cannot complain though. We were really in a drought and this is helping tremendously! Praise the Lord! The trees that were wilting are lush and green - and WET! - and I am sure the lakes are getting back up to where they need to be.

I have not heard, but I am hoping that the wild fires are out. I cannot imagine how they could still be ongoing with all of the water that has fallen from the sky.

We are just beginning the hurricane season, and there is word that this just might be the result of some kind of tropical depression or something. There were some moderate winds off the Ocean yesterday, but they didn't amount to much once they got inland a few miles.

Its 3;54 AM at the moment, so I am going to lay back down and finish this later. I wanted to touch on the way our auto insurance company is not wanting to pay for our accident!

Wednesday Night:

It is STILL raining! Flooding everywhere. I think most of the forest fires are out! Praise the Lord! Its really been nice getting rid of hot and dry weather. For a couple of weeks now, some of the trees in the woods next to the house have had the leaves wilting. Thankfully, they are no longer drooping, but all is green and lush and WET! LOL

We have the umbrellas out and in the vehicles and on the porches. Well, we did have one in the truck, but we don't have possession of the truck right now. They towed it away to the repair shop and we are fighting with the insurance company over whether they are going to pay us for what the truck is worth!

Our truck isn't new. But it is in great shape. It was in an accident in 2003 before we owned it, but restored to its original condition. We just totaled it by hitting the bear. Our insurance company is trying to tell us that the truck is only worth $4000 less than the blue book and other trucks it's age. I just sent them a list of 4 other trucks for sale in this area with the same mileage and of the same age and asked them to either agree to the price range of those trucks, or show me a list of trucks for sale in this area within the price range they are wanting to pay me.

oh well...

The Lord will take care of the situation and will provide EXACTLY what we need and maybe even what we desire. As long as we are walking in the Lord and our hearts are stayed on Him! Amen?

A few of you have sent us financial love gifts to help us with this situation. Thank you so much! I am sorry that I cannot send you a special gift in return like some of the Christian Television Home Shopping Network programs offer, but know that God will reward you abundantly!

We received a word of knowledge that we would get a new truck and that the insurance company would make good on the policy. I am trusting the Lord to increase my faith AND to take care of this just like a Father is supposed to take care of his children.

We love you so very, very much! We really do. I wish we could come and visit with all of you in person every once in a while. Maybe one of these days, I will be able to come and do a HOUSE CONCERT where you live. Wouldn't THAT be fun? :)

In Jesus....

Your brother forever!

Pastor Mark

www.smithsontheroad.com

Psalms 37: 3-4
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Its Raining, Its Pouring, the Old Man Is...

Its a rainy Sunday night.

I was just sitting out in the screen porch with a guitar thinking about writing a song. I have a couple of fairly decent sized gigs coming up and I was thinking it would be neat to have a couple of new songs to introduce.

A little while ago, I was watching Phil Keaggy play some stuff on YOU TUBE and got blown away. If the rumor about Jimmy Hendrix saying that Phil was the best guitar player in the world isn't true, it ought to be. Anyway, that kind of inspired me to get my instruments out and write something! LOL

Like I said, its raining out. Our son is out driving in the weather and his mother and I are wishing that he was home. I'm telling ya, there is nothing like the love you feel when you become a parent. I cannot imagine losing a child. One of my best friend's lost a child a couple of years ago and has never been the same. I am sure that I would never be the same either. I pray for David quite a bit. I just got an email from a good friend from our church in Saint Augustine. Her brother lost his son too. Age 23. What a horrible, horrible thing. So much pain and heart ache in the world.

It is hard sometimes to remember that we shouldn't cling so strongly to this world and the things here. We must remember that we are only passing through. We do not belong! Saint Paul wrote about that quite a lot. After he became a Christian, he spent a lot of time in prison, being persecuted and tortured for his faith. I am sure that even though he was very close to the Lord spiritually, he must have felt alone quite a bit. He longed to go home.

I long to go home once in a while too.

^"4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life." 2 Corinthians 5:4

We must remember that when we pass from this life, we immediately enter into the presence of the Lord. Its a bummer having to say good bye to someone we love dearly, but thankfully, we have hope that we will meet again and spend eternity together.

WOW! All of that because I got on the subject of my friend losing his son.

24 hours later:

It is STILL raining! Everything is waterlogged. There are puddles everywhere. Tyler our son finally got home this evening. He spent the night at his friend's and then went to school from there. Thank the Lord for bringing him home safely in the storm this afternoon.

Its a bit lonely tonight. Dar is on the road. It is STILL raining. Our son is almost grown and even though he still lives here at home, is pretty much totally independent. I don't even have a lot of mail to write or to answer this evening. We sent out our last prayer request newsletter asking for prayer because of all the spiritual attacks and do you know how many of our friends responded with even a note? LOL Two! Out of over 200 people that we send the newsletter to, only TWO wanted to respond! HA! I am sure that they are all very busy too. So, I'm a little lonely tonight!

Think I'll curl up in the arms of my Heavenly Papa and read a good book. I have a couple I've currently started.

Oh... here is that awesome guitar player. Notice the many things he does with his special effects! (those are the little boxes he has lined up in front of him on the floor.)



Enjoy the music!

Thanks for stopping by!

Loving you!

Pastor Mark

smithsontheroad.com

Mark 2:17

Tigers and Lions and BEARS!

You can't really tell too well from the photo, but I think I totaled my truck! :( In my 36 years of driving, I have never had an accident. And according to my insurance agent, a comprehensive claim is not really conidered an accident, BUT... I had my first accident!

I hit a bear.

A big bear.

A HUGE BEAR!

I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me not to take the back roads through the forest, but for some reason I argued with the inner voice speaking to me. I couldn't understand why I shouldn't travel the less busy, more quiet road on Wednesday night.

I was on my way home from leading worship at another church - Logos Fellowship. Lately, when I leave for home after the Bible Study, I follow another family who heads out toward where we live. We travel together until they turn west and I go east at this one intersection. They were not taking that route that night, so I was alone, and when I arrived at the corner to take that back road, the Holy Spirit nudged me to take the other, more main road home.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:" John 10:27

I usually listen. It isn't hard to hear the voice of the Father. He gently speaks and after a while, you just learn to distinguish his voice from your own. For some reason, I didn't heed his warning this time. I turned onto the main road headed east and was driving in a 55 MPH section of the road when there was another nudge in my heart telling me to slow down. I lowered my speed to 45.

Then, out of the dark came a huge black blob. That's kind of what it looked like. I knew in a second that it was a bear. I tried to swerve to miss it, but all I could do was hit the brake and try to minimize the impact.

BANG! I hit her on the hind quarters with the passenger front end! She rolled along the front of grill and into the driver side quarter panel, landing on the center of the road in a heap. I thought for sure that she was dead. I managed to get to the side of the road safely, and as I came to a stop, I saw the bear limping and hopping along the yellow line down the middle of the highway. She was ALIVE! Wounded, I am sure, but alive.

The next morning, I called the Wildlife office to report that I had hit a bear and they said that she was probably alright. They said that they are surprisingly tough and that she probably went into the woods to heal. I was thankful for that because I think my heart hurt the worst for the bear. Later, when I got home, I thanked the Lord for His protection and then told the Father that my heart ached for the bear. I asked Him to look out for her and if possible, to make sure that she was ok.

It really was a miracle. First, the Lord DID try to tell me not to take that route and for some reason, I did not listen. He then spoke to my heart, telling me to slow down. Thankfully, I DID listen that time. Had I hit the bear going 55 MPH, I am sure I would have been hurt. As it was, for some reason, the airbags didn't even go off. A part of the dash board flew off and hit the floor. That shows that I did hit the bear pretty hard, yet the airbags didn't go off and it felt like I hit a cloud or something. There really wasn't that big of an impact on my body.

THAT is our Papa God! Praise His name! My truck may be totaled, but I am okay. Max, who was riding with me is okay. And somehow, Father will provide the means to replace our ministry vehicle. He always provides. He always will!

Love to you all!

Pastor Mark

smithsontheroad.com

Mark 2:17

A Father to the Fatherless on Mother's Day

Whew!

It sure has been hot already this year. By 11:00 AM or so, its 90 degrees and humid! Summer has arrived in the sub-tropics. In another couple of weeks it will be rainy season and in only 21 days or so, hurricane season will start. People think that I am kind of crazy (well, anyone who knows me in the least will testify to THAT), but I actually LIKE hurricane season. I DON'T like that the weather tears people's lives apart and that there are a lot of things that people care about destroyed, I don't like that... but I DO like the might of the wind and the seas and the magnificent display of God's power.

Then, I used to be a tornado chaser. Loved every minute of it! LOL

It was Mother's day this Sunday! I don't know how many of you have awesome mothers, but I do! My mom is the coolest. There was a time when I was growing up, when our house was the "Kool-Aid House". You know the place, right? It's where all the kids hang for this or that. Its the place where most of the camp-outs happen, the sleep-over's. My mom was the coolest mom.

My mom had me when she was 18 years old, so I am blessed to still have her with me. That B&W photo up there is of she and I practicing archery when I am about 5 years old. We were pretty good!

We had a wonderful Mother's day service at the church. The Holy Spirit moved! There were many tears of joy and we were reminded that when we honor our mothers and fathers, our lives will be long on the earth. We were also reminded of how much our Savior loves us. Jesus took care to make sure his mother was taken care of when he was on the cross. He asked his beloved disciple (probably Lazarus) to take care of her. Even when he was hanging in pain on the cross, He took the time to make sure that his beloved mother was taken care of. Such loyalty. Such love.

I will probably live a long time! I honor my mom! Then, at 5 feet 2 inches tall, my mom demands respect from her children and if I even thought of dishonoring her I have no doubt that she would knock me on my butt! LOL

Mother's are pretty awesome! I've heard it said that God created moms to be an extension of His heart. I don't doubt it. Mom's will love us unconditionally.

You know? The majority of mom's love this way. But there are times when drug addiction, and other forms of debilitating sin callous the heart, and moms and dads become blinded and unwilling to love their children unconditionally. Satan corrupts the hearts of some parents. We see many of their children here in this ministry.

We see young people in their 20's who have never heard of the Gospel. As I've shared with you before, often we will minister to a young person who has never heard who Jesus is! Can you believe it? They have no clue why we celebrate Christmas or Easter! Parents never took the time to raise them in the way of the Lord.

We see young people hungry for a mother's love because addictions or other forms of sin have stolen their birth mothers from them. You might remember John. His last memory of his birth mother is of her trying to sell him in a bus station to total strangers for money to buy dope! What a horrible thing to remember.

He has abandonment issues that only the Holy Spirit can heal. Half of the kids in the Rainbow Family have these kinds of issues. We try to share the Love of Jesus with them and introduce them to a God who is the Father of the Fatherless!

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling."
Psalms 68:5

I pray that all of the people we minister to or with grow into that wonderful relationship with Father God. For years, I knew Him as my Lord. I knew Him as my King. My God. But I didn't always understand Him as "Papa" God. Though I had a wonderful mother whom I grew up with, my daddy died when I was 7 and a half, so I didn't have a wonderful example of a good dad. Most of us relate to God in the same way that we relate to our earthly fathers. At first anyway.


In the last few years, the relationship I have with Papa God has grown into a wonderful and amazing intimate situation. Its unbelievable. My desire is to help others grow into this totally cool relationship with Father God! And of course, I want to grow in this relationship too. There is no end to the closeness. We can get to know him more and more and more until we enter into the home waiting for us, the home where we will see our Jesus face to face! Where we will be able to sit for hours and do nothing but bask in His wonderful presence.

Thanks for praying for us in our ministry. Pray that we will be able to continue to share our Father's wonderful love with the broken and the wounded. And don't forget to love on and call your mothers once in a while!

Love ya!!!

Pastor Mark
www.smithsontheroad.com

Matthew 6:25

Don't Stop Going to Church!

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:25

We live in the country. DEEP in the forest. Our church, as many of you know, is a little country church with wonderful people - some whom the rest of the world would consider 'Throw-a-way Outcasts'.

Many of us were once filled with darkness. But most of us are living examples of what Ephesians 5:8-9 really means.

"For you were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:..."

Yesterday, we had a wonderful service here at our church. I just love being the pastor of a small church. There is so much love. So much "FAMILY". We pray for one another, we LOVE on one another, we truly enjoy meeting together. I think that our little church is an example of what being together is really what its supposed to be - a pretty close example of what the first testament church was.


I have a vision of our ministry and church becoming a true place of refuge for the lost and the broken. A place where those who have no place else to go can come and live and be a part of a family. As the times get more rough in this country and on the earth, I think we are going to see more and more places like what I am talking about. People are going to lose their homes to foreclosure and more and more families are going to become homeless. The TRUE church is going to have to come together and take care of one another like we haven't seen in 2000 years.

"And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need..." (Acts 2:42-45).

As I watch the world's events, I get excited thinking about the Lord's return and all the things that are going to be taking place in the next few years. Isn't it going to be exciting? And we are going to be needing each other more than ever! Make sure that you get in church, stay in church and really be a part of your church!!!

Not only is it a command that we attend church, but its really a good place for us to be! We NEED to be around people who love and care about us! Especially as the world gets worse and worse and worse!

I absolutely LOVE being a part of our church. Most of the people who attend our church tell me that too. They love the family atmosphere we have. We truly care about each other and it really doesn't matter where you've been in your past! We only care about where you are going! Jesus loves you just the way you are and right where you are!

Sooo, you are welcome to attend our church with us, but if you are living in another part of the country somewhere, go to church THERE! Just go somewhere. Get in a church where you are celebrated for who you are, not tolerated. Got it? Go where people are going to love you!

Jesus loves you! We love you!

Pastor Mark

www.smithsontheroad.com

Mark 2:17