From the Home Place

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  • The calling

    September 8, 2025

    As I mentioned yesterday, it is archery elk season, one of my favorite times of the year! Every since I was just a boy, I have been mesmerized by the bugle of a bull elk. You can tell a lot about a bull just by listening to his call. A high-pitched call usually comes from a young bull. A deep guttural growl is most often the mark of an old monarch. A short, low pitch call comes from a lazy bull, one who isn’t really excited about the rut, yet.

    Then there are the cow and calf calls. A calf call is called a chirp, short in duration and high in pitch. A cow elk mews, while a bull bugles. Yet as all experienced elk hunters will tell you, not all elk sound the same and not all calls work on all elk.

    Personally, I like using a mouth diaphragm call, but I have heard plenty of guys do well with reed calls. I personally think that using electronic calls is cheating. An electronic call is a device that plays the actual call of a real-live bull or cow elk.

    So now, let’s shift gears for a moment. Jesus stated, “No one comes to me unless the Father call them.” Much like calling elk, we Christians sometimes attempt to imitate the way pre-Christians talk. For some reason we think if we cuss and act like they do, they will accept us and become a Christian just like us. The problem is that seems to be true, but in my experience, it seldom produces fully devoted Christ-followers.

    You see, it doesn’t matter if I’m calling elk, or if I’m calling unbelievers, my call has to sound, look and feel like the real thing. Now I can’t do that until I really understand the nature of the one I’m calling. When calling people, all ll I can do is to attempt to make my call sound very much like the real call – God calling someone to salvation in Christ Jesus. And I can’t do that without first knowing what God’s voice really sounds like.

    The best any of us can do is to imitate the call of God. It is up to Him to genuinely call a person to salvation, and just like with calling elk, it’s up to the person to decide to respond to the call. Even if I was an expert elk caller, which I am not, it’s up to the elk to respond, or not. I can’t force them to answer the call and come toward me. The best I can do is practice my calls, believe in my calls and pray that a mature bull will answer my call and come my direction.

    The same is true with people, we can’t force them, it’s up to the Master Caller to speak to their heart and draw them to faith in Jesus. Please hear me, your call sounds differently than my call and that’s just fine, yet none of us know which call a pre-Christian will answer. Only one thing is for sure, if we don’t call, it’s really difficult for them to respond.

    So, I’m going to go practice my elk calls, and my people calls – praying someone will answer one of them.

    Calling pre-Christians with you, Neal

  • Keep your focus.

    September 7, 2025

    Miss Deb and I both have elk tags for this fall. Hopefully we will get to go together when it comes time to attempt to harvest one of these magnificent critters, which I tend to call “bugle cows.” There are few things more invigorating than to stand on a mountain side and listen to a bull elk bugle! The only problem we have when we hunt together is that we both have to carry our own binoculars because we each have very different eyesight.

    We have tried to share binos before, but we soon figured out it wasn’t worth the time it takes to adjust and readjust the shared binoculars, so we each keep our own focus on our own pair of binos. That’s much like faith, we each need our own.

    Though we both came to faith in Jesus on the same night, probably at almost the same hour, we each have our own faith. I can’t live hers and she can’t live mine. Nor can you live on anyone else’s faith, you must have your own.

    While reading Psalm 115 this morning, I realized that every person is on their own when it comes to faith. Within the beginning of this Psalm, we are quickly reminded that God is the only one worthy of our praise, for only He sits on the throne of glory. As Psalm 115 reminds us, we all like our idols. “Silver and gold” both play a very vital part within our daily lives, yet we dare not make those riches the “focus” of our lives.

    Psalm 115 clearly states that idols are not alive. They can’t “talk, feel, move, smell, see nor hear”. But because God is real, He can relate with us in our daily lives. Psalm 115:9 challenges all of those who place their faith in Jesus to “trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.” The Hebrew word for “help” means to provide extra strength. In the New Testament Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the “helper” of Christians. The word “shield” refers to God’s protection.

    Putting “help and shield” together in faith, we have a God who provides and protects for us, idols cannot do either. Once again the psalmist reminds us to “trust in the Lord” because “The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us.” Verse 13 states, “he will bless those who fear the Lord, The small together with the great.” You see friends, it doesn’t matter if you are someone of great stature, or if you are just common like the most of us, when we “focus” upon Jesus, He will bless us. His promise, not mine.

    As verse 14 reveals, “He will give you increase.” That doesn’t mean that He will make you rich in your bank account, it means that once we “focus” upon Him, He will increase our faith to trust Him no matter our circumstances. For our Lord is our provider and protector!

    Please, don’t attempt to live off of someone else’s faith, you must have your own. Yet that faith must be a biblically accurate faith. Trusting anyone or anything other than Jesus is not true faith, it is following an idol.

    Once you establish your faith, build your faith by keeping the God of the Bible as your “focus.” As Hebrews 12:2 reminds us, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of faith.” Place your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, He is the only way to heaven. (John 14:6)

    Keeping our focus upon Jesus with you, Neal

  • Same ‘ol Thing!

    September 6, 2025

    As we begin another day, the Holy Spirit just reminded me that it is really easy to get stuck in the normal. I got up again. I read from the Scriptures, again. I’m sitting at my computer to write, again. Today, I have my plans of how things should go, again.

    Then He really challenged me that when I read a familiar passage of Scripture to not respond with “Well, I just read that passage, again.” Today’s reading in Psalm 114 reminded me of how God worked to part the Red Sea for the nation of Israel as they journeyed from Egypt to the Promised Land. I was reminded of how God rolled back the Jordan, during flood stage, to allow His people to walk across on dry ground. I once again read of how God brought a flood of water out of a rock to care for His people and their critters. Yep, I read all of that again and almost went on about today’s events unchallenged and unchanged.

    You see dear friends, we need to stop and chew on all Scripture passages for a bit, instead of just reading them “again!” Put yourself among the one million plus people who walked across where the Red Sea once had them boxed in. Feel the fear as an enemy army is coming to destroy you and your family! Feel the need to hustle across on dry ground where there had been an obstacle just moments ago. Watch as God brings the waters upon Pharaoh’s army in judgment. Fall to your knees and praise God for being who He is, again!

    Most of us will face a difficult situation today, or within a few days. We will panic, and then we will do what needs to be done to get through that situation, because that’s what we do. NO! If we get through that threat, it’s because God has done what He does, AGAIN!

    Lord help us, may we not witness God doing something amazing for us and then respond with something like, “I sure was lucky.” Dear people, may we today, stop and “Praise the Lord” for His amazing grace. Grace that allows us to live another day. Grace that gives us energy to face with courage whatever difficulty we must face. Grace that allows us to shout, “Praise the Lord!” again and again.

    So don’t just live life one more day, again. Instead live in the moments of your life, no matter how many times you may have passed this way before. Agreed, it may not be a Red Sea moment for you today, but it will be a moment when Almighty God does something totally amazing for you, or around you. Please, don’t allow yourself to miss His workings, again.

    Making today special with you, Neal

  • Praise the Lord!

    September 5, 2025

    There is no argument, things of this world are not overly shiny right now. There seems to be plenty of difficult times for most everyone. Everything costs more, violence is constant, our world is at war and there are daily reports of earthquakes, fires and natural disasters of all kinds. What’s a person to do?

    Psalm 113 states that we are to “Praise the Lord!” In the Hebrew this Psalm would simply start with the word “Halleluiah,” which translates into English as “Praise the Lord.” Verse 1 proclaims, “Praise, O servants of the Lord.” Note, it does not say the servants of the Lord are to complain, gripe, or blame, no we are to “Praise the Lord.”

    Verse 3 makes it clear that we are to “Praise the Lord” all day long, not just for a few minutes first thing in the morning. Yet perhaps, if we would all start our day praising the Lord the rest of the day would be focused upon praising Him. Imagine how it would affect our conversation with the “griper,” if after his or her report of how bad things are, we would simply reply, “Praise the Lord!” Do you suppose that such a statement would quite possibly change the conversation to spiritual matters?” Wow, what a great way to change a conversation into what really matters most in everyone’s lives! Beside if it wasn’t for the negative folks, I wouldn’t have noticed how nice you are.

    Verses 4-6 continue to remind us that God is above all of all of our circumstances, yet we too often allow the circumstances to dictate our praising. This psalm, and those that follow it, remind us that we are to “Praise the Lord” regardless of our circumstances. In good times and in bad, we are to praise. You see my friends, the praising reminds us that God is in full control of everything, even our circumstances. Besides that, quite often we engineer our own circumstances. They are the result of our attitudes and actions, so we dare not blame God for the pain of those times.

    Verse 9 makes it clear that if we keep our focus upon the Lord and His love, strength and presence, He can turn any difficult time into a time of praise! So, regardless of what this day presents us with, we are to “Praise the Lord!” May your day be filled with plenty of “Halleluiahs!”

    Praising the Lord with you, Neal

  • Get to Work!

    September 2, 2025

    Greetings friends. With Labor Day behind us, it is time to get to work. Not just our work, but the work of advancing the kingdom of our King! We older folks fully know that we too are in the fall of our lives, and that winter is coming. Could the same be said for this world system? Time here on earth is in the fall of its life, and winter is coming.

    This morning I started reading Acts 1, being challenged by 1:8 to be His “witness” on a daily basis. Then on to the Ascension of Jesus Christ – the disciples were caught standing around, staring into the sky. Perhaps it’s time for today’s Christians to quit sky gazing and get to work in the field. After all, He said we need more laborers, and fewer spectators, “for the harvest is plentiful.” We need to get to work.

    In Acts 2 the church is born! Jesus promised to build His church, not mine, nor yours. Could it be that we, I, spend so much time doing so many things for our church that we neglect working with our Master to build His church? How often do I forget that Jesus is the King and I am the servant? How often do I forget that the Holy Spirit was given to help us do the work that Jesus called us to do? Has He not told us to “make disciples” who are passionate about loving Jesus, not followers of the newest method of church growth.

    Fall is in the air and winter is coming. Spiritual winter is that time when things get very difficult. That time when days are shorter, effort is greater, and survival is often threatened. Winter is a time of spirituality becoming cold and blustery. As such, the warm days of eternity become the focus. Yep, winter is coming, it’s time to get to work, before the snow flies (2 Tim. 3:1)!

    Today is the day the Lord has made, may we rejoice and be glad in it! Perhaps we should all roll-up our sleeves and get to work, His work? Now read 2 Timothy 3, yep all of it. Pay close attention to how the chapter ends, “equipped for every good work.”

    Loved ones, it is time to get to work because winter is coming.

    Working for the King, with you, Neal

  • Farewell – Hello!

    September 1, 2025

    How was your “family reunion” yesterday? I pray that you were able to really enjoy being with your church family. Like all other families, they are most likely not perfect, but they are still a very special group of folks.

    Yesterday, Miss Deb and I bid the dear folks of Lance Creek “farewell.” For the last three months we have served this amazing little church family. They have completely captured our hearts with their kindness and a great willingness to learn. One thing is for sure, our “family” has grown during our time at Lance Creek.

    After telling the folks at Lance Creek “farewell,” we then hurried to our home church in Lusk to participate in a special party to raise support for our newest church planters. Once again, God was very kind in helping a young family follow their dream of advancing His kingdom here on this ball of dirt. It was totally fun to watch the Taylor’s church family love on them! Yesterday our Lusk church family also celebrated ten-years of ministry in this area! (more on that tomorrow) By the way, yesterday was the first time I have been back with my home church family for three months, it’s good to be back home.

    Like I said, yesterday was a day of farewell and hello for us in relation to our church families. It was also a day for all of us to tell August “Farewell” and to greet September with a big “Hello!” Yep another month of your life has passed by, how did it go for you in regard to the people around you. Were they blessed because you played a special part of their lives? Were they encouraged to walk closer with Jesus because they spent a month watching you live an “active” faith? Did you bless someone with your kind hospitality?

    If so, way to go! If not, then September brings opportunities for you to improve your relationships with those God brings across your path. May this new month find us saying “Farewell” to being too busy as we say “Hello” to having folks over for a meal. As we greet opportunities to speak words of kindness into the lives of folks who are struggling. May we each step into a deeper walk with Jesus! Yep, this new month holds many opportunities for each of us, we get to decide to step into those God-given moments, or to hurry back into our safe place. I pray He will find each of us faithful!

    Saying “Hello” to watching God work in and through our lives with you, Neal

  • “I’m related to…”

    August 30, 2025

    If your parents are alive, you have relatives. If you have a living aunt or uncle or cousins, you have relatives. If you have siblings, you have relatives, and when you get married you gain relatives. All of that is to say, “the odds are quite good that you have relatives.”

    Take Miss Deb and myself for example, between the two of us we have a whole lot of relatives. Miss Deb no longer has a living sibling, and very few other relatives, but then on my side…!

    With five siblings, I have all sorts of relatives, who became Deb’s relatives on the day we got married. There have been times when one of my relatives does something less than glamourous and when that great adventure is mentioned in a public setting, I say, “Yep, that’s one of Deb’s relatives!” A statement she tries to push off rather quickly. But the fact is, that special person is now one of her relatives as well as mine. Oh, there may not be any of her blood between them, but because she said, “I do,” over fifty years ago, what’s mine is now hers!

    Ok, let’s go to church tomorrow morning: If you are a “born again” Christian, that is you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, realizing that His death on the cross was the one redeeming fact for your salvation, well then the odds are amazingly high that you are attending church with blood relatives!

    In case you are wondering, it’s not your blood that makes all of those folks your relatives. The simple fact is that you are related to other Christians through blood, the blood of Jesus. Much like gaining relatives through marriage, Christians gain a new relative every time a person accepts salvation through the person of Jesus Christ.

    You see, another simple fact is there are times that I’m that less than stellar relative. In fact, the odds are also quite high that you have been that less than stellar relative at some time or another. However, one of the major things about relatives is that to continue being more than just “social” when we are around each other, there has most likely been a time when we have had to forgive a relative or ask for forgiveness from them.

    The same is true with our relatives within our local church. Forgiveness is the oil that keeps the engine running smoothly. In order for you and your relatives to get along within the church, forgiveness is priority one. Jesus said it something like this, “If you refuse to forgive others, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you.” Yep, that is a strong statement, but I’m quite sure Jesus means it!

    Because you and I have been forgiven, we are required to forgive each other, and all the rest of our relatives. Yep, all of them! Yes, the adage is often true, “Relatives are the hardest!” But that doesn’t make it any less mandatory that we forgive them. So, if there is someone at church who has offended you, forgive them just as God has forgiven you through Jesus. Or perhaps you need to ask them to forgive you, again through Jesus. After all, if you both know Jesus, you are blood relatives.

    Today, go visit, or at least call, one of your family relatives, see how they are doing. And may I also suggest that you do the same tomorrow morning when you go to church. If you attend a real Christ-centered church, you have a passel of relatives there. Wow, I guess that makes every Sunday a family reunion, but that’s a topic for another day.

    Celebrating relatives with you, Neal

  • About the boat

    August 28, 2025

    The year was 2007, Miss Deb and I were living in Custer, South Dakota where we were in the process of planting a church. Though we had been involved in ministry for several years, this would be our first plant. We like most church planters were starting at pretty much zero. The Lord had moved in the hearts of a dear couple who made the move with us from Sioux Falls to Custer, but the rest was up to us. By God’s amazing grace we were able to gather a group of folks rather quickly and before long we were meeting together on a weekly basis for Bible study and worship.

    As means of coping with the heavy pressure of planting, God blessed us with a twelve-foot aluminum boat with a ten-horse motor on it. The trailer was homemade, but worker just fine. Most of the time the trailer would stay behind our pickup, if we weren’t in too much of a hurry.

    Now about the boat, like I said it wasn’t very big and the motor wasn’t going to win any race, but when the two of them worked together, it was plumb relaxing to go to a local lake and at least take a good run having fish for supper.

    Under the rear seat, where the captain of this vessel would sit, was a small toolbox. It contained a new sparkplug, some fuel line, a bottle of oil and a handful of wrenches. There were very few trips to the lake that the toolbox wasn’t opened.

    The motor was a bit temperamental and would often leave us drifting across the lake, while one person fished and the other played mechanic. But even with it’s ill temper, she was a fine little vessel that provided us with some time together, away from people and the pressure of planting a church.

    Well, by the amazing working of the Holy Spirit, within four years the church was up and going well, and we were called to a new ministry in Platte, South Dakota. So, I gave “Lucy” the boat to Bob. Bob was an older gentlemen who had gone on several fishing expeditions with me, and was also a key member of the church plant. Bob loved the Lord, and he also loved to fish, so it just seemed logical to leave Lucy with him.

    Bob took really good care of her, gave her several needed updates and keep her running in tip-top shape. After a few years, Bob’s health went sideways so he passed the boat on to Lynn. Lynn as well made so adjustments to the boat and even bought a new trailer. During my last visit with Lynn he mentioned that he too had come to the end of his fishing career and was looking for a new home for Lucy.

    Here is the point: What started as a cheap way to destress, soon became a blessing to several other folks. Each of Lucy’s owners had friends who were also blessed by an occasional day on the lake. Your faith, just like Lucy, was designed to bring a blessing to others. Here’s the catch (pun intended), neither does much good until you put them in the water.

    No, your faith may not be the biggest or the fanciest, but it is yours. Use it to bless others. As you allow others to be blessed by your faith, their faith will also grow, and before long they will take that which you gave them, make some needed adjustments to it, and then they will pass that on to the next person. It’s called “Life-style evangelism.”

    So put your tiny faith out on the lake of life, who knows, you just might catch a lunker.

    Fishing for souls with you, Neal

  • What’s Next?

    August 27, 2025

    This Sunday will be the completion of a three-month commitment to fill the pulpit at a local church. I must admit, it has been a great blessing and we will really miss those dear folks. They have hired their new full-time pastor and are excited about what God has next for them! Miss Deb and I will be able to return to our “home” church for worship and fellowship, and to travel to better support our church planters who work so faithfully to bring the great message of hope to their communities. But what will be our next chapter of service to the Kingdom, we do not yet know.

    I figure that I get to retire the day my Savior calls me into His eternal presence, until then, there is work to be done. Today, I start praying and waiting. Yet, what is next in our service to the King is secondary. What is most important is our relationship with Him. You see, God is way more concerned about who we are, than He is concerned with what we do.

    Yes, both elements have value in His kingdom, yet without the relationship with Him, service to Him carries little weight. So for today, like every day, we will work on our relationship with our Heavenly Father. May He find us faithful regardless of the opportunity of service He shall provide.

    Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it very clear that we are not saved by works. It is faith and faith alone that allows us to call God, “Our Father.” Yet 2:10 states that we are saved for good works. What makes those works “good” is often a topic of discussion. I am of the opinion that any service you or I might provide to God’s Kingdom is good when He receives the glory for the completed work.

    The standard of “good works” is to be set by God, not by us. If we were to set the standard of determination, we would set the bar within reach of human possibilities. When God sets the standard, it is most often impossible for we humans to reach to that height without His assistance. In other words, “good works” are those things that the Holy Spirit works through human vessels to accomplish.

    That is my heart’s desire, to join the Holy Spirit in His good works. I pray that is also your desire. To accomplish such great things, we must begin by making sure that our spirit is in tune with Him. That requires a daily yielding of self to the Savior, and a constant willingness to be used by Him in whatever way He chooses. You know, “daily take up your cross and follow Me.”

    Today, we would appreciate your prayers for the next chapter of our lives in service to the King. We too, shall be praying for you to be given clear direction as to what God is wanting to do within you so that He can work through you. After all, I would much rather ask “What’s Next?” rather than say that “I’m retiring.”

    Awaiting our next assignment with you, Neal

  • Change is coming!

    August 25, 2025

    For the past forty years, my early Sunday morning routine has been consistently the same, yesterday was no exception. I got up at 3:30 a.m. and sat before the Lord. All last week I had worked on the message I was to preach, so I just needed to read the passage again, pray on it and ask the Holy Spirit for His direction.

    First lesson – don’t ever ask the Holy Spirit to do something that you are not willing to follow through on with Him. As I prayed, I knew the Holy Spirit was challenging me to change the entire message. Usually on Sunday morning He directs me to change some element of the message: an illustration or a point of emphasis, but the entire message? Yes, that has happened a few times over the years, and today was going to add to that list.

    So I quickly changed my entire thought pattern about what I was to preach on. New passage, new topic, new illustrations, new direction. Why do all of that on such a short notice, because I had asked the Holy Spirit for His direction, that’s why.

    Once again, I was reminded that if you ask of God, get ready for His answer. It seems that too often we can get into the habit of asking God to do whatever He wants in our lives, but all of the time I have already decided what His answer will be – that which I want to do.

    We have many biblical examples of people “inquiring of the Lord.” I immediately think of Joshua asking the Lord if he should fight this enemy or that enemy, or should he just keep his army in the camp. For Joshua had learned a painful lesson early in his service to the King, always ask God first! (Read Joshua 7)

    The same should be true of us. Too often we make our plans for the day and head out the door at a high run to get our list completed, but did we first inquire of the Lord? You see, if we consider ourselves to be servants of the King, doesn’t it make sense that we should ask what He wants us to do each day?

    We usually ask Him for his blessing upon our day’s activities. We ask Him to protect us during our busy schedule. We ask Him to clear the path so we can accomplish our plans. But how often do we start our day with the simple question, “Lord, what do you want us to do today?”

    Well, yesterday I asked that question. The Holy Spirit answered. I obeyed. And yesterday, before it was time for me to preach the “new” message, I knew why the Holy Spirit had changed everything. A prayer request was tearfully shared about that exac.t topic!

    Today, ask the King what He wants to accomplish within or through you. Ask for His guidance and strength as you faithfully obey His direction. But don’t ask unless you want His answer. Yes, you can go ahead and do what you have planned, in the way you have it planned, but don’t be shocked when things don’t go according to your plan.

    However, if you ask for His direction, change could be a coming!

    Following His lead with you, Neal