From the Home Place

June 29, 2026

Good morning friends! We are starting with 58 degrees with a stiff WSW wind reaching 40 MPH. The weather report is calling for a high of 77 degrees. It sounds like we will be inhaling smoke from neighboring fires for most of the day.

What an amazing God we serve! I’m getting reports from other churches about how the Holy Spirit blessed yesterday’s services. Praise the Lord! He was very kind to us in Guernsey yesterday as we studied Ephesians 2:1-4. My personal love for this portion of Scripture is so rich in that I have lived these verses.

I was doing everything I could possibly do to run away from God – living out the word translated “trespasses” in verse 1. The word “sins” means to miss God’s mark. Man was I doing an excellent job of that one too. I was living my life like everyone else around me was living “in the lusts of our flesh.” We were all living for self, without a lot of care of how such a life was hurting those who had to put up with us. Sound familiar?

Well as painful as verses 1-3 are to admit, “been there done that,” verse 4 shows up just in time: “But GOD!” Even when I was running away from God, He was inviting me to walk with Him. What an amazing, loving, Heavenly Father. As verse 4 reminds us, God is “rich in mercy.” When considering the word “rich” don’t compare God’s wealth to that of any earthly being. God’s wealth far exceeds that of everyone else all put together, for God is exceedingly wealthy in “mercy.”

God’s mercy allows Him to not just snuff out guys like me. Instead of giving us what we deserve, He gives us His mercy and gives no-good bums like the man I was that which we do not deserve – forgiveness though His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Again today, I praise God for showing me HIs love that drew me out of a worthless life and replaced it with a life filled with the riches of walking with God!

Ephesians 2:4 makes it very clear that no matter how rotten our life may be, God’s mercy, compelled by His love, can set us free through the shed blood of Jesus. Wow! That ought to be the best news any of us has ever heard. Such news should blow across our life story in much the same way as the wind is going to blow smoke across Wyoming today.

For those of us who have lived verses 1-3, we should be the first to tell others about God’s mercy, His grace and His love, each being a special gift to His reborn children. Once you have lived it you can’t help but tell others about the amazing God you get to serve.

So, regardless of how nasty today’s weather might be, regardless of the tasks we “must” get finished today, regardless of how difficult today might be for some of us, “But God!” If we keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus, praising God for where He rescued us from because of His great wealth of “mercy,” may we each be reminded that “by grace you are saved.” Oh, that amazing grace of God!

And by the way, just as our Heavenly Father continues to share His mercy and grace with us, perhaps we should do the same with those around us today? After all, we know that which God has given us is intended to be shared with others.

Giving God’s best with you, Neal

June 27, 2026

Good morning, friends! Wow, in the last three days we have been blessed with almost two inches of rain! The amazing thing is that there are no puddles, the ground has literally consumed every drop! Today, we start at 62 degrees, headed for 82, with another 55% chance of some more rain this evening. The 30 mph winds will be a bit though today, but that’s what He is sending us.

Today, we are having a Garage Sale, or as I so fondly call them – Garbage Sale! Moving from a 5- bedroom, 3-bathroom house into this much smaller house, a lot of our “stuff” has to go. As such, we will start setting up at daylight and hopefully lots of folks will come and make “amazing” purchases.

For me it will be a bit difficult to sell my 15 boxes of books. Books that I have collected over the last 40 years of ministry, but they need to find a new home. I pray that they will be a great blessing to their new owners, yet it’s kind of like saying farewell to old friends. But such is life.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to sell our personal emotional and spiritual garbage? Much like today is a day that we hope to make some space in the garage, it would be amazing to have a spiritual “garbage sale” and make more room for the Holy Spirit within our lives!

Well, the great news is that we can do just that. If we are truly willing to “let go” of the garbage, Jesus will haul it off for us. Remember His words, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Much like cleaning our “stuff” out of the garage, Jesus invites us to give Him the things of this world that weigh us down – you know, the things that are in the way of our spiritual growth.

The word “weary” carries the idea of laboring to continue. It is safe to bet that each of us have something or somethings that make our life difficult. That burden that makes living life more difficult than Jesus wants it to be.

“Heavy-laden” is like stacking all 15 boxes of books upon your back and trying to live a normal life. You know, like the boxes of guilt and shame that most of us try to carry while we exist. The things we should have or should have not done. Those things that are literally “heavy” when we think of them.

This verse in Matthew 11:28 is Jesus’ invitation to us, to let Him buy our garbage. You see, He has already paid a premium price for every person’s “heavy” burdens. So instead of making a dime-on-the-dollar like our garage sale will be, Jesus paid more than any of our “stuff” is worth. Giving our “weary and heavy-laden” lives to Jesus is actually a Hugh profit, with no loss.

When we are willing to give Jesus our past burdens, He hauls those negative moments to the dump for us the moment we surrender them into His nail-pierced hands! Remember the old hymn, “I surrender all, all to Jesus I freely give.”

Our enemy, Satan, loves it when we carry past sin, guilt and shame around like a very heavy burden that keeps us from becoming all that Jesus wants us to be. So how about it, perhaps each of us needs to find a quiet place to “confess” and “release” those past burdens to Him? After all, Jesus is big enough to carry the extreme weight of this universe on His shoulders, I reckon He can handle our burdens as well.

As Peter reminds us, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” To “exalt” you means that our loving Heavenly Father wants to lift us up when we are willing to unload the burdens. So, let’s have a great “garbage sale” today! Thank you, Jesus!!!

Unloading our garbage with you, Neal

June 25, 202

Wow! We were blessed with some rain last night!!! I haven’t wandered out to check the rain gauge yet, so I don’t know how much rain we really did get, but I do know it was the most we have received so far this year. There was a pretty good batch of small-white rocks with it, but they soon melted into the ground. Praise You LORD!

We are starting this one at 53 degrees, moving up to 63 for a high. The weather man is predicting a 91% possibility of some more rain before this day comes to a close. With 30 mph winds, the rain will come sideways, but I’ll bet that if it rains it will still be wet.

Rain always reminds me of God’s grace; both His grace and the rain fall upon the “righteous” and the “unrighteous” alike. Open your Bible and turn with me to Matthew 5:45 where we find two special words mentioned: “righteous” and “unrighteous.” In the Greek language, both of these words are in the “plural” and “masculine” form. This tells us that they can apply to all people and that each is a strong, powerful word.

We find the word “righteous” first used in the Bible refering to Noah. In Genesis 6:9 we read, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” Today, to be “righteous” is to “walk with God.” For you see my friends, no one can be declared righteous apart from a right relationship with God through the person Jesus Christ.

As Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us, none of us can work our way into righteousness, it is always a gift of God’s amazing grace. The word “righteous” is actually a legal term, speaking of being found innocent of guilt. Because all humans are sinners, we are all found guilty of sin and are charged to endure death as a penalty. Oh “but God!” When a person lives a right relationship with the only truly righteous man to ever walk this earth, Jesus Christ, that person is then declared righteous by the righteous God!

As far as we know there are only two classes of people, the “righteous” and the “unrighteous.” Every person fits into one of these two categories. But the amazing part is that an “unrighteous” person exists until God Himself declares that person to be righteous because of their new relationship with Jesus. To be “righteous” is to be right with God, and that is accomplished only through the blood of Jesus.

So, for us as humans, we either have a loving relationship with Jesus, thus being declared righteous by God, or we have no such relationship, thus being called the “unrighteous” by God. You see my friends, it doesn’t matter what we might think of ourselves, what matters is what God calls us. Oh for sure, we can be religious and not be righteous. That was the problem the Pharisees had, they called themselves righteous and tried to leave Jesus out of the equation.

As you continue to read Matthew 5, you will notice these words in verse 20, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” The scribes and the Pharisees were attempting to work their way into God’s grace by keeping a set of manmade rules. But you see my friends, unless God declares a person to be righteous, then they shall always be unrighteous.

Now, finish reading the complete chapter of Matthew 5, I’ll wait…

Did you notice that when a person is declared righteous because of a correct relationship with Jesus, now the way said person treats others reveals if he or she really is righteous? 2 Corinthians 5:10 makes it clear that our earthly works carry great weight, but only after we have a right relationship with Jesus can such works be validated as righteous acts. Without Jesus we are only acting.

Yes, God blesses both the righteous and the unrighteous with rain, but only those who walk faithfully with Jesus are declared to be righteous; and the righteous will enjoy His righteous reign for eternity in heaven.

Have you been declared righteous through faith in Jesus? Blessings, Neal

June 23, 2026

As Miss Coffee and I watch daylight break, we are enjoying another morning of fog. Yesterday, we received a sprinkle of rain here in Lusk, while around us there were some extremely nice reports of heavy rain. A little town in Nebraska was blessed with 6″ of rain in less than an hour. Others had a batch of rain/hail mix, but it’s moisture!

Today’s weather forecast reads, “Some sunshine with a heavy thunderstorm late this afternoon; watch for flash flooding, large hail, damaging wind gusts and even a tornado.” We sure enough would settle for just a nice rain. We are starting today at 52 and expecting a high of 72, with a 50/50 shot at some rain. The same forecast runs through Thursday evening.

I have always been challenged by Genesis 6 when I read of how the Lord God spoke of His creation with these words, “I am sorry that I have made them” when He thought of the people and creatures who inhabited the earth at that time. In verse 5 we read, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Wow! That sounds a lot like today doesn’t it?

But then we read Genesis 6:8-9, “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” I pray that the same can be said of each of us today! I can think of no greater epitaph than the words, “He or she, walked with God.”

In Ephesians 4:1, the Apostle Paul challenges each of us who claim to be Christ followers, “I implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” To walk with God implies a very close relationship of “walking” side-by-side. Though we constantly allow God to lead where, when and how our walk takes us, we are not to lag behind Him, nor are we to run ahead of Him.

I can’t say for you, but my tendency is to walk with God until I get an understanding of what He wants to do with my life; and then I want to run off and “get ‘er done!” Once I realize how the Holy Spirit is moving me toward a work worthy of my Heavenly Father, I want to get after it, NOW! But once again, I must remind myself that the process that God has for our lives is often of greater value than the purpose He has for us at any given time.

As I read the pages of Scripture, I am constantly reminded that God’s time and method are always perfect. My responsibility is to “wait upon the LORD.” To “walk” with God is to move at His pace, in His direction, constantly learning obedience and humility.

I am finally at a point in my life where I have learned to value the people the Spirit brings into my life during the walk. Each person has a purpose. Sometimes their purpose is to keep me to task; other times people are used to correct and direct me; and yet other folks join our walk so that I might proclaim with the Apostle Paul, “come follow me as I follow Christ.” You see my friends, every person who will cross your path during your “walk” with God adds value to the journey. For those of us who are “task oriented,” it is easy to get so involved in completing the task that we often ignore, or worse yet – we often use people to accomplish our task. I am of the opinion that the moment any of us uses another person to accomplish a task God has given to us, we are no longer walking with God.”

Yes, we all need other people within our lives; and yes, we will often need other people to help us accomplish said task, however, the journey ought to be a time of personal growth and teamwork. We must be careful to never guilt others into helping us accomplish a task that God has given. An invitation, encouragement and mutual growth must all be elements of corporate ministry. With that I say, “THANK YOU” for joining with us in the ministry of making disciples!!!

Walking with God and you, through this thing called life, Neal

June 22, 2026

Good morning to all! We are starting this day at 45 degrees, headed for 76 as our high. There is a chance of rain later in the day, hopefully some of it will drag across this area???

Yesterday was a great day at Faith Fellowship in Guernsey. I spoke on Ephesians 2:11-18 and then we moved to Ephesians 5:31 to look at the “one flesh” concept mentioned there. By God’s amazing grace, Jesus did His part in removing the barriers found within our lives. First, Eph. 2:11-18 shows us that Jesus died to remove ethnic barriers. Perhaps we all need to stop and pray for the persecuted church around the world. You see my friends, because God is concerned for all people groups, we should be as well. Regardless of skin color, religious preference or any other dividing factors, the cross of Jesus Christ has been made available to all peoples. It is our part to remove all personal barriers that prevent anyone from hearing, and seeing, the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ!

The death of Jesus has also made it possible for us to remove all barriers between male and female. Our culture, fed by our enemy Satan, loves to fuel the fire of divisiveness between male and female. Yet the Bible shows equality in value, yet difference in purpose. The male and female body both carry exact chromosomal structure for a reason, God never intended for a man to pretend to be a woman, nor for a woman to pretend to be a man. Because of the way God Himself designed the “male and female” bodies, every cell in the human body is either male or female. Changing a person’s appearance or their opinion about their God-given gender does not make them any more than confused, and confusion is one of the major tools of Satan!

Because of this world’s success in confusing so many people about their gender, it is imperative that we Christ-followers work even harder at helping God’s children of all groups learn what Titus 2 tells us; to teach, that every male needs to be fully male and every female needs to fully female. It is the responsibility of the church and all Christians to make sure that men are nurturing other men to be men of God and that God’s daughters are doing the same for the “younger women” of this world. We need to celebrate our gender instead of trying to create more confusion!

You see my dear friends, the children of today’s culture are for the most part, very confused about who they are, what they are to do and how to find security in the person of Jesus Christ. Confused people are easily manipulated to be and to do that which is not good for them, nor those around them. As the living body of Jesus, we have the tools and the responsibility to push back the confusion by revealing the clarity of biblical truth.

The longer we the church hesitate, the longer our enemy is allowed to bring more confusion, giving him more and more control over the lives of people who need to know Jesus. The last time this world’s leader, Satan, was allowed to bring about such confusion, God sent a flood to wash the world clean of the confusion! (Genesis 6 & 7)

Yes, my friends, it is way past time for us to “Go and make disciples.” It seems that God is giving us one last opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission, if we don’t do our part, we will most likely become the persecuted church right here in America. “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord” by teaching and living the clarity of Scripture, how about your house?

Boldly speaking truth with love, hope and grace with you, Neal

June 21, 2026

Well, it finally happened! We received just over 1/100th of rain yesterday afternoon, with a 50-50 shot at some more today and tomorrow!!! That’s the most rain we have received in the last three months. This morning, the fog is thick enough that I can’t see two blocks from the house, praise You Lord!

This day is Father’s Day, a special day for many men. For each of us, once you are a parent, you never get over being a parent. No dad’s kids are ever perfect, just as no dad is ever perfect, but there is a movement taking place that is challenging men to be better men, husbands and dads.

The Bible is a book that clearly teaches that as a man grows in his relationship with God, he also becomes a better man, husband and dad. Along with becoming a better citizen within his community, men who are consistently growing in their faith are men who are positively involved in the life of their local church!

Though our culture has painted men as blundering idiots who are incapable of anything intelligent, we are seeing the beginning of Christian men drawing other men into studies that are transforming many lives! It is way past time to call men back to their biblical role as men of God!

If you know anything about your Bible, you understand that God created them male and female, by His design. God is the One who made the male/female differences, so that each can help the other to be the best that they can possibly be. God gave Eve to Adam to be is completer, while today’s culture has convinced her to be his competer.

Once again, I remind us that everything God created for good, Satan counterfeits in the opposite way for evil! Dear friends, today’s culture has done an excellent job of following Satan, while we Christians have not done very well in our obedience to God’s principals for each gender, for marriage, for the home and for raising the children who reside within our homes.

As Miss Deb and I travel all over this great state visiting churches, when we bump into a family that is working really hard to follow biblical principles, we immediately notice the difference within their children. Hopefully you have such a family within you church as well. A family where the parents and the children love the Lord and are polite, respectful and a blessing to be around. Such a family shines brightly within today’s culture, even though their numbers are few. My suggestion, celebrate the families who are trying to do family well. Tell the parents what a blessing their little ones are!

May each of us do our part in helping young men and women to become all that God created them to be; all that Jesus died to call them to be; and all that the Holy Spirit is wanting to help them to be. Please, do not just grumble about the younger generation, do all that you can possibly do to help them fall in love with Jesus! You see my friends, once again we are experiencing the battle between God and Satan in that God’s word tells us to “encourage one another to good works,” while Satan’s system leads us to “discourage” everyone around us.

So today as you go to church, please, be an encourager and not a discourager. Find something good in every person that crosses your path! Be godly, not wordly!

Celebrating manhood with you, Neal

June 19, 2026

Good morning all! We are starting this day at 46 and should gain 30 degrees before it comes to a close. There could be some rain in the area on Saturday or Sunday, time will tell???

Today, Miss Deb, Coffee and I need to travel to Scottsbluff to get our windows and shower parts for more home renovations. Then we will head for Guernsey to help celebrate their VBS program and then we will circle back to Lusk and call it a day. It will be a very busy day, a long day and yet if our Lord allows, a good day.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited with you about the new look we were working on for our front yard. Well, it’s 90% done, so I’ll post a picture or two for you to take a gander at. For as much as we work at improving our inward appearance, it is also important that things look good on the outside.

As Christians, our inward renovation is a constant process. We should always be growing in our faith. Each day should bring some kind of improvement in who we are. But then, there is the outward appearance which also important. Now, let’s stop right here for a moment.

I’m speaking of a balanced faith. We dare not portray outwardly something that is not true inwardly. Nor should we be so busy working on our inside that our outside looks like a junk yard. Balance is the key to a nice looking home and a mature Christian faith.

You see it’s like this: When we grow inwardly toward Christian maturity, we glow outwardly because of that growth. In my opinion, we should all be glowing more brightly today than we were glowing five years ago.

After all, when you or I first meet someone, the outward appearance tells a lot about us. Remember, we all get to make only one “first appearance.” No, I’m not saying that we have to be all duded up before we can set foot out the door, if that’s true, I’m not very good at living what I’m trying to say! I don’t mind wearing my dirty jeans and messy shirt downtown to get parts if I’m working on a project around here, but our outward appearance shouldn’t shout that our life is out of control and a complete mess while we are proclaiming what a joy it is to walk with Jesus. Once again, good balance.

The outside of our house should look like someone cares about it, while the inside of our home should be a place where folks feel welcome. The same is true of our Christian portrayal. On the inside folks ought to know that they are important to us because they are important to our Heavenly Father. On the outside, the way we treat folks should display a similar concern for others.

Summary, keep renovating the outside and the inside of your life for Christ. Folks need to see that we live in a well-maintained residence and not a junk yard. After all, if we are going to tell others that we live for Jesus, they should be able to see that He is an honored guest, not an uncomfortable pest.

Continuing to renovate all of self with you, Neal