I got a pleasant surprise this week. A dear family in our church posted pictures of them on Table Rock Lake in Missouri. The caption said, “Bro. Stone we love your beautiful Missouri!” That brought back a whirlwind of memories! I can remember when that lake was first formed by a dam on the White river and I have spent countless days fishing on it. As a boy I fished the same area before the lake was formed. Later Bev and I lived on the Bull Shoals lake which was formed on the same river just a few miles from Table Rock.

Had God said, “I want you to spend the rest of your life preaching, but you may choose any place on earth to live while doing so”, my choice would have been in that part of the Ozarks. But God never gave me that option. Instead He led me to Texas and not just anywhere in Texas. To make it worse He sent me to Houston, the fourth largest city in the USA. A hillbilly in the city is something that happens only by strong persuasion, and the Holy Spirit can do just that. So here I am and, believe it or not, I would rather be here than any place on earth – because I know this is where God wants me to be. Take God out of the picture and I would have never chosen this place, but now I love it. My best friends on earth are in this area and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Point is – in the will of God is where everyone ought to live. It isn’t just the right place to be, it’s the best place to be. That is true for everybody and every area of our life. Who you marry, where you live, where you work, what church you join, and every other detail of your life should be determined by God’s will. My advice would be to get there as fast as you can! Every choice you make should be of God’s choosing. We are not wise enough to know what’s best for us or for the glory of God.

God had plans for Elijah and a promise of provision as well, but everything depended on him being “there” – the place to which God sent him. And it works the same way in our lives. “There” represents God’s will for us whether it is in Texas or some other location, or any other matter in our lives. Being “there” assures us of our needs being met just as we are promised in Matt. 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Are you “there”? If not, it’s time to move! – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346 

I just received word that, according to the doctor, one of my few remaining cousins has less than six months to live. That started me thinking about all the family and friends that have passed. In nearly every case I wasn’t there to say a final “I love you” and “Good-bye”. Nor have I been able to be present when dear loved ones were going through great difficulties. And I have often feared that they might think it was because I didn’t care, which certainly isn’t the case.

55 years ago I surrendered my life to preach God’s Word and I have been busy doing that ever since. For the first few years I preached in the area where I was born and raised. That allowed me the opportunity to occasionally spend time with family and friends. But then came the call to a church in Tennessee, so Bev and I packed our bags and took off with our kids to a place we had never been before. After that came a call to a church in Cincinnati, followed by another in Texas where I’ve been for the last 34 years. Along with being a pastor I spent many of those years preaching revivals, conferences, etc.

My point is that I very seldom got to see most of my family and friends from the past. My wife and I both gave our full attention to the ministry, wherever God put us. I don’t mention this to get sympathy, nor as a complaint. I make no apology for not being where others might have thought I should be, and I have no regrets for leaving the beautiful Ozarks that I love. After God saved me from a shameful sinful life and called me to preach it would have been shameful for me to do anything less than my best to serve Him.

I’ll admit it hasn’t always been easy . Many times I have wished that I could see family and friends, attend high school reunions, have my children spend time with their grandparents, or just spend a day fishing in the sparkling clear water in the Ozarks. But God had other plans and He has enabled me to be happy wherever He sent me. It has helped me to remember the words to the old song I used to hear my mother sing while she was washing or hanging up clothes to dry, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through”. I live daily with the knowledge that my home is in heaven and the best is yet to come. Until that day comes I want to live in such a way as to hear my dear Savior say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant”. God’s people never meet for the last time, so until then let us all be busy about the Master’s business. To all my dear loved ones who remain I say, “Hope to meet you there!”. – HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
www.lakewaybaptist.org 

BLOTTING OUT THE SON
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; ..”Heb. 12:2

Remember the old saying, “You can blot out the sun with a penny, if you hold it close enough to your eye”? Well I can think of something even more serious and sad. You can blot out the SON with 1001 things if you focus on them. It happens all the time. Rather than “Looking unto Jesus” as we’re told to do in Heb. 12:2 we shift our focus to things that are of no spiritual benefit. What fools we are! The one thing above everything that we need to do is neglected, to our great peril, because we are focused on the things of the world. Such a distraction is sinful–even if the object in view is sinless. Indeed there are things, serious things, that deserve our attention, but never to the extent that it blots out the Son.

Truth be known, many people have given more attention to the upcoming elections than they do to the One who is truly able to affect their outcome. They are so concerned about the possible changes the election will make that they’ve lost sight of the personal changes they need to make. They have spoken about the candidates a hundred times more than they have to or about Jesus. Think about it. More than 15,000 die each day– more than 4 1/2 million every month, the large majority of which are unsaved, and you told __? about Jesus. Really? We ought to be ashamed of ourselves.

We are so worried about who will win the election, World Series, Super Bowl, etc. that we take no time to tell the lost about Christ. And we keep talking about all the things that are wrong with the world. Seems like we’ve got more than a few things in our lives that need to be changed. Make no mistake about it, Satan is a master at deception and he will use anything to cause us to blot out the Son and fail in our God-given mission. Andrew Murray said, “There are two classes of Christians, soul winners and backsliders”. Which are you? I know, that sounds pretty harsh, but we need something to open our eyes. If we fail to keep our eyes on Jesus we will fail in life. – HDS , 7-30-16

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346