Easter Sunday Celebration under the tent:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151361693098483.1073741830.223945178482&type=1&l=553eed76a2

Palm Sunday under the tent (Brrrr):

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151361656468483.1073741826.223945178482&type=1&l=d6680557d6

Easter Week Preparations:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151361646073483.1073741825.223945178482&type=1&l=c5f32e2b1b

My dad showed me what it meant to be a man! Now, maybe not all his ways of teaching would be accepted in today’s society because the world has just gone crazy with all this political correctness junk. Dad always had time to talk. It didn’t matter if all hell was breaking lose and there were a thousand things that had to be done by dark. If I asked a question or had concern, he stopped and listened and then would tell me what was the best way to make it happen. Dad always pulled for the underdog. He was always told that he could not do stuff or that he would not amount to much. Those people did not know my dad. Telling him that was like saying, “Sick ‘em!” to a bulldog. He believed that anyone could reach for that brass ring. If you missed it the first time around, don’t worry because it will come again, and you can grab it and win.

He showed me what it meant to give! I saw my dad go and buy food for people, and without them knowing he would leave it by their door, or he would go and pay the light bill or pay for a tank of gas. I saw him not have enough money to make it through the day or to pay our bills, but when he saw someone who was broke (and I mean broke – you know the Hamburger Helper without the hamburger kind of broke), he would pull out some money and hand it to them. He always said that no man needed to walk around broke. When we would go out to eat (which was everyday – three times a day) he would never let people pay. He would always say, “You get it next time,” but that never happened! That was Dad. He was always looking out for those “throw-away” people. I can remember our house being full of those “throw-away” people. Come Thanksgiving or Christmas or Easter or any day for that matter, everybody was treated like family! On the weekends there would be the smell of the bar-b-que floating through the air, and all were made to feel at home, and nobody ever left empty-handed.

My dad probably spent three black land farms on me to be able to rodeo. I can see him right now, driving all night back from a youth rodeo and then working all day, only to get back in the truck and drive to another rodeo the next night. And if you were a kid that did not have a place or truck to where you could hang out, you were welcomed to come and go with us. Dad just loved people, and through that, showed his sons how to love them also.

There are people who will say that Dan Haby, Sr died on January 12, 2013. They are as wrong as wrong can be! Dan Haby, Sr became more alive on that day than he has ever been. Dad asked Jesus into his heart at 42 years old, and at 52 he receive a heart transplant that help him live out 20+ years.

I am proud to be name after my dad, and I am proud of the legacy that he has left before me, along with all the lessons that he has taught me. But I am more proud that I will get to see my dad again because of the promise from my Father in Heaven. So until that time comes, thanks Dad for being the greatest man I have ever known. I hope I can be half the man that you were. Thanks for always being there and for believing in me! I miss you Daddy, but I will see you again one day!

Your son,
Dan Haby, Jr.

1. It is a joy, honor, & privilege to attend a church that is not dead but “ALIVE” in Jesus Christ.
2. Been coming for about 2 months. Love it
3. Thanks for having me
4. Love It!
5. We are looking for a church to call home. Soon to be married!!
6. Awesome Praise & Worship. We will be coming back.
7. I want to come to church.
8. Awesome church of God!
9. WOW Word of Word Wonderful preaching, praise & Worship
10. I am grateful for all and appreciate all except yelling is not for me. I am for affirming the Truth and good.
11. Thank you for today!
12. Can you please put me on your mailing list
13. Thank you! We enjoyed the visit. Everyone was so friendly!!!
14. Loved it!
15. Enjoyed the worship service “Praise God in Jesus” with the Holy Spirit as comforter within me. Amen!!
16. Thank you for your hospitality and sharing Praise & Worship of our Father with me. This is my second visit and I’ll be coming back.
17. Thank you!
18. Great service – church and people are Blessed! Thank you, God Bless
19. We were very blessed to get to be here
20. God is good
21. It’s a lovely church
22. Wonderful service
23. Really feel comfortable here.
24. Great Service!
25. Love it more than ever
26. Church is Amazing. Will be back. Love the way y’all do the service! Looking 4 new church. Will definitely be back!
27. Loved it!
28. Looking for a church home! You can feel the LORD doing His work in this church. Amen!!! God has blessed me so much in my life & still is always & everyday! Amen John 3:16
29. Visiting
30. What a great service!
31. Visiting – thanks for worship
32. <3
33. Thank you for making me feel welcome
34. Loved the sermon!
35. Came to see a friend get baptized
36. Loved it, feel so much better after prayer!
37. I came to see friends Baptized – AMEN. AWESOME message today. Thanks!
38. This is a beautiful place all around!!
39. We are looking for a church home that we feel at home with . Especially my grandson. With me today.
40. Just dropped by to check out the church.
41. I came here to pray for this church and for the harvest before you.
42. Dan you are the Best
43. Great blessing. Hope to visit again soon.
44. Wonderful!
45. Thank you for all the prayers & food as my family and I was going through
46. It was a blessing to worship here.
47. This message today spoke to me about the test. Thank you so much!
48. Looking for a church that has good youth for the Kids.
49. My daughter & I enjoyed VBS. Excellent job! That is what brought us to visit a Sunday service.
50. I absolutely love the music!
51. Love it! Coming back!
52. Looking for church home – The music was great & set the mood for worship. The message was straight on & sparked a new fire.
53. You have a very good Band as I know. I also have a band & I play lead guitar.
54. Very encouraging. Excellent!
55. Loved it!!
56. I would like to join the church.
57. I’ll be coming regular. Y’all don’t play! You have CHURCH
58. Love this church. Have been searching so long!
59.
60. Really enjoyed message & laid back atmosphere!! & music***
61. First visit was funeral service. I brought my husband and child today.
62. A friend of mine has told me so much about (her) church. She loves you all so much. And I have enjoyed coming to (her) church so much. Pray to come again. And please pray for me.
63. We will be back
64. I think this church has a great sense of humor.
65. I decided to visit this church because I heard good things from a close family friend.
66. I am blessed to be here in y’all’s church. I have a DVD of one of your services & worship, and I loved it. I play flute on worship @ my church.
67. Awesome service!
68. X
69. I also brought my sister & brother-in-law from out of town. I visited once before & so impressed, I wanted to share with them.
70. Very refreshing to come to a church where the people are real, everyday people & not trying to keep up with the Jones’ as the old saying goes.
71. Great!
72. Thank you for having me.
73. I really like the message that was giving today. Morning service.
74. Really love the family feeling. Great message.
75. We really enjoyed it
76. Awesome service!
77. Looking for a church closer to home. I am a member of a church in Fort Worth.
78. Enjoyed very much
79. Thank you Dan, and praise God for your sermon which led us to the front for prayer.
80. Awesome service!
81. Love this church & will definitely be here next Sunday!
82. Awesome service & music
83. Awesome service! Very touching. Thank you!
84. Very Enjoyable
85. Great worship
86. I love this church. It is different, and I like it.
87. Glad that I’m joining a church that I am comfortable with and very happy here, and will come again.
88. Interested in Bible study and playdays.
89. Amazing service
90. Seeking new church home.
91. I enjoyed the entire service and truly felt welcome here.
92. WOW! I love this church!
93. Looking for a church home

Okay, so He speaks to us today, and there is danger in not listening to Him. I can testify that that is true? So how does He speak to us? In what ways? The Word of God, the Holy Spirit, circumstances, others, nature, dreams & visions, etc. Many people don’t know or don’t believe that their dreams mean anything because they don’t know that they can come from God, of course they can come from other sources too. God will tell you the difference.

You want all that God has for you, right? If we believe something is from God, then we should pursue it and discover it. Job 33:14-16 “God does speak – sometimes one way and sometimes another – even though people may not understand it. He speaks in a dream or a vision of the night when people are in deep sleep, lying on their beds. (NCV) Then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction. (NKJV).”

Dreams can be foretelling, but they can be any type of message from God. Dreams from God can sometimes simply be a gift from God with no meaning because dreams can relieve stress in the body. Strategic dreams are those timely telegrams from God that confirm direction or give instruction or release insight and understanding about our lives and circumstances. These dreams can bring answers to questions when we need them as well as bring answers to questions we don’t even know to ask. These strategic dreams can be weapons in our lives. We can access God’s arsenal of weapons by seeking Him. We become skillful with His weapons as we learn His ways. We learn His ways by paying attention to the truth He reveals and by submitting to His order and following-through on His directions.

God-given dreams:
reveal His will, seal instruction, warn, stir to repentance, bring deliverance, impart wisdom, reveal heaven’s or hell’s strategies, release prophecy or reveal destiny, bring hope or restoration, reveal Himself

Here are 2 safeguards when trying to determine if the dream is from God or not:
God-given dreams will never contradict God’s Word or His character.
God-given dreams will bring edification to the Body of Christ.

So what do you do when you must search out the meaning of a dream?
Write out the dream (Habakkuk 2:2), noting the timing, setting, atmosphere, emotions you felt during the dream. Ignore the emotions you felt after you woke up, even if remembering the dream brings on those emotions.
Highlight the things that stuck out to you in the dream
One-by-one, ask God if it is real (literal) or symbolic.
Find the meanings of any symbols through prayer, meditation, and other helps (see below)

*This information came from “Understanding the Dreams You Dream” by Ira Mulligan

A few resources to help you:
Bible
Strong’s Concordance
Bible Dictionary
Dictionary
Encyclopedia
“The Ultimate Guide to Understanding the Dreams You Dream” by Ira Milligan
“Getting to the Heart of Dreams” by Kathy Gabler
Books about dreams by James W. Goll
Books, lectures, and studies about dreams by John Paul Jackson

As Christians we feel that our walk with the Lord is the same. We feel that there is no great adventure or no discovery. Sure, maybe once in awhile there’s a great Sunday service that makes us feel different. Or we watch a YouTube clip of some kids in another country that need help, and we for a “little while” want to help. But that will go away after a tough day at the office.  We may get moved emotionally, but deep down we know we won’t change. The reason why we feel that there won’t be an adventure is because we don’t know our task. If I asked you, “What is a Christian?” You would give me a generic answer about someone that loves God.  That is great, and very much important as a Christian, but where’s the task? What’s the mission Captain? Where are we heading?

As Christians we have the greatest adventure of all time. I do not say this generically. I say it with excitement! The last words Jesus ever spoke to his disciples was not “try not to sin” or “be careful, there are bad people outside the church walls.” Matthew 28:18-20 says, “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’”

Listen, our task, our goal, our mission, our assignment, our adventure is not safe. Jesus set before us the most crazy, scary, adventure known to man. You see the rest of the world can keep imagining. But he said, “GO” and that is the adventure. No longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me. Our mission is to be outward. To look for the lost. Our goal is to present the “cure” for the entire world. The cure is Jesus Christ. The world has an illness that needs the cure. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to take the name of Jesus to your work place, to lay your hands on the sick and see them healed, to share Jesus even under persecution and to always be looking for the opportunities to present and give a cure to the sick. Let me remind you that this mission is not easy. Many have talked about it, but few have walked it. This message will self destruct in 5 seconds, good luck Christian.

We have created such an impossible maze for ourselves. In this circus that we’ve created we have forgotten to “stop.” But I always tell my self, “I must do this one more thing before I can stop.” Then begins the never ending running, jumping, dancing thing that we call life. We’ve created this monster of a mess. So, I asked myself, “How can I stop my life from just being a mess of things to do and don’t do?” Then the Lord said, “STOP.

Stop, and look at the beautiful sunset I made for you. Stop and notice my craftsmanship around you. Stop and walk with me. Stop and talk with me. Stop and love me. Take time, and notice me.” We all have only one life to live. It would be a shame to work so hard, and at the end, you’ve missed your best friend, Jesus. Don’t let being busy take you away from knowing WHO HE is.

We so often feel the pressure that our lives “must be filled with work” and if not, we can’t have all the “stuff” we think we need. I do believe in hard work but not at the sacrifice of enjoying our lives. It says in the Word, “The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy, but I have come to bring life, and life more abundantly.” As we go through the short thing we call life, let us enjoy it as God has intended it to be. Let us take time and rest. Even if it means we can’t have everything. The truth of the matter is, when we stop and focus on Him, we gain everything.

Fathers, like it or not, we have been designated by God as the head of our households. Because of this, we have a great responsibility to lead our families in the right direction. Because of the influence that we have, we can either lead our family to a closer relationship with God, or we can lead our families straight to HELL.

THIS IS THE CHOICE WE HAVE TO MAKE!

If we would just look at Joshua 24:14-16, we can see what God is trying to tell the American family.

The first thing is – the Father leads in worship. It is a blessing when the entire family worships together. This shows the children something:

(1) That worship is IMPORTANT. Hebrew 10:25; And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Worship is important to encourage one another, to strengthen one another in the Lord, to provoke one another to live lives pleasing to God. When we do this and our children are a part of it, this will go a long way in helping them make some of the choices they will be forced to make.

Listen, Dads, it is not something that would be good to do, or something that we ought to do; it is something that we are commanded to do. In Ephesians 6:4; Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. What happens when you do this? Glad you ask! They learn how to face tough decisions; and when they come face to face with a hard choice, they will remember their training and instruction from God’s Word. This is where “what would Jesus do?” comes in handy.

The second one is – obeying God is important! Joshua 24:15; But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.” When a father will take the time to lead his family in worship, not only is he showing that worship is important, but also that being obedient to God is important. Obedience is not an option! God’s Word is a love letter sent to us to give us instruction from a Divine instructor, Himself. It teaches us how to live a healthy life, both spiritually, and also physically. The key to all of this is OBEDIENCE! When fathers and mothers show that they will be obedient to God, then it can catch on in the rest of the family. Children mimic their parents. When the father of the house fulfills his responsibility, then the rest of the family will normally follow.

Another big factor is that fathers should lead in service. A bigger blessing than having a family that worships together is having one that serves the Lord together. Joshua was talking about it in verse 15. When a father can lead his family to worship, this is great. But when a father can lead his family to serve the Lord, this is even better. God expects all of His children to worship and praise Him, but this is not the end of it. He also expects us to serve Him. Worship should lead into servanthood. The more you get to know God, and the closer you get to Him, the more you should want to serve Him. Have you ever had that boss that helped you do something, and you would do anything that he or she asked you to do? Just think what God has done for you. Look in Joshua 24:16-18; the people replied, “We would never abandon the LORD and serve other gods. 17 For the LORD our God is the one who rescued us and our ancestors from slavery in the land of Egypt. He performed mighty miracles before our very eyes. As we traveled through the wilderness among our enemies, he preserved us. 18 It was the LORD who drove out the Amorites and the other nations living here in the land. So we, too, will serve the LORD, for he alone is our God.” He is PROTECTOR, PRODUCER, PROVIDER, and THAT IS JESUS CHRIST. DO YOU WANT TO SERVE HIM?

WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT YOU ARE A SERVANT NOW!

You are either a servant to sin or you are servant of righteousness. In the book of Romans 6:17-18; Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. Do you see that? Sin does not have to make us slaves. Jesus Christ has given us our freedom. But here’s were we are: MAN WILL SERVE SOMETHING OR SOMEONE! Joshua took a stand as the leader of Israel. Fathers must take a stand as the leaders of their household. “AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.”

The last thing is this – the father should lead in LOVE! We are living in a time when the men of this country are macho, and some of the women are, too. There are children growing up in homes where they don’t know how it feels to be embraced by their father or mother. Children are reaching out to grasp onto anyone or anything that will make them feel secure and loved. It is up to the fathers to lead their children to the greatest love of all that is found in Christ Jesus. God’s Word teaches us where the greatest love can be found: John 15:13; “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” It is a father’s responsibility to love his children with a father’s love. But an even greater responsibility is to lead them to the one whose love is even GREATER. That, of course, is Jesus Christ!

I read about William McKinley who was a lawyer, congressman, Governor of Ohio, and President of the United States. He kept in touch with his mother every day. When he didn’t see her, he wrote or telegraphed. In mid-October of 1897, he quietly left the White House and took a train to Canton just so he could walk to church with her again. When she became ill, he arranged to have a special train standing by at full steam, ready to take him to her bedside. Then one night, she did call for him. Immediately he wired, “Tell Mother I’ll be there.” Mrs. McKinley died December 12, 1897, in the arms of her 54-year-old son. Her gentle, Christian virtues helped mold the President’s character; for when he was gunned down in Buffalo, New York, about four years later, he showed no bitterness toward his assassin. With Christian courage he said, “God’s will be done.” Before he died, he asked to hear once again the hymn, “Nearer, My God, To Thee,” which his mother had taught him.

Fathers, teach the love of Christ to your children; and if need be, show them how to live it out in their lives!