Starting a New Adventure

On January 1, I passed the leadership baton of Live Oak Community Church, Lubbock, Texas, to Doug Halcomb, who has become our second senior pastor. Ann and I have been called to simple and mobile living, and to serve the Lord as He leads. We are in the process of  closing on our home, and have moved into our new home, a 37′ Bighorn 5th wheel. For a while we plan to take a sabbatical.

I am speaking at Northside Baptist Church in Baytown the first week in March. After that … we don’t know for sure where we’ll go with our “little house on the axles.” we just know the Lord has great plans for us … encouraging, equipping, and sharing the great news of Jesus wherever we go … hopefully all across this great country of ours.

We’ll be taking Isaiah 30:21 to heart, which says, “and whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”

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Intensive Care Nurse Shares Eternal Route 66

We recently received the following letter, dated June 18, 2011 –

Dear Chuck and Ann,

I work in the surgical intensive care unit at the VA hospital. I hope to be able to continue in intensive care until I can retire but it gets harder with every year that I get older!

I wanted to tell you about a patient I took care of last week. He is a young man named Jamie who is 52 yrs old & has been recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma (Did you ever think there would be a time we would think that 52 is young?). He is in the intensive care unit because of a complication of his cancer. He has not been able to start treatment for the multiple myeloma because of continued complications.

He was on the ventilator for several days and was sedated most of the time. The sedation had been turned off to give him a break from all the drugs for a couple of hours one morning and he was more awake and alert. He wanted to write a note to his Dad who has been at his bedside constantly during his stay in the ICU. He wrote that when he got well he wants to buy a yellow corvette and travel down Route 66. His father turned to me after reading the note and said that he was going to make that happen. He was going to buy him a yellow corvette and map out their journey along Route 66. I told him that I had the perfect book for them to read together during their journey. I gave them my cherished copy of “Eternal Route 66″ the next day. They were grateful and excited to start the book and start their journey.

I don’t know what the future holds for Jamie but I know he has a difficult road ahead of him. But he has the love and support of a loving family and a Loving God. I don’t think it was a coincidence that I was his nurse at this time and had a copy of your book. It is obvious to me that God used your book to assure Jamie that He holds him in the palm of his hand and will be with him throughout his journey battling this terrible disease. I was blessed to be a part of God’s message to Jamie and his family.

I hope with all my heart that Jamie and his Dad get to take that journey down Route 66 in the yellow corvette some day. I’m sure they will be blessed tremendously. It’s amazing how God uses us and our talents for His glory!

In Christ’s Love,

Donna

P.S. I have already ordered another copy of the book.

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Amarillo Route 66 Festival

Amarillo 66 Festival

What a thrill it was to be a part of the authors and artists presentation at the International Route 66 Festival, June 10-12, in Amarillo, Texas! It was great to see so many of our friends and make some new ones.

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Whisper at 30,000 Feet

Following the Global Leadership Summit last August, I had the opportunity to fly to Chicago to debrief with the Willow Creek Association GLS staff and other host site pastors. (8/24/10) During the first 2 legs of the flight I finished reading a book by Erwin McManus, entitled “Wide Awake.” On the last leg of the flight I decided to journal some of my key takeaways from that book. Somewhere between Kansas City and Chicago, at an elevation of 30,000 feet, I wrote down McManus’ statement, “Very few are meant for notoriety, but all of us are meant for significance.” As I penned those words a dam broke and my mind and heart were flooded with thoughts and dreams about ministry to RVers and ministry with RVers. I couldn’t write fast enough.
I started thinking about the vision that was coming together in my mind and in my journal. It was about Simple and Mobile Uncluttered Evangelical Living. I realized that the first letters of those key words spelled SAMUEL. I heard a whisper to look in First Samuel to see what was going on here. As I quickly perused the pages I came to verse 10 in chapter 3, where Samuel hears the Lord whisper his name and replied, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Now that blew me away, but the Lord seemed to say to me, “but keep on reading, there is more!”
I ultimately arrived at 1 Samuel 7:15-17, which reads:
15 Samuel continued as Israel’s leader all the days of his life. 16 From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. 17 But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also held court for Israel. And he built an altar there to the LORD.
Through scripture, God confirmed to me in dramatic fashion the plans that He has in store for Ann and me in the decade of our sixties! Like Samuel we will travel to various destinations at different times of the year, utilizing our gifts in ministry, joining the Lord where He is at work. But also, like Samuel, we will always come back to Lubbock and Live Oak, our Ramah, because that is where our home is.
God’s whispers sometimes blow you away.

Blessings,
Chuck

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Come See Us at the 2011 Route 66 Festival!

We are looking forward to the 2011 International Route 66 Festival, to be held June 9-12, in Amarillo, TX!  Be sure to stop by our booth in the artists and authors exposition. Not only will we be selling the last few remaining copies of Eternal Route 66, we’ll also have some special Route 66 memorabilia for sale.  Besides that, it’s always good to see old friends, and make new ones.

Plan on joining us for the Route 66 Church service, Sunday Morning, June 12, at 9:00.  The service will be held at the Generation Next Worship Center, located at the corner of  6th Avenue (Old Route 66) & Tennessee Street. (It is an old historic movie theater that was converted into a church in the fifties.)  The service will include music, worship, an inspirational “my story,” and a message from God’s Word.

Vist the official website of the festival at www.amarillo2011.homestead.com.

Blessings,

Chuck & Ann

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Get More Than Kicks!

Visit Chuck on Facebook!

From April 12 – May 7, 2004, we drove the entire length of Route 66, traveling from Chicago to Santa Monica, writing, photographing, and meeting some great people to produce Eternal Route 66. Click on ORDER above, to access the online
store.

For Phone Orders call (806) 687-7866.

For Mail Orders send $14.95 (plus 8.25% sales tax – Texas residents only) per book, to Chicken Fried Publishing, P.O. Box 53906, Lubbock, TX 79453-3906.

You can return any book for any reason within 30 days of delivery for a full refund.

Connecting the Mother Road to the Father’s Road

Route 66 is the story of normal people. It’s about cafes, motels, road beds, and shops, where people have gone and shared good times and life. It’s where local people rub shoulders with travelers, and lives are enriched. Stop in at the Log Cabin Inn in Pontiac, Illinois, Granny’s Saw Mill Cafe, in Rolla, Missouri,
The Blue Front Restaurant in Amarillo, Texas, The Brown Mug in Winslow, Arizona, The Downtown Diner in Flagstaff, Arizona, The Wagon Wheel, in Needles, California, or the Ludlow Cafe in Ludlow, California and you get local flavor and the feel of the old road.

The Journey that can change your life: This life and the next!

Wouldn’t you be intrigued by a parallel journey across historic Route 66 and the 66 Books of the Bible? This book is your travel guide for both. As we travel from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California, making brief stops along the way, we will simultaneously visit key passages in every book of the Bible. You will be amazed at the impact both Route 66 maps can have on your life. Whether you are a seasoned veteran of Route 66, or the Scriptures, or not, this book will enhance your eternal journey and, potentially, your destination.

You will Discover:

  • The beauty and mystique of historic Route 66 and how its legacy can enrich your life.
  • The practical value of The Bible.
  • God’s Purpose and Plan for your life as revealed in the Bible.
  • That you will be motivated and inspired by sights, stories, and people along Route 66.
  • That man’s best ideas last only a season, but God’s design is for us to be in relationship with Him both now, and for eternity.

The Route 66 Pontiac from Willow Creek's CARS Ministry

Special thanks to the CARS Ministry of Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago.

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New Amazon.com Link Added

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