Dad’s Memorial Service


John Raymond Kunefke, 69, of Baytown, died Friday, August 30, 2024. He was born on September 13, 1954, to Clella Faye Bryce Kunefke and Raymond Theodore Kunefke, in Winnie. In his lifetime, John enjoyed hunting, baseball, traveling, kayaking, zip-lining, and spending time with his family and friends. But he enjoyed his faith and serving God most of all. He taught Sunday School and was Choir Director for years. Singing brought him joy.

Survivors include his wife, Lana Kunefke of Baytown; brothers, Marion Kunefke and his wife, Mila, of Godley; and Bobby Kunefke and his wife, Julie, of Fannett; sister, Janna Kunefke and Kathy Morgan, of Winnie; children, Brandon Kunefke and his wife Christle; Joshua Kunefke and his wife Destiny; grandchildren, Alaina Hutchison and her husband, Devin, Lily Kunefke, Sunni Kunefke, and Justus Kunefke; great-grandchildren, Riley, Blake, Blaine, and Samuel Hutchison; and numerous nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his parents.

Phil Robertson – Christian

I couldn’t begin to count the number of articles I have read over the past three to four days (feels like weeks) concerning the “controversial” statements that Phil Robertson made.  This is the one I just read, so you can click on that to get a good understanding of why I and so many others are so outraged by the response of A&E.
The network is not fully to blame for the outrage, however.  GLAAD and the rest of the LGBT community are responsible for most of it.  To put it simply, you’re demanding that everyone not only tolerate your lifestyle, but accept it and approve of it, no matter what our beliefs are.  In other words, if our beliefs contradict what you desire, we need to change our beliefs.  It seems so easy when I type it like that.
A Christian is commissioned by God to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice to those who do not know Him.  A Christian is to be a light to the world, so that the rest of the world can see the Christian and how he lives, so they will try to find out what makes him/her different from everyone else.  Once the Christian has helped others to know Christ, it is then time to help them learn about God, and His plan (including rules) for Christians to follow.

There are certain things that people do that are not part of God’s plan.  For instance…

God does not want us to murder people.  As surprising as this may be, not everyone has a problem with murder.  Killing in times of war and murder are two separate things entirely, so I will not respond to anyone debating this.

One other part of God’s plan is that a man will marry a woman, and they will become one flesh.  The Bible (God’s word) goes on to very explicitly state that any sexual relations outside of the marriage (one man and one woman) is an abomination.

Using just those two examples really does not do God’s Word justice.  However, in light of what follows, I’ll let it sit for now.
The United States of America was founded on Christian principles.  Murder was included in the law.  Several states actually have laws against adultery, even though they probably haven’t actually enforced those laws in the past fifty years.  When these laws were created, a great percentage of the population of the United States of America was Christian.  Christian back then was much more strict than it is for most of America today.
It does not matter, really.  As Christians, our job is not to condemn the world or the people in it. The Bible teaches that we are all guilty of sin.  The Bible also explains what all of those sins are. The Bible also tells us how we can escape the penalty for sin (The Good News).
So for those who have made it this far, I want you to recognize one important thing.  Just because someone does not agree with you, that does not mean that they hate you or that they want you to burn in a lake of fire for all of eternity.  If your beliefs are different, that’s fine, but you are not going to change their mind by being hateful and calling them bigoted and other names I do not care to mention.
I’m fairly certain that over the past few days I have alienated some of my “friends” with some of the articles I’ve shared on Facebook.  But if they had actually taken the time to read what I had shared, they would understand that I am upset about the tendency for the LGBT community to call for tolerance of their lifestyle, but intolerance for those who reference beliefs that do not align with their lifestyle.
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2 Timothy 4:2-5

Came across this scripture last night, and found it relevant to something going on in my life right now…
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Now, for those who don’t know, the book of 2 Timothy is a letter from Paul to Timothy where Paul is giving encouragement and instruction to Timothy for his ministry in Ephesus. Apparently, the same problems that happen today were problems back then…z other than all the technological achievements that have happened since. It’s very easy to find supporters of any cause under the sun. The problem is that until a person realizes they’ve been duped into believing something not based on truth, they won’t change. When you try to convince them that it isn’t based on truth, they study more from the “false prophets” who led them to their false truth, instead of those who actually speak the truth. They may say they study them as well, but all they really do is listen to a few speeches or read a few articles with nothing but skepticism in their hearts, unlike the times they study their false prophets.
One example of this is those political party followers who are either Die Hard Republicans or Die Hard Democrats. This is only a guess, but I’m sure any thinking person would agree my estimate is close, 90% of those people wouldn’t change their mind about their party affiliation unless their political party went the way of the Whig Party.
When it comes to Spiritual matters, I don’t know the answer to waking someone up to their bad influences or “false prophets”. I guess for the time being, I pray for God to reveal Himself to those I’m discussing, and for Him to guide me so that I can be a reflection of Him.

Healing

I have long believed that God still heals today, just as He did in the times of Biblical writings. I have heard many stories of physical healing that has taken place right in front of people. I have also heard of internal healing from terminal illnesses.
Christle’s grandfather had a disease that no one else, to our knowledge, has ever recovered from. He has no signs of it anymore.
While I didn’t see any physical healing or hear of any healing that took place on our mission trip to Peru, I have experienced a physical healing myself while I was there.
For about 6-8 months before the trip, I had been developing several callouses on the bottom of my right heel. They had gotten very deep. Mom said that if I didn’t go to a doctor to take care of it soon enough, I could have some major problems in the future.
I remember looking at them the night before I left for Peru, hoping that they wouldn’t hinder our trip. They had already been causing me pain while walking.
On Sunday, we spent hours standing in the front of the church praying for others. While I did witness things I had never seen before, I did not see physical healing take place, and I was a little bummed about it, because I had heard that it happens more frequently on mission trips outside of the States because those people have nothing else to turn to other than faith in God. My only reasoning available was that I apparently didn’t have enough faith. Trust me, I saw things that God could have healed right in front of me, and I would have been able to SEE it.
On the flight out there, I remember my foot hurting while I was standing in the back of the plane for a while. I don’t recall it hurting for the remainder of the trip. The day after we got back, when I had a break at work, I thought about those callouses because I came to the realization that they didn’t hurt. I removed my boot and sock, and my heal looked perfect. I even removed my other boot and sock to make sure my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me, but it looked perfect, as well.
I know callouses on my foot will not sound like a big deal to a lot of people. Compared to some scriptural healing, it is nothing. But God took a potential burden out of my life, and I didn’t even have to waste one minute looking for a doctor.
God 1-upped me and instead of showing me His healing power through my sight, He touched and healed me!

Every Day

Every Day I have to start the cycle over again.  Giving my life over to God is currently a struggle.  My body fights to maintain control, but I have to submit to Him.  I fail often, but not as often as I did before.  I have a headache.
I’ve raised most of the money needed for the Peru mission trip in June!  Or shall I say, God has provided almost all the money needed for the mission trip.  Thanks, Mom, for all your help, too.

Well… It’s Been a While

It’s been so long since I posted anything, I doubt anyone is checking my blog any longer… not that too many people were checking it in the first place, other than family and spammers (and those are probably just bots).
I’ve recently decided to improve my life.  I’m kicking out old habits, or rather, old Masters.  I’ve enslaved myself to many Masters over the course of my life.  They’re not all terrible… Dr. Pepper wouldn’t be a terrible Master, unless Dr. Pepper is abused.  I probably drink 10 times as much Dr. Pepper as I do water.  That’s a Master that I’m kicking.
The problem is coming up with something to fill the voids… and water isn’t going to do it all by itself.
Everyone has at least one Master, whether it be crack, cannabis, football, cigarettes, alcohol, basketball, porn, TV, golf, career, school, Coca-Cola, Apple computers, food, vegetarianism, global warming, politics, Dr. Pepper, etc…
I have decided to follow Jesus.  My goal in life is to have one Master… GOD.  The one true God.  The One who cared so much for me that He sent His only son to live a perfect life on this world, die on a cross for my sins for no other reason than because He was sent here to do that, and then rise from the grave.
I do not intend for this to stir up controversy.  I am not putting this on my blog to say that I am righteous.  I am telling you this so that I can have others out there to hold me to account.  I need help to rid myself of other Masters.  Yes, I have a job, but I can still serve only God and keep my job.  Yes, I have a family, but they are a gift from God.  How great it is that he has given me this gift that I can serve Him by loving and taking care of them!
I have not been doing the job God has given me to spread the Good News.  I’ve been on a mission trip in the past, although I can’t say I really did it for the right reasons.  My church has scheduled a mission trip in June to Peru.  At first, I wrote it off as something I couldn’t do.  I’ve got too much going on…  I can’t raise that kind of money…  The worst part of it is that I was being selfish, and I was writing God off.  First, I should make the time to do something God wants me to do.  Second, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, He can raise the money if He wants me to do this.  He has led me to do what I know and try to raise the money.  He can do it without my help, so I’ll offer all the help I can give to let His glory shine.
I’ve applied for my passport.  I’ve sent out letters requesting donations.  I have a loving family that is also helping to organize a fundraiser.  God is the only one, though, who will make it happen if He so chooses.  I want to serve Him.  I want the kind of faith that will give Him glory.
I ask for your prayers.  I ask you to hold me to account.  Most importantly, I ask you to seek your heart, and turn to God if you haven’t already.  Make Him the only Master of your life, because that will help me to keep Him the only Master of my life.

The Law is the Law

The following is an email I received today. It represents the true feelings of many Christians I know, and probably many Christians I haven’t heard from on the issue. Please read it, and if you feel the same, pass it along to as many people as you can.

So if the US government determines that it is against the law for the words under God‘ to be on our money, then, so be it.
And if that same government decides that the Ten Commandments‘ are not to be used in or on a government installation, then, so be it.
I say, ‘so be it,’ because I would like to be a law abiding US citizen
I say, ‘so be it,’ because I would like to think that smarter people than I are in positions to make good decisions.
I would like to think that those people have the American public’s best interests at heart. BUT, YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE I’D LIKE?
Since we can’t pray to God, can’t Trust in God and cannot post His Commandments in Government buildings, I don’t believe the Government and its employees should participate in the Easter and Christmas celebrations which honor the God that our government is eliminating from many facets of American life.
I’d like my mail delivered on Christmas, Good Friday , Thanksgiving & Easter.
After all, it’s just another day.
I’d like the US Supreme Court to be in session on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving & Easter as well as Sundays. After all, it’s just another day.
I’d like the Senate and the House of Representatives to not have to worry about getting home for the ‘Christmas Break’. After all it’s just another day.
I’m thinking that a lot of my taxpayer dollars could be saved, if all government offices & services would work on Christmas, Good Friday & Easter. It shouldn’t cost any overtime since those would be just like any other day of the week to a government that is trying to be ‘politically correct.’
In fact….
I think that our government should work on Sundays (initially set aside for worshipping God…) because, after all, our government says that it should be just another day….
What do you think????
If this idea gets to enough people, maybe our elected officials will stop giving in to the ‘minority opinions‘ and begin, once again, to represent the ‘majority‘ of ALL of the American people.
SO BE IT………..
Please Dear Lord,
Give us the help needed to keep you in our country!
Amen‘ and ‘Amen

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cantata

We’re having a Christmas Cantata this Sunday morning at Church.  We’ve been practicing for several weeks and have one more practice before we sing it publicly.
We sang one of the songs during yesterday’s service and it was well received.
If you’d like to come and don’t know how to get there, let me know, and I’ll forward the information to you.  I attend First Baptist Church of Stowell, TX, and the service begins at 11am.

Thought for the Day

I received this in an email today. Usually, I don’t like stupid stuff that asks to be spread, but this one was short and to the point.

One Nation Under God

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you: Jesus Christ and the American G.I. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

Pass it on!

Focus

I forgot to bring some shorts to work today to work out in on my way home, so I just jogged in my jeans. It is amazing how hot a pair of loose jeans can get. I did a mile and a half in 13:45.
I didn’t do any more than that because I worked out last night. I like being able to see results when I look in the mirror. It really helps me focus on what I’m trying to achieve. I’m not sure if it’s better health or vanity, but either way, it’s working.
I’ve been working on improving my life. I’m going to school. I’m working out for the first time in a LONG time. Now I am struggling to improve my prayer life. That goes along with my relationship with God. I haven’t been working on that relationship as hard as I should, and I never want to say that again.
On top of that, I’m speaking my prayers instead of thinking them. I don’t think with my wife, I talk to her. I know that God knows my thoughts, but it builds my faith in Him to actually speak to Him.
God, give me the focus you want me to have.