Thanksgiving

We had a great day. It was one of the best family times in a memory. So much to be thankful for it is hard to put into words. We rejoiced together and laughed a lot. Hope you had a great day also.

Who Knew?

I had no idea how hard this year would be. But we are closing in on the end and I am excited to see what God is going to do next. I am ready work with Him to make the future. I am not willing to see what happens next, I am actively working to shape my future and by extension the lives of all who are connected to me. I know God has great things in store. And God has lots of surprises too!

After all this year I was sicker than I have ever been. I spent time in the hospital. I spent days contemplating the possibility of having cancer. I received the news that I don't have cancer but rather that a fungus was growing in my body. I have had several CT scans which now show the fungus shrinking. I will have another in 12 days. I have had a multitude of Xrays and an MRI. I have undergone physical therapy. I am still dealing with annoying pain. I have walked through the darkest depression of my life and come through the other side.

And here is what I know that God was with me all the time. His Holy Spirit was abiding and giving comfort and strength. I know that I am blessed. My wife loves me and my children are healthy. I know what God has called me to do and I am doing it!

Lots of other great things have happened in the lives of friends. Some of them surprising, some just plain awesome.
Greg and Sam brought baby Blinn into the world. Which means Larry and Patty are finally grandparents!
Friends who are missionaries in Southeast Asia are coming home in December so that she can deliver their first baby in February!
Our friend Abby is getting married in a little over a week!
I was able to reconnect with my friend Scott Hodge.
My sister-in-law and her new husband are expecting a baby!
Joshua and Christy are expecting their third child and it looks like Joshua is finally getting his boy!
Even though I haven't met him I enjoy his blog. Los is right now in Korea preparing to bring home his son!
Seth tooks his first steps and is running now!
Noah can write his name and is getting to be an awesome video gamer.
Elijah got his first hit in baseball.
Kaitlyn is growing into such a beautiful girl that sometimes it takes my breath away.
And Rebekah continues to be an awesome mom and wife!

I'll post more surprises in the next days. (You'll notice that so many of these are about baby's. What can I say I am a sucker for babies.)

Night of the Living Dead

We just got home from our weekly, (at least), trip to Super Walmart for groceries. They are in the process of remodeling the store. They are repainting and replacing flooring and bathroom fixtures, etc. But they are also moving stuff around. The sporting goods are where the crafts used to be and the crafts are where the garden stuff was, and kids clothes are where the linens and things were, and electronics are where the shoes were. You get the picture. But the most confounding thing is that they moved the food around. As we walked up and down the aisles I saw people wandering around like zombies searching for the soup and the chips and everything that once was in this aisle but isn't now. A lot of people like my wife tend to write their lists based on where an item is in the store. Now that things are moved an imprint of the store which is sadly hard wired on our brains will have to change. We grumble about it but change is inevitable.

I am trying not to complain because as I pastor I introduce change into the church. And then I complain about people grumbling about the change. For some it is a minor inconvenience for others it rocks their world. This doesn't mean things don't need to change. In fact despite the best efforts of some change is inevitable. What I need to remember as a pastor is that even if I carefully explain the change and warn people in advance change will still confound some folks and it will take time for everyone to adapt. For some people change rocks their world and they really have a hard time recovering. They feel they have little or no control over a lot of things so when things like Walmart or their church change it creates tension and uneasiness.

I have more thoughts but they can wait. This much typing is hard on the old shoulder. I guess I have a new prospective on change now that is worth thinking about.

Shoulder

I probably need to have surgery on my shoulder but I won't see the surgeon until the end of October. Hopefully I can change the appointment. It was a little discouraging to hear that. There are a lot of things I need to do that I have put on hold until this pain issue is resolved. I know God is trying to teach me something through this and that He is refining me but I'm not sure what exactly He is up to as of yet.

Changes

I am at a place where I know that God is going to do something new in my life (and by proxy my families life) but I don't what yet. I have a general sense although it isn't time to really share. It's the waiting that's the hardest part for me. The not knowing.

I haven't blogged much because I can't yet talk about some of the things God is doing in my life. There are things that Rebekah can't blog about either but see doesn't seem to be as anxious as I am. Most of you thought I was the laid back one!

Plus much of what I would blog would be whining about my shoulder. We are in about week six of constant pain. The intensity comes and goes but the pain is there all the time. I just switched perscription pain relievers today so we'll see. Next week is week three of physical therapy. If there isn't any improvment it's off to see the Ortho Dr.

Crocodile Hunter dead at 44

You can read the story here...http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060904/ap_on_en_tv/obit_irwin
krikee!

Tomorrow

Because we don't have enough football fans in our church I play my fanatasy football online. This year I am playing at yahoo and NFL.com. Tomorrow is my draft day. Fingers crossed as I haven't done much prep expect watch Sportscenter and some NFL network. I will rely a lot on my Sportingnews which has had lists the last few weeks ranking various positions. One tip for you novices, running back is very important. It would not be prudent to draft Peyton Manning before Larry Johnson, Shaun Alexander or LT.

Braves

So it looks like time is running out. For the first time since I was in high school my beloved Atlanta Braves will probably not make the playoffs. Unless they can rattle off 10 wins in a row starting now it will not happen. Really only the month of June was terrible but it was so bad that they may not be able to recover.

As for the Vikings I don't know what to expect from them. I do know that I don't care for their new uniforms. They should have left well enough alone. I didn't like the old white jerseys much but now when they wear the new white jerseys they wear purple pants.
They look okay in this picture but on TV the other night they didn't look good. I'm sure it will grow on me over time but my first impression wasn't good. The jerseys are actually okay but not purple pants. Please.

Older

I turned thirty one yesterday. Today I found out that not only are the tendons that attach my muscles to my shoulder swollen but I also have degeneration on both sides of my joint, where the color bone and the shoulder meet and where the top of the humour bone meets the shoulder. This means arthritis and for now physical therapy. I am hoping to be able to golf the day after labor day in our sectional golf tournament. We will see.

Moving up

I finally got an ipod! I am still learning how to use it but now I can listen to all those Mark Driscoll sermons I've been meaning to. So first high speed internet now an ipod. I feel like I might be catching up to my man Scotthttp://scotthodge.typepad.com! But really as evidenced by that attempt to link I am not.

I had an interesting conversation with the former mayor of our little village last night. He was relating to me and my friend Kevin who pastors the Cumberland Presbytes here in Bethany, some of his attempts to change zoning on some property that he owns on the highway that runs through town. He was told by the former president of the bank who lives across the street from this property that if he went forward his political career in Bethany would be finished. He went ahead and the next election during the caucus he was maneuvered out of being on the ballot. They tried to destroy him. Ouch!

I looked at him and said, wow I don't have any idea what that's like being the pastor of a small church ;-) As we shared stories it became clear to me that small towns are a lot like churches. Everyone wants them to go forward as long as they never change.

Title

I'm still looking for a good title for my blog. I'm not very good at titles. I struggle to come up with good titles for my sermons also.

Came across a cool group called Obadiah Parker via a link on someone elses blog. Thanks to high speed connection I could actually listen. I plan on buying their EP. Here's a link...http://www.myspace.com/obadiahparker

Turning 31 on Wednesday. Thanks to the people in my church for the nice card and gift!

Purple Time

I watched the first pre season game for the Vikings on Monday night. Tony Kornheiser is new to MNF. He was okay but seemed uncomfortable. Joe Theisman was very annoying. I think he may become the new Dan Deirdorf. (I dislike Deirdorf as a color man.) Anyway the Vkes looked okay. The first team defense played decently although it may have simply been that Aaron Brooks was that bad. The were able to pressure the QB but again this is the Raiders so take it with a grain of salt. Tavarious Jackson looked very good. He was fun to watch. He'll remind you of a young Steve McNair or a less flashy Vick.

Bad news Tank Williams was already out for the season, now Chad Greenway the first round pick is out for the year after tearing something in his knee. Oh well! I'm hoping for 9-10 wins. We'll see. I'm not sold on the west coast offense. I really didn't see anything to change that.

Rapture Me

Ever have those days where you wish Jesus would come back right now???

Earl Creps wrote a great post about the Emerging Church and Pentecostal/Charismatics. I think he was right on target. I have remained in the A/G but I see the point that some of those more missional folks are making. However I am not a Calvinist and I am an ordained A/G pastor because I believe the doctrine and support it whole heartedly. Good thoughts by the good Dr. You can find them here...http://www.xanga.com/Coffeedrinkinfool

Relating

I have come to believe that it is somewhat easier for an older pastor, let's say in his 50's to relate to someone half his age than it is for a young guy like me to relate to someone who is 60ish. Not that I don't try but at least the older pastor if he tries can remember a little what is was like to be 30. I can't remember what it is like to be nearing retirement or 59 no matter how hard I try because I haven't been there. But the majority of my audience each Sunday is over 50.

I am trying to understand though.

Monday

It was a frustrating day yesterday for me. First we had 25% less people than we did Memorial Day weekend. Second one of our families may be getting transferred and may have to move. We had a missionary guest. I knew him slightly at North Central. He is very passionate about his calling and he will do great. His calling is not as a preacher, he will be doing a lot of one on one evangelism in a muslim country. I don't know if he connected with the people, there weren't many of them to begin with. Sunday evening wasn't much better. I preached that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is about more than how it makes you feel. God makes us competent as ministers of the new covenant. Which is good because on Sundays like these I feel pretty incompetent.

But I refuse to be discouraged. There is more work to be done!

You must write something!

I am trying to discipline myself to write in this blog several times a week if not every day. It is not easy as self-discipline has never come easy to me. For instance I know I need to exercise to lose weight and so that I will have more energy. But I can't seem to get going. The best time to exercise they say is int he morning. I am not a morning person but I am too tired usually in the evening. I have gained about ten pounds since I got out of the hospital. Yikes!

My mother-in-law is visiting for a few days. I love her, mainly because she gave birth to my wife, but I have no idea what to say to her somtimes as the only thing we have in common really is Rebekah and the kids. I am not good at small talk usually so she probably thinks I am ignoring her because I don't talk much around her but really I don't usually say much anyway. Rebekah sometimes complains about that. I have been even more quiet than usual lately I think. This has been and continues to be a season of intense prayer. I am evaluating everything about how I do ministry and how our church does ministry. Satan has been busy also and so the battle remains not to be discouraged. But I have determined not to let that happened. Encourage yourself in the Lord today!

Stuff

It has been a long time since I wrote anything. We have had a busy month but then every month is fairly busy. Memorial day weekend has past and we are moving into summer.

Last week we, the Abundant Life, finally purchased a video projector. Rebekah worked on putting together everything for Sunday's service, lyrics for the songs, sermon notes and announcements until 11:00 on Saturday night. Sunday morning five minutes into Sunday the power went out. It turns out it only went out at the church. Some how the coupling for the power line which runs across the street and into the building became disconnected. One of the power lines had fallen lower than it was supposed and it pulled the coupling apart. The village utility folks got to it pretty quickly especially since it was a Sunday and Memorial day weekend. I called one of the village board and then left a message with another person and two hours later they were there. It only took 20 minutes to fix the problem and at about noon the power was back on. Of course we ended up having service without power and in 90 degree weather no air conditioning. But no one complained and we had a good time of worship. We sang a couple of hymns I preached a shortened message and we celebrated communion. We were done by 11:30.

Sunday afternoon after Elijah's baseball practice we went to Decatur. In the evening I replaced the brake pads on the minivan. It only took me an hour and a half! I was proud of myself wasn't tempted to curse at any point in the process and since I already knew how to do it I actually kind of enjoyed it. I saved myself a lot of money in the process.

Monday morning I spoke at the Memorial observance that American Legion has every year. It is always across the street from the church in the cemetery. Last year it was inside the church because of rain. It was hot and I was standing in the sun! Sweat poured off of me. I didn't feel like I really connected with the crowd. There were at least 200 people there. But many people came and talked about how they appreciated it. I included the gospel and hopefully planted seeds.

Looking forward to our friends the Overturfs coming on Sunday morning. They will be returning to Africa as missionaries soon.

Create the Future

I read a quote by Dr. Mark Chironna, "we wither repeat the past or create the future." Mark Batterson calls that the difference between ministry out of memory and ministry out of imagination. We are at a place where I feel a definite tension between the status quo and what can be. I am not willing to continue with the status quo. Not because I want change for change sake. If I wanted that I would just find a new ministry position. (Not that it hasn't crossed my mind.) But we need to change because not enough people are becoming disciples. There are too many unchurched and dechurched folks in Moultrie County and we are not reaching them effectively. My real in particular is to reach families in my generation.

We want to see whole families serving the Lord. I want to teach and disciple parents so that they can pass a living faith down to their children who will own that faith as their own. I believe that our church can transform the culture of our county. I believe that is why Abundant Life is here. But we will not be able to do it unless we are willing to take risks and find effective ways of reaching outside of our walls to engage people.

I really believe that we as disciples are called to bring the gospel to people. As we interact with people in the marketplace, in the workplace, in the schools, in the highways and byways of life we allow the Holy Spirit to interact with them through our words and maybe even more importantly through our actions. To do this we must change the way we are doing things or we will continue to repeat the past.

Stumbling Stones

Romans 9:32b, 33
They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." 33As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

I was reading through Romans 9 during my devotion time today. This verse jumped out at me. The Jews of Paul's day couldn't past the fact that they could not earn salvation through observing the law. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.

All of us have met people who for one reason or another won't surrender to Christ Jesus as their savior. Some won't admit that they've sinned. Others want to earn salvation. Some people wonder why God allows bad things to happen. Other folks can't believe that Jesus is the only name that can save us. They think that all religions should lead to God and can't get past the exclusivity of Christ. Some folks get hung up on all the hypocrites in church. The list is long and varied but at some point every person who hears the gospel has to make a decision. Accept Christ or not. Those who trust in Him are saved. Those that don't stumble. And scripture says that the cornerstone will then crush them.

So the stumbling stone is always Christ. What are some of the "stumbling stones" you have encountered?

Easter

Easter has come and gone again. Man we have too much sugar in our house. Especially at a time when I am needing to lose weight. I guess I will have to step up the exercise regimen. We had a good Sunday. I preached at the community sunrise service. There was a pretty good turnout. I didn't hear what the final count was but I always enjoy preaching at community events. There is a different dynamic.

I led worship and preached in our service. It went pretty well. I was concerned because I knew that several people would be traveling and so I wasn't sure what our attendance would be like. However we ended up having 25% more people than our average so I was pleasantly surprised. I still am missing the upper range of my singing voice but I really was surprised that I felt so well after the service and still had a good amount of energy.

This afternoon our state Representative stopped by my office. He is running for a second term. During the last campaign I sent him an e-mail. I had been planning on voting for him because even though he is a democrat he is pretty conservative and has a lot of experience. But he ran some negative advertisements that I thought were misleading and made fun of the republican candidate. So I sent an e-mail letting him know why I wasn't voting for him. I didn't get a reply right away. But he said that when he was driving past today he saw my name on the sign and remembered the e-mail which he had saved. He told me about some of the things that he regretted from the campaign which was his first for a state level office. He also said that he had talked to other candidate since then and explained things to him. I thought it was a pretty honest answer to get from a politician and was impressed with his integrity.