DownshoreDrift

Resurrection Day, Gardening With the Kids, and Enjoying God's Beauty

We just finished an amazing weekend of worship, reflection on the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ, spending time with family, and looking toward the future. We look backward at what Christ has done so that we can more clearly see our present and so that we can look ahead to the hope that He has for us in Him. Jesus is risen and that means something significant for us today and for our future as well.

On Friday night, our church set aside time to reflect on the sufferings of Christ. We often skip over the suffering so that we can get to the victory, but unless we go to the cross, I don't think that we will be able to really understand the resurrection. We took time to sit in silent prayer and meditation on the Lord and Scripture before the worship started. We did this for about an hour. Then, we sang, prayed, had some Bible study, and took Communion together. One of the songs that particularly touched me was the modern hymn, "How Deep the Father's Love for Us."  There is a verse that says,

It was my sin that held him there / Until it was accomplished / His dying breath has brought me life / I know that it is finished.

My sin is what put Jesus on the Cross. He took it from me so that I would be forgiven, be restored to God, be justified, and so that He could bear God's wrath instead of me. He conquered Satan, death, hell, and He fulfilled the Law, nailing it to the Cross - the debt was paid in full. He disarmed the powers and authorities making a public spectacle of them by the Cross. He rescued me from the dominion of darkness and brought me into His Kingdom.  Because of what Jesus has done, I can now approach God with freedom and confidence. I can worship by the Spirit of God freely. Through Christ, God is reconciling the world to Himself, making all things new. What a glorious Savior!

Dwayne O'Riley, a man in our church, painted a painting for us during the two and a half hour worship/prayer service of the face of Jesus. He worked on it some more on Saturday and displayed it during the service this morning. Here is a picture from Friday night right before a tornado knocked out the power!

 

On Saturday, in the spirit of new life and God making all things new, I planted a small garden with the kids. We planted 7 tomato plants and a basil plant. I have tried this a couple of times before and something always went wrong. One year, I placed the plants too close together and they did not bear much fruit. Another year, we had too much rain and the plants grew huge but I didn't get any tomatoes out of them. I love fresh tomatoes. They taste totally different than the store bought variety.  Anyway, it was a neat teaching time for the kids too. I don't try and make every little thing that we do have a spiritual application (even though all of life points back to God), but this just seemed to make sense and be very obvious. While we were digging up the ground, we talked about how we needed to have a soft heart toward God and how we needed to be humble before Him. We also talked about being good soil and the parable of the sower and the seed. They were really engaged and could understand a lot better with their hands in the dirt working to prepare the ground for planting. It was great to work with them too. They worked hard and, even though it is a little garden, tending it will be a rich experience this Spring. Here are some pics (Erika took them - I was filthy):

 

 

 

Yes, I know. A VERY small garden. But, it will be fun. If we do it well this year, next year, we're taking half the yard!

Worship on Sunday was great and we had a lot of visitors, although a lot of regulars were gone. Easter is not usually one of our larger services because we have so many young people and young families and they often travel to spend Easter with away with other family. But, we also have a lot of relatives come visit, so it is a different mix than usual. We started the day with a Sunrise Service and then about 25 of us went to eat breakfast together at a local restaurant. Our family made this an Easter tradition about 3 years ago and we just invite people to join us. We had a great time. After this, we went to church and continued to reflect on the great salvation that Christ secured for us. I preached about God's grace and mercy, but also about His justice and wrath. Jesus fully took God's wrath for us and brought us to God. My Mom in Mississippi will likely read this along with other family members, so I'll put up the picture that was taken of the family after worship. What a blessing my wife and children are to me.

 

Since I'm posting pictures, the following are from last weekend when Erika and I took the kids to some Greek gardens near Montgomery and then went to feed the ducks at a nearby park. There were some ducklings swimming in the pond that made for some amazing pictures, I thought. Enjoy and have a great week knowing and believing that because Christ is risen, He makes all things new!

 

 

 

  

I hope that you also had a great celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!  God is so good and I see Him at work all around me is so many amazing ways.

 

Back From SF, Blog (March) Madness

Ashtyn and I returned from SF last night. We had a great time!  I've got some great pictures and thoughts from the time that we spent together. We also got some insight into what God is doing in the Bay Area through the people that we reconnected with. More on that next week.  The whole family is still on Spring Break, so I have lots more left to do before Sunday (I WILL be back at church on Sunday).

One other thing:  Downshoredrift made it into the Blog Madness Tournament at SBCVoices.com.  Out of over 450 SBC blogs, I made the field of 64.  It's just an honor to be nominated!  This is probably the closest thing to any kind of "Blog Awards" that Downshoredrift would be up for and the bragging rights are kind of satisfying. There is no way I can win this thing, but it would be cool to make it to the second round (I made it to the Sweet 16 last year).  So, go to this link:

http://sbcvoices.com/2009-sbc-voices-blog-madness-opening-round-has-started/

Go down to the South Division. I'm the #5 seed, but am currently in a real battle to make it to the second round.  I'd love to have your vote so that I'm not one and done!

As for the REAL NCAA Tournament, both LSU and Miss. St. are in it, so I'll be pulling for both of them. Have a great week!

If You're Going To San Francisco . . .

My daughter, Ashtyn, was born 10 years ago this May. I cannot believe that the time has gone by so fast. It seems like just yesterday that I was holding her in one hand while giving her a bath under the faucet in our kitchen sink. When she was first born, she would cry with a little quiver, so I called her "Little Mouse" because that is what she sounded like.  She was born to Erika and I when we lived in Marin County, which is right across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. I was finishing up seminary at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, CA, when Ashtyn was born to us and she has always been our "California Girl."  She likes it when I call her that.

Years ago, I told Erika that when Ashtyn was somewhere between the ages of 8-10, I wanted to take her on a trip, just she and I. We have talked about it for the past several years, and we finally just decided to go for it. So, tomorrow, I will take Ashtyn to San Francisco, the city of her birth. She has always wanted to visit there, so I thought we would give it a try. The awesome thing is that we are hardly spending any money at all.  We made this her birthday present, so grandparents and family are kicking in, we found REALLY cheap airfare, and I called someone I knew out there and they are letting us sleep on an air mattress in their living room!  We leave tomorrow and will be gone until Wednesday of next week.

I am really looking forward to this. I am glad that I am spending this concentrated time with Ashtyn before she reaches adolescence. We talk a lot, but with 3 younger brothers, things can get pretty hectic.  She is growing up really fast and time is slipping by. Before I know it, she'll be gone. It is so easy for one day to turn into a month and into a year.  I really am trying to treasure everything, but it all slips through your fingers so fast. I think that continually praising God for the blessings that He gives us is the best way to go about savoring the moment. When we praise God for the life we have, we recognize an eternality to the moment and it is preserved in Him.  When I was taking the kids to school today, we praised God for all the blessings that He's given us. Peyton and Kieran were saying how happy they were that Ashtyn was getting to go on the trip.  I'll remember that.  It will stand out as more than just a drive to school.

Ashtyn sang in a duet today at her honors choral concert at her school. She was beautiful. I am so proud of the girl that she has become and I look forward to the young lady that she is growing into.  It's a shame that she will never be able to date boys, though. I haven't told her that yet, but I'm hoping that she'll understand when I do get around to it. I plan to keep her locked up in the house until I can find a suitable husband for her.  I tend to procrastinate, so it could be awhile.  She's only turning 10 this Spring, so we're a long way from worrying about any of that. A very long way. Seriously.  I'm not kidding.

Anyway, San Francisco awaits. The Daddy-Daughter trip I've been planning in my mind the past decade has finally arrived! 

It's the Most Wonderful Week of theYear!!!

My favorite week of the year started yesterday (between Christmas and New Year's). We have family visitng, presents are everywhere, we just ate brunch a little while ago, and we just had a foosball tournament with the new foosball table. Peyton, my 7 year old son, is beating everyone like 21-3. He is ridiculous. Caelan is running around in a dinosaur costume and the kids are about to play a board game. We are doing nothing except sitting around, hanging out, eating, reading, and resting. My favorite things to do!

Except for Sunday services, I'll be off work this week. We might travel to my hometown and see my Dad or we might not. I don't know yet. At any rate, we plan to rest, reflect, enjoy being together, and give some thought to what the new year holds for us.  After a long and stressful year and a long and stressful holiday season, this upcoming week is exactly what we need. I might write quite a bit this week, or very little. Basically, I plan to rest, think, and enjoy being with my family. I hope that you get a chance to do the same. This is a great week for some vacation.

What are your plans? Reading any good books? Watch any good movies?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Missional Holidays, Part 2

Eugene Peterson says that it is the role of the pastor to keep the community attentive to God. In speaking of community here, I think that he means the church. He is right and I take that role very seriously, however imperfectly I carry it out. But, I also think that it is the role of the church to make the larger community attentive to God.  God is always working (John 5:17) and He works through us, His body. So, every Christmas season, we have begun looking for ways to be attentive to God ourselves and to call our community to be attentive to God as well.

This year, we have seen some amazing things happen. We had our annual Thanksgiving Dinner where the place was packed and we had 19 nations represented.  Two weeks later, we had our annual Christmas Extravaganza, where we joined with Family Life Bible Fellowship, a predominately African American church for a night of worship, singing, dance, instrumentalists, food, and fellowship. It was amazing to see people from different churches and cultures come together as one in Christ. Christmas is about the Incarnation and we got to experience Christ in our midst through this gathering. I really feel that when we do these things, we are prophetically saying that we live differently from the world. The world divides according to all kinds of things. In Christ, we come together. Where there is strife and struggle in the world and peace is usually false, in Christ, all dividing walls are taken down and we are one. This is our lost witness and it must be reclaimed. I am not talking about oneness based on nothing, but oneness based on Christ and the unity that He has already provided for us.  If Christmas is about Jesus being made flesh to bring us salvation and redemption, then the best thing that we can do is to herald the reconciliation that we have in Christ. We are reconciled both to God and to one another. Praise God!

A few years ago, we also started doing "A Time to Serve." I actually read about a church in Colorado that did this and ripped the whole thing off from them, so I am not claiming originality. Each year, we develop 8 or so service oriented projects and get people to lead them. Then, others in the church sign up for them and carry them out. We will wrap presents for people for free at the local Wal-Mart, have children sing at retirement homes and homes for disabled children, adopt needy families and buy presents for them, pass out Christmas cards in the neighborhood around our church, etc. Each year, the projects vary, but the point is that we encourage people to serve someone else and to share the real meaning of Christmas. It has gone well again this year and I praise God for all those who are taking part.

Last night, we danced, ate, laughed, and laughed some more. And, we ate. Our LIFE Group had our Christmas Party at our house. We had almost 40 people come over (adults and children) and we had a great time. Christians don't seem to have a lot of parties, or if we do, we tend to be pretty stiff about it. But, not this group. I love our group because they are made up of real people that know how to share life together, laugh, cry, give, and minister to one another. We have seen God do miracles in one another's lives and we have been able to intervene and intercede for one another. There is little pretense. Basically, this small group of people acts as the church within a larger church and it is a blessing to be a part of it.

I really do want to brag about my church. Gateway Baptist is the finest church I have ever been a part of. It is not perfect and it is not made up of perfect people. But, they know that they aren't perfect and they depend on God's grace. They also really want to follow God and make Him known to others. I have a lot of friends that are pastors and I hear stories about the struggles with their churches. Honestly, I can say that Gateway does not struggle with the vast majority of things that other churches do. We give God the glory, but I think that the reason is that we have kept following hard after God a top priority in our fellowship. People who have other agendas or who don't want to do that either repent and live for God themselves (that is always what we work toward and there is much love and grace for people to do just that), or they don't stick around very long. I was telling some folks last night that it is a blessing to know that there is a church that is supportive in what we are trying to do so that we can all face a broken, needy world together, instead of us all having to focus on unnecessary problems within the church. Jesus living through His people is a beautiful thing.

I just wanted to praise God and thank Him that in this time of Christmas celebration, He causes us to be attentive to Him and enables us to represent Him to others. That's about all that I want for Christmas and I have already received it. God is good. 

Give That Pig a Ten!

My 7 year old son, Peyton, was watching an animal talent show on Animal Planet a few minutes ago and he came and told me about a pig that was playing the piano. He said, "Daddy, there was this pig that was playing the piano. He played, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." One of the judges gave him an 8, and two of the judges gave him a 7 (out of 10). I don't know. If it were me, and a pig could play the piano, I'd give him a 10."

I agree, Peyton. How do you not give a piano playing pig a 10? Must be SEC football refs. 

Missional Holidays: The Nations Came To Our Church For Thanksgiving Last Night!

Every year, we have a huge Thanksgiving Dinner, the Sunday night before Thanksgiving. We bring tons of food and pack out the sanctuary, which also serves as our fellowship space. Each year, we are almost filled to capacity with our members and their friends. We eat, sing, and people share from the floor what they are thankful to God for. It is really a beautiful time as the Body of Christ is on display and we see the beauty of Christ at work.

This year, our Thanksgiving Dinner promised to be a little different. Over the past couple of years, we have been praying about how we could reach across ethnic and cultural lines and we are starting to see that happen. We are seeing African Americans and Hispanics come to our church. Our youth group has doubled in size, primarily with African American boys who are coming to Christ and being discipled. God is at work and it is amazing to see.

Also, we live in Montgomery, AL where Maxwell AFB is colocated. So, we have a lot of military personnel in our church. Every member of the Air Force will come through Maxwell at some point in their career because Air University is here. All of the schools for the Air Force are located here. This also means that international officers and their families from the nations of the world come to Maxwell each year for Air Command and Staff College. Over the past couple of years, people from our church have been adopting these families and have been spending time with them.  When a lady in our church told us that she had invited about thirty of them to our Thanksgiving Dinner, I was happy, but I was also thinking, "Where are we going to fit everyone!"  Our youth minister had already invited the families of the 20 or so new youth that were coming to our church.  We are already usually packed for this event. I am always talking about outreach and missional living, and here was a prime example of how our church had been doing and they wanted to bring everyone together. But, we just don't have much room!  My excitement over the evening was mixed with the implications of a looming disaster as people would not have seats and would bump into each other all night.

I met with my administrative assistant and we just decided that we'd make it work and we weren't going to worry about it. Somehow, it would work out, we hoped. So, we set up every table and chair that we possibly could, started serving early, and trusted God for the rest. And . . . it all worked out!  Somehow, we fit everyone in, and people didn't mind sitting in corners and along the walls and down the hall. It was our largest Thanksgiving Dinner ever!  People shared with one another, gave praise to God for His work in their lives, and enjoyed being together. At one point, I asked people to shout out what nation they were from. There were people there from America (obviously), Mexico, Peru, Brazil, The Philippines, The Ukraine, Germany, India, Egypt, Jordan, Bangledesh, Pakistan, China, Turkmenistan, and other countries that I cannot remember. There were people from 19 countries in all.  We also had a great number of African Americans that are coming to our church now and are getting involved in our body.  That is notable because we are a Southern Baptist church that was lily white just two years ago, and I understand how difficult it is for these barriers to be broken down. 

Jesus was represented and the gospel was spoken by people as they shared. It was beautiful. At one point, an international officer from the Middle East stood up and said how happy he was to be here. He thanked us for inviting him and his family. He also said something very interesting: He said that he was amazed and honored to be in a place where Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and many more could come together and gather in peace. He couldn't believe it.  For many of these people, this was the first time that they had been in an environment like this. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Through Him, we, as Christians, can respect and love others, even though we know that there are differences. We believe and represent that Jesus is the only way to the Father. But, unless we build relationships with people and love them, they will not hear that message. Jesus also enables us to love people different than us because we recognize that each person is made in the image of God. 

In two weeks, we will have our Christmas Extravaganza. We will join together with Family Life Bible Fellowship, an African American church in our city and have a mass choir, singing, praise dance, poetry readings, and other artistic expressions of worship on display. We will celebrate our unity in Christ.  We will eat lots of good food together and we will laugh, pray, and celebrate. The international officers and their families will be invited again and the place will be packed out.  I can't wait!  

Christmas is the celebration of the Incarnation of Christ, where Jesus took on flesh and made His dwelling among us (John 1:14). He is doing it again in churches and communities all across the world.  We'll make room for Him, no matter what it takes, or at least we should. I praise God for people in our church with great imaginations and faith to believe God for great things!

Have You Decorated For Christmas Yet? When Do You Start?

So, three weeks ago when we were putting up our Christmas tree, playing a little Bing on the old turn table, warming chestnuts over the fire, and sipping Egg Nog, I couldn't help but think about just how much I love Christmas.  All the presents were bought, wrapped, and under the tree and we had already purchased the Christmas goose and cranberries.  Each night thereafter, I cuddled with my kids and read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" to them. We pulled out the Christmas programs on DVD and watched them all. Then, about a week ago we went and had our picture taken with Santa at the mall.  Finally, the big day will come tomorrow and we will open all the presents. We'll have grandparents over and we'll have a big feast. Everyone will wear their Christmas sweaters and we'll really "Deck the Halls," so to speak! 

We've decided to follow the lead of the retailers and start doing Christmas early this year to avoid the rush.  Next year, I think that we'll move it up to October. You can't get started too early, now, can you?

Seriously, guys, this is getting ridiculous. Everywhere I go, I am already seeing Christmas stuff. People are starting to shut down and get ready for the holidays. Folks all over our city are already putting up Christmas trees and are decorating in their yards. Plastic snowmen are beginning to dot the landscape. The insanity of it all!  The whole month of December is wiped out with Christmas celebrations and it is next to impossible to schedule anything that is unrelated. I was at a local Baptist association meeting last week and we were talking about some initiatives for 2009. We wanted to get some pastors together and everyone agreed that if we wanted to do it before January, we had to have the meeting before Thanksgiving. That is how it is with my church and just about everyone else that I know as well.  I stopped the meeting and asked everyone if things were like this when they were younger. Basically, people are out of pocket for about 6 weeks. Everyone agreed that it was not this way years ago. Christmas celebrations did not start up until about two-three weeks before Christmas. That's how I remember it as well.

There are some reasons for this, I think.  Some of them good, some bad. Here we go:

1. As people live further and further away from their families, Christmas is the one time of the year when everyone gets together, so it has become a REALLY big deal.  "I'll Be Home For Christmas" puts more of a lump in our throat now than it ever has. Christmas' little brother, Thanksgiving, is an alternate Christmas for many families that are split because of divorce or it is a time to meet with one side of the family or the other. Our family rotates Christmas and Thanksgiving between my wife's side and mine. But, gifts are exchanged over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend every year now.
2. The commercialization of Christmas is completely out of hand. Our consumeristic economy depends on us spending truckloads of money on stuff that few of us really need or want. I recently saw that Americans spend $500 billion a year on Christmas!  Alternatively, $10 billion would provide clean drinking water for every person on the planet and would help prevent the deaths of 1.6 million children a year that occur from lack of access to clean drinking water. Shocking, isn't it?
3. I think that a lot of people are looking for the "perfect Christmas."  There is this ideal that is promoted that has you gathered with your family and friends experiencing warmth, peace, and comfort. There are so many different ways to experience Christmas now that you can't possibly do all of them, so, you have to spread it out for six weeks or so to get it all in. It seems that we aren't getting enough of what we are supposed to be getting during the year, so we try to get it all in at Christmas. Or, we are so empty as a culture that we can't wait to start celebrating something that makes us feel loved. 

Is any of what is driving the expansion of Christmas into November even remotely related to the birth of Jesus Christ?  Remember Him? He is the "Reason for the Season," isn't He? It seems that Jesus isn't talked about much until right around the actual day of Christmas.  We kind of wear ourselves out regarding Christmas and then remember that this is supposed to be about Jesus (or for most, family) after all. I know that I just explained the plot line of just about every Christmas movie ever made, but there is some truth to it.

So, this year I have decided to NOT celebrate Christmas at all until 18 days before.  Why 18 days? Because that is when our church Christmas Party is. On December 7th, we will gather with Family Life Bible Fellowship and have our annual Christmas Extravaganza. If I can't fit it in in 18 days, then it is too much, right? 

Everything else, I'm calling Festivus after the Seinfeld episode where George's father came up with a different holiday besides Christmas. I don't think that we'll do the "airing of grievances," the "festivus pole," or the "feats of strength," but I am going to survive this year by recognizing that everything that is not fairly close to the holiday or is not related to Jesus in some way is just Festivus. 

In case you're wondering about Festivus, here's a clip:

So, no Christmas for me until the time is right. I think that I'm actually going to enjoy Thanksgiving!

Poll: When do you decorate for Christmas?

A Few Photos of a Great Weekend

For a serious take on the upcoming IMB Board of Trustees meeting where they will make a final decision on the private prayer language and baptism policies, read this post.

To lighten things up, however, I thought I'd post a few pictures from our weekend with a little commentary. It started with me taking the kids to Birmingham yesterday to fly in a small twin engine plane with an organization called Dreams on Wings. They provided a day of fun for families who have had a sick children by taking them for a flight over north central Alabama. Caelan qualified, so we took advantage of it. It was a blast! Here are some pictures of my kids enjoying the day with a few caption for laughs:

Here's Peyton chasing after bubbles before our flight. All the kids loved going after the bubbles and they spent about 30 minutes doing so. I have decided that for Christmas this year, I am just going to spend $5 on a bubble gun. That and some empty boxes and wrapping paper should satisfy them. Seriously, I think that they would be just as happy.

                            

The kids and I with our pilot, Brandon, just before "blast off" as my three year old called it. Brandon is the cool looking guy on the left. I'm the other not so cool looking guy on the right.

                            

Peyton and Caelan travelling first class. It goes without saying that Caelan did not stay in his seat long and ended up in my lap.

                            

Here's Ashtyn flying the plane. Brandon, our "pilot" fell asleep or something, and Ashtyn had to take us down. It was a bit bumpy, but she did a pretty good job considering it was her first time. She's a rock under pressure, just like her old man!

Kieran is looking quite presidential, no? This picture was taken right before he started freaking out over the question of should he try and pop his ears or just let the pressure build until his head exploded? The picture captured the calm before the storm, so to speak. Popping his ears was quite terrifying to him as he kept saying, "Daddy, I can't hear anything." He was actually yelling it. Soon, he was in tears, afraid he was going deaf. So, I proceeded to stick my finger in his ear to see if that would work. Nothing. I tried to tell him that his fears of a life of deafness were irrational, but he just wouldn't listen. Kids.

Today, we had our annual chuch picnic. Immediately prior to the picnic, we have our AWANA Grand Prix. This is a fun time when the dads, er, kids get to show off their slot cars that they have made and race them. Seriously, this is cutthroat. Bragging rights are on the line for the entire year and unfortunately, my daughter has a father who stinks at anything that has to do with cutting wood into any discernable shape besides a triangular door jam. So, she got her annual door jam car again. I told her that I was sorry that I wasn't very good at this. She put her arm around me and said, "That's o.k. Daddy, winning isn't everything." She then proceeded to tell me that she really wanted a trophy. Riiiight.

Well, our Door Jam on Wheels was pretty fast, even though we didn't place. We kept losing by a nose. I still think the race was rigged, but we'll have to try again next year when I get to make TWO door jams (one for Ashtyn and one for Peyton). Peyton and Kieran just raced Hot Wheels cars because they were too young. They didn't win either. The Cross family did not distinguish themselves today because they have an incomptent for a father. Hey, at least I know how to blog! They can always comfort themselves by telling their friends that their Daddy may not be good at anything, but he DOES have a blog. Sigh. :(

                              

One of the guys that helped with AWANA got a pie in the face. Hey, it's a church picnic! SOMEBODY'S got to get a pie in the face, right? It's a church tradition right behind "Throw the pastor in the pool" at the pool party. I did think this was a cool picture, though.

                           

And of course, the slip-n-slide. Peyton got a good head of steam going, but he was still thrown out at home plate. It was a bad call, but what are you gonna do?

                               

We had a HUGE turnout for the picnic with a few hundred people present - or, was it several thousand? Not that I'm counting or anything. :) Anyway, we rented several inflatables, played volleyball, basketball, and relay races, ate a lot of food, and got to spend time with our church body as well as quite a few people from our community. We also had an international contingent with visitors from Iraq, Jordan, and Israel. They were international officers from the local Air Force base and training school.  I thought that a debate on who really has a right to be in Palestine would have been fun to watch, but I decided against it at the last minute.  On a serious note, I actually got to have some spiritual conversations with them. It was really cool.

We also had a GREAT service today. It was the second largest service (after Easter of this year) in the past several years. We baptized several kids and we got to pray for healing for a child suffering from seizures and a man with cancer at the end of the service. I serve a great church that really loves the Lord and desires to honor Him. I truly am a blessed man.

A Week in the Life . . .

I thought I'd write a fairly personal post for a change of pace. This has been an eventful week. Emotions have run the gamut of extreme joy to severe pain and sorrow, and everything in between. In a way, this week was nothing unusual. At the same time, it was rather extraordinary, because of the people I met and the things I got to do. God be praised.

• Saturday: travelled back from the Baptist Identity Conference with C.B. Scott and Bob Cleveland. We had some amazing conversation on the way. I enjoyed seeing and spending time with friends and fellow bloggers, Marty Duren, Art Rogers, Ben Cole, Timmy Brister, Steve McCoy, Joe Thorn, Wes Kenney, Tom Ascol, and Dwight McKissic. I have been shaped and challenged by men like these through this incredible blogging experience and it is always good to meet and hang out some with the people behind the blogs that are changing the face of the SBC, in one way or another. Plus, the speakers were great as well. If the tone of the conference is where the SBC is headed, we are going to be alright. It also caused me to see that the depth of the controversy in Baptist life is so great and so complex, that I would be well served to back off from it on my blog so that I can refocus on other things that are more positive and redemptive for the time being. It has been a refreshing decision. I will still write on baptist issues from time to time, but no where near as much as in the past (and everyone said, "Amen!"). But, for a good synopsis of a post that I was going to write in response to the Smith article on Charismatics and Baptists, but never got around to, PLEASE read this by David Rogers, IMB missionary to Spain. I couldn't have said it better in a million years.
• Sunday: What an amazing day! I filled in for a Sunday School class on Job and taught through Job 19-22. Then, I preached on Matthew 8 & 9, about the Authority of Christ. God really seemed to move in a powerful way and we had a significant time of ministry for some folks in our church, as well. In other news, we paid off our mortgage! Around 18 years ago, our church took out a loan to build our current sanctuary. As of January 2006, we still owed $153,000. At our current pace of payment, it would take around 4 years to pay it off. We desperately need more space, so it is time to build again. Well, over the past 3 months, we saw the last $90,000 paid off, with the last $20,000 coming from someone outside our church who just wanted to bless us! We needed about $2,100 on Sunday to finish it, so we took a special offering and brought in that amount and more! Praise God! We are now debt free! God has provided in amazing ways! We have drafted a building team in anticipation of this day, and they have started their work of leading us into building a new building. This will be an adventure. I'll give updates and ask for lots of advice as time goes by!
• Monday: I spent the day with a lady in our church and her daughter as we buried her parents. On Thursday of the previous week, I got a phone call that both of her parents had died tragically in a car wreck. There was much obvious grieving, but I saw God work in their lives as they experienced His presence and faithfully looked to Him. God was so gracious to them to give them strength and help them to grieve while He provided amazing comfort. I was asked to share the gospel at the funeral and it was a really interesting experience. The couple who passed away were in their 70's and 80's and were leaders in the Pentecostal Fire Baptized Holiness Church. So, the funeral was held at one of that denomination's churches, outside, in a camp meeting environment. There were hundreds of people there. I don't think that many of them were particularly crazy about a Baptist preacher speaking, but I faithfully shared the gospel anyway. What a day. Please pray for this family, that God would continue to give them strength and comfort and carry them through this tragedy.

Caelan Update: Caelan continues to do well as he takes his treatments every Monday in Birmingham. He is now 18 months old and, according to the latest scans, the cancer has not returned! Praise God! He is still going in for weekly treatments, but he only has 6 more treatments left. We started this whole thing almost a year ago and were facing 48 treatments, surgery, and a very difficult road. God has been faithful, however, and has brought us through it so far. Caelan is weak, often cranky, doesn't eat or sleep well, and is very small for his age. His color is sometimes bad, and he has lost most of his hair. Chemotherapy stinks. But, God is using it to save his life, and for that, we rejoice. At the same time, he is incredibly fiesty and stubborn. He doesn't take anything off anybody and he's as tough as nails. He'll wrestle his older brothers to the ground and give them a good beating as well. He's one of a kind, that's for sure. What a blessing!

• Tuesday: The day started EARLY with two hospital visits for church members who were experiencing surgery before 7am at different hospitals. I grabbed some breakfast at a local restaurant and studied Scripture. Then, I went into the office to try and catch up on all that I had missed over the last several days. There was a good deal to catch up on. Our church has grown from an average attendance of around 175 last fall, to an average attendance of around 230-240 so far this year. Most of those folks are in their 20's and 30's with lots of kids. So, there is always stuff to do. I had lunch with our elders and we talked about pastoral and leadership issues in the church. Those guys are a pleasure to serve with, no doubt. That evening, I took my son to his Upwards basketball practice where we had a father-son game. He had 10 points and around 12 rebounds. The kids beat the Dads, something like 46-14, but I did dunk it once (on the six foot goal!). Man, those 5 and 6 year olds can play! After that, I went to a meeting at a restaurant with John and Bill to make plans for our upcoming trip to India. We were there until late and I was weary.
• Wednesday: I stayed home in the morning, but met Greg and Glen, the co-chairs of our building team for lunch downtown. We worked on a strategy for how we are to move forward. These guys are amazing, and have already put a lot of work into this. They are top notch professionals in their fields, and they are bringing those abilities to this task as well. I can't wait to see what God is going to do through all of this. I then went back to the office for the afternoon, where I worked on a number of things and prepared for the Wednesday Night Bible Study. We are going through The Mind of Christ by T.W. Hunt. It has been an incredible study and Wednesday night was no different. God is really using it to speak to people in a deep way about their relationship with him. I am co-teaching it with an older, Godly man, who has been blessed with unusual insight into God's ways and character. We are seeing a lot of growth in the lives of the people going through the study. I am growing as well.
• Thursday: Engaged in office work, study, and an elongated staff meeting with our administrative staff, since I will be gone for two weeks. This was the calmest day of my week, and I was able to focus on a few necessary things. That evening, my wife and I met with the folks whose house we have been trying to buy for the past month and watched the deal fall through. The home inspector said that the house needed a new roof, a special roof, because of the low pitch of the roof on the house. A $16,000 roof. Oh well. We'll keep looking.
• Friday:  I'm off on Fridays. My 7 year old daughter, Ashtyn, had a lead role in a school play, where she played a clown fish who felt rejected because she told bad jokes and wasn't really that funny. The play was about all different kinds of fish in the sea, and how they all are unique and learned to be friends, despite their differences. She had a whole bunch of lines and did an awesome job. I am so proud of her. She goes to a magnet school in our city, and we are praying that our son, Peyton, gets in as well. He had his interview on Wednesday of this week, so we are hoping. We spent the rest of the day taking care of different things, and then had dinner with a really awesome family that just started attending our church last month. We hung out with them until way too late and talked about everything under the sun. We had a great time.
• Saturday: Today was a lot of fun. This morning, I took Ashtyn to her ice skating lessons and then, the whole family showed up for Peyton's last basketball game of the year. He played really hard, and I was so proud of him when he went diving head first for a loose ball. I love that! When we returned home, I wrestled with my boys on the floor for a good long while (Kieran, my 3 year old, is a real firecracker - he loves jumping all over me and his older brother, Peyton - It's great!). After that, we were all pretty tired from a hectic week, and rested during the afternoon, before we returned for Peyton's Upwards Basketball Awards ceremony this evening. We saw a woman spin 10 basketballs at one time, and then share the gospel! She was pretty talented. We participated in Upwards at a local megachurch, but folks from our church were all over the place. Three of the teams were coached by people from our little church. It was great to see those guys participating with the larger Christian community in our city.

All in all, it was an eventful week. Of course, I didn't mention the diaper changing, baths given, meals prepared, phone calls, errands run, conversations, and other things. I just scratched the surface. Sometimes, it is good to sit back and reflect on the things that you've been involved with on a daily basis. Overall, my week focused more intensely on my church and family than outside things, mostly because I will be gone to India for the next two weeks. But, this exercise was helpful because it causes me to ask some questions: Where did I see God move? How did I experience His presence? How did I interact with others? What do I need to change? How much time did I spend with the Lord and did it make any difference in my daily life? How much time did I spend with my family? Others? While I ministered to people within my church, I realize that I didn't share the gospel with anyone this week. I was tired a lot. I didn't pray as much as I should have. I was pretty discouraged about some things at times. But, I praise God for His faithfulness and grace. I pray that I will continue to grow in Him and learn to depend upon Him more and more. As I look back, I am grateful for all that happened this week.

Tomorrow we take Communion as a church. I preach about Jesus. In two days, I go to India for almost two weeks. I'll miss my wife and children terribly, but I am excited about what God has in store for us!

Relaxing Day

Today was my 5 year old son Peyton's first basketball game. He did great! He played really tough defense and was named the Defensive Player of the Game for his team with 5 rebounds and tight defense on his man. It was really fun! After that, I took him and my three year old boy, Kieran, to the park (Shakespeare Festival) for some exploring and picture taking. I'm pretty new at the photography thing (so cut me some slack), but I thought I'd put a few of my favorite ones up. Hope you had a great weekend. It was sunny and in the 70's here!  Really nice day! (Click on the picture for the larger size.)