Fishrapper

Disrespect in the Church

  

A friend expressed concern over the number of church activities where food stuffs had been consumed in our worship center. There had been the 50th anniversary dinner, two senior graduation breakfasts, a Valentine's Day reception, and a wedding reception.

   As I listened I thought the problem was the possibility of food stains on our new carpet, which have at times concerned me. Until the topic moved to people who bring drinks into church on Sunday. Then my questions and the answers revealed that the real problem was respect for God.

   We had a lengthy and somtimes heated discussion of the issue.

   I thought I should list what people do in church that makes others think they disrespect church. Here's a partial list:

• People talking during the service.
• Not being on time.
• Accepting responsibilities and not doing them.
• Judging other people.
• Reading the bulletin during singing, prayer, or the message.
• Not singing.
• Sitting separate from others.
• Demanding own wants and desires.
• Chewing gum.
• Eating candy.

   Do you have some thoughts?

Atheists, Who?

We (Christians) love to dis people unlike us.

• Different denominations
• Different cultures
• Different churches
• Different ethnic groups
• Different concepts

   That's a shame.

   Reading Richard Wurmbrand's book Tortured for Christ the other day I stumbled on an astounding statement. It made me cringe, tremble and gasp.

   "Atheists are men who do not acknowledge the invisible sources of their life."

   Wow! Talking about fingers pointing back to me (us)!

   Do we ever refuse to acknowledge God, His Spirit, His Word, His power in our lives? What does that make us, at least for the moment?

First Amendment Wrongs

Miss California got dissed for standing up to what she believes is right. She may not be Miss USA, but she is certainly one of the starring daughters of the King. I'll bet the Father is proud, even if Perez Hilton, Keith Lewis et al are not.

Carrie Prejean is a winner. How do I know? Read 1 Peter 1:13-16 as I did this morning.

"Prepare your minds for action (she had), keep sober in spirit (she was), fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (she did). As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in ignorance..." (She did not revert back.)

Such was not the case for Hilton and Lewis. They let their feelings and prejudices get ahead of the constitution. They want rights, they just don't want to give them.

I agree with Miss California. I don't agree with Hilton and Lewis. But they all have a constitutional right to their opinions. Miss California just paid for hers, or maybe God spared her.

I Hurt...

It doesn't make a lot of sense but I've been grieving all day -- for Kenny Perry and his loss in the Masters Golf Tournament.

I usually pull for someone (in golf) or a team in basketball or football, but the a loss has never affected me this way. I have actually hurt. I'd like to be able to say my grief was for Perry, who at 48 probably won't have another shot at winning the Masters, or any other major, but it wasn't. It was for me. I wish I knew why.

Lord, give me a sense of what is going on.

Thoughts Thought at the Foot of the Cross

I am delighted God gave me a second chance. I certainly needed (need) it.

I am delighted I don't have to figure out how to get right with God. Jesus is the way.

I am delighted to have obeyed God's plan for my life, for the most part, at least.

I am delighted at God's call.

I am delighted by His love.

I am delighted at the people He has surrounded me with. What a blessing!

I am delighted there's more to come.

Thank you Father!

"I Declare..."

It’s Friday!

Jesus hangs on the cross. His life appears to be ebbing away. He has been verbally abused, taunted, challenged, tantalized with the possibility of greatness, mocked, spat upon, and beat. It is now His time. With a legion of angels at his beck and call, Jesus turned His back on the world’s way and chose His Father’s will. Hanging there He cries out, “Into Thy hands I commit My Spirit.” He gave up His life. They didn’t take it away. Willingly Jesus jumped into the arms of His Father. Jesus put his postmortem future in the hands of His Heavenly Father.

Where is your trust?

Throughout our lives we rely on all sorts of things. We begin life fully dependent on our parents. Along the way we trust teachers, doctors, lawyers, pilots, spouses, presidents, police officers, friends, pastors, and, of course, our selves. But in the end there is only one place for ultimate trust. In God, and God alone, through His crucified and resurrected Son, Jesus Christ.

Manley Beasley, a Texas evangelist who for years suffered from three terminal illnesses while experiencing great pain, declared, “Sink, or swim, live or die, I commit myself to Jesus.”

The prophet Habakkuk declared, “Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls. Yet, I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

And Job declared, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15)

Sunday's coming! What’s your declaration?

My Rock and Fortress

I cringe when asked, "How's the church?" I don't like where we are. Neither do the people! But I can't let the circumstances reflect where I am day by day.

I realized this morning it is okay to be happy or sad, up or down, on top of it or underneath, as long as I remember God never changes and my real abiding place is in His City of Refuge.

Thank you Father for being all I need.

The Real Story

Well, the election is over. So, in conclusion...

Our current president, the honorable George W. Bush, is not the cause of all our problems. He is, however, the cause of most of our discontent. Refusing to seek popularity, he instead sought to do the best he knew how under the circumstances. My belief is that time, and maybe only eternity, will reveal how much he led us to do was under the direct will of Almighty God.

Now it is up to us to cover president-elect Barack Obama with prayer. He will need it. We need it. Mr. Obama is not the solution to our ills. Only God is.

Let us pray...

Cultural Diversity in Blythe

For a small town far removed from the mainstream of Southern California, Blythe offers tremendous diversity – socially, economically, racially, and ethnically.

I was born and lived in the south where it was black or white, rich or poor.

I ministered in southern Louisiana where those differences were joined by Catholic vs. protestant and Cajun vs. non-Cajun.

Here in Blythe my wife and I have been blessed by relationships with such a diverse group of people – Hispanics, Koreans, Blacks, and Caucasians from so many places.

As a southern journalist who covered much of the racial unrest of the 1960s I had some understanding of the struggles of blacks and whites. But I had no concept of the problems Hispanics have faced over the years.

Our time here has been a wonderful education in the Hispanic culture. To which I can only say, “Wow.” And “thanks!”

Shirley, my wife, has had a special impact on the community through her work at the Sheltering Wings Thrift Store. Her caring heart and penchant for remembering names has torn down walls of division for many people here. God is pleased when we actively love and accept people despite differences.

Up and Running Again

    This has not been a good last five months. It could have been, but I got in the way.

    We moved from our 3,800 sq. ft. ranch house to a 1,040 sq. ft. house on the Colorado River. We call it our Beach House. And it is a lovely setting. But culling has been another story. And at 66 it has been exhausting.

    I've done too much griping and complaining and too little thanking God. In other words, I've blown it. I've repented.

    Good times are ahead.

How Much Pain Can I Take?

    A friend told me recently he was wrestling over a problem with Christian. God impressed him to talk to Steve, a wise friend who he hadn’t seen or heard from in months. Later that morning he pulled into a service station and there at the pump next to him was Steve. Steve was in a hurry and didn’t have time to do anything other than say hello. But as he drove away he shouted back, “If you can’t do it out of love, don’t do it.”

    As my friend meditated on Steve's comment he asked himself, “How much pain can I take and still love?”

    What a question?

    Doesn’t that point us straight to Jesus? At the very moment of his death, Jesus looked down on all those involved in bringing him to the point of death. He offered them forgiveness. Pardon! Clemency! Mercy! Absolution! Exoneration!

    The people may not have fully understood what they were doing, but we know what they did.

    They beat Jesus, spat in his face, humiliated him, forced a crown of thorns upon his head, made him carry his own cross, and then they executed him.

    The typical response of a condemned man dying on a cross was words of hatred and bitterness. But Jesus shouted words of forgiveness, “Father, forgive them...”

    By speaking forgiveness God treats all who repent as if the offense against Him never happened. We are to go and do likewise.

    How much pain can you take and still love?

Taking Care of Business

    My apologies for not writing, but I'm knee deep in alligators.

    I have two editing/writing jobs past due, and we are moving. Not out of Blythe, but from one house to another. Financial considerations have driven us from our 3800 square foot home on the Fisher Ranch, five miles from town. Our new abode is almost a fourth the size, but we call it our beach house. It is located on the Colorado River within the city limits.

    Posts will be sporadic until after the first of the year. We're having the entire family for Christmas, and then we move prior to New Year's. Prayer would be helpful.

A Refreshing Second Chance

    I was delighted to learn of the University of Mississippi's selection as the site for the Presidential debate on domestic issues next year. What a difference 44 years can make.

    Ole Miss made headlines in the fall of 1962 with the enrollment of James Meredith, the first black to ever attend the school. Read An American Insurrection: The Battle of Oxford by William Doyle.

    As a journalist with The Associated Press, I spent a year on the Ole Miss campus covering the integration story. See Breaking News: How the Associated Press Has Covered War, Peace, and Everything Else, pg. 95-97.

    Since those days a black has been elected President of the Student Body and a former football star, NFL player and law professor, Dr. Robert Khayat, has strongly led the University  to recovery and prominence on the Southern education scene.

    Refreshing, isn't it?

A Ringing Endorsement

    I recently stumbled on John Ortberg's book, Everybody's Normal Till You Get To Know Them." Wow! This is good stuff, a masterpiece on relationships or, as he puts it, community.

    He describes his book: "This is...about how imperfect people like you and me can pursue community with other imperfect people."

    If you'd like more tidbits like this before buying the book check out my listing of quotations on Tumblr. You will ultimately buy the book.

Have I Told You Lately...

    Are you trying to get something done through someone else, maybe a spouse, child, or colleague, but having little success? Roy H. Williams, the Wizard of Ads, has some thoughts in his Monday Morning Memo.

    "Great coaches are great," he says, "not because they were superstars, but because they know how to awaken the star that sleeps in each of the players around them."   

    He then suggests a 7 to 1 ratio of encounters.

    "Great managers look for things to praise in their people, knowing that it takes 7 positive strokes to recover from each negative reprimand. Think about it. If seven out of eight times we encounter our boss we receive an authentic, affirming comment, a bit of happy news or a piece of valuable insight, we love to see our manager coming down the hall. But if our encounters with the manager leave us deflated, discouraged or scared, our hearts will sink when we see them coming."

    Check out the rest of Roy's post, Ronald, Bill and You.

I Need You, You Need Me

    I really don't care what you are doing. I should, but I don't! And if the truth were known, you don't care what I'm doing either.

    Sounds awful, doesn't it?

    Why don't I care? Two reasons!

• I don't really know you.
• Nor do I know what you are doing.

    And that is the same reason you don't care.

    By the way, this is the same reason most of our prayers go unanswered. We don't know the One to whom we pray.

    If we don't know one another, then it is impossible to know what each of us is going through and, generally, we don't care about what we don't know.

    This is true of our relationship with God. If I'm not intimate with Him then I won't really know His desires for me or the Kingdom, and therefore I will be unable to pray according to His will. That is why Jesus taught us to pray beginning with our relationship with God: "Our Father..."

    Three more thoughts:

1. No man is an island!
2. Hermitology is not in God's vocabulary.
3. I can't operate in isolation; neither can you.

Five Stars

    They call it the Gaius Guest Ranch after John's friend in 3 John 1, 5-8. It's a magnificent place of hospitality. I rate it ***** five stars. Nothing less! About 120 miles north-northwest of Spokane, Washington.

    Words can only attempt to describe the experience -- quiet, restful, stunning setting, great scenery, encouraging, zoo-like.

    Check it out. Supper is prepared. It is tasty and ample, with lots of meat. The facilities are comfortable. They certainly met our needs for sleeping, food preparation, reading, praying, and visiting. The caretakers, Gerry (Ike) and Dede Eickerman, are servants. They give you space and yet are there when you need them.

    And best of all: There's no one else there but you and your spouse.

    If you get antsy you can drive north 20 minutes to Northport or south 45 minutes to Kettle Falls. The Columbia River (backwaters of Lake Roosevelt) are five minutes down the mountain with plenty of places to relax or fish. And no matter which direction you arrive from you've already been blessed by the beauty of God's creation.

    Gaius Guest Ranch! Five stars! I recommend it highly. I'll certainly be back, maybe in the winter this time. Check it out

You Just Never Know

    Our days are a mixture of good and bad, great and small. Such has been this Tuesday in the mountains of northeast Washington.

    A cool, cloudy morning has turned to a warm, sunny day.

    There are two Jerrys at the Christian guest ranch where we are staying -- one the owner, up for the week from his home in California; the other the resident caretaker.

    The owner took us for a ride this morning, to a 20 acre plot of land high overlooking Roosevelt Lake on the Columbia River. What beauty! He described his plans for turning it, also, into a place where those in ministry can rest and relax. Wow!

    The caretaker came back from town after lunch, gathered my wife and I up, and took us down the mountain to see a momma bear and two cubs playing in an apple tree alongside the road. Somebody beat us to them -- two hunters. They shot one cub as we pulled up. The other escaped. What happened to the mother is unknown. What a sickening sight!

    Isn't that just like life. Lord, help us!

God Is So Good

    I'm sitting here in the mountains of northeastern Washington, far from civilization. The only thing that comes to mind is that old commercial, "Mmmmmm! Boy! Almond joy!"

    The view is magnificent. The air is chilled. Deer and wild turkey abound.

    We're on vacation at a place called Gaius Guest Ranch. They take only one pastor or missionary couple at a time. We have a neat cabin with a loft, a kitchen house next door, a fishing pond nearby, and a host couple who cook dinner for us each night.

    It is eat, sleep, read, talk, and spend bunches of quality time with the Father.

    Wish you were here!

Has It Come To This?

    Pets are nice, especially man's best friend. But there is something wrong when a country gets up in arms about dog fighting and cruelty to animals, yet smiles at the abortion of babies in the womb.

    Michael Vick did wrong, but he didn't kill a baby.

    Our response to this issue indicates how far we -- the United States of America -- have fallen.

    Dogs or babies! Breaks my heart!

The Value of Thanksgiving

    Thoughts from 1 Thessalonians 5:18 -- "In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

• God's will for me is to be a thankful person.
• Thanks is to God in the circumstance, not necessarily for the circumstance.
• Giving thanks is the right way to respond to the wrongs in our lives.
  • No matter what is going on.
  • For our lives.
  • For the circumstances surrounding us.
  • For the pain and difficulties.
  • For our griefs and sorrows.
• Giving thanks sets us free of our baggage and bondage.
• Giving thanks says God is in charge. He is sovereign.
• God rules!

   

Emotional Update

    Still here!

    Still frustrated! Still discouraged! Still overly sensitive to criticism! Still seeing God at work!

    God has His act together. But I'm lacking.

    Just thought I'd let you know.

What I Occasionally Think

    I thought the other day, "What's the use? I quit!"

    And that's not the first time.

    Then God...

    Reminded me:

    There is an open door.

    He called me.

    Whatever is accomplished here is His doing, not mine.

    The God who blessed Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Peter, James, John, and Paul is capable of working out His purposes through my life.

    Don't give up!

    God's commissioning guarantees success -- if obeyed.

    He is at work. And so is His Son.

    I think I'll join them.

God is Talking

    I tilted back in my lounge chair, eyes skyward. I saw the pine trees, the array of needles and small pinecones. They were beautiful and shady; perfect but, sadly, short term. Here today and gone tomorrow. The shape of every tree was unique. 

    And the sky! It was blue, one of those "on a clear day you can see forever" skies.

    The breeze was cool. Birds chirped. Bugs sounded off with synchronized madness.

    Everything worked as planned.

    Except me?

    And maybe (probably) you!

    You and I are the ones who have failed to function as created.

    And that's just another day on my spiritual retreat to the Arizona mountains.

First, and Foremost

    Henry Blackaby asked me an interesting question the other day (in his Day by Day Devotional and Journal). "Where is your treasure?"

    I'd like to say "God" or the "Bible." But other things came to mind too. Actually lots of stuff.

• Food
• Fishing
• Computer
• Travel
• Leisure time

    So, who (or what) comes first? The politically (or spiritually) correct answer is God. But does He?

Touching Lives

    Just got back from Mississippi and the annual Savell family reunion. It was an enormously satisfying ministry trip.

    I wanted to go because it was going to be a special time honoring one hundred years in ministry for my uncle Carl and his music minister. But I couldn't. No money! Until God provided through our adopted daughter and her husband, Karen and Mark Lund in Seattle.

    God was able to use me to further encourage and bless my uncle, who is really like a brother. What he and his church are doing in the end of his ministry is amazing. With a median age of 75 this church has adopted a group of recovering alcoholics and drug addicts, and is sponsoring a new church start.

    I also drove 400 miles out of the way just to visit my 96-year-old high school English teacher and senior class sponsor, Mrs. Lila Frances Foote. We talk on the phone regularly, but about two years ago she asked me if I would commit to doing her funeral. I agreed. She often tells me it won't be long and I say, "Wait, I'm coming to see you." She would just laugh. Together we laughed last week. What a woman.

    While in Iuka, MS, I heard that my seventh grade girlfriend, Betty Ann Laxson Crawford, was not doing well physically. She had a kidney transplant 30 years ago and complications were giving her some concern. It was another opportunity for God to touch someone's life through me. Awesome!

    I could go on and on. It was no vacation. Too tiring. But what a wonderful, satisfying time.

Yielding, Working!

    Three questions are foremost in my mind as I focus on living the Spirit-filled life.

• Where is God working in me?
• How am I yielding?
• What problems do I have giving in?

What Should I Do?

    It is amazing how one week a truth passes you by and the next week the same truth slaps you up side the head. Which is what just happened to me!

    Ten days ago I taught a Bible study from 2 Peter 3. I'm not even sure what my points were, but they seemed right at the time. They obviously did not stay with me. Not so today.

    From the same passage today God got real specific:

• Don't get lulled into false security.
• Don't forget what is coming.
• People will say otherwise, mocking, questioning and influencing.
• Despite God's great patience the end is coming.
• It will be a surprise. A bang! A note of finality!

    The question, Peter writes, is "what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness..." v. 11

    What should I do?

Saying NO To Myself

    Shirley (my wife) and I had a disagreement early this week. It was a word thing. And it didn't get resolved immediately. I was absolutely sure I was right. Still am! But let me tell you God's take on it.

    I was mowing the yard Monday morning and God brought up the last point of my Sunday message -- yielding as a key to walking in the Spirit. He amplified it, suggesting I need to yield to Shirley on this issue. In response my thought was, "But I was right." And God said the issue was not who was right, but simply that I was to yield. Literally! To Him!

    Philippians 2:3-4 came to mind. "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself..."

    I understood the principle. I needed to yield to her because I was to consider her as more important than myself. In the flesh -- the opposite of the Spirit -- that is a hard pill to swallow. But as I chewed on these thoughts I heard the Spirit saying that it was more than yielding to Shirley. It was really yielding to Him.

    So I've been walking around all week with my hands in the air, as if surrendering, and muttering to myself: "Yield."

    I don't have time to tell you all the incidents that occurred this week. It was enough to drive home the point. There were lots of opportunities. And in the process God even had the opportunity to say to me, "You really have a need to be right, don't you?"

    I need to yield, even when I believe I've been dealt a bad hand and want to fold. Folding is not the answer. Yielding is! Always!

Valuable Times

    The past month has been one of the most stressful, yet joyful times of my life.

    We had company -- Jack Taylor (wife, Frede) and Peter Lord (wife, Johnnie). They were in our home for 16 days, here to teach our people at First Southern Baptist Church, and the pastors/leaders of the Trinity Southern Baptist Association.

    I was stressed because of the responsibility I felt, plus I did not know Jack well. I was very nervous about having him in our home for five days. Shouldn't have been! He was a delight, as was his wife. We were blessed abundantly by their presence. And, of course, the time with Peter and Johnnie was as always -- refreshing and challenging.

    God really used them to introduce us in a fresh way to the Holy Spirit. The neat thing is that, though they are gone, God continues his work in us -- and me.

    I am excited about what God is teaching us, especially the principle of yielding as a model for walking in the Spirit.

Specific Prayer

    We prayed tonight for Peter Lord, an author and former pastor who is coming to minister next week at our church in the Southern California desert.

    I had read the story of blind Bartimaeus where Jesus asked, "What do you want Me to do for you?" He answered, "I want to regain my sight." (Mark 10:51)

    Then I asked the people to pray just as specifically, like Andrew Murray suggested, "...the distinct expression of definite need." They did! It was great. Every request was to the point. No wholesale praying! I was blessed by their intercession for the man who next week would minister to them.

    But I also hurt. I thought, "I wish they prayed like that for me."

   

Questioning Easter

    Being a journalist I raised six questions Sunday. I called them the who, what, when, where, how, and why of Easter. A seventh came to mind today -- do.

    Do you know what you are doing?

Thanks, I Needed That

    As a youth pastor 25 years ago I met weekly for breakfast and Bible study with six college guys. We grew together. Three of those men are pastors today, in North Carolina, Louisiana and California.

    One of them, Tony Hand, blessed me recently .  "You have had such an impact on my life," he said, recalling our past times together. "And I've tried to carry that on with others."

    His comments brought to mind one of my favorite verses, 2 Timothy 2:2, "And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also."

    And I was reminded of those men who impacted my life spiritually. Ken Lyle, now retired in West Texas, was the pastor in New York who awakened me to the idea that there was something more in the Christian life than just being saved. Robbie Goss, Danny Daniels and Peter Lord impacted my life greatly during the '70s. Robbie was my youth team leader. He trained me for ministry. Danny discipled me and I am forever grateful. Peter gave me a vision for ministry, preaching and pastoring. He has remained my friend and encourager to this day.

    Where would we be without men (or women) who have poured themselves out for us.

    As I write this I'm reminded of the woman who similarly impacted my life -- Lila Frances Foote, age 95, my high school English teacher, senior class sponsor, who I've come to realize was like a mother to me in my high school days. She believed in me.

    Thank you all!

Will I Ever Learn?

    I should have listened.
    My friends Don and Dennis told me to wait and let them help. "The ground may be slippery," they said. I didn't listen.
    I went to the water's edge to empty the rain water from my jon boat. We were on vacation at Patagonia Lake in southern Arizona. The dirt bank seemed stable. I pulled several times to get the boat up on the bank. Then I slipped right on my tail bone, the same one I injured 35 years ago while riding in a friend's bass boat.
    Realizing I couldn't move the boat further I moved to the back to lighten it by removing the battery. One hand couldn't do it, so I stepped into the boat with one foot and attempted to lift the battery with both hands. Suddenly the boat started sliding back into the water. I went with it, submersing everything but my wife's baseball cap. The boat tipped sideways, but I let loose and nothing spilled.
    My ego was damaged, but no one saw me. So after clearing the rest of the water from the boat I walked the shoreline trail back to my camper, took a hot shower, and changed clothes.
    I did give my friends a verbal picture of my adventure, even suggesting I would recreate it if they'd make a video. But now my tail bone hurts. I really should have listened to my friends.

O, Nuts!

    There's new turmoil in Southern Baptist life. So what's new about that?

     If it's not controversy over mission board members, then its seminary board members. Or one attack or another on someone or thing. I wonder who's behind all this?

    Fellow blogger Geoff Baggett does a great job of putting it into perspective. See his post on nuts in the SBC.

    I seldom buy peanuts, or English walnuts. I prefer mixed nuts. That way I can eat what I want and toss, or use sparingly, the rest.

    It's the nuts that make it difficult for a dying world to subscribe to a loving God.

Imagination Determines Attitude

    My mother-in-law languished in a nursing home in deep depression, thinking she faced kidney dialysis. Imagining the worse and believing a lie, she just wanted to die. She didn't know the problem was not her health as much as it was her imagination.

    It was the prophet Isaiah who said perfect peace came from those "whose imagination is stayed" on God (Isaiah 26:3).

    We are not to let our relationship with God to be determined by our circumstances. Jesus told the woman at the well (John 4) that the place of worship was not geographical but spiritual.

    The apostle Paul was bound for Jerusalem. He didn't know specifically what he would be facing, but he knew it wasn't good humanly speaking. Certainly there was imprisonment and suffering. It didn't bother him. His only desire was that "I may finish my course with joy..." (Acts 20:24).

    My imagination must stay solidly on God.

A Serious Question

    How would you respond to a son or daughter who asked, "What are the four most important rules in our family?"

    I would say:

1. Love God.
2. Honor parents.
3. Respect others.
4. Do your best.

A Word for the Church

    California's On Target Evangelism Conference offered some juicy comments with a heavy dose of encouragement.

    Erwin Raphael McManus of Mosaic: "The train wreck that is keeping people from Jesus Christ is Christianity."

    Ken Blanchard, co-author of Lead Like Jesus:  "If all people would act like Jesus the lost would want Him."

    Matt Brown of Sandals Church: "The world is totally shocked when it discovers churches that care."

    Wayne Chaney Jr. of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, Long Beach, CA, outlined a chemical element equation for effective evangelism -- W (Word), S (Spirit) and O (obedience): "I want a God-breathed original, not a cheap copy." The problem, Chaney said, is we have left out the Spirit.

    I have often abhorred Evangelism Conference sessions where local pastors spoke glowingly of their accomplishments, whether in Michigan, Washington, or California. But not this time. The Spirit was not left out and there was no cheap copy.

Tupelo Is Not Just A Tree

    My favorite small town in America has just scored big again. Tupelo, Mississippi will get a $1.3 billion Toyota manufacturing plant, opening in 2010.

    Why Mississippi? Why Tupelo?

    Tupelo has tripled in size from the 11,000 that lived there when I was State Editor of the Tupelo Daily Journal, now the Northeast Mississippi Journal.

    Though a tenth of the size of the state capitol, Jackson, Tupelo has been a leader in the state for years. It has led the state economically, educationally, and in the solution of racial problems. It was a pleasure for my wife and I to live there. In fact, it was in Tupelo that God began speaking to me about my relationship with him. Together my friend Charles Owens and I discovered there was something more to life than just going to church, and that transparency was a good thing.

    Tupelo has been an oasis in this state for years. It was also the birthplace of Elvis. Nuf sed?

Quotations That Stick

    For maybe ten years I've regularly used the saying, "Insanity is continuing to do the things you've always done and expecting different results." I don't know the originator, but my pastor in Titusville, FL, Peter Lord, introduced me to it.

    Recently I discovered Albert Einstein had made a similar comment, "...the problems of the world" he said, "cannot be resolved by the same type of thinking that created those problems in the first place." Touche!

    Speaking of quotes or sayings, I like Charles Stanley's recent comment on church: "If you do not allow God to change the way people do church, you will miss out on what God wants to do."

    A street-side sign in Seattle once caught my attention: "The dread of criticism is the death of genius."

    Preaching on marriage, I once made the statement, "I liked you until I found out what you were like." My wife objected to what it meant, so I added, "then I had to learn to love you." Isn't that what it's all about?

    On Monday, I heard Ken Blanchard, author of Lead Like Jesus and The One-Minute Manager,  say "if all Christians would act like Jesus the lost would want Him."

    Talking about the sin of the unchurched versus the churched, Sandals Church pastor Matt Brown told the California On Target Evangelism Conference, "the only difference is they show it and we hide it."

What Won't They Think Of Next?

    Now here's a thought!

    A group of teenagers, asked to brainstorm the planting of a new church, dreamed up the idea of a church in a laundromat near a college campus. Provide fellowship, Bible studies, and accountability groups for students while they wash and dry their clothes. After the initial investment costs would take care of themselves. They even named it -- the Laundromat Fellowship. Read more from Geoff Baggett.

    Certainly stirs my creative juices.

Secrets Revealed

    I've always been one to share with others.

    I don't keep fishing secrets -- either technique or location. I also don't keep secret good books, great restaurants, scenic drives, or other valuable information. Of course this doesn't mean I can't keep a secret. I can. Just not now!

    Here are a couple of secrets God revealed to me this past week: 

    "Let all you do be done in love." (1 Corinthians 16:14)   

    "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." (Isaiah 26:3) The RSV uses a different word for mind -- IMAGINATION.   

    "...a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries."
(1 Corinthians 16:9)

    Please pray for me as I process these words.

Nothing Between Us

    Unity has always been important to me. I preached it once at an annual association meeting in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and had a pastor challenge me on it. "Nice idea," he said, "but impractical."

    But now I have been blind-sided by unity. As I read Jesus' words in John 17:22, "that they may be one as We are one," I was struck by the thought that unity means agreement, harmony, and accord. The picture I got was of nothing -- zilch -- between us.

    Nothing should come between God and me. Nothing! And there should be nothing between Shirley and me, either.

    God wants me to guard jealously the relationship I have with Him, and the one I have with my wife.

    So the question I face is "what am I letting come between God and me, or for that matter, between Shirley and me?"

     This relates to a similar thought. On what, or whom, do I depend? Is it Christ?

    God wants me to narrow my interests until my focus is on Him alone.

Take Care

    Would you like a challenge? One for a lifetime!

    Steve Farrar issues one. He asks, "do you have a son" (or daughter), and then reminds us of Jesse's hesitance concerning his shepherd son, David, when the prophet Samuel was looking for a successor to King Saul.

    I like Farrar's answer.

    "Don't make Jesse's mistake...that great leader for the next generation may be running around your house right now with a diaper that needs changing and stuff hanging out of his nose. So make sure you take good care of that kid."   

    Or maybe he's a junior higher struggling with self-esteem and peer pressure, a high schooler demanding independence, or a young adult wavering on the teeter-totter of life.

    Take care. Be a shepherd.

One Necessary Thing

    I sat down early this morning to enjoy God. Before I knew it the clock said 11:30 a.m., and I had spent no intimate time with the Lord.

    I had...

• Made four phone calls to Christian brothers about spiritual matters.
• e-Mailed seven messages on the church to my sister-in-law.
• Congratulated a long lost friend on his ministry to post moderns.
• Read 15 blog entries from fellow pastors.
• Swept and dust-mopped the house, and cleaned the kitchen.

    I got way-laid, side-tracked, distracted by things. All were necessary, but they were just religious exercise in comparison to enjoying God.

    My priorities needed adjusting. I'm not condemning myself over it. But I do recognize "only one thing is necessary," and that is what I want.

Now That's Service

    Customer service really bums me out, or shall I say the lack of it.

    Customer service kept me off line with my e-mail for five days beginning last Thursday. Nobody could get it right. As I've discovered in the days since Sears forgot that "the customer is always right," no one cares.

    John Moore explains how the world's largest rent-a-car company got that way in his blog Branding Autopsy. Enterprise Rent-A-Car hires based on these eight Critical Customer Service Skills::

1. A passion for taking care of customers.
2. A willingness to be flexible.
3. A work ethic based on dedication to company and mission.
4. An eagerness to learn a new business and work way up.
5. Self-motivation and goal-orientation.
6. Persuasive sales skills.
7. Excellent communication skills.
8. Leadership ability.

    Do they work? They seem to. At least customer, Ed Brenegar, thinks so.

    "Virtually every time I rent from them, they are doing something special for me. Once I rented a 15 passenger van to drive people and supplies to the gulf coast on a hurricane relief project. I think they discounted my rate by at least 50%. I didn't ask that they do it. They just recognized the importance of the trip and wanted to help out. And the woman who handled it, didn't have to go check with her manager, she just did it. That kind of freedom makes them more likely to serve the customer's best interest, which ultimately results in the company's."

   Ummm! Purpose Driven! That makes this a Black Bear Inn type of story.   

The Learning Curve

    The second most important thing I can do as a pastor is to be a learner.

    The first is to be in intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ. Jesus called it "the one needful thing," which Mary had chosen. This is where it's at -- loving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I do that through reading the Word, prayer, meditation, fellowship with others, and a lot of quiet time cogitating. Cogitation, by the way, involves thought, consideration, deliberation, reflection, and lots of questions. That's me!   

    I learn by reading books, church web sites, blogs -- lots of blogs -- and prayerfully thinking. Plus I bounce stuff off friends, colleagues, and other resource people. One such person is Perry Noble, pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC. Check out his blog entry on learning.

    You might notice no conferences. The church hasn't been able to afford them the past three years. I do get away for a week each summer, developing a personal conference around a couple of books I want to read. But there are a couple of conferences I miss. You might make it an item of prayer.

Yes, Lord...

   

    Max Lucado says God honors radical, risk-taking faith. In He Still Moves Stones he writes:

    "When arks are built, lives are saved. When soldiers march, Jerichos tumble. When staffs are raised, seas still open. When a lunch is shared, thousands are fed. And when a garmet is touched -- whether by the hand of an anemic woman in Galilee or by the Prayers of a beggar in Bangladesh -- Jesus stops. He stops and responds."

    Is that my response? I hope so. I hope I have high expectations of God concerning my needs, and that I am stopped by the needs of others. God "in me" working and God "through me" working.

My God Is Big

    God is able.

    He is "able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we (dare) ask or think (infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams...", according to the power that works within us..." (Ephesians 3:20, NAS-Amp) That power is "to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13, NAS)

    But the question is, "Will He?"

    That depends on our perspective, our expectation, and our faith. Let's consider these questions:

1. What do we need God to do?
2. Is it something He might want to do?
3. Do we think it is God's will?
4. Why do we think it is God's will?
5. How does He want us to cooperate with Him?
6. Are we willing?

    I expect Him to care, to act and to know what is best! And whatever His response, as the line goes in the movie, Facing the Giants, "I will still love you Lord. I will still love you."

    Meanwhile, "I will watch expectantly..." (Micah 7:7

Love and Respect

    My counseling runs in cycles. It is either feast or famine, deluge or drought. Right now I'm working with two couples, neither in my church. It is an opportunity to share the Gospel, and to rethink some of my personal stuff as well. In the process I'm re-reading Dr. Emerson Eggerichs' Love and Respect. This is one of the best pieces of marriage advice I've come across. I highly recommend it.

    The book flows out of the Scripture found in Ephesians 5:33, "Nevertheless let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see to it that she respect her husband." Peter reinforced the principle when he encouraged wives of ungodly husbands to exhibit "chaste and respectful behavior." (1 Peter 3:1-2)

    I had long believed that respect was a missing ingredient in teaching and counseling related to marriage. It was an issue I personally struggled with. Eggerichs presents to us "the love she most desires" and "the respect he desperately needs."

    You might pick it up.