“I thought she felt a little heavy”

We had a funny “parent humor” moment today.  Its kind of like “potty humor”, but it’s not.  Often it involves potty humor, but that’s life with kids.   In our house there is enough nose wiping and diaper changing alone going on to make a grown person start to get light headed.  And no, I haven’t been sniffing Desitin.  Why else would a parent invent some diaper rash creme and call it “Butt Paste”.  I’m not joking.  I couldn’t make that up, you can really buy that stuff.  Sometimes you just have to laugh. 

So today my 2 year old was being way too quiet, and she was out of sight.  That is never a good thing.  So we sent our five year old son on a recon mission.  Locate the infant, report if the situation is acceptable, retrieve if necessary.  Within minutes, he came in carrying (with some effort) a squirming toddler.  He handed her to me and I realized immediately why she had been so quiet.  “Aha!” I said, “This little girl needs a diaper change!”  My son laughed, and as he skipped back to his train set he said, “I thought she felt a little heavy.”  Yep, a diaper in need of changing will certainly slow you down.

Of course, a lot of things will slow a person down and prevent them from accomplishing anything meaningful in life.  Sometimes it’s a mindset that needs changing, just like that diaper did.  Go ahead, follow that analogy out and have some fun with it.  I’ll give you a moment.

Sometimes we have relational junk that’s slowing us down.  Bottom line: you’ve got to get over it.  Oh, they haven’t apologized to you for what they did yet? OK, go ahead and let them hold your life hostage to the junk as long as their stubbornness dictates.  Do you really want to go on like that?  Make the choice, ask God for help, and forgive them.  Don’t wait on them to deserve it.  I sure am glad Jesus didn’t wait to forgive me until I deserved it.  Until you choose to make the first move and embrace grace, you’re going to continue dragging that weight around.  And to go with the diaper analogy; everything you try to do will end up smelling bad because you won’t do the hard work of really making the change you need.

Sometimes the change that needs to occur is obvious to everybody else before it is to you.  That’s a little embarrassing.  I often recognize that my baby has that issue and say, “Do you need a diaper change?”  She will shamelessly look me straight in the eye and say, “No.  No need diaper change.”   Sorry babe, yes you do.  Often this scenario is due to the fact that the oblivious person has a little ego issue.  OK, it’s a big ego issue.  Pride with a capital PRIDE.  These folks are the last ones to think they might be the one stinking things up because they have convinced themselves that their dirty diapers don’t do just that.  Stink.  Well, they do.  If your group or family is experiencing a big spiritual slowdown and you can comfortably place blame on everyone but yourself, I have news for you…you need to get humble because you’re probably the biggest problem.

Sometimes the slowdown is going on because there is just too much going on in there.  I have changed my kids diapers and found the weirdest stuff.  Oh yeah, I’m going there.  And I hope they read this blog when they grow up.  :)  I have found Cheerios.  I have found grass and sand.  I have found Hotwheels, crayons, and goldfish (the snack not a real one).  I think churches, including ours, suffer from this quite often.  We have a lack of fine tuned vision, so every idea sounds like a good idea.  We can’t decide what we ought to be doing or not doing so we try and do it all.  Well, that’s just as crazy as cruising around with Hotwheels and goldfish in your drawers.  What breaks your heart, and keeps you awake at night?  Start doing something about it.  And I love this, if  nothing is breaking your heart and keeping you awake at night…pray for something to start tonight.  Why does our church exist?  If we can’t answer that question easily in less than a minute, we are doing a whole bunch of stuff we need to stop right now until we figure it out.

We were never meant to waddle through life weighed down with problems and unnecessary baggage.  Our problem is not only that we are spiritually still in diapers…and that is a problem…but that we desperately need them changed.  May we let the Grace of our Heavenly Father change us all from the inside out.

FBC Thomson is now on Twitter

Twitter is an incredible tool for staying connected with the people in your life.  It is also an awesome communication tool.  That is why FBC Thomson needed a Twitter account.  Think about it. 

If 100 people had twitter accounts and linked their mobile numbers to them, (All free, and easy to set up) then anyone in the church office could tweet, and instantly communicate with 100 people.

You do need to have text messaging on your cell phone, but if you are reading this on my blog, you probably text too.

So, I encourage you to go to www.twitter.com and open a free account.  Play around with it.  There are probably several people you are friends with already using twitter.  Go under “settings” and “mobile”, and add your mobile number.  Then you will need to specify that you want tweets from @fbcthomson to come to your mobile phone.  You will receive them as texts.  Of course, you will need to “people search” @fbcthomson and click “follow”.

We will use our account to communicate prayer requests, special updates on events and needs, people updates, inspirational thoughts, opportunities to serve, etc.  You will receive it all instantly. 

Feel free to also follow @davidjwalker and @lambertdavid while you are at it.  Several FBC folks are on twitter, and you will see them on my and Lambert’s pages.

Comment or email if you need assistance.  Thanks!

compassionate availability

I was at the hospital today to make a couple of visits and I had an interesting encounter.  While waiting in the lobby for just a few moments, I was approached by a woman who initiated some small talk.  We chatted for a few moments, and then the conversation turned to a deeper topic.  She started sharing heartbreaking details with me about recent difficulties she had experienced.  “Its a pretty day don’t you think?” turned into “My husband just passed away and I have a baby son who I don’t know how to discipline.  Do you have any advice?”   It happened before I could catch up, and I kept listening to this poor woman bear her heart while thinking, “She doesn’t even know me.”

After a while she said, “Here I am telling you all of this, and I don’t even know you.”  A tear streamed down her face.  “What do you do for a living?”, she asked.  “I’m a pastor”, I said.  “Oh.”, she replied, and relaunched into her story.

I apparently have a sign on my back that says, “Hey, I’m a minister and I will compassionately listen to you tell me whatever you would like about yourself, no matter how personal it is. ”  Because this stuff happens to me all the time.  But it’s really OK.  I am thankful for moments when I can be an agent of Hope in the midst of someone’s crisis.  I’m not always faithful to be compassionately available, but I try.  My encounter with this woman started me thinking about how believers need to be poised and ready to be agents of Hope…anytime, anywhere.  Notice I said believers, not just pastors.  To live as if people who are vocational ministers are the only ones responsible for compassionate availability is to deny the mandate the Lord Jesus Himself placed on all of  His followers to minister.

If you look compassionately at the world for about 5 minutes you will realize that the world is full of lonely hurting people.  The woman (I have no idea why she was at the hospital because she never mentioned it) I spoke with was desperately lonely.  With lonely people, “It’s a pretty day.” will turn into a “pour your heart out” session pretty rapidly every time.  The sad reality is that no one slows down with them enough to get past, “It’s a pretty day”, or they wouldn’t be lonely.  This woman did go to church, by the way.  I asked. 

She said a couple of things that caused me pain.  “You know, sometimes people need more from their sunday school class than ‘We’ll pray for you.’  I need someone to really care.”  What does she mean by that?  People who offer to pray surely care.  Yes, but lonely hurting people need compassionate time.  Very few of us build free time into our schedules so that we can be there for unexpected lonely hurting people.  So often times people we meet who have a need are a huge inconvenience to our busy schedules.   We don’t phrase it this way, but in essence the decision we make is whether we have the 25 minutes to spare for this person to open up.  “I really don’t have the 25 minutes you need from me so that you can feel cared for.  I have a lot to do today.  I’ll pray for you.  If you’re not spiritually strong enough for that to be good enough, I hate it for you.” 

By the way she asked me several questions, but never paused for me to answer.  We need to be able to recognize when someone needs us to wrap all of their questions up in a nice little answer with a bow on top, and when they just need us to listen.  We also need to be humble enough.  Not every hurting person who tells you about their problem is an opportunity for you to flex your spiritual genius muscle and solve all of their problems.  Just be compassionately available.

The last thing she said to me was that it meant a lot to her that I would listen to her ramble.  I couldn’t help but wonder how much it would change this lady’s life if two women in her church would notice her need, and sit at her coffee table listening for an hour each week. 

Compassionate availability is hard, and inconvenient at times.  But Jesus was compassionately available enough to care for us, why shouldn’t we be compassionately available enough to be Jesus for someone else?

I just became a fan of Mark McGwire

I have to tell you how refreshing I felt Mark McGwire’s comments were today.  In case you haven’t heard, McGwire admitted that during the 90’s, including his record-breaking season, he was indeed using performance enhancing drugs.  You can read about it here. 

I have written lately about how disappointed I’ve been that so many of the sports figures I have pulled for over my life have turned out not to be who they appeared.  Tiger Woods being exhibit A.  I can’t just pull for someone because they dominate the sport.  Ron Artest has in earlier years been a dominant basketball player, but watching his life unfold makes me cringe, and therefore I couldn’t be a fan.  I just can’t separate who a man is off the field or court from what they do on it.  I can’t in good conscience let my son and daughters see me pulling for a player that everybody knows beats his wife or is seriously unfaithful to her.  Nor could I let them see me pull for a guy who uses/used steroids without shame. 

So why am I saying how refreshing it was to hear McGwire confess to cheating?

Because he was man enough to say he was wrong.  Yesterday I was a former fan of McGwire’s who became disenchanted when it became clear that he used drugs, but he wasn’t willing to be honest.  Baseball is riddled with players who deny what everybody knows already.  I can’t get behind someone who isn’t willing to be real.  Today McGwire represents something totally different.

What impresses me so much about McGwire is how broken and honest he was in his confession.  Somehow his contrite spirit doesn’t make me feel justified in resenting him, or wish to mock him, it makes him compelling.  I want to forgive McGwire and become a fan again.  There is something powerful about a person admitting that they were wrong, and that they are devestaed by regret over their mistakes. 

You see, ever since I got a small taste of how desperately lost in sin I was without Jesus, and how  fatally flawed I was…I became a big fan of Grace.  I have a good freind who is fond of saying that grace is the greatest thing he has ever heard of.  Jesus is grace embodied.  This is the gospel pure and simple: a man realizes how foolish and wrong he has been, confesses it, and receives forgiveness he doesn’t deserve.  Of course there are consequences, I don’t think he should be given any awards back if they were taken from him.  I probably oppose his entry into the Hall of Fame at this point, unless he accomplishes some great feats as a coach in the future.  I don’t oppose it as a means of continued punishment.  I simply feel that way because he cheated to accomplish much of what he did, and you can’t reward that.  And repentance isn’t genuine if real change doesn’t occur.  If he secretly encourages the hitters he will be coaching to cheat by using steroids then obviously I have been fooled by his sincerity.  But I pray that won’t happen. 

I just love that his story is turning out to be something honorable and brave. It is something I can hold up to my kids and use as a way to model the right way to handle life after you do wrong.  I also love that I can use this opportunity to model grace for them.  Yeah, the guy was dead wrong.  He lied to his family, friends, and fans.  But he admitted it, and said he was sorry.  We have to show him grace because God has shown us grace we didn’t deserve.  Because of Jesus’ love, we are the people of the second chance. 

I’m hoping the best for Mark McGwire.  And I’m thankful that because I have been forgiven, I can find such joy in watching others be forgiven too.

Christmas vs. Despair

I have taken a few minutes to sit and reflect on things this morning in the midst of one of the busiest weeks of my year.  I have also listened this morning to a powerful and important sermon from my best friend who lost one of his students this week to suicide.  You can listen to his sermon here. 

I’ve been spending my time for weeks now working to prepare for our church’s presentation of a Drive Through Living Nativity.  It is a huge production with many many people involved, and more than 1200 people will drive through this week.  More than 100 cast members participate, and a team of more than 25 men talented and dedicated men have spent 3 Saturdays building 8 scenes.  It was a huge and frenzied moment last evening when all of a sudden…the sets were done and decorated, the cast was in place, the traffic was lined up, and we released the first vehicle. 

However as I sit and reflect today, what rises to my mind is not the busyness or even relief that it is going well.  What I feel more than anything is hope.

Because that is one of the most profound meanings of Christmas really.  Hope. 

In the last scene of the Nativity, a manger is featured, with Mary and Joseph…and baby Jesus.  In the background, looming in the distance is a Cross.  The script speaks of how this manger was the beginning of the journey for Jesus.  The path was laid to the Cross.  And because He walked that path, we have hope.  I am so thankful He came to rescue us from our despair.  I am so thankful that December 25 is not just another cold dead day in winter.  It has been said that some object to the celebration of Christmas because it used to be a pagan holiday. But that’s ok. We used to be pagan too.  It is only fitting that a pagan holiday be redeemed…He came to redeem all that was perverted by sin.  Because He came, the emptiness and cynicism of paganism do not have to swallow us whole.  We have Hope that relentlessly allows us to cling to it, or rather, to Him.  Some point to the fact that Jesus may have more likely been born in the spring or early summer, and suggest that this somehow cheapens our celebrations of Christmas in December as misguided.  Whatever.   He deserves to be celebrated 24/7 and 365 days a year.  It’s not when He came, but THAT He came that matters.

I also think about why He came in this very bizarre way.  We believe according to the Scriptures that Jesus is the Son of God.  The King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He is the Prince of Peace, and the Lord of all creation…He whose very breath and words spun the stars and planets into place.  There were so many kings and powerful rich men on eath when He came to us.  There were so many palaces.  Surely He belonged in one of them rather than a cold and lonely stable surrounded by animals.  But really, it is most fitting that He came as He did.  In an odd sort of way it would have cheapened His coming had He been born in some palace.  His royalty is beyond a royalty we can acknowledge with palaces.  He was not a Prince to be rivaled by the prince in the palace next door.

God came His way, to show us what matters to Him.  Not palaces or riches, but love.  Not status, but hope.  He did not come for the rich, He came for everyone.  He came for those of us whose hearts do not resemble lavish palaces, but lowly places.  That includes all of us by the way.  No amount of money can heal a man’s heart.

So as I sit and reflect, I see an intimate connection between my labor this week and my friends heartbreaking loss.  And in one I find the answer to the other.  Not that there is an answer that can be spelled out on paper to neatly explain the depth of despair that can fill the human heart, but that there is a Person who came to embody the Hope that melts that despair away.

Tigergate: Lessons on living, parenting, and role model…ing

A giant (named Tiger) has fallen, and taken a part of us all with him.

I remember when I heard that Magic Johnson was retiring because he had contracted HIV.  I was returning from an away basketball game as a 9th grader.  I played for both the JV and Varsity teams, and we had won both games.  I was a basketball fiend, and had 3 heroes.  Magic, Larry, and Michael.  I climbed in our car when the school bus had let us out and turned on the radio.  I heard the news report, and felt the ground shake.  Disappointment doesn’t touch it.

When it comes to sports figures and their reputations, we live in an era of full disclosure.  I am a fairly well balanced adult (on most days) and I am not sure who to trust or pull for.  As soon as I settle on someone, it turns out that they aren’t faithful to their wife, or that they use steroids, or fund dog fighting rings, or kidnap kittens in order to shave them and release them into the Arctic Circle.

As a parent, I am troubled about this on several levels.  First, I do want my kids to grow up and experience the joy of pulling for favorite sports teams and personalities.  It was and is a wonderful part of my life, and provides so many opportunities to learn lessons about life and celebrate great stories.  I do not however want my children to become cynical when it comes to exceptional athletes.  Cynicism is a slippery slope, and quickly becomes a lazy worldview for people who have disconnected from the hard work of daring to care a little bit about life.  Cynics bug me just a little bit.

So how does a parent teach their children to view the world of would be role models before them?  Here are a few thoughts:

1.  I’m limiting my discussion to sports figures here, and not going there with other media figures.  Sports provides a common pure and powerful starting point. An individual’s character either compliments and elevates the sport, or renders it a sideshow to a waste of talent.

2.  Response to all of you who are thinking that parents should be the only role models and heros kids need:  Thank you, but that is an overly simplified solution.  Sure, you’re right on principle.  But how many kids grew up bonding with their Dad because they both followed the same teams and great players?  It just doesn’t work to look at a kid who loves basketball and tell them, “Hey, Lebron is cool and all, but turn that TV off and come watch old dad shoot free throws in the driveway.”  They want to watch the majestic drama of sports on a grand stage, and be swept away by the story unfolding on the field or court before them.  And they should be able to. They don’t need Dad to try and sit on that throne, they need Dad to help them understand its significance and value.

3.  Fallen heroes provide awesome opportunities to teach and model grace.  I don’t know Magic Johnson or Kobe Bryant but when they fell, I fell with them.  It hurt, and I had to back up and check my lenses for cracks in how I viewed the world.  I had to understand something about humanity.  I had to develop a more appropriate perspective.  I had to forgive them.  You may not get that, and if you don’t that’s OK.  But if you do get it, you see the magnitude of the moment when a person realizes no one is perfect. In other words, while it is Tiger’s fault that he fell, Tiger was doomed to fall.  We are all fallen.  And we all need to be redeemed.  It seems that some fall farther because they have been elevated higher.  But that breath-taking fall can become a breath-taking example of redemption.

4.  In the end, I want to teach my kids that all people are flawed, and that’s what makes the story of life out shine the story of sports.  Success in sports is the story of people who overcome physical limitations to achieve.  Everyone loves an underdog.  That’s a nice way of saying that its a great story when teams and people who were really bad turn it around and do really well.  We are all spiritual and therefore moral underdogs.  The odds against us achieving moral excellence or exemplifying great character on our own throughout life are…really really bad.  I want my kids to have a healthy perspective on people not being perfect.  Here I quote the inexplicably insightful Peter Crume, “ I think this is a good opportunity to explain to one’s children that any sort of over-achieving public figure, especially those in entertainment (as professional athletes are) is human, which means fallible, and is no more a role-model than professors or firefighters or farmers or anyone else who contributes to the public good.”  I add parents and ministers to the list.  Which leads me to my final point:

5.  I don’t want to be a role model to my kids.  I want to be a parent.  They are 7, 5 and 1, and I have already emphatically demonstrated to them that I am not perfect.  I don’t need my kids to think I am a perfect role model anymore than I want my congregation to think that I am a perfect model of Christianity.  I want them to see my heart, and how my desperate dependance on Jesus makes my life a great underdog story.  The following is NOT an over simplified solution:  Put your trust in Jesus and in Jesus alone for One who will not let you down. That is not an excuse to prolifically foul up life from now on.   Jesus calls me as a minister and parent to model His heart in my life.  But in the instances in which I fall, I will demonstrate His power in lifting me up from any depth in which I repent.  Because I don’t want my kids to want to be like Tiger Woods or me.  I want them to want to be like Jesus.

Kingdom Come

I’m just sitting here watching a video from a church in Charlotte – Elevation Church.  Their lead staff just made a trip to Uganda, and this is the video they shared when they returned.  http://www.elevationchurch.org/sermons

It’s worth a watch when you have a few minutes.  I’m thinking about the needs in communities around the world.  They are great in Uganda, and they are great in Thomson.  As a church, we participate in giving and meeting those needs in many ways.  Though for any of us, what we have to offer is a drop in the bucket.  However, together we do make a difference.   Through cooperation as a congregation, and as Christ’s global body, we do make a difference on a somewhat larger scale.  That is one of the reasons I am thankful as a Southern Baptist for the Cooperative  Program and the heart behind it.  I am thankful for Samaritan’s Purse, and the difference made through them.  I am thankful for the hundreds of Shoeboxes filled with hope in the air right now headed for children who are hopeless…boxes that were filled right here in Thomson.

So, we can participate in measures that are making a difference on a global scale… and we do.  But we can also make differences of a globally smaller scale…and we are.  Let me share one of those with you.

Several weeks ago I wrote about a needy family that I encountered as I was hanging a banner welcoming people to our church’s 150th anniversary.  Through that relationship it became clear that there was an opportunity to really help them in a significant way.  To make a long story shorter, we have built a relationship with them.  I am talking about a man, woman, and three wonderful children who had no home, and were looking up out of a hole that seemed to be too deep to hope for a way out.  But they needed a way out.  And because of the patience and generosity of the people of FBC Thomson, hope became a reality.

Don’t take this as a bragging session or a pat on the back.  It’s not.  We did what is expected of us.

Take this as an example of the amazing opportunities that exist in our community, both global and local, that we can meet for Jesus.

We simply helped them locate possible housing, and chipped in to overcome some of the financial obstacles that stood in their way.  As you read this, children who I personally witnessed having gone without food for more than a day (on several occasions) have food on a table in a home they live in.  They have electricity which gives them light and gas that keeps them warm.  They don’t have to worry about where they will sleep tomorrow night.  All because you put some money in an offering plate on a Sunday morning.  So, as the guy who got to do the legwork, I thank you for the priviledge of helping that precious family.

But don’t stop giving and don’t stop loving.  That family has a long way to go, and they could use help and hope that is not physical, but spiritual.  Who will help them lean how to budget their money, and be patient when they make mistakes?  Where will this family find a welcoming place to worship, or study the Bible?  Where will their children make freinds and learn about the Bible in the meaningful ways your children do?  What obstacles will we consider too costly to overcome, that will prohibit them from benefiting from the richness of our fellowship.  I don’t mean your money, I mean your love. 

Who will pursue them?  Will the differences you encounter between yourself and them make you hesitate? 

If you don’t hesitate, we will be one step closer to seeing the Kingdom of God become a reality in the hearts and lives of people who need it to come, and they need it today.

a lesson in manhood

Just wanted to make a quick post about biblical manhood.   This has been bouncing around in my heart and head for a few days now.  Last friday night our family went out  for dinner.  The grandparents came through town, and it was big fun.  We had a wonderful server who happened to be a guy, and his personality added to the evening’s fun.  But he said one thing that just bugged me.  He was a super nice guy, funny, and was working really hard. 

As some of us struggled to make menu decisions, he made a joke that in many ways was harmless, but reflects an attitude that is dangerous for young men to adopt.  I don’t know exactly how it came out, but he said something about responsibility.  Then he cracked, “Hey don’t get me wrong, I’m a man.  We don’t do responsibility.”  This was followed by a big smile, and muted chuckles from around the table as everyone was paying attention to their dinner choices.  Everyone except my 5 year old son.

I can laugh off a joke with the best of them, but this was not a message I could allow to sink in.  One of the things my son and I have been discussing lately is how men make decisions.  We are learning that passivity in men is not a characteristic that pleases God.  It drives me nuts to be around men who can’t make a choice about anything, and force their wives in many cases to make family decisions.  Or equally worse, 25 year old guys who depend on their parents to tell them when the rent is due, that they should be applying for jobs, or they need to pay their taxes.  Now don’t hear what I’m not saying.  I’m not saying that men should dictate decrees in dictatorial fashion and force obedience from their families without concern for other’s perspectives.  That’s tyranny and also contradicts God’s model for manhood.  But men make decisions.  They consider options, perspectives, and implications…and choose.  So I’ve been giving him opportunities to flex his decision-making abilities.

Enter  our server last friday: proclaiming that men run from responsibility.  Later on I pulled my son aside and reinforced the biblical model of manhood.  Embrace responsibility.  Work hard, and grow in what God gives you to influence.  Look for ways to provide for others and protect those who can’t protect themselves.   

I make no judgements about our server.  He was a nice guy who after all, was working.  I just know that our culture will bombard my son with images and stereotypes of manhood that will confuse and lead him away from God’s model of sacrificial leadership and love.  It’s my job to model what’s right, and teach him the correct way.  I just pray God will help me live up to the standard myself.

The K-9 Crop Duster

I am not a genius.  I readily confess it.  I know, some of you may want to argue the point, but please…let me be humble.  Even those of us who fall a tad shy of genius status come across good ideas from time to time.  Sometimes good ideas just happen and you have to roll with it.  I just had one of those experiences and would like to share it with you.

Today one of the things I wanted to accomplish was treating our yard for bugs (fire ants, spiders, fleas, etc.)  One of the trouble spots for fleas of course is our dog run.  Its a fairly large space, and our two dogs now spend most of their time there.  Of course, one of them is smarter than I am and keeps escaping.  I will defeat him, but that is another blog.  The fenced area is pictured below.

The white speck in the bottom right corner is the dog that is not smarter than me.  As you can see there is, at the moment of the photo, only one dog in the fence.  The other was mocking me from the rose-bush outside of the fence.  So my task was to treat the fenced area for fleas.  The powder I was using was found by my wife (who is a genius) and can be used directly on the animals as well.  So, my first order of business was to dust the white fluff ball pictured above.  I did this first because I needed time to think about the best way to effectively dust the entire space and not run out of powder. 

As I entered the fence, Pappy (the smart dog) mockingly slipped into the fence in some unknown location (stealthily enough that I didn’t hear him)  He appeared inside the fence at a safe distance so as not to be dusted easily.  Now Todd (the less than smart dog) gets excited with the smallest amount of attention.  So as I dumped powder on him and rubbed it in, he began to quiver with a frenzy of euphoria.  As soon as I had patted him thoroughly, he fired off like a bullet.  Pappy seized the moment as well, chasing Todd in circles.  That is when the moment of genius came.

Todd was saturated with the powder and when he ran a cloud of the dust trailed him.  He was dusting half of the area while he ran off the excitement of getting scratched by me (who he clearly sees as some sort of kingly figure).  So I went with it.  I called Todd back over and dumped some more powder all over him.  When I had finished, I slapped him (with love) on the rear and he took off again.  He was like a K-9 crop duster.  After several times of doing this, there was no flea known to man that could have escaped the cloud of death descending from Todd’s back.

A moment of silence please in honor of the sheer brilliance.

(Before anyone complains, it only sounds like I don’t respect Todd.  I treat him with kindness and gentleness that would make a certified and battle hardened member of PETA get all teary and sentimental.) 

Aren’t you thankful that sincerely living the Christian life doesn’t require extraordinary brilliance or super human creativity.  Its so simple.  Love The Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and spirit, and love your neighbor as yourself.  As a general rule, people tend to complicate things.  I do.  Give me a good ministry idea and my reaction is to program the daylights out of it.  Before long its simple beauty has been robbed and replaced by a set of miserable tasks. 

 The church is this wonderful and unique blend of organization…and organism.  We organize ourselves in order to accomplish things.  We schedule meetings for various reasons, including for worship, missions, and prayer.  Not all organization is bad of course, God has gifted us with organizational minds.  We are made in His image, and He is a God of order not chaos.  But the church is also a wonderfully simple organism.  It is not the First Baptist Church Inc., it is the PEOPLE who cooperate in ministry as First Baptist Church. 

I want to celebrate the simplicity of faith, and tend this wonderful living church so that it can grow and flourish without the complicated burden of our rules and structures to restrict it.

My New Theme Song

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us

Words and Music by Stuart Townend

How deep the Father’s love for us,

How vast beyond all measure,

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss;

The Father turns His face away,

As wounds which mar the Chosen One

Bring many sons to glory.

 

Behold the Man upon a cross,

My sin upon His shoulders;

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice

Call out among the scoffers.

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.

 

I will not boast in anything,

No gifts, no power, no wisdom;

But I will boast in Jesus Christ,

His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward?

I can not give an answer.

But this I know with all my heart;

His wounds have paid my ransom.