Jimmy Mitchell's blog

New Blogsite

2010-01-22T10:52:00.000-08:00

I have started a new blog for this new year. Come see my new blogsite here! Hope that you guys are having a great day!

Communion

2009-09-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

I really need to know what is the meaning of the word "Communion." Is it not the same as the word koinonia in Greek? Because if it is, then many of us in church have been lead astray by traditional viewpoints and we have a bit of a problem.

The Church

2009-09-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

My friend and fellow youth minister, Chris Rampey, has this to say to us today.

2 Corinthians 3:14
"But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away."

What if the Church in America, no matter which version you belong to, has a veil over it's eyes. Are we The Church that Christ leads? Do we glory in Christ and the way He served and honored God. Or do we glory in Man made traditions and the thoughts of the Men who began our version of Christianity.

The question is does the Church you belong to have a veil over its eyes? What is it? What can be done about it?"

Six Flags Fun!

2009-09-08T11:43:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a great weekend in Dallas, TX!! 35 of us got to spend some great time together at Six Flags all day on Sat, then we crashed hard in the motel that night.

We got to worship with the Legacy Church of Christ where my buddy, Allan Stanglin, preaches. Great times there!!

We finished it off with a good time of eating, shopping and ice skating at the Galleria!

And best of all I got to see my sister, Misti, and her family!!

Word of the Day

2009-09-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

I used to have at least one day per week where I would post a significant quote and throw in an occasional word for my readers to try to figure out. I am going to start doing that again right now. This time, every week will have a word of the day and a quote of the day.

Whoever can answer the fastest (whether by comment, email, text or call) is the winner of many brownie points that can be collected on a later date. Here is the word that you will need to figure out:

Adiaphoristic

Abundant Life!

2009-09-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

I am stealing Terry Rush's blog from this morning to share it with you. I say a hearty Amen! to it. He has such joy, energy and passion for life in God's world and his words today just get me revved up for life in its abundance!! How can we feel any other way after reading this?!?

"Who wouldn't like to be you? Every blind person would give an arm for your ability to read this blog. Others would love to have just one good friend and you have how many.....? While you may have a job you hate, thousands would love to have a job. Some worry over hair turning gray while so many lost theirs to chemo.

Irritations are overrated. Let them go. They aren't worth our earth-time; let alone our kingdom time. So the plumbing is clogged. Get it fixed. Think of how many went to their graves early who would have loved to live a bit longer to gladly fix a clogged shower.

Wake up to your own wonder! Wake up. You who constantly spoil your day by griping about it? Stop it! It's an insult to the Creator who gave us these days. So you are ten pounds overweight. Do something about it....and in the meantime be thankful you aren't 210 pounds overweight. Basically, quit harping at your body that has been very good to you.

Every morning we get up and face obstacle courses; not as spectators, but as participants. Hurdles are many and several are high. And by day's end we will have skinned our knees, run out of breath, and at times finished last. Glory. We were in the race!

Wake up to the spectacular day of now. It is not average....and you are not average. You are blessed"

Yesterday Was...

2009-08-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

Amazing because we had Terry Rush here as our 5th Sunday guest speaker. What a great man of God he is!!

Powerful because God worked in the lives of Evelyn Hunt and Shirley Wallace through his almighty word.

Moving because worship with 450+ in the same room has that sort of impact. Especially when singing the newer praise songs (wondering what kind of response you'll get) and hearing everyone sing out!!

Sweet because the fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ always is.

I Will Miss Mama

2009-08-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

There was a memorial service held for Sandy "Mama" Milligan this morning in the Village. I was able to attend. Sandy was a member at the VCOC where I began my career in full-time ministry. She was a small woman who packed a lot of strength and conviction in that little frame. I was blessed to know her and will miss her immensely. Please keep her husband, Johnny, and family in your thoughts and prayers.

True Success

2009-08-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

Ralph Waldo Emerson defines success this way:

"To laugh often and much, to win respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

Does that sum it up for you or do you have something you would like to add?

For First Time Students and Their Parents

2009-08-19T09:42:00.001-07:00

"Its back to school time in central Arkansas. Wednesday morning thousands of students will be heading back to class. And for a new crop of kids it's their very first day and it can be a bit scary.

When you started school, maybe there were a words of wisdom you wish you heard from others whose footsteps you'd follow in. FOX16 caught up with some grade school students who gave us the top 10 things a kindergartner should know for the first day of school.

Number ten:
"Keep your grades up and study a lot," says Abby.

Number nine:
"Smile it's gonna be a good day," says Caitlyn.

Number eight:
"Recess is fun because I love the monkey bars," says Emi.

Number seven"
"Be brave and make new friends," says Peyton.

Number six:
"Be yourself and sit next to a smart kid," says Kelsi.

Number five:
"What should a kindergartner not do on their first day of school? Shove crayons up their nose," says Katelyn.

Number four:
"Find out what your teacher likes to eat and bring them a lot of that," says Micha.

Number three:
"Wipe down the wipeboards and be helpful," says Katelyn.

Number two:
"Listen to your teacher so you don't get in trouble," says Tommy.

And the number one thing a kindergartner should know for their first day of school:
"Don't sniff the glue, and don't eat it either," says Mackenzie and Ashton.

Don't be nervous, it's everyone's first day, so do your best to make some friends, and when the time comes, study."

-Jeremy Baker from Fox 16 News

School Daze

2009-08-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

Since school has started back this wonderful day of August 19, 2009, I decided that I would resume my blog! Gone are the wild and woolly days of summer. And that is refreshing. Most refreshing! I have time on the days that I will not be substitute teaching at Bryant, Benton, CAC or any other school that will take me. I have time to breathe and finish up preparations for fall events. I will be back later today with a thought or two.

Camp Barton Pics

2009-07-24T08:36:00.000-07:00

Linda's gonna kill me for this. Linda P aka 'The Popette!' Anyone here at Northside will get what I mean!

Shirley, Barbara and Cindy having a laugh!

Savannah and Nikki doing the "Chickee Chickee Dance"!

Bella and Sam hanging out.

My sweet little Boodle and me!!

For Youth Ministers and Workers

2009-07-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

This summer has been one wild and crazy ride! Last summer was a lot of work but this one has been totally insane!!! I have found myself coming up for air any chance I get. I came across this article by Mike Kupferer earlier today and totally shouted Amen! Ministers and Ministry

"Summer is a busy time for youth workers. But even during this season of the year, you don't have to become overwhelmed and exhausted. You can survive summer and feel rested as the school year starts again

Don't neglect your prayer time and Bible study during the summer. Plan for it and put it on your calendar.

I want to suggest five things you can do this summer to help find that rest you deserve and need.

1. Continue to take your off day.
You are taking an off day, right? I don't mean just having a day you call your "off day" but continue to come into the office, make phone calls, and check email. I mean a real off day, one where you spend time away from youth ministry responsibilities. If you don't have one of those days, stop right now and figure out how to start. (Do not worry, we'll still be here—floating around the Internet when you get back.)

The summer isn't the time to start working 7 days a week. (Unless you're at camp or a trip, which just means you need to take an extra day off afterward.) Taking a day off every week in the summer helps keep you from wearing yourself out physically and emotionally. When you take an off day, you will notice an improvement in your ability to minister on the days you're working.

2. Take vacation before/after the busiest time of the summer.
With so few weeks to get everything done during the summer, it's tempting to neglect taking vacation. Why would any youth worker take an entire week away from the students when this is prime time to minister? Because that youth worker knows the impact of the rest of the summer depends on it. Obviously I'm not suggesting you randomly (foolishly) pick any week during the summer to take vacation. There are certain weeks that will be better than others. You can't take vacation during the week you're helping with VBS or camp. And it might not be wise to take vacation the week before a mission trip or week-long conference.

Try taking vacation a few weeks before a big trip, that way you still have time to take care of any final details. Or if the first part of the summer is event heavy, wait to take your vacation after its all done. This will give you a chance to relax without any need to think about an upcoming event. Whether you take your vacation before or after a busy season doesn't matter, what does matter is that you take vacation.

3. Take a day trip with the family.
Take your family out of town and just enjoy some time together. You don't have to drive far or spend a lot of money in order for it to be effective. The goal of getting away from your town is to not see people you know. You want to have the entire day away from ministry responsibilities, which might mean you leave your cell phone on vibrate or just don't answer it every time it rings. Use this time to make memories with your family, they matter more than the youth ministry summer calendar.

4. Do something without students.
I know the impact involving students in your life can have. I believe strongly in allowing students to work alongside you on projects around your house or at church. But there are times when you just need to have some time away from students. Give yourself time to work on a project without inviting one of the freshmen over to help you. Working with students is what you do for a living and when you invite students to help with projects around the house, you are working. Instead, spend this time talking to God and listening to Him speak into your life.

5. Eat/Sleep/Pray.
Every day in the summer will come and go quickly. You might neglect many little items on your to-do list, but these three items cannot be neglected. Eat three meals every day and you will have more energy to minister. Sleep is important, but easily neglected when you have late nights and early mornings. Sleep later into the morning when you are up late with a student. And on that rare occasion you don't have anything going on in the evening, go to bed early and allow your body to rest.

Finally, and most importantly, spend time alone with God. Don't neglect your prayer time and Bible study during the summer. Plan for it and put it on your calendar. Nothing else you will do this summer will refresh you as much as spending time with your Heavenly Father. He wants to continue to mold and shape you, just as much as you want to minister to the students.

If your summer calendar is too full to include time to rest, you need to find a way to adjust it. The people around you do not need a youth worker who is tired. They need you to be well-rested and modeling healthy behavior.

How are you finding rest this summer?"

Quote of the Day

2009-07-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is... more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do... The remarkable thing is that we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it." - Charles Swindoll

Uplift Pics

2009-07-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

Devon on stage with Taylor Mason!

Maddie, Heather and Allison.

Conner, Josh, Sara, Haley and Devon mugging it up for the camera.

Audra and me.

Finally Back

2009-07-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have blogged. I have done a poor job of keeping up with it and I am going to be better from now on.

Many things have happened while I have been away and I am going to share them with you over the course of the next few days.

First off, we had a great senior graduation banquet and completed the Youth Loft on the same day in May. Quite an undertaking, but it is now finished.

Our 1st Principles Day Camp started on June 8. We had 30 students , 4-8 grade, ready to learn more about the foundational elements of our faith. We got down to the basics about sin, repentance, baptism and Christian living. Great things came of it and we will get to that part later.

We finished with the Day Camp on the 10th and then, on the 13th, a group from the 7-12 graders left for Uplift at Harding University. What a great time of learning from the Sermon on the Mount that it's not what we do but who we are.

Got back on the 18th and left for Camp Barton on the 21st. We had 8 baptisms, 6 of which were products of the 1st Principles Day Camp! We also have 2 on the horizon from what was done at Camp!!

We returned from Camp on the 27th of June and then I headed back out at 3:00 A.M! on the 2nd of July for some mission work in the Dominican Republic. We returned on Thursday the 9th a completely exhausted and changed group of believers.

I am in the process of resting and recuperating from everything. Glad to be back with my family!! I will post pictures later.

Music Is Vitally Important

2009-05-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

This is the address to the incoming freshmen at Boston Conservatory. It was given by Karl Paulnack, the director of the Conservatory's music division.

One of my parents’ deepest fears, I suspect, is that society would not properly value me as a musician, that I wouldn’t be appreciated. I had very good grades in high school, I was good in science and math, and they imagined that as a doctor or a research chemist or an engineer I might be more appreciated than I would be as a musician. I still remember my mother’s remark when I announced my decision to apply to music school she said, “you’re WASTING your SAT scores.” On some level, I think, my parents were not sure themselves what the value of music was, what its purpose was. And they LOVED music, they listened to classical music all the time. They just weren’t really clear about its function. So let me talk about that a little bit, because we live in a society that puts music in the “arts and entertainment” section of the newspaper, and serious music, the kind your kids are about to engage in, has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with entertainment, in fact it’s the opposite of entertainment. Let me talk a little bit about music, and how it works.

The first people to understand how music really works were the ancient Greeks. And this is going to fascinate you; the Greeks said that music and astronomy were two sides of the same coin. Astronomy was seen as the study of relationships between observable, permanent, external objects, and music was seen as the study of relationships between invisible, internal, hidden objects. Music has a way of finding the big, invisible moving pieces inside our hearts and souls and helping us figure out the position of things inside us. Let me give you some examples of how this works. One of the most profound musical compositions of all time is the Quartet for the End of Time written by French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1940.

Messiaen was 31 years old when France entered the war against Nazi Germany. He was captured by the Germans in June of 1940, sent across Germany in a cattle car and imprisoned in a concentration camp. He was fortunate to find a sympathetic prison guard who gave him paper and a place to compose. There were three other musicians in the camp, a cellist, a violinist, and a clarinetist, and Messiaen wrote his quartet with these specific players in mind. It was performed in January 1941 for four thousand prisoners and guards in the prison camp. Today it is one of the most famous masterworks in the repertoire.

Given what we have since learned about life in the concentration camps, why would anyone in his right mind waste time and energy writing or playing music? There was barely enough energy on a good day to find food and water, to avoid a beating, to stay warm, to escape torture why would anyone bother with music? And yet from the camps, we have poetry, we have music, we have visual art; it wasn’t just this one fanatic Messiaen; many, many people created art. Why? Well, in a place where people are only focused on survival, on the bare necessities, the obvious conclusion is that art must be, somehow, essential for life. The camps were without money, without hope, without commerce, without recreation, without basic respect, but they were not without art. Art is part of survival; art is part of the human spirit, an unquenchable expression of who we are. Art is one of the ways in which we say, “I am alive, and my life has meaning. ”

On September 12, 2001 I was a resident of Manhattan. That morning I reached a new understanding of my art and its relationship to the world. I sat down at the piano that morning at 10 AM to practice as was my daily routine; I did it by force of habit, without thinking about it. I lifted the cover on the keyboard, and opened my music, and put my hands on the keys and took my hands off the keys. And I sat there and thought, does this even matter? Isn’t this completely irrelevant? Playing the piano right now, given what happened in this city yesterday, seems silly, absurd, irreverent, pointless.

Why am I here? What place has a musician in this moment in time? Who needs a piano player right now? I was completely lost.

And then I, along with the rest of New York, went through the journey of getting through that week. I did not play the piano that day, and in fact I contemplated briefly whether I would ever want to play the piano again. And then I observed how we got through the day. At least in my neighborhood, we didn’t shoot hoops or play Scrabble. We didn’t play cards to pass the time, we didn’t watch TV, we didn’t shop, we most certainly did not go to the mall. The first organized activity that I saw in New York, that same day, was singing. People sang. People sang around fire houses, people sang We Shall Overcome. Lots of people sang America the Beautiful. The first organized public event that I remember was the Brahms Requiem, later that week, at Lincoln Center, with the New York Philharmonic. The first organized public expression of grief, our first communal response to that historic event, was a concert. That was the beginning of a sense that life might go on. The US Military secured the airspace, but recovery was led by the arts, and by music in particular, that very night.

From these two experiences, I have come to understand that music is not part of “arts and entertainment” as the newspaper section would have us believe. It’s not a luxury, a lavish thing that we fund from leftovers of our budgets, not a plaything or an amusement or a pass time. Music is a basic need of human survival. Music is one of the ways we make sense of our lives, one of the ways in which we express feelings when we have no words, a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we can’t with our minds.

Some of you may know Samuel Barber’s heart wrenchingly beautiful piece Adagio for Strings. If you don’t know it by that name, then some of you may know it as the background music which accompanied the Oliver Stone movie Platoon, a film about the Vietnam War. If you know that piece of music either way, you know it has the ability to crack your heart open like a walnut; it can make you cry over sadness you didn’t know you had. Music can slip beneath our conscious reality to get at what’s really going on inside us the way a good therapist does. I bet that you have never been to a wedding where there was absolutely no music. There might have been only a little music, there might have been some really bad music, but I bet you there was some music. And something very predictable happens at weddings people get all pent up with all kinds of emotions, and then there’s some musical moment where the action of the wedding stops and someone sings or plays the flute or something. And even if the music is lame, even if the quality isn’t good, predictably 30 or 40 percent of the people who are going to cry at a wedding cry a couple of moments after the music starts.

Why? The Greeks. Music allows us to move around those big invisible pieces of ourselves and rearrange our insides so that we can express what we feel even when we can’t talk about it. Can you imagine watching Indiana Jones or Superman or Star Wars with the dialogue but no music? What is it about the music swelling up at just the right moment in ET so that all the softies in the audience start crying at exactly the same moment? I guarantee you if you showed the movie with the music stripped out, it wouldn’t happen that way. The Greeks: Music is the understanding of the relationship between invisible internal objects. I’ll give you one more example, the story of the most important concert of my life. I must tell you I have played a little less than a thousand concerts in my life so far. I have played in places that I thought were important. I like playing in Carnegie Hall; I enjoyed playing in Paris; it made me very happy to please the critics in St. Petersburg. I have played for people I thought were important; music critics of major newspapers, foreign heads of state. The most important concert of my entire life took place in a nursing home in Fargo, ND, about 4 years ago.

I was playing with a very dear friend of mine who is a violinist. We began, as we often do, with Aaron Copland’s Sonata, which was written during World War II and dedicated to a young friend of Copland’s, a young pilot who was shot down during the war. Now we often talk to our audiences about the pieces we are going to play rather than providing them with written program notes. But in this case, because we began the concert with this piece, we decided to talk about the piece later in the program and to just come out and play the music without explanation.

Midway through the piece, an elderly man seated in a wheelchair near the front of the concert hall began to weep. This man, whom I later met, was clearly a soldier even in his 70¹s, it was clear from his buzz-cut hair, square jaw and general demeanor that he had spent a good deal of his life in the military. I thought it a little bit odd that someone would be moved to tears by that particular movement of that particular piece, but it wasn’t the first time I’ve heard crying in a concert and we went on with the concert and finished the piece.

When we came out to play the next piece on the program, we decided to talk about both the first and second pieces, and we described the circumstances in which the Copland was written and mentioned its dedication to a downed pilot. The man in the front of the audience became so disturbed that he had to leave the auditorium. I honestly figured that we would not see him again, but he did come backstage afterwards, tears and all, to explain himself.

What he told us was this: “During World War II, I was a pilot, and I was in an aerial combat situation where one of my team’s planes was hit. I watched my friend bail out, and watched his parachute open, but the Japanese planes which had engaged us returned and machine gunned across the parachute chords so as to separate the parachute from the pilot, and I watched my friend drop away into the ocean, realizing that he was lost. I have not thought about this for many years, but during that first piece of music you played, this memory returned to me so vividly that it was as though I was reliving it. I didn’t understand why this was happening, why now, but then when you came out to explain that this piece of music was written to commemorate a lost pilot, it was a little more than I could handle.”

How does the music do that? How did it find those feelings and those memories in me? Remember the Greeks: music is the study of invisible relationships between internal objects. This concert in Fargo was the most important work I have ever done. For me to play for this old soldier and help him connect, somehow, with Aaron Copland, and to connect their memories of their lost friends, to help him remember and mourn his friend, this is my work. This is why music matters.

What follows is part of the talk I will give to this year’s freshman class when I welcome them a few days from now. The responsibility I will charge your sons and daughters with is this:

If we were a medical school, and you were here as a med student practicing appendectomies, you’d take your work very seriously because you would imagine that some night at two AM someone is going to waltz into your emergency room and you’re going to have to save their life. Well, my friends, someday at 8 PM someone is going to walk into your concert hall and bring you a mind that is confused, a heart that is overwhelmed, a soul that is weary. Whether they go out whole again will depend partly on how well you do your craft. You’re not here to become an entertainer, and you don’t have to sell yourself. The truth is you don’t have anything to sell; being a musician isn’t about dispensing a product, like selling used Chevys. I’m not an entertainer; I’m a lot closer to a paramedic, a firefighter, a rescue worker. You’re here to become a sort of therapist for the human soul, a spiritual version of a chiropractor or physical therapist, someone who works with our insides to see if they get things to line up, to see if we can come into harmony with ourselves and be healthy and happy and well.

Frankly, ladies and gentlemen, I expect you not only to master music; I expect you to save the planet. If there is a future wave of wellness on this planet, of harmony, of peace, of an end to war, of mutual understanding, of equality, of fairness, I don’t expect it will come from a government, military force or a corporation. I no longer even expect it to come from the religions of the world, which together seem to have brought us as much war as they have peace. If there is a future of peace for humankind, if there is to be an understanding of how these invisible, internal things should it together, I expect it will come from the artists, because that’s what we do. As in the concentration camp and the evening of 9/11, the artists are the ones who might be able to help us with our internal, invisible lives.

Prayers and Marriage

2009-05-08T06:54:00.001-07:00

Please pray for the family of Casey Rine, Youth Minister at Levy Church of Christ. His 26 year old sister was killed last week and they have charged her husband with the murder. I can't imagine what the family is going through at this time. They need as many prayer warriors as possible.

-------

"Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Sewell used only 1 bat in his 14-year career and struck out only 114 times in 7,132 attempts. He never was convinced that a newer, more sophisticated bat would improve his play. When he was in a slump, rather than blaming his equipment, he took extra batting practice and focused on his swinging mechanics.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if our nation had that same philosophy towards marriage? When things go sour, rather than looking to get a new partner, we instead would focus on what we can control... how we can improve our relational mechanics. How can we be more patient? More thoughtful? More loving? All too quickly, we try to get new spouses when what we need are new attitudes." - All Pro Dad

Devotional Thought

2009-03-11T08:22:00.000-07:00

A Central Arkansas Youth Minister friend wrote this in his daily bible study and it puts into words just what I have been chewing on this week.

"March Madness is a great time of year. It's so much fun to watch all the tournaments, and watch these teams succeed. However it's very sad to see a team just fall apart because of selfishness.

The same thing can happen within the Lord's church. We can become very selfish and disregard the team aspect of ministry. The early Christians worked hard together to spread God's love. Sometimes we get away from this and selfishness takes over our ministries. We can not allow this to happen! We must all realize we are all very valuable to God's kingdom. We must all recognize our place in His work."

- Casey Rine

Murphy Strikes Again!

2009-02-24T07:58:00.000-08:00

The Northside Youth Group went to Winterfest in Gatlinburg, Tennessee this past weekend and I have so much to tell you that it will have to be a 2 parter!

I will begin with the Murphy bits. He likes me a whole bunch. Here is how he played a role in this most recent trip:

1. We're making great time to our destination of Gatlinburg when all of a sudden I smell burning rubber and see chunks of tire on the road in front of me (I was the last driver in a caravan of 3 vehicles). My cell rings and it is John Sloan (the driver of the big bus) asking if I will pull up and see if he has had a blowout. He had!! We are able to get it into a tire shop and replace 4 (you read right) 4!!! tires. One had shredded and three were almost there.

2. We are having an amazing time at the largest gathering of teens and the second day is getting even better for everyone except...Clint Smith, one of our chaperones. He starts feeling bad and losing everything he tries to get down-even water and Gatorade. When he starts getting the worst headache ever coupled with dizziness and blurred vision, we decide to take him to the emergency room. He stays there for 3 hours getting pumped full of liquids.

3. Now I have just found out that one of the riders on my van had the beginnings of the full blown flu when she was with us on the way home and that it ain't pretty.

Murphy has struck again, my friends.

Prayer for the Day

2009-02-17T09:25:00.000-08:00

"Lord, someday may my life look like this orchard for You.
May the fruit of my life be so heavy
that You'll need angels to hold up the branches
And whatever You need to do in my life to produce this
kind of harvest, Lord, please do it!"
- Bruce Wilkinson

Conversations With God

2009-02-13T08:22:00.000-08:00

Just got a cautionary email from a friend about a book entitled "Conversations With God." According to the email, this book is offered to children in schools through a scholastic program. It fields questions from tweens and teens about homosexuality, sex outside of marriage and other basics of morality. The author answers with the voice of God. And the answers are basically boiled down to allow the questioners the freedom to do whatever they want or whatever feels right to them.

I don't know if this email or even the book it writes of is real, but I do believe that there is a pervasive mentality in society, and, sadly, among other Christians, of relativism. "Basically do what you want to do and enjoy your life because each of us decides our own morality-It all comes out to the same thing in the end." This is what I hear around me every day and it is very disconcerting.

I have my thoughts on this but I would like to pose some questions for you, dear reader: When you come in contact with this philosophical mindset, what do you do? How do we, as followers of Christ, counteract this movement?

Friends

2009-02-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

I am on a high because recently I have been able to spend some good quality time with my former partner in crime, Jim Gardner. He was in town for the funeral of his uncle, Gerald. We were pretty much able to spend a day and a quarter together before he flew back to Fresno, CA.

Just riding in the car with him here in central AR brought back a flood of memories from my early days in ministry. Great times!! Times with an old friend that I will never forget.

How many of you have old friends you haven't seen that you would like to spend some time with? I say just do it!!!

Praise 102

2009-02-06T06:30:00.000-08:00

You will notice on the right side of this blog that there is a spot for Praise 102. My quarter devoted to praise and worship not too long ago was so well received that I have continued it on Wednesday evenings at 6:00. We are learning even more songs. I will keep them listed there as we go along.

By the way, are there any great songs that I have missed out on?

Remember To Memorize

2009-01-27T09:34:00.000-08:00

Our memorization of bible verses, although not always publicized here, have been a continued thing. If you would like to work this out with us, go right ahead.

The verse this week is an easy one. If you can't get this one, you may have problems:

"For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen or heard." - Acts 4:20

It's hard to hold it all in, isn't it?!?

Gross and Disgusting

2009-01-16T09:45:00.000-08:00

Talking with my pal, Gary Black, the other day, I started thinking (because of our topic of discussion) about what could be the most disgusting smell ever to enter our defenseless nostrils. I thought I would put my top 6 here and let you tell me if I am right or not.

6. Diapers (Boodle is sweet but can leave some potent stuff behind, if you know what I mean)

5. Raw Sewage (cmon it's raw sewage)

4.Rotten Food (like when you forget about something in the back of the fridge)

3. Chicken Towns (driving through towns with these babies can knock the strongest person over)

2. Burnt Hair (Not good at all)

1. Paper Mills (The winner by a nose)

What do you think?!?

Quote For Parents

2009-01-13T12:49:00.001-08:00

"The word "stigma" comes from the Greek and it means "tattoo." In Greek and Roman times, when a runaway slave was caught, he was tattooed (branded) with a hot iron as a sign of disgrace. His master never let the slave forget his past actions.

Stigmatizing didn't end a couple thousand years ago. Many parents brand their children's souls forever with by their actions. Phrases like "you always" and "you'll never" need to disappear from your vocabulary starting now. Instead, brand your children with "I love you because ___" and "The three things you do better than anyone are: ___, ___ and ___." Make your lasting tattoo one of unconditional love." - APD

Birth In Christ

2009-01-08T15:08:00.000-08:00

I just want to say a huge congratulations to Adrienne LaSage and her family for the decision she made this past Sunday morning to be clothed in Christ through baptism!! I hope that we will all be there as she walks this new path.

A Change Is Gonna Come

2009-01-06T19:29:00.000-08:00

First of all, Happy New Year!!!

Second of all, I am back from a really long and much needed hiatus. I will be here in the blog kingdom for a while.

Third of all, my little girl, Jenniva, celebrated her 2 birthday this past Monday!! I can't believe she is 2 already. Time flies.

Last of all, I want to tell you about the amazing horizon I see before us at Northside. With the new year came some evaluation and newly implemented ideas and programs.

This past Sunday morning, Adrienne LaSage became our newest member of God's family. No better way to start out the year!!

This past Sunday evening, I had my first devotional with the 3-6 grades. 24 showed up to learn more about God and have fun in the process. And they are bringing there friends next time.

Meat Eaters has moved to Tuesday nights. We had 18 teens show up tonight to give encouragement to Mike K who is at home resting in bed after full knee replacement on the 29th of December. We also traveled to the funeral home to comfort Doug, Marilyn, Adrienne, Janice and Billie Wilson on the passing of Doyle Wilson.

Wednesday evenings at 6 we will be meeting in the outreach building to learn new songs. This can continue indefinitely.

The Youth Loft is so close to finished I can taste it. I will give you some new pics soon. The Christmas CD Project has yielded more than we dreamed. Donations have exceeded the $2,500 mark!!!

We have split our Sunday mornings to 7-9/10-12 for the Winter quarter and will be splitting them Male/Female in the Spring to address different needs.

The Youth Committee is transitioning out the former members and ushering in some new blood.

All the while, we are living LIFE IN THE VINE FOR 2009! That is our theme this year and we are going to cultivate the Fruit of the Spirit.

I am so excited about 2009!!

Pics of Youth Loft Construction

2008-12-11T20:38:00.000-08:00

Warm Fuzzies

2008-12-09T08:51:00.000-08:00

After a long hiatus from blogging, I am back to see if anyone is still out there.

Let me fill you in on what has been happening recently.

December is shaping up to be quite an amazing month already for the Youth and Family here at Northside and we are only on the 9th day!!

Last Wednesday, the teens here started off right with cooking and serving a meal to the family here where the proceeds go to the Youth Loft. By the way, I need to take some new shots of the room to let you know where we are so far and how much hard work Skip, Chad and Jeremy have put into it.

Then on Friday, 200 from the NS family came together in the evening for a Christmas celebration. It was a night full of eating, singing, poetry and fun! I am still on Cloud 9 from all the festivities!!

Saturday, several teens joined in with the Benevolence Ministry here to serve lunch and good cheer to families in need of this and surrounding communities.

Sunday evening, around 40 teens and family members gathered to record a CD of youth songs and even a few bonus Christmas tracks. Not quite there but we're working on it!!

Monday night, the Meat Eaters group decided to take the pizza that we were gonna eat and give it away in Jesus' name and spread good cheer in this great, holiday season. We gave a couple of pizzas to bell ringers at 2 different Wal-Marts, 1 to Salvation Army workers and 1 to some other hard workers. What a great night. It gave me and the teens warm fuzzies to work in God's world.

Random Shots

2008-11-20T14:34:00.000-08:00

The above shot is some crazy guy having fun in Brazil with his fellow preachers and teachers of the word.

The next two are taken at Bison Daze at Harding University. Wild times they were!!

This one is from the Family Pumpkin Fest that Northside hosted.
Here is a shot of an extremely happy mommy and girlie bee!

Verse Memorization

2008-11-18T18:16:00.000-08:00

Work on this verse for the week. I will be back tomorrow to share some long awaited pictures with you from our recent activities here at Northside.

Romans 13:14
"Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

Positive

2008-11-14T10:06:00.000-08:00

I read this on Jim Gardner's blog this morning and thought that you would like to read it, too. It serves as a great reminder to us all that encouragement works better than hard criticism any day. How are you doing on this topic? Are you more prone to criticize or are you more likely to lift up? If you, like I, want change to occur in a person or program, try putting the positive foot forward first. Here are Jim's thoughts:

"How much slack are you willing to give to your ministers/elders?

This week has been like an epidemic. A wave of phone calls have poured in to me from friends and colleagues throughout the country struggling under the weight of criticism. Most of it is couched as "constructive criticism," but it is criticism nonetheless. The critic often never understands the depth of the wound inflicted on the man of God wholly devoted to the ministry.

When was the last time you expressed your gratitude to your spiritual mentors? When was the last time you told your minister you appreciate him? When was the last time you took an elder and his wife to lunch as an expression of appreciation for their spiritual work?

The words of Chuck Swindoll are ideal for this circumstance: "Be tolerant with your (shepherd). A better word is patient. Try your best not to be too demanding or set your expectations too high. Multiply your own requests by however many there are in your church, and you'll have some idea of what the shepherd of the flock must live with. Be very understanding...Pray for him! Encourage him! When you do, you'll find him all the more willing to serve the Lord among you" (Hope Again, p. 226).

Is your minister not your ideal guy? Cut him some slack. Are your elders stuck in neutral? Try encouragement rather than criticism. As we Fresnans can attest, lofty expectations can be an ideal setup for great disappointment. Rather than cutting critique, why not try a compliment or two? As one who's blessed by a congregation with an unusual measure of encouragement to me, I can testify that it does a minister of the Word wonders.

Give it a try with your leaders beginning this Sunday!"

Quote Of The Day

2008-11-12T13:08:00.000-08:00

"The gospel is not after-death fire insurance, nor is it merely personal peace and serenity in the here and now. More, the gospel invites us to participate in the kingdom of God, that long-awaited rule of God, in which the rebellion, with its corollaries of lust and violence and greed and self-seeking, is undone. The gospel invites us to follow in the way of Jesus, who embodies for us the way of the kingdom." Lee C. Camp

Out of the Woods

2008-11-10T19:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm finally back to somewhat of a functioning order now that my bout last week (from Wednesday afternoon to Friday evening) with a nasty stomach virus is over.

Just to catch you up:

Had a great Bible study tonight at my house with 20 God-hungry students. Very thought-provoking stuff tonight.

For those of you keeping up with memorization, here it is:

Matthew 11:28-30
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Of Donkeys And Elephants

2008-11-04T07:14:00.000-08:00

The party lines have been drawn. Are you blue or red?

It's more than that, though. I believe that making Christian choices runs deeper than either party or the platform on which they stand.

I'm not endorsing McCain in this blog.

I'm not endorsing Obama in this blog.

I'm endorsing Christ.

We Christians, if we truly follow Christ the way He wants, will not take a "top down" approach with the government leading in His power, but will take the hearts of servants and serve our neighbors, enemies and any that fall between these two areas (Mark 10:42-44).

The American mantle of power should never be used by those truly seeking to be disciples of Christ. It is not The Way.

I will post pics and stories of the weekend later on but for now I will leave you with the words of minister Bill Tibert about how we should be as American Christians.

"During the 1960s and '70s there was an antiwar slogan that asked, "What if they gave a war and nobody came?" The point was what if there was a declaration of war and all the people just refused to participate? What if there were abortion clinics but nobody went in? What if abortion was a legal choice, but it was a choice nobody took? Changes in the law, blocking abortion clinics, demeaning name-calling will not stop abortions. The history of the church through the ages has been the history of changes brought about in society through the church demonstrating and living an alternative vision of life. We need to stop telling our nonbelieving neighbors how wrong their way of life is, and we need to start showing the power of the gospel in the way we live....Let me ask you: Which has greater power? Ten thousand people who fill the streets in front of abortion clinics and shame those seeking abortions, or ten thousand people in California who take to the state capital a petition they have signed stating that they will take any unwanted child of any age, any color, any physical condition so that they can love that child in the name of Jesus Christ?"

Memorize and Recite

2008-11-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

I will be back tomorrow with thoughts and pics about the long weekend and my birthday. In the meantime, while I spend some long needed time with my wife and daughter, meditate on these verses and commit them to memory.

Psalm 139:23-24
"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."

Strive to Transcend the Quarrel

2008-10-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about this for several years and wanted to share this with you now. My friend, Allan Stanglin, has blogged about this in the past few days and I want to post them here. I do this simply to elicit a response from you, dear readers. Let me know here or by email or even by facebook as many of you have in the past.

(A Spirit Of Unity)
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” ~Romans 15:7

Romans 14 gives us the background for the above exhortation from the apostle Paul. There are two groups of Christians in this church in Rome. Weak and strong. Paul’s words. The weak believers are vegetarians. The strong believers enjoy a good steak. The weak brothers keep all the Jewish holy days. The strong brothers don’t. The weak Christians are developing all kinds of elaborate worship and lifestyle theologies and drawing lines in the sand over what’s right and what’s wrong. The strong Christians don’t have very many lines and they’re not as concerned about which worship and lifestyle practices are right or wrong. The weak are criticizing the strong for being spiritually insensitive. The strong are looking down on the weak for being spiritually immature and inferior. The strong proclaim freedom in Christ. The weak say that doesn’t mean anything goes. The weak tell the strong, “You’re wrong.” The strong tell the weak, “Grow up.”

Over what?

Over food. Over days. Over worship styles and traditions. The use of technology. Women’s roles. Alcohol. Praise teams. Divorce and remarriage. Clapping. Creeds. Dancing. Songleaders. Preachers(!) Small groups. Bible translations. Politics.

Are you a weak Christian or a strong Christian? Again, these are Paul’s words. Is your faith weak or is it strong? According to what Paul’s talking about in Romans 14, which are you? Are you the one who worries and frets and draws lines in the sand and develops intricate tests of fellowship for other Christians? Or are you the one who has a total grasp on our salvation in Christ and understands that the things we argue about and worry about don’t really matter at all? Are you the weak brother or sister? Or the strong?

What is it that makes you strong? What is it that makes you weak? If I were to ask somebody else about you—whether your faith is strong or weak in this context—what would they say about you? Why would they say it? What do they see or experience in you that makes them think that way?

Romans 14:1-4 > Nobody looks down on anybody. Nobody condemns anybody. For God has accepted him. Accepted whom? Who has God accepted? The brother or sister or groups of brothers and sisters who disagree with me on this church tradition or who don’t see eye to eye with me on this disputable matter, this matter of opinion that should not in any way divide the Lord’s Body. You’re not his master. Christ Jesus as Lord is his master. Not you. Whether he stands or falls is up to our Lord. Whether he’s right or wrong is up to our Lord. And Paul goes ahead and makes the call. He’ll stand! Whether he agrees with you or not. Whether y’all are on the same page or not. He’ll stand because he’s in Christ. So, you accept him because Jesus accepts him. Christ died for him, Paul says. What are you doing?

Romans 14:5-8 > Each of us should be fully convinced in our minds that what we’re doing is the right thing to do in the eyes of our God, but don’t bind that on another brother who doesn’t feel that way. If he practices something different, we assume we’re both doing it to the Lord, before the Lord, in the presence of the Lord with a clear conscience. We assume that my sister with a different belief or a different practice is not believing flippantly or practicing casually. She’s doing it with careful study and reflection and prayer and conviction. She’s fully convinced in her mind that she’s doing the right thing. So everything’s OK.

Paul is calling for unity in Spirit here. Not unity in opinion, not unity in practice, not even unity in belief. And he’s dealing with what at this time in the Church were huge issues. Unity comes with where your heart is. What’s your motivation? What drives you? Who are you thinking about?

Paul clearly identifies himself as one of the strong. But it’s interesting to me that he doesn’t say the weak need to change their minds or their opinions or their practices. In fact, he goes so far as to command them not to change their practices unless their minds are fully convinced. Paul’s prayer is not that all the Christians in Rome come to the same opinions on these things. No. He’s praying that they may possess a spirit of unity that transcends the differences.

(A Spirit Of Unity, part II)
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~Romans 15:5-6

“Has it ever occurred to you that one thousand pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one thousand worshippers meeting together, each one looking to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become unity conscious and turn their eyes away from Jesus to strive for closer fellowship.” ~A. W. Tozer

What if we’re talking about a “salvation issue?”

What’s a “salvation issue?” Will somebody please tell me what a “salvation issue” is? We get into discussions about “salvation issues” and we start ranking things in order of importance to God, in terms of what’s going to save us or condemn us. And we’ll talk about baptism and church and the authority of Scripture and worship practices. But we never talk about helping the poor or being kind to our enemies. Scripture says those are actually the weightier matters.

They’re all salvation issues! Everything we do is a salvation issue! That’s why the heart is the most important thing. The attitude is the most important thing.

“The Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.” ~Romans 14:17

As children of God and followers of the King, we take our example, we take our inspiration and motivation, from Jesus. The Son of God is the one who motivates us to live with each other the way we do. We realize that Christ Jesus never once did anything to please himself. Instead, he gave up everything, he sacrificed everything, to benefit and build up others. And by choosing to serve others instead of please himself, Jesus sets the pattern that we must accept as our own. Putting others first. Putting the needs of others first. It’s never about me. It’s always about you.

It’s not about hands. It’s about hearts. It’s never about hands, whether they’re raised or clapping. It’s always about hearts, whether they’re pure and holy.

And Paul puts it on the strong. It’s up to the strong, not the weak, to make sure this happens in God’s Church. It’s on the strong to bear with the failings of the weak brother. That’s hard. It’s up to the strong to make the sacrifices and concessions to our weaker brothers and sisters. That’s not easy. It’s easier to be the weaker Christian, drawing lines and insisting everybody cater to me. It’s the strong, Paul says, who are able to grasp the truth that our love and mercy and grace to others is Christ-like.

Here’s what separates the strong Christians from the weak. Bottom line. Here it is. Strong Christians with strong faith realize that the more you sacrifice and the more you give up for others, the more Christ-like you are. The more you insist on your own way and the more you assert yourself for your own interests, the less like Christ you are. Pretty simple.

So if all of us, all thousand of us here at Legacy, all-how-ever-many-there-are at your church, if all of us to a person decided right now today that we put ourselves at the end of the line, that we would all bend over backwards to make everybody else happy and sacrifice our own feelings and desires in order to build up others—if we all did that—wow! If we all accepted each other just like Christ; if we all bore the failings of the weak just like Christ; if we all pleased our neighbor for his good just like Christ; it still wouldn’t result in a perfect church. It won’t eliminate our differences of opinion. It won’t do away with all arguments and debate. But it would mean figuring out how to live together. And we’ll know for sure that the Christ who unites us is greater by far than the differences that may divide us. And our grace-filled conversations and our mercy-laden interactions with each other will reflect that conviction."

Knowing His Word

2008-10-29T09:25:00.000-07:00

I have been listening to the thoughts and sermons of Ray Van Der Laan recently and have found them extremely inspiring. One of the great thoughts he discussed (not original with him-I believe it came from a prolific Rabbi named Akiva) was the fact that it is important for us to promote memorization of God's word with our teens, students and adults. The idea is not that rote memorization, in and of itself, is to be pressed, but that knowing God's word inside and out is!

I have heard all this before. Here is what hooked me in, though. Akiva said that we should take one passage (and I believe we can be free with our interpretation of that word-whether it mean book, chapter, small paragraph or single verse) and work on memorization all day long. If we remember it the next day after all that work, then that's great and we've got it. If, however, we do not remember it we don't need to worry. Let God worry about that because it's in there somewhere and He will pull it out for us when we need it the most in our lives.

What do you think about that?!? God knows what He is doing. And if we truly work on remembering His word each day, He will take care that it is at our fingertips when we need it the most.

So work on what you can and I mean work at it and let God take the rest.
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If you would like to do this with us, I will post the verse every Monday starting next week. Here is the verse that the Meat Eaters group worked on Monday night.

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

Cleaning Out The Inside

2008-10-27T19:39:00.000-07:00

I started a new study with my teens at Meat Eaters (an evening of digging into the deeper meat of the word) tonight. We are looking at the book 'Renovation of the Heart: The Student Edition' by Dallas Willard and Randy Frazee. I have to say that it was one of the best studies we have had in a long time. There was a lot of discussion. Even some of my quieter students jumped into the conversation. I am very excited about what happened tonight and I look forward to what will come in the nights ahead!! I will blog more about this tomorrow.

Bison Dazed and Confused

2008-10-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

Here at Harding University with some teens for Bison Daze (a great way for 9-12 graders to get to know HU and all it has to offer) weekend which actually coincides with Homecoming as well!! We have been having fun but today will be the best because we get to catch the family picnic on the GAC lawn as well as the football game this afternoon with a capping off of the evening with the Harding Theatre Homecoming Production of "Oklahoma." I am looking forward to it!!!! Be back later some time with pics.

Harding and Meat Sauce

2008-10-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

A great saying that I saw on a T-Shirt at my cousin Kristen's soccer game over the weekend:

"Vi Vill Vinna,
Vi Vill Ta Dem,
Vi Vill Gora Kott Sas Ote Om Dem!"

Translation from Swedish to English:
"We Will Win,
We Will Take Them,
We Will Make Meat Sauce Out Of Them!"

I want that shirt!!
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A group of teens are going with me this weekend to Bison Daze at Harding University. It will be great to catch a few games, sit in on some classes (including Keith Stanglin's Comparative Theology or something by him), and hang out with some weird people!

Family Pics

2008-10-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some great weekend pics of family that I promised!!

The whole group from left: Kristen, Kameron, Misti, Dad, Jeff holding Brenden, Uncle Dave, Me and Mom!

At the Soccer field in Dallas watching Kristen and the girls from DePauw University in Indiana dominate the girls from TX!! Dad's nickname for the weekend was 'Rorb' for wearing those awful, Roy Orbison glasses. And Jeff is not my brother-in-law/He is my sister's husband!!!

On the field after the game!

A.M. Worship Service

2008-10-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

I preached this morning from Mark 8 and I have to admit that I feel pretty good about it. I also must tell you that I stole shamelessly from my friends Jim Gardner and Allan Stanglin as well as other great speakers I don't know: Ray Van Der Laan and Rob Bell. The combination was powerhouse! When I have it on mp3 format I will put it here for any family that would like to hear it.

Kevin Smith brought his powerful voice in to lead us in worship. Kevin is a low Bass, but he is also able to take it on up there to the roof! He has quite a range and for that I am jealous.

All in all, I would say this morning was a nice time of worshiping our God.

Family

2008-10-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

Early Friday morning, I left for TX to have a nice, albeit short, visit with my family including my Uncle Dave and Kristen, who I have not seen in many years. I will blog later with stories and pictures of the family gathering.

Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University

2008-10-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

Something has happened in our (El and me) lives that has changed us completely. Three words sum it up: Financial Peace University! Ever since we started this program in August, we have been changed in many great ways.

First, I (the Free Spirit of the family) have become frugal. Let me type that again. I have become a frugal spender! Anyone that knows me and my burning pockets would be skeptical of this transformation but it's true. And El can attest to that. I don't buy anymore. I just don't do it.

Second, El and I have put our heads together in such a big way on spending and budgets and cash flow and snowballing that we can see more than a glimpse of light at the end of the debt-laden tunnel. Our relationship to money is being reshaped into something I thought would never be. Amazing stuff!

Third, and most importantly, we have grown even closer together in this process. We are not the well-oiled machine that we can be, but we are mighty close. We are not only pumped about debt reduction but also about our sudden renewal in relationship!! We work together. On it all!! I can't even touch the hem of the garment with this stuff, I tell ya!

If you have the chance to be part of FPU, jump on it. It will make all the difference in the world. Is it easy? No. Does it work in such a big way that you are changed and left wondering why you never did this before? YES!!!
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All of this brings me to the other thoughts that are being formulated about the world and money. I will be back later in the day with that.

I'm Not A Big Fan of Bumper Stickers But...

2008-10-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

I read this one the other day and agreed heartily:
"When Satan Reminds you of your past, Repent and Remind him of his future!"
Pretty cool and accurate.
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I read an article today about exorbitant salaries and am now formulating my thoughts for tomorrow's blog.

Pic Gallery

2008-10-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Some Pics of the Youth Loft before we begin construction on it this week!

Northside Youth Loft

2008-10-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

I am so glad to say that the unfinished room upstairs in Northside's Outreach Building is going to soon become the Youth Loft! 8 hard-working souls made it up to the building this morning to clean out what will soon be our new space for teen (7-12) class, devotionals, meetings, playing and just plain hanging.

I knew the number would be low with Race For the Cure and Silver Dollar City Church of Christ Family Weekend going on, but it is the second Saturday and I wasn't able to go to either of those, so I thought it would be a great time to get this thing shaped up! We worked hard for a little over 2 and a half hours and...we got it done!!!!! YEAH!!

Big thanks to Stephanie Howell for doing some work earlier this week. Also to Chad McNew, Brad Ferrell, Leavon Bowers, Melita Porter, Logan Porter, Elizabeth Mitchell, and even little Boodle! I thank you from the bottom of my heart! So does the rest of the youth group and parents.

I will post pictures as the new Northside Youth Room progresses.

I'm In The Mood To Read

2008-10-10T10:50:00.001-07:00

I would like to know, by you Christian scholars and readers out there, what your top 5 picks are in Christian books. Now, they can be anything-technical, doctrinal, devotional, fictional, etc. Just let me know by comment or email what you would consider 'must-reads' in this arena. I can't wait to hear from you!!

Under The Weather

2008-10-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

I have been away for a while from my post and I am truly sorry! For the past few weeks, I have been blowing and going 90 miles a minute.

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege to work with Jim Gardner and the Woodward Park Church of Christ in Fresno, CA, at their annual Spiritual Growth Workshop. 'What a joy' that was!! I was able to meet some great people (Frizzells, Holmans, Knutsons, Wiegand, among others) and hear some of the better thinkers and speakers (Dan Williams, Allan Stanglin, Eli Hooper, etc.) in the brotherhood.

I had to leave earlier than I wanted, but I hope to be seeing and working with them again soon.
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I then flew back in late Saturday night to get ready for our Mission Sunday. What a success!! We raised the money we were shooting for and we're getting ready to renew and strengthen the hard work that is being done in Africa as well as the Hispanic and Asian communities here in our own back yard!

I am truly excited about the work that is being done by the Northside congregation.
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Then I left the next day for the Harding University Lectureships. Got to hear some more great thinkers and speakers preach from my favorite gospel-John! That's always great to me!
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Then, when everything was looking up for blogging again, I got sick! So sick that I couldn't even stay awake for one of my favorite television shows-Heroes!! Now, that's pretty bad sick, I would say.
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Anyway, I'm back now and, even though my voice sounds like a frog in a blender (or kettle, for those Barna fans out there), I'm ready to do some more prep work for my Sunday morning class that's been going on this quarter-Praise 101 (devotionals, new songs, old songs and "making of" stories) is going strong. There just isn't enough class space for almost 100 people.

You can see the list on the right of newer songs that we are learning in this class. I will post them every week as we learn them.

A Celebrity On My Plane

2008-10-01T00:03:00.000-07:00

So I'm in LA waiting on my plane for Chicago when a young girl walks in to board for the first class call. Accompanied by an older gentleman carrying her bags, she arrived just in time for them to open the door and call for first class passengers.

I thought that she might be a celeb since the man did not get on with her but watched her all the way to the plane. And since she had some pretty big shades on. At first I thought it was Lindsay Lohan-the long red hair threw me off. But then as I looked at her face a little closer, I thought that it might be Rumer Willis, the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.

So just now I googled her name to see if any snooping photog might have gotten her on Saturday as she prepared to travel. I hit the jackpot!! It was Rumer Willis. On my plane to Chicago. Pretty cool.

That brings me to number 8 on my celebrity sightings.

Fed From The Word

2008-09-30T14:41:00.000-07:00

These past 2 weeks I have been privileged to hear fresh insight from the study of God's word. Between the Spiritual Growth Workshop in Fresno, CA last week and the Harding Lectureship here in Searcy, AR this week, I am a blessed man!! To hear from the likes of Dan Williams, Allan Stanglin, Mark Shipp, Adrian Hickmon, Brandon Holt, Eli Hooper and many others is to be truly fed!

I am hanging out with a wild father and son team while here. Mike and Chad Knappier have allowed me to stay in their room with them and we are running all over creation. We're having too much fun. Too much fun and we need to be separated in order to stay out of trouble.

I will tell you more all about it when I get back to my own personal computer.

Celebrity In And Out Of The Brotherhood

2008-09-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

First off, I have to tell you about the celebrity I spotted in Los Angeles on Tuesday. It was none other than this man:

He sang lead in an early 80's punk rock band with a name that I will leave off of this post for the faint of heart. You might know him and you might not. If you do, then you will know why I chose not to approach!! If you don't, then I suggest you watch any television interview with the man and you will see why immediately!
------
As to celebrity in the brotherhood: I am in the midst of it!! It has been 'such a joy' to work and worship with the likes of Jim Gardner, Allan Stanglin, Truitt Adair (director of Sunset School of Preaching), Dan Williams (Small Groups and Family/Marital Counseling Guru), Brandon Holt (grandson of G.P.), Eli Hooper (go-to guy for anything youth related on the west coast), John Wiegand (editor of Praise For The Lord songbook), among many others that I have yet to hear.

I look forward to the blessings of God through Kerry Williams, his father Stan, Nick Perez, and others on the list.

This workshop is a veritable who's who in the churches of Christ!! It's quite exciting to me!

"California, California, Here We Come!"

2008-09-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

OK, so I am already in California, but I thought the quote from Phantom Planet's song would do quite nicely for a title since it is streaming nonstop through my head.

I am so excited to be back with my old buddy, Jim. But, I am even more excited to be with Mandy and the girls!! Don't tell Jim. Mandy made her world-famous chicken enchiladas last night and I stuffed myself silly. So good!

I got to meet Andy and Ashley Frizzell, the new Youth Minister and his wife. They are a great couple already working hard here in the beautiful city of Fresno. I can't wait to get to know them better.

Jim has taken me around and shown me many of the sights, but I left my camera sitting on the counter back at home! I always forget something. The Gardners have a camera, though, and they said I could use it to get some great shots in. I will take them up on that!!

One of the cool things about this place is the abundance of ethnic food restaurants. I look forward to eating some Thai, Armenian and whatever else great pops up along the way! So cool!

I will blog again soon with some pics and a story about the celebrity I encountered in Los Angeles.

Special Thanks

2008-09-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

I just want to specially thank some people for things they have done recently. Here goes:

Special thanks to Stephanie Howell for 'wearing herself slick' and sick working the teen rummage sale last Saturday! Add to that list El, Brenda G, Griselda T, Wendy C, Karen B, Lisa G, Missy Mc, Josh H, Alden M, Luis S, and all the teens that helped.

Special thanks to Greg and Marvelyn Tapp for sharing with the teens the importance of financial responsibility.

Special thanks to the men who have undertaken the huge responsibility of leading Life Groups.

Special thanks to Wilma Lunsford for just being who she is. You know!!

Special thanks to Ed Butterworth for mowing (even scalping) my lawn and enduring an unexpected yellowjacket sting in the process.

Special thanks to Fernando Toledo for all the hard work that he has put in for the Hispanic Ministry and just plain having a heart of gold!! An amazing man!

Special thanks to Mike Knappier, Joel Lewis, Fernando Toledo, Linda Pike, and Joyce Smith for putting up with the likes of me on a daily basis.

Special thanks to Eric Lewis for his constant energy and encouragement.

There will be more to come later...

Held Through It All

2008-09-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

May God bless you with healing and peace as you go through this day. As we remember the tragedy that befell our country 7 years ago, I hope that we realize that God is not watching 'from a distance', but is with us in our hearts everywhere we go. He will take us/carry us/hold us through our pain and our grief. I leave you this morning with a beautiful Natalie Grant song (introduced to me by my sister, Misti) that is so fitting for such a time as this.

"Two months is too little.
They let him go.
They had no sudden healing.
To think that providence would
Take a child from his mother while she prays
Is appalling.

Who told us we'd be rescued?
What has changed and why should we be saved from nightmares?
We're asking why this happens
To us who have died to live?
It's unfair.

This hand is bitterness.
We want to taste it, let the hatred know our sorrow.
The wise hands opens slowly to lilies of the valley and tomorrow.

If hope is born of suffering.
If this is only the beginning.
Can we not wait for one hour watching for our Savior?

This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we'd be held."

Little Growth

2008-09-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Just wanted you 'Brothers of the Brush' to know how I am coming along with my beard. Almost a week in and I have a little growth.

So I have come from this:

To this:

Epiphyseal Plate

2008-09-07T13:16:00.001-07:00

"Tuesday afternoon, I was just sitting down to a bible study with Dannie S when my cell rang. There had been a mishap at daycare and Jenniva couldn't stand on her right leg. I immediately took her to the Dr. and had it X-Rayed. Not broken. But severely bruised and swollen. She still won't stand on it. Keep little Boodle in your prayers."

This quote is taken directly from my blog post Friday morning. Later that evening, El and I were called by the Pediatrician. The Radiologist saw what she didn't. It has been fractured! Boodle has what they call a 'Toddler Fracture.' It will not be set in a cast but will heal over the course of 2-3 weeks. It broke on the growth plate. Really sad. Please keep us in your prayers.

Catching You Up

2008-09-05T08:06:00.001-07:00

Got to spend a few days with dear friends of ours - Allan, Carrie Ann, Whitney, Valerie and Carly Stanglin, this past weekend!! Allan came in to speak for our 5th Sunday and was amazing! We got to spend some quality time together and laugh about old times and ponder some present times with bright hope for the future. We also just played. Backgammon, PS3, Would You Rather, Cranium and threw around the football. I miss them so much and can't wait to do it again soon!

Tuesday afternoon, I was just sitting down to a bible study with Dannie S when my cell rang. There had been a mishap at daycare and Jenniva couldn't stand on her right leg. I immediately took her to the Dr. and had it X-Rayed. Not broken. But severely bruised and swollen. She still won't stand on it. Keep little Boodle in your prayers.

So, instead of going to the Salt Bowl, I stayed at home with Boodle while Gustav came a-knockin'. The lights went out at about 7:20 and came back on around 10:00. Fun times!! I was sure glad that Bob had given me that wind-up flashlight I thought I would never use. Well, I have used it and love it now!

Last night, El and I were stressed beyond that point as we headed to our first evening of Financial Peace University with Dave Ramsey. Why were we stressed? Finances. Today is the closing date of our house in Marble Falls! That's a good thing. That's a great thing!!! But, the closing costs were a little more than we calculated and that is where all the stress came in.

So, now I look like this!

And I have decided to grow a beard (not necessarily because we can't afford a razor) and will soon look like this!
Well, maybe not that bad!! Sorry, Natalie Portman, I just don't think your boyfriend's look is what I'm gonna shoot for.

Beard Brothers

2008-09-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

So my friend Clint S and I have decided to grow beards for this season!! I think even Ed B, now that he has a new job, will join in. We will be Beard Brothers!! Anyone else want to join in the fun?!?

Pictures of This and That

2008-09-02T11:50:00.001-07:00

Here are some shots of things that have happened in my life recently.

Mom and Dad (AKA Bobba and NaNa) spent some time with us a few weekends ago. It was an awesome time!! I'm ready for them to come again.

This is what happens when you work shoulders with me!!

Boodle had a great time shopping with Kitty on Labor Day!

Barnabas

2008-08-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

Son of Encouragement, right?

I have decided to adopt his stance in life. In all things.

The world is already full up with skeptics, pessimists, whiners, critics, complainers, curmudgeons...the list goes on and on.

And it's not only the worldly contained within this list. It's followers of Christ as well. Those of us who have been saved, called, blessed, exhorted, edified, forgiven, redeemed. We join in. Why? Why would we let the nasty junk of the world creep into our spirits?!?

I say no more!!!

So, I've decided to let God give me an uplifting makeover. I'm gonna let Him fill me with encouragement and help me dish it out to others in this world. Dish it out to...

Not only my Christian brothers and sisters but my community surrounding.

Not only my wife and sweet, little girl but my neighbors next door.

Not only my coworkers/coministers with whom I get along but the members in church who hurt my feelings/make me angry.

Not only those who smile and love me back but those who flip me off in traffic or cuss me out when I do something they don't like.

I am gonna be an equal opportunity encourager.

I ask you, Dear Reader, to come along and join me.

Out of Sorts

2008-08-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

I didn't blog yesterday because I was just too out of it.

First off, I have been feeling a little under the weather (a cold trying to come on and an ugly fever blister-add to that an under the weather/cranky spanky baby girl) yet really happy at the same time.

Then mix in trying to get a lot done and plan and visit and mow and prepare for upcoming events-all keeping me out late at night.

Also, going to see one young and healthy member recover from a heart attack and some older members that are about to leave the hospital and go under hospice care has made me pretty blue.

This is getting me all out of sorts!

I tried to nuke some oatmeal in the fridge 2 times this morning! If that's not out of sorts, I don't know what is!!!!

And to top it all off, my partner in crime, Mike Knappier, has just played the worst of all pranks on me. I won't go into detail, but I will tell you that I deserved it from one huge mischievous prank that I pulled on him in June. It was coming. I knew it. But I just wasn't ready for it. It was, in the language of our newest minister, muy malo!!!

The Future's So Bright!

2008-08-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

I woke up really early this morning!! 6 is not that early but it sure is for me on my day off. Especially after a nice, big Sunday with meetings in between meetings!

No, the reason I have graced the early morning with my presence is because I am just too excited to sleep!!!

Excited about the ministry at Northside. Here's why in a nutshell:

We keep growing in number! People are placing membership with us every week.
The youth group is getting massive! We are truly growing spiritually as well.
There has been a reconciliation between NS and one Jim Gardner. 12 years in the making.
We have a new full time minister on staff. Fernando T is our Hispanic Minister and I love him to pieces! He is a true servant of God and a man of the Word. He keeps baptizing 'em left and right. He is in the office right next to mine. I think I get too excited, though, because I get a little too loud and he laughs and then shuts the door!!!
We are getting ready to begin small groups again and the response/need is overwhelming. We already have over 140 signed up. In one day!!
Friendspeak is about to begin.
Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University is about to begin.
Our Sunday morning Children's Worship has gotten so big that we have had to move to 2 big rooms.
Northside's beautiful voices increasingly continue to blow me away!

There is more and I will continue, but I must go tend to a Boodle who just woke up!

Fleshy Meat Arms!!

2008-08-21T14:10:00.000-07:00

Just posted some improv done by Conner S, Leavon B and Johnson F on Youtube. Just note that this was done at around 5:40 in the a.m. at an overnight lock-in with Robinson and Center in Conway. The longest and strangest 6 minutes of my life! Johnson scares me sometimes. I really don't know what is funnier-the scary improv, the slaphappy giggles of Katie N and Savannah S, or the total lack of any kind of expression on the faces (due to being totally unimpressed) of everyone else in the audience. Look it up if you dare-Fleshy Meat Arms!!

Hairy and Not So Hairy Days

2008-08-20T08:43:00.001-07:00

I was looking at some old pics that some friends on Facebook

posted and tagged the other day and found some doozies!!
Thought I would share them with you, dear readers.

Back in 1994 when I thought it would be cool to shave my head. Turned out not to be so cool!! And yes those were the days that I had a gross fixation with purple. You can't see them, but my shoes were even purple!

This was me and my "other family." Grew all this out for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 2001 at Harding University. Don't I look like a mountain man?!?

There I am yet again with some extra bushiness going on!

A Great Start

2008-08-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

We could not have had a better start for the week. My buddy, Jim Gardner, brought a great lesson this past Sunday morning. We had over 480 people in attendance!! That number is higher than we have been in a long while.

Many came from Hot Springs Village to hear Jim preach. It was amazing to see some old friends and catch up and talk about times past.

I was able to spend a good amount of time with Jim and talk about the old days and peek into the future.

Later that afternoon, something happened to 6 former 6th graders that were getting ready to graduate into the youth group. They were kidnapped! By the youth minister and those already in the youth group!! After all the scary stuff, we had a great time of eating and swimming at the Norris house!! There were 40 there to join in the fun. Brenda G was there as our photog. She took some great pics. I will post them as soon as I get them.

The Road

2008-08-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

I just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy and I have to admit that I cried a bit. OK, maybe I blubbered. It was such a great read, though. If you have not read McCarthy before, I tell you now that you must go out and get one of his books. The writing is unlike any other I have read and it took me a few pages to get accustomed to it, but once I did, I fell in love with the style. I believe you will, too. Great book!! I highly recommend it.

Recap

2008-08-14T12:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a bit more wild than I thought it would be. After the breakfast, I met with Cameron Cook and we worked on our evening Oasis worship last night, then I got to work on other things and totally forgot to fill you in on Tuesday's action packed events.

I was honored to be a part of CAC's revisioning of The Amazing Race! I was merely a driver. No more than that. And I was supposed to just go where they told me even when I knew our destination might be in the opposite direction! That was hard to do, but I managed pretty well.

We left the CAC parking lot and traveled to:

The Big Dam Bridge Road
Pulaski Tech (Old Expo Center)
Little Rock Zoo
UALR-Welcome Center & Fountain
Clinton Library
Somers Avenue Church of Christ
Linens N Things
Barnes and Noble
Target
The Old Mill
Sherwood Humane Society
Sylvan Hills Church of Christ

At these stops, the group would take pictures, find clues, meet new people, watch videos, play games and buy things. What a crazy day!! I had a lot of fun and I know the teens did. Can't wait to do it again soon.

The Amazing Race

2008-08-12T19:56:00.001-07:00

I had a big day today with Central Arkansas Christian seniors in something like 'The Amazing Race.' I will fill you in about it tomorrow mid-morning when I get in to the office after our weekly 'Vision Wednesday Ministers Breakfast'.

Shredded Part III

2008-08-11T19:19:00.000-07:00

A big part of the group wanted to be out in the rain so we went over to the Sloans valley and played in the rain and mud-relay races,
human pyramid,

a contest of best 3rd base slide (with 3rd base being a mud puddle),

Red Rover,

and some great wrap football in the grassy section.

We ended the night with a great time of singing and devotion to our Lord and Savior followed by stuffing ourselves with yummy food. Awesome times!! I am just so proud that we still had a huge number-60+!!

If you want to see more pics, go over to the NS Youth Facebook Page!

After all of that fun, I am just about shredded!!

Shredded Part II

2008-08-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

The highlight of it all, however, was what happened on Sunday. Many of you already know that Murphy likes to follow me around. Murphy's been around before-butt surgery in a 3rd world country-Hurricane Dolly putting a halt to our Mexico mission. He came in the form of a huge thunderstorm with lots and lots of rain this time. On the day that was set for 70+ to go out on the lake!! The meteorologists called the storm an anomaly. It came out of nowhere!!

We made due, though! Instead of going to the lake, we decided to set up the Outreach Building for Rock Band on Wii, Guitar Hero on PS2, and some XBOX 360 games-all on big screens. Also some tables for Spoons and Risk.

Shredded Part I

2008-08-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a big one! El left Friday morning to take little Boodle to spend the weekend with her GranMary since El was going out a blast of a time with the girls. Melissa S, Melissa P, Kelly D, Jessica T and El spent the weekend swimming and 'SeaDooing' at the lake.

While the girls were away, I had quite a blast of my own. Friday night, I traveled to Baptist Rehab Institute to baptize Haley Y. She and the rest of the family wanted Jared S, her cousin, to be in attendance and the only way for that to happen was if I would be willing to perform the ceremony in the Baptist Rehab Institute swimming pool. Of course I said yes! It was a great experience for all of us!!

On the way back, I talked to some of the guys from the youth group and we decided to go out to eat, watch a movie and hang out and goof off at my house for the night. They stayed over and we did not go to sleep until 4:00 in the morning. Davis fell asleep too soon and that just is not a good thing with a group of guys around. Come on, who wouldn't want to squirt mustard in an open mouth?!?

We got up the next morning a little before 8:00 and got ready to have Second Saturday Servants. 11 of us journeyed to Stoneybrook, Benton and Grace Healthcare Nursing Homes to sing some songs (both old and new) to the residents.

That evening my mom and dad came to spend the night on their way back to TX. It was good to spend just a little bit of time with them.

And Counting...

2008-08-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

I want to let you know that I am getting a little apprehensive about the new number for the Back To School Lake Celebration over on Balboa at the home of Gary and Paula B! The number started out with a reasonable amount of 25. Then it went up to around 40. Now it is just scraping under 70!! When I talked with Paula B. this morning, I could hear a bit of 'overwhelmedness' in her voice! But, I think with 4 boats and more backyard and beach for the extra bodies, we should be OK. Gonna be awesome and wild, though!! I will make sure to post some pics when I get back from the fun in the sun.

The Last Big Hoorah!!

2008-08-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have not read my email and for those of you who have not seen the Northside Youth Facebook Event page: We are going to have a Back-To-School Lake Balboa Celebration replete with boating, tubing, skiing and swimming this Sunday afternoon and evening!! The count so far is 25 and rising!!! If you want to come, let me know either by email, comment or phone call!

Ministry Can Wear You Slick!

2008-08-04T18:12:00.000-07:00

Melissa S took this on the bus as we traveled to Austin, TX. Since I drove the van the whole way there and back, I missed out on this great Mike Knappier moment.

New Link

2008-08-04T16:08:00.001-07:00

Today, while Boodle sitting, I added a link. Our youth group here at Northside has a facebook page devoted only to the happenings and thoughts of the youth ministry here in Benton, AR. It's becoming chock full of pics from former events and listings for the upcoming ones. Check it out.

The Joker's Wild!!

2008-08-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

Just got back from seeing "The Dark Knight" yet again. This time on Imax. Wow! Even better the second time around. I thought that it was a bit ironic that my friend Paul P drove up in his "Batmobile" with his Batman shirt on and I showed up in a purple shirt and dark purple shades. Pretty cool. What follows is a little pictorial tribute to The Joker. One of my favorite comic book villains. Whether the comic gentleman (Nicholson) or the maniacal agent of anarchy (Ledger), The Joker has been a truly powerful force on screen.

Do you have any better pics of this villain that you could share with me? Send them to my email address.

My Next Door Neighbors Are Vampires

2008-08-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

They are!!!

El and I started noticing that, once the building of the house to the left of us was completed, no one came. But, the lawn would be mowed & edged and the sidewalks would be swept every other week. The place continued to get spruced up and kept in more than decent shape when no one was looking. We still haven't seen them doing it.

At first we thought that it was being kept up by some sort of hired out lawn care people for the soon-to-be-residents, but that is not the case.

Our neighbors have moved in already!!

Just at some time when no one was awake.

I still have not seen them.

El has, though.

But only once.

At night!!

And they were scary.

I believe we have some vampires in our neighborhood.

Maybe it's because I am in the middle of a pretty scary vampire novel. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me! Maybe they work the graveyard shift.

There's a whole lot of maybes that can be inserted. We could go on and on.

Let's face the facts here, though. They might be nocturnal bloodsucking fiends.

You decide.

People You Meet On The Journey

2008-07-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I am a complete goofball. I love to laugh, play and pull pranks.

But...

I do have a serious side to me and one of the aspects to this side is gleaning as much knowledge, wisdom, life application and work ethic as I can from colleagues, friends and mentors (not as many mentors as you might say, Larry!) along the way. What follows is a bit of what I have learned from these great people in my work.

Jim Gardner showed me how to 'do ministry.' I came in greener than a gourd and he carved off the greener bits here and there. It was not the easiest of processes, let me assure you! He taught me how to accentuate my strengths and daily improve upon my weaknesses. I learned how to just be with people through bible study and visitation. I learned how to improve my work ethic. I look to him as a prime example of what true preaching is all about - an intimate conversation with the audience. There is much more, but I will leave it at that for now.

Jim Dobbs imparted wisdom and love in what seemed like every breath. What an amazing man! I had a nickname for him while we worked together - Yoda. Everyone looked to him for counsel. I miss being around him on a weekly basis!

Greg Neill showed me how to get in there and get your hands dirty. I have never met a harder 'behind the scenes' worker who also was the full time preacher. He was always willing to bend over backwards to get the work done. What a true servant in the Kingdom.

Allan Stanglin rekindled a Godly passion within me. He brought such energy and tirelessness to the work that sometimes left my head spinning. I can't wait to see him in August!

Mike Knappier has helped me cultivate grace and grit in my ministry. Equally a man of extreme compassion and Godly confrontation, he has helped me understand that it is important to speak up when it comes to God's work and His people here on earth, but to do it with a spirit of love from above. I am still able to sit at his feet and I know I will continue to learn as we work together here in AR.

These are just a few of the great men that I have had to privilege to work and worship with along my journey. I'm sure there will be a part II somewhere along the way.

I Shall Change Your Name To...

2008-07-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

Jimmy's Law!!!

As many of you may have already heard through the grapevine, the group of 25 did not make it to Mexico.

Can you say 'Hello Dolly?!?'

Due to Hurricane Dolly, we traveled no further south than Austin, TX. We stayed with some great families from the Brentwood Oaks congregation for a couple of nights and then hit a Red Roof Inn for the last night. God's plans are not our own and things like this remind us of Who is in control.

We wound up getting connected with some churches in the Austin area and doing some of God's work there. We did several things: cleaned outside and inside a church building-organized a benevolence pantry-organized a clothing area-purchased and filled (thanks Tony and Leslie!) 60 new backpacks with school supplies for children of non-English speaking immigrants-stuffed Prayer Bears for children-traveled door-to-door handing out 140 loaves of bread (tickets) in Jesus' name-played with kids in low rent apartment complexes-handed out bible correspondence courses in Spanish-pretty much found work in other parts of God's Awesome Creation!!

I would like to personally thank Sandy W for helping us with the accommodations with Brentwood, Tony and Leslie P for getting us in the groove with Westover Hills, Denise, Scott, and Rick for giving us something to do in the Austin area and all the Austin families and friends that supported us while there! What a great time of service in the kingdom!!

Murphy's Coming!

2008-07-20T20:05:00.001-07:00

25 of us head down to take part in a mission to Matamoros, Mexico tomorrow. We will be meeting up with several other churches to do a combination of manual labor, service, devotionals, personal bible studies and a children's day.

We are staying overnight with families from the Brentwood Oaks Church of Christ in Austin tomorrow night, so it will be great to play catch up a little with Shay S, the youth guy there. It is going to be amazing!!

I believe that Murphy (from Murphy's Law fame) will make another appearance. The weather forecast has a tropical on the horizon that may or may not hit on Thursday. I think Murph likes me a little!!

I will be out until next Tuesday. I may or may not be able to blog during our stay there.

Til then - A Dios, Amigos!

Why So Serious?!?

2008-07-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

What was, I thought, just a small group of students and parents who made plans to stay up late after the final night of a rousing VBS and view the special premiere of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, became much more than I thought. It went from 20 to 30. Then it climbed to 35. And now it has tipped up over the 40 mark. It may even be 50. Wild!!

Anyway, I know I am just begging to wear my body and brain out again by staying up for a midnight movie after a full week of VBS. It is just too much fun!

The above picture was created some students (Tyler, Jennifer, Wayne, Parker, and Cole) in my youth group and their friends that will soon be in the group whether they know it or not. I just had to share it with you because I think that they did an amazing job.

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VBS was wondermous!! Dawn Mitchell is a powerhouse leader and worker! I will post some blogs and pics in the near future.

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Boodle did great during the procedure this morning. The scope showed clear shots of upper GI. They did a biopsy and we will get the results on the 30th. She and El are at home getting some well deserved rest. Thank you for your prayers!!

Keep Praying

2008-07-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

The neurologist gave some good words to friends and family of Jared Swaim yesterday afternoon. He feels good about the situation and believes he will make it back albeit through a long recovery period. So, thank you for all the prayers that you have been lifting up!! There is such power in this.

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Mark Gober was opening his eyes and smiling yesterday afternoon when Mike and I went to see him. His platelets are rising to better levels and he is becoming more and more responsive. God is more powerful than we could ever realize, isn't He? Thank you for your prayers.

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We are taking Boodle in to Children's Hospital this morning for an upper GI Endoscopy. She has severe acid reflux and the gastroenterologist wants to take a closer look at her problem. Please pray for her and us as we do this. The procedure is set to happen at 11:00 this morning. I will post again today to keep you updated.

In Need of Prayers

2008-07-16T09:11:00.001-07:00

One of our young men here at Northside, Jared Swaim, age 24, is in critical condition at the Saline Memorial Hospital. His parents, Freddy and Paula S, as well as his grandparents, Fred and Edith S, and Jessie Mitchell are members of our congregation. Please lift them all up to God at this very moment. Thank you.

At Long Last III

2008-07-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

Just a cute pic with a happy little Boodle!

Lock-In Madness with R & C in Conway. This shot was taken at 7 the next morning when all had been said and done. Some were still asleep in the pews while others didn't have the power to stay all night and left at around 1 or 2 a.m.

Some students taking over my office iMac. That happens a lot these days!!

At Long Last II

2008-07-15T11:47:00.001-07:00

The oldest boys cabin making fun of their fearless leader! I can't believe it.

Random shot of us waiting in the van for the rest of the travelers to go see Acapella in concert at Harding University.

Some of Northside's great chaperones. Really, where could you find any better?!?

Random Melissa and Steven P (I mean soon-to-be R) shot. With guest appearances by Steven's mom, Allison F and an arm!

At Long Last

2008-07-15T09:11:00.000-07:00

I have promised you over and over that I would post some pictures of some of the recent summer events. Well, here are a few of them. I will probably have to do several posts to include all that I want with a little commentary sprinkled here and there.

The kids at Camp Barton were really sweet!

Especially when they saw the camp director coming with 'My Precious.'

They had a great time playing water games in the hot, hot heat.

The makeshift 'Slip & Slide'-created by Ding Dong Philip and Tappmeister Greg was so cool!
They would be slip-sliding away...

and they would wind up in the mud pit at the bottom of the hill.

We got some grit in our teeth if we went down face first. Yummy!!

VBS Begins

2008-07-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

We started our Vacation Bible School off with a bang tonight. One of our elders counted 225 in helpers and children. That does not include the 100+ that were in the auditorium listening to Dr. Tommy South speak about who Jesus is. What a great success!!

I will post some pictures tomorrow.

The Vegetable

2008-07-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

I am quickly becoming a vegetable.

This, of course, is due the all the recent work and play with the Northside crew!!

Last night, I took 13 to meet up with the Robinson and Center youth group and have a wild lock-in. I was gone from 8:30-8:30!

Never slept 'til I got home.

I actually took a 3 and a half hour nap before getting up and going back to the building to meet up with 7 different students for our S3: Second Saturday Servants. We walked around in the heat of the day (from about 2:00-4:00) hanging some advertisements about our great VBS beginning tomorrow.

I then did some work in my office and came home about 5:30 tonight. Things are starting to get blurry now.

So I got to spend some quality time this weekend playing with and getting to know 21 students from my ministry. What a wild and wacky crew-also very sweet, striving hearts.

I am a very blessed man to be doing what I do and working with these great and wonderful people!

I will be posting some choice pics from several recent events soon, but as for right now, I am going to get some well needed rest.

Long Days

2008-07-09T20:57:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here at 11:04 p.m. waiting on my food as it is nuked in the microwave. El has gone to bed already. She gets up at the crack o' dawn to travel over to National Park Community College for an exciting course in Organic Chemistry!

Anyway, as to why I am eating so late, the day was just so wild that I just did not have time for dinner. Too much going on. And with the Elders/Ministers meeting right after Wednesday evening class and Oasis, it is just plain wrong to not grab a quick bite before the appointed time!! I will blog more tomorrow about how this week full of VBS setup has been going.

Out and About

2008-07-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

Just so you know-I have not been negligent in blogging. I have been out for a while. I did, however, neglect to inform you of all the traveling that I would be doing this last month and I apologize.

Here is a quick rundown of why I have been gone for so long:

On June 8th, I left with 4 recently graduated young men for Africa. We did not return until Thursday the 19th.

Upon my return, I quickly downloaded information from Mary Jo N. about their work at Harding Uplift. Much to discuss. I even did some fast counseling with some students.

I then, before resting my laurels too long, left for Summer Bible Camp at Barton on Sunday the 22nd. 80+ of us returned on Saturday the 28th. My Mom came in to visit that day, too!!

On Sunday the 29th, Howard Norton brought some great energy and excitement to our 5th Sunday Series on Growing in Grace in 2008. Later that night, instead of resting a bit from Africa and Camp, I took 25 to see ACAPELLA in concert at the Benson Auditorium at Harding U.

The following week (Monday, June 30-Saturday, July 5th) I struggled with something. I found out just why I felt overtired/sluggish and like I was swallowing shards of glass every time I ate or drank-I had Strep Throat! I got much rest that week with no looking at Internet. That was hard to do!!

Sunday the 6th, the young men and I gave a full Africa report for a combined class and combined worship service. That night, the entire congregation celebrated with Fernando Toledo as he embarks on a full time work here as our Hispanic Minister. What a great and passionate guy!!

Yesterday was just an off day. After I traveled with our preacher, Joel, to see one of our members in the hospital, El and I took Boodle in to see a Gastroenterologist about her tummy condition. Later that night, I held a Prayer Vigil with 60 people from Northside to lift up Mark Gober and his family to the throne room of God. He is in the hospital on dialysis and a ventilator. The doctors and nurses do not know what is wrong with him. I ask that you pray for him, his wife, Sarah, and their children, Jesse and Morgan.

So that is what I have been doing and where I have been hiding as of late.

I am here with you until the 21st when we take a group of families to join forces with the Stillwater, Crosstown and 29th & Yale Churches of Christ to take on Mexico!! We will return the following Monday (the 28th) night.

I have definitely been out and about.

Africa Revisited

2008-06-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

If you are wondering about our recent Youth Mission to Africa, then the above picture says it all. 'Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong' is an understatement to us now.

On Sunday the 8th, 4 recently graduated HS Senior boys embarked on an unforgettable journey with their fearless, though in pain, leader-Jimmy Mitchell. What follows is a list recounting all that went completely wrong:

1. Somehow, and I can't quite explain it because we were sitting right there for over an hour listening for them to call it (which never happened) and waiting to see people get up and get in line to board (which never happened), we missed our connecting flight in Atlanta.

2. The flight we were supposed to get on in NY (and that we were to hook back up with in Senegal) was delayed for a few hours due to fog leaving us in a bare bones holding cell in Dakar, Senegal. A place where Carlton and I were unable to look around for a place to fill our growling bellies because they would not allow us to leave our holding cell and potentially get mixed up in the other people waiting for a different flight!

3. Our South African Airways flight from Capetown to Windhoek (our final destination) was canceled. They put us on Air Namibia.

4. Our luggage was misplaced. It was brought to us 2 days after we had arrived in Namibia.

5. My pain during the flights (which, when added together, was about 24 hours in length) became excruciating. What I had thought was hemorrhoids turned out to be something worse, much worse. I should have known due to the amount of pain. I just thought that I was a wuss!! Upon investigation by a German doctor in the Maerua Mall, I found out just what it was that was bothering me so much. Hemmies? No, not that nice. Fissures? No, much worse. What could it be?!? How about a Deep Tissue Anal Abscess!! One that needed to be operated on that night. Anal Surgery in a 3rd World Country is not my idea of a great start to a student mission trip!!

6. Carlton, one of our students, vomited for 2 days straight. He drank out of a water fountain at one of the schools we visited. We think that was what did him in.

7. Xenophobia was high in the part of town where we stayed and we went nowhere without a native counterpart.

8. Mike K lost his front tooth while eating a candy bar that I had provided. Not too good, huh?

9. While out late one night with Steven, a Namibian counterpart, 3 big women started saying something in their native tongue. Steven prompted me to hurry along the street. One of them had seen me and wanted me to be her white husband. When she switched over to English, I turned back to smile and wave. She promptly told me to stop smiling. There was nothing funny about it to her. She wanted me now!! Steven, in all seriousness, told me to pick up the pace even more because they might try to rape me.

10. On the flight back from Dakar to NYC, a passenger, unbeknownst to anyone, had a heart attack and died. The flight was 10 hours in length, so it was an honest mistake by the flight attendants. I'm sure they thought he was asleep like many others on the flight. It was probably when they came to tell him to put his seat back in the upright position that they found out the truth. Once we landed in JFK, the medics came in and tried to revive him. He was gone.

11. Due to the death, we were delayed and almost missed our flight to Cincinatti. The women at the counter were yelling at us as we ran to board. We had run across the whole airport and were drenched with sweat. Not a pretty sight, let me tell ya!

I think that's about it. Other than these undesirable events, the trip went smoothly and was a great success!! Needless to say, when we arrived home yesterday evening, we were full of stories that seem too epic in nature to be true. I will tell you more about it and post some pics chronicling our adventures in the days to come.

Church of Christ Joke

2008-06-06T08:49:00.000-07:00

"My tired friend told me the other day that if he were to come back in another life, his preference would be to come back as the 3rd stanza in a 4 stanza hymn-that way he wouldn't ever have to do anything."

I heard this the other day and chuckled.

I enjoy jokes that poke fun at the way we sometimes get caught in a rut-how we do certain things here in the Churches of Christ. We have been known to be a quirky bunch every now and then.

Don't get me wrong-I love my faith heritage. I just think that if we can't laugh at ourselves and be silly sometimes, we would be in a very sad situation.

Do you have any fun jokes to add to this one? Send them to me by comment or email.

Boodle

2008-06-05T15:40:00.000-07:00

17 months ago today, a sweet little bundle arrived.

Jenniva came into our lives.

And nothing has been the same since.

In amazing ways!!

I can't think of life without her.

We lovingly call her Boodle-short for Jenniboodle. She has completely swept us off of our feet and put so much joy and light in our hearts.

I get misty just thinking about her.

She is so sweet.

Even when she throws wild temper tantrums!

What I Love About My Sweet Girl:

I love the way she hugs my arm or leg or chair with her little head!

I love how she lights up when she sees a ball, or anything round for that matter, and yells "Bee!"

I love how she bounces up and down, her version of dancing, when she hears any music or singing!

I love her grabbing something she thinks she is not supposed to have, looking back with that mischievous grin, and taking off in the other direction just hoping that DaDa will come chasing after!

I love when she hollers really loud when MaMa and DaDa are not paying enough attention to her-and then letting loose the huge dimples when we do look.

I love that she gets jealous of anyone or anything that is in MaMa or DaDa's lap.

I love when she shouts out and makes silly noises just for the fun of it!

I love when she brings her book to me and wants to sit in my lap!

I love breakfast time together!

I love when she splashes so wildly in the bathtub that I get drenched!

I love when she reaches for me when she is in MaMa's arms. That rarely happens.

I love when she picks up trash, takes it to the can and throws it in!

---------

I could go on and on, but that will be it for now.

I've Been Tagged!

2008-06-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged by Brian Nicklaus, a preacher friend of mine in New England. I kinda like this meme thing.

A. Attached or Single: Attached

B. Best Friend: My sweetheart of 5 years this past Saturday!

C. Cake or Pie: Pecan pie from Home Plate in the Village and fudge pie from the Bluebonnet in Marble Falls!!

D. Day of Choice: Friday!!

E. Essential Item: TV and internet

F. Flavor of Ice Cream: Chocolate chip cookie dough

G. Gummy bears or Worms: Worms

H. Hometown: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

I. Indulgences: Any Starbucks drink and a Pelvic Elvis (protein shake with peanut butter and bananas and a dash of ginseng) from Fitness Unlimited. Deep Tissue Massage!!!

J. January or July: A Toss Up!

K. Kids: Jenniva (17 months this Thursday)

L. Last Movie I saw in a Theater: The Strangers

M. Middle Name: Shay

N. Number of Siblings: 1 sister-Misti

O. Orange or Apples: Apples

P. Phobias or fears: Fear of upsetting people-which seems to happen no matter what you do!

Q. Quote: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. - Paul

R. Reasons to Smile. My sweethearts

S. Season: Fall

T. Tag 4. Elizabeth, Mike K, Jim G, and Brad P!

U. Unknown fact about me: I can really be calm sometimes.

V. Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: MEAT!!!

W. Worst Habit: Chaotic, disorganized procrastination

X. X-rays or Ultra-sounds: X-rays

Y. Your favorite food: MEAT!

Z. Zodiac: Scorpio

TTOW!

2008-06-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

Today is a very special day. A very special day indeed! If you have been a constant reader of my blog over the past (almost) year, you will have no doubt seen comments made by a reader that goes only by the name of Eric. He always has great words of encouragement and uplifting thoughts to contribute. He has been one of my biggest commenting fans!

Well, today is Eric's 32nd birthday! Eric has been a constant and consistent source of positive feedback in my ministry-whether through singing a beautiful bass when I lead worship services, encouraging me on my speaking and making comments on my blogging. He has been a great brother in Christ to me!

I want to ask that all of you spend some time this morning celebrating with Eric on his special day.

Is anyone else out there celebrating a birthday, anniversary or special day today? Let me know how it's going.

So, I would like to leave you with TTOW! A phrase that Eric took from BJ and Tyler (contestants from a past season of the Amazing Race) that has been a daily motto for him.

Parents, Take Note

2008-05-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

"In recent years, adolescents have had fewer opportunities for times of interaction and communication with their parents and other adults. Many families have experienced divorce; and in those families where Mom and Dad still live together, members get busier all the time thanks to schedules full of meetings, activities, clubs and sports. The other extreme is also occurring in a growing number of families, where members may all be at home in the evenings, but everyone retreats to the "aloneness" of their own rooms to interact "solo" with the TV, computer, or any number of media outlets that fill their personal spaces.

All of these factors keep families from eating together on a regular basis, and these realities have certainly contributed to the fact that when teenagers need advice, they're more likely to turn first to a friend (55 percent), followed by Mom (44 percent), a boyfriend or girlfriend (23 percent), and then Dad (20 percent). When push comes to shove, American dads and moms are devoting less time to bringing up their sons and daughters, thereby allowing someone or something else to raise their kids for them." - Walt Mueller