New Journeys

I depart today on an incredible journey!

Before I talk about my trip I would like to share the amazing decision that was made here last night. Amanda C, one of our students in the youth ministry here at Northside, decided to clothe herself in Christ. What a wonderful note to leave on! No better thing could have happened last night. Pray for her and the rest of her family as she embarks on a new path.

Joel and I leave for Windhoek, Namibia, Africa in just a few short hours. Wow!! There is excitement in the air as I anxiously await new people and places. We will be teaching about 4-5 hours a day. I have my lessons ready and several sermons on hand. Gonna be great! Joel is nervous and I have a combination of anxiety and excitement! What a combination. Keep us in your prayers as we travel to Detroit-then to London-then to Windhoek-then back again.

I will try to blog while away. May not be able to. If not, in 2 weeks there will be stories and pictures galore!

Quote Of The Day

"God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason." - Dag Hammarskjold

Baby Steps

Jenniva started walking yesterday!!!

We sat there in stunned silence as she began to take step after step until she had taken her 10th. She then fell to the floor (no crying) and resolutely pulled herself up with no help at all and began to walk again. El and I just clapped our hands and shouted with joy to see our little baby take the huge leap from infant to toddler!

What a great time in our lives! I am so happy and blessed by the 2 sweethearts in my world.

I pray that God will continue to bless us as we each take steps in His world.

At the End of the Day

Just One Of Those Days! That's all I can say about it for now. It has just been one of those days. I have some processing to do and maybe some 'vegging out' but it has definitely been one of those days.

Mentor

I have to put this here.

Anyone who has ever worked with Mike Knappier would know a passionate, driven (or as he would put it -'called') man of God. A man with the heart of a lion and the energy of someone less than half his age. I look up to him and consider him a true mentor in the faith. It is truly a joy to work alongside this hero.

So I am going to post a quote from his blog that I think is a glimpse inside this great man. A man of conviction and tireless energy. Here it is:

"In the words of a gospel hymn, “God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform.” A humorous and somewhat painful episode from my own life illustrates this. I dislocated my shoulder during an activity with the church youth group and needed a doctor to correct the problem. A few weeks later, it became dislocated again, and I had to visit the hospital emergency room in the middle of the night. The doctor medicated me and left the room to give the medicine time to work. I began to talk to the nurse who stayed in the room with me. My wife, Diane, later told me that I looked at the nurse and said, “Has anyone ever told you about my sweet Jesus?” I then proceeded to talk nonstop for several minutes, telling everything I knew about Jesus and the local church of Christ. I must have gotten quite carried away. Diane finally looked right into my face and said, “Mike, please be still and let the medicine work.” After a while, I quieted down. Sometime later, Diane noticed a visitor coming into the auditorium at church and thought she should know this guest. As she introduced herself, she told the visitor that she looked familiar and asked if they had met before. The young lady explained that she had been my nurse in the emergency room. If God can use the ravings of a barely conscious preacher, imagine what He can do with your circumstances. Our God is an awesome God! Not all circumstances are pleasant; but if you will see God in them, your “chains” may result in opportunities to speak a word for Jesus. God is still a supernatural God and He still works today."

Chilly Today...

The sleet came down today here in Benton, Arkansas. The Jeep thermometer read 28 degrees and the skies opened up. I stayed in with little sweet girl this morning while we waited for Elizabeth to come home since school closed. She got home and we spent the day together. It was really nice to stay in the cozy warmth of the house and be with the fam. We spent the day napping, reading, playing and watching flicks! I loved every minute of it.

Expelled the Movie

My friend, Paul Carlon, sent this to me and I was amazed by it. It certainly piqued my interest and I will be there on the front row when the movie comes out later this year! Any Christian interested in apologetics would be excited by this trailer. Take a look here and let me know what you think.

JBoodle

I will blog all about my time spent with Jim Gardner tomorrow, but for now I will leave you with a picture of our sweetheart with her mommy. Hopefully this will tide you over til later.

Today

Kind of a wild day.

This morning I lead congregational singing at the funeral of Boyd and Norma Dorsey. The auditorium was so crowded with people who wanted to celebrate the lives of these 2 godly people that folding chairs were brought in to hold them all. Two solos were sung and two ministers spoke about their lives.

I then crammed in the car with Joel Lewis, Leon Barnes, Mike Knappier and Sarah Jane Manning to drive over to the Dorsey family cemetery.

Later in the day, when I was sitting down to lunch with the Dorsey family and friends, the Day Care called to inform me that Jenniva was sick yet again. This time it was possibly something called the Rota Virus. And it was-I mean is. Elizabeth is going to spend the day at home tomorrow with our sweet little girl.

Then I waited for El to get home and help me take care of JBoodle and clean up for Meat Eaters Bible Study. We had a great group again and now I am ready to vegetate in order to get ready for...

Spending the day tomorrow with my buddy, Jim Gardner, as we travel to Harding University in search of prospective youth ministers for the Woodward Park Church of Christ in Fresno, CA.

Songs of Faith and Praise

I was perusing blogs the other day and I thought that this blog about hymns was pretty interesting. Being a worship leader myself, I thought this was a thought provoking article. The author of the posting below (in purple) is Matt Elliott, worship leader for a metro church in Atlanta, GA and worship leader for YIA this past year in Nashville, TN. You may not agree with everything he says, but most of it is just plain interesting.

I’ve been reading a few other blogs lately, and a couple of my associates got me thinking about something. Two different bloggers in the past couple of weeks have quoted the old hymn, “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go”, in their entries. I confess that as a product of rural south Alabama, I had never even heard the song until I was a student at Freed-Hardeman College in the early 80’s. And even then, it was only sung in chapel if one of the snotty music majors was called upon to lead in chapel. We just assumed that they were showing off by choosing such an uppity hymn! (We may have been right, by the way.) Anyhoo, it likely tainted my view toward this hymn for years to come.

So, I thought I’d share some of MY favorite lines from hymns, then I thought I’d follow that up with what I would consider some of the WORST lines from hymns. Then I’ll close with a very special section on hymns in which lyrics and music clash. I invite you to click on the comment link at the bottom of the post and add your preferences and titles to any of the lists, too.

By the way, I’m only talking hymns here. I’m much more comfortable talking about dead songwriters than live ones.

In no particular order, here are some of my favorite lines from the hymns:

Crown Him with Many Crowns
Crown Him the Lord of peace,
Whose power a scepter sways
From pole to pole that wars may cease,
Absorbed in prayer and praise!
This appeals to all that is idealistic in me. Wars absorbed in prayer and praise . . . good Lord, do we ever need some praying and praising these days. Something’s gotta give.

Beneath the Cross of Jesus
O safe and happy shelter,
O refuge tried and sweet,
O trysting place where heaven’s love and heaven’s justice meet!”
First of all, that’s just a great lyric! How often does one get to sing the word “trysting”? It’s a beautiful image of God’s great love and God’s great sense of righteousness and justice coming together to make one grand and profound statement for all humankind.

Great is Thy Faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not,
Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
When times are tough, this is pretty much all I’ve got to hang on to. The line from the next hymn is a great companion to this one, too –

Abide With Me
Change and decay in all around I see,
Oh, Thou who changest not, abide with me!
These last two songs meant nothing to me as a boy or young man. It’s amazing how a few intense trials can change your taste in hymns, huh?

Love for All
I don’t know about you, but my most emotional response during The Passion of the Christ was when Peter denied Jesus. I knew it was coming, but I couldn’t have predicted how personal it would feel to me. The reason is simple – that was my role in the movie and in the real story. This old hymn (that I don’t lead very often) tells the story of the prodigal son. This last verse gives hope for me and all the others out there who have denied Jesus:
See! My Father waiting stands;
See! He reaches out His hands;
God is love, I know, I see,
Love for me, yes, even me.

Break Thou the Bread of Life
Like many of those “raised in the church”, I had the experience of hearing this hymn led at rather unfortunate times during worship – like right before the Lord’s Supper. This song has NOTHING to do with communion, but it does have the word “bread” in it. As a result, I avoided it for years, and then I found it again. To my surprise, it connected with a deep longing that I had in my heart and spirit:
Beyond the sacred page, I seek Thee, Lord.
My spirit pants for Thee, O Living Word.

Farther Along
Yes, “Farther Along”! I love this song for two reasons – (1) it reminds me of home and people I love, and (2) it’s brutally honest. You know what? I don’t always get what God’s up to. Frankly, I haven’t a clue much of the time. And though it’s still not very acceptable to voice such feelings, somehow this rural hymn managed to let us all get away with it. Try these lyrics on for honesty:
When death has come and taken our loved ones,
It leaves our home so lonely and drear.
Then do we wonder why others prosper
Living so wicked year after year.
It ain’t pretty, but it’s honest.

Softly and Tenderly
Raise your hand if you ever saw “The Trip to Bountiful”! (Okay, I’m expecting NO response to that one.) Geraldine Page won a best actress in 1985 (I think) for her portrayal of an elderly woman who lives with her depressed son and his unhappy wife, and all she wants to do is go home again. It’s a beautiful, funny, sad, sweet movie, and the scenes at the beginning in which Cynthia Clauson sings this hymn as a little girl runs through a green field into her mother’s awaiting arms had me a puddle of tears in no time. The chorus of this song connects with that part of me that just gets tired and longs to get my loved ones and just go home forever:
Come home, come home
Ye who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home.
(I can hardly type that without getting misty!)

Rock of Ages
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling.
That line pretty much sums up everything!

And now for the flipside!

Here are some of the WORST lines from hymns that I can think of:

I Stand Amazed
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweatdrops of blood for mine.
“He had no tears for his own griefs”?!? What?? Are we sure about that one?

Our God, He Is Alive (#728-B)
Secure, is life from mortal mind,
God holds the germ within His hand.
First of all, I don’t even know what that means. Did a botanist or biologist write this song? I just hope God washed His hands after handling that germ.
By the way, in my mind, I hear that first line as “See – cure”. That’s the way we sang it in Opp, Alabama. It doesn’t sound authentic if you pronounce that word correctly.

Let the Beauty of Jesus Be Seen
Here’s a song that has pretty much been confined to “ladies’ retreat” worship services. There’s so much I could say about this terrible little song (no offense to lovers of it anywhere!), but my least favorite single line is this one:
Lay your gifts at His feet,
Ever strive to keep sweet,
Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in you.
That’s right, folks. Jesus suffered and died so we’d be sweet. Incredible.

Mansion Over the Hilltop
First of all, may I say that the original writer (Ira Stamphill) likely was quite sincere when he wrote this song. It was a rural favorite, and it probably connected with lots of folks and their specific economic situations. But there’s nothing more ridiculous than walking into a large, suburban church and hearing the congregation sing:
I’m satisfied with just a cottage below,
A little silver and a little gold.
Lies! All lies! Leave this place at once and return to your $250,000 cottage!

Let the Lower Lights Be Burning
Again --- where to start on this one?? Actually, I’m not going to post the actual lyric for fear of offending those with tender sensibilities. But let’s just say that as a former infertility patient, it is pretty much impossible for me to sing the refrain of this song with a straight face.

And for our final category, these are three hymns in which the lyrics and the music absolutely CLASH. These songs got under my skin for many years, and I’m happy to report that I haven’t been in a position to sing them in a long, long time.

Honorable mention:
O Happy Day
By the way, I’m not referring to that wonderful Edwin Hawkins version. I’m referring to the one in most of our hymnals. Note: this was not the fault of the lyricist! Phillip Doddridge wrote the words in 1755, but Edward Rinibault added the dreadful melody in 1854. Actually, it may not be that dreadful, but the way most of our churches sang it certainly was. Call me and I’ll sing to you how it sounded in my ears! Anyone else have this experience?

Runner-up:
He Bore It All
This tune is WAY too bouncy for lyrics like
My precious Savior suffered pain and agony
And
They placed a crown of thorns upon my Savior’s head.
I should not be tempted to tap my feet while singing those lines, should I?

Worst of all time:
Jesus Is Coming Soon
Basically, I have the same complaint here as with “He Bore It All”. It’s just way too joyful and peppy a melody to sing lyrics like:
Troublesome times are here,
Filling men’s hearts with fear,
Freedom we all hold dear now is at stake.
Or
Many will meet their doom.
The third verse salvages things a bit (the lyrics are bit happier!) but the damage has been done.

Down With The Soreness

Well, actually the soreness is gone. 2 Thursdays ago, I went to the Baptist Family Clinic and received 2 injections in my right deltoid (tetanus and polio) and 2 injections in my left deltoid (hepatitis b and meningitis). Just a few days later in the White County Medical Center in Searcy, I received 2 more injections in my left deltoid and 1 in the back of my arm where the fat is (hepatitis a, typhoid and yellow fever). I can tell you that I was truly sore for a few days. Nothing lasted longer than the tetanus, though.

Why am I going through all of this?

I will be leaving for Windhoek, Namibia, Africa on the 31st of this month with my buddy and preacher, Joel Lewis. I am going there to teach some classes each day and to scope out the lay of the land for our summer mission trip with our high school juniors and seniors.

We will be spending a combination of a few days in London, England on the way to and from Windhoek. It is all going to be new to me. If you have been to London or Namibia and would like to share with me some things that I should be on the lookout for, please email me or leave a comment. What a great experience this is going to be!!

Scattered Thoughts

I am so excited!! One of my 'hip and with it' Elders told me last night about something that I should have known was there a long time ago: iTunes Radio!! I am now a junkie. Have been listening to the all A Capella station all morning. I just can't get enough of it. It is wicked awesome!

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What think ye of yesternight's quote? It really sums up how I have been feeling for a long time now about dealing with life in the Word and Kingdom of God.

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Youth Ministers Everywhere Listen Up!! I want to tell you about a good friend of mine and the ministry in which he is involved in Fresno, California. I have worked with Jim Gardner in 2 states and can tell you that it was an honor and a privilege to sit at his feet and learn the ups and downs of kingdom leadership and hard work.

Any youth minister that is looking for a new, exhilaratingly fresh work in a beautiful environment need look no further. Woodward Park Church of Christ is where it's at. It is the largest congregation on the West Coast, yet it is a mission field in and of itself. WPCOC is a great, diverse congregation consisting of American, Cambodian, Hmong and Spanish Ministries. And think about the location! There are so many souls that need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ in California and it would be a 'roll up the sleeves' ministry.

Take a look at the website for yourself: woodwardparkchurchofchrist.com. If you have any interest in this work, please send Jim Gardner your thoughts, questions and resumes at this email address: jim@wpcoc.com. He has other information posted on his blog at jimgardner.blogspot.com

Quote Of The Day

"Sometimes our penchant to be right and certain in our doctrine has led us to boil down the complex matrix of Scripture to a series of bullet points, propositions for debate, and systems of thought that grind up people. While trying to be correct, we have sometimes been unmerciful. In our sincere efforts to follow the words of God, we may have abandoned the heart of God for his people. God is not a computer, and the Bible is not a collection of formulas by which we will be judged - or by which we are permitted to judge one another. God is the Loving Father of all who come to him through Jesus, and the Bible is an invitation for all of us - including the most broken and ashamed - to know him. It is an offer of undeserved pardon. It is the announcement of a fresh start for our lives. Having died to the past, we have been reborn and can start over in the power of the Holy Spirit." - Rubel Shelly

Tattoo

We had another great night of Eating Meat! This time with the 10-12 graders. And they beat the 7-9 grade number. Last week there were 12 in the study. Tonight there were 16! Getting off to a great start I would say.

I will leave you with this. My friend recently got another tattoo. It is that of a cross inscribed with words that I think are extremely fitting for our theme in 2008 at Northside church (and I can't put it in the full Greek because blogspot doesn't offer this so here is the transliteration): a charis tou Theou - By the Grace of God. How fitting!!

Vision

I am stealing this from a former classmate of mine at Harding School of Biblical Studies. It speaks to me about what our youth need in worship. Like Ely, I want our teens to feel and give and be joyful as we praise our Creator and Father in Heaven. I am saddened when I see young people with boredom or a lack of joy in their countenance. I want energy and awe-filled praise to pour pour forth from every one of them. Let me know through comments on this blog or by email what you think about truly engaging our youth in worship.

"It is ten o’clock on Wednesday night. I should probably be at home, but everyone is asleep. I could be at home playing Halo 2, but instead I am sitting in front of my computer compelled to reflect on the previous Sunday’s Teen Worship Service.

For years, I have dodged the obvious thing most of our teens are pining for on a regular basis. I have looked at the big community church picture of meeting the need of heartfelt worship on a regular basis, and every time I felt as if they were entertaining their churches every Sunday. After attending a conference in Indianapolis, there is no doubt that is not a true statement in general fashion anyway. It was a rote answer embedded into my psyche from school at Harding, elders, and other church experiences. Our teens want to be refreshed and express the adoration of our God. They and I hope for an emotionally engaging time of reflection and praise unto God. Praise truly comes in all forms, and there are many patterns for people to worship God, but our teens in Vision want to sing and praise from the heart with emotion.

So this last Sunday, we made a huge step as a group. We had our first Youth Worship service. We sang songs we loved. We clapped. We celebrated. We truly worshipped God in a meaningful way, that each has talked about since Sunday. It is time to engage our Youth.

My intent in prayer I believe to be pure in motive. I want to experience and I want the teens of Vision to experience a God who is alive, one who wants us to express everything we are. He wants us to cry and weep when necessary. He wants us to celebrate victory and life. He wants our praise and adoration. No Question! Hands down this is our DUTY. In life, in corporate worship, and in ministry God deserves our adoration.

There is no turning back from this point forward. Each week will include relevant Bible Study, consistent heartfelt prayer, and celebratory praise. Let us keep our heads up in the days ahead as we worship God, as we know how, and meet the challenges that are sure to surface. May I be strong and not back down from what is NEEDED! Thank You Lord for the courage to move forward! Let us demonstrate faith by going where he leads even though we do not know the destination.

Let Us Praise Him with all we are!"

Manual Labor

Today was the first day of S3 here in Benton with the Northside youth. We limited it to only the young men of the youth group and we had a show of 10 to do some furniture lifting and wood-splitting/stacking. I am amazed at the willingness of our teens to be servant leaders in the church family and community! We wound up celebrating the day with Weng's Chinese Buffet! I am proud of my youth group and what they mean not only to me but also to the body!!

Great Day

Today has been a wonderful day. A day full of 'kicking it old school' with some dear old preacher friends from back in the day.

First, was a nice time for breakfast and fellowship with a former colleague and partner in crime. What a great time we had discussing ministry and our sweethearts and pretty, little daughters. The time was too short and I can't wait to see him again.

Second, was a good lunch and trip back to my house with former HSBS classmate and quite a mischief maker. We spent time talking about old friends, professors, classmates and our sweet families. Again the time with this friend was sorely short and we promised to do this again soon since he is only in Dover, which is not too far away.

What a great day! A day full of memories and old times.

God's Grace

"For grace is given not because we have done good works, but in order that we may be able to do them." - Saint Augustine of Hippo

And then this (written by my friend, Dusty) that I think deals with what I spoke on earlier this evening to the entire church family here in Benton:

"This week I’ve rediscovered the value of God’s words to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” This has got to be one of the most hope-filled passages in the whole bible.

I love Eugene Peterson’s version. “My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”

That is really good news for me."

Quote Of The Day

"I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain." - A. W. Tozer

Great Beginnings!

Northside started Life Groups last night and from the count and the leaders' reports this morning, things got off to a great start! I look forward to the outreach and spiritual growth that comes from these small groups.

The Youth Ministry has begun a Monday night Bible study-Meat Eaters. No we don't sample cuts of beef, pork or poultry. We work on graduating from the milk of the Word to something more substantial. Anyway, 7-9 grade met tonight and we had a group of 12! I was really excited. We will wait with baited breath to see how many 10-12 graders show up next Monday. Don't worry, I will let you know.

This Saturday marks the beginning of another venture for the Youth Ministry here. Second Saturday Servants will get us out into the rest of the family and community to serve in many different capacities.

One Year

One year ago today, the sweetest little bundle arrived in Georgetown, TX. Jenniva Elizabeth Mitchell is 1 year old today!! At 3 today we are going to spend some time celebrating with some friends by eating cupcakes, chips and cheese dip; taking lots of pictures; and enjoying our friends and family that were able to share this day with us. I will post some pics of the event later tonight.

The Sweetest Girl

Quote Of The Day

“The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.” - Teddy Roosevelt

How are you going to live your life in the coming years? What are you going to instill in your children and your children's children? Hopefully-Prayerfully-the antithesis of this.

Growing in Grace in 2008

The theme for this new year at my home congregation is "Growing in Grace in 2008." May our lives be evidence of God's lavish grace that is continually poured on us. In everything we do and say! I will leave you with these wonderful lyrics - "Grace, grace, God's grace! Grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that is greater than all our sin." - Julia Johnston

Happy New Year!

I hope that January 1, 2008 has found you in good spiritual, mental and physical health.

I got back yesterday with a group of 30 from Youth In Action in Nashville, TN. It was a great time of being together with my new youth group.

I am excited to tell you that my blogs will be less sporadic since Elizabeth and I decided to go in together for our first ever home desktop computer and high speed internet. I will now be able to blog from the house if I miss it at the office and vice versa!

May we all continue to grow in the love and grace of our Savior in this new year!