LTC 2008

We are here in Rogers, AR, with the annual Leadership Training for Christ. This is the first time that it is not held in Tulsa, OK. Kinda sad because those are my ole stomping grounds but kinda not because it is not that far for us and I hear the venue is much better here in the Embassy Suites.

We have a pretty good crew. About 60 of us Northsiders (that includes parents and teens) are here at LTC this year. It has been a blessing to work with such a great group of people!!

Ran into an old friend of mine from the Green Country Christian Academy days in Tulsa. That was cool playing catch-up!

Also had another celebrity sighting. I will blog more on that tomorrow!!

A Whole Mess of Crazy

OK, so maybe I have done myself in! I have placed myself in a precarious position while trying to motivate the students here at Northside.

We have a big day in the near future for our congregation here in Benton. Jim Gardner, a former colleague of mine from 2 states, is coming to speak in the pulpit this March 30th. It will be the first time in 12 years that he has spoken here. We will worship in one combined service. Friends and family have been asked to invite friends and family. It is going to be BIG!

And I threw out a challenge. I told the students that if they could bring a certain amount of friends that I would shave down to a mohawk and dye the remnant of hair hot pink.

I know! Mr. Rational has left the building. A whole mess of crazy. But if they do it, I will be so proud of them that it won't matter what I look like for a month or so!!

Awesome Students

I blogged yesterday about some of my awesome (former) students from Texas-Brian and Jasmine. Today I would like to share something about some other great servant-hearted students. Last night was our monthly Tuesday Night for the Master and I was overwhelmed by the response of 8 teens that came ready to roll up their sleeves and work at a moment's notice. Davis, Maddie, Kaylon, Greg, Parker, Carlton, Will and Devon-you guys are amazing. I just wish that your work and selflessness will rub off on all of us!!

Brian and Jasmine

Brian Jamar and Jasmine Nelson, 2 teenagers (a couple of lovebirds that will be getting married in early May) from my former youth group in Texas, are here at our house for a few days!!! El and I are so excited to have them if only for a little while. They were staples during my ministry in Marble Falls and we grew pretty close during our stay. They are 2 of the finest examples of young Christians that I have ever known or been privileged to work with!

I better go! We are getting ready to watch a movie and eat some cold pizza. Will tell you more tomorrow.

More Add Ons

The Youth Minister of my formative years, one Rich Dolan, has a blog. I would like to share his blog as another link on the list. He and his wife, Ronda, are working over in the same area of the world as one of my former shepherds from the Village Church of Christ, Rick Northen (along with his lovely wife, Gail) and the father and mother of the current Preaching Minister (Joel Lewis) with whom I work, Claude and Madge Lewis. It is indeed a very small world.

Quote Of The Day

"A Christian doesn't avoid the questions; a Christian embraces them. In fact, to truly pursue the living God, we have to see the need for questions.

Questions are not scary.

What is scary is when people don't have any.

What is tragic is faith that has no room for them." - Rob Bell

A Case of the Mondays

I was here and now I'm gone. It has been quite one of those days. I just kept thinking over and over about that line from the cult favorite movie "Office Space" - "Has someone got a case of the Mondays?!?" And today is Thursday!! What a day!

Quote Of The Day

"The Ministry of Prayer, if it be anything worthy of the Name, is a ministry of ardor, a ministry of unwearied and intense longing after God and His holiness." - E.M. Bounds

Links

I'm adding some links today that I probably should have added long ago. Both Brian Nicklaus and Brad Palmore were colleagues of mine at Harding School of Biblical Studies. They are both in the ministry and have blogs that help people like you and me try to wrap our minds around the word of God and how to truly live the Christian lifestyle. I think that they will be an asset to you, dear reader, as you journey along.

Destruction of a Lesion

Kind of a strange title for a blog don't you think?

And I never thought that I would be associated with that procedure.

But that is exactly what my doctor did to me this morning at 8:30. For the past 5 months, I have had a weird bump on the end of my nose and have not quite known what it was. Well, while preparing for the Africa trip, my doctor told me that it was a pre-cancer that needed to be removed.

That is what Dr. Burris did this morning. Brought in a blow torch looking canister full of liquid nitrogen and proceeded to play 'freeze out' with the lesion. It felt like my nose was burning.

I am glad that it's over and can't wait for this bump to slough off.

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BTW, Mike, you owe me dinner!!

Tired

Today has been a full day.

I got up to the church building at around 7:30 this morning to look over the ppt that Mike had helped me with. Joel and I were making a presentation for a combined class in the auditorium about our work in Africa this morning. The computer in the auditorium would not read the videos that we had inserted into the ppt and we were starting to sweat. We got it all figured out, though, and the class was a success.

But add to that the fact that I had made 2 song sets for the morning. One for the early service and a different one for the late service. This was my first day to do this and I was anxious to see how it would turn out. We sang some newer ones, too. "Because We Believe" and "Ancient Words." It went pretty well.

Then there was the whole opening up of the annex because 2nd service is getting really crowded. The teens and some others of us sat there and tried out the 42 inch flat screen television monitor with the songs and sermon ppts out. We'll probably go up to somewhere between 52-55 inches.

Then this afternoon, before life groups, we had our first meeting about the Juniors and Seniors' Mission Trip to Africa this June. It was great. We talked, among other things, about shots and passports. Fun stuff!

Anyway, after all of that, I am tired.

S3: Second Saturday Servants

Today was a day of manual labor for the 10 teens and 4 adults that showed up to improve their 'serve.' A crew of 4 headed over to the home of Joel and Emma Lewis to do some furniture moving for about an hour. Then we rejoined the rest of the group to finish up what they had begun. Our poor Outreach and Involvement Minister had to move out of his office due to a collapsing ceiling and nasty mold/mildew that have created an uninhabitable space. Well, we got a lot done between 9:30 and 12:00 and Mike is in his new space. I am kinda jealous of it. It is nice looking. Good work, crew! We did it!

March Wonderland?

The forecast last night called for 6-10 inches of snow for the Central AR area starting at around 3 in the morning. We were pumped!

El's school was closed for the day and we were getting ready for a day of curling up with movies and books as well as cat naps throughout the day.

Upon waking up this morning at 6:50, I saw only a dusting of white and there was nothing coming down. Truly disappointed. The forecast had been wrong.

Then, it started to come down with no intentions of staying around on the ground. Coolness, but not really what we wanted. There is just something so cool about the landscape being covered in a blanket of white.

That all started to change around 11 in the morning. It started to stick! Soon, visibility was low due to all the falling snow and we had somewhere between 1-3 inches fall and stay.

Jenniva and El got to go out in it while I was off at work. Catch the video of their time. We got what we wanted!! Beautiful snow - just another sign of God's awesome majesty!

Faith of the Believer

How is your faith? How strong is it when everything the world has flies at you with full force? My friend, Allan Stanglin, one of our future 5th Sunday guest speakers here at Northside, had this to say about true faith. I believe he says it much better than I ever could.

“When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” ~Matthew 8:10

"You think God’s ever astonished by your faith? You think you’ve ever prayed a prayer to God and, as soon as it’s over, he jumps up and says, “Whoa! We haven’t seen faith like that in years!” And God gets on the intercom system there in heaven and says, “Wow! Y’all won’t believe the faith of this guy down there!”

You think God’s ever been astounded by your great faith?

The kind of faith that astonishes Jesus is a humble and complete dependence on God. And I wonder about our complete dependence. I wonder about mine.

I wonder how much different it was 2000 years ago. When fever was a disease and not a symptom. Before modern medicine, what was it like to pray for healing? When forecasting the weather meant reading the calf liver or Grandpa’s arthritic knees. Before meteorology, what was it like to pray for rain? Before cropdusters and insecticides and fertilizers and refrigerators and Wal-Mart SuperStores, what was it like to pray for food? You know what I mean? Forget 2000 years ago. What about 60 or 70 years ago? What was it like to pray?

As technology changes, does our dependence on God change? Is it that the more we know about our world the less we depend on our God? I’m not sure. But let’s think about it.

Pray for rain? Well, I’ve seen the doppler radar and the skyview atmospheric predictor and the seven-day forecast. It’s going to rain Tuesday. Or, the next chance for precipitation won’t be for another couple of weeks. See. We need God for some things. But we know if it’s supposed to rain or not.

Pray for food? Is there anybody reading this blog who hasn’t eaten today? Anybody who’s not going to eat tomorrow? Is there anyone reading this who doesn’t have every single thing he needs to get through tonight and on in to tomorrow? We depend on God for some things. But there’s milk and meat in the fridge and the pantry’s full and I get paid on Friday.

Pray for healing? But I’ve seen the MRI. We have the X-Rays and the CT-scan. We’ve consulted with the doctors and been to two specialists. We know what’s going to happen. So, I’ll pray for the doctors. God bless the doctors. Help them to do what they can. Help them to find the problem. Help them to cure the disease. Help the surgery to be a success. We’re praying for the middle man! Ever read of anybody in Scripture praying for the middle man? It’s not the middle man! It’s God! God is the one who heals!

Yeah, but again, we’ve seen the test results. We’ve heard the doctors. It doesn’t look good. So we pray for healing and say, “If it’s your will…”

And I know we’re supposed to pray for God’s will. Of course we pray for God’s will. But never when praying for God’s will is our “out” or our excuse when the doctors say there’s not much hope: “If it’s your will…even though I’m not expecting it to be your will because the doctors have already said it’s not.”

I’m just curious. Before the days of X-Rays and MRIs and CT-scans, did we couch our prayers for healing with “if it’s your will”? Were our prayers different when we weren’t sure of the problems and weren’t already certain of the outcome? Was our dependence on God more and our dependence on ourselves and others less back then? Is there a problem?

God says through Isaiah, “I made you. I will carry you. Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am he who will sustain you.”

The Centurion calls Jesus “Lord.” Just say the word, he exclaims, and I know my servant will be healed.

Complete dependence. Total humility. Astonishing faith."

Quote Of The Day

"Christians are not tyrannized subjects of an omnipotent deity who thunders commandments. That is a pagan view of gods as despots to be appeased because of our fear of them. Jesus came to show us the true face of God as a Loving Father to bewildered and wayward children. As a father gives orders to his children, so God has given commands to us. One of the children who says he loves God while disobeying his commandments is exposed as a liar. But infants who need explicit rules for their behavior are expected to grow up - to discern deeper principles underlying specific rules and, ultimately, to learn to exhibit the heart of their Father." - Rubel Shelly

So Excited!

I am truly excited about something that is gonna happen on the last day of this month and will most likely blog about it again. My colleague of 2 different congregations in 2 different states is coming home to preach! Jim Gardner, the Preaching Minister at the Woodward Park Church of Christ in Fresno, CA, is going to honor us with his presence on March 30th as part of our series of 5th Sunday speakers focusing on the theme of "Growing in Grace in 2008!" I am so ready for this!!

And I am not the only one pumped about it. Not only have many members here at Northside expressed their joy, but many others from sister congregations in the vicinity have let me and Jim's family know that they will be in attendance that day!

It doesn't end there, though. Apparently the community has put in the good word that he will be coming back to speak.

I do believe that it will be Standing Room Only. An event to be remembered.

Jim has expressed his feelings about this reunion 12 years in the making in his blog from last Thursday. Here it is:

"I'm going home.

For the first time in twelve years, I have been invited to speak at the congregation where I was raised. Every Sunday of my formative years, save vacations, was spent in the Northside Church of Christ building in Benton, Arkansas. It was there both of my grandfathers, and later my dad, served as elders. It was there I learned memory work in Bible Hour. It was there my faith was grounded. It was there I preached my first sermon. It was there I was mentored by Youth Ministers like Dale Mannon and Tom Perkins and Doug Yates.

And now, the current elders at Northside have afforded me the wonderful opportunity to go home and speak at Friends Day on Sunday, March 30th. The Northside church has themed 2008 "Growing in Grace" and that is the focus of the first Sunday following Easter in an effort to reach out with the good news of God's grace.

I can't wait to go home; to be back in the building where so many good faith memories were birthed. I can't wait to go home to the place where so much godly teaching was imparted to me.

And I can't wait to go home so that my grandfather, if his strength is sufficient, can hear me preach one more time.

To the Northside elders, thank you. Thank you for the most privileged speaking invitation of my preaching career. The opportunity to speak at Northside, on Friends Day, with the hope of my grandfather hearing me speak one more time is just almost too much to absorb. Thank you for demonstrating in living color the theme you are shepherding the church in Benton to live and understand."

A Long Time Coming

After a month-long hiatus from blogging, I am now back on the scene!

Being in a foreign country with limited Internet access for a huge chunk of February, then traveling to Tulsa to sing at a friend's funeral followed by prepping the following weekend to take a large group to Russellville, AR for the annual youth rally CHRISTeens, I made a decision to come back to the blog kingdom in March.

From the responses and calls of concern from family and friends, it looks like I stayed out a little too long for comfort. Well, I am back. I have too many stories to tell and pictures to share from the past month to stay away any longer.

I will share some more with you later, but for now, let this pic of Big Ben in "foggy London town" whet your appetite.

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!

In and Out

I have been in and out but mostly out this week and it it taking a toll on me! Poor little Jenniva got sick on Wednesday and I had to leave the office a little early to take her home to rest. I got an appointment with her doctor on Thursday and found that she has a bad sinus infection. I was sad to be away from my office but really glad to spend some QT with my little bundle! GranMary is at home with her today and they are having a good ole time!

Anyway, as for the nonexistent blogging-we have no internet or computer at home yet. That will all change with the sale of our TX home to the new Marble Falls Youth Minister in the New Year! Is that amazing or what?!?

I am astounded at the number of teens that will be taking part in the Progressive Dinner and Christmas Party. There will be 40+ of them tomorrow as we celebrate the reason for the season!

Getting ready to preach this weekend for both Sunday morn and eve since Mike and Joel have left this morning with their better halves to depart on a sea cruise. I am very jealous!

I will be back next week with more blogs and some pics.

Benton Christmas Parade

Well, the Northside Christmas Party was a smashing success! Elvis did indeed enter the building. Mike and Joel were quite possibly the ugliest women I have ever seen as we subjected the unwitting crowd to our rendition of "Mele Kalikimaka" by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. I was surprised by the standing ovation Sarah Jane and I received following our performance of "The Prayer." That was exciting!! And the food was great!

Tonight the teens and I will be singing and bringing holiday cheer in the Benton Christmas Parade. I will be back later with some posted pics!

The Northside Christmas Party

We are busy in the behind the scenes work for the church Christmas Party this evening! Charlie Manning and I are the MC's. I am privileged to sing the Celine Dion/Andrea Bocelli or Charlotte Church/Josh Groban (whichever you have heard) smash hit "The Prayer" with Sarah Jane Manning. Joel, Mike and I will be putting on quite a show. Someone special may be 'entering the building.' Lindsey and Randy Mitchell will be singing a song. Stephanie and the ladies will be entertaining us with another song. Ole Santa will even make an appearance. There will be laughs and much festivity. It will be great!

Be back later with pics!

Quote Of The Day

"For the Son of God did not stay in the safe immunity of his heaven, remote from human sin and tragedy. He actually entered our world. He emptied himself of his glory and humbled himself to serve. He took our nature, lived our life, endured our sorrows, felt our hurts, bore our sins and died our death. He penetrated deeply into our humanness. He never stayed aloof from the people he might have been expected to avoid. He made friends with the dropouts of society. He even touched the untouchables. He could not have become more one with us than he did. It was the total identification of love. " - John Stott

So Dizzy!

Things are happening too fast here in Benton, America! It seems like just yesterday I was in Marble Falls, Texas. The days and months are flying by. My nose is down in my work as I prepare a proposal to give to the elders here tonight; get ready for the Holiday Party this Friday (in which I am singing and MC'ing); make sure that there are enough teens to help babysit this Saturday as we give parents a time of shopping and freedom for a day; and prep for the Benton Christmas Parade in which the Northside teens and I will be singing on a float! So much to do and so little time!

Hope this blog finds you in the holiday spirit! I know that I am! My 11 disc changer in the Jeep is loaded with Christmas CD's! El just rolls her eyes.

My sweethearts and I will be traveling to Tyler, TX this week to spend some great quality time with my family. I can't wait to be around the hustle and bustle that will be in my sister's beautiful house. What a great time it will be! Little J-Boo's first Thanksgiving outside the belly!! I will try to blog from TX but cannot promise anything. Here's wishing you and yours a wonderful time of family and counting blessings. I will leave you with this thankful article from youth guru Mark Oestreicher.

"Last thanksgiving I was—I'll admit—struggling to feel thankful. Maybe you're in this space right now. Know what? God is not spooked by that, or disappointed in you, or frustrated that you don't "get it". Clearly, the 12 disciples struggled with this on a regular basis, and Jesus didn't kick them out of the disciple club!

If you're struggling to find thankfulness, please take care of your soul and find some space and time to be quiet this week. Sit with God; and allow God—without a big agenda on your part—to provide you with thankfulness. Let's be honest—we can't always muster it up on our own. God's Spirit would love to cozy up to you in a place of quiet and reveal to you some reasons to be thankful.

This year, I have to say, I'm feeling way-thankful. I feel like my life is so wonderfully full of great stuff right now. My wife and children give me so much joy. My friends are so loving and caring. My spiritual community is so rich. My work is so fulfilling. And you youth workers continue to provide me with reason upon reason for joy and thankfulness. Your stories, your passion, your calling—they all fill me with a great hope. And, really, isn't thankfulness intimately connected to hope?"
Mark Oestreicher

Wow Weekend!!

What a great weekend and beginning of this one!! Friday night was our Scavenger Hunt around town with the teens. 28 teens and 8 adults showed up that night to chow down on some great burgers and scrumdiddliumptious homemade (by the one and only Ed Butterworth) hot wings. Oh Boy, there were hot wings and more hot wings - Honey Mustard - BBQ - Mango Habanero - and Original!! Delish!!!! The night was awesome and a lot of fun.

Saturday night several of us got together over at the home of Philip and Stephanie Howell for a night of eating, singing and fellowship! What great times!

Sunday morning was my first time to lead the worship for morning services. We were blessed with almost 400 people that morning. People that wanted to sing out with all their hearts.

On Sunday evening, Jeff Haughe brought the worship and I brought the lesson since Joel, our preaching minister, was sick at home. It was a good night.

Tonight, the teens and I will lead the all-church devotional and spend some time in thanks to our great and mighty God!

A Must Read

Wow! Walt Mueller has hit the nail on the head with this insight into reaching the teens of this generation. In the introduction to his book "Engaging The Soul Of Youth Culture" he makes this statement:
"Third, at times I am critical of the "faith" we're calling young people to. For too long youth ministry has been about getting people "saved." I struggle with our definition of what it means to be saved and the methods we employ to get young people saved. Gordon Smith says that the church is guilty of thinking of conversion in "minimalist terms: What is the very least that a person needs to do in order to be freed from the horrors of hell and assured of the glories of heaven?"

We have failed to understand that conversion is not just about belief, repentance, forgiveness and eternal life. Something else has to happen after someone accepts Christ as Savior. Salvation makes a person free from sin and a slave to righteousness-integrating the Christian faith and kingdom of God into all of life. When we call young people to faith, we are not calling them out of the world and into heaven. Rather, we're calling them to live God's will and way in the world."

His words call us to step up to the plate. Stop seeing things as a list or step by step process that we can check off upon the completion of each step. We need to see baptism as the beginning of a long life of discipleship, not as the end of the to-do list. Don't get me wrong. I am not de-emphasizing baptism, but I am trying to place a strong emphasis on what happens after the death of the 'old man.' Discipleship, true and strong, interacts with this world and expresses Christian truth in every aspect.

Parents and Youth Workers, if you have not read this book, I encourage you to go out and get it. It sure is helping me understand the ever changing culture of our youth.

Lyrics of the Day

"I'm not what I ought to be, I'm not what I'm going to be, but thank God I'm not what I used to be!"

Quote of the Day

I am stealing a quote from my friend's blog that I, as an reader of the Word, thought should be passed on to those of you out there that love to read the Bible. Tell me what you think about this.

“If the book we are reading does not wake us, as with a fist hammering on our skull, why then do we read it? A book must be like an ice-axe to break the frozen sea within us.” ~George Steiner, 1970

Getting There!

Well, El and I were able to get the house closer to its' destination while preparing for the arrival of my mom! Well, it turns out that she will not be able to come because she is sick. Please keep her in your prayers.

Mike K and I are cooking the meal this evening for the church family! I wonder what people will do when they see that we are the chefs this Wednesday. The menu is chicken tenders, mashed taters and gravy, green beans with bacon and onions, bread, banana pudding and cookies. We're not that bad. Well, if Linda P is in there to show us the way!! Can't wait!

Just letting you in on the innerworkings of the Northside church in Benton, AR on this wonderful Wednesday.

Finally!!

Well here I am finally able to stop for a minute and let you all know that I am alive and well. When my Dad and I got into town, I have been going 90 miles an hour trying to get everything unloaded at the house, get my office set up and figure out the iMac G4 in my office.

At the same time I have tried to re-establish some old relationships and begin some new! What a great, if not chaotic, time it has been here in Benton, Arkansas. I love Joel and Mike dearly and know that we will work together very well. I also love Joyce and Linda! What an office staff we will make!!

While here I have already enjoyed a cool hayride with the teens, gone to court to support a friend, been to a funeral, led a song at the graveside, been to a Benton/Bryant Jr High football game, heard the Benton Jr High Chamber Choir perform, taken a group of teens to Harding University for Bison Daze during Homecoming, paid visits with Joel and Mike, gone to a movie with one of the teens, had a bible study and baptized a great young man, and eaten way too much going out with my fellow ministers. It has been a whirlwind. But I love every minute of it.

The house is getting there. Not quite ready to be seen by the outsider, but livable. Neither of us will be away this Saturday so things are looking up for 'around-the-house' work.

I will be back from now on with daily thoughts and fond remembrances of the group I left in Marble Falls as well as exciting glimpses into the future here as we begin a new work!

Out For A While

I will be out of pocket for a while. I am in the process of packing and loading the Uhaul tomorrow and will be heading out no later than Noon on Wednesday. Then I will unpack on Thursday and hopefully get to spend some great, quality time with my sweetheart and baby on the weekend! The time is flying by right now. Anyway, I will most likely be unable to blog until I get my internet established at the home or office. Keep us in your prayers as we make this huge transition.

Misc

My office is looking strange to me. Hardly any books on the shelf and lots of loaded up boxes. I have thrown away a whole bunch of stuff and it is crazy how it piles up so quickly. I need a daily reminder to let things go when they do not need to stay. Hard to do!
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Tis the season for bugs, bugs and more bugs! I first noticed it on Tuesday night when I came back from the Marble Falls High School Concert, which was amazingly wonderful by the way!, and I headed in to the office and starting hearing crunches as I walked up to the exterior. There are bugs all over the place and there is nowhere we can go right now without stepping on one or seeing one or nearly inhaling one. Crazy! I am ready for them to leave.
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Just sitting here wondering if my old pal, Jim Burger, is gonna blog again! The days are just not the same without his daily insight.

STUFF!

This week is my last week and I am in the process of boxing things up at the house and in the office. I can't believe how much stuff I am throwing away! I am just going wild and trashing things with reckless abandon. It's funny how things accumulate. I am a bit of a pack-rat. I keep things because of the association. That is not always good.

Going to lunch with Guy N-I will be back in a while to finish the tale.

Quote of the Day

"He has a head like cement-all mixed up and permanently set." - James O. Dobbs

Words Of The Day

I have had a couple of words thrown at me recently. I had to look them up. Tell me what they mean. Here they are:

Defenestrate

Involute

Changing Colors

Happy October!!

I know it is now 3 days into it, but I really love Fall. The weather takes a cooler turn. The leaves start to change a bit. The air becomes crisp.

I saw on the news that the highs for the end of the week are going to be in the 80's with the lows in the 60's! That just gets me all pumped up!!

It started me thinking about the beauty of this creation and the artwork of the Master. So, I will leave you with an encouraging word from Richard J. Foster and a scripture.

"So give your attention to the created order. Look at the trees, really look at them. Take a flower and allow its beauty to sink deep into your mind and heart. Listen to the birds-they are the messengers of God. Watch the little creatures that creep upon the earth. These are humble acts, to be sure, but sometimes God reaches us profoundly in these simple ways if we will quiet ourselves to listen."
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"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world."
(Psalm 19:1-4)

My Little Girl

Today is Jenniva's first day in day care. I am very anxious and am waiting with baited breath for the call this afternoon from Elizabeth when she picks her up. I have mixed emotions about her being in a day care, we both do. Have there been examples out there of good quality day care? Just wondering. Oh, here's a great picture of the future punk rocker!

Homecoming

Last night was homecoming for both Faith Academy and Marble Falls High School. I was able to do a half and half deal. I spent the first half at the FA Flames game against Prairie Lea. I then went over to see the MF Stangs fight the Lampasas Badgers. They both won!! Mf won 21-0 and FA won 44-40! It's always great to win at your homecoming game. Anyway, 6 students went with me to Whataburger after the game to get some grub and then came over to my house to watch a movie. I hit the sack at 2:00 and woke up for an early meeting at 7:00. I am pretty slap-happy right now! Feeling good, though.

Very Surreal

Last Wednesday evening, parents, elders and ministers met in the Youth House to discuss the future of the youth ministry since I am leaving in the near future. I was there to really just listen and help with what I know, but in the middle of the whole deal, I leaned over and whispered to one of the parents that it was just really strange and weird that I was there listening to them plan a minister-less calendar! Makes me feel like a lame duck.

Add to that my sweet girls are gone from here. They are already in AR, chomping at the bit for me to come be with them. I'm all alone. Kinda lonely and sad.

I have seen a lot of traffic in my house but have not yet gotten an offer. Hoping and praying that it will sell in the near future. Please lift that up!

Overall, I think that I am just down in the dumps. Life has indeed become very surreal.

Continuing The Conversation

Here is more of my good friend's blog posts. Allan and I were able to discuss this over the phone a little the other day. I believe he has many good things to say.

"I’m 40 years old, I have a green mini-van (Carrie-Anne drives it, not me), and, not only have I never played with a Wii, up until two days ago I didn’t even know how to spell it. I own, and sometimes wear, a pair of blue jean shorts. And with the exceptions of Van Halen, Aerosmith, and Audio Adrenaline, if it was recorded after 1985, I don’t listen to it. I have tube socks older than you. If I had my way, every room or office would have a Lava Lamp, the first Thursday and Friday of the NCAA basketball tournament would be declared national holidays, and we would sing “How Great Thou Art,” “It Is Well With My Soul,” and “A Mighty Fortress” during every single worship assembly. In my mind, Tom Landry is still the only coach the Cowboys have ever had.

Maybe we don’t have a ton of things in common. But let me tell you this: I love you.

I love you. Your youth minister loves you. The elders in your church love you. Your preacher loves you. The older lady that you think frowns at you all the time loves you. The man in the back who refuses to sing a “new song” loves you. Your friends’ families love you. And your parents love you more than you can possibly begin to imagine.

If you were beginning to learn how to drive a car and your dad took you to the Driver’s Ed place and the teacher told your dad, “We offer two different education packages. For $39 I can teach your child everything he needs to know to pass the test. It’s only the basic stuff. It’s not too difficult, he should breeze right through it, and we can get him his license in just a couple of weeks.”

“But for $79 I can give your child the extended course. We’ll teach him the basics, naturally. But we’ll also give him tons of practical experience behind the wheel in both urban and rural settings. We’ll take him out on the highways and through the school zones. We’ll teach him safety. We’ll show him how to react in emergency situations. How to avoid dangerous circumstances. How to react when faced with difficult conditions. It takes two months instead of two weeks. And it’s not nearly as easy. It’ll require some dedication and study and lots of field work. But I think it’s worth it in the long run.”

One course gets you your license. The other course provides you with the teaching and the tools necessary to greatly increase your odds of being safe and staying alive. Which one will your dad choose?

Don’t carry the metaphor too far out. It may break down.

Why would the person who loves you the most give you just the basics? He wouldn’t! He would want you to be fully equipped to face whatever challenges or crises come your way.

And that’s what everybody in your church wants for you. We love you.

I want, more than I can explain, to provide you with the teachings and the tools you need to live exactly like our Savior. I want you to be just like him. I want you to think about and talk about sacrificing and serving and thinking more highly of others than you do yourselves. Submitting to each other in love. Seeing your place in the body of Christ, both now and in the future, as vital and critical and paramount to the growth and spread of the Kingdom.

Trust me (and you know this already), we concentrate on you because we see how we’ve messed things up for ourselves. We want things to be better for you than they are for us. We know very well how we’re supposed to act. And we know very well that we don’t. And we know that if the Church of Jesus is going to make a difference in reclaiming the world for its Creator, we’ve got to change. And we see you as the ones who can more than likely do what we’re unable to do.

I believe Jesus’ apostles were teenagers when he called them. Going through both Scripture and ancient Jewish education history, I think it’s clear that the apostles were likely between the ages of 12 and 19 when they decided to follow Jesus. Peter is the only one that Scripture points to as maybe possibly being in his 20s. I think they were teens.

And I think Jesus chose teenagers, not just because that was the way the rabbinical system had been working for a couple of centuries, but because he knew the passion and the energy and the desires of teens to identify with a cause and dedicate themselves entirely to it. I know that fire, too. I see that fire in you all the time — at youth rallies, on retreats, at WinterFest, and around campsite campfires at 2:00 am. You’ve got it. You want, most of you, more than anything else in the whole world to be exactly like Jesus. And you look to church and church leaders and church culture to find out exactly what Jesus was like and what he taught so you can be exactly like him.

And I’m afraid we let you down.

The last two posts on this blog have not been about you. They’ve been about us. They’ve been about me.

And here’s my plea, to you from me: don’t leave us.

Statistics show you’re leaving the churches of Christ in record numbers. It happens as soon as you get out of high school. Some of you come back eventually. Most of you don’t. And we’re all scrambling, every one of us, trying to figure out why and what we can do about it.

Don’t leave us.

A young man named Brian, a college student at ACU, asked that panel why it was such a big deal when teens born and raised in the churches of Christ left for other faith traditions. If we’re still claiming Jesus as Lord and still serving Christ in love, he said, why does it hurt you when we leave this particular heritage?

I waited until the session was over and grabbed him in the hallway. (Not literally. I said his name.) Yes, it hurts us when you leave, I told him. It kills us. Because it means we’ve let you down. It means we were not successful in passing on the baton of faith and tradition and heritage in our own fellowship to our own kids. We take it as a sign that we’ve failed. And it kills us. It means to us that you didn’t really see us, the churches of Christ, as a family. And that’s what all of us long for it to be.

Don’t leave us.

I know we’ve horribly distorted the Church that Jesus died for. You’re not stupid. You know it, too. You know how inconsistent we are. You know how we preach and teach one thing and then act totally the oppposite. You see right through our feeble attempts to justify our own wants and desires and comfort zones by misapplying this passage or pulling that verse completely out of context. It’s crazy sometimes! Sometimes it makes me want to leave!

Don’t leave.

As I told Brian that day at ACU, stay and help us. Wrestle with us. Grow with us. Teach us. Show us how to worship with passion and joy and with the freedom we have in Christ. Point out the inconsistencies. We know how crazy it is to say you can clap and raise your hands in the Youth House but not in the auditorium. We know that makes absolutely no sense. But we keep doing it anyway. We’ve been so inconsistent for so long, we’re blind to a lot of it. Show it to us. Challenge us. You know how God works best when we’re getting our hands dirty in the low income apartment complexes and the homeless shelters and soup kitchens. Most of the people in your churches know it, too. But there’s nobody challenging them to act on it. We know it’s nuts to expect you to submit and sacrifice for us when you see us slamming each other and gossiping all the time. Tell us about it.

Find somebody in your congregation, maybe somebody other than a youth minister or an elder or a parent, someone with a big picture view of things who’s not going to be caught in the middle because of job descriptions or expectations, and talk to them. Make that contact. Make that friend. And then when somebody or something in the church is beating you down, go to that person. I think you’ll find that, if you haven’t already, when you engage an adult in serious reflection and discussion and give him your trust, he becomes your biggest fan.

To the youth group here at Legacy, specifically: I’m your biggest fan. Getting to know you at the Discipleship Retreat last Spring was such a wonderful experience for Carrie-Anne and me. Listening to you, sharing with you, especially those of you in Group Five (”common name, uncommon game”), gave me such optimism and joy. It made me so excited to be coming to a church family with such a thoughtful and passionate group of young people. If anybody or anything in our church family is beating you down, if you’re confronted with a teaching or a directive that’s contrary to Jesus’ example or teachings, you let me know. Come see me. And I’ll be at the very front of your parade with flags and trumpets and whistles and bells. Driving a green mini-van. Wearing blue jean shorts.

Don’t leave us. Stay with us and help us grow together in our Lord."

Insider Struggles

The posts this week on the blog of my friend, Allan Stanglin, are very provocative. They certainly have my interest because they address flaws in ministering to youth. Being a youth minister, I am always looking for thoughts and ideas that will aid me in nurturing tweens and teens as they grow in the Lord. Here is a quote from his post today as to why teens are more and more becoming disenchanted with Christian community:

"Let’s narrow the focus to concentrate today on what I see as the number one problem: bad-mouthing the church in front of our kids.

You want solutions? There are no easy ones. But I think everything, all of this, changes in very positive ways if we’ll just all stop talking negatively about the church in front of our teens.

When the only time our kids ever hear us talking about church is when we’re bashing it, why would we not expect our teens to leave the church and start looking for something else? Our kids aren’t stupid! They can connect the dots. We teach and preach one thing, but they see and experience something different. They read in the Scriptures one thing. But they hear something different. They know we’re called to something more. They’re convinced that God’s church is a loving, united, nurturing community of faith that puts others’ needs ahead of our own. But when they see their parents gripe and complain and threaten to leave if things don’t start going their way; when they hear their parents slam song leaders and song selection and elders’ decisions and Bible class teachers; when they experience the tension in the arguments and the gossip and the backstabbing; how can we blame them for wanting something else? Don’t you think this has a huge impact?

I’ve been very, very disappointed in some of the magazines and websites and blogs out there that angrily tear apart our brothers and sisters in the Lord’s body who don’t believe or practice every single thing the exact same way we do. Labeling preachers as wolves and denouncing entire congregations as heretical based on personal opinions or personal comfort levels is wrong in every way. And damaging. So very damaging. Some friends of mine made a vow almost two years ago to stop reading that stuff. Even if it’s just for information’s sake, for the sake of amusement or entertainment or even curiosity, stop reading it. It’s damaging.

And now I see preachers and teachers on the other side, the ones who’ve been labeled as wolves and heretics, the ones who preach and teach unity and love and fellowship, engaging in the exact same practices. There’s just as much, if not more, hate and anger and selfish enmity and hostility than was in the old school stuff. It’s repulsive. One brother commented on one of these preacher’s blogs recently, in response to a criticism of a Church of Christ program that espoused some fairly rigid views, that “pretty soon they’ll all be dead, including ________, and the problem of traditional Church of Christ’ers will snuff itself out.”

And he mentioned the older preacher by name.

It was as if this brother would personally delight in slashing the throats of all his brothers and sisters who disagreed with him if he thought he could get away with it.

And we don’t see that this kind of thing has a tremendous impact on our kids? That man’s blog is no longer on my list of things to read every week. No way. There’s no place anywhere in our Christian faith for that kind of attitude to be thought, much less articulated in a public forum. I’m embarrassed and ashamed and saddened by the way we treat each other. God, forgive us. Have mercy on us.

It’s not ACU. It’s not youth ministers. It’s not the kids. It’s us. It’s the church. It’s the parents.

Is complaining and griping and ridiculing the church in front of our children the biggest part of the problem? Can it be stopped? Would it matter?"

Youth Ministry

Anyone that is a youth minister, youth leader, young adult, or teen needs to go right now and look at today's blog written by my friend and former colleague, Allan Stanglin. His thoughts on youth ministry are insightful and thought-provoking. Let me know what you think about this ever-increasing problem.

New Partner

Here I sit in my office talking to my wife and checking my email and something shoots across my peripheral vision. 'Jimmy, your mind is playing tricks on you,' my mind states. You see, I just got back from watching The Brave One with my buddy, Eric Teague, and I think I am being a little paranoid. And then all of a sudden I see it again and this time I snap my head in that direction and discover that something else has taken up residence in my office. A mouse is skittering away and seems more afraid to see me than I him. I have gotten up to search for it, but it has disappeared and I just think I will wait until tomorrow to get it. Besides, my new office-mate might prove to give Ann or Greg a good scare!!

I'm Missing It All!!

Since my lovely wife and baby have been away, I have missed them dearly. AND I have already missed some stepping stones in my daughter's life!! And I don't like that one bit. While in Arkansas, a few things have happened:

1 - Jenniva's first tooth popped out of the gums!

2 - She is now officially a rug rat because she is crawling all over the place! I have not been able to see her fully crawl yet.

3 - She is now talking more than ever and I can't wait to hear those silly sounds.

It sure is hard to be away during this period. I am in constant supplication to DAD. Here are a few things at the top of my prayer list now. Please consider them. The church here needs a new youth minister ASAP and we need someone to buy our house. Please take that to God for us!

Thoughts and Prayers

First and foremost I ask that you pray for Whitney Stanglin. She is the daughter of some of my friends, Allan and Carrie-Anne Stanglin. They are doing some testing on her eyesight and doctors are baffled with the test results. They just don''t know what is going on right now. Whitney was in my youth group here in Marble Falls and anyone that knows her would tell you how much of a sweetheart she is. I love this family dearly and hope that God will continue to bless them through all of this. Please lift Whitney and the Stanglin family up to the throne room of God.
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For all of you out there that don't know-I have a running Jeep once again. The battery was replaced on Friday and ever since it has started up with a Lion's roar. It is sweet music to my ears to hear the power!!
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Finally, I was blessed to sit at the feet of F. Lagard Smith, former law professor at Pepperdine University and author of books like Radical Restoration, Who Is My Brother and After Life among many others. Very interesting if not indicting thoughts about our faith in this faithless and lukewarm society.

One thing that got to me was the idea that if we Christians would have half of the zeal and fervor of Muslim terrorists we would win far more to the cause of Christ than if we just choose to sit in pools of our own inactivity. Now that is radical and it almost had me out of my seat, but then I started to think about it and realized that it rings true! If we would go about radically teaching and preaching Jesus with the audacity that is exhibited in many Muslim terrorists, our message would be heard and we would be looked upon as serious followers.

I am still formulating my thoughts on this and in no way am I condoning the heinous atrocities that have been committed by Muslim terrorists the world over, but let me know what you think about finding passion once again in Christian community.

What More Can Happen?!?

This morning, the Jeep that I purchased on Tuesday would not start. It wasn't the starter. What had happened to the battery? I did not know.

I am glad that I called my old buddy, Greg. Now, if you know Greg you would know that he has pretty much done it all and is very good at everything he puts his mind and hands to! He came over and looked at the battery and told me that it was not a maintenance-free one. And it had not been maintained by the former owner. The poor guy was probably like me-No Idea! Anyway, we filled them and jumped the batt.

Then, after lunch with John W and Ann G, we got out in my Jeep and it would not even turn over. Providentially, Vic C was at Janie's and he jumped the batt. I then took it over to Wal-Mart for a new batt and clean cables.

Hopefully-Prayerfully-That was all it was.

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I spend money that I don't really have!!

We Covet Your Prayers

During this time of transition stress for the Mitchell family is already near its peak. Then it all comes undone.

While traveling to AR for closing on the new house and to transport furniture and necessities to El and J-Boo, my Jeep of 10 years broke down. Some great guys in Pittsburg, TX helped me out with a new radiator cap. They seemed to think that was the extent of the trouble.

It was not, however.

It got me to Benton for the closing. The Title Co, Janis and Shirley were all good sports and stayed later to meet with us. God bless them all!! We signed, got the key and unloaded that night. The very next day I spent with J while El was working at school. I had errands to run and was planning to meet El in Fountain Lake for the FL-Hot Springs HS football game. Things quickly changed! My Jeep started overheating again and I quickly took it to a shop there in Benton. They informed me that I had a cracked radiator and head. Wow! Just like that - no more Jeep!! Sad.

I found another vehicle and am very happy with it!! But we are now Strapped and Stressed!!

Please pray for us as we go through this very tight time. We know that God will provide as He has so many times in the past, but we are gonna be living on PB and J sandwiches for a while.

Changes

Here I sit stranded in Arkansas! I will be back later with a full report as to why. Meanwhile, I am here in Conway with my sweetie, my baby girl and mom-in-law. Things have changed really fast and my head is spinning. More on the Jimmy debacle later.

Hit the Road, Jack

Getting ready to hit the road yet again! This time I will be hauling a load of furniture and living necessities for EL and J-Boo. We are closing on the house tomorrow afternoon and I am gonna be there ready to move some goodies into our new place. I will have a short time with my 2 sweet girls and then head back on Saturday. A lot of time on the road in a short period.

Anyway, Greg is coming over with me to help load the U-Haul up in a few, so I better get ready to go to work!

I have been without my girls for a week and a half now and it's not really that fun. I have been getting some good reading in lately, though. I am 10 pages away from one I started the other day and getting ready for the next one. That part helps me out quite a bit!

Next post will be from the road.

Quote Of The Day

"On the bed of your life place the remains of your broken and scarred past...the emptiness of your poor character traits...the habits that have so long controlled you...the limited vision that continues to characterize you...the slight irritation that nags or the large one that looms...the anger or violence or lust or greed or discontentment or selfishness or the ugliness of pride. Lay these things before the Father and stretch yourself out under His shadow ad you ask Him to bring about remarkable, even miraculous changes in your life.

Is He able? Get serious! I'm referring to "the God of impossibilities," the One who has limitless power, who has never-and will never-meet an intimidating obstacle He cannot overcome, an aggressive enemy He cannot overwhelm, a final decision He cannot override, or a powerful person He cannot overshadow." - Charles R. Swindoll

A Prophet In The House!

Well, he wasn't there for long last Wednesday night because he got arrested.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Monday afternoon while I was working away in my office, I heard what I thought was a loud, old man excitingly talking to our secretary, Ann, over the front door intercom. When the verbal exchange was over, Ann walked back to my office and told me that it was not an old man. It was a man that had been wandering the streets in a shirt, sarong and sandals. She told me that he was looking for a church with a Spanish ministry so that he could get to know a Mexican lady and marry her. Ann then added that he was certainly not all there. He had moved but it was later in the afternoon and Ann and Millie (who was working in the Bible Lab) were a little on edge. I walked Millie out to the back door and watched as she walked to the car. That was the end of day one.

Then came Tuesday. Josh French had come in town to eat with Greg and me and discuss taking over the reins of the youth ministry here. Greg, Josh and I were getting ready to leave when we saw the saronged-man leave the foyer of our auditorium. We found out from our custodians that he had found an unlocked door and made his way to the bathroom. They escorted him out. End of day two.

Wednesday evening, Greg sees the man waiting around and invites him in to the combined worship with us. He sat on the back row and proceeded to stomp his feet, bang his head, mumble to himself and laugh out loud during the songs, prayers and lessons. The congregation could not see what was going on. Only those of us that were facing the audience could see him in the back. Don Graves, one of our elders, got up and went to the back door thinking it was someone pounding to be let in. Then Clint Young, one of the biggest men in our congregation, figured it out and went to the foyer to watch him closely.

At the end of the service, several men stayed behind to keep watch on him while he and Greg discussed the Bible and Satan. The conversation was going nowhere since he told us that he was a prophet and he alone truly knew God. Finally, Greg told him that we needed to close the building and that he needed to leave.

That's when things took a turn for the worse.

He called us Satanists and loudly declared that if we were going to practice witchcraft that he was going to urinate on our building!! He made his way up to the granite sign on the lower part of the front wall near the office complex and hiked up his sarong to do just that!

I asked him kindly not to do that and he yelled at me to stop looking at him while he tried to go.

I went into the auditorium and informed the other men that he was peeing on our building. Don went in to call the police while Clint walked straight up to the guy and told him to get off of our property. He marched up to Broadway Ave, faced it and pulled up his sarong again. He told all of us behind him that we were all homosexuals and lesbians for looking at him while he was trying to go in the street. As he tried to urinate he continued to yell one phrase over and over again "How do you like me now?!?"

We didn't like him very much at that moment.

The police finally arrived, took a few statements, called for back up and took him into custody.

A night that will be forever etched in our memories!!