Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

How does that cover everything. It's amazing, I have been off a few days but have been unable to blog up to this point. These are the kids skating at the local school. We did this a couple days before Christmas when the temp was about 50.

Pierson liked playing on the swings. He is getting so much more animated and loves to hear his own voice. His favorite words and gifts are car and ball. He points at the TV when a car is on it and says, "Car". His reaction to opening Aiden's gift of a car was priceless.

My mom came up the day after Christmas and was with us to yesterday. We just hung out a lot, went to go see Alvin and the Chipmunks, went shopping in the after Christmas rush.

Maggie got a new Helmet for her bike for Christmas. She was looking cool!

We played games as a family, with Kate's and with the kids and my mom.

I must say doing twister is getting harder as I get older. I really need to stretch my body more than I do. It was fun with the kids laughing with each other.

It has been nice to have a few days off from work. Everybody needs a break. I go back on Jan 2nd. 2008 forecasts to be a busy year. I am going to Memphis in mid January as well as an overnight trip to North Carolina. We are just trying to enjoy this slow time before school begins. If I don't get a chance to have another post by tomorrow, have a happy new year!

Hallelujah

My Senior Pastor made me aware of this. Hope you enjoy

The Ultimate Gift

Another week has passed and no blogging. It is hard to keep up regularly, especially with Christmas time.

Last night Kate and I watched The Ultimate Gift, a movie which came out about a year ago. It was about a incredibly wealthy man who gave his grandson the ultimate gift. I won't spoil it for you but instead of giving him money, he gave him the gift of things that matter, the gift of work, the gift of family, the gift of laughter, the gift of problems. It keeps you on the edge of your seat seen this young man gain responsibility in his life.

Tonight a Sunday School class is doing something great. They are making a steak dinner for those in Transitional Housing (MATS) and the Daily Bread Ministry (who feeds people from our community every day). About 15o are scheduled to attend. On top of that, they are giving each person gifts and after the meal, they are going to watch The Ultimate Gift. It is exciting to see how Christmas for several folks means more than attending worship services, but it means giving back, of their money and their time. I'll let you know how it went later.

Another exciting thing this year is how many responded the jail ministry request of helping kids at Christmas. There was a M and M tree with kids names on it whose parents (usually fathers) are in jail. So many gifts have shown up at our office to be given to those kids whose parents are seen weekly by people from our church.

Which leads me to another thought, is the disposition of our lives in general to give back or to take. SOmetimes people do great things at Christmas to either relieve guilt or to make it Christmas or Thanksgiving special to others. But I have to ask myself if overall I am a giver or a taker. Do I look first to help others or to meet my own needs first? I saw in a recent article that Gingumsburg UM Church has challenged churches and local busiiness to give as much money as they spend on themselves to their mission to Africa, with a goal set of $1.5 Million dollars. WOW! This challenges me to be that giving to others, especially others I don't know. Think about yourself, your disposition, your Christmas giving. Are there any adjustments that need to be made?

Search for Baby Jesus

This past Sunday night was the Search for Baby Jesus with some of our kids at church. We gathered and went around town to find Jesus. It was kind of like a scavenger hunt. We closed out the night at Jeff and Polly Adams house. As you can see Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus were in their barn.

Suzanne Then read to us the Christmas story.

The rest of the night involved smores, looking at the beautiful scenery, driving the golf cart. It was a fun night.

Way Too Long Not To Blog

Hello, It has been quite a while since my last entry. I will blog more later but Trav Wilson sent me this video of Asbury Professors doing a commercial. Included in this is Dr. Kalas, first man in the video, who is now the president of Asbury Seminary. It is funny seeing such a distinguished man making this kind of video.

Reactions from Last Sunday's Sermon

I must say I was surprised by the number of comments I got after preaching last Sunday. Ususally I get, "good sermon, Pastor" types of comments but the reactions I got were heartfelt. The best was one I receieved in the early service when she said God spoke to her about two things in her life. Those are the types of comments I like to hear. While I want a sermon to be easy to follow and at least enjoyable, what I most want is for God to say something to people through his word. Sometimes he does that inspite of us or with us. I pray that it might be the latter most often.

Tomorrow I preach again, This time on Mary. It is advent and I am taking a look at each of the characters. Basically I am preaching that Mary was 14, from a small insignificant little town in a land occupied by a foreign power and in the midst of her lack of understanding of all the angel explains to her, she still responds in faith. What makes this story even more amazing is the story which comes before it in Luke is the story of Zechariah, a priest with a tremendous spiritual heritage, who does not exhibit the same degree as the uneducated 14 year old girl. I close that sometimes in life God doesn't seem to make sense, like in both of these cases, yet how we respond makes all the difference. Last time I checked, there weren't two many people naming their kids Zechariah.

Pictures from Thanksgiving

The Family at Lunch

Anna's Hands Expressing her joy for the lunch Kate and Nancy made.

Pierson watching Best in Show on Thanksgiving.

This Time, I Will Praise the Lord!

I don't normally do this but I typed out my sermon for Sunday. It is based on Gen 29:31-35. I am doing it for a local nursing home today at 3pm. It is based off of an article I have by Francis Frangipagne on this text. I thought since I haven't written in a while, and especially much original material, you might like this. Enjoy

This Time, I Will Praise The Lord!

My mom tells the story of Christmas Eve when I was about 9 years old. I was so excited for the next day to come. My mom sent me to bed and after I was fast asleep, she stayed up late into the night (about 4am) wrapping presents and putting them under the tree.
She awoke the next morning to a startling discovery. Instead of waking up, having breakfast together, and then opening presents, she found out that I had woken up about 6am and opened every present under the tree. I can still remember the shock and disappointment on her face. She missed the joy parents feel at Christmas, seeing their kids open presents.

Here is a fact you can count on: You and I cannot pass through life without getting hurt. Pain and disappointment are inevitable. Some pains are flesh wounds, and superficial. As some of us have seen on The Bachelor this week, some pain and disappointment rocks the core of our being.

Today’s text is an unusual one for Thanksgiving, but one in which I believe God has something to say to us today. It speaks to how we handle the setbacks which come our way in life. And our response to these setbacks will often determine the destiny of our life.

The story begins with Jacob and Rachel. Jacob is a man looking for a fresh start and was instructed by his mother to come to his uncle Laban for work. He arrives and sees this beautiful woman, Laban’s daughter. This is love at first sight. His heart beats fast, his palms sweat. Like a knight in shining armor he ignores cultural expectations and waters her sheep. He kisses her before he even speaks to her. She rushes home to tell Daddy and Daddy invites Jacob to stay with him and gives him work.

About a month later Laban and Jacob work out an arrangement for marriage. Laban had two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Leah the oldest is described by the author as having weak eyes, (Gen 29:17). Leah’s name in Hebrew means “Wild Cow”, not an attractive name for a girl. Rachel is described as beautiful in everyway, her face and her shapely figure. I think her name in the Hebrew is translated as “Hottie!” Jacob is in no way going for Laban; Rachel is the one he is in love with.

Jacob, since he had nothing to pay a dowry, agrees to work for 7 years to pay the dowry for Rachel. The scriptures tell us that those seven years were like a few days to him because he was so much in love.

At the end of the seven years, Laban throws a wedding feast and everyone in town is invited. That night, most likely when Jacob had at least one too many, tricks Jacob by giving him Leah instead of Rachel. They consummate the marriage. The next morning Jacob wakes up and finds out he has been deceived by Laban. Upon confrontation, Laban says that custom of that area is to marry the oldest first. So Jacob agrees to work for Laban for another seven years in exchange for marrying Rachel the following week. The scriptures say that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah (29:30). I think that is an understatement of the century. Some translations say that Jacob hated or despised Leah.

I wonder how Leah felt. All her life Leah felt unattractive, unlikely that anyone would want to marry her. To make matters worse, her sister is the most attractive girl in town, which makes Leah an afterthought in the family. The ugly duckling.

Not only does she feel bad about herself, but her father essentially uses her as a bargaining chip for economic gain by getting Jacob to work 7 more years for him. In addition to being rejected essentially by your dad, your new husband feels anger and contempt whenever he looks at you and he does not love you. If anyone ever had a right to feel bad about life, it was Leah.

This is where the story gets interesting. Gen 29:31 reads, “When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved”. Here we learn an important truth about God. The Lord is drawn to those who are hurt. God saw her pain, her heartache, her disappointment, her abuse, and acted on her behalf.

I recently had a conversation with someone who really doubted that God understood their pain and felt like God enjoying punishing this person’s life. This is not what God is like, as the psalmist says, God is especially drawn to the brokenhearted, to those who are crushed in spirit. Although Leah was not loved by her husband, she was loved by God.

The verse goes on, “the Lord let her have a child, while Rachel was childless.” In that culture, women’s primary role was to have children, and having male children was of high value. Verse 32 goes on, “Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, ‘It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.” Reuben’s name actually meant, "The Lord has seen my misery". What a great name for a child. This shows how much she was hurting and how much she wanted to be loved and close to her husband. Yet the text says nothing about Jacob’s response, which means his heart had not changed.

She has two more children, Simeon and Levi, hoping that her husband will at least love her now. But nothing has happened. Jacob still loved Rachel and not Leah.

There is a lesson for Leah and for us. You cannot make someone love you. In fact, the more pressure you put on someone to love you, you actually drive them away. Leah thought she could only be fulfilled if Jacob would love her.

During Leah’s fourth pregnancy, a miracle occurred. She became aware that even though she was not loved by her husband, she was loved by God. “Once again she became pregnant and had a son. She named him Judah, for she said, ‘This time, I will praise the Lord!’” The name Judah means praise and eventually Jesus was born from this tribe.

Leah learned that finding fulfillment in what you produce or what people think about you, ultimately did not fulfill her. Only when she turned her life over to God, did she find the fulfillment she was looking for. She turned over the pain and disappointment of her life over to God, and she chose to take this blessing of life to praise God.

You and I each have pain and disappointments in life. Some of us wish we could go back and make different decisions in life, wish we were born different, wish life wasn’t so hard on us, wish this or that had gone differently. We read self-help books or watch Oprah to feel better about ourselves but it doesn’t last. The only thing that lasts, which will make any lasting difference, is to bask in the love God has for us, for you and for me. John put it this way, “How great is the love that the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called his children. And that is what we really are!” You and I are children of God who need to daily soak in the love of God. Prayer, Bible reading are not just disciplines in order to me good Christians. They are the means in which God infuses his great love in our lives and fulfills every nook and cranny of our being. There are areas of our lives that only God can fill. Friends, spouses, children, money, work will not satisfy every area. The more you and I choose to delight in God, the more God transforms us from the inside out and makes us more beautiful than we can imagine.

The Story doesn’t end here. Do you know what happened to Leah? The years came and went and both Leah and Rachel died. Jacob, while on his deathbed, spoke this to his sons, Gen 49:29-31, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave, which Abraham bought as a burial place. There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Issac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah.”

Jacob buried Leah in the ancestral place of honor. Those few words say so much. They tell us that after Leah found her fulfillment in God, God changed the heart of her husband and gave it to her. Her inner beauty shown forth to Jacob.

So this Thanksgiving weekend, and on Christ the King Sunday this Sunday, become like Leah. Turn over the pain and disappointment of your life over to God. Surrender your desires to him and put him first in your life. And as you do that, he will make something beautiful of your life. Speak to those areas of unfulfillment within you and say, “This time, I will praise the Lord!”

I Must Confess

Last night I watched The Bachelor, After the Final Rose with Kate. If you missed what happened watch this:




Yes, He told both women no. Last night he had to answer to both the women he said no to. I must say I bet he will have difficulty getting a date. People will remember him with anger and confusion. Sometimes people don't get it, and obviously Brad is one of those people.


On another note...

Greg, our church adminstrator, told me today that Sesame Street is coming out with DVD's of their first few episodes from the late 1960's. But on the front of the DVD is a warning, "these are intended for adults not children." What! If 1960's Sesame Street videos have warnings, we are all in trouble today! Apparently they showed back then some kid who got lost, when home with a stranger, had ice cream and then found their parents.


On another note...

We had our unity service on Sunday with all three worship services combined into one. It was really a good service, the music was great, spirited, and the food after was excellent. It took a lot of work to pull it off but it was worth it.

We are spending thanksgiving at home. Kate is preparing the food and her mom and Dad are coming down. It will be nice to have a slow Thanksgiving. It doesn't really feel like Christmas already. It's supposed to be 70 today and the leaves are still falling. We got our Christmas tree down today to set up. As a preacher, you always have to think ahead of the seasons so it is weird planning worship for Christmas when it still just feels like fall.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

UT Game

Friday Night I got a call from a church member inviting us to use four seats to this weeks UT game. It was great. I went with Max Maggie and Aiden. They were great seats and the kids had fun. We loaded up on food at the game, had some leftover halloween candy and enjoyed being together.

I must say the seats were excellent . On the 40 yard line and could see the players and the band very well. I must say also that the players look bigger in person than they do on TV in college or pro.

Did you know there is Starbucks at UT games? It was the only place to get hot chocolate.

A Few Remaining Pictures

There are a few more pictures from my cell phone from two weekends ago. We went to Dollywood for the day as well as the Hot Tub.

Halloween in Morristown

This is our first Halloween in Morristown. Our church had cancelled their Wednesday activities that night which meant I got to be with my kids. They all dressed up and we walked throughout our whole neighborhood which ended up being over 2 hours. I was told they bring kids into our neighborhood but I was shocked by the numbers. Kate gave out candy and counted 251 kids who came for candy. WOW! It was huge. People were still coming after 9:30pm even when I had the lights out and the door shut.

These are some pictures from the night.

Warming up with Hot Chocolate and a taste of Candy!

An Amazing Gift

Last weekend Oct 27-29th, we were given a surprise. I had planned on taking a long weekend off since I haven't since I started. We had planned just to stay home since we have spent a lot of money on the house since we've moved in. I got a phone call on Thursday from a resort cabin location in Pigeon Forge that someone had given us a 2 night stay in a cabin in the woods. It was a four bedroom house with a game room, HD TV, Hot tub, wireless Internet. It even had a playground. It was such a surprise and a blessing. It was just what we needed. Below are some pictures I took of the weekend.

103 Krystals

In the paper today, I read an article of a man who set a new world record by eating 103 Krystal hamburgers in eight minutes. The previous record was 97. Joey Chestnut brought home $10,000 for his effort. I actually have never had a Krystal's burger but they don't look too great to me. I know some who really like them but I know Joey doesn't have to worry about me touching his record.

Our Blessed Beeson Year

I began working on this video in May. Delays came and I never finished it. It's not perfect but it is a snapshot of our last year in the Beeson program at Asbury Seminary. It includes family and trips experiences. It's about 10 minutes long and gives you a feel of our year.

Summing Up a Life

Last week, a gentleman in our church died. We just found out on Monday when the Sr. Pastor was out of town. I had met this guy, Karl twice. Once when I first came and the other time a couple weeks ago when he was in the hospital for surgery. We had a good conversation and his death was unexpected. Tomorrow I will do his funeral.

How do you sum up a life? It is not easy. Imagine and remember all the things you have done in your life. All the games, all the meetings, all the relationships, all the sacrifices, and a guy you met twice gets to sum up your life. How would you feel?

Doing funerals for people is always such an honor. Whether they are Christian or non-Christian, it is always special to be there with a family and remember who they loved. Funerals always make me think about what is most important about life. That is the nice thing about being a minister. You get to have your heartbeat on the pulse of life and death and get to enjoy it. I am a person that wants to enjoy life to its fullest. Yes, I use my life and all my possessions to further God's kingdom but I also want to have fun, fun with my wife, my kids. Karl liked to be outdoors, he liked to fish, hunt. These events always make me want to make more time for things I enjoy, like playing guitar, reading books, jumping in the leaves wtih the kids, watching football on Sunday afternoons.

As any preacher would ask, how would you want someone to sum up your life? What do you wish they would say and what would they really say?

Fall Festival

This is from last night's festival at church. Enjoy

What To Do About Halloween

This is a newsletter article I wrote yesterday that will come out in our church newsletter next week.

This upcoming Wednesday Night is Halloween. Halloween got its name from "All Hallows Eve" which is the night before All Saints Day on November 1st. All Saints Day is the day we remember those saints of the church who have gone on ahead of us.

Churches and people have various responses to Halloween. Some choose to boycott Halloween or have Halloween alternatives. They encourage kids to come dressed as Bible characters. I bet not many Churches would be happy if kids chose to come as David dancing before the Lord (2 Sam 6 for more information). While I have had this view in the past, I now see Halloween differently. If your life is like mine, it's busy. We don't have front porches anymore that encourage talking to our neighbors. Instead we have garage doors that open and close when we come home so we don't have to talk to the outside world. Halloween for me is now the best chance I have all year long to meet my neighbors and get to meet kids from my neighborhood.

About six years ago I went to a seminary professor's house in my neighborhood for trick or treating with my kids. This professor sat outside on his porch and greeted my kids warmly. After they took their share of candy and were leaving, he called out, "Wait, Come back." When they came up again, he gave them each another handful of candy. Such is the Christian gospel, giving us second chances, turning darkness to light. Make this Halloween an opportunity to show God's love and grace to your neighbors!

Pictures are working again.

This past weekend finally felt like fall. The weather was a little colder, I needed a jacket. I had the most fun in a while. Max is doing cub scouts and they had a camping outing. We went Friday night and went on a hike with them on Saturday. Max like the fire circle at the campfire so I broke down and bought a fire pit so we can burn sticks and logs in the backyard. It was a blast making smores and roasting marshmellows. I also figured out how to put pictures back on the blog from my phone. These are some pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!

Rich Young Ruler

Sunday I am preaching on the Rich Young Ruler. I was looking for a nice picture on the net but found this video. I thought the music and images were good. It's about 4 minutes. Enjoy

Tuesday Morning Reflections

Have you ever had time when you couldn't sleep? Last night (tonight) I went to bed early and woke up in the middle of the night. I guess I'm used to getting six or seven hours sleep and going. Either way, I thought I would share some thoughts from the last few days.

I had a creative planning meeting with folks at church on Sunday afternoon to try to think through our services and make them more interesting, impactful, you get the idea. I am preaching this Sunday on the rich younger ruler and how he sought out Jesus because he was still thirsty in his life for God. We talked about thirst. We talked about wanting more out of life. I brought up to this group of folks who have attended church most of their life, that many people I talk to who have been in church a lot are thirsty. Many church folks are thirsty for more than committee / church religion. THey want encounters with the supernatural. They want more than just church meetings, church conversations; they want more. It was amazing to see all the head nodding going around room.

Why is it that good church people are thirsty for more? In some ways I think we have tamed faith down so much that all it means is go to church, go to sunday School, serve on Committees. I remember what George Hunter said about this last year in the Beeson Program. He said, "That kind of Christianity can't and won't change the world."

Last night, I met with a group of people who I invited to join me in trying to discern if we should launch another worship service. We talked about when, who, what kind of service, etc. It was a good conversation, lots of debate, no consensus but some definite directions. One of the things we would have to do to launch a service is to get a core group of people involved in this and excited about it.

I think sometimes the longer we are in church or in life, the less excited we are about new things. I remember a conversation I had with a chruch member about 3 months ago who said when she first came to The Connection (our contemporary service), she was so excited about it. SHe actually told her friends to come and tried to get them to come. God was so working in her life. Last Sunday I met a lady who came to church for the first time who was so pumped about this worship experience. It was something she had been looking for. I had a conversation with a man last Sunday before church who said he had grown up in church and got "out of the habit" and him and his wife realized they need something more in their life and are beginning to reconnect back. The point is that when God is working in your life and you are experiencing a sense of the transcendent, you do not need to have the best advertising to get people to come. People will invite others because what is going on.

As a pastor, my challenge is to experience and be led by the transcendent myself. Too often pastors are busy running the show. While it is challenging, I want to be fully engaged in worship not just leading it.

I must say last Sunday was impacting for me. I finished my sermon series on James by preaching from James 5:13-18 on healing. Healing has always been a difficult for me. I know God heals, I just don't see it as often as I would like. Anyway, we had communion and I prayed for people during communion for concerns they were carrying. About 10 people came for prayer. Some were praying for others, some personal. A few had several tears. It was touching and deeply meaningful to me that people were really crying out for God to intervene in their lives. I felt like God had shown up powerfully. God was present. I remember what my preaching Professor Tory Baucum said about Sundays. He said mostly what people want is that experience that God is real. They need hope that God is working in the world and in their lives. I have seen lately how God is working and I really need eyes and ears to see where he is leading going forward.

PIGEONS POOPING

Did you hear this story? Apparently the Cincinnati Bengals have a problem with pigeons pooping on fans during games. They poop on them, their food, their drinks. The owners of the stadium asked for city approval to shoot pigeons if they couldn't get them to go away by other means. They received approval for their plan. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spoke out against the plan last Friday. The Mayor came out against shooting the birds. The PETA said they will offer other solutions such as netting, noisemakers. Team officials saying they are looking into other ideas, such as netting or noisemakers.

There are two ways you can address this in my view. One, isn't it amazing how small interest groups get make a stink and get their way while other groups who are in the majority can't do things. Prayer in school comes to mind. The other view is that the rights of all are protected in our society. People in China who are Christians are persecuted because the majority says their viewpoint isn't valid. We tend to want our way when we are in the majority and often don't have room for others who are in the minority. Yet if we try to please the minority all the time, we will never get things done.

What do you think?

Sunday's Prayer

Yesterday The Sr. Pastor was gone so I had a more active role in traditional worship. I actually wrote out my pastoral prayer. I often don't think it through so well so this helped me. I thought I would include it here.


Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning grateful for who you are, that you do not change like shifting shadows, that in the midst of the storms of life we can count on you. We praise and thank you for every good and perfect gift which you bestow upon us by your love. We praise you for family, friends, work, and rest. We even praise you for the storms of life which come our way which test and refine our faith and makes us stronger.

L: Lord in your mercy, P: Hear our Prayer

Jesus, you who existed before time began, who humbled yourself and became even obedient to death on the cross, who lives today forever and is seated at your Father’s right hand and prays for us, we praise your name. We praise you that in your life here on earth you reached out to sinners and welcomed them into your family. Because of your character and actions of love, we have hope.

L: Lord in your mercy, P: Hear our Prayer

Holy Spirit, you who lives in us and is moving throughout the world, we praise you. Forgive us for not seeing your movement and following your leading. Forgive us our sins, those we willful commit and those we are not even aware of. Free us from our past so that we may live in the light and joy of your Kingdom.

L: Lord in your mercy, P: Hear our Prayer

Today we especially pray for those who are in the hospital, especially Euvella Perryman, Betty Hall, Jim Foster. Touch them special with your heavenly grace. We have others on our hearts we lift to you sliently now. Period of silence.

L: Lord in your mercy, P: Hear our Prayer

And with the confidence as the children of God, we pray the prayer you taught your disciples to pray saying, Our father, who are in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Piercing Your Tongue

Last Sunday I preached a sermon on James 3 on Taming the Tongue. I did a children's moment for the kids where they held their tongue and receited a Bible Verse "Keep Your Tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies." Later I preached on watching what you say, gossip, lying, saying hurtful things.

This is the second time I have preached this sermon and I like the first time, I got feeback. I found it interesting that several parents came up to me and said this is what their kids needed to hear. While that is true, I wonder if either we as adults don't recognize where we need to watch our mouths or we just are so careful not to hurt anyone that we have learned to say things in private or that it is true, our kids really need to watch the things they say. We are in a in-your-face, air-your-feelings culture and too often we just let loose without thinking through what we say.

I read our Bishop's Column yesterday in the Call (Holston Conference Newspaper) where he quoted Bill Easom:

I’m convinced that one of the main sins of the established church is that we have taught ourselves to be nice instead of being Christian. In spite of aspiring to be a disciple of Jesus, we teach that the essence of Christianity is to be nice. Where do we get such a notion? Certainly not from the actions of Jesus. Jesus taught us that being nice has nothing to do with being Christian. Being nice is often nothing more than a lack of compassion for people.

Click here for full article.

So, our challenge is knowing when and what to speak. For some of us that means speaking less. For others it means speaking up more. We need wisdom to know the difference (James 3:13-17).

break dancing bionicles

Bionicle 3: Revenge of the Sith

As many of you know, Max is a big bionicle fan and found this on YouTube. He thought you might enjoy how they took the bionicles and put star wars voices over the video.

Why is there a Psalm 23?

This week I went to a district ministers retreat at Buffalo Mountain in Johnson City. It was a good chance to get away briefly and get focused. I was not feeling that at the time. With Labor Day and this retreat, it has given me a weeks worth of work to do in 2 days rather than four. I was not really looking that forward to it but it was really good. Sometimes I get caught up with all the things I have to do and I miss enjoying life. This retreat had worship, teaching and a chance to talk to other ministers.

In One of the worship services, the retreat leader preached "Why is there a Psalm 23?" I never heard a sermon like that before. She had heard that question from a former professor. He said there is a psalm 23 because there is a psalm 22. Psalm 22 is the psalm Jesus quoted from the cross when he felt forsaken from God. From time to time we feel like God forgets about us. Sometimes folks think God isn't on their side. That is why Psalm 23 reminds us that God is with us.

Psalm 23 is used a lot of funerals but it really is a psalm for the living rather than for the dead. Hear it from the Message:

"God, My Shepherd! I don't need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
You find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word, you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction."

I need quiet pools to drink from. I need to find places to refresh myself. After that talk, I went to see fellow Beeson Buddy Aaron Wymer who lived 12 minutes from the mountain to talk and visit. It was a refreshing pool.

This weekend Kate went with the kids to see her brother Kevin in Atlanta. They come back tomorrow night. I am alone in the house. Yesterday after I worked on the house, I watched a couple movies and read some. This morning I played my guitar and spend some time with God. I feel refreshed.

What pools of refreshment do you have, do you need to take. That is why we have Psalm 23; to encourage us that God is with us and that he is all we need.

Briding the Gap

I couldn't sleep this morning (or night), whichever it is and I was surfing blogs. On fellow BP Bryan's blog had a link to First Christian Church in Chattanooga. http://www.firstchristian-chat.com/


I found their motto (mission) very compelling.


Bridging the Gap between doubt and faith through friendship. I found this very entincing. First off, they acknowledge the gap we often have in our faith between trusting God and doubting. It seems like a place where people can feel safe to struggle through their doubts and not have their faith wrapped up in a neat little package.

I also like the emphasis on Friendship. This bridging takes time and conversation. I can see this community having lots of conversations in people's homes and over coffee. I see people willing to move to a living active faith that reaches out. In fact they offer their service opportunities by exclaming, "If you have been searching for a church of Service -- Not Lip Service, you may find it by clicking here"

I wonder how comfortable we are talking about our faith and doubts in the circles we run in. If you are like me, I like to have everything thought through and catagorized. But as Mother Teresa's are still fresh in my mind, it seems to me faith is about progressing forward in spite of doubts.

Yesterday a person from church told me about a nine year old girl who two weeks ago was diagnosed with stage four cancer and is receiving treatment in California. She will be in treatment for a year! Her mom has a one year old and is pregnant as well. Can you imagine? How do you explain why little girls get cancer? Why do some people in life seem to get the brunt?

I don't know. I guess it goes back to my post a couple days ago, that all of our life is such a gift. That this moment, this day is a gift meant to be enjoyed and savored, not just gone through. Aiden is now 10 yrs old. I realized in four years he will be in high school. I'm not ready for that. I want to enjoy all the moments I have with them while I can. A lot of older people have told me over the years to enjoy the moments with my kids because they slip away so fast. I can affirm that. I don't want them to end. I want to enjoy reading stories at night. Having movie nights with too much popcorn. Taking time to ride the water rides at Dollywood even when I don't want to get wet. Life is a gift. While it is not meant to be focused on ourselves, I believe that it is meant to be enjoyed. I encourage you to live life today!

Pierson's Bday

Kate's family has a website picture sharing service that enables the family to post pictures on the internet. I was checking it out this morning and found some from Pierson's Bday party about 3 weeks ago. Since I can't post pictures yet, I thought you would enjoy them.