New TV ministry?

Scrubs Christmas is the Best

Watching the scrubs edition of the Charlie Brown Christmas always gets me ready for the holidays

Just catching up

It has been a year since I posted, wow. It is amazing how fast time flies and it has been a crazy year. I accepted a new job in Blowing Rock, North Carolina in August and so we loaded up the truck and moved to the hills. It is a great place and God has really blessed us. The kids are doing great and loving the new school and hoping for lots of snow days....

Pastor Appreciation Month

As I said in my last post I have decided to take the month and reflect on those Pastors in my life that have taught, challenged and directed me as I strive to serve out my call as a minister. Since I went way back to the beginning the reflection has been a good time of soul searching and self awareness. I realized a lot of the lessons I thought I had learned, I have had to “relearn” over and over again. I also realized that I never really took the time to let these men of God know how much that have meant to me and my ministry and how much my present ministry reflects a little bit of each one of them and what the have taught me. I have been sending out cards and letter to each one of these influential people in my life, thanking them and trying to encourage them. It is so easy in today’s political environment to be critical of people and perceived mistakes made, but we never take the time to encourage each other and thank those that have made our path easier and our vision more directed.

The two men that were my Pastors when I was a teenager and college student in Baytown, Texas could not have been more different. Dr. Burt Purvis was a visionary with a heart for the lost. I never realized in the late 70’s and early 80’s that choruses on an overhead and home Bible groups were cutting edge, I just thought that was the way church was. He encouraged the church to be multi-racial, even hiring an African American worship leader in 1981 – for a majority white congregation in southeast Texas – that was BIG. He was accused of being “Charismatic” and I did not even know what it was as a high school student, I just knew he loved Christ, taught me the word and challenged me to pursue God.

My second Pastor was Dr. Pete Freeman. He was a quite, loving man of peace that sought to teach the word of God and live out a ministry of reconciliation. It was during Dr. Pete’s ministry that I was called to ministry and it was him that encouraged and helped me to go to a Christian college. He gave me my first preaching opportunity and exampled through his lifestyle and demeanor a model of grace. I was not surprised years later when he invested much of his time and energy trying to bring peace and reconciliation to the BGCT and those that sought to form a new state convention. While these men may never get recognized as giants of the faith, they were to me and they formed the foundation for my ministry and who I am today.

If you are a pastor, take the time this month to thank someone that influenced you – they might not even realize the impact they had, plus it feels good to let God bless someone through you and your appreciation.

October is Clergy Appreciation

In the last several days I have received several cards, letters and emails from members of my church letting me know how much they appreciate me, my family and my ministry. These are always nice but I wondered why all at once? I did some searching around and found that someone in the church had sent a bulk email out encouraging our members that this month was "clergy appreciation month" and they should pray for and encourage our staff and Pastors, hence the flood of nice sentiments. As I sat in my office today, reading some of the things written, I was reminded of how much of a privilege it is to serve Christ and the local church. As I waded through some blogs and read too much negative rhetoric, I think we sometimes forget that as Pastors, missionaries and staff members we "get" to do something we are both called to do and we love. In a state of conviction for my lack of thanksgiving for the mercy and grace I have to be able to serve, God convicted me that I had not always taken the time to "thank" those Pastors, and fellow laborers that have encouraged, taught and helped me along the way.
I began to sit down and write some cards and letters to the former Pastors I have served under and staff members I have served with, letting them know how much they have shaped, challenged and taught me as I strived to pursue Christ and His ministry. I did not always like these guys, many I did not agree with always when it came to points of theology or practice, but God used all of them to teach me something. I was reminded that even the Apostle Paul took time in the midst of cleaning up quite a few "church messes" to thank those that made a difference in his ministry. As Pastors it is easy to get wrapped up in the here and now and forget about those that helped us get to where we are. I challenge you to take this month as an opportunity to thank those co-laborers that shaped you. Send them a card, write them an email, or better yet, pick up the phone.
I have another challenge to those of you that might read this; this summer I enjoyed reading all of the blogs that tagged each other with a book tag to list their favorite books. I challenge you to use this month of "clergy appreciation" to write a blog expressing your thanks to someone that mentored, challenged, taught or even in my case "put up with you" as you strived to become the person God was calling you to be. Then tag one of you buddies challenging them to do the same. I am not talking about praising a person but thanking God for them and their ministry. If your like me the list may be long. I have decided that after I send them a card, I will post a little thank you on my blog for what they have meant to me.

Lurking no Longer

After almost a year of lurking on other people's blogs, I have decided it is time for me to jump in the water and try it out. I am amazed at the wisdom, humor and knowledge displayed on many of the blogs I have been reading and figured, I could at least add my two cents. I have also been disturbed by the tone and attacks on many blogs but I guess it is the world we live in. My main purpose in writing, is that as someone who has served on staff in Baptist churches for the last 18 years, I am afraid we are coming apart at the fringes. I considered myself naive enough to believe that after all that we saw in the convention in the 80's and 90's we would finally get down to the task (and focus) of once again striving to reaching our world with the message of Christ. I am now finding that many of those who considered themselves "warriors" in the fight for doctrinal purity can't seem to put down their swords and will not be happy until the SBC looks like "they deem it to be".
A recent Barna report looks at this current generation that considers themselves evangelicals and the lasting effects the church has had on them and the results are startling. Over 60% of those once involved in church drop out of the local church between the ages of 20-30, (something I guess we have been seeing for awhile) but what is so disturbing is these young adults dropping out once considered themselves active in church. These are not unchurched masses, but products of our student ministries and churches. It should break our hearts and cause a lot of introspection, but I am afraid the mainline groups are more concerned with tearing each other down because someone believes the Bible doesn't teach or does teach abstinence from alcohol, or whether someone might have a PPL. We continue to strain at gnats.
Oh well, I have a unique perspective on some of this because I serve on staff at probably the largest (if not most well known) Southern Baptist Charismatic church. I know just the thought of what some seem to be two mutually exclusive titles to be disturbing, but that is who we are. We are innerantist believers of the BFM who happen to believe that all of the gifts of the Spirit are available today. We strive to find a balance between Spirit and Truth (sometimes we suceed and other times we have failed and had to back track). I am a graduate of a Texas Baptist University and SWBTS. I consider myself a Biblical conservative (according to many of the definitions qouted online) and I do not speak in tongues (or have a PPL as those that like abreviations call it) and see no contradiction in those terms. I guess that is where the discussions start. I have seen and heard a of things about Baptist and the gifts in the last couple of weeks and this is my way of tossing my hat in the ring of discussion.