C3 and more

I know I said I would publish on Monday my reaction to C3 (Creative Church Conference) well we ran into some delays. Saturday morning we loaded up the fam and my dad took us to DFW airport to catch our 12:50 PM flight to BWI. It was windy. We get on the plane and the plane is rocking back and forth at the gate from the wind. We taxi out to the runway and the wind is horrible. I have seen wind storms in the 28 years that I lived in the DFW metroplex but this was fierce. I looked out the plane window to the west and all I saw was orange. This is a picture of what it looked like. You get the idea from this picture.
The pilot gets on the pa and says that the wind is over the limits of takeoff. I look at Michelle and say we are not taking off. Well, we sit for about 2 hrs on the runway and the pilot finally says we are headed back, the airport has been shut down. On the news that night an official at DFW said it was the worst day at the airport since 911. There is a long story that follows about tickets and luggage, but needless to say we spent three more days with my parents than we had intended.

We got back to wintry Frostburg late Tuesday evening. The funny thing is that Welsh canceled services on Sunday because of a snow storm that blew threw. So, I was not going to preach anyway. We got to go to church with my parents on Sunday and relax a little while longer. I realized today that between snow days and being away from this conference my daughter has missed more days of school in February than she has attended. Glad it is just kindergarten.

C3 was well worth it. I was challenged greatly by each of the speakers and more by some than others. I even enjoyed TD Jakes, who I was looking forward to less than the others. He did a fantastic job on the shepherd leading.

I probably enjoyed Craig Groeschel the most, followed by a close second of Mark Driscoll. Craig made us all realize we were idiots. Taking from Acts 4.13. The word "ordinary" can be translated idiots, though the NT meaning and the America meaning are two different meanings. But still, it can apply.

Mark Driscoll, did a great job of talking about two dangers to the gospel, idolatry and religion. Both create a functional savior to save us from our hell, but neither is the Gospel.

Ed Young Sr. challenged all of us to do more to minister towards kids and Ed Jr. challenged us on the theme of the conference, "Turning What if into what is." Basically he talked about the history of Fellowship and how they have not allowed themselves to feel like they have arrived and finished ministry. Ed Jr. also talked about the things he learned from his father.

Will I go again? Probably in a few years. Was it worth it? Definitely!!!!! I was renewed, challenged and paranoid at the same time.

C3

Well, today was the first day of the C3 conference. Only a few brief observations. I will write in more detail probably on Monday after I recover from the trip back.

First, is the big difference between Fellowship and Mars Hill Grand Rapids. I have been to Fellowship several times and knew what to expect. But after sitting through worship it was really apparent that Fellowship is a lot of show. The lights, decorations, band, props, and music is more Broadway. I enjoyed it and know that in the context of the Dallas area, since I am from here, that what Fellowship style works to reach people. Mars Hill Grand Rapids is minimalist in their approach. Very few lights, simple stage, and simple presentation.

They both work very well to reach people.

As I said I will post more thoughts on the conference on Monday. I am tired and I have to get my daughter to bed and watch the Mavs Heat game tonight. Plus, I have an anniversary date with my wife tomorrow. We have been married 7 years and I love her more than the day we met. She is the light of my life!!!!!! And I get to go out with her tomorrow.

Gleaning from Mark

So, I need to set this up. Every semester I get asked to speak for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship on campus at Frostburg State. I enjoy it in many ways because several of the students that attend come to our church and it gives the pleasure of speaking to about 30-50 college students. One of the things that has bothered me about it is that every semester they usually have a topic or passage they want you to speak on, though most semesters they have a few dates that are open to what ever God leads you to do. Well, when I was called by Mike, who is scheduling speakers and attends our church, he gives me a list of about four topics, all dealing with the book of Mark, to choose from. So, I pick "Jesus' Relationship with the Father in the Book of Mark."

Now, let me say, I have always had a hard time speaking on things that I am forced to speak on that I have not yet already prepared for or worked through. I really was not looking forward to it. Well, God started blowing my doors off.

I read through portions of Mark, read some introductions to Mark, and looked up the word Father in Mark, then started commentary and word study work. Here is what God spoke to me about.

First, the word Father is used 16 times in the NIV, but of those times 3 times it is used to refer to God. So, I am thinking that this is going to be boring. Of those three times Mark 11:25 says, "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." That doesn't give much insight into this idea that I am to be exploring. Another passage is Mark 13:32, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Both of these are awesome passages but they do not shine to much more light on the subject with which I am tasked with. The final passage that I look at relates well and that is 14:36, which I will unpack a little later.

The next thing I look at is the first interaction of Jesus with God in Mark 1:11 at the baptism of Jesus. This passages gives a lot of information about their relationship. Jesus' baptism is not a baptism of repentance as everyone else who was baptized by John. On the other hand it is a sign of obedience and openness to God's plan for His life, which gives a whole new light to believers baptism. The baptism also launches Jesus into the servant role of obedience that will eventually lead to His death. This shows that divine authority is linked to humble subjectivity. From the beginning of Jesus' ministry he is shown as the submissive Messiah. This idea of of the submissive Messiah, which was a foreign concept to the Jews of the day (an understanding the of the Jewish idea of the Messiah in NT times is needed), is pushed forward throughout the book of Mark. One of my all time favorite passages of scripture, Mark 10:45, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" speaks of Jesus' submissiveness. More to come on Mark 10 as it relates to Jesus' relationship to the Father.

Now back to Mark 14:36. The context of which is Jesus in the Garden before his death. Jesus goes to the Garden and asks them to sit and prayer. Then he takes his inner circle, Peter, James and John on further and tells them of his distress, asks them to pray and then goes further and prays. Verse 36 shows his prayer, "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." Jesus lying on his face which is different from normal prayers that were done standing up with arms out stretched. Lying face down is a sign of distress. Many know that the word "Abba" is an Aramaic word that could be translated in to English as "Daddy." Jesus recognizes the power and authority of God and then makes his request to God, "Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." In the Garden there is no retreating from the obedience that Jesus displayed at His baptism. Jesus though is met with silence, no angels, and no doves at his request for deliverance from what He is about to go through. Ultimately, like all of us, Jesus is delivered through His death. As I read over it again I came to the question of, what does Jesus mean by "this cup? " I know the simple Sunday School explanation, I had formed that in my head many moons ago, that Jesus is asking God to remove what he was about to go through. But why use the term "this cup?"

As I dug deeper and deeper into this idea God started showing it clearer and clearer. First, I went back to Mark 10 and the verses preceding verse 45 I has sited earlier. This is the story of James and John asking if they could sit at the right hand of Jesus and says to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared." There is that word again, "cup." Well, you study the word in the Greek and you get, "to drink," or "a drinking vessel, a cup." The word is used metaphorically to describe someones lot in life or their portion that God presents to them to be drunk. It is also used in reference to God in His wrath that He causes the nations to drink.

Then I was led to Psalm 75:8, "In the hand of the LORD is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs." Things go interesting when I looked up the word cup in this passage in the Hebrew. Astounded to find the word cup is the word kos which is feminine noun meaning a small drinking cup or goblet. It used to describe the judgment of God on the wicked in scriptures like Habakkuk 2:16, "You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed! The cup from the LORD's right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory" or a cup of deliverance and salvation seen in Psalm 116:13, "I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD."

The word kos has another meaning in the Hebrew, it means a pelican or little owl. We see it in Leviticus 11:17, Deuteronomy 14:16 and Psalm 102:6. The first two refer to the owl being unclean in Jewish law to eat. The Psalm passage says, "I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins." The owl symbolized a forsaken place in the Bible. We see the imagery used to describe the judgment of Edom in Isaiah 34:11, "The desert owl and screech owl will possess it; the great owl and the raven will nest there. God will stretch out over Edom the measuring line of chaos and the plumb line of desolation."

All this just brought new light to what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. He was willing to become the forsaken one, so that we would not have to. He was willing to take the cup of judgment so we would not have to. He was willing to obey and do what is best for us, even though we don't always obey and do what is best for us.

Which brings me to an interesting progression I see in Mark

Mark 1:9-11 (Baptism)--shows the willingness of Jesus to do His Father's will
Mark 10:35-45 (James and John)--shows an understanding of the significance of doing His Father's will
Mark 14:35-36 (The Garden)--shows the acceptance of His Father's will
Mark 14:42 (Leaving the Garden)--shows the doing of His Father's will

The model that Jesus portrays and the model that I have always understood him to portray is an implicit trust of His Father and the will His Father had for His life. We find it hard to trust people and that makes it difficult to trust God as well, but to become more like Christ, we must be willing to lay our plans at God's feet, not aside, and ask how God desires to use us for His Kingdom work. We must trust as Christ trusted.

The Boys

Well, today I have to admit my confusion as to why the Dallas Cowboys decided to hire Wade Phillips. I have no problem with the son of Bum. He is an incredible defensive minded coach. I guess it came down to in Jerry Jones' mind, "How can I best help Jason Garrett?" I really think Jerry sees him as the next head coach of the Cowboys, but at this point and time he is too green to take the reigns of the team as the head coach. Let Garrett take a few years to develop as a coach and then move him into the head position.

Personally I think it is risky. What if Garrett is not the phenom that many in coaching think he is? What if he is snatched up by another team before Jerry is ready to crown him as the king?

There were probably safer picks, Norv Turner or Ron Rivera, but Phillips has a better record as a head coach and Rivera runs the 4-3 defense. The Cowboys are currently more geared to the 3-4 defense.

I will take a wait and see attitude on this. I am still a loyal Cowboys fan, though not a Jerry Jones or TO fan.

Things are Better than they seem

As you look at this picture you think, man that dude had a rough day. Crashed his pick-up through the guard rail, jumped the culvert and landed in a ditch.

Sometimes life is like this picture. You are having the worst day of your life and nothing seems to be going right. You try and try to do things you are suppose to and then you end up making a mistake or something happens that throws you totally off track and you wonder why?

Life is full of curve balls. You don't know what direction they are going to come and they come at you from various angles and places. The point and time you think you have it all figured out here comes one from an unexpected place.

I see this picture and think man that dude must have been mad about what happened to his truck. You know he might have had a very important appointment or any of a number of things that this wreck could have messed up.

The problem with our limited perspective on life is that we don't see the whole picture. We are limited in our human understanding to what is really going on around us. What we might think really sucks actually turns out to be a blessing. I mean consider this guy, when you finally see the bigger picture you realize how fortunate this guy was for just crashing through the guard rail, jumping the culvert, and landing in a ditch.

So, the next time you think that what has just happened to you is the end of the world or things couldn't get worse. Think about what God might really be saving you from. Look at the things going on in your life from God's perspective, though you will not fully see that perspective.

Don't narrow your focus so much that you don't see the big picture of what is really going on around you and how God is molding you for His will.

It's Cold

Wow, you want cold I will give you cold. Todays high 16 tomorrows high 8. The wind chill factor of about -12. My daughter has a two hour delay already for school in the morning. They should just cancel because by 10 AM it is suppose to be a high of 2 with a wind chill of -19. Personally I don't think there is much difference between 16 and 8, that's just plain cold. Either way it just bites right through you. I wish my trip to Texas was this week.

Personally I believe in a literal hell where there will be fire, but if it was me it would be cold. Lord, could my next pastorate be in Hawaii please?

Just to give an update this balmy Monday morning. The temp is -2 but it feels like -24 and Riley doesn't have school.

Excellent Posts

I was reading Marty Duren's blog the other day and found a link to the Founder's blog. I think Marty and Tom bring up a great question. Have we lost the gospel. Has our focus as believers (my own SBC) become about so many other things other than the Gospel? It is time that we get back to the heart of what it means to be Christ Followers.

God's Humor

So, I write about Renee Alston's book "Stumbling Toward Faith" this morning and mention that I never read it. Well, God must want me to read it because this afternoon I bought it. Why do I say God wants me to read it? Well, the store I found it in is a hit and miss thing.

If you are ever in the Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania region of the country you need to check out Ollies Bargain Outlet. This store gets seconds, discontinued and overstock stuff. Their motto is, "Good Stuff Cheap." Well, over the years I have stocked my library full of really good books from this place, usually 50 to 75% off retail. The thing is you never know what they are going to find and sometimes you go in and it is the same stuff week to week. Just to give you and idea of the savings I have found, I bought a copy of "The Message" for $14.99 that retails for $39.99. I purchased a "Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance" there for $12.99 that retails for $39.99. I have bought "Blue Like Jazz" and "Searching for God Knows What" there and many other books. I have a small book budget and this store makes it go farther.

But I digress! I walk in this afternoon and sitting at the front of a row of books (usually a row of books contains 10 different books so you have to look through the whole row to see what is in there) is Renee Alston's book for $3.99. It is the only copy I saw in the whole store. So, I will begin to read it soon. Just skimming the book it looks really good.

A Challenge to me

I have recently been challenged in something that I felt was settled in my mind. First, by Rob Bell at the "Isn't She Beautiful?" conference at Mars Hill and then by Scot McKnight in his post Letters to Emerging Christians. What I heard and read I thought was a challenge to my beliefs, but I was wrong they were more of a confirmation of a belief that I already held, but just had not fully grasped.

One of my favorite passages of scripture is John 10:10, "A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest." What challenged me the most is that in most gospel presentations the Good News is presented as a ticket to heaven. I am not denying that when someone becomes a follower of Christ that they get into heaven, but the question comes is that all there is? What about my hell here on earth? Is the driving goal for us as Christ followers to just get people out of here. If heaven is the driving force of the Gospel then why doesn't God just translate us to heaven the moment we pray the prayer, confess with our mouth, make it public? I know that question brings a whole bunch of answers about the mission of Christians to share and the Great Commission, then why do we present the gospel so much as a ticket on the train to heaven?

Don't get me wrong I am looking forward to heaven. I preached a series on it last fall. I personally think the problem with many Christ followers is they are too enamored with the things of this world and not enamored enough with the things of heaven and that causes their focus to be more on the problems of the hear and now and not what is to come.

I am challenged by what Paul tells the Philippians in 1:6, "God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns." Another one that I think makes it more clear is 2:12-13, "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

One of the questions that Rob Bell brought out is which Jesus are we following? The Jesus of 1-800-BIG-HAIR on Christian television or the Jesus of someone who claims to be but doesn't act like it. Bell referred to a book, "Stumbling Toward Faith" by Renee Alston. The disclaimer here is I have not read the book. I intend to read it in the near future because it seems incredible to me. In the book Alston tells of her life of abuse at the hands of a father who while abusing her would recite the Lord's Prayer. Those are just a few examples of the Jesus that people need to reject in their life.

What conclusion have I come too? Well, that is not completely settled. At this point for me what has happened is that Salvation is seen as more to do with someone's journey with Christ than it has to do with someone's point of decision for Christ. There are many people that have made a point of decision, prayed a prayer, walked an aisle, but the fruit of their life has no more to do with Christ than an atheist. Points of decisions are not wrong, they are markers along the journey, but there is more to the journey than the decision.

I like what Scot McKnight writes at the end of his article, "A Christian is someone whose identity is being transformed because of relationship with Jesus. I think Jesus, Paul, John, are all saying this very thing: the one who is a Christian is the one whose very being and identity are shaped by Jesus."

I simply have to concur!

Could be worse

Winter has officially hit the northeast . The high today in Frostburg , Maryland is suppose to be 21 . Welcome back to all the Frostburg State University students who started classes today. We have snow on the ground with the expectation of some more in the next few days.

But things could be worse. I received these pictures in an email this morning. They are from the town of Versoix near Geneva City, Switzerland. The water in the background is Leman Lake. They are quit incredible if I do say so myself.

Its 1:30 in the morning

It's after 1 AM and I just got home about an hour and a half ago from Grandville, Michigan and "Isn't She Beautiful?" at Mars Hill. May I say it was worth my time. Albert, the Youth Minister, and I left early today to get back at a decent time. We missed the afternoon breakout session on Tuesday and the evening. I am going to be getting notes from a friend who was sticking around.

Let me start by saying a little of my background with Rob Bell. I have read "Velvet Elvis" listened to several of his sermons and watched some Nooma Clips (AWESOME). I have found him to be thought provoking and extremely deep in his understand of scripture, especially the "Jewishness" of the Bible (my new word). I do not agree with him at every level, but I have found him to be genuine and heartfelt.

Now to the conference. Some impressions to begin. Mars Hill meets in a old mall. "The Shedd" is a huge open space with a stage in the center of the room with four screens in a box form above the stage. Just like the Mars Hill website (newly updated) the church is minimalist in look. There is no sign on the street near the church. When asked in a Q&A about it Bell answered, "you found it didn't you?"

Best phrase of the conference, "Wow, that is a big steeple." The phrase is taken from a Marilyn Manson song. Bell uses it to refer to ministers who brag about the size of their ministry.

Bell in his teaching has an ease of flow in his presentation. I sat there and listened to him speak and when he was done thought, "wow that was an hour and forty-five minutes." In the Monday morning session Bell's title was, "This lovely, frustrating, intoxicating, painful, hard, compelling mystery called church and why she's worth dying for." This was a wonderful talk on the Pastors being broken and poured out as a good gift(Eucharist) like Christ. Here are two quotes among many that hit me, "To be a leader in the church is to let your body be broken and your blood be poured out for others." The second about the church, "Your church is a gift (Eucharist) to your community." I could have left right after that session and felt the cost of the conference was well worth it. It hit me right between the eyes. I came away changed by that message and it will stick with me!

Monday evening Bell presented “There’s a box? A Theology of Creativity.” He spoke of the way he gathers for and presents sermons. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Came away with some great ideas and more creative and practical ways to prepare for preaching.

This morning he spoke on “A Few thoughts on God, Jesus, salvation, judgment, heaven, hell, who’s in, who’s out, and the end of the world as we know it.” I figured I would have trouble with this and I did, but it did make me think about my own view of salvation. I will not bash Bell point for point here. I will say it was useful to help me solidify a little more strongly my views of what the Bible says about salvation.

Best part of the conference was on Monday evening and the worship band. The leader opens by saying something like, we here at Mars Hill believe in responsive readings so you read the lines in parenthesis and I will read the rest.

We want the funk
(Gotta have the funk)

Those were the first two lines, I don't remember the rest. Then the band starts playing in the "key of funk." So we sing "All Hail the Power of Jesus Name," "Let it Rise" and several other songs in the "key of funk." It was soooo awesome!

I will be attending C3 in February and look forward to that. I will let you know how it goes.

Interesting Day in History

I love history! I actually majored in history in college because of it. So, each day I like to see what significant things happened on this date in history, also I like to see what famous people were born on this day. So, here is a little history lesson for January 8, 2006. Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Soupy Sales, and Stephen Hawking were all born on this day. You may not know Stephen Hawking who is a physicist.

On this date in American history is an interesting battle in the War of 1812, the battle actually happened in 1815. It was the battle of New Orleans, which did not have to occur since the Treaty of Ghent had already been signed on December 24, 1814. This battle which was a complete defeat of British regular army, by American militia and volunteers led by Colonel Andrew Jackson. In fact it was the battle that thrust Andrew Jackson into the national spot light more and he eventually became President of the United States in 1829. Jackson is also the co-founder of the Democratic Party. The United States forces were aided in the battle by pirates who were led by Jean Laffitte. Interesting note about Laffitte and his band of pirates is they wore red, like the British, and actually marched with small pockets of British troops before they would kill them. So, today I will probably sit back and enjoy a song of my childhood about this battle. I will listen to Johnny Horton's song "The Battle of New Orleans." Side note on the song is that my wife hates when the song comes on in a public place because I know it word for word...Thanks Dad for introducing me to the song.

Of interest more to me than anything would be that of what happened on a sand bar in Ecuador on this date in 1956. Five men had been dropping leaflets and gifts from a plane to the Huaorani people of that country hoping to get an opportunity to tell them about Christ. The Huaorani people were a violent group to other tribes and even to themselves. Missionaries Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully,Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian were all speared to death by a group of Huaorani warriors. God in his providential wisdom used the deaths of these men to inspire people around the world to serve God as missionaries, give to mission causes and prayer for missionaries.

So, today as you go through this day, take time and thank God for the freedom that you have in this country and pray for those who have made a great sacrifice and are serving God around the world to spread the Good News of what Jesus did.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

From my family we want to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas. May God bless you as you celebrate the greatest gift that could have ever been given.

My New Hang-out

I am sitting in the new (though it has been around for a couple of months) coffee shop in Frostburg, Mountain City Coffeehouse & Creamery. Great little atmosphere...great pretzel sandwich. It is amazing until this place opened there was not a coffee shop in Frostburg which has a student population of 5000. I hope this place stays strong and makes it. It was not busy when I came in around 11:30 am, but business has been picking up in the last thirty minutes.

Here are somepics of my family that I wanted to share. The first is me with our daughter, Riley, and the other is my wife, Michelle and Carson our son.



I am so thankful to God for these wonderful gifts he has given me!!!!

Good posts from a friend

I was reading a friends blog today on the Holy Spirit and thought they were well written and well thought out. Which is surprising considering the guy who wrote them is an Aggie. John Herring is the Minister of Adults Johnsons Ferry Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Necessary (and Dangerous) Holy Spirit

The Dangerous and Necessary Holy Spirit, Pt. 2

Gotta get me one of these

My daughter is only five, but when the time comes I think I will have to get me one of these monkeys!

I can't wait for January

No it is not because American Idol is back. Personally I could care less about that show. It is because my favorite show to ever come to TV is back for another season and I just saw the 24 teaser and it looks awesome. I wrote about my love for this show in February.

Jack Bauer gives us an illustration of biblical truth that is uncanny. He is willing to sacrifice himself for everyone else. He has been doing it for 5 seasons on 24 and it looks as though the 6th one will be more of the same. When you watch the video listen to these quotes that sound so much like the need people have for what Jesus did in their place on the cross.

"A threat will rise"--what threat do all of us face? The threat of sin and what it will do to us in this life and the life to come. It is trying to take control of us each day and it needs to be stopped.

"Fear will grow"--people are full of fear in their lives. But as John tells us, "perfect love drives out fear." (1 John 4:8) Jesus displayed perfect love.


"Our only hope lies with one man"--WOW how true it is. It is funny when you watch the video Jack's hair is long with a long beard, almost trying to look like Jesus who is the only hope for anyone.


Jack says, "I can die for something"--Jesus died for something...for God's creation...you and me. We are all fallen in need of Jesus who died for us.

"We are asking you to sacrifice yourself"--That is exactly what God asked Jesus to do. "The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them." (John 15:13) This is where Jesus showed perfect love, His willingness to sacrifice himself.

"If we want thses attacks to stop Jack Bauer has to be sacrificed"--The attack of sin on our life will not end in this life. But because of the sacrifice that Jesus made the attack of sin on the lives of Christ Followers will stop after this life is over.

Jesus paid the ultimate price for all of us. The price that we were suppose to pay. He laid down His life for you and me. What are you going to do with the knowledge of that?

Who you voting for?

Yesterday, I took the day off because Riley was off from school. So, Riley and I are doing something in the kitchen when Michelle walks through and I ask her"When do you want to go vote today?" Before Michelle could answer Riley asked, "Why are you going to vote?" Trying to figure out how to explain voting to a 5 year old I say, "To put people in our government to run the country." Riley says, "I want God to run our country."

Out of the mouth of babes.

Being the Light

There is a story of a young woman one day who went to here pastor and wanted to talk about her job. She began to talk and told the pastor about how hard the job was and how rude the people she worked with were. She said she was really struggling in her Christian walk because of this job. The pastor looked at the woman and asked, “Where do you put lights?” The woman looked at the pastor curiously, but she did not respond. She went on to tell how her co-workers went out and partied on the weekends and came in and talked about all the things they had done and how draining it was to her spiritually to hear all of that kind of stuff. The pastor again calmly asked, “Where do you put lights?” Again the young lady looked at the pastor curiously but continued on about how her boss and his appalling language that he used in the work place. One last time the pastor looked at the lady and asked, “Where do you put lights?” The lady aghast at the repeated question looked at the pastor and said, “Well, I guess in dark places!” When the last word came out of her mouth she lowered her head and walked away knowing that she was suppose to be the light in the dark place of her work.

Jesus tells us we are, “the light of the world.” We live in a dark world with people that are not very nice and things that rage against everything the bible teaches. In this world we have two choices, one is unbiblical and the other is biblical. The unbiblical thing to do is to run and hide. This is what some do they insulate themselves from everything that is evil in this world and sit back and wait for Christ’s return. But God did not call us to do that! He called is to be in the world but not of it. We are supposed to let our light shine in those dark places of the world and make a difference for His kingdom. We are to be what Paul calls us in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “ambassadors for Christ.” We are supposed to go into the dark kingdom and do the work to promote God’s Kingdom.

Personally I hate Halloween. I wished in many ways it would go away, but the people outside our church are going to celebrate it, so this year we have decided to go into the dark places and see if we can make a difference for God's Kingdom. We are doing a "Light the Night" in our church parking lot. We have secured lights from our local volunteer fire department, two bounce houses, a cotton candy machine, a popcorn machine and some awesome kits from the American Tract Society. Please pray that God would help us as we reach out to our community through this event.

Former Golden Boy of the SBC

With all the things happening at Southwestern Seminary, the institution I hold an Master of Divinity from, I feel I need to respond. Dwight McKissic preached at chapel earlier this semester and spoke of his private prayer language. Obviously SWBTS President Page Patterson did not like his view on the subject because McKissic's message was taken off the website for people to be able to view and then this week President Patterson had the trustees, McKissic is a trustee, vote on a new policy of restriction of anyone that has a private prayer language at SWBTS.

For more info on the story read the letter to the trustees from Dr. Patterson and Dr. McKissic's response at SBC Outpost or this article on Dr. McKissic's sermon at SWBTS at Associated Baptist Press

What is funny to me is that McKissic was the Golden Boy of the SBC back in October 2001. He was a board member of the BGCT and asked the board to affirm inerrancy, BP Article

In a story by BP about McKissic at his resolution that was present the SBTC. About half way down you find this...

"As their first act of business, messengers approved a statement on the reliability and trustworthiness of the Bible written by Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington. "I simply wanted to introduce a resolution on biblical inerrancy that I don't have to read now, but want to make sure it's accepted here. By the way," he added, "this is the same motion that was rejected by the executive board of the BGCT."

SBTC President Ruben Hernandez thanked McKissic for the statement and said, "You're in friendly territory." Messenger Bill Sutton, pastor of First Baptist Church of McAllen, moved the suspension of the rules in order to act immediately on the resolution, receiving numerous shouts of "second" to his motion.

Asked to speak for the resolution, McKissic said, "I want to reiterate the position of the documents as I understand them of the SBTC and to give testimony to Baptists in the state of Texas regarding our beliefs that the Bible is the inerrant and infallible Word of God." The text of the resolution stated, "We believe in the divine inspiration of the whole Bible and the inerrancy of the original manuscripts," adding that the BGCT executive board had rejected his effort to present the motion for consideration at their 2001 convention.

"I bring this motion today because I want to be absolutely convinced that I'm in a room with Baptists that can affirm that if God breathed the Scriptures, they have to be without error," McKissic passionately declared to the applause of convention-goers who cheered and waved their ballots when it was time to vote. "I just need to know there are some Baptists who will take a stand on this issue," he shouted.

Asking if any messenger wished to speak against it, Hernandez joined the audience in laughter at such a thought. "All right. That's beautiful." After messengers voted, he added, "Unanimous. Let it go on record."


Amazing that you are part of the in crowd as long as you agree with us, but when you decide to talk about what you believe that is contrary to what the powers that be believe then you are on the outside looking in.

Personally I am a cessationist that is willing to be proven wrong! But, I can fully cooperate with someone who is a continualist. I was eating lunch with my accountability partner today and we were discussing why churches shoot themselves in the foot so often when it comes to reaching out to people with the good news? I believe the SWBTS trustees have shot the SBC in the foot one more time.