I am often reminded of William Carey and the Serampore Mission that he founded in India.  When I get to feeling pretty low and inadequate in my ministry, I always remember what I learned about him in seminary.  He must have had the same feelings–only exponentially stronger! What is amazing is that he had no converts for the first 7 years in India! He lost two wives to death. And he lost 19 years of translation work due to a fire.  After the fire, he wrote “In one short evening the labours of years are consumed. How unsearchable are the ways of God! . . . The Lord has laid me low that I may look more simply to him.” Are you kidding me? That is amazing! Sure wish I could have that kind of faith in the midst of the storms of life.  He was so convinced that God had called him to reach lost souls that he was never going to give up!

God, give me that same kind of tenacity and drive for the lost in my world!

However, it seems that a whole lot of good has happened from this trajedy.  Darrell started a crusade across America to prevent what happened at Columbine for ever happening again.  You can check out their organization here.  Her brother is an amazing young man that is the video director for the organization.

I remember that week of “Columbine Redemption” rallies like it was yesterday.  It is hard to believe that it was almost a decade ago.  The beautiful thing about the Lord is that He always seems to help bring beauty out of trajedy.  That is the gospel–namely that God took me and my mess and is making “all things new.” What was cool was that God used Rachel’s testimony to help many students find Christ in the Springfield area. We hate for tragedy to happen, but we know that a soveriegn God who “holds all things in his hands” will bring glory to his name.  Much like the statement in John 11, the tragedy of Lazarus’ death was to “bring Glory to God.”  As we see photos and video of the Columbine tragedy, let us remember to thank God for his soveriegnty and his redemptive purpose in all of our lives.

1. Preached live at Carthage today…I love when I get to preach…I miss it!
2. Don’t miss the preparation and study…but miss preaching.
3. Don’t miss the “grind” of having to have a message every 7 days.
4. Had 256 on Spring Break…don’t know if that is good or bad.  Seemed like we had a lot of new faces, which is awesome!
5. My mom and dad spent the night last Sunday night and got to hear me preach at Collide.
6. We went to dinner at Cheddar’s for dad’s and my birthday.
7. Taylor and Tucker rode to SGF in the motorhome…Tucker rode “shotgun” and probably told Pa Pa how to drive the whole way!
8. I took off Monday through Thursday to work on the house “remodeling.”
9. I am extremely tired from scraping off our “house of wallpaper.”  There is wallpaper in almost EVERY room in our house!
10. Didn’t get as much done as I wanted, but we will hopefully get the “wallpaper walls” textured and painting done soon.
11. I was pretty proud of myself in not “working” during my vacation…I am pretty bad usually about “checking in” on my vacations.
12. Taylor spent Monday through Thursday with both grandparents…had a great time!
13. Tucker was “wheels off” here at home with us!
14. Tuck tried to “help us paint” by painting with the roller (no cover).  He did a great job on our floor, the walls in the foyer, the hallway walls, and the playroom…problem, we didn’t want any help yet!!  Paint thinner anyone??
15. Kids check-in is getting better each week.  Seemed like it went really well today.
16. Mizzou RAH!!
17. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!
18. and as much as it hurts to say it…Boomer Sooner
19. Bottom line–Big 12 did really well in the first two rounds.
20. Fran is leading a pool I am in…what??
21. I have an idea for Easter that is going to be AWESOME if we can pull it off!
22. Excited to have staff meeting tomorrow morning and get back into the swing of things.
23. Happy Birthday Kevin!

Here is a gallery of pictures that I posted on twitter and from my phone this week (and last week)…

The Week In TwitPics….

1. Had a really good…busy week this week!
2. Attendance was down a bit this week…probably the weather…sickness is going around too…232.
3. LAUNCH is going to be a really good series!  We really need to get “unstuck” in our spiritual lives!
4. Make sure you get your friends to this series!!
5. We had a bunch of crazy technical difficulties that our team handled really well…I don’t think people noticed, though–GREAT JOB tech and worship guys!
6. Kevin is the man with creating video stuff!  Our announcements are looking better and better each week.  Plus, we had the sultry, sweet, smooth sounds of his dad doing the voice over this week!!  Thanks Coach!
7. Had an AWESOME Leadership meeting today after church!  I am excited about the future of our church because of this great group of people!  Beware…they may be “tapping on your shoulder” in the coming days to help join them in serving at FP Carthage!
8. I love hearing the unbelievable stories that are told at those meetings!  That always fires me up!
9. We got our children’s ministry packed away in less than 10 minutes…that needs to happen every week…and it can if a larger group of people give us 5-10 minutes before they leave for lunch!
10. My new Kindle 2 came in the mail yesterday!!  I am really pumped about that thing!!  My back is already thanking me for lightening the book load!  Got an ESV version of the Scriptures for free…that is my first and only book so far.
11. Had a crazy day on Saturday running from Basketball, to a birthday party at House of Bounce, to our monthly “birthday” dinner for the OBU Bunch (Stones, Clements, & Jones.)
12. Great meeting in Springfield with Pelham-Philips (architect), A1 (sound and video), and Downhome Productions (lighting, etc.).  The building is going to be AWESOME!  Keep praying that we remain faithful in our giving in order to continue moving forward.
13. Did I mention I am a Kindle owner??
14. We are attacking the “wallpaper house” head on…in the foyer!  Wow, people in hell must have to strip wallpaper…what a whip!
15. Put up some corkboards in the boys’ bedroom tonight…and a car clock to match the theme.  (We have a grouping of pictures of old cars that my Grandpa and Grandma Emack gave ME when I was a kid that is the “anchor” for the room.  My Grandpa made the frames (he was a carpenter).  The same grouping was in my room growing up!)
16. The dumb dog (Pepper this time)  got into the neighbors trash again!!  Arrgg!!  Need to get another radio shock collar for Pepper I guess.  Henry’s collar is too small already for Pepper.  He is going to be a big dog!
17. Going to try to get to bed sooner this week…obviously not starting the week off right, huh?  Good night!  Have a great week everyone!

I read Earl Creps’ blog through my reader and always enjoy his take on life and church planting. He used to be the director of the D Min. program at the Assembly of God Seminary in Springfield, MO. He is currently living in Berkley, CA and planting a church aimed at university students–good stuff in itself for sure!! But all that aside. . . Earl wrote a post that really hit my heart this morning. He was honest enough to write what he truly thinks, and if I was honest. . . probably have some of the same experiences and thoughts.

You would do yourself a huge favor to read this post entitled “I Am A Racist–Ernie Graves and Barack Obama.” Some of the key thoughts that really resonated to me are . . .

The monstrous injustice of it all was clothed among whites with a sort of middle-class respectability. We did not consider ourselves racists because we did not burn crosses. Only fanatics did things like that. But our society was set up in a certain way and the marginalization of black people was assumed to be part of it. Overt slavery had been replaced by a sub-economy in which people unlike ourselves lived with invisible chains.

Just a month ago, Janet and I moved from Springfield, Missouri (94% Anglo) to very multi-cultural Berkeley, California to plant a university church. During the first few weeks after our move, I had to confess to my wife that I was reacting to people of different races in different ways.

Walking down the sidewalk, I felt fine if an Asian or Anglo person approached me, but experienced just a touch of elevated anxiety if that person were a black male.

This feeling disappeared in just a few days, but shocked me into recognition that racism is not someone else’s sin, it is mine. While abhorring the overt bigotry of others, my own mind can harbor the same sub-economy that my West Virginia town operated in the 1950’s.

At this point, I still think of race/ethnicity/etc. as a modifier. For instance, our friend next door is our “Anglo” neighbor and the people across the street are our “African American” neighbors. By God’s grace, I want to one day think of them as just neighbors and let them define themselves. When asked what kind of person constitutes a “neighbor,” Jesus depicted a good Samaritan rescuing a robbery victim without regard for the person’s background or circumstances.

The inauguration of Barak Obama put a face on what I am feeling. Watching his speech was a moment of healing, joy, and hope for someone who remembers segregation and was a part, even unwittingly, of the system that maintained it.

But my journey toward really loving people did not begin in the Berkeley move or the inauguration of a new President so much as it did in that junior high school stairwell.

Thanks, Ernie.

I hope I can return the favor.

I have been having a really hard time this election, honestly, because I believe that sometimes the racism masks itself. Let me try to explain with some questions. What if Barack Obama were a Republican? Would Republicans make a big deal about his middle name? Would they say “well he is really not the first African American President, because he is only half black?” (By the way, is being half black being like half pregnant? You either are or you aren’t, right?) What if Barack Obama came out and was over the top Pro Life?

I am amazed at the some of the racial statements that I have heard spoken directly to me or overheard in the community as the inauguration happened. I realize that I live in Southwest MO, in the heart of the Midwest, but I have been absolutely amazed at the sheer racism displayed by some. Statements like “I know you are black, but come on, does EVERY artist on the stage have to be black?” “There are going to be ’spinners’ now on Air Force One.” (Keeping with the ghetto theme I guess.) And almost every statement is proceeded by “I am not racist, but” or “this sounds bad, but.” Okay, if it sounds racist or bad . . . it probably is and probably shouldn’t be said!

The problem I have is that I grew up in Springfield, MO. I think there was a total of 3 or 4 blacks in my school . . . total. I just was never exposed to a lot of diversity at all growing up. It isn’t my parents fault that we lived in a primarily white community . . . just the area my mom and dad grew up and settled down to raise their family.

Then, Jenny and I moved to Oklahoma. Pretty much the same thing with a few more American Indians sprinkled in to make the percentage more like 75% white. I had a classmate that went to the seminary extension with me that ate lunch with me every Monday without fail. He happened to be black. He also taught me a lot about “the black church.” I had a much better understanding after long conversations with my good friend.

I also had another very moving week of my life while in Atlanta, GA while at the National Youth Ministers Conference and the Promise Keepers Clergy Conference. I stayed way out by the airport and rode the subway into the conference center each day. I met a man that was a missionary in Brazil that ministered in a very culturally diverse church. The clergy conference was all about racial reconciliation, especially in the Church in America. In getting to know this missionary, he said it was quite ironic that we in America have taken so long to get over the issues of our past. He also commented how sad it is that the most segregated hour in America is the worship hour each Sunday. Honestly, the really sad thing is that the conference was in 1996. . . over a decade ago, and things don’t seem to be much better.

We moved to Burleson, TX during seminary and it was a town that had a history of racism, so the percentage was almost 99% whites! There were stories of signs being under the city limit signs as late as the early 90s that said “you better have your black $%@# out of town by dark.” Not sure that is true or urban legend, but it was definitely the sentiment of many people.

I simply haven’t been in a part of the country to interact with African Americans at all . . . and I think I am less for it. No, I don’t think I am less. . . I know I am less for it!

Kudos to Dr. Creps post on racism! I too hope that I can begin to use different adjectives for the people around me besides their race or nationality. It would be nice to be able to say my good friend or neighbor, instead of my black, yellow, pink, or brown friend or neighbor.

I would hope that Dr. Seuss had it right in his 1961 book, “The Sneetches.” In the end, The Sneeches decided that it didn’t matter which kind of Sneech you were, star-bellied or non star-bellied. All that mattered is that you were a part of a larger community. I pray that we will learn to be a part of a larger community and to embrace the differences of us all–and those differences make us stronger.

My first memory of Washington, DC was when I was a young boy on vacation with my parents. We happened to be there in the Nation’s Capital over the Independence Day holiday week. Being a young boy, I heard that there was an awesome fireworks display on the National Mall that just had to be attended–in person. They would shoot the fireworks from off of barges on the Potomac River over the Washington Monument . . . an awesome sight for sure. My mom and dad were suckers for their young son and gave in to my begging to attend the event in person!

We left the campground where we were staying in College Park, Maryland and rode the subway all the way in to the National Mall station. Upon exiting the subway, we walked into the middle of the largest crowd I had ever been a part of in my young life. There were also as many porta potties as the eye could see lining the entire length of the mall on both sides. We laid out our blanket and waited for the festivities to begin later that evening.

It was one of the most amazing nights of my life! Watching the huge crowds today have brought a flood of memories to that week in DC.

My second memory of Washington, DC was much more recently, but still a family memory. This time, our family was all there in DC, my brother Rick included. We were there for his retirement ceremony from the Navy. His ceremony was at the Jefferson Memorial–really cool deal for sure! We stayed with one of Jenny’s college classmates, Judith Norton outside of Baltimore. She is in the United States Army Field Band and Soldier’s Chorus–a professional music group that performs all over the world, but specifically in the DC area at all of the major events, such as the Inauguration today. We were able to hang out with my brother and his family as well as Judith, which was really cool. We were only a family of 3 at that point . . . but Tucker would soon be with us later that year.

It struck me then, and me now the beauty and shear genius of our founding fathers. Democracy is an amazing thing for certain! Where else but America can you have a complete change of leadership without force? Without struggle? Without “ever skipping a beat?” I mean, these guys ride in the same vehicle to almost every event for the whole day!! Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that limousine! The man swearing in Obama today, Chief Justice Roberts, is swearing in a man that did not vote for him to be confirmed to the Supreme Court. It is told that there was shear hatred between Chief Justice Warren and then President Nixon. It is all about the balance of power and the change of that power in a peaceful–almost poetic way. There is something extremely powerful about a peaceful transfer of power. Democracy is a beautiful thing indeed.

I think today there was another memory made for me. I am proud to be an American!

Ok, to the heart of the post . . . It seems as though I am really, really busy, but I can’t seem to get ANYTHING done!  Do you ever feel that way?  We had a great staff meeting yesterday morning, but the day seemed to get away and before I knew it, it was time for Life Group at our house.

We had an AWESOME Life Group.  I absolutely love hanging out with our new found friends and study the Bible and hang out together!  We are really starting to gel and “click,” which is really cool.  We are studying “Discovering God’s Will”–an Andy Stanley/Northpoint study.  Man, what a great study so far.  Some highlight statements that really spoke to me from this week:

“The problem with knowing God’s will is not God’s unwillingness to speak; the problem is our unwillingness to follow through. Discovering God’s Will by Andy Stanley & Reggie Joiner, 21

“God does not give us direction for our consideration; He gives us His direction for participation.”

“God is more interested in your discovering Him than His will.”

“In the process of trying to know His will, we get to know Him.”

The message was built around Proverbs 3:5-6–

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

I think this verse is very appropriate for my Tuesday that I had today . . .

Have you ever noticed how we seem to tell God “how it’s going to be?”  You know the deal.  We basically expect God to get on board with what we are doing.  When He does something we don’t want, weren’t expecting, or makes us uncomfortable; and we get all bent out of shape.  We tend to work harder, plan more thoroughly…work YOUR plan and ask God to bless YOUR plans.

God doesn’t work that way!  He wants us to wait on Him.  He wants more than anything a relationship with us that is real and personal.  He wants us to be so close to Him, that of course we would know what to do in order to do His will.

I am learning that the more plans I put together, the more they will not go so hot.  When I seek God and work on my relationship with Him, then I set to planning. . . that is when the my plans will become His plans.  When I am so atuned to His heart, that His heart becomes mine.

When things are seeming to “go your way.”  Maybe it is a perspective change?  Maybe it is a change in who is making the plans.  As Experiencing God says, “God is always at work around you.”  You need to find out what He is doing and do it.

First off, I went to my new dentist here in Carthage and one of the dental hygentists is a daughter of a fellow pastor way back when (’95) , when Jenny and I were in Pryor, OK.  Her father is a great man and served in the Methodist Church in both Pryor and Locust Grove (where I was serving).  The work in Locust Grove was especially challenging, but he was always faithful to the call of God on his life.  I learned a lot from him in a very short time.

Then, later on that evening, I got a Facebook message from a former student in my youth group.  He was recalling a particular message I preached on a Wednesday night a LONG time ago that was still impacting his life!  What??  He talked about a simple phrase has stuck with him all these years and has helped him finally deal with some “junk” in his life and actually let some other people in the body of Christ to help him along in the journey!  At this point, I’m feeling really pumped about what God has done through me.  It gets better. . .

This Saturday night, I was studying for the next morning . . . looking over service, message, etc.  I had my email inbox open and got a latenight message from another “blast from the past.”  It was from a young lady that was in my youth ministry in Burleson, TX while I was in seminary.  She had been thinking about me and looked me up on the internet and found the Finley Crossings website and eventually this blog.  While she was looking at the CFC website, she downloaded a podcast–happened to be my last message at Finley before moving to Forest Park Carthage.  As she and her husband were sitting in their kitchen listening to the podcast, they made a decision to find a church in their city and really follow the call of God on their life–AWESOME STUFF!  So now I am really thinking that God is amazing and what am I mopeing around about, right??  It gets even better–last night . . .

I took Dinwiddie with me to Hopedale Baptist Church in Ozark, where I was a student pastor starting in ‘99 after seminary.  We went to hear Aaron Hill give his first sermon ever.  Pretty stinking cool!  Aaron  was a 7th-8th grader when I left to plant Finley Crossings.  He was always one of “those kids” that you know God was going to do an amazing work through–you know the kid.  I am really good friends with his dad, John, who’s blog is linked over in the right margin.  Jenny and I have been worship pastors at their (HBC) children’s camps for about 5 or 6 years now and have gotten the opportunity to spend some quality time with Aaron in a cabin with a bunch of crazy elementary kids!!  I have always thought God was going to “do something” with Aaron. . . and I think he deep down thought the same thing.  It was really great!  He did an awesome job!  Brought back a ton of memories of student ministry at Hopedale as well as my “first sermon.”

I remember my first sermon in January of 1994 at FBC-Springfield at “College Night at Christmas.”  I gave the message and several of my other buddies did the other parts of the service.  It was a real nerve-wracking experience to say the least!  I was really nervous . . . in a suit and tie . . . had microphone feedback issues . . . and forgot (are you ready for this)–John 3:16.  I think they probably should have pulled my license at that point for sure!!

Again, I am reminded of Paul’s words of “never give up in doing good.”  Even thought things don’t always “go your way” or turn out the way you might want them to turn out . . . never give up.  Life and ministry are difficult and Paul was encouraging the early church to keep pressing on and hope for the harvest.  I am so thankful that the Lord has called me to do what I do and really thankful for His encouragement this week!  Thank you God!

Parts of his acceptance speech last night struck me in one very unique way. They resonated with a powerful Biblical theme and they went to the very core of why I think the church is struggling to stay relevant with younger generations of people.

And so last night as I watched Obama give his speech, I was struck by one thing. There was a deep thread of community woven throughout the speech. Once again, I’m going on the face value of the comments and making no commentary about them. Here’s a couple key excerpts:

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

Sounds a lot like “every tribe, every nation, every tongue” doesn’t it? The church isn’t made up of rich, poor, Jew or Gentile. We are the church.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other……In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people……to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

As you watched last night, and as the American people indicated by their votes (regardless of whether you think rightly or wrongly), that sense of call to community resonated. And I think it’s resonating in a deep way in the hearts of people who are tired of going to church and feeling alone. Who are tired of struggling to be good Christ followers and believing that they have no one they can turn to. Who are ready for the church to be a place where we truly do love, honor, welcome, greet, serve, teach, admonish, sing, support, encourage, forgive, bear the burdens of, and fellowship with one another all unto the Glory of God….

OK, so not a few excerpts, because I felt it necessary to get you folks who don’t follow links to read the meat of his thoughts!

I can recall a time when my friend, Daniel Scott and I were eating at an establishment down in Galloway that there was so much community there it was scary!  The problem was that it wasn’t the true kind of community that a group of people might have with Christ in the center of the community.  I remember thinking that there has got to be a way for the Church, the True Community, ought to be like that community–at least in it’s acceptance and love that seemed to be there in that place.

The problem, I think, (and what our small group studied on Monday night) is that we as believers have become so concerned that people do the right things that we focus on the externals.  What we really ought to focus on, as the old evangelists used to say “focus on what Christ has done.”  We need to focus on our own depravity that has been washed clean by the blood of Christ and begin to be a unifying force for real, lasting change in our world.  But that starts with me . . . if I have the courage to love like Jesus loved.  That’s a tough start indeed.