Deserves to be read

I have not linked one of my favorite Internet authors in a good while, so here goes. I wrote some similar thoughts when I used to contribute for sbcImpact nearly a year ago. This is some dangerous thinking and Dan carries the ball a lot farther than I did when I wrote this post.

Why I Don't Understand Church Planting by Dan Edelen

Top Five Memories from School

SelahV (Mrs. V if you're a gentleman) invited me to participate in a meme at Karen's blog, Tried and True. The meme simply involved telling five memories from grade school. Karen is a school teacher and so this meme is of particular importance to her. i enjoyed the trip down memory lane so much, I didn't want to leave my responses in the comment thread, but thought I would share them with you all, too. Maybe you would like to participate, too. Drop a comment. My five, in no particular order:

#5--I am indebted to Matt Terrell. In the fifth grade he refused to rat me out. On the playground was a huge, upright slide with three twists in it. It stood a good twenty-five feet tall. You could surreptitiously stop in the first twist on the way down and STEP OUT of the slide and slide down the support beam. Matt got caught; I didn't. When the teacher asked if anyone else did, I stared at the floor--Matt wrote thirty pages and his parents grounded him for a month. I got off scot-free.

#4--I won first place in the egg-in-a-spoon race on field day in fourth grade.

#3--I sent Lisa Snyder a love note in third grade; she said she would be "friends" with me. I was elated! We buddied around for a few days; in eighth grade when I asked her to "go" with me, she told me she could do a lot better than me. :)

#2--In sixth grade, I wrote "I will not talk in Mrs. Smart's class so that I will not disturb the education of others" 750 times for Lisa Malone, who I had a crush on (I must've had a thing for girls named Lisa in grade school). It didn't help.

#1b--I wrote "I will not talk in Mrs. Smart's class so that I will not disturb the education of others" 750 times myself because shutting-up was a virtual impossibility. I wrote it again, 1000 times, a few weeks later. Stayed in every recess until I had it done, too.

#1a--When I was a senior, my sister brought a letter home to me. It was from my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Hall, who I dearly adored. Mrs. Hall had seen my sister get into my dad's four-wheel drive tow truck, jacked up on monster tires. The truck was named was named "El Bandito". Mrs. Hall recognized the truck and not knowing who my sister was, searched her out and then wrote and gave to her the letter to give to me. I wrote her back, telling her my future plans (though at that time ministry sure wasn't it). I still have her letter tucked away. I had hoped to correspond with her for a while longer, but teachers are a fairly busy lot.

Sin on a Bun

I am working on a couple of posts right now but I came across this post by Joe Carter today that deserves a few minutes perusal and reflection. He blogs on the forgotten vice of gluttony. Check this quote to whet your appetite (pun intended).

Gluttony was once listed among the seven deadly sins. But now it's considered, when it's thought about at all, as a private health matter. We may realize that overeating has led to weight gain, a change in appearance, or diminished health. But we never recognize it as a spiritual problem.

Oddly enough, with the exception of those related to sex, American Christians tend to take an antinomian view of "physical sins." We act as if corrupting our bodies will have no impact on our souls. Such an un-Biblical view, however, must be rejected by anyone who acknowledges that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

New Post at Impact

I have a new post at SBCImpact! I hope you will check it out.

Thoughts on Breakthroughs in the SBC

Boy Reads Entire Bible; Obedience Made the Difference

These are a couple of articles I would like to point everyone to from the For Faith and Family Blog. The first is an encouraging article about a boy, eleven years old, who read through the entire Bible in two years. He did not sway from the task his mom and dad said, "He did it all on his own," with no encouragement from them.

“I wanted to get closer in my faith to the Lord,” says Graves. He recommends reading the Bible from Genesis straight through to Revelation. “I don’t really like skipping around,” he says.

Graves likes the Gospels but also enjoys the history books. “But you can’t leave out the minor and major letters of Paul,” he says.

Graves learned a lot while reading his way through the Scripture. “I learned it doesn’t matter how young or old you are, you still have to witness to other people,” he says.

A great picture of the boy in his Scout uniform is at the blog. The second article is the testimony from a personal friend that surfaces occasionally on the web in SBC circles (his link is in the sidebar). It comes from Tim Wilkins, coordinator of Cross Ministry out of Wake Forest, NC. Tim came out of a homsexual lifestyle and now ministers to other homosexuals; the tagline of his ministry is More than Words, meaning that it takes more than words to lead a homosexual to faith in Christ. The quote that always stands out to me when I read Tim's testimony follows:

My sporadic homosexual activity continued until my early twenties, when I decided that although I honestly did not know how to be heterosexual, I did know how to be obedient.

Obedience makes all the difference in following Christ. Have a blessed Thursday.

Happy with My Affliction

My good blogging friend Selah V blogged here about being content with one's affliction. After the week I had last week, I found the asking of the question, Are you happy with your affliction? almost insulting.

If I had a worst enemy, I would not wish an ear infection upon whomever that may be. It has been a nightmarish week, but a week that has reminded me of some things that I needed to be reminded of. I have been reminded of the love of the people of God.

Had I not come down with an ear infection, we would not have been the recipients of such unbelievable displays of God's tenderness and grace through His people. Two men hogtied me and took me to the ER last Sunday afternoon; many of the saints from the new church I serve called to check on us (one dear lady has called daily); one gentleman took me to the doctor on Wednesday so we would not have to get all the children out in the cold; and some have prepared meals to make it easier on my sweet wife, who has been unfalteringly sweet to me.

Honestly, we feel part of the new church. We feel like we belong. We feel like part of the family. In this way, God has moved in my heart and showed me how the people of God are supposed to care for one another. This has been a pleasant experience, though bitterly painful physically.

I also have been reminded of the unfailing goodness of God. Even in the midst of a nasty ear infection, glimpses of God's goodness shined through. When my three year old crawled in the bed with a stack of books content to lay beside me and look at them, knowing there was no way on this planet I could read them. Honeybunny Funnybunny was going to have to wait and she knew it. Or waking up and finding a picture on the nightstand, drawn lovingly by a five year old so daddy would feel better. And the get well cards--all drawn on yellow legal paper. They could have been drawn on the back of a brown grocery bag and I wouldn't have cared.

And this may sound cheesy and if so, so be it. As I lay in my bed, I could look out the window and see the steeple of the church. It was a constant source of encouragement and a reminder of God's love and the love of the people of God. It also reminded me that God's church is much more--so much more--than just a red brick building (with a white steeple).

Yes, God is good. Plus, the response and movement of the Spirit in my own soul as I preached both services today was overwhelming . I love to preach--I cannot lie. I believe God has called me and put a passion in my heart to teach and preach His word and being out of the pulpit caused a gnawing in my bones. Right now, the folks are getting Acts on Sunday morning and Genesis on Sunday evening. God has blessed and I believe He will continue. I am thankful for a responsive congregation and folks that enjoy talking about the Word.

Also, I am reminded of the unfailing love of a woman. My sweet wife has put up with a lot this past week. Second to God, I owe her an enormous debt of gratitude. Thanks, honey!

Occasionally, it takes something serious to be reminded of some key things about God. Perhaps next time I won't have to stare at the inside of my bedroom (in pain) for a week to figure those things out.

Post at sbcImpact!

I have a new post up at sbcImpact; "The Teeth of Our Exertions."

Depression: A Real Problem for Real People

It has been some time that I have written anything substantial here. However, I have written something substantial at the collaborative blog, sbcImpact! Click over and take a look. Thanks!

Something Gross, Something Funny, and Something Amazing

First, something gross.

Not too long ago I stepped over to the church office from home to make a few copies for homeschooling purposes. When I arrived, one of the sweet ladies who gives of her time to clean the facilities was there. I stopped in the sanctuary for a moment to speak with her and exchange pleasantries. She was hard at work polishing the backs of the pews. It did not immediately register to me what she was polishing the pews with until I walked up and greeted her. As she sprayed the polish on the pews, she was rubbing it in with a pair of men's underwear.

I have learned a lot about frugality at the church I serve, from seeing used Ziplock bags washed and propped up on a dish drainer to dry, muffins brought to a fellowship on a meat tray, to some folks who drive cars that are twenty years old or older. But I just talked with her like polishing furniture with a pair of worn out men's underwear was the most natural thing in the world to me.

OK, something funny.

I haven't posted any lousy church signs in a while because I have not seen anything relatively original in its level of lousiness, just more and more of the same. However, this one I saw on an independent, fundamental baptist church a couple of days ago.

Take Christ out of Christmas and
all you're left with is _ _ _ _ _ _ mas.

Those independent, fundamentals do tend to be fairly literal in their approach.

Now--something amazing.

Last week my good friend and fellow blogger Steve Sensenig posted on a topic that I had been mulling over for a while, particularly since I had been doing some private study on spiritual gifts for Wednesday evening services. In response to a request from another blogger, Steve posted on the topics of miracles and particularly healings, to which much of the discussion turned. (You can find the posts here, here, and here.) I won't get into the bulk of Steve's arguments because I would much rather you go there and read them for yourselves, giving him the hit counts he deserves.

I will say though that Steve's primary contention, and I believe it, was that healings are part of the Gospel message and serve a much greater purpose than just authentication. Healings are just as valid today as they were during Christ's time on earth and it is God's will that we be healed of our diseases and infirmities. Further, nowhere in Scripture is anyone ever told "no" to a healing request and Christ even healed some who didn't ask.

I haven't nearly shared the bulk of Steve's arguments but only to lead to this point. My wife has had kidney stone trouble for years. In summer 2003 she had a delicate operation where a stone was directly removed from her kidney. Since then, kidney stones have been a constant worry. Since our last baby was born, and even before the delivery, she has had a stone that has bothered her intermittently. Sometimes she has just been uncomfortable, other times she has been in severe pain.

This had been going on for over five months. Then I read Steve's posts on miracles, threw my two cents worth in the comment thread, and Steve helped me think through some things. I discovered my views on healings were not entirely biblical. I didn't tell my wife that I had been thinking and pondering and searching Gods' heart on this matter.

Late last week, I began to pray in accords with what I had learned from the Lord through Brother Steve. I claimed no promises, placed no obligation upon God, nor did I "pray in faith," as the faith healers say is necessary. I simply prayed, knowing what I now know about the character of God and His desires regarding physical healings.

My wife went to the doctor last week, had a culture done, and then this past Monday had an ultrasound. Leaving the hospital Monday she called me on the way out the door. There was no kidney stone. When we hung up, I wept and whispered a prayer of gratitude. Like I said, something amazing. I am still assimilating it all and I'm not sure how to completely respond; right now just in thanksgiving and praise.

Notable...

I have not blogged out here in a while but have spent a great deal of time at my faith and culture blog, The RP2, plus commenting at friends' blogs. I just recently posted over there about the deplorable conditions of sweatshop labor in China, making of all things, crucifixes. I was torn about whether it deserved to be posted here or there, but nevertheless, it is over there and not here, so click over and please read. Thanks.

Keeping Little Girls Little

As a father of four little girls, brother Bowden McElroy's post on Keeping Little Girls Little especially resonated with me. It has always been a major concern to me and my wife that our little girls stay little as long as possible. It is distressing to see other little girls, the same age as my oldest, look like they are eighteen years old in terms of body build. For a time, we tried to buy all organic foodstuffs to try to stave off early onset of puberty due to the growth hormones injected in milk and meats. Buying organic quickly became cost-prohibitive. However, the study Bowden has posted seems to intimate otherwise, and thankfully so.

The results of the study show that children living in families with greater parental supportiveness, from both mothers and fathers, less marital conflict and less depression reported by the fathers experienced the first hormonal changes of puberty later than other children. In addition, children whose mothers had started puberty later (a genetic factor), whose families were better off financially when the children were in preschool, whose mothers gave them more support when they were in preschool and who had lower Body Mass Index when they were in third grade developed secondary sexual characteristics later than their peers.

As Bowden notes, "A stable home environment may delay the onset of puberty in girls." One thing my wife and I constantly struggle for is a semblance of order in our home. The premise we base this on is that heaven is often referred to as "home" in the Scriptures as well as in popular culture so we try to foster as "heavenly" an environment as we can. It is a challenge!

Though we only have one nearing pubescent age, the results are evident. A stable home life counts for so much more than just the normal rhythms of life and prayerfully, it will develop happy, whole, God-fearing children in our home.

Another Offering

Of Lousy Church Signs! This one smacks of elitism and Christian superiority, akin to "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."

Heaven: a prepared place for a prepared people

I have no problem with the theology behind the statement but we don't want to use heaven as a badgering point for calling people to repentance and faith in Christ; especially not on a potential first point of contact with unbelievers.

The second is an offering from brother Ron Jackson, emailed to me over six weeks ago. I apologize brother Ron! It got caught up in my inbox and underneath a flurry of email I lost it until today when I was cleaning out the inbox. There shouldn't be several hundred messages in one inbox!

I'm not quite so sure. Google is kind of like Wal-Mart; if they ain't got it, you don't need it. If you can't find it on Google, you can't find it, right? Right? Anyone?

A Post to Consider...

...at my other blog. I posted last night on some valid questions David Gushee, ethicist at Mercer University, asks of those holding to a complementarian view of Scripture.

A Gentle Reminder

Selah V writes this morning:

All the details around me, created to distract, confuse, produce fear and worry. But in the midst of every storm there is peace when our minds are stayed on the Lord Himself.

Thanks Selah.

A Pertinent Question

Are we missing the point? Raborn out at Ray's X-Change asks and answers a tough question that I myself have been arguing for a couple of months now here on my blog. His post reads off the hip yet hits the mark dead-on. Here is a brief snippet to whet your appetite:

While much of the thrust of the contemporary church is on understanding, mentally assenting to and defending the right doctrinal positions, the thrust of Jesus' ministry (both then and now) seems to be more focused on helping and healing hurting people.

[...]

At times, we have interpreted the phrase "and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world" to mean "don't cuss, don't drink, don't chew and don't run with those who do". But, could it be that not allowing ourselves to be polluted by the world rather means refusing to play the worlds game of "loving those who love you", and instead choosing to give to those who can't give back and choosing to love those who would even be considered our enemies? Have we really bought into the pollution of the world while seemingly refusing to give into it?

Parts of his post read similarly to an article I have been pondering before I bailed on it and decided to go in a different direction, plus the contested post I published a few days ago on the Christian intellectual did not really garner the feedback I had anticipated, which Raborn's post strangely answers that question; the one implicit in my post from January 2. I quote myself from that same post:

We have invested so much time in determining what the Bible says we have accomplished this to the exclusion of how to respond to what it says. There are many out there who know what the Bible says. However, evangelicals are woefully inadequate at extrapolating what God expects out of us from that same text.

Can we get beyond this detriment as the Body of Christ, cease allowing Hollywood superstars to fill the obvious void left by the church, and as Raborn says, begin being Jesus to hurting people? Or are we missing the point?

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." James 2:14-17