Humorous Newspaper Ads

I was working on an introduction for a sermon that I'll be preaching this coming Sunday evening from Matt. 9:35-38 about Jesus seeing the multitudes, viewing them with compassion, and urging His followers to pray for the Lord to send forth workers into His harvest. I've not finalized the title of the message, but had tentatively called it "Help Wanted: Workers for the Harvest." I was looking for some unusual help wanted ads to use in the introduction and stumbled across some very funny ads on a website that purportedly have appeared in print in different media. Here are some of the most humorous of the bunch. I hope you enjoy them.

Dinner Special -- Turkey $2.35; Chicken or Beef $2.25; Children $2.00.

Now is your chance to have your ears pierced and get an extra pair to take home, too.

We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by hand.

Have several very old dresses from grandmother in beautiful condition.

Dog for sale: eats anything and is fond of children.

Mt. Kilimanjaro, the breathtaking backdrop for the Serena Lodge. Swim in the lovely pool while you drink it all in.

Man, honest. Will take anything.

Man wanted to work in dynamite factory. Must be willing to travel.

UsedCars: Why go elsewhere to be cheated? Come here first!

Wanted. Man to take care of cow that does not smoke or drink.

Auto Repair Service. Free pick-up and delivery. Try us once, you'll never go anywhere again.

Illiterate? Write today for free help.

We will oil your sewing machine and adjust tension in your home for $1.00.

Mixing bowl set designed to please a cook with round bottom for efficient beating.

Dr. Callam's Visit to our Church

In the summer of 1995, we were making plans to return to the U.S. from Argentina for our second furlough. We had spent our initial furlough in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area as it was near my parents and also where we had lived for ten years during seminary. We opted to come to the Kansas City area for our second furlough to be close to Jason, our oldest son, as he began college at the UMKC Medical School. Before we left though, we had the unique opportunity to spend some time attending the Congress of the Baptist World Alliance that was held in Buenos Aires the week of Aug. 1-6.

The BWA meets once every five years in a different site in a celebration they call a “Congress” that brings together Baptists from around the world. The BWA is an outstanding organization that unites a very diverse group of some 38 million Baptists from more than 200 different unions and conventions worldwide. The week of the meeting in Buenos Aires was one of the coldest we’d ever experienced in that city and the delegates who had come from Africa were woefully unprepared clothing-wise for the bitter cold. Local churches took up collections of coats and blankets to help visitors stay warm during the meetings. The impact of seeing Baptists from around the world worshipping God as they sang praises in their native languages was a bit of a foretaste of what I believe heaven will be like.

Our church has the wonderful opportunity of hosting a meeting on October 16th at 7:00 p.m. in our sanctuary to introduce the new general secretary of the BWA, Dr. Neville Callam. Dr. Callam is from Jamaica, and is a direct descendant of slaves who were taken there from the African country of Ghana. In an interesting twist of history, Dr. Callam was elected to the BWA’s highest office this past summer in Ghana, the very place from which his ancestors had been taken as slaves. If you live in the Kansas City area, I hope you’ll make plans to attend the service on Oct. 16th. Our own choir and orchestra will be leading in worship. The BGCM website has a promotional poster about the event that can be downloaded and printed to share the news with others in your church or faith community.

Previous Week in Review

I apologize for the lack of any posts this past week, but it was a rather busy week for me. I got up in the wee hours of Monday morning (3:30 a.m.) to catch an early flight to Dallas for a meeting of the board of trustees for WorldconneX at a hotel near Love Field. This was my initial meeting with the board and it was a good time, meeting with folks who have a passion for missions and even some who have shared a very similar pilgrimage as mine in terms of service with the IMB and subsequent resignation over the BF&M 2000 issue. It was great to see a former missions professor of mine, Dr. Justice Anderson, and also to get to visit with Dr. Albert Reyes, former president of the Baptist Univ. of the Americas and now working with Buckner. There were some important deliberations and decisions made during the two-day meeting, but I don’t want to preempt the official news release of some of those so I’ll just wait and direct you to the appropriate channels when those become official.

On Tuesday afternoon, I was able to meet with several folks who participate in the Guatemala Affinity Group, a loosely-knit group of churches and institutions who are actively involved in missions work in Guatemala. We met at the WorldconneX offices and shared updates of what our individual ministries were currently engaged in doing in Guatemala. It was a helpful gathering with some good interchange of ideas and networking taking place. I caught an 8:30 flight back that night to Kansas City and got to observe a beautiful lightning display as thunderstorms were active out to the west.

I had planned on working just Wednesday this past week, but wound up going in on Thursday morning as well as most of the other staff were scheduled to be out of the office. My wife invited me to travel with her to the Lake of the Ozarks for a conference for speech teachers that she was attending on Thursday through Saturday. It was held at a very nice resort hotel in the town of Lake Ozark and we enjoyed a nice boat ride on Thursday night on the lake. I’ve never seen such extravagant yachts as those that were moored at the marina there. I glanced through a magazine listing prices of some that were for sale and found prices as high as $700,000 and many in the $200,000 - $300,000 range. That blew me away. I had no idea that folks paid more for a boat than we’re paying for our home.

On Friday evening we skipped out on the banquet and drove the 2 hours to Springfield to be with our 3rd son, Joshua, for an activity that he has been planning for several months. It was a benefit fundraiser for the Children’s Miracle Network. They held a dance marathon from 9:00 p.m. until 9:00 a.m. and had more than 100 university students dancing. Each had raised pledges to support the work with kids who face some very serious medical challenges. Several families were there on Friday night to share their stories about their struggles and progress in combating these health issues. Josh had hoped to raise around $10,000. He was ecstatic when the totals were announced the next morning--$16,742.00. We helped serve pizza, drinks, ice cream, and snacks until about 1:30 when we left to drive back to the resort, getting in around 3:30 a.m. It was a short night, needless to say. Annetta Marie wrapped up her conference and we got home that evening around 6:30 or so. It was a tiring, but enjoyable week with a change in scenery and activities from the normal pace around here.

Do You Know Your Theology?

Do you know your Theology?

Who was the 3rd man in history to walk on water?
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The 1st one was Jesus.

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The 2nd was the apostle Peter.

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Then there was this guy Jose...

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Neville Callam, General Secretary of the BWA, to visit us

In recent days, the topic of the Baptist World Alliance has surfaced a few times as some bloggers have questioned once again why the Southern Baptist Convention voted initially to defund the organization and later to withdraw from it. Some have pointed out the discrepancy and inconsistency between accusing the BWA of theological liberalism based upon its loose ties with some organizations while giving the SBC a free pass when it also partners on specific social issues with a number of groups that could hardly be described as conservative evangelicals. My contention has been from the outset, and I believe the facts undeniably support this, that the SBC’s defunding and withdrawal from the BWA was a direct consequence of the BWA’s decision to admit CBF into its ranks. The supposed charges of liberalism and anti-Americanism leveled against the BWA ring very hollow and cannot be demonstrated to be true.

I would appeal to those in the Kansas City or St. Louis area who are interested in receiving firsthand information about the BWA to come and meet Neville Callam, the newly elected General Secretary of the BWA. Our church, First Baptist of Lee’s Summit, has the privilege of hosting a meeting on October 16th to introduce Neville Callam and the vital ministries of the BWA to interested Baptists and other fellow Christians. Callam will be in the St. Louis area the following day at Fee Fee Baptist Church in Bridgeton. I’ll be attending a planning meeting tomorrow afternoon to finalize some of the details of Callam’s visit and will pass those along in a later post. In the meantime, I wanted to share the dates so that hopefully those who happen upon my blog will be aware of this wonderful opportunity to meet and hear from the head of this group that brings together some 38 million Baptists from around the world. It's always the better part of wisdom to form an opinion about someone or an organization based upon firsthand experience rather than hearsay. I hope many will take advantage of the opportunity to do just that with Callam's visit to Missouri.

A Doubting Mother Teresa

Perhaps you’ve heard or read some of the recent commentaries on the release of Mother Teresa’s diaries. In them she describes what other authors have at times called “the dark night of the soul.” It seems that she frequently struggled with doubts and periods of time in which she felt no assurance of God’s presence with her in her labors among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Some, predisposed to reject the notion that God could possibly be at work in the life of a Roman Catholic nun, have seized upon her words as evidence that her faith was invalid or worthless. That might make them feel more self-assured about their own brand of faith, but it is more of a commentary on their own smugness and self-righteousness than it is a valid critique of the tireless efforts of Mother Teresa to have a positive impact in the life of the hurting masses in one of the world’s major cities.

While the diaries may well reveal a woman who struggled at times with her faith, that shouldn’t be the basis for doubting her commitment to Christ nor for denigrating the tremendous contributions of her life. Here are just a few quotes from her that are worth pondering.

"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world."

"I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness."

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."

"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."

"Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work."

"There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it to God, to Christ, and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible."

Margaret Mead Quotes & Reflection

We publish a monthly newsletter for our senior adults here at church and I always write a column for that. I don't believe I've ever shared the contents of any of those on my blog, but thought I'd pass along the one for September.

I ran across several interesting quotes by Margaret Mead recently and thought I’d pass a few of them along. “Of all the peoples whom I have studied, from city dwellers to cliff dwellers, I always find that at least 50 percent would prefer to have at least one jungle between themselves and their mothers-in-law.” “The solution to adult problems tomorrow depends in large measure upon how our children grow up today.” “What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things.” “Women want mediocre men, and men are working hard to be as mediocre as possible.” And here’s my personal favorite of the bunch: “Prayer does not use up artificial energy, doesn't burn up any fossil fuel, doesn't pollute. Neither does song, neither does love, neither does the dance.”

That last statement started me reflecting about the ways in which we express our spirituality and our joy. Prayer clearly is a vital communication link that God has blessed us with that allows us to share our deepest feelings, needs, and desires with Him, as well as interceding for others, confessing our sins and shortcomings, and praising and thanking Him for His goodness and mercy. The gift of song and music inspires us as few other mediums can. There is practically nothing that compares to the power of a song to lift our spirits, give voice to our beliefs, or proclaim our love for God and others. A lullaby can soothe a restless child and help him or her to sleep. A majestic choral anthem can carry us into the very presence of God.

We Baptists probably struggle a bit more with her inclusion of dance in the list. Many of us were raised in an era or a religious climate in which dancing was considered utterly taboo. The Bible though repeatedly describes and exhorts worshippers of God to express their praise to Him with the dance. Other cultures with distinct customs such as those practiced by many African believers would find a worship service without dance to be unthinkable. That might not have been what Margaret Mead had in mind, but it’s a good reminder that God delights in our manifold expressions of worship. Let’s thank Him for the rich diversity of ways that we can praise Him.

Busy Ministry Week

I apologize for the lack of substantive posting this week, but I have a few more things on my plate than normal. I'm officiating at a funeral today for a lady I've been visiting in a local care center for the past two years. Her health was never very good, but her death still came rather quickly and unexpectedly. She and her husband had been married for almost 64 years. He's been a faithful member of our congregation since joining in October 2005 and I consider it a privilege and an honor to conduct his wife's memorial service.

I'm also preaching Sunday a.m. in our pastor's absence. He will be helping his daughter relocate to Denver where she recently has taken a job. Being Labor Day weekend, I'm going to focus on our work ethic as Christians as Paul helps define it in Eph. 4:28 and Col. 3:17, 23-34, before addressing Jesus' words in John 6 as He replies to the crowds who ask Him what good thing they must do to do the work of God. His reply is simply to believe in Him whom God has sent.

In addition to those things and my normal Wednesday evening Bible study preparations, we've also had a number of serious illnesses and major surgeries among our members this week that have kept me running between hospitals. I still wouldn't trade what I do for anything. Part of my introduction Sunday includes reference to a recent survey done over 18 years by the Univ. of Chicago regarding job satisfaction. It found that clergy have the highest reported job satisfaction, with 87.2% stating they are very satisfied with their work. Count me among that number.

Little Girl Recites the 23rd Psalm

This link was provided by Word & Way and is priceless.

More Insights from Missional Church Conference

As I had indicated earlier, I'd like to share some additional insights gleaned from the conference on Missional Churches. In describing the journey from a traditional, program-based approach to a missional mindset, the conference leader presented a series of contrasts between the two:

From attracting a crowd to seeking the lost
From cultural aversion to cultural immersion
From programming to empowering passion
From competition to collaboration
From institutional preservation to sacrificial servanthood
From friendliness to community
From clergy-driven to people of God
From committees to teams
From slot-filling to gifts releasing
From low tech to high-tech high touch

Each one of these contrasts is loaded with potential to alter the basic DNA of a local church. The challenge clearly is that for most of us, our traditions carry a weight that is so heavy that making the shift from a program-based approach to church to a missional mindset will require lengthy and judicious promotion and education by church leaders to bring about the reality.

One final thought from the conference--

Very few churches will thrive in the 21st century. We are …
Too nice to sweat
Too proud to cry
Too sophisticated to laugh
Too busy to celebrate

Insights from a conference on the Missional Church

Back in the spring I was privileged to spend a day attending a seminar on the missional church. I was reviewing some of my notes this week from that conference and ran across a few things that I found to be particularly insightful. I toss out these tidbits of information for your reflection.

Challenging us not to be so dogmatic in our approach to ministry, the leader shared a quote from Anne Lamott’s book, Plan B. She writes that, “The opposite of faith is not doubt but certainty! Faith notices the mess and discomfort. … Certainty misses the point entirely!” He then went on to share an interesting prayer: “Lord, help me to remember that all the truth I know is not all the truth.” I couldn’t help but think about some of the comments I read on blogs by those who are absolutely certain that they possess the only possible correct biblical interpretation on some thorny issues that other believers who are equally committed to the truth and authority of the Scriptures see in a quite different light.

Another very sobering statement that the conference leader made was this: “The church is becoming what the church staff is.” Like it or not, I think his affirmation is largely correct. A church will almost invariably take on the personality and priorities of its leadership. If we wish to criticize the church we serve for its many weaknesses and shortcomings, a good place to begin that critique is by looking in the mirror and asking how many of those debilities are a by-product of our own leadership.

In terms of outreach and attracting new visitors, the leader said this: “People go where they’ve been prepared for and are cared for.” Clearly we need to communicate to guests and visitors that we’ve taken into account their needs by doing the advance preparation necessary to make their visit as non-threatening and comfortable as possible. We also must leave no doubt that we love them and will do everything within our power to care for and meet their needs.

I’ve got some more ideas to share about the missional journey—moving from program-based to a missional mindset, but I’m saving those for a future post.

Senior Adult Ministry

One of the joys and challenges of working with senior adults as I do at our church is helping them deal with the struggles of poor health and many times, the need to consider long-term care in a skilled nursing environment. I visited with a good friend yesterday who is approaching 99 at a local care center. His wife is 94. Unfortunately, he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and can no longer live in their apartment. While he does have times when his thought patterns are confused, there are days like yesterday when his thoughts are as lucid as yours or mine (well, maybe they’re more lucid than mine at times). He has been the primary caregiver for his wife for many years as she has struggled with poor health. Now, he can no longer fulfill that role and it is a terribly painful situation for each of them. She is able to visit him occasionally at the care center, but her own health prevents her from doing so frequently. Thankfully, they are at least able to talk on the phone almost every day.

After seeing him yesterday I went by to visit with her in the couple’s apartment. We had a good visit together—sharing some tears, hugs, words of comfort, and of course, prayer. Visits like these are part of what I do each week as a minister to senior adults at our church. It can be very emotionally demanding at times, but also extremely fulfilling as prayerfully those encounters bring a touch of God’s grace and encouragement into the lives of some who have little contact anymore with the outside world as their health has restricted their mobility. I’m grateful for the opportunity of ministering to some of God’s choice saints in their golden years.

Back Home, A/C Woes

My blogging has been non-existent for the past 2 weeks. Let me briefly explain my absence from the blogosphere. The week before last we headed to Waynesboro, MS to celebrate our second son’s wedding. Joel married April Smith, who also grew up as an MK in Argentina, so they share a great deal of common experiences. The Smith family lived about an hour and a half north of us in the city of San Juan during our first term of service in Mendoza. They moved to the southern part of the country in Neuquen about the same time that we relocated to Buenos Aires. Eventually, their family also transferred in to Buenos Aires for a while before they moved on to Peru. The Smiths are a wonderful family and we couldn’t have wished for a sweeter girl than April as a daughter-in-law. We were blessed by some great southern hospitality as members of the FBC of Waynesboro where April’s dad (Steve) pastors made a beautiful home out in the country available to us to stay in for the week. One of the deacons of the church loaned us his canoes for an enjoyable float trip on Tuesday, followed by a fabulous meal at his home that evening. The ceremony was on Wednesday evening out at the home where we were staying and Steve and I each shared a few words before Joel and April exchanged their vows. It was a simple ceremony, attended by family members only.

We left Mississippi late Thursday afternoon after helping Steve’s wife, Vidonia, set up the preschool area for an open house at church that afternoon. We drove to Marshall, TX where we spent the night and then drove on to Granbury, TX on Friday where we spent the rest of the day and Saturday with my Mom. We had an enjoyable visit together and also got to see my brother.

We drove back to Lee’s Summit on Sunday and then had to tackle for the rest of the week the task of replacing our air conditioning unit that gave up the ghost while we were gone. It was the hottest week of the summer here in Missouri, and the inside temperatures reached 95. Luckily we survived by using the attic fan to extract the hot air during the evening. We did get a refreshing thunderstorm about 1:30 a.m. on Thursday morning that dropped the temperatures considerably. We finally made a decision about who to go with for a replacement system and got that installed on Friday. We’re relishing the cool temperatures inside today (Saturday) after having endured the high heat and humidity of this past week. I have to confess that having A/C again is a tremendous relief.

I’m going to try and get back in the swing of posting a bit more regularly now that we’re home and the A/C crisis has been resolved. The start of school is just around the corner and there are several exciting things that are being planned in the life of our church this fall. I look forward to sharing some of these on this blog.

Guatemala Follow-up

I had promised to write a follow-up report about the trip to Guatemala, so here’s another brief word about the experience. One of the things I was very encouraged about this time, beyond the 7 new churches that were represented, was the fact that several of the pastors and leaders had obviously been working on some of the things that Jim Hill and I shared with them at our initial meeting back in January. Jim has a great deal of expertise in leading people through strategic planning and had shared some steps with the pastors to help them do that with their congregations. One younger pastor came up to me and shared with me a printout of a 5 or 6 page document that he had been working on to apply the insights he had gained from Jim’s conference in January. Others also made comments that reflected they had been working through the concepts of what we shared last time. That kind of response really encourages me to know that the pastors and leaders are seeking to implement the teachings we’re sharing with them.

Another thing that strongly impresses me after 4 trips to Guatemala in the last 2 years is the gracious nature of Guatemalan Christians. I haven’t had extensive contact with the general population as such, so I’d be a bit premature to comment on whether that is also true of the people as a whole, but the believers with whom I’ve associated during these trips have all be extremely caring and loving people. I guess that shouldn’t surprise me as it has also been my experience in Argentina, Mexico, and other places where I’ve either lived for an extended period or been privileged to serve and minister. The Guatemalan Baptists in particular are doing some great things as a convention and have a real passion for living and sharing the gospel. If you’re looking for a place to become involved in some international missions work that isn’t half a world away, Guatemala is a great choice.

Ministry is .....

Ministry is...

Giving when you feel like keeping
Praying for others when you need prayer
Feeding others when your soul is hungry
Hurting with others when your own hurt can't be spoken
Keeping your word when it is not convenient
Being faithful when your soul wants to run away

I suspect that each of us have found ourselves from time to time wishing to be on the receiving end of ministry instead of on the giving side. Our natural human tendency is to focus on those things that we desire and which we believe will bring joy and satisfaction to our lives. While that is our natural inclination, it is rarely the most Christ-like approach to living. Each of the contrasts spelled out in the description of ministry above depicts something God calls us to do despite what our own selfish hearts are whispering is most convenient for us.

Paul reminds us of Jesus’ words that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). Our Lord was the supreme example of unselfishness as He emptied Himself of His divine privileges and status to become a man. He taught His disciples that the one who would be greatest in the Kingdom of God must be the servant of all, and He offered Himself as the best illustration of that principle, telling us that “even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45). May His example inspire and encourage us to faithfully minister to those He brings into our lives who need to know His touch through our hands, and to hear His voice through our mouths.

Fellow Traveler's Post

I haven't had a chance to sit down yet and write a follow-up post about our trip to Guatemala this past week, but until I do, I thought you might enjoy the reflections of one of the guys who was a part of our team. By far the youngest of the 6 of us, JR is a youth minister in Columbia, MO. He has posted some of his thoughts and impressions about the trip on his Xanga site.

I think you'll enjoy reading his insights.

Safely Home

We arrived back in Missouri today, all feeling a bit exhausted from a whirlwind 5-day trip to Guatemala, but very grateful to God for the experience of serving Him there. I think I’ll probably write a couple of posts about our trip, but right now it feels like my body is running out of gas. We got up around 5:00 this morning and had a long day of travel with some delays in DFW due to weather and having to await the plane that would fly us up to Kansas City. Let me just say that the week was a tremendous blessing for each of us who went and those pastors and leaders who participated were very gracious in expressing their appreciation for the efforts of our team. There were 62 pastors and leaders present from a total of 25 churches scattered across 4 departments (we’d call them states) in western Guatemala. That figure represents an increase of 7 new churches that participated this time beyond those who were present for the initial training event back in January of this year. Each of the conference leaders was well prepared and did a very good job of relating his presentation to the needs that had been expressed to us previously. Thanks for all of those who prayed for us, and I appreciate Brian Kaylor’s mention of our trip and request for prayer on his blog.

Arrived safely in Guatemala

We had a great flight down today from Missouri and arrived here safely this evening. Several of us decided to check email and contact home using the computers here in the seminary´s library. The BGCM helped purchase both the computers and provided the internet service for two years for the seminary here in Guatemala City. The two guys who are a part of our team of 6 that I hadn´t previously met are both really nice. One is a youth minister at a church in Columbia, MO and the other is a layman from Imperial, MO. It looks like we´re going to have a great time together.

We leave at 7:00 in the morning for the 5 hour or so drive out to Quetzaltenango. We´d appreciate your prayers as we travel the winding, mountainous roads and kick off the training session after lunch tomorrow. I´m hoping the hotel there will have internet access. When we were last down in January, they were supposed to be getting it soon. We´ll see.

Blogger is interesting in Spanish. This is the first time I´ve seen the home page and log-in stuff written in Spanish.

A Joke to Pass Along

I heard this from a friend at church who shared it at our recent Adult VBS and wanted to pass it along. It's really funny.

A Montana rancher was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a cloud of dust towards him.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the rancher, “If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?”

The rancher looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, “Sure, why not?”

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connect it to his Cingular Razr V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany.

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS SQL database through an ODBC-connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150 page report on his hi-tech miniaturized HP Laserjet printer and finally turns to the rancher and says, “You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.”

That’s right. Well I guess you can take one of my calves,” says the rancher.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then the rancher says to the young man, “Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?” The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, “Okay, why not?”

You’re a congressman for the U.S. Government,” says the rancher.

“Wow! That’s correct,” says the yuppie, “but how did you guess that?”

“No guessing required,” answered the rancher. “You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show how much smarter than me you are; and you don’t know a thing about cows…. This is a herd of sheep…. Now give me back my dog.”

Great Article about the New Baptist Covenant

David Emmanuel Goatley, Executive-Secretary Treasurer of the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention, has written an outstanding article expressing his enthusiastic anticipation of next year's New Baptist Covenant gathering in Atlanta. The article can be found here at the Baptist Studies Bulletin for July, which is a monthly publication of The Center for Baptist Studies at Mercer University. If you don't receive this already by email, it's normally well worth the read.

Guatemala Bound Again

This coming week I'll be making my fourth trip to Guatemala in the past two years. The main purpose of the trip will be to conduct the second of a total of 6 projected training sessions with pastors and leaders living in 4 western states near the border with Mexico. We'll be meeting as we did this past January at a hotel on the outskirts of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala's second largest city. There are a total of 6 of us going on this trip--3 pastors, 2 laymen, and myself. We'll be leading in a series of seminars on themes that this same group identified back in January as areas in which they see the need for additional training. Some of the topics we'll be focusing on include the pastor and his devotional life; stewardship of time, talents, and resources; youth ministry; and the pastor dealing with conflict in the family, the church, and the community. Unlike last time when just two of us went and I shared the teaching load and handled translation duties for our convention's executive director, this time the other guys will be doing all of the teaching and my role will be that of translating their presentations. I've translated the outlines of those already so they could be included in a notebook that each seminar participant will be receiving.

I'm also excited that a layman from our church is going because a further purpose of this trip is to explore the possibilities of some church-to-church partnerships among the BGCM churches and their counterparts in Guatemala. I'm glad that Paul is going with me for that reason to sit down with some of the pastors and explore together some ministries where our church might be able to offer some assistance. We'll be gone from July 16-20 and so my blogging might be slim or even non-existent next week. I appreciate the prayers of any who happen to stumble upon this post and would be willing to pray for our group's efforts.

Good News in the Midst of Tragedy

I thought I’d pass along a great story that appeared in our association’s monthly newsletter. You can click on the link to see the PDF of the newsletter, but I’m also including the complete story below.

Gary Jones, pastor of the U-Church in Kansas City (www.theuchurch.org), recently preached the funeral for 3-year old Robert Lee Jackson, who was shot and killed by a stray bullet while playing near his home. He met the mother and grandmother of the child two days after the shooting, and reached out to the family by volunteering his services and his church for the child’s funeral.

Rev. Jones explained, “I went to get a hair cut at a different barbershop; my barber was out of town. While waiting and speaking to a friend, a young woman came in to get her hair done. About two minutes later she got up and said, ‘I can’t do this,’ and the hair stylist asked her why. She said, ‘I just lost my son three days ago.’ I got up to go offer her prayer when she left out of the shop.”

“I asked where the funeral was going to be, to show support. She said at a funeral home, and that she didn’t know who was going to do the eulogy. I offered our church, and said I would do the eulogy if she wanted me too.”

“The family went into tears after I offered them the church for the funeral. They said it was an answer to prayers.”

As a result, Robert Lee’s mother, Santana Jackson, and his grandmother have become Christians and will be baptized at the church once they go through new members class.

A Wonderful Weekend in South Texas

The trip home for the football reunion was wonderful. It turned out to be much more than just a reunion of the football teams on which I played. As a matter of fact, hardly anyone took the time to watch the DVD’s of the games that were playing on 4 different televisions. We mostly sat around a got caught up on old times. It was really a class reunion of multiple classes. They had tables set up for folks to group around according to the decade in which they graduated. The oldest grad was from 1937. There were 14 out of my 1971 graduating class of 54 present, as well as several from the year ahead and the year following our class that I knew very well.

I had a number of very interesting extended conversations with folks. One was with a guy who was one year behind me in school. He was a standout actor in high school, performing the lead role in a play that won 1st place in state in the University Interscholastic League competition. He went on to major in theater at Texas Tech and later attended Dallas Theological Seminary. I knew that much about him from conversations with others. What I learned from him was that he stayed on at DTS and has been teaching there for 25 years in the area of ministry through the performing arts. He frequently accompanies Chuck Swindoll on trips, cruises, etc. and shares dramatic monologues in conjunction with Swindoll’s teachings. Kind of interesting for a guy from a South Texas town of 2,000 people. His wife helps manage the finances for a Christian missionary group, Central American Mission (CAM), which has extensive work in Guatemala. We talked about ministry there in light of my multiple trips there in recent years.

I also enjoyed visiting with my former college roommate from my freshman year at UT-Austin. We were the only 2 from our school to head to UT that year so opted to room together. We had known each other forever, both attending FBC in George West. He stayed on in Austin after getting his civil engineering degree and worked for the city up until recently when he took early retirement. He still works a couple of days a week for them on a contract basis. One other guy is doing well as a vet, a couple are CPAs, but the large majority of the guys I spoke with are involved in some way in the oil and gas industry. That’s still pretty big business in South Texas.

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to visit with my former high school English teacher who was also our youth Sunday School teacher when I was growing up. She asked if I’d be willing to preach if she could clear it with the pastor and to make a long story short, I ended up preaching on Sunday morning in the church I attended from first grade through high school graduation. That brought back lots of wonderful memories. Several of the people I knew then are still around and it was delightful to see them and visit after the service.

I also thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend some quality time with my mom on the trip down and back. Her younger sister still lives in George West so she went with me and it was really good to have some extended time to talk. All in all, it was an outstanding time of strolling down memory lane for a bit and getting caught up with folks whom I hadn’t seen in 30+ years.

Going Home

The old adage is that you can never go home again. There is of course a very real sense in which that is true. Especially if you’ve been away from that place you identify as “home” for quite some time, in all likelihood both you and the location will have changed so much that nothing will be exactly as it was, as you remember it. Fully aware of those facts, I’m still excitedly looking forward to a trip to what was home for me during my formative years.

I grew up in the small south Texas town of George West, about 90 miles south of San Antonio and some 60 miles from Corpus Christi. Though we had moved around several times before I turned six, we stayed in George West and I attended school there all the way from first grade through graduation from high school. It was one of those small towns (population about 2000) where you know everyone. My folks moved from there shortly after I finished high school to be closer to their work in Alice, 40 miles further south in Highway 281. They had commuted back and forth all those years because they liked the atmosphere of George West and the great school system this small town offered.

Other than attending one high school reunion (the only one I was aware of for my class was a five-year reunion back in 1976) and going back for a funeral, I’ve not really spent any time in George West since graduating from there in 1971. I was pleasantly surprised about a month ago when I got a phone call out of the blue from one of my former football teammates who informed me that someone had taken the initiative to gather all the old films from our games and compile them on DVDs—a separate one for each season that we played. He also told me that those who played in those years were going to gather on June 30th out at the fair grounds coliseum to watch highlights of those games and to eat and spend some time together.

I wasn’t sure initially that I could clear my calendar to make the trip, but decided that it was too important of an opportunity to pass up to renew acquaintances with the guys that I shared a lot of hours with on the practice field and on Friday nights. Yes, Friday Night Lights is a Texas reality. The whole town turned out for our games. We compiled a pretty good record the two years I played on the varsity. We went 18-2-1, including shutting out 8 teams my junior year. Our one loss that year, 36-22, cost us the district title. We had given up just one touchdown all year prior to that game and it was on a punt return. We won the district championship my senior year, only to be annihilated in the bi-district game against the eventual state champ in Division 2A.

I’m excited about seeing these long-lost friends and catching up on old times a bit. My high school class voted me as Most Likely to Succeed. I’m certain that by the world’s standards and in comparison with what some of them have achieved in terms of financial wealth, I won’t appear very successful. Still, I’m looking forward to sharing my story, relating how the Lord has led in the life of my family during these years. I trust that I’ll have opportunities to share a word about God’s faithfulness along the way and just maybe to help point some to the Savior.

First Night of Adult VBS Report

We got off to a great start with our Adult VBS this evening. I’d estimate the crowd at between 90 and 100. We had two of our adults who had gone to Bay St. Louis, MS back in April share about their experiences in helping to rebuild homes for those affected by Katrina. Then we enjoyed some great homemade cakes and pies. We have some great cooks and everything looked really tasty. The study in 2nd Timothy was well received tonight. We looked at some of the background issues regarding authorship, Paul’s purpose in writing the letter, etc., before moving on to a verse-by-verse exposition of the first chapter. The last couple of years I’ve deliberately chosen a short book (4 chapters) so as to be able to cover one chapter per evening.

I’d been praying about the personal application of this first chapter to our lives and was impressed to focus on the proper names Paul mentions in this chapter and encouraged our folks to consider who might be a modern-day equivalent in their life today. For example, who is the Timothy that we are mentoring or discipling? Who is our Lois or Eunice—a family member who helped nurture us in the faith? Is there a Phygelus or Hermogenes in our past who has betrayed or deserted us in a time of great need? What is our attitude toward them? Finally, is there an Onesiphorus in our life who has blessed us and ministered to our needs, or on a more personal note, are we being an Onesiphorus in the life of another?

Tomorrow night we'll hear reports from several of our adults who've been participating in a wide variety of Summer of Service activities. Ice cream is on the menu, followed by chapter 2. It should be a great week.

Adult Vacation Bible School - Year 4

I’m really looking forward to this next week in the life of our church. This will be our 4th annual Adult Vacation Bible School and this year we’re focusing on Paul’s second letter to Timothy. I absolutely love to teach the Scriptures and the Lord has confirmed repeatedly that this is my main spiritual gift, so rather than being a burden or something that is exhausting, I find myself re-energized by a week like this. We’ll meet each evening from about 6:30 until 8:00 p.m. and in the past have had a wonderful attendance for a mid-summer activity—usually around 100-120 people. In past years I’ve enlisted special speakers for the first part of the evening to address some timely issues or provide musical entertainment. We follow that up with some delicious desserts that our own people bake and bring, and then wrap up the evening with a teaching time of 45 minutes or so.

The early part of the evening will be a bit different this year as our church is engaged in what we’ve promoted as a Summer of Service. The idea is to get folks out into the community and engage in some hands-on ministries. I’ve lined up several to share testimonies about their experiences in that regard, as well as our handbell choir that is presenting some concerts in area churches. In some ways it’s a spin-off of the January Bible study emphasis that so many Baptist churches used to observe, but our people seem to respond better to this format. I’ll try to follow up with a report on how things go toward the end of the week.

Is the SBC exporting its controversies overseas?

I would like to direct your attention to an insightful editorial by Jim White of Virginia’s Religious Herald. In it he reacts to Bobby Welch’s new job assignment by the Southern Baptist Convention as “strategist for global evangelical relations.” White raises the question as to whether or not Welch’s task, all disclaimers notwithstanding, will be to convince Baptists around the world to withdraw from the BWA in order to affiliate with this new conservative group. The questions White raises are extremely valid. Do Baptists around the world need for the SBC to export its own political infighting into their local settings? Jesus’ prayer for unity in John 17 and His words that all men would know that we are His disciples by our love would be appear to be undermined by Welch’s mission. Just because the SBC couldn’t dissuade the BWA from accepting CBF into its ranks doesn’t give the U. S. convention the right or moral authority to project upon Baptist bodies overseas its own internal struggles. Jim White's editorial is definitely worth the read!

Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant

Part of my excitement regarding next year’s Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant in Atlanta stems from the line-up of speakers who have agreed to participate in this gathering. I’m particularly excited that Tony Campolo will be addressing the meeting, as I have a deep respect for his ministry “to the least of these.” I was privileged to hear Dr. Campolo during the course of an entire week many years ago when he was invited as the guest lecturer at the annual conferences of the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Buenos Aires where I served on the faculty. It was a tremendous week of hearing Dr. Campolo share stories in his own unique style, each one with a powerful message about our need as Christians to address the pressing issues that the church has far too often neglected. My wife and I were honored to host Dr. Campolo for breakfast in our home one morning, and found him to be a gracious Christian gentleman. I’ve often heard that good preaching ought to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Dr. Campolo has a gift of doing the latter, and his message deserves a broad hearing. I trust that many will make plans to be a part of the Celebration of the New Baptist Covenant next year and hear Tony Campolo and many other outstanding speakers.

Reflections on SBC Annual Meeting #2

I was sitting here this evening following the conclusion of the SBC's meeting in San Antonio and decided to go back and listen to Morris Chapman's address. I'll have to confess I haven't gotten to the point yet where he speaks to the issues of narrowing parameters as has been reported that he does. I would welcome that emphasis, but my attention was drawn to his remarks about the BWA and the fact that the SBC is not an isolationist body. That was greeted with a round of applause. He went on to argue that an illustration of this was the EC's naming Bobby Welch as a global ambassador to seek to establish relationships with like-minded conservative evangelicals in other countries. I heard the reference that my friend Brian Kaylor has alluded to on his blog about Welch's plans to evangelize Antarctica (Chapman says he will visit all 7 continents) and got a good chuckle out of that. What wasn't so funny to me was the implication once again that some 200 Baptist conventions and unions comprising a membership of more than 36 million baptized believers and a community of over 110 million Baptists worldwide aren't conservative evangelicals and thus not candidates for partnering together in missions. Oh yeah, I forgot, they're part of the liberal, America-hating BWA.

For all the efforts of the young conservatives (and I do consider them such) who are opposed to the efforts of the Old Guard Fundamentalists who continue narrowing the parameters for cooperation within the SBC, and though I strongly support the efforts of the former group, I fear that they don't grasp the determination of the fundamentalists to retain control at all costs. The language of holy war that was utilized during the Conservative Resurgence to marshal the troops can still be trotted out as Paige Patterson did to accuse the dissidents of being liberals. That language still appeals to many.

I'm not sure what to make of the low numbers of messengers and the even smaller number of them who actually cast a vote in the "big issues" that were of concern to so many in the blogosphere--the election for 1st VP of the SBC, and the resolution of the EC regarding the BF&M 2000. Only 8500 messengers in the state of Texas, and fewer than 4000 of them who actually voted? Do we chalk it up to apathy, the disenchantment and disenfranchisement of younger Baptists with the political machinery of the SBC, or have many chosen to focus their attention on Kingdom issues rather than Convention politics?

I don't have a clear answer for the last series of questions, but as I've read the conflicting opinions and arguments of bloggers the last couple of days on the significance of the votes cast and the wording of the EC resolution on the BF&M, I couldn't help but think about Paul's words to Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:14 where he urges him to instruct those he is discipling not to wrangle about words. In 2:16 he goes on to instruct him to avoid worldy and empty chatter, and in 2:23 to refuse foolish and ignorant speculations that produce quarrels, because the Lord's bond-servant is not to be quarrelsome (2:24). I suppose some could accuse me of being hypocritical in pointing out these passages in a post that some might consider to be argumentative.

I probably will not completely avoid SBC politics in future posts, as I continue to have a certain fascination with where the denomination of my youth is heading, but as I suspect some fellow bloggers will be doing after the SBC, I think I'll focus more on the things our church and the BGCM are doing in the area of missions and outreach. I'll also post occasionally on the New Baptist Covenant which I'm very excited about.

Reflections on the SBC annual meeting

In light of the current meeting of the SBC in San Antonio this week, I found Joel Gregory’s reflections about his sermon there 19 years ago very insightful. His message, entitled "The Castle and the Wall," sought to find a middle ground between 2 extremes. Most telling in his reflections are his statements about seeking a middle that was not there, and the deep regrets for not having stood with those whom he now considers heroes who denounced the threats of the fundamentalists. It is well worth reading, as are all of the articles today in Ethics Daily that deal with the SBC.

Pathway Reports on Save our Convention Meeting

I have to confess that I was shocked that MBC's Pathway gave an extensive report on the recent Save our Convention meeting that was held at the FBC Harvester in St. Charles. I reported in a previous post that it appeared that Roger Moran's political coalition appears to be unraveling in Missouri. The fact that some major conservative churches have entertained the thought of either withdrawing from the MBC or bypassing it with their giving and designating CP gifts instead to local associations and the SBC underscores the serious divisions that exist within the MBC. The Pathway article can be read here.

The most shocking quote in the article was the one from Jim Breeden, DOM for the St. Louis Metro Baptist Association that referred to the Pathway's own complicity in the mess that is Missouri Baptist Convention politics. Concerning The Pathway, Breeden said the official newsjournal of the MBC has been no friend of inclusiveness and tolerance.

“There is a loss of trust in The Pathway newspaper,” he said. “A large number of Missouri Baptists believe The Pathway has fueled the current conflict by focusing on controversy, reporting events in a very biased manner and writing with inflammatory tone. The vast majority across the state believe The Pathway should work with, and not against, MBC staff. It is a sad day when Missouri Baptists trust secular papers and the Word & Way more than the official state paper.” Reporters for both The Pathway and Word & Way covered the meeting.

Missouri Baptist Politics

It would seem that even some very prominent, conservative Missouri Baptists have had their fill of Roger Moran's political tactics. At least that appears to be the gist of this article in Associated Baptist Press. I would hope that this signals a new day for Missouri Baptists and that they will recognize that not all of the fruit of the Conservative Resurgence and particularly of its Missouri expression in Project 1000 has been Christ-honoring or Kingdom-advancing. Word & Way also has a more extensive article about this gathering.

Time to Slow Down

On May 21, 1901, Connecticut became the first U.S. state to enact a speed limit for motor vehicles. The speed limit for rural highways was set at 12 mph, while the maximum speed within city limits was fixed at 8 mph. Modern vehicles would exceed that velocity by merely shifting the gear selector from park to drive and taking one’s foot off the brake. The field has been set for the annual Memorial Day Indianapolis 500 race this coming weekend and the fastest qualifiers averaged almost 223 mph in their time trials. When life comes rushing at us with an apparently never-ending accelerating velocity, it’s important to carve out some time and space for quiet reflection on our relationship with God. While the hectic pace of modern living presses us to hurry up and do something productive with our lives, the words of the psalmist merit our attention and obedience as he quotes these words from our Heavenly Father, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). It’s not easy to find a place of quiet stillness to focus our thoughts on the Lord, but the rewards for doing so are beyond measure. Meditating on God’s attributes and His love for us will enable us to cope effectively with this world’s frenzied pace. Make it a priority each day to spend time in God’s presence and you’ll discover resources to handle whatever challenges life throws your way.

SBC Bloggers & the New Baptist Covenant

I was thrilled to read Ben Cole's account of his meeting with President Carter and Bill Underwood regarding the plans for next year's Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant. The BGCM is also actively participating in planning for this event as part of its involvement in the North American Baptist Fellowship. This event will bring together a broad spectrum of Baptists in North America to focus on the issues which Jesus highlighted as the focus of His earthly ministry when He read from Isaiah's scroll in the synagogue at Nazareth. I trust that it will be a dramatic step toward unity among some very diverse groups of Baptists. The visit of these very prominent Southern Baptist bloggers with President Carter and Bill Underwood of Mercer is a significant and encouraging step. May their tribe increase!

A Mystery Revealed

Perhaps you've always wondered how it is that the arrow pointer of your computer mouse responds to your hand's movements and accurately tracks them. Thanks to this link, the mystery has finally been resolved. It will take a little bit to load, even with a high-speed connection, but it's worth the wait. Position your mouse over the gray circle and discover the key to your pointer's movements.

Video streaming of BGCM Convention

I shared in my last post that the recent 5th Annual BGCM Convention was outstanding. I thought that some might be interested in some of the messages that were shared at the convention. They are now available on the BGCM website at the following link. I would especially encourage those who have the time and the interest to listen to Molly Marshall's Bible study, and Keith Parks' and Daniel Carro's messages. Those are all found in the Friday evening session link. To save you from having to listen through various reports and music (unless you want to of course), here are the start times for their respect messages in the order listed above--
26:15, 1:11:30, and 2:07:10. You can simply position the slider button on the bottom of the screen if you're using Windows Media Player to those times and listen to their messages.

Convention Update

The recent 5th annual meeting of the BGCM was a wonderful event. The speakers were all outstanding and each did a superb job of relating to the overall theme of this year’s meeting--On Mission: For the Least of These. It was a blessing to get to hear Dr. Keith Parks again and to visit with him for a few minutes following his message. He continues to be one of the finest thinkers of our day in the area of missions. Dr. Molly Marshall shared two very powerful Bible studies with the group. She provoked a lot of laughter when following her introduction as they only female president of a Baptist seminary, she gently corrected her presenter and pointed out that there is a female president of a Baptist seminary in Singapore. She then jokingly remarked, “The world can only stand one per hemisphere.”

I particularly enjoyed hearing from and later visiting with Dr. Daniel Carro from John Leland University. Daniel also is ambassador for the Hispanic work of the Baptist General Association of Virginia. We used to have adjoining offices at the seminary in Buenos Aires and it was a delightful experience to get caught up a bit on each other’s lives. I hadn’t seen him for almost 7 years I guess.

Finally, Carlos Cerna, the executive secretary of the Guatemala Baptist Convention, did an outstanding job during the missions banquet of sharing about the partnership between our conventions. He outlined what had been accomplished to date and encouraged those present to become involved in church-to-church partnerships with the western region where we are focusing our efforts. I was thrilled to have at least 4 additional pastors and staff members to commit to join me for the next training event in Guatemala that will take place July 16-20. I’m still hoping that 3 or 4 more will sign up to participate.

Guatemalan Visitor

The annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Missouri takes place this Friday and Saturday at the First Baptist Church of Jefferson City. Information about the annual gathering is available on the BGCM's website. I'm really looking forward to the event for many reasons. It's a great opportunity for the BGCM to tell its story and focus on the exciting ministries in which it is engaged. We have an outstanding line-up of speakers who will be addressing the convention in its worship and Bible study times. I eagerly anticipate hearing Dr. Parks again as well as Dr. Daniel Carro, a former colleague at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I'll be hosting in these days a visitor from Guatemala as well--the Guatemala Baptist Convention executive secretary, Carlos Cerna. I warned Carlos in an email this morning to bring some warm clothes. Guatemala is called the country of eternal spring and temperatures are usually mild to warm year-round. I checked the forecast for Saturday in Jeff City and snow is predicted. I'm guessing if that happens it will be the first time Carlos has ever seen snow.

If you are looking for some good news out of Missouri in these days of negative news about Missouri Baptists, the 5th annual meeting of the BGCM promises to offer a lot. I hope to see you there.

Purpose as it Relates to Aging

One of my major responsibilities as associate pastor of our church is senior adult ministry. I absolutely love our senior adults and we have a lot of them. I ran across an anonymous quote not long ago that I included in my column in our church's newsletter this week. Here is the column and the quote:

There can be no doubt that one of the questions that men and women ask with the greatest frequency is that of ultimate purpose. “What am I here for?” is the cry of many people who are seeking to discover some sense of meaning for their existence. It’s no wonder then that more than 25 million copies of Rick Warren’s Purpose-Driven Life had been sold by 2005. I ran across this piece sometime back that addresses the issue of living with a purpose as it relates to the question of aging. The anonymous author writes:

Nobody grows old by living a number of years.
People grow old from lack of purpose.
Years wrinkle the skin.
Lack of purpose wrinkles the soul.

The best antidote for a “wrinkled soul” consists of welcoming each new day of life that God grants us as an opportunity to serve Him and to serve others in His name. Loving God and loving others is a purpose that will consume a lifetime.

Grace Displayed

Our staff at church received a neat blessing today as we were invited to eat a Filipino lunch prepared by an IMB missionary who has been living in one of our mission residences this past year. She has sensed God’s leadership to leave the Philippines and move to Richmond, VA where she will play a major role in helping MKs prepare for cross-cultural living as they and their parents attend the IMB’s 8-week training course at the International Learning Center. We had a wonderful time visiting with this missionary who grew up in the Kansas City area. She has been pursuing a master’s degree during her stateside assignment, so she wasn’t always able to attend services as often as she would have liked, but in my brief conversations with her I’ve sensed a real sensitivity to the Lord’s leadership in her life. She invited all of the ministers and secretarial staff over for lunch as a way of saying “thank you” for our church providing a mission residence for her needs this past year. The food was delicious and the fellowship was even richer. Our prayers go with her as she relocates and begins her new assignment on May 1st.

Responding to Needs in Nairobi

I hadn't actually intended to participate in a blogging fast, but it just turned out that I managed to go almost a month without posting anything. I did want to share an update on our church's involvement with the KidsHeart Africa project in the Korogocho slum of Nairobi. I had mentioned previously that our pastor and children's minister were traveling there to do an assessment of the needs and the possibilities of our church's involvement in helping to meet those. They had an outstanding experience and came back excited about some ways we could make a significant difference in the lives of the children through providing them with expanded, more permanent school facilities.

Word & Way ran an article about our churches involvement in their most recent issue, written by Janis Mansker, our children's minister. I'd encourage you to take a few minutes to look at it.

Pastor Euticals who heads up the school was won to Christ through the efforts of some FMB missionaries when he was a teenager. He felt called into the ministry and has chosen to continue ministering to the children of this slum area, many of whom are AIDS orphans. Our church has responded with overwhelming generosity to this project. We had been challenged to give at least $10,000 by the end of the summer to receive a matching gift in that amount from an anonymous donor in our congregation. On the first Sunday of the offering for the project, we received more than $33,000 with pledges over a 3 year period of more than $165,000. God has blessed our congregation with folks who respond generously to needs as they are shared.

We're also gearing up for a Summer of Service where we are planning to engage in all kinds of different service projects in the greater Kansas City area. We've been busily compiling and fine tuning a list of 208 ideas that were generated in a church-wide listening session we held on a Sunday evening about 3 weeks ago. It's exciting to see the enthusiasm that is growing among our members as we step out of our comfort zone a bit and seek to meet the needs of others around us.

Hinkle's Defense of Moran

I submitted the gist of the following post as a comment on Marty Duren's SBC Outpost blog and it might appear later, as he has enabled comment moderation at this time. I was checking out the latest issue of The Pathway online (I wouldn't pay for the print issue) and found a couple of very interesting articles.

The Pathway (Missouri Baptist Convention state paper) has weighed in on Roger Moran’s comments at the Executive Committee regarding the Emerging Church. Don Hinkle’s editorial is an impassioned defense of Moran and includes the statement that Hinkle has examined Moran’s research and finds it compelling.

Staff writer Allen Palmeri also comes to the defense of Moran’s position and approvingly reproduces the full text of Moran’s comments.

Hinkle in particular berates the bloggers who have dared to criticize his buddy Moran in such an unchristian manner. I almost gagged when I read the following quote by him: “It is the most shocking public display of personal attacks that I have ever witnessed in SBC life (though I have read how some leaders in the conservative resurgence have been subjected to similar treatment by moderates since 1979).” Hinkle has consistently attacked moderates in Missouri from the time he assumed his role as editor of the Pathway and has done so with what can only be described as yellow journalism. It is not surprising therefore that he totally ignores Moran's history of attacking all moderates with his guilt-by-association tactics. The fact of the matter is that both of these guys appear to feed off of and encourage one another in these kind of attacks. Thus Hinkle finds Moran's "research" compelling. If you haven't read the comments on Marty Duren's blog regarding Moran's presentation, it would be well worth you time.

Youth Mission Trip fundraiser

I had the privilege this past Friday and Saturday evening of being the emcee for our church's annual dinner theater that raises money for our youth group's summer mission trip. The group that puts it on is a talented collection of young adults called Sonlight. The last couple of years they've done a program around the theme of Uncle Phil's diner with a 1950s setting and lots of humor and songs from that era. This year they took a different approach and did a Tribute to the Oscars. They sang many of the songs that won Academy Awards for best song, as well as acting out scenes from three different movies--The Wizard of Oz, Steel Magnolias, and A Few Good Men (with the language cleaned up of course). We had a great crowd in our fellowship hall each night (about 260 each evening) with a delicious meal prepared by a young fellow in our church who is a chef and a young mother who bakes and caters for a living. The show also included door prizes donated by area businesses, and a contest to correctly identify the character, actor/actress, movie name, and year of some famous movie scenes as re-enacted and videoed by the Sonlight players. It was a thoroughly entertaining evening, and the best part of all was that $7800 was raised to help cover the cost of the youth group's summer mission trip. If your church has some creative and talented folks who like to sing and act, perhaps a similar event might be a good means for you to raise money for missions as well.

Kenya Report

Scott and Janis were due to have arrived back in last night from their trip to Nairobi to explore opportunities for our church to partner with a school that is functioning in one of the worst slum areas of the city, right next to the city dump. They were expecting to spend the better part of the day today trying to get over jet lag, having left Nairobi on Sunday evening about 11:20 p.m. their time. We did receive 3 encouraging emails from them while they were gone. The first described their safe arrival and plans to attend a home for babies with AIDS on Friday morning. Dinner plans that evening were to meet up with an IMB couple serving in Nairobi. The wife of the couple has an aunt and uncle in our church. On Saturday they visited the school itself in the Korogocho area of Nairobi. Although school wasn't in session, the kids lined the streets to wave and scream their greetings. On Sunday morning, Scott preached in the church pastored by the man who oversees the school. A total of 7 people made decisions to trust Christ in the service. This Sunday, Scott will be sharing with the church family ways in which we can partner in this work as part of the KidsHeart Africa project. I'm including some photos of the children and of Scott and Janis with the kids at the school site.

Touching Lives in Nairobi

Our pastor and children's minister are leaving on Wednesday to explore first-hand the opportunities for our church to engage in a missions project in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. As most are well aware, the AIDS crisis has left millions of orphans in the continent of Africa. Nairobi is no exception. Dr. Harrison and Janis will be visiting in one of the worst slum areas (shantytowns) in the northeastern portion of Nairobi near the city dump. A pastor there runs a school that is meeting the needs of some 80 students each day--providing them a good meal as well as an education and sharing the love of Jesus with them. We made the connection to this ministry through two groups--CBF and Buckner Orphan Care International.

The pastor laid out just a general description of the trip and the needs in his message yesterday morning which focused on Jesus' giving of the new commandment to love one another. He made the excellent point that while the needs in Africa are absolutely overwhelming and many say that nothing can be done in the face of such pressing needs, we can at least do something. He and Janis will be meeting with the pastor of this school and exploring ways in which our church can assist this ministry among the "least of these."

In his absence this coming Sunday, I'll be preaching in the morning service on "More than Abundant Grace," using 1 Tim. 1:12-17 as a text, and springboarding into the message with an introduction based on the movie "Amazing Grace" to be released this coming weekend. The movie, in case you haven't seen the trailer, tells the story of the efforts of William Wilberforce to eradicate slavery in England, influenced by John Newton, a former slavetrader himself and author of the hymn "Amazing Grace."

Entertaining Video and Audio

Not to be outdone by some fellow bloggers with their links to entertaining videos and audios, I feel compelled to share a couple of fun links for your viewing and listening pleasure.

Missional Churches & Kingdom Priorities

I had the privilege while in Dallas last December to meet Milfred Minatrea during some quality sharing time between the leadership of the BGCT, BGAV, and the BGCM. Milfred has written an outstanding book on missional churches entitled, Shaped by God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches. I would like to share a couple of quotes from chapter nine of the book which deals with Placing Kingdom Concerns First.

p. 129 - "In their passion for the Kingdom of God, missional churches serve to ensure that every person has the opportunity to respond to the King's invitation, becoming part of the Kingdom. They see themselves as only one battalion of a great kingdom force deployed on earth. Other Christians are brothers and sisters serving the same master. Although their affiliation might be with different denominations, they find their primary identity as part of the Kingdom. They distinguish between essentials and nonessentials in doctrinal interpretation, value and cooperate with Christians from other traditions in Kingdom tasks, and join together in spiritual warfare against the enemy."

p. 138 - "Missional churches cooperate with other believers in pursuit of the interests of the Redeemer's Kingdom. They are not in competition with one another; rather, they stand united in opposition to the one who, through lies and schemes, seeks to divert others from the Kingdom. They value their beliefs, although they do not agree in every area of interpretation. They do not focus their passion on what separates them, but on that which unites them: the Kingdom of God. Missional churches are not building their kingdoms. Their primary allegiance is to His Kingdom."

I believe that Minatrea's description of missional churches as those whose primary commitment is to the Kingdom of God and not their own kingdoms is both refreshing and a necessary corrective to much of what takes place in typical denominational life. Denominational pride is surely one of the greatest obstacles to Kingdom expansion as it undermines Christian unity and baffles non-believers. Modern day zealots and Pharisees' overriding preoccupation with excluding those who don't cross their "t's" and dot their "i's" the same way regarding doctrines that aren't essential to salvation has most assuredly damaged the witness of the Body of Christ.

Minatrea's book is an excellent resource for churches wishing to move from a maintenance or survival mode to a pro-active, missional mindset. He cites numerous examples of churches that have effectively made that transition and gleans from their experiences some valuable principles and insights.

A New Baptist Covenant

Marv Knox of the Baptist Standard has written an outstanding editorial regarding the proposed Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant, scheduled for Jan. 30 - Feb. 1, 2008 in Atlanta. The meeting, contrary to the opinions voiced by numerous detractors, will not be a preamble to forming a new convention, nor will it be a political rally for Hillary Clinton, just because her husband is involved. The purpose of the gathering is to seek creative ways to address the pressing issues that Jesus declared would be the priorities in His public ministry as He read from the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue of Nazareth. Knox's observation that if you came upon a burning building, you wouldn't stop and require total agreement with every rescuer before attempting to save the lives of those inside, is certainly a timely word. With many Baptists insisting on checking out the pedigree of fellow Baptists (even on non-essential areas of doctrine and practice) before being willing to engage in cooperative endeavors, it's refreshing to see 4 National Baptist (African American) and several Anglo groups coming together in an effort to be the hands and feet of Christ on behalf of the least of these.

BGCM Annual Meeting Line-up

This has to be a record for me--two posts in one day. I'll confess that I am not the most prolific of writers when it comes to blogging, though I do read several in my spare time and enjoy commenting on them occasionally. On Wade Burleson's blog yesterday, there was considerable discussion about women in ministry and several commenters (though not all) observed some similarities in the dismissal of Sheri Klouda from SWBTS and the earlier dismissal of Molly Marshall from SBTS. To their credit, several writers urged bloggers to judge Marshall on the basis of her writings and firsthand knowledge of her rather than repeating second-hand rumors.

I'm pleased to pass along the information that Molly Marshall will be leading the Bible study times at the annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Missouri in Jefferson City on April 13-14. I'm certain that some will find that objectionable, even as a few expressed concern last year when the daughter of Billy Graham, Anne Graham Lotz, was our keynote speaker on Friday evening of our annual meeting. Personally, I'm grateful that the BGCM is willing to recognize that God has gifted men and women alike for ministry and look forward to hearing Dr. Marshall again.

Other program personalities this year include my former boss at the FMB, Dr. Keith Parks; Dr. Lance Watson, Senior Pastor at Saint Paul's Baptist Church in Richmond, VA; and Dr. Daniel Carro, a former teaching colleague at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Daniel is currently a professor at the John Leland Center for Theological Studies in Arlington, VA and is heavily involved in the work and ministry of the Baptist World Alliance.

Our program line-up reflects the same gender and racial diversity as last year's annual meeting when we had a woman, an African-American pastor, and a Latino among our featured speakers. For more information about this year's annual meeting, just click on the link above in the second paragraph. I'm excited about hearing each of these and being able to report as well on our partnership with the Guatemalan Baptist Convention.

Carside Funeral

I had a first in my pastoral ministry today--a carside funeral. Before you jump to conclusions and envision something on the order of the Crystal Cathedral with multiple cars sitting in a huge parking lot for a funeral service, let me clarify. I officiated the service for a sweet Christian lady who had been a member of our church for 66 years. She was born in Germany on Christmas Day, 1904. That's right, she was 102 years old! I had visited her regularly at one of the local care centers during the past 3 years and appreciated her sweet spirit. Communication was a challenge as she was almost deaf, but I discovered if I spoke loudly into her left ear at a distance of 2-3 inches, she could hear and understand me. She would frequently ask about old friends from church (some who had passed away but she still regularly inquired about them) and I would share some of the events in the life of our congregation. Before I would leave, she would always say, "Would you say a little prayer for me?" I would always conclude our time together in prayer for her.

She passed away this past Tuesday in the wee hours of the morning and the funeral home contacted me about conducting a simple graveside service for this morning. I knew the crowd would be small as Anna had outlived all of her family and peers except for a nephew. A total of 5 folks showed up besides the funeral director and myself. The problem was that the gravesite was about 40 yards or so from the road, and a good part of that was still covered by snow and ice from our recent winter storms. One elderly lady with a walker tried to make it a few steps and realized that it was going to be too difficult to travel that distance on uncertain footing. (On a parenthetical note, we've already had 3 church members fall and break various limbs on the ice in recent days, including our minister of education with an ankle broken in 3 places). With all of that in mind, Sean (the funeral director) and I opted to encourage this elderly woman to sit in her car along with her sister with the window down and we brought chairs from the gravesite area for the others to sit on during the service. It was quite cold in the wind still, so I abbreviated a little of what I had planned to say. Those present were appreciative of the consideration and expressed thanks for the service afterwards.

Has anyone else ever had an unusual experience at a funeral service that you would be willing to share?

Back from Guatemala

Jim Hill and I had an outstanding trip to Guatemala this past week, returning Sunday afternoon. We arrived in Guatemala City on Tuesday evening and spent the night at the seminary in a guest apartment. We left at 7:30 the next morning for about a 5 1/2 drive west to Quetzaltenango, the second largest city in the country. There we ate lunch at the hotel and then moved directly into our first teaching time with the 55 pastors and leaders who were present. We spent the first session dealing with some issues relating to ecclesiology and then shifted to the topic of helping a church achieve a vision for what God wants them to do in the future. That evening we had a worship service and I was privileged to preach on "The Centrality of the Word," using Acts 17 as a text. The next morning we had two more teaching sessions, dealing with mobilizing volunteers in the church and helping them find their place of service (borrowing some ideas from Warren's SHAPE for ministry) and then a final session on stewardship. The topics we addressed in the teaching times were those that the Guatemalan Baptist Convention leadership had asked us to focus on.

We wrapped up after lunch on Thursday with a time of sharing insights gained and also we were able to donate a set of books to each pastor and leader present. Those included a concordance, a book on hermeneutics, a 4-volume biblical commentary set, and a copy of Rick Warren's Purpose-Driven Life. Many commented that they didn't own any book other than a copy of the Bible, so they were thrilled to receive these resources to help them in their ministries. Those present were very gracious in their comments and expressions of thanks for our participation in the training event.

After a long drive back to Guatemala City on Thursday evening, we spent Friday doing some sightseeing in the old city of Antigua before meeting with the leadership of WorldconneX and the Guatemalan Convention to put the finishing touches on our meeting scheduled for Saturday. The Saturday gathering turned out to be a wonderful time of hearing reports from different convention ministries and then some very profitable time spent in small groups, discussing the priorities that they Convention itself had identified in an earlier visioning conference hosted by WorldconneX in the fall of 2004. Significant progress had been made toward addressing many of these priority concerns and some new ideas surfaced as well in the discussion to help the Convention continue to advance in those areas.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip and a great time of fellowshipping with and learning from our Guatemalan Baptist brothers and sisters.

Dramatic monologue

Just a quick post about tonight's prayer meeting and Bible study time. The Wednesday evening gatherings are one of my favorite times of the week as we gather to pray for the concerns of our congregation and needs they express far beyond the confines of our church. I also thoroughly enjoy leading in the Bible study time. Our focus has been mainly the exegetical study and life application of individual books such as 1 & 2 Peter, Hebrews, and selected Psalms. I also did a series for a few months on the many benedictions and doxologies found in the Scriptures. A few weeks back I began a study in Mark's gospel. Tonight I'm doing something very out of character for me--a dramatic monologue. We're looking at the passage in Mk. 2:1-12 where the paralytic's friends bring him to Jesus and dig a hole in the roof in order to accomplish their goal. I'm going to tell the story as a dramatic monologue, related from the viewpoint of the paralytic. I did so once before in Argentina, but I've never tried this in English. Has anyone else ever experimented with a dramatic monologue? I'll conclude by making several observations about the lessons to be gleaned from the story (e.g. Jesus recognizing and honoring bold, creative, and tenacious faith; Jesus' affirmation that He can forgive sins; and the resulting amazement and wonder of the people at His power and authority). If you've tried using dramatic monologue in a sermon or Bible study, drop me a comment and let me know how it went.

Guatemala Beckons Again

I'm less than 2 weeks away from my third trip to Guatemala in less than a year. This trip will mark the first of what are projected to be up to 6 leadership training conferences with pastors in three western regions of the country during the next 3 years. Jim Hill, executive director for the BGCM, and I will be flying down on the 16th, spending that night at the seminary campus, before traveling the next day to Quetzaltenango for a 2-day training workshop. Convention leaders have indicated that there will be as many as 60 pastors involved in the event. We'll then travel back to Guatemala City where we will attend a meeting on the 20th of the entire executive board of the Guatemala Baptist Convention along with other key institutions involved in the missions efforts in Guatemala. This meeting is being sponsored by WorldconneX and marks the third such gathering for the purpose of information-sharing among groups ministering in Guatemala and the convention leadership.

I had initially hoped to involve several BGCM pastors in this event as workshop leaders, but a variety of health issues, previous ministry commitments, and other conflicts dictated that just Jim and I will be making the trip. I did discover something very interesting and a bit perplexing though in the process of inviting pastors to participate in the trip. Several informed me that they would have difficulty in going because they didn't have a current passport. As one who has filled the pages of a couple of U.S. passports over the years with entry stamps from immigration offices in a number of countries, I found that to be intriguing. As Baptists we have preached, prayed for, and given to missions practically since our inception as a denomination. Recent years have witnessed a huge amount of volunteers journeying to distant lands to work alongside career missionaries on short-term assignments. As they've returned with a first-hand view of what mission work looks like "up close and personal," they have become the point men and women in their churches for promoting missions causes.

All of that leads me to say that I fail to understand why any Baptist pastor would not possess a current, valid passport (excepting of course those whose health will not allow them to travel). I know we can't make that a prerequisite to ordination or anything, but it wouldn't be a bad idea (tongue-in-cheek). Nothing compares to experiencing international missions personally as a preparation for effective missions promotion at home. If you happen to have stumbled upon my blog and don't possess a passport, please accept my challenge to apply for one ASAP. The cost isn't that high and it's valid for 10 years. Maybe I'll see you on the plane next to me on a future flight to Guatemala.

MBC Woes

Two prominent SBC bloggers have recently addressed the issues plaguing the Missouri Baptist Convention. Wade Burleson and Art Rogers have each weighed in on certain aspects of the current controversies in Missouri. I commented on Art's blog that I would likely post on my own blog about these concerns, given that I have a certain vested interest in them as a Baptist residing in Missouri. I chose the preceding words carefully, and they do in fact reveal that our church is not associated currently with the Missouri Baptist Convention. Ours was one of 19 churches recently dismissed by the MBC for violating their single alignment clause. It is the issue of single alignment that I wish to address briefly in this post, for it is part and parcel of the trend that many have observed of the narrowing of parameters of cooperation.

I've only spoken up one time at a meeting of the MBC. I did so in November 2004 when the convention was proposing the language for single alignment. Word & Way picked up a portion of my objection to the language that the committee had employed in an earlier letter in the Pathway entitled "Debunking Myths about Single Alignment." I found the opening paragraph to contain a number of not-so-veiled attacks on moderate Baptists. The references to the "duty to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit," to "count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed," and the allusion to brand knockoffs and cheap imitations," as "those who have come among us who trumpet to the world that they are Southern and/or Missouri Baptists when in reality they are Baptist in name only" were deeply offensive and I drew the attention of the messengers to the inflammatory language of this document. The other phrase in the document that raised my hackles was the purported justification of the single alignment procedure in that it "allows the churches of the Missouri Baptist Convention to avoid having their doctrinal positions compromised by the heretical actions of a corrupt few." Calling fellow Baptists heretics certainly goes beyond the pale of Christian love and grace. To his credit, following my objections to the tone of the document, James Freeman issued a public apology, but the ongoing attacks on moderate Missouri Baptists by the MBC, especially in the Pathway, certainly raise the question as to whether or not moderate Baptists are still deemed to be heretics.

As one who taught Baptist and church history for many years, I always associated the charge of heresy with denial of the basic tenets of the Christian faith, not with questioning some of the cultural issues addressed in the BF&M 2000. Evidently the term heresy is a bit looser in its application in our day. I well remember the experience of reading Dr. Rankin's letter in January 2002, asking IMB missionaries to sign their agreement with the BF&M 2000. It arrived via email late one night after we had recently moved from Argentina to Mexico City and I awakened my wife to share the disturbing news. One of the justifications he gave for this action was the need to protect us from accusations of heresy behind our backs. It wasn't clear at that time exactly who was making said accusations, but I felt then as I do now that the term heresy was a misnomer to describe the objections to the changes that were being introduced into the statement of faith.

The MBC's actions reflect a witch-hunt mentality, and amazingly, there is almost a rather perverse sense of pride in that mindset. The latest issue of Pathway also contains an article that states the convention has now named an ad hoc committee to study the theological soundness of all non-political para-church organizations with whom the MBC relates. The quest to exclude other Christian groups who cooperate but who might not cross their t's and dot their i's the same way as Missouri Baptists reflects an inordinate amount of arrogance rather than a desire for purity and holiness from my perspective. The same issue of Pathway also contains an article entitled "Single Alignment proceeding toward '07." Let me quote just one line from it near the end of the piece. It states, "Missouri is unique in its approach to single alignment in that no other state convention in the SBC has passed such a definite statement articulating the ever-strengthening ties between the MBC and SBC." This statement oozes with self-righteousness and pride--despite the fact that it means that fellow Christians and Baptists will be cut off from fellowship because of the desire to control how autonomous Baptist churches spend their missions dollars and with whom they choose to cooperate in missions efforts. May God have mercy on us all.

Home from a Road Trip

I just returned late last night from a 3-day trip to Big D (that's Dallas for you non-Texans). The staff of the BGCM (all 7 of us) piled into a 12-passenger van early Monday morning for the 8 hour or so drive to Dallas from near Springfield, MO where we all met up and spent Sunday night. We had some great fellowship along the way as our staff typically tends to do. We spent Monday evening, all day Tuesday, and Wednesday morning meeting with the leadership teams of the BGCT and the BGAV at the BGCT's beautiful facility. In addition to some general sessions where we spoke of common concerns, challenges, and some victories along the way, we also broke up into small groups with our counterparts from the other state conventions. We had some fruitful sharing times in the group I was privileged to meet with of those who are giving leadership to the Texas and Virginia state conventions in the area of missions. I truly believe that such networking is a key ingredient to future effectiveness in ministry. We were able to share with one another some helpful resources that we have discovered along the way as well as to encourage one another in the struggles we all face. Spending quality time with brothers and sisters in Christ who are committed to reaching their states and the world with the gospel was a tremendous blessing for our staff. Six of the seven of us are part-time with the BGCM, so our situation is unique as compared to the size of both Texas and Virginia. Nevertheless, we weren't treated as inferiors or stepchildren, but as peers in the work. My prayer is that this type of cooperation and the fruitful interchange of ideas and information might proliferate to other groups as well.