On my mind today

Monday morning gives me a few minutes to consider the previous weekend - and if the rest of the year goes as wildly busy as the first three have gone by, it will be Christmas in about two weeks! - Charniece's retirement service was awesome! It was a outstanding reminder of the power of long-term service. She has served the Lord so faithfully for so long here at CBC - her legacy here will be long-remembered. Thanks to Will Cumbee and the hospitality crew for making the event so special! - The beginning of our Red-Letter Series got off with a bang! The message of grace and forgiveness we found in the mouth of Jesus in John 19 is a poignant reminder of God's calling on our lives to give forgiveness just as freely as we have received it. NOT easy. There are many who struggle with forgiveness throughout their lives - either giving it or receiving it. I hope you'll pray with me for them. - Julie and I went out to dinner Friday night (HOT DATE!) at El Chico on the Loop in T...

Just home from church tonight but I'm far from tired even though I feel awful! (I hate sinus stuff! They've been draining all day!) I live for Sundays, but there are some that are bigger than others! This one counts as one of those! - I was all set to close out the service this morning, when Anna Jacobson came down to tell us she had invited Christ to be her Lord! Nothing gives a pastor more joy than to see someone proclaim Christ as their Lord! That NEVER gets old! Rock on Anna! We'll baptize her soon! - After worship this morning, Julie and I had lunch with Randall and Suzanne Cooper at Jalapeno Tree - once I found them! I had a couple of meetings after church so they told me to catch up with them there. The only problem was they didn't tell me where "there" was! Makes a body feel unwelcome! I finally did find them after I went to Chilis and then to Posados! - Tonight's service was our vote on our Vision 33. Our Long Range Plan Committee h...

I'm sitting at home now - at 2 PM on Wednesday afternoon - when I normally would be finishing my preparations for Wednesday night and Sunday. For the second week in a row, we've been forced to cancel our Wednesday night services due to inclement weather. Bummer. I hate canceling! It makes feel like I'm giving up. But with all the moving parts of a CBC Wednesday, we were convinced it was the right call. The best example I can offer to that end is this. When I walked out to my truck to go to my regular Wednesday lunch meeting, there was ice on every side of my pickup! The side mirrors were coated in ice and I had to YANK the door open to get in! The springs groaned under the cold load as I sat down! I'm not THAT heavy! So for now, I'm sitting at home, with a fire in the fireplace, Julie seated just a few feet away and our dog sitting contentedly between us.

One of the challenges we face as Christians is the perception people have of us. Frequently, we're faced with overcoming people's preconceived notions about Jesus and what it means to be a believer before we can share our faith with them. What do people think about Christianity? Really? Four college guys decided to find out. They took a video camera and went across the US (in their first movie " One nation under God" - click here for that one ) and most recently went to Europe with the same premise. They called their new movie " Beware of Christians ." When you watch the trailer, I bet you'll understand why I thought it worth our time. They asked two simple questions - Do you know Jesus? What do you think of Christians? While it's not a joy to watch or hear the pained responses, we, as believers, would do well to listen. Here's the trailer below.

This morning, I'm at home. It's Friday and that usually means I'm off for a little R and R. The last couple of weeks have been a little on the crazy side, so I haven't taken my Fridays like I usually do. It's a great day to take time off - watching the rain fall and sitting with my dog while Julie exercises. Thus, here are some random thoughts. - CBC is a great place to serve the Lord! I'm seriously pumped about this weekend! We've a 6th grade discipleship weekend beginning tonight. We've got the men's ministry "Beast Feast" tomorrow night. We've got a full slate of events coming up Sunday. More on that next. I've been here 5 mths now and I say this with full assurance - I've not enjoyed pastoring this much since I graduated with my PhD in 2006. - Sunday is the beginning of a journey for our friends going on our Mission: Germany trip this July. For two hours following our morning worship service, we'll train our m...

Jonny Diaz did a song a couple of years ago that sums up this week's message wonderfully. I don't think I'll use it Sunday, but I might. One way or the other, here's the song.

It's been awhile since we last spoke, so let me just be completely random for a moment. - We're still living in our Frankston home, but more sure than ever that the Lord is going to sell it soon. We had a couple of "lookers" over the break - one rather serious - but no serious offers on it yet. I've got every confidence we're where the Lord wants us to be right now. - I'm coaching a Little Dribblers under-14 team this year. We're the Hornets! Good kids! It's been a blast thus far. I think we won last week, but we had such a good time, it didn't really seem to matter. - Julie and I got our passports over the break. Although we did have some excitement about it (we had to order an original copy of Julie's birth certificate), we're ready now! - We leave Feb 24th for a scouting trip to Germany. Julie's never been to Europe and I've only been there once and even then I didn't leave the Paris Airport (I was on my way to...

- Welcome Ticer family! They are our newest CBC members and we're thrilled to have them! - When you see Stefanie Robison, hug her warmly! The water we used to baptize her was frigid! If she hadn't had so many family members present, I would've pulled the plug and done her another time. Thanks for being such a trooper Stefanie - you won't soon forget it! - Thanks to Sheryl Hanna, Steve Edwards and all of our choir and musicians for their exceptional work in the Hanging of the Green service Sunday night! It was awesome! - A special word of thanks to Doug Ilsley, our tech guy. He had a big job on Sunday, both morning and evening, and pulled both off well! Even with the trouble in Brandon finding a working microphone, Doug works at his task seriously and with great effort. Pray for him and the others on our tech team. - This Sunday is our Christmas program entitled "A Splash of Christmas!" Trust me - I've heard parts of it - you will not want to miss...

I did something today I never thought I would - I signed a document declaring that I would be openly and civilly disobedient to the laws that speak against (1) The sanctity of human life (2) The re-definition of marriage and (3) the rights of conscience and liberty. The document is called the Manhattan Declaration. Read more about it (or sign it yourself) here . I've never been a political machine on any level, but I've grown weary of being told what and how I may speak to issues. For example, every so often, I get what I call a "threat letter" from a group like the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (what they REALLY mean is they are trying to FORCE the separation of church and state). These letters usually warn me against speaking to any political issue or candidate, no matter the grounds from which the issue springs. If I speak out and get caught (not terribly hard given we're on the radio and TV!), my church will lose our non-profit ...

I don't often recommend sites. Therefore, when I do, they're well worth your time. The site / widget you see below is one of those that's well worth your time. A few weeks ago, I mentioned Dr. James Denison in one of the illustrations I used on a Sunday morning. Although he's no longer pastoring a specific church, he's still very active in ministry. Presently, he is theologian in residence at the Baptist General Convention of Texas headquartered in Dallas. He also directs the Center for Informed Faith and writes a daily column called "God Issues". Below is the widget he's just released for use with his site. Take a look - it's outstanding stuff!

Julie and I went to see "The Blind Side" Friday afternoon. We got there late, the theater was full and we had to sit waaaaaayyyyy to close to the screen for my comfort, but the movie is fabulous. (actually, we had to wade through miles of "Twilight: New Moon" fans - what's the deal with that movie / series? It turns even grown people into morons!) "The Blind Side" tells some of the story of Michael Oher, currently the left tackle for the Baltimore Ravens football team. While Michael is doing well now, such was not always the case. In fact, were it not for the intervention of Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, the story of Michael might be one of a life cut short, were it to be told at all. Michael's mother and father were absentee and, although a ward of the state, Michael was largely homeless. Through the intervention of a friend, Michael found himself enrolled at Briarcrest Christian Academy in Memphis. With a less than stellar academic record...

We're home - finally. It's been a busy week! We left Sunday night for Houston for the annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Our church contributes a significant portion of our annual budgetary receipts to the BGCT so for us it was a stewardship move. We listened, we voted, we fellowshipped with other pastors. A few gripes, but mostly they were about the hotel and the city instead of the convention itself. For example, when I stay at a Motel 6, I get free parking and wi-fi. They usually even throw in a free breakfast as well. The Hyatt Regency downtown charges for all of those things at ridiculous rates. Let's just say I won't be wasting time or money with them again. Enough gripes. As for the convention, it was a great reminder of the partnership we're in with the other churches belonging to the Baptist General Convention. You may not know it, but there are more than 5,000 member churches scattered across the state of Texas. Not only...

So I'm catching up on some of my favorite blogs this evening since Julie is on a "girls night out" and I find this video about a church in North Carolina that held a book burning. At first, I thought there was nothing new there. What shocked me was what books they were burning. Remember when I discussed with you that I wanted us to be known more for what we are FOR than what we're against? The church in North Carolina disagrees. Have you ever heard of the Dean Burgon Society? Those who subscribe to his thought believe that ANY Bible other than the King James Version is evil and should be destroyed. The aforementioned church in NC is one of those. Not only that, they took a step further, deciding for God who's works are evil and deserving of destruction as well. I don't know whether to be: (1) Shocked such a group still exists (2) saddened by the irony of their judgmental actions and their name - "Amazing Grace Baptist Church" or (3) Offended...

- If you've ever been curious about how the Bible was made and what it means when people talk about "manuscripts", today is your day! The good people in Muenster, Germany who oversee the collection and distribution of the Greek New Testament manuscripts have been kind enough to place much of it online in high-quality digital images for your perusal. Click here to go see it! While the site is in German, it's not hard to figure out where to go. WARNING : It doesn't work with Internet Explorer. They're Apple / Mac people. They optimized it for Firefox or Safari. Even still, it's well worth your time and effort to go see it! - This weekend we'll be holding a garage sale to raise funds for our mission trip to Germany next summer. Find us at Linda Acker's house. Call the church office for specific directions. Our hope is to defray enough costs to where we can take a group of 25. Never been on a mission trip? You're in luck! We're do...

- What a day we had yesterday! WOW! I've never been more proud to be a pastor. From Erica's song to the choir special, I was blown away. I really (honestly!) consider shutting it down after the music. Yet the message I brought had been burning in my heart all week - I knew the Lord had it in mind for someone. I know our church isn't for everyone, but days like yesterday make that hard to remember! If you weren't here, drop a request to our church office and we'll get you a DVD of the service. - This will be the last week of our "I LOVE MY CHURCH" series. I don't when I've enjoyed a series more than this one. If we are to reach Jacksonville for Christ, our love for Christ will be evidenced by our love for each other and our community. Pray with me toward that end! - Welcome Ben Hooper, our newest CBC member! I've known Ben since he was in high school. His dad was a pastor in Hubbard, TX near where I was pastoring in Corsicana. Ben...

My bad - I know it's been two weeks since I've been here. Let's just say the Lord has blessed my life with many opportunities for serving Him! - Welcome John and Kelly Sandoval, our newest CBC members! We're thrilled the Lord has brought you here! We'll get you into a small group and connect you with the right people to make sure CBC really is home for you like it has become for us! - I did Jacksonville College chapel this morning. It was rainy. It was early. It was miserable! Except inside! :-) Thanks to Tam Clark, dean at JC, and Sheryl Hanna, asst. choral director at JC, and the wonderful student body, it was a great way to begin the week. - A sad "see you later" is in store for us this week. Tim Zednick, our technical director at CBC, is leaving us this week. Sunday is his last day with us. We'll honor him appropriately Sunday. Please pray for him as he begins this transition. He'll be moving to First Baptist Church in Lewisville ...

I want to ask you to pray for some specifics today. - Kelly Traylor, Cherokee County Commissioner and a deacon at CBC, lost his mother today. She had been ill, then bounced back, but the Lord called her home today. The unexpected passing of anyone is difficult, but even more so for someone so beloved. Please pray for Kelly and his family during this difficult season of life. - My great-uncle, Ben Hudson, went home to be with the Lord yesterday. Ben had been in poor health for some time. Thus, it was in the mercy of the Lord that the Lord let Ben come home. We appreciate your prayers as we prepare to lay this godly servant of the Lord to rest. - We have MANY in the J-ville area who are sick. No matter what the disease, it's making its way around town, through the schools and wreaking havoc in its wake. Pray for those who are sick. "Cast all your cares on Him, for it matters to Him concerning you" (1 Peter 5:7). It's a comfort to me to realize the God of all th...

Sunday will mark our one month anniversary at CBC! It's been awesome! I love what I've seen and heard from each of you! I think this is the greatest church in the world and I'm so pumped I get to be a part of it, (much less serve as pastor!)! So here's what we're going to do with this new series. We're going to find out why YOU love CBC and what being a part of Jesus' kingdom here has meant to you. In order to do that, I need some volunteers. If you're interested in helping me there, drop me a note at the email address at the top of the page. I'd love to hear from you!

Occasionally, I'll post things here I've found researching for Sundays but can't find a home for in a message. I usually won't explain how or why I found the item I've placed here, but usually, I found it funny or unusual enough to let you have a shot at. This time, however, a little explanation is due. One of the illustrations I'll be using Sunday is about God's view of us. One of my favorite pictures of this comes from Joyce Landorf's book Balcony People . They love us, regardless of our performance. Leaning over the rail, they applaud our every move and do so with passion and enthusiasm. The video I've posted here is sort of the inverse of that. While Statler and Waldorf are balcony people, their snide remarks, while often hillarious, are inverse of God's methodology for us. Enjoy this trip back to Muppet land!

I made it through the rain home last night and back again this morning. Although we needed the rain desperately, I'm glad to see the sun peaking through today! Or at least I was this morning before our internet service went down! I'm glad to see it back! - I tend to think of the first Sunday after Labor Day as the first Sunday of the church year. What a great start we had! - A great thanks to Steve Edwards for his exceptional work in putting on our "Fireproof" movie night last weekend. A great night of pizza and a powerful movie! If you haven't seen it, let us know. We'll get you a copy to view! - Thanks to our LLL (Live Longer and Like it!) Ministry last night. We had a wonderful fellowship after worship last night - even if we did run out of food! Now that's the kind of problem I like to have! It means people are there and they are happy (all those who got food are anyway! :-) ). - I'm always on the lookout for ministry oppotunities and stu...