On my mind today

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...

When I got my iPhone a couple of years ago, I got teased mercilessly by some of you. You know who are. To that, I offer the story of Mr. Dan Woolley, a Compassion International worker who was making a film in Haiti when the earthquake came. He was trapped for 65 hours while needed medical attention. He aided himself and kept himself from going into shock - but how? By using his IPHONE! It has a medical first aid application that guided him in what to do. Click here for the full story. Wow. There are some good stories coming from Haiti. Take time to thank the Lord for them.

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...

I've had some time this week to consider what our church will look like in 2020. Thinking that way made me reflect on the last decade, what's changed and what I've learned in my first 10 years as a pastor. In 2000: - I had no idea what a text message was. - I had dial-up internet - and was proud to have it! DSL / high speed internet was just too expensive. - Until May of that year, I was still a single guy with no concept of the joy of a loving, committed relationship with my wife. - I had a beeper. Cell phones were too pricey. - My email address (I only had one - now, I've got three) was with AOL. - I had done exactly one wedding and one funeral. - The church I pastored then had less than 75 people. They passionately taught me about loving the Lord and how to serve Him. - I thought being in PhD work was the most important aspect of my life. - I had no idea how to leverage a website, a Facebook account, a Twitter account and a blog for the sake of the Gospe...

As promised, here's my take on the upcoming alcohol referendum for Jacksonville. For the record, let me say I'm not opposed to someone having a drink. If someone wants to drink, that's between them and the Lord. The Bible only proclaims not to get drunk. My problem is saying we want to bring it into our city as an endorsed revenue stream. Enough precursor - here goes. On Wednesday of last week, I met for an organizational meeting for those of us opposed to the Jacksonville beer/wine referendum coming to us this spring. If there's one thing we DON'T need in Jacksonville, it's more beer and wine. People can already get it at least at Chilis, etc. - why do we need to enable them to bring it home with them too? Please don't tell me about tax revenue. I lived in Corsicana when the same referendum passed there in 2004. We were assured there would be "huge" financial benefits. It would aid the city in many ways. There would be no "down sid...

- 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...

- Welcome to Stefanie Robison, our newest CBC family member! We're so pleased to have Stefanie join us yesterday through her profession of faith in Christ! We'll baptize her in the next few weeks. In the meantime, do what you do best CBC - make her feel at home. - What a turnout for the Thanksgiving celebration last night! To those who thought they could bribe Steve Edwards into calling your table next, apparently, your offer wasn't as good as someone else's offer! :-) - I got a forwarded note from our friends in Germany, listening to us (via the internet) from their side of the Atlantic! Thanks for the encouraging words and kindness! - It's Thanksgiving week, so that means no Wednesday activities and an unusual schedule for most everyone this week. Before you sit down to your meal on Thursday, spend some time with the Lord thanking him for the last year. While not everything in the past year is necessarily good, the very fact you're here to be concerned...

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...

This Sunday is a rare occasion - we'll start the service with Baptism and end it with the Lord's Supper. I LOVE it when that happens! We didn't necessarily plan it that way but clearly the Lord did! Our message this week, "Remember", hopes to give you a reminder of what these two remembrances are about. As for this video clip, you've probably seen it before, but it's worth another look if only to hear the congregation laughing!

I don't make it a habit to recommend movies. Most of them are worthless dribble, harldy worth the time it takes to make them, much less worth my time to waste watching them. That said, there are exceptions. Like this one. I've not seen the movie, but I know the story. Maybe you do too. If not, here's a link to a brief bio . Don't like to read? Check this clip out on his life and you'll understand my recommendation to see this movie.

- 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...

Proverbs 27:17 - "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." That's the idea behind CBC's new men's ministry we're calling "Iron Men." As men, we've been taught we don't need anyone. It's a lie! As men we've been taught not to rely on anyone. It's a lie! As men, we've been told we can stand forever on our own. It's a lie! It's a frightening thing to consider how many men are confused about what manhood means. Our hope is that we can work that ought together under the banner of Christ. We're launching our new ministry on Sunday night, Nov 8 doing something most of us would do anyway - eat and watch the Cowboys play football! They're playing the Eagles that night on NBC. Although it wasn't my idea, I heartily endorsed it! We'll meet in the Fishin' Hole (the Youth Building). If you're not a Cowboy fan, you can play pool, ping-pong or foosball. Anyway you stack it, it's ...

I love going to church on Wednesdays! If you've never been (or can't get here), let me tell you about it. Our format on Wednesdays is decidedly casual. We meet in the chapel. We'll pray for the needs on the prayer list and then discuss whatever our topic is for the night. Whereas on Sundays it's much more formal and lecture-type, Wednesdays are much more free-flowing and gentle. Coming on Wednesdays is something I've always done as a means of "topping off the tank" between Sundays. Even as a pastor, however, I find I still need that fellowship and love that you can only find when the church meets together. Put it down - Wednesday nights are cool!

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 ...