Opening Day

Today is Opening Day for most MLB teams (including my beloved Cubs). Could this be their year? Some sports guys say so, which is kinda scary. But they are due. Hey, anyone can have a bad century, right? Go Cubs!

Listening to a Legend

My family and I had the privilege of hearing Ed Bousman preach tonight at the Church of Christ at Harlan. Nearly 90 years old, he's still got it.

I first heard Ed preach over 20 years ago at the Hillsboro Family Camp. I remember being impressed by his incredible memory. He has memorized the entire New Testament and preaches without notes, quoting lengthy passages of Scripture. Occasionally he would visit the church where I preached. Northampton was planted by Ed's home church in Newport News. It was intimidating to look into the crowd and see Ed! But he has always been kind and gracious to me. It was great to see him again.

(Dave Willis, he did ask about you!)

Majoring in the Minors

Our Winter/Spring session of The Well (our mid-week service) concluded last night. I preached through the Minor Prophets. It was a whirlwind tour -- 12 prophets in 12 weeks. But it was good to revisit those oft-overlooked books. At times the messages were a little depressing (most of them were sent to rebuke God's people), but God's grace came through. He was always willing to forgive and reinstate those who repented and returned to him (no matter how rotten they had been). Many of the prophets gave glimmers of hope of the coming Messiah.

As I studied these guys, it occurred to me that my job is similar to theirs. Preach a prophetic message that we need to get/keep our lives right with the Lord. And no matter how bad we've been, God will take us back when we repent and return to him. And Jesus is coming!

More About Sunday

Sunday at The Creek rocked! We had a sonrise service with tradtional music and a sermon/devo, followed by breakfast, then our regular services. We showed this video at the beginning. Then the praise team did a wonderful job leading us in worship. One of the elders did a communion meditation about the baggage that we carry (he brought three pieces of luggage onto the stage and talked about the stuff that’s inside that we needlessly carry around — and encouraged us to leave our baggage at the foot of the cross). A lady sang Nicole C. Mullen’s “Redeemer.” Then the band did a version of “Angus Dei” (with another elder reading from Rev. 5 during the middle of it). It was powerful.

I finshed up my series on “Discovering the Real Jesus” (with this video as the intro). I preached from John 20.

Wrapped up the service with a rockin’ version of “Power in the Blood” (it’s on one of Selah’s albums) and “My Redeemer Lives.”

We were all really pumped up (oh, and we also had near-record attendance). Yay God!

Resurrection Sunday

Today was the 21st consecutive Easter Sunday that I've had the privilege of preaching about the resurrection of Jesus. It never gets old. The Apostle Paul said it is the foundation of our faith:

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...
(1 Corinthians 15:1-5).

We had some great services at Cedar Creek today. I hope that you did some celebrating too. "He has risen, just as He said!"

Freaky Friday

I'm glad I don't have money on any of the NCAA games. Yesterday was tough -- I picked the following teams to win: Indiana, Clemson, Vanderbilt, Gonzaga, Drake, and UConn. All of them lost. I had Vandy, USC, and UConn in my Sweet Sixteen. D'oh! But at least my Final Four is still intact.

Bracket Busted

After going a perfect 8 for 8 in the early games, I got my bracket busted courtesy of USC. Oh, and I also had Winthrop winning (pulling for the underdog). I had USC going to the Elite Eight. Duke too -- and they almost lost to Belmont! That's why it's called March Madness, eh?

Winter Storm Watch?

On the first day of Spring, our friends from the Weather Channel share this with us:

...WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING... A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP NEAR LAKE MICHIGAN DURING THE EARLY MORNING FRIDAY. AS THE SYSTEM CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST...THE AREA OF SNOW WILL EXPAND...AND SPREAD EAST DURING THE DAY FRIDAY. BY 8 AM EDT / 7 AM CDT SATURDAY...POSSIBLE SNOW ACCUMULATION WILL RANGE FROM 4 TO 8 INCHES...WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOW ALONG THE INDIANA/MICHIGAN BORDER.

Go Irish!

Rethinking My Bracket

I'm already starting to second-guess my bracket (I still have time to change it). Should I have picked Winthrop to beat Washington State? I picked Clemson to lose, but they are pretty good. And should I have picked IU instead of Arkansas? And I would love to see Michigan State go to the Final Four rather than Memphis, but can the Spartans do it? I don't want to pull a Mike Golic and fill out several different brackets, but I don't want to get beat by my Music Minister who knows nothing about sports.

March Madness

If you are a college hoops fan, this is your time of year! The NCAA Tournament brackets were revealed last night. I'm in a couple of bracket contests/pools -- one with work, and another with family. A little friendly competition. I've got North Caronlina, Kansas, Memphis, and UCLA in my Final Four, with Carolina winning it all (it seems like I pick them almost every year). Let the games begin!

Have a Great Weekend Everybody!

National Preaching Summit

I had the privilege of attending the National Preaching Summit in Indy this week. I always look forward to this event because it gets me all fired up about preaching. Bob Russell and Jeff Walling were outstanding, but I think what impacted me most was Ben Merold. You see, Ben wasn't a speaker this year, he was just one of the attendees. 82 years old and still going to seminars to learn how to improve his craft. Wow.

Rough Week

I finally went to the doctor yesterday. He said I have a virus that simply needs to run its course. Thanks Doc! This has been a rough week for our church staff. Three out the four full-timers were out all week. Next week has got to get better, right? But I do have a greater appreciation for my usually good health.

Flu Bug

I've been sick for a couple of days. I'm rarely sick, so I'm not a good patient. I've been running a fever, and coughing like crazy -- basically feeling lousy. Yesterday was the first time in 21 years of ministry that I missed a preaching assignment due to illness. My good friend Mark Christian pinch-hit for me in the GLCC Chapel.

Things aren't looking too good for tonight's service at Cedar Creek. I'm still running a fever. Probably the most loving thing I could do for my church family is to stay away from them.

The Doty Center

Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting my alma mater for the dedication of The Doty Center. Named in honor of long-time GLCC professor Dr. Brant Lee Doty, this building was dedicated to the glory of God. What a great day it was! It was a real GLCC reunion! It was great to see the multi-generational crowd. God was honored.