Weekend Plans

We're looking forward to a fun weekend. Our friends Ward and Tonja Rose are up this way for a singing gig. We're going to spend some time with them on Saturday. Some other friends, John & Renee Mitchell are in the Rose's new hometown -- Nashville, for the Country Music Marathon.

After the race, the Mitchells are coming up here for a couple of days. Renee is active duty Air Force and is home for a couple of weeks from her year-long assignment in Turkey.
Old friends from Northampton, we always have a good time with the Roses and Mitchells.


Have a great weekend everybody!

Believe Conference

The Believe conference was awesome. I'm one of those strange people who loves junior high kids (probably because I am STILL that age on the inside). CIY knows how to do things right. Believe rocked!

Junior High Fun

This weekend I will be attending a CIY Believe conference with some Junior High students from Cedar Creek (including my son). Tracy and I used to enjoy going to the Virginia Christian Teen Convention, but it has been several years since I have been to an event like this. I'm looking forward to it.

Spring!

I had the day off today. It was a gorgeous day. I mowed the grass for the first time this spring. It probably could have waited a few more days. But firing up my John Deere lawn tractor and donning a flannel shirt, I was in full redneck mode, and loving it!

Godly Shepherds

We had our monthly elders meeting last night. My favorite part each month is the time we spend in prayer. We share in a meal together and one of the brothers leads a devotion. Then we spend about 40 minutes in prayer. I know that lots of meetings begin with a perfunctory "word of prayer", but the tone of our meeting has changed since we began spending significant time pouring out our hearts before the Lord -- seeking his guidance, praying for the flock, asking for wisdom. I wish the church family could know how much they are really loved by their shepherds. Seeing men of God shed tears over the hurts of the flock and passionately seek the face of God, desperately wanting to make the right decisions for the body -- it warms my heart and encourages my soul. Pray for your elders today. Theirs is a noble task.

I Want You to Want Me

Preaching about Joseph and Potiphar's wife this weekend. I think this might be what she said to him...

American Idol Sings "Shout to the Lord"

My family watches "American Idol" regularly. We were pleasantly surprised to see the contestants on last night's "Idol Gives Back" show singing one of my favorite songs, Shout to the Lord. Yes, they edited it a bit, changing "my Jesus" to "my shepherd", and some of the bloggers are upset about that. And I could have done without Ben Stiller's bleep-filled rant that ended the show (someone's idea of humor, I guess). But still, I'm going to rejoice that the #1 show in America aired a song of praise to the King. Someone made that decision. The song will be downloaded from iTunes all over the world. How awesome is that? View clip here.

UPDATE: They did it again tonight and sang the name of Jesus.

Red Robin Rocks!

Yesterday I traveled to Lansing, Michigan to speak to the preaching class at Great Lakes Christian College. It was a lot of fun. I can really get passionate talking about preaching. Afterwards, my friend Mark Christian and I went to supper at Red Robin. I think I ate the most deliciously awesome burger I have ever consumed. The Bleu Ribbon Burger was incredibly good.

Jury Duty

Yesterday I had to report for Jury Duty. I actually made it into the Jury Box this time. Both lawyers sort of interviewed the potential jurists. Then they eliminated five of us, including yours truly. I‘m pretty sure that defense attorneys want to eliminate anyone who has any common sense. The trial was for a drug charge – a guy was arresting for dealing cocaine. Our conversation went something like this:

Lawyer: Do you know that cocaine is highly addictive?

Me: Yes, I’ve heard that.

Lawyer: Do you know that about 80% of the people in prison are there on drug charges? Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh?

Me: My understanding is that this jury has the responsibility to make a decision based on the merits of this case. A discussion of the severity of drug laws and penalties is something you’ll have to take up with the Legislature.

Lawyer: But don’t you think it’s unfair for the police to take advantage of people who are addicted?

Me: I reject the premise of the question. Enforcing the law is not taking advantage of someone. When I was pulled over for speeding, the officer wasn’t taking advantage of me, he was doing his job. (I wish I had said, “I was unaware that people who are addicted are subject to a different set of laws than non-addicts.”)

Lawyer: Thank you juror #11.

Not long after that I was dismissed. Go figure.

Happy April Fools' Day

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!