Lessons From An Older Pastor ? Chris Elrod

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Really like this list of “lessons from an older pastor.” ?I particularly like numbers 5 and 7 and then “ouch” on number 9. ?Check them out here…

I honestly don’t know that I have any words of wisdom for anyone. ?You know, it’s funny how the older I get, the more ignorant I feel! ?When I was 18, I was really smart. ?When I was 25, I was even more smart–just ask me! ?Now that I have been in ministry almost 20 years and worked on several church staffs, planted a church, and now in a “new & different” situation called Multisite; I really have found out that the only thing I know is that I don’t always know…you know?? (I’m sure that’s not good grammar there!)

I love this passage in John 9 of the healing of the man who was blind from birth. ?Check out his response to the second set of questions from the Pharisees. ?

He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

What about you? ?What are some lessons that you have learned as you are getting older?

Lessons From An Older Pastor ?.

Icelandic Volcano Christian References

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How many conversations have you had in the last month or so about “all of the signs of the times?” ?I have to confess that I have heard my share after the volcano. ?I enjoy reading Jon Acuff’s blog and quite appreciate his sarcasm…takes one to love one, I suppose.

I am particularly fond of #2…

2. Juxtapose it against our ?fancy technology.?

This is always a favorite of mine. Say something like, ?We might have iPads, but all the apps in the world won?t stop a volcano.? What does that even mean? I?m not sure, I think it means that all the advanced technology in the world holds no sway over the eons old might of the Lord. But you kind of sound double relevant by name dropping an Apple product at the same time which is nice.

Check out the full post…definitely a few chuckles.

Icelandic Volcano Christian References ? Stuff Christians Like ? Jon Acuff.

Take. Bless. Break. Give.

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Great video from the folks at Granger Community Church used during a 1st Wednesday Communion service. ?Four different videos that break down four different words in two passages in Matthew…

Matthew 14:18-21 – ?Jesus said, “Bring them here.” Then he had the people sit on the grass. He?took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed,broke, and?gave the bread to the disciples. The disciples then gave the food to the congregation. They all ate their fill. They gathered twelve baskets of leftovers. About five thousand were fed.

Matthew 26:26-28 ?- ?During the meal, Jesus took and?blessed the bread,?broke it, andgave it to his disciples:?Take, eat.?This is my body.?Taking the cup and thanking God, he gave it to them:?Drink this, all of you.?This is my blood,?God’s new covenant poured out for many people?for the forgiveness of sins.



Four Words from Granger Community on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday, Taylor boy!

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This day 9 years ago was just like any other Monday after Easter. Jenny was teaching school in Clever and was getting ready for the spring music concert in a couple weeks or so. She was having “a little back pain” when she went to work. She told her coworker about it. The lady said, tell me each time you feel that pain. She had been timing the contractions all morning.

I ran out there to Clever to take something to Jenny and her friend pulled me aside and said, “David, I think she’s having this baby today.” I just had gotten back to the office and Jenny was leaving Clever-after school (overachiever, workaholic!) to “have them check me out.”

She arrived at the hospital with a dead cell phone battery and running her car on fumes. The checked her in and about 20 minutes later we had Taylor via emergency c-section! Crazy day indeed!

It has been so fun growing along with Taylor! He is such a great boy with a tender heart for God and people. He is 10 times the athlete I will ever be already. He is very talented and is a great student (must get that from Jenny!)

Happy Birthday Taylor! We love you!

Does A Church Need A Building To Be A Church?

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I came across this this morning on my RSS reader. ?Rolling Hills Baptist Church in Fayetteville, GA is selling their building and property to be able to leverage that money “to meet the needs of people.” ?Pretty bold, interesting idea, however it is not a new idea is it? ?The first century Christians are said to have met “house to house.” ?I am reminded of Dr. Sanchez, a church planting prof. at SWBTS that told about the Church in Cuba. ?Part of the extreme growth that has occurred there is thought of to be because of the the mandate from Castro that the churches can’t own property or buildings. ?Because of that mandate, the Church has had to go back to it’s first century roots. Check out the church website at wheresthesteeple.org.

What do you think? Do you think your church could function without owning a building or property? ?What do you think of this church’s decision to sell it’s building and rent a movie theater so they can give money away?

Does A Church Need A Building To Be A Church? – 11Alive.com | WXIA | Atlanta, GA.

Pray for Elections in Sudan today!

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Please be in prayer for the elections that are occurring today in Sudan.? They are the first free elections that they will have had in 24 years.? The presidency is at stake with the current president Omar al-Bashir; having allegations of ties to Osama Ben Laden as well as being charged by the International Crimes Court for crimes against humanity .? The elections are being monitored by international oversight, including former President Jimmy Carter.? There is substantial fear that these elections are not fair, free elections because several of the other opposition party candidates have dropped out of the race.

Rob Wegner, Pastor of Life Mission at Granger Community Church says it better than I can on his post this morning…

Would you take a minute and pray for an upset right now? Elections are occuring as you read this.

This election does concern us. We serve a Global God and that makes us a Global People.? First and foremost, we are citizens of the international Kingdom of God. We do have skin in the game in Sudan. Right now, without leaving your computer, you can exercise a global influence through prayer. From the light of eternity, we will be shocked to discover that some of our most influential moments were the moments spent in secret prayer, unnoticed by the masses, but duly noted by our Maker.. . .

EnterMission has been fueling a grassroots church planting movement in Sudan for the last two years.? Currently,

?we have 125 church planters in training,

?who have personally shared the Good News with more than 34,000 people.

?.Out of that number over 7,500 have joined on-going Bible Studies, which will be transitioned into new churches.

?Over 2,950 men and women have been baptized into the faith and

? already 32 churches are up and running!

This is where the hope for Sudan ultimately lies, not in a government, but a Kingdom, a peaceable Kingdom.

As everything else has fallen apart in Sudan, the Church has not only remained, but thrived. In many communities, our church planters are the ones providing food, shelter, clean water, and even, education.

Let us pray today for our brothers and sisters in Sudan.? That as the words of this young man in the video says, “that we might have peace.”

Amen.? So let it be.

Salam Sudan from World Relief NEXT on Vimeo.

Chick-fil-A Tribute Greatness!

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Friday is for Family . . . and Chick-fil-A!? I try to figure out on Friday’s (my day off) how to get us to Chick-fil-A for breakfast as often as possible.? I even make up excuses to be in town to have some chicken goodness.? These dudes have a new Chick-fil-A tribute video that is awesome!? Rivals the greatness of the Tim Hawkins parody! Enjoy!

Give me another ball!

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Tin Cup 1Earlier today, I tweeted “ Is it just me, or do you have “Tin Cup” flashbacks when watching The Masters and they talk about Rory McIlroy and you think Roy McAvoy?” Really made me chuckle and remember The Colonial at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth while I was in seminary.? My buddy Rick Murray and I went to the tournament one day and I recall D.A. Weibring pulling a “Roy McAvoy” and hitting a ball right into the drink.? He had gotten himself in jail (which is easy to do at Colonial for sure) by hitting his drive close to some overhanging trees.? His first approach shot clipped a branch and landed in the pond.? He didn’t even look at his caddy.? He stared straight ahead at the ripples in the water and snapped his fingers for another ball.? After receiving the ball his didn’t even move at all…he just turned his hand over to drop the ball.? Awesome!!? He then hit his second ball within like 5 feet.? Unbelievable.

It was really something to see him be so laid back and roll with the punches.? No overreaction, not tantrum, no clubs thrown, no curse words.? We would all do well to take a play out of D.A.’s playbook.

How about you?? Any good stories of when you saw someone cool under discouragement or failure?


iPad fills all our spiritual longing??

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Ran across this blog of a guy writing as Steve Jobs. ?Pretty funny stuff. ?However, there is some pretty sad stuff in there…like the idea that there is something “spiritual” about owning an iPad…

But let?s get back to you people who are waiting in line. I mean it?s not like you?re in Bolivia and there?s just been an earthquake and you need to line up to get food and clean water. It?s not like you?ve time-traveled back into the Depression and you?re waiting in line at a soup kitchen. And yet, in fact, that?s exactly what you?re doing. Spiritually speaking, we are living in the Great Depression, and you are waiting in line for sustenance.?. . .

The truth is, this is all about spiritual emptiness. That is why you?re standing in line. . . .

The truth is, all over the world, across every culture, there exists a sense of yearning. A kind of malaise. An emptiness. At the risk of sounding like Dr. Seuss: There is a hole in your soul. That is what we?re addressing at Apple. That is the hole we aim to fill. Sadly, as you may have begun to suspect, that hole can never really be filled. The truth is that modernity, the condition of living in our modern world, has inflicted terrible wounds on your inner self. These wounds can never be healed. They can only be treated. At best we provide palliative care. Not a cure. Because, my dear fellow human beings, there is no cure for what ails you. The products we create provide only temporary relief. Their magic eventually wears off. The sense of childlike wonder they impart will, over time, begin to fade. And then you need a new product.

Convicting as a believer, isn’t it? ?What might it be like if we tried to fill that hole with something much more meaningful than a piece of technology?

Then there is the final line that I have to keep thinking to myself to not rush out and buy the iPad with Professional Expense account monies. . .

Hold your iPad. Gaze at it. Pray to it. Let it transform you. And do it soon, because before you know it we are going to release version 2, which will make this one look like a total piece of crap.

So true. ?So very true.

Check out the entire “open letter to the people of the world here.

The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs : An open letter to the people of the world.

Easter Recap

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empty tombAll I can say is “wow!”? What a great Easter Sunday to follow up an extremely crazy week!? God, you are truly amazing to us and we are so thankful!? Just a few things before I head to bed on this Resurrection Sunday…

  • Still processing the death of my friend and co-laborer, Luke Grayson.? His funeral was an amazing celebration of God’s powerful resurrection.? He will be missed greatly.
  • We saw many professions of faith at our presentation of “Bow the Knee” at our FP Joplin Campus.? There have been hours of rehearsals and 4 performances…all for the glory of God!? When you see professions of faith and get to hear faith stories of people after the performance, it makes all of the hard work worth it!
  • Easter Sunday was a great day at FP Carthage!? We saw God move in a mighty way.? We had several decisions for Christ as well as 8 baptisms! We had planned on having 5 people baptized, but one dropped out and 3 added, which left 7 to be baptized in the 2nd service.? I offered the invitation to a new relationship with Christ and then also mentioned that the public profession of faith in Jesus is baptism.? I offered that there might be some here today that had not planned on getting wet today, but that the Holy Spirit was pulling them to go public with their faith.? As I was baptizing our 7 planned people, I noticed one of our teenage guys come down the aisle…he took off his shoes and his outer shirt…he was baptized right there in his jeans!!? I was tearing up like crazy!? Thank you Jesus for this dude’s faith and courage!
  • I believe that we had 22? baptisms today in all of the Forest Park campuses!? I know that there will be several more in the coming weeks as well!? That stuff never gets old!
  • Praying for some families and marriages right now.? My heart is very heavy for them!
  • I am exhausted…Bow the Knee every night this week and twice on Saturday, Duathlon on Saturday, our first baseball practice yesterday, as well as all of the emotional stuff from this morning has really worn me out!
  • Met a really cool guy tonight…Nikolai.? Praying God’s blessings on him and his future.? He has lived a lifetime of tragedy in his life in 22 short years.
  • It is really cool to read FB and Twitter “tweets” from churches across the U.S. tonight.? God really moved in a might way…of course He always does that doesn’t He?

Have a great week!? Live this week in the power of the resurrection!? He is Risen!? He is Alive!? He lives in our hearts!