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 ?.

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.

Jesus and the Health Care Bill | Out of Ur

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Great quote from this article…

I am glad [the health care bill passed] not because I am a Democrat or a Republican but because I think that Jesus, who seemed to take great interest in health issues, is glad. Looking back on his life among people like us, he often acted as a healer. He seemed to delight in curing diseases, restoring disabled people to wholeness, and rewiring damaged minds. You cannot divorce these encounters from the rest of his public ministry. Health-care was in his frame of reference.

Check it out.

What do you think?

Jesus and the Health Care Bill | Out of Ur | Conversations for Ministry Leaders.

Me and the Monks (Part 2)

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I just got back from another Solitude Retreat at Assumption Abbey near Ava, MO. ?It is a Trappist?monastery?with a Retreat Center tied to it. ?I went with a group of pastors from SW MO. ?It was really good to get away and focus on the Lord and what He is speaking to me. ?I got a lot of reading done and had a couple of good hikes, etc. ?Really thankful for what God is doing in my life right now.

Here is my post from way back in 2007 when I went the first time. ?It gives a bit of history of the monks and links to more info. ?We are praying for them as they are in a bit of a “holding pattern” right now at that particular abbey. ?Many of the monks living there are getting up in years and there have not been many new candidates come on board. ?It is a really amazing place and these men are truly dedicated to the Lord in their particular “station” in life.

On the way home yesterday, went to Rockbridge for lunch. ?It is an old mill that is now a trout park. ?Then we headed into Ava for an ice cream cone for only 10 cents at the Ava Drug Store and soda fountain. ?Here are some pics of the Abbey as well as my traveling companions.

The Culps on Bible Reading

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The Culps from Granger Community on Vimeo.

Check out this video from Granger Community Church. ?Really funny stuff! ?Guess we should read our Bible more, huh?

Sunday Night “Sum Up”–12.13.2009

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Each Sunday night I will be summing up the previous week’s events in a “numbered” list, along with the “sum total” of our attendance for the week…even though “I’m not very good with numbers.”

  1. Busy week…goes without saying, I guess.
  2. We got our new Heat Pump installed in our house. Terry did an awesome job and we are so thankful for our people at FPCarthage!!
  3. I am expanding our closet because the air handler is in our closet–on Jenny’s side. ?I am getting there…see pics.
  4. I made these “14 Minute Sawhorses” in about an hour and fifteen minutes…with some expert help from Tucker! They are actually pretty cool…and I used all scraps that were in the shed. ?Most of which were left here by the previous owners–thanks guys!!
  5. I used part of the scrap wood that used to be a really high class shelving unit that we had in our home for the first years of our marriage. ?It was a set of 1 x 12 boards placed on cinder blocks! We carried those boards and blocks around all over the country. ?Classy, I know…but very fiscally responsible!
  6. My mom and dad came down for dinner and Christmas light looking on Monday night. ?Good to have them here!
  7. Had a really good couple of services this morning @FPCarthage!
  8. Man, the band did an awesome job! I had a TON of compliments today on our worship team! Great job, folks!
  9. I am so proud of our Leadership Team!! They did an awesome job today!
  10. Christmas concert was awesome tonight at FP Joplin.
  11. Jenny sang in the choir. ?They did an amazing job!
  12. As Jenny said, “Debbie (Clements) was ‘smooth like butter’ on her solo tonight! ?”I Believe” was amazing! Lots and lots of talented people in the FP family!
  13. Had a great time hanging out with our @FPCarthage folks at Braum’s after the concert.
  14. I think I am coming down with something…my throat is killing me…better get some sleep.
  15. By the way…Our student ministry had 31 students at Fusion tonight! ?Way to GO!!

Missouri angler reels in state-record brown trout at Lake Taneycomo | News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader

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Wow, that is a big fish! I think I might just run and hide from one that big…especially in the dark.

“Do you leave a light on after bedtime? Because I get a little scared in the dark sometimes.”

Name that movie…go!

Missouri angler reels in state-record brown trout at Lake Taneycomo | News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader.

Friday is for Friends…Go Habs!! Right Bradleyboy?

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head_bradOne of my really good friends is Brad Daily.? The boys and I are watching the Montreal Canadians 100 year anniversary celebration game and I am thinking of he and his bride, Nora.

I first met him while I was serving at Hopedale Baptist Church in Ozark, MO.? He was a huge help to me in the student ministry as well as traveling companion on several trips, basketball watching, golf playing, early morning music store line crashing, and baby photographer when Taylor boy was born!(I know that really wasn’t even a sentence!)

He took an interest in video production and web development while he was living in Nixa, MO.? He then served several summers on staff with World Changers, a ministry of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention (wow, we have some long names in SBC life, don’t we?).? While he was doing World Changers, he met some folks that had ties to the Kansas Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists.? They offered him a position as a media guru (probably not his actual title) in their office in Topeka.? During that same year, Jenny and I felt called to plant a church in Nixa.? Brad created a promotional video for our church plant.? We are eternally grateful for his hard work on it.

Then, to go a step or two more, he built us several different websites for the church.? He is an amazing developer and brilliant with web developing (as you can tell from SlideShowPro Director.)

How did he get to Montreal?? Well, it is a pretty long story, but basically, he had several friends from Kansas-Nebraska, World Changers, and NAMB that got him up there.? Then he stayed, fell in love, and the rest….you know the drill.

This past fall, he and his beautiful bride, Nora moved to Nixa, MO.? (Nora and Brad met and married while Brad was serving as the communications director of the Canadian National Baptist Convention.) Make sure you check out Nora’s blog to record all of the fun details of a “Greek-Armenian-Canadian, french speaking Montreal native” living in the “sticks” in the Ozarks!

He has continued to be a very good friend all the way to Montreal, Canada by way of Kansas and back to the Ozarks. (Check out some of his handywork on e-quip.net. and his recent venture at SlideShowPro.net and SlideShowPro Director.)

Anyway, Let’s GO HABS!!? And let’s hear it for friends!!

habs100The Original Habs.

Does this make me look fat…or gray?

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Just found a new program that is A-Mazing!!? It is called Evernote.? You can go check it out at Evernote.com.? Basically, it is the Holy Grail of notes software that I have been looking for both my desktop and iPhone. I use Notes on my iPhone quite a bit, but it was a pain to sync and I know have three of the same entry, for example, in my Mail program.

What is great about it is the fact that you can dump just about any medium into Evernote and it helps you keep everything organized.? You can clip from the web, cut and paste text, email to Evernote, or even Tweet to @myEN and it will place the Twitter tweet in your notes!

Funny thing happened while I was looking over the program…it has a button that opens the iSight camera (on my MacBook Pro) to take a picture or video note.? I haven’t looked at myself in the ol’ iSight camera in quite some time…and I must say…that thing must add 30 lbs. to my face.? I’ve got a pretty hot looking double chin going!? Then, as I turn to the side…I get a look at what Ronnie calls my “white walls.”? I have “a touch of gray” in my hair these days.? Really, I think it isn’t as bad as the picture would make you believe…probably just really bad lighting in my office!!? I actually don’t mind it because I have always had such a baby face.? Pretty nice, huh?

Got me thinking.? Isn’t it funny how we always are concerned about outward appearances?? @KStratt and I were talking on the way back from a pastor’s deal this afternoon about this.? He is a whole lot more secure in himself than I am, because he is able to not worry at all what people think of him.? I am such a wuss when it comes to that kind of stuff.? I always want to be looked upon as someone who is pretty sharp and has it all together.

My graying hair is kind of ironic.? I really wanted to look older when I was in my twenties.? Especially being a student pastor (they are always the knucklehead/screwballs that are immature in every way), I have always wanted to be looked upon as a guy with purpose and a good leader.? Gray hair was one of those milestones that I had this crazy thought in my head that would help me to “arrive.” Now that I am 36 and turning a little bit gray, I am wanting to look young again.

Anyway, isn’t it funny how we are always caught up on what other people think rather than God? I mean, if I were really honest, sometimes I am more driven by people of quite a loss less significance than the creator of the universe.? I am much more concerned about what a colleague or church member thinks of me than my Savior.? Pretty crazy.? That is not to say that we should just do our own thing all of the time and not worry about how we act, but what we should be concerned about, above all, is the love and acceptance of our Savior.

So, does this iSight make me look fat?? Yeah, probably.? And graying? Yep.? But that shouldn’t make a difference in how I feel about myself.? Easy to say or write, but more difficult to actually put into practice in my life.? I am working on it though.? Kind of like the old SNL skit…”I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and dog gone it; people like me!”? I guess it is more realistic to say “irregardless of whether other people like me…dog gone it, my Savior loves me!”? And that is enough.

How about you??