I AM SECOND

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I should have gone to bed a long time ago, but I can’t seem to go to sleep after finding this website.? Click on iamsecond.com and see what it is like to know that Christ is first in your life and you are second.? I am blown away by the amazing stories on there . . . not so much the celebrities, but the everyday people as well who are dealing with addiction, hurt, pain as well as success, fame, and “the good life.”

When it all gets stripped away, at the end of this life, you really have to examine why you are on this Earth and what is your purpose.? This site is the Gospel in a nutshell and there are tons of resources to find Christ, ask the hard questions, or even call or chat with someone who has gone through some of the same struggles you might be going through.

Sit down and take some time to read and listen to the stories and see what Christ continues to do all around the world.

Thanks Mike Zumwalt for showing me this site!? You da man!

Never Give Up in Doing Good . . .

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I have really had several encouraging moments over the last week or so that have really made me rethink Paul’s words in Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

First off, I went to my new dentist here in Carthage and one of the dental hygentists is a daughter of a fellow pastor way back when (’95) , when Jenny and I were in Pryor, OK.? Her father is a great man and served in the Methodist Church in both Pryor and Locust Grove (where I was serving).? The work in Locust Grove was especially challenging, but he was always faithful to the call of God on his life.? I learned a lot from him in a very short time.

Then, later on that evening, I got a Facebook message from a former student in my youth group.? He was recalling a particular message I preached on a Wednesday night a LONG time ago that was still impacting his life!? What??? He talked about a simple phrase has stuck with him all these years and has helped him finally deal with some “junk” in his life and actually let some other people in the body of Christ to help him along in the journey!? At this point, I’m feeling really pumped about what God has done through me.? It gets better. . .

This Saturday night, I was studying for the next morning . . . looking over service, message, etc.? I had my email inbox open and got a latenight message from another “blast from the past.”? It was from a young lady that was in my youth ministry in Burleson, TX while I was in seminary.? She had been thinking about me and looked me up on the internet and found the Finley Crossings website and eventually this blog.? While she was looking at the CFC website, she downloaded a podcast–happened to be my last message at Finley before moving to Forest Park Carthage.? As she and her husband were sitting in their kitchen listening to the podcast, they made a decision to find a church in their city and really follow the call of God on their life–AWESOME STUFF!? So now I am really thinking that God is amazing and what am I mopeing around about, right??? It gets even better–last night . . .

I took Dinwiddie with me to Hopedale Baptist Church in Ozark, where I was a student pastor starting in ’99 after seminary.? We went to hear Aaron Hill give his first sermon ever.? Pretty stinking cool!? Aaron? was a 7th-8th grader when I left to plant Finley Crossings.? He was always one of “those kids” that you know God was going to do an amazing work through–you know the kid.? I am really good friends with his dad, John, who’s blog is linked over in the right margin.? Jenny and I have been worship pastors at their (HBC) children’s camps for about 5 or 6 years now and have gotten the opportunity to spend some quality time with Aaron in a cabin with a bunch of crazy elementary kids!!? I have always thought God was going to “do something” with Aaron. . . and I think he deep down thought the same thing.? It was really great!? He did an awesome job!? Brought back a ton of memories of student ministry at Hopedale as well as my “first sermon.”

I remember my first sermon in January of 1994 at FBC-Springfield at “College Night at Christmas.”? I gave the message and several of my other buddies did the other parts of the service.? It was a real nerve-wracking experience to say the least!? I was really nervous . . . in a suit and tie . . . had microphone feedback issues . . . and forgot (are you ready for this)–John 3:16.? I think they probably should have pulled my license at that point for sure!!

Again, I am reminded of Paul’s words of “never give up in doing good.”? Even thought things don’t always “go your way” or turn out the way you might want them to turn out . . . never give up.? Life and ministry are difficult and Paul was encouraging the early church to keep pressing on and hope for the harvest.? I am so thankful that the Lord has called me to do what I do and really thankful for His encouragement this week!? Thank you God!

Slacker Blogger . . . will post soon. . . I promise!

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Every time I sit down to post about what has been going on and on my heart over the last several weeks, I seem to get interupted–interupted by good stuff. . . mostly.? We have been super busy with family as well as church stuff.

Just a quick post to let you know that everything is going well . . . just extremely busy.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Check out the recent Twitter/Facebook on the left margin in the meantime.

First Night of musical

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The first night of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” went really well! Jenny did an awesome job on her solo! Of course she did…I taught her everything she knows.

My mom and dad, my mom’s sister and her husband( Barbara and Jack) came too. Thanks for not saving us a seat, dad! Just kidding!

Here are some pictures of the night. Will add more when I get on the computer, not my iPhone.

Friday is for . . . family & food. . .and some Christmas shopping!

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Hanging out at the greatness of Chick-fil-A for our weekly Friday morning ritual of breakfast with Mom, Dad, and Tucker.? We absolutely love their Chicken Minis–especially Tucker loves “the minis” with lots of jelly!

We are watching Tucker play in the play place and trying to find some Christmas presents online.? We are also talking about Christmas budget–which we should have probably talked about some time ago, but haven’t had the chance… with all of the stuff going on.

Jenny is singing in the Christmas musical at church, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” tonight, Saturday, and Sunday.? In the meantime, I think we are going to submit ourselves to the beating of looking for some Christmas presents with a 3 year old in tow.? Yes, Virginia, we are crazy!

We are going to get to hang out with my parents and my Uncle Jack and Aunt Barbara Sanders.? Barbara and my mom are sisters.? Jack is one of my heroes. He has been a bi-vocational pastor for his entire life–pretty stinking cool indeed.? Going to be fun to see them at Forest Park at the musical.

P.S.–It’s 4:45 p.m. and I just sat down to finish this post.? We had an absolute beating of a time going to four different stores–just four. I find it amazing how busy the stores are these days–even in the midst of an economic recession.

Golfer shows extreme integrity

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Veteran golfer, J.P. Hayes, turned himself in for using a golf ball not approved for play by the United States Golf Association.? In doing so, it disqualified him from the Q-School tournament and he did not get a coveted 2009 PGA tour card.? There are many articles and blog posts about this event when you do a Google search. There is also a great discussion on Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio here.

I played golf on my high school golf team (Go Chiefs!!–That’s for Ronnie!).? With those experiences, I learned a lot of lessons about integrity and life.? I also learned that the game of golf is officiated by each player and there is the possibility for a lot of cheating to take place.? I had an experience one time during a match where an opponant’s father was watching the match.? He came up to his son after we left the green and told him something.? The player then told the guy with the score card that he had not properly marked his ball on the putting green and would need to take a two stroke penalty.? Amazing couple of minutes for sure.? Turns out that his team needed those strokes to win and they lost the match.? Again, there is a ton of stories like this that come out of sports, especially golf.

So, for the weekend hacker, don’t kick your ball from behind the tree, play “winter rules” in the middle of the summer, take a mulligan every hole, and the list goes on and on.? Play the game with integrity and most importantly–enjoy the game!? Enjoy the day that the Lord has made!? Enjoy the people you are playing with (though it is extremely difficult at times!). Enjoy this terrible, horrible, exellent, frustrating game we call golf!

When have you seen someone show integrity when no one would have known?

First Cars

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Here is a picture of a car we saw at Maple Leaf. It is the exact same car that was my dad’s first car.

My first car, “The Silver Bullet,” was a 1980 Chevrolet ‘Vette–Chevette that is! It was silver that looked like primer or a homemade paint job with rattle cans–or both! The best part was that it was a standard transmission. Sweetness!

What was your first car? What funny stories or memories do you have of that car?

Golden Testimony

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We are in the final stages of our Generations Campaign at our church.? It is a capital fund raising campaign, yes.? But what I am finding it to be is a “faith raising” campaign.? I know for sure that our faith has been challenged for sure.? Jenny and I have neither one been through a campaign like this, so we are definitely “newbies.”? I have heard stories about couples praying seperately and then coming together to the penny, etc.? I always thought those kinds of stories were from super spiritual people and would never happen to me.? We actually had that happen as well to us this time around–pretty crazy.? I actually didn’t want to say what I had in mind because it was a huge stretch, so I asked Jenny what she thought first.? (Some people call it a lack of guts, I simply call it diplomacy!)

All along the way, however, there have been AWESOME testimonies come in about God’s moving in our church.? Here is yet another unbelievable, creative I might add, testimony of what some of our folks have done to give to this campaign.? Got this tonight from our pastor in an email . . .

Dear Generations Team,

Yesterday, we got an unusual gift from an anonymous donor.? The letter said,

“We felt like this offering needed a letter of explanation. Enclosed you will find a portion of our offering to the Generations Campaign. We have both been previously married and at one time these were a symbol to us of a person’s love and commitment to us and God. We both took our vows with commitment, but later in life, found that our former spouses did not. The results of our divorces left us feeling little self worth, but the Lord never gave up on us.? We were worth His life. We are priceless

Some time later the Lord led us to FPBC where we met through the singles ministry and became friends.? We were married here and gave each other new rings that symbolize our love?We have asked ourselves what we could do with our old rings. They are worthless to us, but the Lord could make them worth something for His kingdom.? Please accept them as a portion of our offering to the Generations Campaign.? We pray the Lord uses this offering to heal the broken, return the lost, and reveal His children’s worth to them.”

Attached is a picture of the rings.

I’m excited about Sunday.? I believe it is going to be a miraculous day!

Much love!

John

Thoughts on Obama’s Acceptance Speech

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A friend of mine, a church planter in Jefferson City, Marc Backes, just wrote an awesome post on the powerful images of community in President-Elect Obama’s speech last night.? Go here to read the full post.? But here are some nice exerpts . . .

Parts of his acceptance speech last night struck me in one very unique way. They resonated with a powerful Biblical theme and they went to the very core of why I think the church is struggling to stay relevant with younger generations of people.

And so last night as I watched Obama give his speech, I was struck by one thing. There was a deep thread of community woven throughout the speech. Once again, I?m going on the face value of the comments and making no commentary about them. Here?s a couple key excerpts:

It?s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

Sounds a lot like ?every tribe, every nation, every tongue? doesn?t it? The church isn?t made up of rich, poor, Jew or Gentile. We are the church.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other??In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people??to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can?t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

As you watched last night, and as the American people indicated by their votes (regardless of whether you think rightly or wrongly), that sense of call to community resonated. And I think it?s resonating in a deep way in the hearts of people who are tired of going to church and feeling alone. Who are tired of struggling to be good Christ followers and believing that they have no one they can turn to. Who are ready for the church to be a place where we truly do love, honor, welcome, greet, serve, teach, admonish, sing, support, encourage, forgive, bear the burdens of, and fellowship with one another all unto the Glory of God?.

OK, so not a few excerpts, because I felt it necessary to get you folks who don’t follow links to read the meat of his thoughts!

I can recall a time when my friend, Daniel Scott and I were eating at an establishment down in Galloway that there was so much community there it was scary!? The problem was that it wasn’t the true kind of community that a group of people might have with Christ in the center of the community.? I remember thinking that there has got to be a way for the Church, the True Community, ought to be like that community–at least in it’s acceptance and love that seemed to be there in that place.

The problem, I think, (and what our small group studied on Monday night) is that we as believers have become so concerned that people do the right things that we focus on the externals.? What we really ought to focus on, as the old evangelists used to say “focus on what Christ has done.”? We need to focus on our own depravity that has been washed clean by the blood of Christ and begin to be a unifying force for real, lasting change in our world.? But that starts with me . . . if I have the courage to love like Jesus loved.? That’s a tough start indeed.

“God Does Not Ride Elephants and Donkeys”

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My dad always taught us that “a fool votes a straight ticket.”? I guess that comes from a political scientist though.? I am finding that statement much more appropriate the older I get.

I have read several blogs from a whole lot of people talking about the craziness that is the 2008 Presidential Campaign.? Some, like John Hill’s post on how hurtful people can be are discouraging indeed.? I have always had the idea since I have been in ministry that I will not publicly speak of who I am voting for, because (as in the 2004 election) most of the time, you basically ostracize half of the people right off the bat.? For me, there are far more important things than backing a political candidate–mainly to make sure the Kingdom of God is moving forward as far as it is up to me anyway.

I ran across this post a couple of weeks ago from a guy I really respect, Sam Shaw.? He used a quote from Tony Evans for the basis of the post and the title of this post–“God does not ride elephants and donkeys.”? Here is Sam’s post in it’s entirety because I felt it was that good.? In honor of Super Tuesday . . . Enjoy!

Yesterday, I met with the leadership of Mission Mississippi (Dolphus Weary and Neddie Winters). We talked about the presidential election and the need for Christians to be Christians first then Democrats or Republicans.

I will be challenging our church to?

1. Pray for the new president – be he Obama or McCain. The Bible commands us to pray for those in leadership (1 Timothy 2:1-2 – the king at that time was Nero, who was killing Christians). The next president needs our prayers – his responsibilities are overwhelming, the power of the office is head-turning, and the potential for great good or great evil is tremendous.

2. Love Christians who did not vote as we did. We do not have to see eye to eye in order to walk hand in hand.

Love means refusing to accuse or justify if things go bad. It means not judging another?s motives. It means deliberately reaching out to each other in good will and believing the best of each other. It means recognizing the bond we have is deeper than simply being Americans on different sides of the political spectrum.

Yesterday, I learned of a small group of Christians who have met together for 4 years. These are committed Christ-followers whom I respect and love. Now, they divided and losing their small group – simply because of differing political views. What a tragedy!

If you can?t love those Christians who disagree with you as brothers and sisters, then love your enemies!

3. Refuse to identify Christianity with any political party. It is incredibly dangerous and short-sighted. Just look at the confusion in Northern Ireland or Germany or Panama!

Both major parties in the USA have Biblical planks in their platforms. Both have Christians involved in the process. Both are seriously flawed, full of pride and selfish ambition.

Remember -the kingdom of God is bigger than a political party.

I love the way Tony Evans put it – ?God does not ride elephants and donkeys!?