I am second: Red River Rivalry

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I honestly don’t know who won this year’s Red River Rivalry. I had to got to a flag football game before the game was over and didn’t have opportunity to watch SportsCenter to check the score this weekend.

However, I saw these videos and it began my mind racing about a friend of mine that went to be with Jesus on the way back home from the OU v. Texas game. ?He was in junior high and flying back from the game with his dad in a small plane. ?The plane crashed and both he and his father were killed. ?One of the great things that happened was another friend of mine came to know Christ at his funeral. ?Thank you Jesus! ?I know it is kind of wierd, but every time I see anything about this huge rivalry game, I remember both of my friends. ?I remember my friend that lost his life at such a young age. ?He was a soul winner in every sense of the word! I remember being with him on a mission trip when we were younger…his passion for people was amazing…his passion for sharing about Jesus was amazing! ?I also remember my friend that received Christ at the funeral. ?I remember his ministry that he continues to this day. ?I remember their passion for college football, the Red River Shootout…but most importantly his/their passion for Jesus Christ.

So, it really doesn’t matter who won this past Saturday in the Cotton Bowl. ?What matters more is that Jesus’ name would be made more and more famous around the world! ?Here are some video clips from iamsecond.com that speak of the importance of faith for quarterbacks Colt McCoy (Texas) and Sam Bradford (Oklahoma). ?Winning isn’t everything…Jesus is everything. ?I am second.

I guess I will go look up who won the Red River Rivalry now, even though it really doesn’t matter that much in the grand scheme of things…

Sox H8r ? My Soul Friends

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Great post from one of my soul friends, Daryl Eldridge.? Got to hang out with him for a while this afternoon at an Emerging Leaders Group that meets each month.? Great conversation today and a great post here!

Sox H8r ? My Soul Friends.

Question: Much like an orange being squeezed produces orange juice, when life squeezes in on you, what comes out?

Why? The Problem of Evil and Suffering

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I can remember in my Philosophy of Religion class in seminary spent a very long time discussing this issue.? I believe that Dr. Keith Putt knew that we would be facing this issue over and over in our daily lives and ministry.? It seems for a twenty something guy with “the world by the tail” something that might not be applicable at all.? However, it seems that my seminary education got personal very quickly.

One of my great friends is Jenny Crowder Long.? She was Jenny Crowder when I met her as a little 7th grade girl in my youth group.? She was also the youngest daughter of an amazing lady–Martha Crowder.? Martha was my secretary at First Baptist Battlefield, my first ministry position.? Basically, Martha kept me straightened out for the year and a half while I was a youth pastor there in Battlefield.

Right after I took this Philosophy of Religion class, I got a phone call from Jenny saying that her mom had a very aggressive cancer and only had a short time to live.? Why? What do you say? Why would God do this? Eventually, Jesus took Martha home to heaven to be with Him.? That left a huge hole in the lives of those around Martha. The amazing part of this story is what God continues to do to help Jenny use this pain and suffering for His glory.? She is a psychologist and helps people every day to deal with the problems and issues in their lives.

One case in particular where I saw God use Jenny’s pain for His glory was the summer she was my intern in Burleson, TX.? One of my student’s mother was dying of, you guessed it, a very aggressive cancer.? This woman had gone through a battery of therapy to kill the cancer and she had “beat cancer.”? She beat cancer for less than a year.? She eventually was taken home to heaven the spring before Jenny came to be my intern.? God used Martha’s death to help Jenny minister to this young lady in her pain. Does it make the pain of either lady’s death less difficult? Absolutely not! However, God is sovereign over both blessings and suffering (see Job–“he gives and takes away…blessed be the name of the Lord.”)

If you have been living and breathing for very long, you will have to deal with this issue of suffering.? The problem is, especially with guys, we don’t deal with it very well, do we?? We tend to “clam up” and not want to discuss the issues.? We tend to push everything down deep into our hearts.? We often get mad at God and other people who are His representatives.

Our LifeGroup has been wrestling with this issue lately and I have been researching a bit on the topic.? Here is a great series from David Platt on this issue.? Check it out.? Has some great resources as well such as a Small Group curriculum.

Monday is for Missions . . . New Pamek Airstrip in West Papua, Indonesia

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My great “soul friend” Kevin Lynne is a missionary pilot/mechanic w/ Mission Aviation Fellowship serving in West Papua, Indonesia.? You HAVE to check out his blog at http://flytheplane.wordpress.com.? I first met Kevin in Nixa, MO when I was the pastor/planter of the Church at Finley Crossings.? His brother, Kurt, was a member of our church and was always talking about his “missionary pilot” brother.? I didn’t meet him for almost a year because he was out all over the country raising money to go to Indonesia.? (Sometimes it pays to be a Southern Baptist, I suppose.? Go Cooperative Program!!) Actually, MAF isn’t affiliated with a particular denomination so that they can help ALL evangelical denominations on the field.? They do what denominations can’t do, or don’t need to do–fly planes for the Gospel.? When I finally met him and he made his base of operations in Nixa, we had a lot of conversations about how good God is to let us do what God has wired us up to do!

Kurt and Kevin grew up in Indonesia where their father was a missionary pilot for MAF as well.? So it was not as difficult for Kevin to go back and fit back in to the culture and language, but still a lot of time had go by since his childhood.? A lot of things things had happened in their lives as well since they lived in Indonesia as well.? Kurt had joined the Marine Corps…Kevin went to the Naval Academy and was a Naval Helicoptor Rescue Pilot.? While serving in the US Navy in Pensecola, God called Kevin back to the jungle where he grew up to serve the Gospel in Indonesia.? Here is what he wrties in his post about the new strip in Pamek: “I?m just a guy who loves to fly, and God wanted to call up from my Navy flying to something ?higher? and a ?job? w/ eternal value in every days? efforts.”

Here is a gallery of pictures that were on his Facebook profile.? I asked him if I could show these pictures on this blog and he was really excited to share! Read more

Friday is for My Soul Friends…Daryl Eldridge

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One of my “soul friends” is Dr. Daryl Eldridge.? Actually, the idea for this category on my blog is based off of the name of his blog–“My Soul Friends.”

Dr. Eldridge is the Founder and President of Rockbridge Seminary, an online seminary based out of Springfield, MO. He was “my” dean while I was at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, TX.? Actually, I was a MDiv. guy and Daryl was the dean of the Religious Education School, but I still had my share of classes in his “school.”

I did not personally meet Daryl until a few years back when I began attending a Pastors Learning/Accountability Group that was started by Michael Haynes, the Director of Missions of the Greene County Baptist Association.? Michael and Daryl have a heart to pour into the lives of “young” pastors/church planters and have somewhat “tag teamed” the leadership of this group.

Honestly, Daryl and the rest of that group really helped me make it through a very dark, difficult time a couple of years back.? He has always been available to listen and give advice to me when I have needed it.

What I love about Daryl is his passion for the education process.? Rockbridge Seminary is set up to reflect those passions.? Each student that is enrolled must find a mentor for their classes that they can learn from a “practicioner,” not just a professor that isn’t “in the trenches.”? What is awesome about this mentoring process is that not only does the student learn from the process, the mentor learns as well!? Daryl calls it “cross mentoring.”? I believe that as I walk with a student through this process, I am probably learning just as much as them.

A huge thanks to my soul friend, Daryl Eldridge!? Thank you for pouring into students, pastors, and future leaders of His Church!

Who is one of your mentors?? What is your relationship like?? How often do you meet with your mentor(s)?