Thankful

Please allow me to be a little more serious this morning as I share with you my thoughts. I usually try to lighten your day and mine with a little humor. (Something that is lacking in too many preachers today.) I have been a little down lately because of all the criticism I have received. Did I tell you the latest gripes have been the way I wear my hair and that I no longer carry a Bible to the platform on Sundays. So here goes: The way that I wear my hair is my business. All you who agree raise your hands. Thank you, I see those hands. I do carry a Bible to the platform on Sundays. I keep my notes inside a loose-leaf notebook that contains the New Testament that is designed to be loose-leaf. So, enough of that, back to my subject. Just a couple of nights ago a member of DBBC gave me a book as a gift. Its title "90 Minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper. It is the true story of a small town preacher who is returning home after a conference and is hit head-on by a speeding semi. He is considered dead at the scene and is not revived for ninety minutes when another minister in the trafic jam begins to pray for him. The details of the time he spent in heaven are fascinating, but what really grabbed me were the scenes after he came back to life. Even as I write this the tears begin to fill my eyes again. You may or may not know that I ws in a bad car accident almost six years ago. When he began to describe the smells, the sound of crunching glass under the feet of the EMT's as they carried him to the ambulance, the weightlessnes followed by the sudden return of pain over his entire body, glass falling from his hair onto the pillow of the gurney all came back to me in a flood of emotions. I remember the fellow from the ambulance saying, "I thought you were dead." Then the painful scene of my wife walking into the emergency room and seeing me in that condition for the first time was repeated in his story as well. I wasn't ready for all the painful memories that came rushing back to me when I read the book. I sat it down and cried. Thankfully no one was home at the time. I wasn't ready to talk about it. I just sat there with the book in my hand. I reached up and felt the little shard of glas still embedded in my scalp. Then the Lord did a marvelous thing that brought the tears back, but for a different reason. I remembered the first time walking back into the worship center of the church after weeks of healing. I remembered how thankful I was to be alive, to be given a second chance. The Lord reminded me of how I couldn't even sing. All I could do was sob. He reminded me it was all a matter of perspective. I didn't worry what people were saying about me then. I was just happy to see my family and friends. It was enough just to be given the chance to serve the Lord again. After all, it's all about Him and not them. So I am thankful to be alive. I am thankful to have so many supporters who pray for me, the staff, and the church everyday. I am thankful for the God who not only gives life, but gives it again!

A Lesson From the Atlanta Braves

The joke used to go something like this, "What do the outfielders of the Atlanta Braves and Michael Jackson have in common?" The answer, "They both wear one glove for no apparent reason." Or what about the bumper sticker seen in the 1980's "Go Falcons! and take the Braves with you." The Braves used to take alot of flack for their lack-luster play and their dissappointing seasons. That all ended in the early nineties and they have been in the playoffs ever since. That is until this yearThe inevitable had to happen. They are not going to win their division this year. That is unless a miracle no less in scope than the parting of the Red Sea occurs. And how are Braves fans reacting? They are talking about scrapping the entire line-up and starting over. They want to start at the owner and go all the way to the bat boy. Not all Braves fans are acting this way but enough to get an insight into human nature. Our question is often "What have you done for me lately?" Believe me I know this all about this mind-set. Recently I heard someone say to me, "I don't know how your going to top that sermon Pastor." You know for that person I'll bet the next message was a little dissappointing. I had a preacher say to me one time that any minister's greatest enemy is last week's sermon. He was right. As I met with my Creative Worship Team recently we discussed upcoming series of messages I was preparing for and we talked about how God has been using the creative use of visuals and stories to reach people with the Gospel. The temptation is to try and top what you did last time. Then someone suggested that not every message had to be accompanied with a visual. The message should be enough and that the break would cause the hearers to pay better attention when we do use another object in the message. I was glad to hear that. I needed to be reminded, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation..." (Romans 1:16) That is a comforting thought. It is really God and not me. However, I am wondering how that pastor from California got a motor-cross motorcycle on the platform and had it jump over his head while he preached. Cool! Don't tell my wife. She'll thank I'm serious. Hmmm.

Greensboro Blues

I am currently sitting in my luxurious (read cramped smoking room with coffee pot and shower) hotel in Greensboro, NC. I have a beautiful view of I-40 just inches outside my window. All the rooms are taken in town so yes, I did say smoking room. And no, I don't. They were nice enough to spray the air with scent before I arrived. Nothing like a field of daisies covered with nicotine to freshen up a room. I digress. I am here to listen and vote at the annual Southern Baptist Convention. Since Marilyn could not travel with me I have tried to get a front row seat on the shuttle bus so I can talk with the driver. Nothing like a captive audience. Some have wanted to talk. Others just grunt. We have just elected a new president, Frank Page. He seems like a nice guy. I didn't vote for him though. I voted for the man Johnny Hunt nominated, Ronnie Floyd. I figured if Pastor Hunt was for him so was I. It's not the first election I've lost and probably won't be the last. I enjoyed the first half of the Pastor's conference on Monday. It was held in another location and was more like the services at Dallas Bay. The music was either contemporary or hymns with new arrangements. The speakers were tie-less and the service was upbeat and edifying. The second half of Monday was at the convention center where the rest of the meetings are being held. They spent that afternoon praising the sacred ways of the past and asking why did we waste our time with the "contemporary services" earlier in the day. The mood was considerably more subdued than the earlier crowd. I would like to say more reverent, but it was really just quieter.
Things are looking up though. Tomorrow Casting Crowns will be leading in worship in the evening and a huge statue of Billy Graham will be unveiled. Condi Rice will address the convention from Washington in the morning. She is speaking instead of the annual talk from the president since he is busy overseas. So pray that tomorrow will be a little more spiritual and a lot less business as usual. The more I travel and experience other worship venues the more I look forward to getting back to Dallas Bay. So as I hum the last few bars of the "Greensboro Blues" (same tune as Statesboro Blues to all you Allman Bros. fans) I will leave you to go and pursue an authentic Chicago style pizza before returning to the convention. God bless.
Pastor Ken

Is It the Person Or the Place That Makes the Difference?

What is a valid response to the invitation to follow Christ? Is it to walk with hundreds or thousands to the center of a football stadium and stand with others who have made the same journey to pray with an annointed evangelist the sinner's prayer? Or is to walk to the front of the congregation of your local church and shake hands after praying to receive Christ at the altar? How about the child who asks the VBS teacher "how to be saved" after walking away from the craft table with tears in her eyes? Can the boy who sits up in bed and calls out to God for help in the middle of the night after having terrifying visions of hell be saved without walking "down front" after a worship service? Is there one right way and many wrong ways to follow Christ? I for one am more concerned with the person who makes the decision to be a follwer of Christ than where they made the decision. After all when people asked Jesus the directions to heaven He answered with the simple but profound statement, "I AM the WAY." Thankfully He added no further explanation, because I was that boy who found Him in the middle of the night. I have never doubted that He heard me even though it was just me and God in my room that night.
Hanging in there because He hung there for me,
Pastor Ken