WARNING…GRAPHIC CONTENT

This morning at about 4:45 am my daughter came down the stairs not feeling well.  ( I was already down there because my wife had been under the weather since about 2am)  My little girl was dressed in her pj’s and was wearing her fluffy green robe with the colored stars on it.  She headed straight for the bathroom and I quickly followed her.  When she got there, she calmly took her robe off and hung it on the doornob, knelt down on the floor and began to pray to the porcelain god.  I did the fatherly thing, holding her hair back so that she would not make matters worse than they already were.  When she was finished, she calmly wiped her face, flushed the toilet, put her robe back on, looked at me and said “Daddy, I got sick, but it’s alright.” 

Why do I tell you this horrid tale of blown chunks?  Because I expected to be the one doing the comforting, instead my little girl felt like she needed to comfort me and let me know that things were ok.  Maybe it was the look on my face at 4:45am that prompted her response, maybe she was saying it out loud so she would believe it herself.  Or maybe, just maybe, she was letting me know that she was alright, being sick was no fun, but having daddy there meant things would be ok. 

I’d love to make a great spiritual illustration from this story, but Vomit isn’t exactly a topic that goes over well from the pulpit.  Sometimes it’s just great to know that my little girl is growing up, facing challenges, and coming out the other side ok.  We’re not dealing with drugs, alcohol, sex, college, or any other major life crisis yet, but for me and my five year old, making it through a night like that is one more challenge down.

Question of the week #6

What is the one greatest thing that God has done for you in the past WEEK?

Question of the week #5

All right, today is the day of the totally frivilous question.  Answer this four part question for me.

 1.  What is your favorite thing to do with your free time?

2.  What is your favorite food?

3.  Who is your Hero?

4.  If you only had a week left to live, what would you do with your final days?

Question of the week #4

Is it ever o.k. to not verbally share your faith?  Why?

Question of the week #4

When you find yourself struggling spiritually, what do you do?  Where do you turn?  Can you identify when you are struggling?

Question of the week #3

All Right, Now that SIU has won it’s Bracketbuster game, let’s get on with the next question for the week!

 What does worship mean to you?  How do you participate in worship at church, and privately?

Question of the week #2

All right, great answers yesterday!  Today’s question is in two parts.

What is the most difficult thing about your faith? 

What is the greatest thing about your faith?

Question of the week #1

All right, here goes.  I am a part of a thursday morning Accountability and Discipleship group with 5 of the finest young men around; Caleb, Aaron, Alex, Heston, and the Cheesburger.  They are committing themselves to daily bible study and prayer as well as working through some discipleship materials that encourage them to sh are their faith.  As part of this we are going to be discussing a few things on this blog, and we would love to hear the thoughts of others as well as our group.  Have fun!

Question #1

Is it easier to share your faith with people you already know, or with strangers?  Why?

 I look forward to hearing from you!

Ahh, Business Meeting, Sweet Business Meeting

Tonight was a bittersweet evening for me.  In the midst of a business meeting, (I know there’s plenty of punchlines that could be inserted here: Q. What’s the difference between a Baptist Business Meeting and a den of lions?  A. God shut the lions’ mouths.  But I would never insert something like that here.)  There was a request for letter from two couples who used to be members of our church.  The Sadlers and the Lyerlas both moved away more than a year ago and have both united with local churches in North Carolina and Tennessee, where they have relocated.  They were both a part of a very fulfilling and rewarding time in my ministry and it was great to see that they had found great churches to serve together with, but I have to be honest, I miss them too.  Hope you guys have rewarding ministries where God has planted you, and remember we’ll always hold in common the funniest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.  Thanks Abe.

Don’t call it a church!

Here’s a racap of today’s chapel service at SouthEastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC as heard from my best friend in the whole world, The right reverend bishop Timothy Sadler, or GP for short. 

 Erwin Raphael McManus was introduced as the pastor of Mosaic Church in California.  McManus then proceeds to ask them not to call it Mosaic Church, just call it Mosaic.  He then went on to say that he doesn’t introduce himself as Erwin McManus “Human Being”, the fact that he is a human being is evident.  He then went on to say that if we have to introduce our congregations as a “Church” then we probably aren’t being one. 

Great question, is it evident that the believers you congregate with every week are a “Church”?