Tin Man

Did anyone see the SciFi Channel's miniseries, Tin Man? I didn't get a chance to watch it when it first debuted but I did record and we just finished watching it. The series gets a BIG thumps up from me. If you haven't seen it and like fantasy and science fiction, you'll like this movie, miniseries.

You can read more about it at SciFi.com. The movie is a modern day retelling of The Wizard of Oz. I didn't really like The Wizard of Oz but I definitely liked Tin Man. The writers, producers, and director have creatively used the images and symbols from the past movie to make this one. You will find the names of cities, people, and objects in the new but sometimes used in a slightly different way. This movie is longer and probably more intricate. I thought is was superbly done, well acted, and had terrific action and drama. The twist is in Dorothy's identity. It is worth your time (6 hours unless you have a commercial skip button). If you saw it let me know what you thought of it.

Blondes and Images

A new study (which you can read about here) shows that it is not blondes who are actually dumb but people who look at blondes or pictures of blondes. In the study men were shown pictures of blondes and then given a general-knowledge test. They scored below par on the test. The article doesn't describe what "below par" means but I guess we are supposed to intuitively get the meaning. I've noticed in the past that men tend to act "stupider" in the presence of a blonde (usually trying to impress her) but had never expected that we men would also be affected by a mere picture. Women also scored lower on the test when shown the same pictures. The purpose of the study was to show how we react to stereotypes and cultural beliefs. To some degree the study suggests we become what we believe about what we are viewing. You need to read that sentence carefully.

I wonder if this is part of the reason why God prohibited images being made of Him? If we tend to act according to our beliefs when viewing pictures of blondes, then viewing an image of a god should also affect us as well. Although this study is probably not considered all that scientific by some in the know, I wonder if there isn't at least some truth to the conclusions drawn by the researchers.

If we do not use images of God then He remains invisible, mysterious, powerful, spiritual, transcendent, and sovereign. With an image He becomes manageable. Interesting how a study about how people view blondes can make you think about our relationship to God.

Bob's Reading Level

Get a Cash Advance

So what does this mean? I guess it means I'm smarter than a fifth grader.

Jesus' Mighty Men

I was writing an article for the bulletin on Veteran's Day. I used 2Samuel 23:8-38 for honoring our military. I don't know whether or not it's an exact parallel but I thought it close enough. As I was writing the article and reading the text, it struck me that the text mentions two groups of David's men, the thirty and the Three. Several men have a name almost of the Three but they are not of the Three. This got me to thinking about Jesus' three - Peter, James, and John. I wonder if the Gospels are hinting that Jesus has his three just as David did? I don't think I've ever read anything that draws a parallel between David and Jesus in this regard. Has anyone ever read anything that suggests this? Has anyone ever thought of this parallel?

These three get more mention in the Gospels than any of the other apostles. They also are the one's that Jesus generally takes with him on special occasions (like the Transfiguration). Peter gets to preach the first gospel proclamation. James is the first to die in persecution. John gets to hang around and probably is the last to die. They do seem to occupy a special place in the body of Christ. So are they Jesus' Three?

Meet the Beatles

Last Saturday Pat, Loni, and I got to see the Beatles in concert. Not really, it was a tribute band called Revolution. You can read about their story here. The concert was sponsored by the Mount Dora Music Festival. You can read about the festival here. Mount Dora is renovating an old theater into a "concert boutique." They hope to extend the theater's seating and turn it into a really nice place for concerts.

This concert was unique in that probably 85% of the people were over 50. There were a few young adults and even some teens but mostly baby boomers trying to remember the glory years of the 60s. The band really did a good job of playing the Beatles' songs just the way the Beatles did. The first half of the concert was the early Beatles. Then they came out dressed in Sgt. Pepper outfits and did later stuff by the Beatles. What a great time we had listening to the Beatles.

Book Review - Biblical Preaching

With my last post I mentioned that I was planning on reading Robinson's book and trying to follow his methodology. My purpose was to regain some discipline in my preparation. I've read numerous books on homiletics over the years and think that I've tried to allow all of them to influence me so that I might find my own voice (style). I think in some ways that I've reached that goal but I don't think that I've figured out how to speak to my audience in my voice (style). So I'm going to follow Robinson's methodology and see what happens. Robinson has influenced quite a few people in the field of homiletics. I'm talking not only students and preachers but writers of homiletics as well. I will probably be reviewing some of those books in the future as well.

I read Robinson's first edition sometime back in the late 80s. I didn't really absorb the book and its details immediately. Things sometimes have to simmer on my back burner before I really understand how to use them. I think Robinson and other homileticians have simmered long enough. I picked up Robinson's book at a local Bible bookstore outlet center for about half price. There are 10 chapters in the book, as well as an appendix with a sample sermon. The chapters take the reader from text selection to finished product in 10 stages. The stages do not correspond to the chapters. Robinson opens with two chapters on an explanation about expository preaching and "the big idea." Robinson is saying that most preaching should be based on a coherent passage and a single idea. This single idea (a.ka. the big idea) is the heart of his methodology. Once he establishes these two points the book then explains how to reach the finished sermon.

There are several strengths to Robinson's book. One is that it provides a disciplined approach to sermon preparation. I believe that if one follows this approach, the finished sermon will be of good quality. Another strength is the "big idea" that has become Robinson's trademark. The "big idea" approach gives the sermon a focus and keeps the preacher from wandering and the congregation from wondering what in the world he is talking about.

The book also has its weaknesses. One is that his stage on studying the passage is not very clear. Tom Long (The Witness of Preaching) and Fred Craddock (Preaching) both have excellent sections on the study process. Robinson should have incorporated a better section on studying the passage with this second edition. Another weakness is application. Even though I believe that I do a fairly good job of trying to address how to apply my sermons, I still feel the need to find something that will help me make sure that I'm providing good application suggestions. Robinson talks about application but like most books on preaching really ends up short. There is a chapter in The Big Idea of Biblical Preaching that will help.

Robinson's book has echoes of Charles Koller (How to Preach without Notes), Lloyd Perry (Biblical Preaching for Today's World), and a host of others. His methodology has some similarities to Tom Long's. It is well worth your time as a preacher to invest in the book and to follow his methodology if only to see how it fits into your already established sermon preparation.
I'm trying to incorporate some of Long's and Craddock's study procedures into Robinson's overall approach. Maybe some day down the road I'll let you know how I've benefited from this approach.

Book Review - The Big Idea of Biblical Preaching

Several authors have collaborated to write a book that tries to further the idea that Haddon Robinson put in his classic homiletic text - Biblical Preaching. The contributors are trying to demonstrate that Robinson's style of preparing expository sermons is still relevant to our diverse culture.

The book is divided into three parts. Part One has two chapters and is geared toward showing why "the big idea" of the text and sermon packs a good homiletical punch. Part Two, with five chapters, focuses on the biblical and theological power of "the big idea." This section takes us through literary types and culture types. Part Three has four chapters and is dedicated to getting "the big idea" across in our sermons.

The weakest chapter was Chapter 6 (The Big Idea and Biblical Theology's Grand Theme) by Bruce L. Shelley. The chapter was weak because "the big idea" of the chapter wasn't really about biblical theology and the grand theme of the Bible. It was more about getting across the emotion (I would have preferred "mood") of the text. I agree with what the author said in his chapter, so it wasn't weak in the sense that what he said didn't relate to the theme of the book. It was weak because his chapter content and chapter title didn't match up. The chapter should have been called "The Big Idea and the Mood of the Text." Then another chapter should have focused on Biblical Theology and the Grand Theme of the Bible.

The highlight of the book was two chapters. Donald Sunukjian (doesn't anyone know how to pronounce his name?) in chapter 8 wrote about allowing the flow of the text to influence the flow of your sermon. It was such an excellent chapter that I have his book at the top of my "books to buy NOW" list.

The other great chapter was by Joseph Stowell III on "Preaching for a Change" (chapter 9). He made some excellent suggestions on how to build application into your lessons. I think trying to have effective applications in my lessons is my weakest part. Stowell's were the best I've read.

This is a highly recommend book for preachers. Your style will be enhanced by reading and incorporating the suggestions found here. I would also recommend that you find the books of the contributors and read them as well. I have several of their books on my list. I liked this book so much that I've decided to reread Robinson's book and try to follow his methodology for a while. I have read so many books on homiletics (and tried to incorporate way too many ideas) that I have felt I don't really have a style of my own. Or maybe it's just that I feel I lack good discipline. I like what I've read about Robinson's method so I'm going to try it for a while and see what happens.

I Vant Yur Blood!

You Could Be a Vampire... If You Had To

Like most people, the thought of being a vampire has crossed your mind. But you're not sure if you'd do it, even if you could. Living forever doesn't sound half bad, if you could live forever with the people you love the most. But do vampires even love? And would the vampire version of you even be you? It's all too much to contemplate. Luckily, the chances of you ever becoming a vampire are astronomically low. What you would like best about being a vampire: Living forever What you would like least about being a vampire: Blood stained teeth

Could You Be a Vampire?

More Revelations about Bob!

You Are Changing Leaves

Pretty, but soon dead.

What Part of Fall Are You?

I got an A!

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

My Mother and Wife should be very proud of me.

You are what you eat!

What Your Pizza Reveals

Your appetite is pretty average. You don't go overboard - but you don't deprive yourself either. You consider pizza to be bread... very good bread. You fit in best in the Midwest part of the US. You like food that's traditional and well crafted. You aren't impressed with "gourmet" foods. You are generous, outgoing, and considerate with your choices. You are cultured and intellectual. You should consider traveling to Vienna. The stereotype that best fits you is emo. You think you're special... and you kind of are.

What Does Your Pizza Say About You?

So here is what my pizza-eating habits say about me. I wonder what other foods reveal our personalities? So have you taken the test?

Book Review - Preaching that Speaks to Women

Preaching that Speaks to Women was written by Alice P. Mathews. The book got my attention because the introduction is written by Haddon Robinson. The book is not about women's role in the church. It is a rather good attempt to help preachers understand a group that represents more than half of any congregation.

Ms. Mathews first chapter deals with the myths of the differences between men and women. She acknowledges that there are biological differences and discusses how she sees our culture mitigating those differences in women. She ends up somewhere in the middle of the discussion of "nature vs. nurture." She tries quite hard to end up in the discussion where she admits the differences but doesn't want anyone to think she believes in a stereo-typical male or female mindset. I think that some other authors will do a better job of showing the biological differences between the two genders but Ms. Mathews does a good job of showing that the differences exist and how those differences need to be considered by the preacher.

She organizes her book around the biblical statement that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Each of the statements refer to areas of importance to women.

chp.2 - love with our hearts: deals with ethical decisions.
chp.3 - love with our souls: deals with the psychology of women
chp.4-6 - love with our minds: deals with epistemology (I thought this was the best of the book. Her discussion on postmodernism is quite good. this is also the hardest section of the book because of the deep subject matter)
chp.7-8 - love with our strength: deals with women's abilities and gifts
chp.9 - how women feel marginalized
chp.10 - practical advice

Each chapter is organized by the following pattern:
1. Discusses the topic
2. How this topic applies to preaching
3. Summing up the chapter
4. Questions to Ponder

I really liked this book and heartedly recommend it to every preacher. The author did not have a theological agenda about male/female roles in the church. I think that any preacher from conservative to liberal will find a lot to chew on and digest. One thing to note, this is not an easy read. She doesn't use big words but she delves into concepts (postmodernism, epistemology, etc.) that require a good deal of thinking. Some may see her practical suggestions in chapter 10 as concession to feminism but I think if we dig a little deeper we will see that we speak to a different breed of people today and we need to alter our terminology without altering our doctrine. I think her suggestions will play well in any congregation.

One goal that I've made concerning my sermons is paying closer attention to my illustrations. In one of her chapters she recounts a speaking engagement where she opened using an illustration concerning her sewing machine. She jokingly said at the end that this illustration was payback for all the football illustrations used by male preachers. She got quite a laugh and response to that joke. I got the point real quick. I'm trying to limit but not avoid stories or jokes from the male realm of things. I hope that this focus will engage the ladies in my congregation more.

Strange Funeral

Since Trey told Lisa that he's done funerals for just about every kind of pet I thought maybe he could appreciate this story. Pat received it from a kindergarten teacher we know back in New Jersey.

As a young minister, I was asked by a funeral director to hold a
grave-side service for a homeless man, with no family or friends.
The funeral was to be held at a cemetery way back in the country,
and this man would be the first to be laid to rest there.

As I was not familiar with the backwoods area, I became lost; and
being a typical man did not
stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late. I saw the
backhoe and the crew, who was eating lunch, but the hearse was
nowhere in sight. I apologized to the workers for my
tardiness, and stepped to the side of the open grave, where I saw
the vault lid already in place. I assured the workers I would not
hold them up for long, but this was t he proper thing to
do. The workers gathered around, still eating their lunch. I poured

out my heart and soul. As I preached the workers began to say
"Amen," "Praise the Lord," and "Glory"! I preached,
and I preached, like I'd never preached before: from Genesis all
the way to Revelations. I closed the lengthy service with a prayer
and walked to my car. As I was opening the door
and taking off my coat, I overheard one of the workers saying to
another, "I ain't never seen anything like that before and I've
been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

I thought this story was hilarious. I've got a couple of stories like this only not involving a funeral. Perhaps I'll share one of those soon. Enjoy.

Fees for Speaking

Have you ever wondered what some celebrities charge for speaking? Well here is a partial list. Interesting that no politicians are mentioned. Some I recognize and some I don't but these are for you to ponder.

Alan Thicke - $10,001-$20,000
D.L. Hughley - $10,001-$20,000.
Jerry Stiller - $10,001-$20,000
Star Jones - $20,001-$30,000
Carson Kressley - $20,001-$30,000.
Carson Daly - $30,001-$50,000
Diane Sawyer - $30,001-$50,000.
Suzanne Somers - $30,001-$50,000.
Anderson Cooper - $50,001-$100,000.
Jimmy Kimmel - $50,000-$100,000
Kelly Ripa - $50,001-$100,000.
Bill Cosby - $100,000 and up.
Martha Stewart - $100,000 and up.
Jon Stewart - $100,000 and up.
Donald Trump - $200,000 and up.


You can read a little more about each celebrity and their fee here.

Biblical Preaching

Here's an excellent article by William Willimon (definitely one of my favorite authors) that you should read. I personally think he's hit the nail on the head even though the article is 12 years old. I hope Don in particular reads it, considering his latest post which you can read here. I think you will find it enlightening. This article is found at Expository Thoughts. It is one of the blogs where I frequently find interesting ideas for sermons and sermon series.

Planning your sermons

During my first year of pulpit work (second year of full time ministry) we went on a foliage trip (October) with Pat's parents. Lisa was just 3 months old. We stopped every couple of hours so Pat could feed her. During one stop Lon and I got to talking (we were always talking Bible or some related topic) and the subject of planning one's sermons came up. Lon told me that the seminaries teach their students to spend a week during the summer planning their sermons for next year. I needed a plan badly because Monday morning was torture trying to figure out what to preach on Sunday. My plan was to preach sermon series. I started with biblical topics (worship, faith, salvation, evangelism, etc.) and wrote down titles of sermons that would help develop the big topic. I did the same thing with whole books of the Bible. I might choose a theme from a book and then develop that theme. Or I might just preach through the book verse by verse or paragraph by paragraph or section by section (depending on how big the book was). I might choose a section of a book that was just made for a sermon series (Sermon on the Mount, etc.). I found endless possibilities. That month I started my plan for the next year. I didn't have a clue as to the needs of my congregation. The congregation seemed to diverse to me to come up with a single set of needs. So I decided to preach a balanced set of sermons. Kind of like preparing a balanced meal for a family. I planned sermons from the OT, from the NT, from the Gospels, some expository, some topical, a book series, and I worked my plan. So beginning in 1980 to this present year, I have planned out my sermon titles and texts each year for the next year. Over the years, anytime the elders have suggested that the congregation needs a particular sermon, I have always interrupted whatever series I was on and fulfilled their request.

So what do you other preachers do in regards to planning your sermons? Do you do it by the year, by the quarter, by the month, or week to week? What plan do you use? Part of the reason I'm asking is because of a post Don just did (here). His discussion of how to preach to the entire congregation got me to thinking about how I plan my sermons. I recently found a book on planning your preaching that I haven't had a chance to read and digest. Maybe I will read it and do a review on it sometime soon. This is one area where I would really love to get some good ideas and input.

For those of you who don't preach, can you discern a plan or pattern in your preacher's sermons? Or have they shared with you what their plan is? Or maybe you've given this topic some thought and have some ideas of your own. Please share.

Actual Me

According to a short test this is the actual me.






I wonder what the other options are?

St. Augustine, FL

Pat and I got to spend 3 days and 2 nights (well sort of) in St. Augustine courtesy of Bass Pro Shops. Bass Pro was promoting their partnership in a time share resort for $49 for this stay. We had wanted to visit St. Augustine and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Of course we had to listen to an hour and a half sales pitch (which turned into 3 hours). We said no. But they kept a coming. There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago. But they kept a coming. A deal designed for our low income situation. We said no. Another aspect to sweeten the deal. We said no. But wait there's more. A sampler package. We still said no. And you can apply this amount to the down payment later on. What part of no don't you understand? Finally we received a cell phone number and 2 $25 gift cards to Bass Pro Shops. Now that's what I'm talking about. Can't wait to go to Orlando and use those cards.


This is the Castillo de San Marcos, built by the Spanish between 1672 and 1695. It was built after Sir Francis Drake (a corsair at the time, a sort of state-approved pirate) attacked the city of St. Augustine. Since its completion it has never been taken during battle. Period (There's an illustration in there for someone's sermon.). The city has fallen several times but never the fort. We didn't have time to tour the fort (plus it was hot) but we will another time.



This is the lighthouse. We did climb all 219 steps to the top. What a view! Except that it was hot and a little hazy that day. We had a great time in America's oldest city. It was founded in Sept. 8. 1565 by Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles. He came ashore with 1,500 soldiers and colonists. If you want to read more about St. Augustine and its history you can click here. As you can tell we had a great time. Our accommodations were quite good. The only complaint - the heat. But the one really good thing - we were together.

Our Media Culture

Here are some links to some interesting posts at FaithVisuals. The first is a two part interview with Shane Hipps. Hipps wrote The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture. I would recommend reading it. He has some interesting insights because of his work in the advertising business. The folks at FaithVisuals had a two part interview with him that you can read beginning here. Then you can read the second part here. He doesn't reject the visual media outright but does explore cautionary thinking toward the use of video projectors during our sermons.

FaithVisuals also has an interesting post about using icons in your PowerPoint slides rather than photos. I think the author makes an interesting point. Read his insights here and see what you think. He claims that sometimes photos can be distracting since the photo represents something specific rather than an idea. For instance, if you are talking about the home and use a photo of a home, some might sit in the audience and think, "I like that home!" They are distracted from your point. But an icon of a house helps them to picture their own home rather than someone else's. I think to a degree that this discussion fits in with Hipps's discussion about the medium having a message all its own.

Another thought pertaining to distractions during a PowerPoint sermon, Dr. Arlene Taylor recommends using only a white background. She maintains that colors bring up memories and thus a distraction. Dr. Taylor has a bi-monthly enewsletter about research on the brain. You can read her discussion on the use of white backgrounds here. Scroll down to the Q&A section. I suppose anything can be a distraction to anyone. You can never be sure of whether a fragrance, color, article of clothing, a word, or almost anything could be a distraction.

So what do some of you preachers do with your PowerPoint slides? How do you craft a presentation? For those of you who don't preach, what do your preachers do with PowerPoint? What do you think is an effective use of PowerPoint? I've been thinking about this for some time now. I've read a couple of books but I'm still trying to grow and learn. Share your thoughts with me.

Messy Spirituality - Book Review

Michael Yaconelli’s book, Messy Spirituality, is all about living the Christian life in the real world. Overall it’s a good book. It has a good list of strengths. The most obvious strength is that Yaconelli reminds us we are imperfect. Living the Christian life doesn’t mean being perfect. We mess up occasionally and more often than we are often willing to admit. In the midst of our messiness God continues to save us and grant us grace.

Another strength is that Yaconelli doesn’t offer any quick fixes. You will not find a chapter entitled “30 days to a new you.” In fact Yaconelli even has a quote from Eugene Peterson, who entitled one of his books A Long Obedience In The Same Direction. Peterson’s book title speaks for itself and probably represents Yaconelli’s view on the development of spirituality. Peterson is of the mind that spirituality happens over a lifetime. Yaconelli believes the same.

Yaconelli also reminds us that we grow at different rates, in different ways, and in different areas. He mentions a woman who was present in his assembly and she forgot to prepare communion, which they were supposed to have that day. It dawned on her during the assembly that she forgot and she said one colorful word out loud that let everyone knew she suddenly remembered. We all have stories like that but I’m sure there are some who wish we didn’t.

At the start of each chapter Yaconelli has some great quotes from other writers. The quotes are almost as valuable as his prose. One of these days I’m going to take some of his quotes and use them for an article on my blog.

The book does have a couple of weaknesses. It is mostly anecdotal which is both a strength and a weakness. It is a string of stories about real people who mess up (I found myself in a lot of those stories). This fits in well with his purpose - to demonstrate we aren’t perfect. But so many of them left me with the feeling I had reading some salesperson’s book trying to prove how good one can do at selling. There are literally hundreds of stories showing how much you can make selling anything. After awhile you are tempted to say, “Enough already!” A few well chosen stories would have made his point (IMHO) just as well.

I felt he could have used a little more scriptural exposition. There are some great passages that would have fit in well Yaconelli’s premise. Like 1John 1:5-10. John basically tells us that we are going to mess up even though we are in the presence of the God who is light and has no darkness. We are in the presence of perfection. Yet if we deny our imperfections we are self-deceived and call God a liar. Maybe this is a personal preference. I tend to judge lectureships and books by how much they increase my knowledge of Scripture. Others will perhaps like the lack of Scriptural exposition in favor of his stories.

The biggest weakness in my mind is that he doesn’t interact with the tension between stigma (or shame) and grace. Years ago, Phillip Yancy had a back page editorial called “A Tale of Two Sisters” (Christianity Today, December 11, 1995). It was a fabulous article. It’s subtitle was “Can we find a place for shame and grace?” which expresses well what Yancey was trying to do. He told the story of two sisters. One who ruled her family with a legalistic iron hand. Her family devotionals were about punishment from the Old Testament. All five of her kids deal with self-esteem issues but they were all faithful to their mates and raising their children in their faith (save for one). The other lived in grace. Her devotionals were from the Gospels. She didn’t punish her kids and eschewed the legalism of her past. All of her kids were unfaithful, drug addicts, and did not follow mom’s faith. Interesting tale. Yancey did a good job of interacting with the tension those two concepts create. Yaconelli did not. In fact Yaconelli gives the impression that he is like the sister of grace and that he wouldn’t allow the legalistic sister any place in his assembly. Shame or stigma should have a place in our spiritual growth in keeping us on the path (1Corinthians 4:14; 6:5).

Anyway, I would recommend Messy Spirituality for most anyone to read. Its basic premise that our sanctification is lived out in the realm of our imperfections is sorely needed in our churches. It could serve as a correction to our tight-lipped lives where we don’t reveal anything to others about ourselves. I think we preachers especially feel vulnerable about revealing our “messy spirituality” since to reveal such might in the eyes of some make us less of a spiritual leader. I like books that show the cracks in our spiritual journey and this book certainly does just that.

Not Your Father's Vdub

Ephesians and Grace

I was doing a little research on a Greek part of speech for an upcoming class. I was consulting my old Greek text (Greek To Me by J. Lyle Story & Cullen I. K. Story) and I came across this quote that reminded me of my purpose in preaching.

The imperative mood aids our understanding of the letter to the Ephesians. In the first three chapters, the imperative appears only once (2:11), because at the outset, the writer desires to highlight the grace of God that unites Jew and Gentile in one body in Christ. The indicative mood pre-eminently, can do just that. In contrast, chapters 4-6 contain some 38 imperatives, which point us to the disciplined life that flows forth from the grace of God portrayed in chapters 1-3.

I have taught for a number of years that most of Paul's letters have a pattern to them. Paul first reminds his readers of the grace of God in Christ. Then he tells them have to live in view of that grace. Paul's use of the imperative mood in Ephesians really brings home this pattern. This pattern also becomes my two purposes in preaching.

My first purpose in preaching is to proclaim God's mighty act of salvation and deliverance in Jesus Christ. It is an accomplished task that didn't need or use any of we humans to accomplish (yes he used us in carrying out the plan - like Judas - but not in the sense which I mean in this sentence). It was done solely by God. It is given to us freely. We didn't earn it.

The other purpose in my preaching is to make known that God's grace binds us to the "disciplined life." This life can only be lived out in the context of the cross. We preachers need to make sure that we pay as much attention to preaching about the grace of God through Jesus Christ as we do how to live the Christian life. Our folks need to know that while they live the Christian life God is graciously smiling down upon them because they are living that life while trusting in him.

It's My Party

Okay, today is my birthday. What year was I born? Here are some clues:

Events
1. Georgi Malenkov is named Premier of the Soviet Union
2. Japanese runner Keizo Yamada wins the Boston Marathon
3. JFK & Jackie announce their engagement
4. FCC approves color for TV
5. Small Business Administration is created
6. Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay become first humans to reach summit of Mt. Everest
7. Queen Elizabeth II is crowed in England
8. Earl Warren is chosen as chief justice for the Supreme Court
9. TV Guide begins publication
10. New York adopts the three-color traffic light

People born the same year
1. John Malkovich
2. Kim Basinger
3. Louie Anderson
4. Bobby Rahal
5. Mary Steenburgen
6. Joanna Kerns
7. Rick Moranis
8. Tony Blair

Movies
1. From Here to Eternity
2. Peter Pan
3. The War of the Worlds (w/o Tom Cruise)
4. Gentleman Prefer Blondes
5. Shane
6. How to Marry a Millionaire

Sports News
1. World Series - NY Yankees
2. US Open Golf - Ben Hogan
3. Pro Football Champs - Detroit Lions (pre Super Bowl days)
4. Indy 500 - Bill Vukovich (128.740 MPH)
5. Stanley Cup - Montreal Canadiens
6. NCCA Basketball - Indiana (pre Bobby Knight days)
7. College Football - Maryland
8. Heisman Trophy - John Lattner from Notre Dame (Go Irish)
9. Braves move from Boston to Milwaukee

Here are the clues. Can your brain figure it out? Can't figure out the year? Then figure out the decade. Was it early in the decade or late? I'll give you the answer shortly.

So whadda you think?

Is this a father/son look-a-like pic fest or what?

A Link & Some Tools

Apparently I'm not the only one who connected the new movie "Evan Almighty" with commercialism. Read what Pulpit Magazine said about it here. John MacArthur is the editor-in-chief of the blog.

I always have trouble remembering where I've left comments, especially if I follow a link to a new blog I have visited before. Plus I forget to bookmark the blog. CoComment is a new site to help you keep track of your comments and the comments on other blogs that are of interest to you. I don't think it works at all blogs (it hasn't worked at Tim Archer's Mac blog but it does work at his Blogspot blog) but I've found it works at almost all of them. When you go to the comment page, there is a bar at the bottom of the comment box and once you start typing a check appears that says you want this comment followed. It is still in the beta format but appears to be working fine. Check it out.

If you want a program to help you keep track of stuff you read on the Internet without having to open up Word and paste it to a document, there is a program called ClipMarks. You can clip text or images and put a tag on it (as Google Mail does with labels) so you can find it easily. I've been clipping images of books I find that I might want and tagging them "books" so that I can order them later on. I've also found text and images on other blogs that I want to keep so this helps me organize them and know where they are. Great program.

If anyone does go and try these new programs let me know how they work for you. If you have any programs that will help me let me know about them as well. Have a Great Weekend!

Long-haired Bobby

This picture was taken at Pepperdine University, downtown campus, winter of 1971. My sister Renee sent it to me. This isn't the longest my hair grew but it's the only picture I have of me with long hair. My family might have one or two others around someplace - hidden probably. When I left for Pepperdine in September I just started letting it grow. I wasn't a hippie or anything (too conservative in politics to be a hippie), I just wanted to look cool and exert my independence. When I got back in April after my first year, I cut it. I wanted to work for the summer and earn money for a car. Back then long hair on a young man just wasn't accepted in the workplace. I got a job at McDonalds. Maybe I'll see if my family has any pictures of my first car (1964 Corvair Monza. What a car!). What do you think Jel? Do I look good in long hair?

More on Ministry and Commercialism

Found this excerpt from a William Willimon article over at Theocentric Preaching. The excerpt come from an article you can read by clicking here. Willimon is another of my favorite authors.

We live in a consumer-driven, avaricious society where everything is turned into a commodity, even the gospel, and life is said to be fulfilled only through our choices, our ability to consumer cars and clothes and, even Christ. In such a climate, we must be careful about turning Sunday worship into just another opportunity to say, “Give me some of that.”

…Jesus is not simply about meeting my felt needs; he is also about rearranging my needs, not only about fulfilling my desires; he is also about transforming my desires. Jesus is wonderfully nonchalant about so many of my heart-felt desires. It’s amazing how many of my needs (material affluence, security, sexual fulfillment, happiness, etc.) appear not in the least to interest Jesus…

I recall that great preacher, William Sloane Coffin, telling us Yale students, “I don’t see how you can attract folk to Jesus by appealing to their basic selfishness - ‘Jesus can fix everything that’s wrong with you’ - and end up offering anything like the self-less, self-denying faith of Jesus.”

When, in Seeker Services, do we pull out the cross? When, as we’re touting all the benefits of Jesus, do we also say to them, “By the way, Jesus said that anyone who bought into his message would also suffer and die.”

I believe that today’s “Seekers” are seeking many things, but I am unsure that many of them are seeking a cruciform savior or a cruciform life. That’s fine since the Bible hardly ever, almost never depicts anybody seeking Jesus. Rather, the story is about God’s relentless seeking of us in Christ.

Willimon has really tried to push his agenda of not preaching to felt needs in the past few years. I think that he is beginning to see the end result of such preaching. It comes from the "be all you can be" kind of thinking. This is great for the military and for the business world. In the religious world Jesus came to be all we should have been. Thank God my lack doesn't keep me from a right relationship with God. Thank God that his perfection makes me whole.

Beatles Survey

Forty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released (June 2, 1967). This album generated more attention than any other Beatles album. The reason for the platitudes was that it was the first "concept" album. Most everyone agrees that musically it may not have been their best album but it certainly created the most buzz. Anyway, in honor of the this grand occasion here are some survey questions.

1. Did you watch their first TV appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show?
2. Did you watch any of their other appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show?
3. Did you ever see them live in concert?
4. What is your favorite Beatles' song?
5. What is your favorite Beatles' album?
6. Which one is your favorite Beatle?
7. What is your favorite song on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Album?

If you have some trivia about the album please share it. I love to hear stories about the Beatles and their exploits. Have fun!

A new era of computing

You have got to watch this video and tell me what you think.

Ministry Commercialism

There are many movies that lend themselves to creating commercial opportunities beyond the movie itself. One obvious movie is Shrek the Third. A certain fast food company is hawking the dolls and other paraphernalia associated with the movie. The kids just have to have this stuff. And while the family is eating a quick meal it's no big deal to add a couple of dolls to the tab. So movies often bring in more than just ticket sales. Not a bad day for capitalism. From a business standpoint it's actually a pretty good move.

I don't know if this is a trend but it appears that some movies may be doing the same thing for church ministries. A new movie, Evan the Almighty, is due out June 22. It's about a guy who is chosen by God to build an ark because a flood is coming (Wait a minute, didn't God promise that He wouldn't destroy the world again by a flood? So why is He reneging His promise?). The trailers for the movie appear quite funny. I'm actually thinking of going to see it just to see what happens. Morgan Freeman plays God (he also played God in Bruce Almighty - interesting!). Anyway, here is a link about obtaining paraphernalia from the movie for your ministry. What do you think? Is this a trend?

Memorial Day at Epcot

This Memorial Day we met our friends (Doug and Leslie Thatcher) from the Tabernacle congregation at Epcot. They come down to Disney a couple of times a year. They have friends in the Kissimmee - Judy and Ed. Eventually Doug and Leslie hope to move here (maybe two years). Anyway, we had a great time. The highlight of the day was the Gary Puckett concert. He had three half hour concerts. We got to the first two. Epcot's Test Track was waiting for us during his third concert. After the second concert we got to meet him, get an autograph, and take a picture. What a great guy he is! He still has a set of pipes on him (even at 65). I brought the liner notes from his greatest hits CD that I have for him to autograph. During his first concert he did a tribute to the vets in the audience. He had them stand in order for everyone to acknowledge them. Then he sang a song called "Home" which I had never heard. It was about a soldier wanting to go home and praying for the folks back home. It was a moving tribute and a great song. His music is still groovy!

Hey, I got a promotion!

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: The Right Reverend Robert the Subservient of Puddleston St Droop Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Lisa had a quirky thing at her blog. So I tried it. And now I'm a "Right Reverend!" I hope by next year I can take this test and become "The Holy Right Reverend." Then after that become "The Most Holy Right Reverend." I hope a pay raise comes with this promotion. But my biggest question is where is Puddleston St Droop?

Helping the Helper

I received an email from Tim Westbrook (Associate Director for Institute for Church & Family) telling me about an upcoming event called "Helping the Helper" on June 5-8 at Harding University. Tim claims the following:

The Institute for Church & Family would like to invite you to attend our
Helping the Helper seminar in June 5-8. We will cover your lodging and food
here on Harding's campus.

He also gives the following as a description of the seminar:

"In conjunction with Marriage and Family Therapy, we will host a seminar
designed to teach ministers and youth ministers how to reach out to those in
their communities who are hurting emotionally and mentally. All instructors
are licensed counselors with years of experience.

"The seminar is fluid dealing with sexual abuses, divorce, death, marriage,
mental abuse, mediation, etc."

He says that if anyone is interested they should contact Penny Light at 501-279-4660. Tim's email is twestbrook@harding.edu and the web site is http://www.churchandfamily.net/

I have been to their web site but couldn't find further information. This seems to be an interesting offering in light of the revelations of sexual abuse in the church by ministers in recent times. Does anyone know about this?

Trey's a College Graduate!

Simply Christian

How many of us have taught "first principles" classes in our churches? N. T. Wright's latest offering Simply Christian is an attempt to be sort of a first principles kind of book. It is following in the footsteps of C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity. I've been reading NT Wright for several years now and I've never thought to associate the words "simple" or "simply" with his writings. He is one of the deepest thinkers I've known even though he rarely uses big words. I never need a dictionary in reading him. This latest book continues that trend for me at least.

The book is divided into three sections. He follows a pattern similar to Lewis. The first section discusses four longings that Wright believes are universal to all humanity. He weaves these longings into the rest of the book to show that Christianity does make sense because it answers those longings. The second section of the book is about the Godhead and how God fulfills those longings. The third and last section concerns living out the image we find in the second section.

I had trouble reading the first section. Perhaps because it is Wright's reflection on how he sees the world. I knew what he was doing but still found it hard to follow. The second section was easier reading but the third was where I found myself slowing down and trying to take in every word. Maybe that's just me.

Wright states in his forward that he is writing for those inside and outside Christianity. Indeed the subtitle of his book is "Why Christianity Makes Sense." On the back of the dust cover is the recommendation of several well-known authors. Yet I don't think that these recommendations will tell others whether or not Wright's book has really accomplished his purpose. It seems to me that the publisher should have set up some kind of focus group that included a wide range of people inside and outside of Christianity. Then select recommendations from those groups for the dust cover. That would tell us if he really accomplished his purpose.

An interesting development is that Touchstone Magazine is featuring an article by Wright about C. S. Lewis's book Mere Christianity. You can read it online here. It is entitled aptly Simply Lewis. Then if you like you can join in a discussion about Wright's comments on their blog (here).
Wright brings up some interesting points about Lewis and Mere Christianity that I didn't know (of course I am not a Lewis scholar or avid fan, just a causal fan). I think it is well worth reading and will perhaps add to your understanding of Wright's book as well as Lewis's book.

I really believe that Wright's book is a valuable addition to a preacher's library. For me the highlight of the book was his brief section on baptism (p.212-215), . I started emphasizing some years ago that baptism was a participation (and identification with) by faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus in my invitations. I think that is the intent of baptism. Wright's discussion of baptism has really added to my understanding of baptism and its place in the proclamation of the gospel.

The interesting part of the book was his chapter on the New Creation. I was intrigued by his view that we are going to live on a redeemed earth when all is said and done. At this point I'm not sure about the whole discussion (you can go to Bobby Valentine's blog for a discussion from his perspective on the new creation - Bobby like Wright has some interesting points to make). However, Wright didn't really deal with the tension in the NT between the idea of a redeemed and liberated creation (Romans 8:18-25) and the idea that our citizenship is in heaven (Php.3:20-21). I have no doubt that part of God's redemption is restoring creation back to its original state. I'm just not sure whether that means we are going to inhabit it. What I do know is that we will be in eternal fellowship with God in a spiritual bodily state (1Cor.15:42-49) when all is said and done. I'm not sure this is an appropriate topic for new Christians. It will definitely be tough to teach it as Wright does in some of our congregations or even present it as a possibility. I think that is a pretty heady topic but I do understand why he included it.

All in all a good book. It will be valuable as resource material for those teaching first principle classes. It also serves as a reminder to the rest of us as to the general flow and content of the Bible. He seeks to take all the additional stuff religious people have added over the years and boil it down to what is simple and important.

Florida is for Lovers

We were introduced to a recurring phenomena last September here in Florida, love bugs. These crazy bugs emerge twice a year (late April,early May, and then September) to mate. Some of the locals call this "Fly United" season. I thought about calling this post "Love is in the air" in order to get a musical theme in.

These pests apparently migrated from parts west (Louisiana) to Florida. They are seen from South Carolina to Florida. If you want to read a little more about them click here. Last Thursday I got out my lawn mower but the bugs were so thick that I decided to wait until later. It is at times like this when I think God has a great sense of humor.

Public reading of Scripture Part II

While doing my senior thesis at Rochester College I came across this fascinating article in Interpretation Magazine by Donald Juel (Interpretation: Essays on Bible and Theology, January 1997, "The Strange Silence of the Bible," Donald Juel, p.5-19). The strange silence to which the article title refers is the lack of public reading in the assembly. Juel isn't talking about following a lectionary schedule, but rather practicing reading the Scriptures out loud for effect. Words are powerful and can be very powerful when spoken in the right way.

Juel actually makes two points in his article. First, the Bible was created to be read aloud (p.7). He maintains that part of this reason is that the Bible was created in a culture that was oral in nature. So even though we have a written text it is still meant to be read aloud. He mentions a time when the Gospel of Mark was "performed" in public. He noticed that the audience laughed on occasion. The reader knew how to dramatically portray the situation so that the audience not only heard what the text said, but heard the way in which Jesus might have spoken. The audience actually heard the exasperation in Jesus' voice from the text.

His second point is that we preachers (or teachers) haven't done our exegesis properly unless we read the text out loud (p.6). He gives three examples of texts where the reading might be done differently so that the audience will see something different in the text than what they normally see (Luke 15:11-32; Mark 15:39; Mark 4:1-20). In particular is the passage in Mark 15:39 where the centurion looks at the cross and claims that Jesus must have been God's son. A student in one of Juel's class suggested the text be read sarcastically. Of course that reading affected the way the class looked at the text and it's meaning. I haven't read out loud of late, but for a time I practiced this and found it to be helpful in my study each week. I would read the text aloud several times and from several translations. I tried to alter the way in which I read it each time.

I experienced this idea of reading the text out loud in public while we were in Tabernacle, NJ. One year we wanted to emphasize reading our Bibles daily in one year. So we kicked off the year on New Year's Eve by gathering at the building (in the old auditorium) and for two hours we read out loud from Genesis 1 to 25. As each man read a chapter I noticed that the text seemed to come more alive for me. It was better when a little inflection was added but still the over all effect was grand. Then on the fifth Wednesday during the rest of the year we read for services instead of our usual class. I would choose our section (Psalms, Gospels, and other sections) and assign the readings. I really loved that time. I would hear new things in the text I hadn't heard before. What a powerful experience.

One of the down sides to this is that we live in a society that is tied to the clock. One of my teachers at Sunset (can't remember which one - maybe Richard Rogers) used to say we were "clock-eyed." To really be effective we need more time in our assemblies to hear the word read out loud. If a congregation will take the time to listen, they will be hooked.

Interesting!

Anthony Esolen, editor of Touchstone Magazine and a Catholic, was invited to speak at Faulkner University. You can read about his impressions of the university and his reception here. It is fascinating to read about the contact that other individuals and groups have with us. Perhaps our reputation is not as bad here in the South as some claim it to be. Esolen was invited by the Great Books program to speak about Dante's Purgatory. Only the first paragraph of his post is about Faulkner, the rest is about some other experiences he had recently with other groups.

Public reading of Scripture

Paul wrote to Timothy (1Timothy 4:13):

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. (NIV & TNIV)

Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. (NASB)

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. (ESV)

Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. (NKJV & KJV)

It is interesting to me first that the word "Scripture" doesn't appear in this text yet several translations put it in assuming that is what Paul means when he tells Timothy to devote himself to reading. Only the KJV and the NKJV leave it out. I don't have any doubt that we should assume in interpreting this text that Paul is telling Timothy to pay attention to reading the Scriptures publicly to the gathered church.

What I would like to know is why in our fellowship (Churches of Christ for those of you who may not know my background) we did not include this as one of the acts of the assembly? It seems pretty obvious to me that reading of Scripture was approved in Scripture and practiced by the early church (and even in the Old Testament). This is why lectionaries developed. I have the church where I serve now (and churches in the past) read my text for preaching just before the sermon. But I have not talked them into reading a text or text's as part of a pattern.

I have several questions for all of you who may come by.

1. Does your congregation have Scripture reading as part of your worship service apart from reading the text for preaching?
2. What pattern do you use for reading Scripture? Do you use a lectionary or some other way of choosing the text or texts to be read?
3. Was this a part of the congregation's worship service before you came? If not was it difficult for you to have them start doing it? How did you convince them they should have reading of Scripture as a regular part of the assembly?
4. How is the reading working out? Have you noticed a difference in the congregation?
5. Are you working on developing this as a part of your assembly?

I think I like this!

You Are Mexican Food

Spicy yet dependable. You pull punches, but people still love you.

What Kind of Food Are You?

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting. You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

I took this quiz over at Lisa's blog and these are my results. I'm pleased. Considering my post yesterday the first result is understandable. I like what kind of cookie I am since that is my absolute favorite cookie. Loni and I bake really good chocolate chip cookies. In fact we have doug in the refrigerator right now and will probably make some tonight (we ate up the home made ice cream last night). Still how can you tell what kind of food or cookie you are from just five questions? I guess this is a part of blogging, silly stuff on occasion. So take the quiz and have some fun.

guacamole live

When we were visiting Pat's folks (Lon [Grandy] & Jeanne [Nana] Mohundro) recently we went out to South of the Border for lunch. They had an interesting appetizer called Guacamole Live. The server actually came to your table with avocados and various extras (cilantro, jalapeños, tomatoes, onions, lime, etc,) and mixed up the guacamole right there while you watched. You of course got to control what all went in but what a treat (that is if you love guacamole). So Loni and I decided to have guacamole live at our house tonight. Pat planned to have tacos for dinner, so Loni bought avocados and other goodies and we made guacamole (pictured above). Instead of frying corn tortillas (we usually do them soft and not crispy) we had flour tortillas (fajitas style). It was great. Now anyone want to share a guacamole recipe? Loni and I are looking to expand our taste bud horizons.

Bob's First Golf Tournament

Since not many of you appreciated my sense of humor with the last post I will move on to golf. Yesterday I got to play in a golf tournament (Trey are you jealous? That's Trey my son not Trey Morgan). It was a fund raiser for Central Florida Bible Camp (click here). The tournament was a scramble type. For those of you like me who are not as up on golf terminology, a scramble tournament means that you play as a team (foursome). When the team tees off, the team decides which tee shot is the best. All the team members then place their balls within a club length's of the ball. They continue that process to the flag. The first putt made counts for the whole team as well. So the whole team ends up with the same score. Our team shot an 82, 10 over par. Not bad for my third game ever and my first tournament ever. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Of course my score is due to my team members (Doug Horton, Eddie Stillwell, and Ricky Brown). I had two tee shots that were the best of my team and a couple of putts that went in first as well. Each team started at a designated hole and we just happen to start at #1. We shot a 43 for the first nine and 39 for the back nine. We shot par on only 2 holes in the first nine and six on the last nine. I had so much fun. It turns out the Bible School here has a couple of fund raising tournaments a year and I plan on playing in them as well. Plus several men in the congregation here are serious players and want me to play a round with them. I guess after all these years, I'm going to have to take up golf.

Top Ten Ways You Can Tell Someone Near You Is Only Using 1 Square Of Toilet Paper Per Visit

I'm sure you have heard Sheryl Crow's suggestion that we all do our part in helping to be more environmentally conscious by using only one square of toilet paper per visit. I thought I would help you identify those close to you might be actually taking Ms. Crow's suggestion seriously. I'm sure most would not discuss such delicate matters in public so you might need to know the signs of those who are "green" when it comes to toilet paper. So here are the Top Ten Ways To Identify Someone Close To You Who Is Using Only 1 Square Of Toilet Paper Per Visit.

10. They are constantly running comparison tests at home trying to decide which toilet paper is the thickest and most absorbent.
9. They ask restaurant managers how many plies the toilet paper in the restrooms have.
8. They run comparisons tests at home to see which toilet paper is the thickest and most absorbent.
7. They have a new gig - doing commercials for the toilet paper company that claims to have the thickest and most absorbent paper.
6. They're getting fatter - saved money from toilet paper goes for more food.
5. No one shakes hands with them.
4. People are seen running away from them holding their noses.
3. Their hands have turned a funky color.
2. They've dumped their stock in toilet paper and purchased Clean Butt's Bidetspa stock.
1. They've put photovaltaic cells on their roof to power their new Clean Butt's Bidetspa and save electricity.

Not my birthday today but . . .

More Fun Quizzes at QuizPox.com

Jack Bauer & Battery Life

We are currently trying to upgrade our cell phones. We've been pouring over the specs to see which ones are the best. One of the specs that is important to us is talk time or to put it another way, battery life. Most of the phones we've looked at are rated at somewhere between 3 hours and 4 hours of talk time. Standby time (no talking just waiting) is somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 plus hours (some as high as 16 days or 384 hours). So if no one calls you, your battery can last up to 16 days without recharging (yea right). But if someone (or several someones) does call you have at most 4 hours or so before you need to recharge.

So how does Jack Bauer talk on his cell phone during the 24 hour crisis he faces each season? I have yet to see him charging his phone in his car or at CTU. Maybe he carries around extra batteries (at least 6, 6 batteries X 4 hours of talk time = 24 hours). He carries around ammo clips so why not batteries? I have yet to see him change a battery. Maybe he does it while he's off the camera and we are seeing another scene.

Then again I have never timed how much time he spends on his cell phone. Maybe if we timed it he doesn't use his cell phone for more than 4 hours. You know that would be an interesting feat for someone, timing how much Jack Bauer uses his cell phone on 24. I can just see it now on Trivial Pursuit under the "Entertainment" category - How much time does Jack Bauer actually spend on his cell phone during the season of 24?

Christians as Victims

I was reading in World Magazine about an incident that took place in my former home state of New Jersey. Indeed the incident took place in the very county where we lived for 10 years, Burlington. It seems that Burlington Township High School on March 22 of this year staged a terrorist drill to help prepare the school in the event of a terrorist attack. Two police officers stormed the school masquerading as the terrorists. So far so good. The problem came when the local residents discovered the script for the scenario. It seems that the masquerading police officers were pretending to be members of a right-wing fundamentalist group called "The New Crusaders" who don't believe in separation of church and state. In the script a daughter of one of the members was expelled from the school for praying before class. The attack was in retribution for the expelling. Details of the script leaked and all ----broke loose! (how about all heaven broke loose?)

Anyway, local and national Christian leaders demanded a formal apology from the police department and the school. Legal action is being considered. It seems they felt that blaming conservative Christians is not only "inappropriate but outrageous, and raises serious constitutional questions as well." (quoted from World Magazine, April 21, 2007; p.28) Our religious tenor today has approached the victimology used by other groups. If everyone else is doing it, hey, why don't we?

Contrast this approach with the Apostles in Acts 5:40-41. The apostles had been arrested and while the Council was debating what to do with them Gamaliel warned them to take care because if the actions of the Apostles were of God they could not stop the Apostles. The Council decided to flog the Apostles and then ordered them not to speak in Jesus' name. The Apostles went away rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus. Oh for us to return to that kind of an attitude.

It is a shame that our country was founded on principles from the Christian-Judeo heritage and that now our society seems to be doing everything possible to stop us from having any political influence. Certain ones in our society want to lower the moral standards that we find in the Bible. It appears to me that there is a concerted effort underway to undermine Christian teaching and influence in the public arena. Maybe instead of responding to these outrageous insults with surprise, shock, and threats of lawsuits, we should take to the streets with prayer, rejoicing that God has found us worthy to suffer for His name. Maybe we should thank those that attack our faith. Maybe we should claim James 1:2. What kind of response from the media would that create? I dont think they would know what to do with us.

Where's Bob?

I am currently in Christiansburg, VA visiting Dan, Lisa, Nathan, Jeremy, and Derek. I haven't been keeping up with my blog or your blogs. I'm having a grand time playing with the boys, helping Dan assemble a ping pong table, getting beat by said son-in-law at ping pong, getting up early with the grandsons, and talking with my other darling daughter (the other darling daughter I get to see daily) whom I haven't seen in a while. So I'll catch up with ya'all later on.

What do these stones mean?

Across from the building where the Mt. Dora congregation meets is a funeral home. The owner and manager are members at the congregation. When I first arrived I told them both that if they ever had a family that didn't have someone to do a funeral for them to please feel free to call on me. In Northern New Jersey I became friendly with a funeral director near our building and he asked one day if I would do a funeral for a family. Of course I said yes and from then on the director would call on occasion. Within two months of arriving here in Mt. Dora they called for me to do a funeral.

His name is Kirby. His late wife is Anita. She had a Ph. D. in some education field. She has written a couple of books in her field. She was 20 years older than Kirby. They had been married for 23 years. I met with Kirby for about 10 minutes before the funeral. I did the service there at the funeral. Then we went to the cemetery which is just about across the street (it's actually right next door to our building). After the services I invited Kirby to come to our worship services. He promised.

About a month later Kirby showed up one Sunday. He had been visiting his wife's grave and met one of our members whose wife was also buried in the same cemetery. Ed is in his late 70s or early 80s. He's one of our more active members. He and Kirby talked for a while and Ed also invited him to our services. With two invites Kirby decided to come.

Kirby has been coming on and off since that time. I've given him a DVD from World Video Bible School to view in order to learn more about us. He doesn't have much of a church background (maybe none at all) so I haven't pushed much. He's come to several of our activities. He's getting to know some of the folks here in the congregation. He's making progress but slowly. That's okay.

A couple of months ago he made an unusual request. The headstone for his wife's grave would be done soon, would I come to the cemetery and bless it when it was finished. I of course said yes. This past week he called late in the week to say it would be up on Friday, would I come on Saturday to bless it. I had a wedding at 2 PM on Saturday and he said no problem he thought 12:30 PM would be okay.

So his wife's sister, his wife's daughter, and two friends gathered to see the headstone. I used the text from Joshua 4. God told Joshua that the stones would cause their children to ask why are they here and what do they mean. Then they could explain the history of Israel. I told Kirby and those gathered that this headstone was there to mark the history of Anita. Not many people would ask about why it was there, they already knew. But they could come and remember the life of their friend, mother, and wife. Of course my talk and blessing lasted longer this this short paragraph. Then I said a prayer and ask God's blessing on this gathering and this headstone.

I don't know if Kirby will stay on this spiritual journey with us. He's still coming. But the more I live and the more I do ministry, the more interesting the journey has become.

Sermon Notes

For anyone who is interested I am trying out WordPress for my Sermon Notes (click here) as well as Blogger (click here). I've posted my texts for this coming Sunday. Any comments, insights, applications, illustrations, or whatever are greatly appreciated. I am hoping that you ladies who might be reading this will come and offer some comments. I want to make sure that I give voice to feminine concerns in my lessons. I'm starting a series from Colossians called "Living Heavenly Values on Earthly Soil." On Sunday evening I'm continuing my pattern of preaching from our daily Bible reading schedule. My text will be 1Samuel 17. Hope ya'll have a good week.

Spring Break Campaign 2007

Our spring break campaign is now part of Mt. Dora's history. But the work continues on. Here are the fruits of our efforts granted us by our gracious God:

Doors knocked 1386
Contacts made 527
Studies set up 16
Studies taught 15
Correspondence Courses set up 28
Prayer requests 125
Door slammed in our faces 5

The students came from Heritage Christian University (formerly IBC - International Bible College) in Florence, AL. There were 11 students and 7 adults plus Stephen Guy. The adults came from two congregations in Strickland and Booneville, MS. What a great bunch they were! All of the students and adults were good workers. All of them had a passion to serve the Lord.

Brother Guy's theme for the week was Revival. Starting Sunday morning and going through Wed night he preached lessons designed to reach those who were searching and those in the congregation. We had several of our folks go forward to ask prayers for strength and renewal. We had one baptism - one of our teens (Tyler Newton). His dad (Jeff Newton) baptized him. Jeff really got choked trying to get out the words as he baptized his son. We had several of the people that we contacted through our door knocking attend at least one the meetings. So we have a lot of work ahead of us as we follow up and make sure that we try to help these folks come to Jesus.

One of our teams actually came across a Hindu family that had never heard of Jesus. What a time they had trying to help this family understand the gospel. They spoke to them at the door and really had an interesting discussion with them. Who knows where this might lead.

Several of our members came out each door and door knocked with the students. It was great to see so many of our folks involved in this way. We had quite a food crew that served breakfast and lunch to the campaign workers each day. It was a great effort.

Door knocking consisted of taking a religious survey of five questions. I wasn't all that impressed with asking the first and last questions. As I interviewed people I tried to listen to their answers and ask "take off" questions. Sometimes it would lead to some interesting side issues. For the most part those who were home seemed willing to answer the questions. I've been told that the first three questions on this list are what Rick Warren used when he first began in the Saddleback community.

1. What do you think is the greatest need of people in our community?
2. Why do you think people do not go to church today?
3. If you were looking for a church to attend, what kind of things would you look for?
4. Do you have any prayer requests?
5. Would you like to study about the church mentioned in your Bible and how you and your family can be saved?

The prayer requests (125) mentioned above were actually community prayer requests from our survey. We wrote down their names and requests and then put the requests up on PowerPoint and then specified someone during the service each night to do the community prayer. What a joy to pray for our neighbors.

During one morning of door knocking we (the group I was with) met a young homeless couple. They were recently evicted from their apartment and were just visiting the neighborhood where we were knocking (God certainly was at work that morning). After talking to them we invited them to come have lunch and breakfast each day with the campaign workers. They came a couple of times but have since disappeared. One of our elders was trying to contact some local business people that he knows to help them find jobs. We also have some food and other things left over from the tornado disaster relief materials that we can give them. We have a cell number so we hope to contact them and help them even more.

I know that door knocking campaigns have pretty well run their course. Not many congregations think they are effective so they don't do them anymore. It does seem strange to knock doors during the day when most are working. However, regardless of whether of not this is considered effective I'm convinced that God did direct us to people that needed the gospel or needed help. As a congregation we will be thanking God for the fruit borne during the campaign and for the fellowship we enjoyed with these wonderful campaign workers for quite some time.