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.

March 17, 1980

In January of 1980 Tom and Karen DeGarmo showed up at services. I had just been at the Dover Church of Christ (in Randolph, NJ) for about nine months. They were newlyweds and Tom was fresh out of college with a degree. Tom had been hired by Bell Labs in Whippany, NJ. They moved to an apartment complex that was within 1/2 mile of our building. Karen was raised in a Church of Christ in Mill Hall, PA (not too far from State College) and Tom in the Catholic church. Tom however was quite interested in learning more about us.

Pat, Lisa (she was all of five months), and I went to visit Tom and Karen the very next evening. Tom and Karen seemed pleased and Tom was willing to study. He proposed that we take turns coming to each other's home and eat dinner together and then study. We were so pleased at his willingness. So we studied and studied (and ate and ate) for the next few weeks. One Monday night Tom looked at me and said, "So when are you going to baptize me?" Tom can be direct when he needs to be (a good trait that he often uses well). So we made a few calls and went up to the building. I don't remember who all was there but a few showed up and Tom was baptized by faith into Christ. It was March 17, 1980.

Tom and Karen were a real asset to the congregation. They were both quite involved. Tom actually called me about two days after his baptism to get my advice on what to say to a co-worker on his van pool about the gospel. I couldn't believe that a babe in Christ only two days old was out evangelizing. There were a good many people who were brought to Christ because of Tom and Karen.

After a few years they moved to Bethlehem, PA so that they could afford a home. Now years later Tom is a deacon for the King of Prussia congregation outside of Philadelphia. He and Karen have raised three children (Beth, TJ, and Seth). They have continued their involvement with the local congregation and are surely as valuable today as they were back then.

Tom calls me every March 17th. He started calling the year they moved to Bethlehem (somewhere around 1986). He called me today. He calls to say thanks. He calls to say "I love you." And I look forward to his call every year. He almost had to call me from the Mid East. His company has sent him over on occasion. I am blessed to know such a gracious servant as Tom.

The Restart and Undo Button

I enjoy some distraction during my work day. The computer and Palm has afforded an opportunity to provide that distraction. Both have a "Games" folder where I keep a couple of games, mostly some form of Solitaire. What is really cool about these games is they come with two buttons - the undo button and the restart button. I usually go through a game and then when I lose I hit the restart button and do the game over. I can usually see two or three moves that I can make differently and possibly win the game. You may wonder why I do that - the games keeps statistics and I'm looking to best my win streak of 13 games. During a game I can see two possible moves (e. g. two red sevens and one black eight show up) and the undo button allows me to see which move might be the best. In spite of the two buttons, I don't always win but I keep trying.

Don't you wish life came with a restart and undo button? When we find ourselves down the wrong pathway we could hit restart and get on the right pathway. Or when we say something that someone obviously is offended by we could hit the undo button and say something more appropriate. But alas, life doesn't come with these two buttons. And even if life did that wouldn't guarantee that we would always win.

However, most of us know when we make certain decisions know what the consequences will be. When a man decides to cheat on his wife, he knows that the other woman could become pregnant. He also knows that if she is a minor he could go to prison. He also knows that his ministry will not only end but will have a bad reputation and outsiders will trash the church (Romans 2:21-24). He also knows that his sin will find him out (Numbers 32:23). And yet a decision is made and an action taken. He has placed his desire above all else. Sometimes the decision is easy - we want pleasure or whatever else the action might bring. Sometimes the decision is not easy - the battle between the flesh and the Spirit rages on (Galatians 5:17).

There are a some good posts in light of what has happened recently to the Pitman congregation in Southern New Jersey. Trey Morgan has two posts - here and here. Steve Pucket (here) has a good post with links to some resources . Finding out that a fellow preacher (and in particular a preacher I know personally) has committed sexual misconduct used to surprise me. Not because I believe we are immune to such temptation but because I have always thought they (the ones I knew personally) were so strong. A preacher friend from eastern PA that committed such an act would have been the last one I would have ever thought would give in to such temptation. I thought I was the only one who struggled with such feelings. But I am not the only one. I read a newsletter a couple of months ago about a young fellow going into the ministry. The church where he started had just been rocked by the sexual misconduct of another minister who was in his 50s. The young man had a wise grandfather (around 70) that he consulted. He wanted to guard himself against such a sin. He asked his grandfather when these sexual urges stop. His grandfather said when I find out I'll let you know. He was surprised to find out that his 70 year old grandfather was still dealing with the urges.

I am grateful that my wife is of such a personality that she will let me know when she thinks a situation isn't wise for me to go alone. I am grateful that God has provided me with other escape pathways. But I know that Satan is lurking around every corner waiting for any of us to come into a situation that he can exploit. When certain decisions are made and actions taken there is no restart or undo button, the damage is done. The rest of us need in these situations to throw out a lifeline. Satan may have claimed them for the moment but God is still waiting for them to come back.

God's Mysterious Ways II

Last year a brother in Christ, named Jim, called me from California. He is a Lt. Colonel in the air force reserves stationed at Beale AFB but full time. He is getting transferred to McGuire AFB which is about 20 minutes away from Tabernacle, NJ, in order to be a wing commander. I sent him information on real estate agents in the area. About a month later he emails me and asks if I went to Sunset. I emailed back and said yes. Then he asked if Steve Davis was best man at my wedding. I of course said yes, knowing that there was more to these questions. It turns out that Cindy Davis had remarried. Her husband and Jim were elders in Yuba City, CA. Cindy is his wife's best friend. Jim and his wife, Nancy, were really excited to find a friend of Cindy's out there in desolate New Jersey. I emailed Jim back and told him our situation, that we were moving to Florida. I haven't had time to find out whether or not Jim and Nancy got situated but I found Jim's email address and sent him a message. I haven't heard back just yet.

Last month here in Mount Dora, FL one of the elders told me that a fellow was moving up from Clermont (about 30 miles away). He had some foot or leg problem and was in a wheel chair. The congregation he was attending down there was of the type that didn't believe in helping benevolent needs out of the church treasury. Apparently their benevolent nature didn't extend much beyond their talking about it because this fellow didn't feel very welcome and he claims they didn't do much to help him in terms of giving him a ride to services.

David McCaig showed up (he wasn't in a wheel chair but on crutches) one Wednesday evening. The elder who had originally told me about him picked him up for services. He lives near another one of our members who also needs to be picked up. Anyway, after a couple of weeks, David and I found some time to really talk with each other. I thought he was a new Christian but he said no he was raised in the church even though his parents have since fallen away. I asked if he was a Florida native (some natives are called "crackers") but he said no he was from California. Mentioning California always gets my attention. So I asked where. He said up north (people are usually vague about things like this because they assume that most people won't know the name of the town in which they lived). I asked specifically and he said Livermore. I said I knew a preacher at Livermore, Don Downey (actually it's Ron, Don is his father). He said he didn't know a Don but did know a Ron. Well, we got to talking further and low and behold he knew Steve Davis! Steve was a counselor at a summer camp where David attended. Couldn't believe it (well actually I could because this sort of thing happens all the time).

I know some of you are waiting for the big - there were hundreds of baptisms kind of ending to this story. Actually the story isn't over. I don't know why David is here in Mount Dora and if the connection we have to Steve is even relevant to our current situation. This is just another quiet chapter in God's mysterious ways. There are a lot of questions about this story I have that I hope God will answer when we get heaven.

1. Why didn't Steve get to go to Liberia with the Crons and Littlejohns? (maybe his family didn't need to be there or maybe one them needed to be here for some task that God had for them)
2. Why did Jim and Nancy make contact with us just as we were leaving?
3. Why is David here? (This one may be answered some day soon)

God's providence surprises us all the time. Sometimes we are in the right place at the right time. Sometimes all our plans fall into place. Sometimes the signs are there but nothing (or at least nothing that we can actually see) ever comes of it. Through it all I know that God is in charge. That is what faith is all about - trusting that God is in charge and holding on to him whether or not plans fall into place. I may never get the answers to my questions while we are here under the sun, but God's light is still shining in my life and my family's life.

God's mysterious ways

Steve Davis was best man at my wedding. We met in class at Sunset School of Preaching (now Sunset International Bible Institute). He was from California (Marysville, outside of Sacramento) and I was from California (Lompoc, up the coast from Santa Barbara about 55 miles). For some reason we became instant friends. We teamed up with two other guys in class (David Cron and John Littlejohn). We were the "wolfpack." David was the only one of the bunch who was raised in the church. We asked a lot of questions. We didn't accept anything until we could see it. We weren't rebels in the usual sense, we just wanted to be sure. I'm sure we wore our teachers out. Steve was married (Cindy) when he came to Sunset and he had one son (Matthew). While at Sunset Cindy gave birth to another son Joel. I finally found a wife myself (the lovely Pat). Steve was obvious choice for my best man. We had a great wedding and great honeymoon.

Toward the end of school I had told the elders at Lompoc (the church that put me through school - with the help of my wonderful, supportive parents) that we would come back and work with them after school. Just after that promise, two churches showed up at Sunset wanting four families to go to Liberia. If not for my commitment to the church in Lompoc it would have been a match made in heaven. I wanted so bad to tell the elders I wasn't coming but my parents had taught me to keep my word (and so did the Lord!). So Pat and I finished the missions program and in July 1977 we headed to Lompoc. Steve and the rest of the "wolfpack" stayed for the third year graduate program at Sunset with plans to go to Liberia.

Steve and gang finished Sunset in January 1978. I had heard from Steve that they were having trouble getting visas to Liberia. Then I didn't hear much at all for awhile. One Saturday night in April 1978 we were having a youth devotional. Someone had prepared some questions that everyone was supposed to answer in an effort to get to know each other. One of the questions, "If you could get a phone call from anyone who would it be?" I naturally said Steve, since I hadn't heard from him. The next morning just before the alarm went off, the phone rang. Not it wasn't Steve it was Don Downey, Steve's father-in-law. His voice was quiet, almost a whisper. He said, "Bob, Steve was killed last night in a traffic accident." Pat and I were crushed. That morning at worship, all we could do was cry (literally!). We had Joy Bus kids sitting in our laps who couldn't understand why we were crying.

We drove up to Marysville for the funeral. Everyone kept asking "why Steve?" and Cindy kept responding "Why not Steve?" It was a wonderful service for such a faithful young man. I miss those days in Sunset. But there is more to this story.

Lines in the Sand Revealed

The president who said the quote (click here) I liked so much was former president William Jefferson Clinton. The occasion was the dedication of his presidential library in Little Rock. The date was November 18, 2004. If anyone is interested in the transcript you can read it here. The speech is not long so don't be afraid to read it. I'm amazed at how ugly politics and elections can be and then how the same politicians are so gracious to each other at times like a library dedication. President Clinton was gracious to President Bush (both H and W) as one can read in the transcript. President Bush apparently sent quite an entourage to the dedication.

President Clinton's special quote came toward the end of his speech when he tried to blend the value of both conservatives and progressives in our society at the close of the 20th century. I'm not sure that his application is exactly the way the two sides would have seen it but it was an interesting application. The quote continues to speak to me about the need in our fellowship to talk with each other and recognize the need for each side. I don't know if we will ever have that kind of harmony but it is worth the dream.

Papa's Got a Brand New Blog

I'm launching another blog (click here). This one is about my sermons. Each Monday I will post my sermon title and text for the next Sunday. Anyone can stop by and share with me your thoughts on the text. If you have any insights, stories, illustrations, applications, or sermon outlines I would appreciate such. Just something I'm trying to do to improve my preaching skills.

I tried to use WordPress but didn't find it as intuitive as Blogger. I've got a site started on WordPress and maybe one of these days I will work with it but for now I'm sticking with Blogger. Plus PC World did a little comparison article on blog sites and Blogger came out on top. So here I take my stand.

Thanks.

Lines in the Sand

I ran across this quote the other day. It is absolutely fantastic! At least to me. Guess which president said this. I'll reveal in the next post who said it.

"Conservatism, at its very best, draws lines that should not be crossed. Progressivism, at its very best, breaks down barriers that are no longer needed, or should never have been erected in the first place."

I think it speaks volumes. Conservatives are those who try to identify what is important and what should never be forgotten. They identify what is fundamental, what is foundational, and what all of us should agree to. They draw a line in the sand and demand that we never cross it. Doesn't mean that everything conservatives identify as important is right, this is just the reality of the situation.

Progressives challenge those fundamentals. They dare to cross the lines in the sand that conservatives have drawn. They challenge what has become central to us. Sometimes the practical becomes identified as fundamental. For instance, four-part harmony is certainly singing without instrumental accompaniment but that particular type of singing isn't central to Scripture. In some instances progressives help us to rethink our understanding of what is truly fundamental. We should also realize that progressives, as conservatives, are not always right. This is just reality.

Sometimes what the conservatives identify as important needs to be shown that we no longer need such. Perhaps we could use playing cards as an illustration. I don't know all the reasons why cards were outlawed by churches (I suspect that it may have something to do with gamblers who used them in the saloons in the West). Some conservatives probably still hold on to this one. At one time not using cards had validity and no one should have used them. With time and other cultural changes the reasons no longer exist so cards can be a part of a family's entertainment.

Even though dialogue between conservatives and progressives is never easy, it is a necessary one. Both sides benefit (if they can stay at the negotiating table long enough) from the discussion. But both sides need to give grace to the other side. Dogmatism exists on both sides of the aisle. Judgmentalism exists on both sides of the aisle. I don't know how to accomplish keeping both sides talking but I just know they should.

Prayer Time

This past Wednesday we had a prayer devotional for our upcoming spring campaign. I always am encouraged when we as a congregation spend time in prayer mostly about one particular event. I interspersed the time with some songs and scripture reading, both designed to support the prayers about our spring campaign (we had five men offer prayer during this devotional time). Wade Tannehill's series on prayer (Can God be Persuaded to Act? click here) has caused me to think a lot about prayer and how God responds.

When I was asked to leave Tabernacle, Pat and I increased our prayer life - individually and together. We prayed fervently about where God wanted us to go, where we wanted to go, and hoping He would do it soon. We had our wish list but we knew that God would take us to where He wanted us in His own time. The frustrating thing was listening to the "quick responses" that others experienced when they prayed about their situations. One preacher friend told me he was fired by this congregation on a Monday some years ago. He and his wife prayed when he got home. That Thursday another congregation called to ask him to consider leaving his current congregation and come to theirs. Our prayers were not answered for almost a year (long search!).

I'm frustrated when prayer is made a mantra (say this prayer for 30 years and God will be with you each step of the way), when optimism rules (I'm an optimistic guy but my optimism doesn't
doesn't always seem to rule God - I think C. S. Lewis said something about people manufacturing positive feelings about prayer in the hope of getting a positive response from God), when faith is the key (I guess sometimes I must not have much faith) or when some formula is thought to activate God (say it in this way and He will listen). There is no magical formula about prayer and getting what you pray for. There is just me and God walking through this dark world together on the way to the land of rest. I pray about my situation and God guides me as only He knows best. Regardless of what happens (good stuff, bad stuff, really bad stuff, really good stuff, bland stuff) I stay faithful and continue praying until we reach our destination. We live in an imperfect world and our prayers will often produce imperfect results. So I continue to trust that my God and my Savior will be with me until the end of the age.