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.

Allowing Time for Growth

A passage that has fascinated me is 2Kings 5:1-19. It is the story of the healing of Naaman, who is the captain of the army of the king of Aram. He is a valiant warrior and well respected by his people but he has leprosy. Naaman is told by a servant girl that Elisha can heal him. So he goes off in search of Elisha. Naaman arrives and is told by Elisha to go dip himself seven times in the Jordan River. He is furious because he thought the healing would be more sensational than a simple dipping (v.11). Besides he has some rivers back home that are better (v.12). One of his servants suggested he go try Elisha's solution even though it wasn't quite what he wanted (v.13). So Naaman goes and dips himself in the Jordan and is healed (v.14). He returns to Elisha and praises the God of Elisha (v.15) for the healing. He promises never to sacrifice to another god again (v.17). He is converted and becomes a servant of the Lord. He recognizes his need to be loyal and serve God alone. However, because of his role as captain of the army he must go into a house of worship and assist his master (v.18). He knows what he is doing is wrong and goes against the promise he just made but he is not quite ready to make a clean break. He asks the Lord to pardon him for this violation and Elisha grants him a blessing as he leaves (v.19).

I really believe that this passage speaks to we Christians today as well. We will share Jesus with someone who is truly converted and wants to be loyal and do what is right. They may even recognize what is right but for whatever reason cannot stand as firmly as they should at that moment. I hope to grant them grace and a blessing, not to stay in their current state but to continue to grow and eventually say no to whatever they need to say no to. It would be nice if everyone we converted (ourselves included) could change immediately upon conversion. However, those of us who are spiritual need to allow them some time to grow. We don't expect our infant children to walk so we shouldn't expect babes in Christ to walk as firmly as they hopefully one day will. We also should realize that we will meet people who are not yet converted and our goal should be to get them into Christ. So preach Christ and him crucified and then once they pledge their loyalty to Christ, give them time to grow.

The Gospel is for all

Trey Morgan has a good post (click here) challenging us to make sure that we don't turn people into our vision of what is respectful before we convert them. What if the individual above turned up at your church? After picking yourself up off the floor would you not only invite them in but ask them to sit with you?

Let me tell you about an experience I had in my last congregation (Tabernacle, NJ). A young couple (late 20s) showed up with two young children. He was Caucasian and she was Asian. Both had rather extensive piercings (she - nose, lip, tongue, eye brows; he - bridge of the nose, eye brows, lips, tongue) and some tattoos. I think we did a pretty good job of welcoming them in without staring too much. It turned out that they were looking for a church that was a little more traditional than where his parents (actually Mom and Step dad) were attending. At the other church the deacons wore Bermuda shorts, sandals, and waved in the air. They wanted something more sedate. At first we seemed to fit the bill. They were pretty regular in their attendance for a while. During my visits with them I discovered that she was still married to some other guy and the oldest child was his and the youngest belonged to the current guy. They wanted to know if their marital situation (or lack of) would be a problem. She had trouble getting a divorce from her husband because of his obstinance. So she gave up. The current guy was content to live this way and their previous church encouraged them to not worry about it. I had never experienced anything like this and was so surprised that an evangelical church would encourage such behavior. I told them yes it would but now I wish I had told them that our goal was to get to know them first. They quit coming after that. I'm not sure they quit coming because I told them their situation would be a problem because I continued to pursue them and tried to make sure they felt comfortable with us. After a while it became evident that they were no longer interested in coming for whatever reason.

I have no doubt that sooner or later we would have to deal with their situation. But I think we try to clean up people's lives before we get them into Christ and we lose some because they don't fully appreciate their position. That means we miss some in our evangelism because they don't clean up as easily as we want. I don't want to suggest that we accept sin but we do accept sinners who need to learn and grow and that may take a while. Better to get them into Christ first and then demand that they grow.

Super Hero

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 55% The Flash 55% Catwoman 45% Robin 40% Hulk 30% Wonder Woman 25% Green Lantern 25% Iron Man 25% Superman 20% Batman 20% Supergirl 10%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Happy Birthday Nathan from Gramps

This is my favorite picture of Nathan and me. It was taken in Radford, VA when Dan, Lisa, and Nathan moved from Arkansas to Virginia in 2001. We were in Dan and Lisa's new home and I guess Lisa took this picture. I've forgotten all the circumstances. But it's still my favorite of the two of us. Happy Birthday Nathan and many more!

If you could own any car

Others have done some spiritual questions about "what if. . ." so I thought I would do something a little materialistic. If you could have any car in the world what would it be and why? Mine is the above. 1991 Porsche 944 S2. Dual overhead cams, 16 valves, 5 sp manual, turbo-nose, and what a sight she is! This was the final year Porsche made the 944. I loved it the first year (1982) it came out. I loved the turbo model because the nose was smoother than the regular. So when they put the turbo nose on the regular with a better engine, I was really hooked. Maybe because it was a little more affordable than the 928 or the 911. Actually I just fell in love with how it looks. Maybe not everyone would like its lines, but I did. It was more muscular looking than the 924 which it replaced. Now of course they are slowly becoming classic or antiques. Every now and then I cruise eBay just to see how much they cost. But if I had the money ($10,000 plus in good condition), this would be mine. It would be either dark green or black with a tan or cream colored interior. Ah, dreams.

Post fad

No the title is not about "posting" on blogs as a fad. I just notice that "post" anything today seems to be a fad. Let me share with you what I mean.

1. Post modernism (this philosophy actually began in the architectural field contrasting newer styles with traditional styles. Of course it has morphed into those who distrust "modernism" which came from the Enlightenment era. Modernism is the belief that there are truths and universal facts to our universe. Post modernism rejects universal or absolutes. Francis Schaeffer's book Escape From Reason mentioned one author involved in what became the post modern philosophy long before anyone really recognized post modernism.)
2. Post liberalism (George Lindbeck's book The Nature of Doctrine attempted to explain this new movement. Hans Frei's books also are about the post liberal approach to Christianity. Actually post liberalism has quite a bit that our fellowship would like. Lindbeck's book however is a difficult read. One reviewer called it "tortured prose.")
3. Post conservative (don't really know much about these folks but have read a couple of articles so I know that they exist.)
4. Post restorationist (just saw this the other day. Don't know much about them either but their title provided the inspiration for this "post" of mine.)

Are there any other "posts" out there that I'm missing. I'm sure there are. Actually considering the mind set of our society today "post" could be applied to almost any philosophy or field. We appear to enjoy changing the traditional, so "post" seems an apt prefix.

Tag, you're it! Or maybe not

Matt Dabbs has tagged me. So now I'm supposed to tell you six weird things about myself. Actually I've already done this, click here. I was tagged by Lisa, my oldest. For those of you who didn't get to that post I reiterate my weirdness but I think I'll change #4 & #6.

1. The buttons on my shirt, my belt buckle, and the button or snap on my pants must all line up. I don't have OCD but this is just an occasion of weirdness.
2. I want to wear long hair. I had it long in college and would do anything to grow it long again.
3. I get up early every day (5:00 AM, seven days a week). I seldom sleep in unless I'm sick. I can't go to sleep at night if I sleep in. You know that OCD thing is starting to look real.
4. I still love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, especially on hearty, whole grain bread.
5. I hate to sweat in nice clothes. I really hate it when my DW (the lovely and gracious Pat) wants me to do something Sunday afternoon that might require me to sweat. I feel I have to shower again after sweating. I would rather take a nap.
6. I have this really quiet side to me. I love to be around people. I love to be in meetings where we work together as a team in producing something (like curriculum or a DVD about our congregation). I sometimes start conversations with strangers at the store (depends on whether or not they are buying something weird that I can comment on - you know it takes one to know one). I sometimes go up to strangers to find out information. We saw a Harding sticker on a van at Sonics with no one in it. So I started to quiz all the folks sitting down at tables until I found the owners of the van. But occasionally I just want to go unnoticed or be by myself. Sometimes I don't want to talk to anyone. Weird perhaps, but my weirdness.

Since I tagged others earlier I won't be passing this tag on unless I come across someone more weird than myself. If I think of anything else that's weird about me I will save it for the next time this tag comes around.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to the love of my life. You have traveled with me from Texas to California to New Jersey to Florida. I'm glad that God brought us together for this journey. May our love for each continue to grow throughout our journey in this life.

more on church buildings

A few years back I think some congregations got tired of spending such a big chunk of Sunday's contribution on their facilities when the building was used only three times a week. They wanted their facilities to be more practical and usable. After all, the church building is not holy or sacred. That's when auditoriums became gymnasiums and they started adding family life centers. The purpose was to get the most out of their buildings. They also thought they could attract more people to the building for evangelism. Think about having a basketball game after Sunday evenings services where the community is invited. I think they had a good idea I'm just not sure the implementation was right. Instead of revamping their use of the building maybe they needed to revamp their understanding of the building altogether.

William Willimon once quipped (I've forgotten where) that the church needs to be the church. It isn't an entertainment company, it isn't in the business of doing things that the world can provide. It is here to be the church. Mainline denominational churches in the 60s tried to be more socially relevant. Certainly some of the issues they dealt with are important to us as Americans and as individual Christians, but they became so focused on those issues that they lost their relevance as people serving Jesus here on the earth. Their evangelism suffered as a result. Willimon's book, Good New For Exiles, deals with some of the results of this focus (maybe that's where I read the quote I mentioned earlier). Some of the "conservative" evangelical churches today are trying the same tactic but with global warming and poverty. My guess is that these issues will dominate their agenda and they will become less relevant as a spiritual community.

We need to ask whether or not church buildings, social issues, or anything else takes us away from being the community of God. If we focus too much on this world and its issues then we become less than we should be. Perhaps the environment of a church building feeds our need to be relevant whether through social issues or through events designed to attract the community. If we are not willing to give up our buildings, perhaps we need some different thinking about its use. I don't like making it an exercise center or a place where we discuss social issues (although sometimes social issues do need to be discussed in reference to how we are affected as the church). We are the people of God and we gather to take the Lord's Supper, preach, worship, and tell the story of how God sent His Son to this earth to save us from the coming judgment. All that we do should be focused on that. All else is a distraction from our spiritual purpose.

church buildings

When I was in Sunset (around 1975) a church in our fellowship was hailed as the first one to give one million dollars in a single contribution. That took a lot of sacrifice on the part of many in the congregation but it was for their building. It wasn't for evangelism (although I'm sure that they thought evangelism would be done as a result of their new building), it wasn't to feed or help the poor, it wasn't for overseas mission work, it wasn't for a children's home, it wasn't for a ministry, it was for a building.

Our preacher's group in North Jersey read an article from back in 1920s about a church in Nashville that built a new church building for $100,000.00 (back then apparently that was a lot of money - still is but in a different way). They hired a preacher that would help them raise the money. They were severely criticized because of their extravagance. A lot of the criticisms is that the money could have been spent on evangelism or benevolence.

A Christian friend told me of a big congregation that was building a new building. They were arguing about whether or not to put marble in a certain part. An elder stated during that discussion that nothing but the best should go in the church building. Nothing but the best for the church.

A friend of mine left the mainstream churches of Christ years ago and joined with the non-institutional group. I happened upon his email not too long ago and we corresponded for a while. Since he was in a group even more concerned about doing things the first century way, I asked him about justifying using church treasury money for the building. His answer was the usual - since we are commanded to meet together it can be inferred that we must have a place. I thought about that response over the years and think I've come up with a response. I would ask, "Were they commanded to give in the first century?" Then I would ask, "Were they commanded to assemble in the first century?" Then I would conclude, "They had the command to give and to meet together (which they did), yet they never purchased a building. Seems to me that if we are to exactly like them we would do well to follow their lead and not purchase a building." But I'm probably preaching to the choir here.

An interesting theory in a book not related to church buildings is found in Shane Hipps's book on the electronic culture (it's listed on my reading list) is that form communicates a message. The church building communicates a message by itself regardless of the message we may be preaching inside. The church building becomes the church. We go to church. Buildings suggest permanence. Buildings suggest belonging. "This world is not my home" is kind of hard to sing in a building that suggests we are permanent and belong to this world.

Matt Dabbs has a good post about this issue (click here). I don't know the final conclusion to this subject. Maybe we need to educate a new generation and hope that they will continue the discussion. Well, that's my blather on the subject of church buildings.

The Joy of Service

The first picture just above this text is the disaster relief truck at the church building in Leesburg. It was supposed to arrive Monday evening but didn't arrive until around 11:00 AM on Tuesday. The picture just above that is the gang (composed of volunteers from four or five congregations) working. The picture above that is another truck at the Orange Ave. church in Eustis. The truck arrived around 11:00 AM on Wednesday morning. Another truck arrived Thursday afternoon (today at 2:00 PM). Then there's a picture with me working and the last one is the gang (members from the Eustis congregation, Sojourners, and senior class students from the Christian Home and Bible School) working, actually taking a break during their work. While we were waiting for the truck to arrive at the Leesburg church, several of us went to help a member of the Leesburg church in the devastated area. Most of the devastated areas have police or National Guard keeping people out. We got in because we were with a disaster relief group (they had signs on their vehicles) but we couldn't the house. The street where we thought the house was located was blocked off by workers. So we went to the house in front of us and carried their debris to the road so that it could be run through the chipper or picked up. It was great to help people in need. It was also good to work with so many good people wanting to help. I only wish I could have spent more time working. As it is I'm behind in my sermon study and other things I need to get done. But this was urgent and important work.

Super Bowl Caps

For those of you naysayers about the article from Kent Anderson's blog on what they do with the losers' Super Bowl Caps, here is further proof from the New York Times. So you disbelievers can now become believers. It seems that many teams are known the world over as the Super Bowl champs.

Cessation of miraculous gifts

For those interested in a rather long arduous study of whether or not the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit have ceased, Pulpit Magazine has an ongoing study by Nate Busenitz (click here). The series of articles are under the title "The When Question." Nate is contrasting the views of "continuationists" and "cessationists." Continuationists believe that there are still prophets today who receive some direct revelation from the Holy Spirit. Cessationists believe that revelation by the Holy Spirit (as well as other miraculous gifts) ceased some time after the apostolic age. I find the study quite illuminating because many of the arguments our brethren have used are used by some in the evangelical community. Anyway, just thought I would share this with anyone who cares to do some more reading on the subject.

The Swift Rule Super Bowl XLI

For all you Bears' fans, this article by Kent Anderson may give you some consolation. You can read his blog by clicking here. It is a blog about preaching but he had this little ditty about the Bears.

Where the Losers Won

Did you ever wonder what happens to all the hats that were prepared for the losing team at the Super Bowl or other such championships? Within minutes of the end of Sunday’s game, Tony Dungy, Peyton Manning, and the rest of the Colts were wearing hats declaring them to be the champions. But what about the hats that were prepared in the event that the Bears won the game?

Apparently those hats were kept under tight security until the end of the game when they were immediately shipped away before any of them could be sold on ebay. The hats were sent to an African village that has never heard of American Football. There, apparently, the Bears will forever be known as the champions of Super Bowl XVI (sic).

Small consolation for Rex Grossman, I’m sure.

The Lord and the Storm

Disaster hit close to the Bliss home here in Central Florida. At least one tornado (and possibly 4 others) touched down and did a considerable amount of damage. At least 20 people are dead, thousands of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed, one church destroyed (the Church of God in the Villages), and who knows how many cars and trucks by the F3 tornado. The Church of God church building was built to withstand winds of 150 mph. Apparently this tornado exceeded this building's ability to handle high winds.

This coming Tuesday members from the area churches of Christ will meet at the Leesburg Church of Christ to unload a truck that will arrive from the Disaster Relief Effort (click here) in Nashville, TN. This organization provides a variety of items for such a time as this. I'm looking forward to helping out and seeing this organization (and our local congregations) in action.

Our family from California and several from the Tabernacle congregation (and some from the Randolph congregation) called or emailed to see if we were okay. This destructive force hit only a few miles from our home. We slept through most of it. The storm woke us up about 4:30 AM but had been raging since before 3:00 AM. At the time we didn't know a tornado had touched down. I think we will be getting one of those weather alert radios for future use.

All of this brings up a question in my mind. We in modern times tend to downplay God's role in the destructive side of events like this but praise him for his protective role. In other words we are glad that God protected us from the storm but we hesitate to claim that he may have caused the storm. Why is that? We know that he can and does cause disasters to happen. In the Old Testament many of the disasters were used to discipline Israel. The faithful in Israel saw God in all that happened even the storms (Psalm 29). Even though we can't today claim to know what God is doing in the storm (because we have no prophet to tell us) we can still know that he is in charge even of the storm and its destructive force. James tells us to rejoice when trials occurs (Jas.1:2). The problem to me is that we haven't defined very well what is good and what is bad. We think that damage and destruction from a storm is bad but if the storm misses us that is good. Maybe we need to rethink our definition of bad and good, at least in regards to disasters.

We are quick to downplay any active role on God's part in a disaster but quick to play up his active role in protection. Is it because when bad things happen we believe God is in a punishing mode and we don't want to believe that he could be punishing us (or those around us)? As Job asked his wife, "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" (Job 2:9 NASU) What shall we think about disasters and God's role in them? Maybe we haven't seen the good that can come from disasters.

Bowling for fun

It seems like this congregation is testing my athletic ability (what little remains at least). We went bowling as Loni pointed out on her blog. My first game was a 126 which isn't too bad considering I haven't bowled in 20 plus years. My second game went much better. I found my groove about the third frame and got 3 strikes in a row. The score board above the lane flashed my name and a turkey. I wonder where they got the idea to call three strikes in a row a turkey? I did a Google search and found out that around the turn of the 20th century during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays bowling establishments would offer a turkey to anyone who got three strikes in row. The name stuck. Anyway, I finished with a 160. It was the second highest of the night. One of the guys who used to bowl in league and probably averaged 200 plus bowled a 168. The last game they turned out the lights with blue lights on the pins. It's called Cosmic Bowling. I couldn't line up on my spot and my bowling went south. I was doing really lousy (my forearm was getting tired by now as well) and then they turned off our lane. We were bowling by the hour not the game. We had a lot of fun being with our brothers and sisters from the congregation. It was great to be with adults (no kids allowed!). I think I'll do some weight lifting for about 6 weeks before we go again.

His & Her Spatulas

This post is inspired by Lisa's His & Her Ice Cream Scoops. The spatula on the bottom is a woman's spatula. It is quite useful It flips burger, pancakes, French toast, and all kinds of things. The one on the top is a man's spatula. It has a cover because it has sharp edges (I know because I've cut myself trying to pry apart frozen burgers). It came with directions (directions actually appear to the male spirit because we want to prove that we're not as dumb as those who need directions, so anything with directions is considered a challenge to us), which I've lost. It has a bottle opener, which is good for those bottles of Coke that are sitting in the cooler in lots of ice (yes I know that other men use it for other kinds of bottles). It can do a variety of functions - meat tenderizer, slicing into meat to see if it's cooked properly. Oh yes, it flips burgers as well. So it's a man's spatula because it's dangerous, provides a challenge, and just looks like it takes a man to operate (at least that's what we men think). :-)

Off Kilter

While Pat and I were at Epcot we just happened upon a band playing in the World Showcase area. They were specifically in the Canada area. One of the guys had an electric bag pipe and they all wore kilts. Their name - Off Kilter. They were great! Click here for their site. The guy with the bag pipe did Amazing Grace to close out their session. Fortunately for me they had CDs on sale at a kiosk next door. Unfortunately for me the CDs cost $20.00. I just ordered four CDs from BMG and paid $35 (with shipping). I think I will add them to my Christmas list and let someone else spend the money. But these guys were a hoot.

Paul & Sandie - This one's for you

Thanks for calling Pat on her birthday. Paul told Pat that he goes into work early to read family blogs. So I thought I would say hi. For those reading who may not know Paul and Sandie, they are our daughter's in-laws (Lisa's in-laws). Since being asked to leave Tabernacle they were extremely supportive of us. They started sitting with us up front during services. They called or wrote or dropped by every now and then. During hard times you discover the true nature of those around you. Paul and Sandie are spiritual family and proved to be very good friends. We love you two and appreciate very much your love for us. We are proud that Lisa married into your family. We know that our good relations will continue, we just hope we get to see you a little more in the future. You both know that you are always welcome in our house and we hope that Disney is on your list of places to visit. We are only about 40 minutes away. We can be great tour guides since we know our way around (at least a little bit). Thanks again

Basketball

Last night I played basketball for the first time in at least 20 years. I was sure I would be huffing and puffing during the first game but I didn't. Anyway, in an effort to get the men together and to invite their friends we are playing basketball twice a month after Sunday evening services. Now we can afford to do this because our PM services start at 5:00 PM (yes you read that right!).

10 of us got together last night and played for almost 2 hours. We each shot a free throw and the first five to make a free throw was team one and the others were team two. After each game we shot free throws again so the teams were different each time. We played to 21 (had to win by at least 2). Each basket was 2 points unless shot outside the 3 point line. I was surprise at how well I did considering I'm 53.

The youngest guy was about 25. The oldest was about 62. Three of us were over 50, I think everyone else was under 40. What a blast I had! I'm looking forward to the next game night. It would be nice if our group grew and we got a lot more outsiders to come and play. All for the glory of our God.

The "Bob" Diet

In July 2005 (the month I was asked to leave) I weighed over 240 lbs (probably close to or over 245). This morning I weighed myself and I'm at 217.4 lbs. With the stress I experienced over being asked to leave, I didn't eat much for a couple of months. In September I noticed that I was below 230 lbs. So I determined to keep it up. Here are my principles for the "Bob" diet.

1. I don't eat in the morning until I'm hungry. I'm up at 5:00 AM every morning. I have a sip (yes just a sip) of juice. Just enough to rinse out the morning breath. I put on coffee (about 2 mugs' worth). I used to put 2 or 3 spoons of sugar in as well as creamer. I have weaned myself off the sugar. I switched to light cream instead of creamer (Tom Shuff told me that Dunkin Donuts uses light cream and that's why everyone loves their coffee - including me). However, here in Florida you can't buy light cream in the quart size so I'm using half & half. So I have coffee in the morning and nothing until I'm hungry. I take some 7 grain cereal (or something nutritious) with me to the office. I usually wait until after I do my daily Bible reading and Greek vocabulary stuff to eat. By then I am hungry (usually around 9:00 AM).
2. I try to have a nutritious snack sometime after breakfast. I usually get hungry again a couple hours after breakfast. Fruit or 7 grain bars.
3. I eat lunch when I'm hungry - not until then. Usually around 12:30 or 1:00 PM. I take lunch to the office. Sometimes leftovers, sometimes a sandwich, or whatever I might find in the kitchen.
4. I again have a nutritious snack a couple hours after lunch because usually I'm at least a little hungry then.
5. I can't control dinner time (not complaining, because our schedules are hectic and who knows when it will all come together), but I'm usually blazingly hungry by the time it comes around.
6. I will eat dessert later on in the evening. Usually I'm hungry again by 9:00 PM or so.
7. I try to not eat sweets during the day. By eating fruit or a 7 grain bar I control my sugar intake and my sugar highs. I think this has helped regulate my hunger.
8. I want to eventually make sure that I don't eat anything after 9:00 PM each night.
9. I also drink more water now. But I need to drink even more.
10. I also limit my portions during the three main meals and try not to eat seconds (I saw a sign at a gym one time that read, "It's not the minutes you spend at the table, it's the seconds.").
11. I weigh myself almost every morning. I know that other diet plans say to weigh yourself only a couple times a week but I've found more motivation to keep up with my plans by weighing myself every morning (before breakfast).
12. I've started walking every morning after I put the coffee on. I'm hoping to eventually start riding my bike and maybe even get a Total Gym.

So that's the "Bob" diet. Simple rules, simple plan. I haven't lost loads of weight but I have lost over 25 lbs and kept it off. I hope that the beginning of next year finds me under 200 lbs. I mention my diet because I was reading a planning guru's blog and he talked about his diet. I think I've done a better job than he in losing weight. At least I'm headed in the right direction.

My new look

Some folks here at Mt. Dora feel that I have fit in quite well. They wanted to do something for me that would make me fit in even better. They gave me western boots for Christmas. You can see for yourselves just how western these boots are. Of course we will have to call them southern boots since we are on the east coast. Anyway, now I really look like the "crackers" of Florida.

My Accent

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Boston You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine.
The West
The Midland
North Central
Philadelphia
The Northeast
The Inland North
The South
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I was exploring other blogs and ran across a link with a quiz that tells you what kind of accent you have. Apparently I have a Boston accent. Let's see if I can explain this. I was born in Colorado, raised in 5 states (Colorado, Texas, Washington, Kansas, and California), schooled in Los Angeles (2 years), lived in San Diego (1 year), schooled in Texas (2 1/2 years), lived in New Jersey (28 years), married to a Texas gal who also lived in Burlington, Massachusetts (outside of Boston for 6 years) - okay, I got my accent from Pat (my wonderful wife of 30 years)! She lived in the Boston area for 6 years, developed her accent, and then gave it to me. Seriously, I wonder if the Boston accent includes people from Northern New Jersey. I hope no one tells the folks here in Mount Dora, Florida that their new preacher has a Boston accent. They might wonder where I've really been for the last 28 years. I was sure that I would have been a more neutral accent. So click the link and take the quiz and tell me what kind of accent you have.

Aiden Robert Mackey

Even though Lisa has posted a picture of Aiden Robert Mackey, I thought I would do the same just to keep in practice of uploading pictures. Kevin was born in California and his two kids were born in North Dakota. Here is Aiden's big sister, Alexis. The first is obviously taken when she was born. The second is a more recent photot. She's a cutie. One of these days I may get to meet her. It's hard to believe that my youngest sister, Andra, is a grandmother - twice over!

Tis the season to be jolly

It's that time of year again. Pat loves the Christmas season. We just finished putting up the lights around our new (rented) house. We've had a couple of traditions in the Bliss household. The first began in Northern New Jersey, On the second Saturday after Thanksgiving (oftentimes the first Saturday in December) we would get up early, make some hot cocoa, put it in a couple of thermoses, and drive to a tree farm in Pennsylvania. On the way we would count the number of cars coming back with trees. Maybe we would sing some songs or listen to Christmas music (usually everyone else but me, I focused on driving). Once at the farm we would begin our search. Sometimes it would be very cold, sometimes rainy, and sometimes slightly mild. Sometimes we would argue over which tree and sometimes we wouldn't. Sometimes it would take us hours to find the right one and sometimes we would find one in a relatively short time. Once we moved to Southern New Jersey we found a tree farm within 10 miles. We kept our tradition alive. But once the kids began to go off to college, our trips to that tree farm grew less and less. We finally we went to the farm stand about 1/4 mile down the road. We usually found a good tree so we were happy. Pat discovered icicle lights and talked me into climbing onto our roof and stringing the lights. So we've been hanging those icicle lights ever since. And we have continued the tradition right here in Florida. I put up a little fuss over doing it but I'm happy to make Pat happy. So we are jolly this season, even though it was 75 today (and probably will be on Christmas day).

Weird is as Weird does

In the spirit of faddishness, here is my list of weird things about me (I was able to use a zip compression program to do 2 months of prayer and research in about 2 minutes).

1. When I dress, the buttons on my shirt, the buckle of my belt, and the button on my pants must all line up. Don't know where I got this from. I remember seeing Roger Moore in a James Bond movie and all three of these were not lined up (yes I noticed it!). I thought, that looks bad. To this day every morning I make all three line up.

2. I want to wear my hair long! How long you ask? Long enough to have a ponytail. I thought my retirement job could be as a tour guide for a historic site where long hair would be a plus - I would look authentic.

3. I get up early (5:00 AM) every morning (all seven days) and go to bed late (usually after 11:00 PM). I don't want to miss anything.

4. I'm nervous about flying. In the 80s I used to lay awake the night before a flight and sweat bullets. When my Mom's Mom died (Grammie) I let my fear of flying get the better of me. I've always regretted not flying out, mostly for my Mom's sake. Pat and I flew almost once a month since November of 2005. I actually think I'm a little less fearful these days.

5. I hate to sweat in nice clothes. Even nice causal clothes. I will avoid doing anything that will break me out in a sweat while dressed this way. But if I can go change to jeans and a t-shirt, I don't mind at all. In fact, I enjoy sweating when properly dressed.

6. I tend to play the devil's advocate in Bible study (not always but occasionally, okay more often than I am willing to admit). It doesn't matter where I go. If I'm in a conservative congregation I tend to play up liberal ideas. If I'm in a liberal congregation I tend to play up conservative ideas. I don't rock the boat, I just jiggle it some to make sure everyone is holding on tight.

Well that's my list. Pat you are now tagged if you haven't already thought of this. Of course your list will be short (yes I do know how to score points with my wife of 30 years). I won't tag my son (Trey), because he's dating right now and I'm sure he doesn't want the young lady he's dating to know that he's got anything weird in his personality. Of course he should keep her away from his family's blogs so she won't find out about all our weird stuff. Who knows how she might react.

Evangelism

Years ago a prominent figure in our brotherhood came to speak to our preacher's group in North Jersey. During his talk he made the statement that our exclusivity was killing our evangelism. Afterwards I happened to be in the car next to him headed for lunch. I took the time to disagree with his statement. I said that our inclusivity is killing our evangelism. I pointed out that ever since I've become a Christian (1973) I've heard that Churches of Christ were one of the fastest growing churches during the 50s. I have often wondered why no one suggested that we recapture the attitudes and message that was present back then. Some may not have liked that our brotherhood was decidedly exclusive in its message but back then we knew who was lost and who was saved. I don't believe that this alone made us evangelistic, but it certainly helped. When we become overly inclusive there is no need to evangelize because everyone appears saved.

Our society today as a whole has moved to the left in its quest to be tolerant. Tolerance means that we accept everyone and their message. No one is lost. So if we evangelize any group we insult them and society jeers at us. Remember when the Southern Baptists were lambasted in the media because they believed that Jewish people in general were lost? I believe firmly that if we don't know who is saved and who is lost then we won't evangelize. I'm not suggesting that we necessarily believe that we are the only Christians but I am saying we must have a clearly articulated message that gives a clear indication of what we believe is the message and the response to it. Without this as a minimum we will have an unclear path for evangelism.

God's dwelling

In going over the Scriptures on the Holy Spirit I noticed something that I had never noticed before. I don't know if any author has ever pointed this out. I don't remember reading it anywhere before. Well here goes.

In the Old Testament God tells Israel that He will be their God, they will be His people and He will dwell among them (Ex.29:44-46; Lev.26:12). When Jesus came to the earth, John records that the word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). And lastly, the Holy Spirit dwells in us (Rom.8:9,11). I think this is significant that each member of the Godhead took turns dwelling with us. I also believe that this should have an impact on how we understand the "indwelling of the Holy Spirit."

I mentioned in an earlier post that in our fellowship there have been two distinct teachings concerning the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. One believes that the Spirit indwells us representatively through the word. The other believes that the Holy Spirit is personally dwelling in us. I think both teachings miss the point of "dwelling." Dwelling isn't about location, it's about relationship. In the Old Testament God isn't telling the Israelites that He is only located among them (He's omnipresent) but that He has a special relationship that He has with no other nation. The same is true of the Christian. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us isn't about His location it's about Him having a relationship with us.

Look at Num.5:1-4 God has the Israelites send out unclean people from the camp because He dwells in their midst. When they send the people out of the camp, these people really haven't been removed from God's actual presence since He's omnipresent but they have been removed from Israel, with whom God does have a relationship.

When Solomon completed the temple, God demonstrated His presence by filling the temple with a thick cloud just as He did with the Tabernacle (1Kgs.8:11-13). Solomon later said that heaven and earth cannot contain God much less this temple (1Kgs.8:27). Surely this has to impact out thinking about the Holy Spirit. We must understand that when the New Testament speaks about the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, just as the Old Testament spoke about God dwelling in the temple, that what is in view is not location but relationship.

We might also look at this from another perspective. Instead of dividing the Bible into three historical dispensations (patriarchal, Mosaic, Christian) why not see the Bible in terms of ministerial dispensations - the Father's with Israel, Jesus' with the apostles, and the Holy Spirit's with the church. This is why each member of the Godhead dwells with us - it is part of His ministry.

I do believe that the miracles performed in the early church were proof of the Holy Spirit's dwelling in God's new people the church. The miracles in the Old Testament (the plagues in Egypt, the miracles during the period of the Judges, and the thick cloud in the Tabernacle and Temple) were proof of God's dwelling among the Israelites. I also believe that miracles are no longer necessary. But I believe that in the Old Testament God empowered people for service in non-miraculous ways (Ex.35:31-32) and the Holy Spirit continues to empower us in non-miraculous ways today (Rom.12:6-8). The continuing proof today of the Spirit's dwelling in us is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5:22-23). This is the Spirit's continuing ministry for the church.

Flustered

Yesterday I experienced something I've never experienced in the pulpit, I got so flustered I had to stop, say something, regain my thoughts, and then continue on. Now, I've lost my train of thought before, I've gotten flustered before, but I've never felt the need to say something. I've always just pretended like it was all part of my lesson. In essence I bluff and find my place. But yesterday I felt so lost that I was sure everyone else was seeing it as well. So I stopped and said something like, "I'm sure Barry Bonds has stepped up to the plate and not been able to swing, and that's what I'm experiencing." Then I got back in the "game" and continued on. Everyone afterwards was quite sympathetic and gracious. Some told me that I shouldn't have said anything because they certainly didn't notice. A lot of them told me it shows I'm human. Of course I already knew that. I just don't like my humanity popping up in front of the congregation. One visiting preacher shared with me a gaff of his from last week. It turned out to be a good experience - for me and the congregation.

Bob's Intelligence Type

Here is the result to my intelligence type.

Your Dominant Intelligence is Interpersonal Intelligence

You shine in your ability to realate to and understand others. Good at seeing others' points of view, you get how people think and feel. You have an uncanny ability to sense true feelings, intentions, and motivations. A natural born leader, you are great at teaching and mediating conflict. You would make a good counselor, salesperson, politician, or business person.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Sermon Preparation

Kent Anderson brings up an interesting survey from Thom Rainer (Surprising Insights from the Unchurched), some preachers only spend two hours a week in sermon preparation. It sometimes takes me two hours just to find the images I want for my PowerPoint slides. Seriously, there are times when other factors in my week limit my sermon preparation time but I've always felt that at least 10 hours per sermon was a good investment. Charles Hodge has pointedly stated that preachers ought to spend one hour of study for every minute preached. That means I should spend 50 hours a week studying for my two weekly sermons (my sermons are typically around the 25 minute mark). 50 hours plus at least 20 more in meetings, visits, etc. I'm not a work-oholic. Instead I spend about 20 hours a week in preparing for my sermons, which means a little under half my week in actual time.

Sermon preparation consists of reading the text, studying the text myself (word study, context study, historical background, etc.), thinking through possible applications, thinking through the outline for the sermon (my outlines don't always have a 3 point plan), gathering images for the slides, an idea for the introduction (I like to start off the sermon with something to get the congregation thinking), and making sure I have an adequate conclusion. I think my conclusions are the weakest part of my sermons and so I struggle each week with this knowledge.

Of course the adequacy of this preparation is limited by my personality. I'm a big picture thinker and not a detail thinker. So I don't always spend time thinking through the details as thoroughly as I should. Often I think I've got the big picture covered and my optimism tells me that's enough. After I preach a sermon I always come up with ways I should have done it. I guess I can understand what Paul means when he says that our adequacy comes from God (2Cor.3:4-6). It is comforting to know that God is able to use our imperfect and meager attempts and still accomplish good results.

Today's Lessons 11/12/2006

This morning's lesson began a series of lessons on Stewardship. I started off with a look at God's faithfulness to us. The key characteristic of a steward is faithfulness or trustworthiness. I wanted us to first get a sense of God's faithfulness before we start considering our responsibility of faithfulness to God. I have always believed that our response to God grows out of His salvation and grace to us first. The next couple of weeks I will talk about being good stewards of the usual stuff - our money, possessions, time, etc.

Sunday evening I continued my series on Attacks on the Bible's Integrity. It is a difficult series since I'm not really explaining some Scripture or scriptural topic but rather talking about manuscripts, textual evidence, archaeology, and history. However, I seem to get good response. Tonight's lesson was about a web site from an Islamic group that is questioning the typical manuscript evidence that we use to demonstrate the accuracy of our current copies with what we believe to be the possible original text. I found this web site on the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog that I have linked to the left of my posts. I think I will wrap up this series next Sunday and start something new.

New Computer!!!!!!!!!!!

I now have a new computer! Long story. Pat's computer was partially damaged at the beginning of last summer while we were still in New Jersey. We were told it would need replacing. So once we moved to Florida, I got on TigerDirect and ordered a barebones kit with no hard drive. My goal was to take Pat's hard drives (complete with Windows XP) and just put it into the the new computer. It would have worked if the OS was anything but XP. No dice, Microsoft doesn't mind if you use the same equipment but not a new computer. So this computer sat and we bought a HP from Office Depot (just like the one her Dad just bought). She's happy. So when my computer died I purchased Win XP from a store on Ebay. Spent the whole day today working on it. First, I installed XP on a standard hard drive (IDE or PATA). Then I installed a new 200 GB SATA (Serial ATA) and made it my boot drive. Then I added the two hard drives from my old computer so I don't have any data loss. Now I have three hard drives plus a CD-ROM and a DVD-CD burner. I am cooking with fire! I'm pretty excited. This new computer is cool. Hopefully I will get back to regular posting.