22 July 2006

What is "missional" anyway?

Saw this a couple of days ago and thought I'd link to it. Then someone came in the office and you know the rest of the story. Anyway, check out what Adam has to say about missional ministry - read the whole series (the links at the bottom)

11 July 2006

3 Stooges in Action

Back in April, I wrote about the 3 Stooges. At this point, I still have not met the 3rd Stooge - he might be a fig newton of somebody's imagination - even if he is, Ronnie does a lot of the work......

I mentioned to Sam back in April that I had read a lot about teams and how to lead them, etc. Many books and such talked about effective teams, but I had never seen one work well until I saw the 3 Stooges in action. We got to see more on this trip. Not only did we see 2 of the 3 Stooges, but we got to see the interaction between them and their pastor. Three very strong personalities, all with different outlooks on life, all focusing on the same goal - pretty powerful. Watched conflicting goals, ideas be resolved not in an explosive way, but in a God honoring, peaceful, restorative way.

Their example has given me a lot to try to emulate. Two other men from Morenci went with me on this trip. Dennis is a man who never met a stranger. He is a Supervisor in the Research department at the copper mine. Jeff drives one of those small dump trucks (only 240-300 ton per load) for 12 hours a day, and he is pretty quiet most of the time. Both of them are leaders! I found that out on this trip.

Following the example of the guys from Stone Ridge, the team and the pastor, I tried to deflect as much of the decision-making issues to Jeff and Dennis, for many reasons. I want God to do things with us that are not limited by me. These 2 guys went on this trip and saw everything that I saw. They were impacted and want to make a difference in the lives of other people. They took the lead in talking to the local missionary and leaders of the churches. I tried to stay out of their way. It's a different way of operating that will take some time for all of us to be comfortable with, but it has been a good start.

This coming Sunday, Dennis and Jeff will present their views / impressions / etc on the trip, and then will tell the church where they think we should be involved with 2 different churches / missions in the DR. Should be a lot of fun.

10 July 2006

The power of vision

It is amazing how fast the schedule takes over when you get back from a trip. Spent a couple of days last week arguing with Montezuma, and it has already been a week since we got back. Oh well.....

We visited 32 different churches/missions from Friday night until Thursday night. We spent a lot of time in the wawa (Dominican for bus). Days were sometimes quite long, and showers quite "refreshing" with the humidity a bit higher than most of us were accustomed.

Everywhere we went on the island, we saw the power of a God-sized vision. The leader of the Dominican Baptist Convention has a vision to reach the entire nation for the cause of Christ. He has been the pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Puerta Plata for 28 years and he is 48 years old. Many men in that church are missionaries to their own people. Many other men in that church are preparing to become pastors or missionaries. It appears that they are approaching planting churches in much the same way that Guy posts about here. Not exactly the same, but similar.

We saw many people who are sold out to the cause of Christ. They work full time jobs, serve in the main church, and work to start missions, holding Bible Studies, developing relationships with other people.

We heard strategies that are well beyond the capabilities of the people who are working them. I made the comment to a seminary friend who was there that what they are doing made our Practicum course look weak in comparison. These men and women minister in impossible situations and God is magnified, lifted up, people are served, and the impossible becomes possible through His means. People are being set free from the bondage of sin regularly. The church is growing and flourishing.

Enough for now. More later.

07 July 2006

Reflections on fireworks

Fireworks this July 4th were different. The sound was the same, the colors were the same, the smell was the same, I am different.

In years past, I would hear the song "I'm Proud to be an American" and feel my chest swell with pride and gratitude. This year pride as an American was not at the forefront of my emotions. The overwhelming thought that ran across my mind that night was "Why me?"

Having recently returned from the Dominican Republic, and having met many brothers and sisters in Christ, I realized anew that I contributed nothing to my being born as a citizen of the United States of America. Only by the grace and will of God am I here, at this time, in this place.

Americans enjoy many privileges because of our place of birth. We also suffer some of the drawbacks of that same status. Of all the physical things in life, we enjoy the best. Of many of the spiritual aspects of life, we are poverty stricken. We have traded our spiritual life for an extravagant physical existence - a very poor choice on our part.

Our once strong spiritual vitality has been sapped dry for the most part in America. Yes, there are pockets of spiritual life here, but not like it is in other parts of the world where God has the hearts and minds and entire lives of His followers. He is working in other lands, with other peoples in ways that we will not allow Him to work in the States with us. For that, my emotion is not one of pride, but one of loss.

Am I blessed that God chose to give me life in the United States of America in the late 1900's / early 2000's? Yes I am. Did I have anything to do with that choice? No.

I'm not sure fireworks will ever mean the same to me again - at least I hope they won't.

03 July 2006

Tranquilo Bobby!!

We're home!!!! After a 25 hour of day traveling, we are all safe and sound, all 11 of us from Az who went to the DR. We had 4 legs on our journey with breaks (layovers) between just about each leg.

The best comment I have heard about the trip so far came from my beautiful bride. She said "You seem peaceful after this trip, not all keyed up like you usually are."

We heard many times on this trip - "Tranquilo Bobby!" Our Dominican host was very gracious and had a great sense of humor.

For some, it was a stretch to not have a schedule other than what someone else thought needed to happen. I kinda enjoyed it. We could see that God was leading us as we looked backwards....

I'm hoping to reflect a bit on some of the experiences we had, attitudes, questions, etc in the coming days. Suffice it to say that many more questions were raised than answers given, although many answers were discovered. Recently Guy commented here about something that I had no understanding when I replied. I now have a somewhat better understanding.... not complete by any means, but better.

I'm blessed to be home, where the electricity works all 24 hours of the day, along with water coming out of the faucet/toilet/shower whenever I turn it on, toilet seats (and toilets...), paper, etc. We Americans are very spoiled and tend to be fat and lazy.

21 June 2006

Trip starts tomorrow

Tomorrow we leave for the Dominican Republic. We are going to help church planters do whatever they want us to do. The only definite on our itinerary is when our planes are scheduled to depart and arrive, Sunday School is on Sunday morning, and Worship is on Sunday evening. Other than that, we are going to serve those we will be with.

Eleven of us are going from 4 different churches (and not all of them are Southern Baptist.....) I'm looking forward to seeing what God is doing there. From what I understand, He is working in ways there that we do not see Him working here in the States.

I have no idea whether I will have Internet access. If so, perhaps an occasional entry will show up. If not, I guess we will see how much makes its way here after we return.

13 June 2006

Reading List

Started doing something that I enjoy again - reading. Been a bit busy the past couple of months and haven't been able to read much. Miah commented to me yesterday that I should write something on my blog cuz she's getting tired of reading all the old stuff over and over and over......

Been trying to make up for lost time reading, so here's my list.

Books read in the past 2 weeks:

The Missional Leader, Alan Roxburgh & Fred Romanuk
Practicing Greatness, Reggie McNeal
Simple Church, Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger

Working on:

On Being a Pastor, Derek Prime & Alistair Begg
The Training of the Twelve, A.B. Bruce
The Bondage of the Will, Luther as translated by J.I. Packer & O.R. Johnston

On Deck:

Breakout Churches, Thom Rainer
Sinners in the Hands of a Good God, David Clotfelter
Sex, Men and God, Douglas Weiss

Quotable Quote

At a recent Convention Council meeting in Scottsdale, Nancy Jones, the President of Baptist Senior Life Ministries in Az, made the following statement:
"Who is going to attend your funeral and NOT look at their watch?"


Kinda makes you think, doesn't it.........

29 May 2006

Dr. Steve Bass

Dr. Steve Bass is blogging. For those of you who do not know Steve, he is the fearless leader of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention and an all around good guy.

I have had the pleasure to be a student in one of his classes he teaches at the Arizona Regional Campus of the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. I'm a member or our Convention Council (kinda like an State Executive Board) in my 2nd year of a 3 year term and have had the opportunity to see Steve in a different light than many have. What has pleased me is that what you see in Steve is what you get. He speaks very plainly and directly to whatever issue he encounters.

I'm glad he is blogging and am looking forward to reading what he has to say.

27 May 2006

COTB - Last in a series?

Finished up this past Sunday morning with Church Outside the Box, the series. I have a feeling that this thought will not be far away for a long time, that it will flavor many things before it abates.

We started out talking about the Block Party from the night before. Discussed whether we were the church in the Park or not. We decided that serving other people, helping them have fun, having spiritual conversations, and helping them to see that not all Christians are out to beat them over the head was a good thing - we might have been the church outside the walls afterall.

Then we talked about all the things our past and traditions have forced upon us and decided if they were really required for us to be the church. (If you look real close, you can see the ghost-white legs of the goofy preacher....) I preached for the first time ever in big church dressed in shorts, t-shirt and sandals - or at least I started out with sandals, they came off pretty quickly.



Several of the things written on the wall were torn out and thrown away. About the only thing that was not discarded was the Bible. We even decided that a paid preacher was not a requirement for us to be the church....





Clean walls again.... It remains to be seen if we will continue with our evaluation of who we are as the church. It is my hope that we will get rid of as many things that hold us back from being the church that we can. We can put many things down that we have held dear. Hopefully we can show those who do not know Christ yet who He is and who we truly are - His called out ones.


21 May 2006

Off to NM

Headed to Glorieta tomorrow to get rid of Daughter #1..... She worked at the Glorieta Conference Center last year and liked it so much that she decided to do it again this summer. Gotta head out pretty early in the am and we'll be gone for a few days. Will post about the ending of Church Outside the Box later this week.

2006 Block Party

We had our 2nd Annual 1st Southern Block Party in the park here in town yesterday. Had around 100 people register, not including church folks. Had a good time watching the kids play and the youth and adults talk with people, sharing an afternoon together. Kids playin, eatin and talkin..... doesn't get much better than that

Grandpa Rocks







14 May 2006

Church Outside the Box

The past couple of weeks we have been talking about the church. Last week, we saw what the Bible had to say about us being the spiritual building that God is building, just as He wants it to be.

If you look real close, there are all kinds of boxes in that wall. Beer boxes, a Fry Daddy box, a speaker box, even a Lifeway box.

The Duct tape is the Bond of Love. A little guy coming out of the service said that our love should sound like Duct tape. I think he caught the idea.


This week, we looked at what history has done to us. In many ways, we are way too concerned with the "stuff" than we are being the church. We like being members of the "Club," but don't necessarily like the work that comes with it.


Here's what the "church" looks like today (as we saw it this morning) Lots of words on the outside of the wall like - Building (everybody knows you have to have a building to have church), Paid Preacher (every church needs a paid preacher to be the dispenser of all knowledge), the correct version of the Word, a choir, etc. Sorry the picture isn't detailed enough to get a good view. Maybe I can post others later with more detail.

One of the deacons told his wife (who was out of town thig morning) "Our traditions got hammered this morning." Her response was "Hallelujah!!" I'm kinda glad for her response because she is on our Worship Team and plays the keyboards for us.

04 May 2006

A twist - Questions for Churches

Found this today in Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox Issue #257 - Questions for Churches

I like it! For those of us who are in small churches, check out this website. There's quite a bit of help there, as well as some humor.

Gotta see the Herding Cats clip.

01 May 2006

More From the 12

Another timeless comment from The Training of the Twelve. Again, near the end of the chapter titled "The Intercessory Prayer." Emphasis mine.

Wrangling is not a divine thing, and it needs no divine influence to bring it about. Anybody can quarrel; and the world, knowing that, has little respect for a quarrelling Church. But the world opens its eyes in wonder at a community in which peace and concord prevail, saying, Here is something out of the common course,--selfishness and self-will rooted out of human nature: nothing but a divine influence could thus subdue the centrifugal forces which tend to separate men from each other.

With all the "stuff" that is happening on the political scene in Southern Baptist life, we need to take a good hard look at this quote and do something about it.

27 April 2006

Fixing things......again

I recently waxed philosophic on my proclivity to "fix" things.

My lovely bride this afternoon asked me to help her do something. I quickly donned my knight in shining armor gear, and leapt into action.

I now have a boot with no heel to show for it. And she giggled at me. Then I got a hammer. What she needed help with is fixed.

Now I need to fix my boot.

24 April 2006

Life with Jake

Jake is blogging now. Or something like that. Maybe it is the goofy looking human in the picture, or someone who is not in the picture ....... I'm sure it will be interesting none the less.

21 April 2006

Lessons learned from the 3 Stooges - Part 1ne

On June 22nd, several people from at least 5 churches will be heading to the Dominican Republic to help with a school of ministry or two. We (Jeff and I) met with them on Wednesday and Thursday. It was an amazing trip.

We met Fred Harris in Phoenix, and he went with us to Yuma. He is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Winslow, AZ. If I remember correctly, they stand on a corner...... Fred is an amazing guy, even if he says "Stink" a lot and talks about Jewish bears.

Jason (pastor) and Bob (youth group - the entire youth group) met with us. They are from Yuma Community Church. Jason started the church last Easter and this Easter Sunday, they had 100 attending services!!!! Sounds like he is doing an amazing job planting that church. Yuma Community is located less than a mile away from Stone Ridge Church.

Sam is the pastor of Stone Ridge Church.and they are the sponsoring church for this trip to the D.R. Sam and Jason are not in competition with each other, as a matter of fact, they pray for the success of the other church. Imagine that, churches of different beliefs cooperating rather than competing. Think this might be an idea that needs to spread to other places? I do.

Stone Ridge has a Missions Team that operates better than any team I have ever encountered. I used to teach teams how to operate, helped them begin, facilitated them when I was playing Engineer. This team taught me several things! And they call themselves the Three Stooges! Not Larry, Curly, and Moe, but Mark, José, and Ron.

Mark is the Team Leader. He is a relationship kind of guy. Likes to make sure people get to do what they need to be doing. Mark plays guitar professionally, and is self-employed to make a living. The lovely Lindsay is the one who makes sure the teams get to the D.R. and back. She loves the challenge of getting the best price for airline tickets. They are a good team, maybe that's why they are married......

José is an administrator / people person. Good combination of skills and passion. He was born in the States, lived in Mexico until he was 12, then came back to the States. He's been a beliver for a little over 5 years. Sounds like he is Sam's translater in the D.R. (does that make him a Designated Speaker?) Laura is an amazing cook. We hung out in their patio and ate, talked, and ate some more on Wednesday afternoon.

Didn't have an opportunity to meet Ron this trip. He is the administrator / fund-raiser. Heard part of his story, can't wait to meet him and look in his eyes to see the rest of it.

Their work has influenced many and will influence many more people before they are done. All three of these guys work full time jobs. Sam says they spend at least 20 hours a week in ministry for the church and the passion that God has given them. If you are around them for more than 5 minutes, their passion gives them away. Wouldn't surprise me if they bleed missions, reaching people, and serving Christ when they get cut.

That's all for now. My mind still hasn't gotten a handle on what happened. Not to mention what will happen as a result of this week. Good stuff.

18 April 2006

I'm off.....again

Headed to Phoenix today to attend another eTeam meeting. Sounds like we haven't had a great deal of response to our questions yet.

Tomorrow - Yuma. Meeting with folks from 4 or 5 churches who will be heading to the Dominican Republic for 10 days or so. Gonna do some planning.

Back to Phoenix on Thursday afternoon. Get to spend time with another friend and his family. Maybe do some planning to fix some things that need fixing.

Will let you know how things went.

17 April 2006

The Discipline of Lent

Adam gave up coffee for Lent. For most of us Protestants, we don't even think about Lent. Adam did and decided to try giving something up - coffee.

Many who give something up give up the thing that is furthest away from them. Not Adam, he works in a coffee shop - and he gave up drinking coffee for 40 days. In that period of time, he began to learn how to roast coffee, read books on coffee (even hosted a contest about coffee), and reflected often (look at the bottom of the post for a listing) about the process.

He finished his coffee fast today - with pics!!

I'm not sure I could handle giving up something that I was around like that. Especially when I enjoy coffee as much as I do.

Good job Adam!

12 April 2006

Mr. FixIt .... and humility

I like to fix things. Take them apart, figure them out, put them back together, improve them etc. My first degree is in Mechanical Engineering - crammed my 4 years into 5 at New Mexico State University. I have rebuilt a 392 International V-8 engine, replaced the cab on my 1972 International dump truck, fixed multiple car / truck engine problems and numerous other projects.

Some of them worked well. I can replace parts on most vehicles pretty easy. Somebody tells me what is wrong, and I can change the parts out. Most of the time doing those kinds of repairs are relatively easy. Except for the engine rebuild. It worked really good, lots of power, smooth running, etc. until something in the bottom end let loose and it didn't have so much power, or run so smooth, etc. When I replaced the cab on the dump truck, the wiring harness was different and I didn't know it until the burning smell alerted me that something was definitely not right. Not too much damage - a couple of days later, everything was Ok again.

I'm no longer messing with dump trucks. My wife is extremely happy that she doesn't have to pray that the truck would start each morning at 4:30 am for some strange reason.

My latest fix it thing is computers. I am building my supply of parts rapidly.

A couple of years ago, I had a laptop (still have it - parts.....) It developed a problem with its keyboard. Rick let me borrow one of his spare laptops for the rest of the semester - thanks Rick!! After the semester was over, I decided to "fix" my laptop. Found just the right keyboard (I thought) until I opened the box and immediately found out it was NOT the right one. No problem - less than $20. Found another one - the right one this time, and it had a CD drive with it for around $20, maybe a little more. I needed the CD drive too, because the laptop originally had a 3.5" drive. Keyboard worked fine, CD drive worked fine. Come to find out, the battery had died in the meantime, so updating the BIOS was a problem without a fully charged battery. Reliable batteries are not the cheapest........

My desktop died a couple of months ago - no problem. Troubleshot it, found out that it was NOT several things. Talked to tech support, they wanted me to send it in so they could work on it - right..... as if I can't fix it myself. Talked with a couple of friends of mine - Rick, & Dante. Both of them thought it sounded like the motherboard. I'd never replaced a motherboard before, sounded like fun. $43 and 4 days later, I had a new, upgraded motherboard.

Put it all together, double checked everything, and surprise, surprise, it booted, first time!!! I was all kinds of excited. Miah and Annie saw their dear old dad do the Happy Dance.

Had to shut down to hook up to the net to update a few things - again, no problem. Noticed that when it shut down, the lights on the keyboard were very bright, but it didn't quite sink in - yet.

Hooked it up to the net, and it refused to boot - just like it had refused to boot prior to the replacement of the motherboard, and the keyboard lights were brighter than I had ever seen them, and the optical mouse glowed like never before. I was a bit discouraged.

Found out the next morning when I tried to boot the machine I borrowed the keyboard and mouse from that they didn't want to work. It now appears that I have 2 fried motherboards, 2 dead keyboards, and 1 blind optical mouse.

Just prior to me getting the bright idea of "fixing" my desktop, our inkjet printer (an all-in-one jobby) decided to get cranky. Being the fix-it kinda guy I am, I decided to find out why it was leaving ink drops the size of a small cookie on paper left in the tray too long. So, I opened it up, found out how to take it apart. Spent quite a bit of time one evening cleaning it up. Put it all back together, lo and behold, it does not do what it used to do - PRINT!!!! In spite of several attempts to fix what wasn't really broken, it still functions as an expensive paperweight - and we don't have a device that will put our words on paper.

To recap, I now have one laptop (with a dead battery, but a new CD drive), a desktop (with 2 fried motherboards, 2 dead keyboards, and 1 blind optical mouse), and a previously Ok inkjet printer on my hands, or laying around the house in various locations for storage.

So, how does humility come into play? I'm glad you asked. I have always prided myself on being able to fix pretty much anything that comes along. Give me the manuals, and I can figure it out (or so I used to think.) I'm not so sure anymore - at least about computers.

C.J. Mahaney wrote a book recently about humility. I have not read the book, but have it on my list of books to get someday. He published a PDF list of things that he does to encourage his humility. (It used to be found on the Sovereign Grace website, but I couldn't find it) Some of the things he lists should be on my list too - such as laugh at myself often, but I'm thinking that adding the title "Computer Repairman" to my list of my "talents" should not even be considered. Maybe I need to take these electronic devices to someone who is trained and capable of repairing them correctly the first time rather than spending way too much time, effort, money, and emotional distress on them.

In the meantime, Miah tells me last night that her laptop had quit talking to the wireless network at home. I tried to fix it. Good thing for her we had to go to church last night for Worship Team practice. She made it work this morning - guess that is one less thing for me to "fix."

Continuing comments about the 12

I'm continuing my whirlwind tour through "The Training of the Twelve" by A.B. Bruce. I started it last summer and have found it difficult to read much at a time. Not because it is a difficult book, but due to my ability (or lack thereof) to digest the concepts. It continually challenges my thinking, offering chunks for me to mull over, consider, argue with, etc.

Read a sobering one last night here (found toward the end of the chapater) that I quote below:

Stern fact sternly announced; but however stern, Jesus is not afraid to look it in the face. His heart is in perfect peace, for He has two great consolations. He has a good conscience: He can say, "I have overcome the world." He has held fast His moral integrity against incessant temptation. The prince of this world has found none of his spirit in Him, and for that very reason is going to crucify Him. But by that proceeding Satan will not nullify, but rather seal, His victory. Outward defeat by worldly power will be but the index and measure of His spiritual conquest. The world itself knows well that putting Him to death is but the second best way of overcoming Him. His enemies would have been much better pleased if they had succeeded in intimidating or bribing Him into compromise. The ungodly powers of the world always prefer corruption to persecution as a means of getting rid of truth and righteousness; only after failing in attempts to debauch conscience, and make men venal, do they have recourse to violence.


In context, Bruce is describing Jesus' final hours and the conversations he had with his disciples. This quote is sobering in that the tactics of the Enemy have not changed. We (Christ-followers) still have to watch our every step, to make sure our integrity is not compromised, in spite of being under constant surveilance. Jesus himself said in John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (NASB)

More to come ..... someday.

09 April 2006

Easter's on it's way.....

Next Sunday is Easter and we get to watch a baptism!!!!! Olivia's Mom and Dad talked to me this morning about talking with Olivia. I asked them where they thought Olivia was since they have a better sense of her spiritual life than I. They thought she was ready, so we talked after services this morning.

She asked Jesus to come into her heart a while back. Mom and Dad have done a great job talking to her, clarifying, making sure she understands what happened, is happening, etc.

We talked about being baptized. She's ready! I asked her why she wanted to be baptized. Her response - "Because I asked Jesus to come into my heart." Simple faith.

Does she understand everything that everyone thinks she should understand before making a "decision for Christ?" Probably not, but then again, I doubt very seriously that anyone understands everything everyone else thinks they need to know...... I don't have many of the answers either.

So, next week, Easter Sunday, we get to celebrate as Dad baptizes Olivia!!!!! I can hardly wait.

08 April 2006

Reminders..........

Kiki has ended her blogging fast with two excellent posts.

The first is one every woman, and the men who love them, need to read. It is a reminder..........

The second is from Guest Blogger Brandee Littlefield. She presents a writing that resulted from a dream she had that was recorded in her journal. It too, is a reminder..........

02 April 2006

Blogging is contagious

Shemiah has started blogging!!! She's been at it for a little while. She has written poetry for a long time and most of it is outstanding (and I'm not biased in the least....)

She posted a poem that was written some time ago here. The poem is good, but the comments from her uncle and cousin make it all the better. The man mentioned in the comment from Neil is Shemiah's granddad. He's one of my heros too.

01 April 2006

Reflections on a previous life

Spent some time with a friend of mine this past week. He recently went through an unexpected job change. He was, and still is, self-employed, but now really self-employed. Was with a couple of partners and now is not.

Had the opportunity to see how his was doing spiritually, how he was dealing with life, his outlook, family, church, etc. Having been in a similar situation of a business failure of sorts, it was nice to see him working through many of the same issues that we dealt with several years ago.

We talked about how many people don't get it when we say "It's not about the money" or "Money is not the issue." Especially when they are very concerned about how you will pay the bills, feed the family, etc. The real issue comes down to faith. Will God do what He has promised that He will do for one of His, or will He not?

I'm glad we are no longer self-employed in the same sense. I'm glad that our business supported us for as long as it did. I'm also glad that it failed. Without the failure, I would not have the faith in the Father that I do now, hope in the work that Christ has done, or the comfort that the Comforter provides.

23 March 2006

Make sure you are on the same page...

Attended an Association meeting yesterday. A new opportunity was presented by someone who wants to start a Student Ministry at Eastern Arizona College. EAC is a Community College at this point, but is hoping to become a 4 year college for the 2007-2008 school year. It is historically a Mormon college, but the area is growing and more non-Mormon students are attending.

Bill is the man who has the vision of ministering to students. It was almost a classic case of generational differences. He had a plan that would have worked in the 60's - 80's. He presented it to a couple of guys on our state staff a couple of weeks ago, and didn't get the response he had hoped for, so he was wanting to see what could be done without the state convention help. I'm not sure he explored any current strategies to minister to students.

I started asking all kinds of questions like "What is the strategy?" and "Why are you wanting to do this?" He was thinking that I didn't care, and wouldn't support it until I told him that I have a daughter who is going to start attending EAC this fall - I have a vested interest in starting a student ministry. I just want to start one that will reach students, not one that is based on a strategy that worked for another generation.

We went to a coffee shop and talked for a long time after the meeting so that I could hear his dream. We were able to discuss the issues, agree on some points, while disagreeing on others. Who knows what will happen, what type of ministry will emerge, but we are going in the same direction, with the same goal in mind.

I appreciate Bill's passion. He commented at one point that he only has 13-15 years left in this life unless he gets called home early, and he doesn't want to waste those years (he is 68 years old)!!!! May his tribe increase and his ministry explode!

I'm going to help however I can, for multiple reasons. My daughters will probably attend that college, there are a lot of students who are believing lies there, and Bill has a vision. I'm sure glad we are on the same page of the same book!

New Mexico Baptists have a Blogger-Director

The Baptist Convention of New Mexico recently elected a new State Director, Dr. Joseph Bunce. He has started a blog and is asking New Mexico Baptists for input. I hope he is the leader that they need to help them reach the people of NM for Christ.

22 March 2006

eTeam up and running!

ASBC eTeam is live! I've written about it here and here.

If you are a member of a Southern Baptist church in the state of Arizona, you are invited to take part in the discussion! Each pastor in the state has received a letter from the Evaluation Team, and we want your input - regardless of your position in the church you serve.

20 March 2006

Doin' Theology

One of my professors in seminary regularly commented that we all do theology, whether we know it or not. Some of us will do a good job of it, others won't.

The past couple of weeks we have been studying church polity during the evening time together. (I hesitate to call it the evening service, cuz we don't do anything but study Scripture.) We've looked at gobs of verses from the New Testament text and spent quite a bit of time deciding what they mean and how it should work in our church. It is amazing what kinds of comments I have received from this exercise.

Some have said that they have not been encouraged like that through Bible study in a long time. Others have told me that they have been able to settle things in their mind that they have been wrestling with for most of their lives.

The one that means as much, if not more than all the others came from one who said "We don't want to have a Potluck next Sunday night, we want to do more Bible study!"

I can live with that.....

14 March 2006

Rest?

Talked with a friend of mine from Seminary this morning. In actuality, he is one of my pastors whether he knows it or not. We discussed ministry and family and other things.

One aspect of ministry had to do with being. We see the same issues in our churches - people are busy and can't seem to just be. We find ourselves the same way many times too - too busy just to be. He is a pastor in the Phoenix area, and I am in a much smaller community, but that issue is the same for both of us.

He recently made a decision to stop pursuing a higher degree in seminary because he has 3 children. For that decision, I applaud him. His kids will be adults all too soon, and the degree will wait. He is doing a lot of things the right way though, getting exercise, taking his days off, doing things away from his church. He relayed a comment that someone he respected mentioned to him "They will kill you if you'll let them." He is experiencing this in his life now, and thankfully, trying to change before it is too late.

He serves as a Chaplain in the Reserves and will be heading out in a month or so for his 6 weeks of duty. He is looking forward to it. A change in perspecive will do him good (wouldn't it be good for all of us too?)

Don't know where I heard it or read it, but I like this - "We are human beings, not human doings" Why then are we more concerned with what we do than who we are?

09 March 2006

Shaylyn is surprised!

D'Shon and Shaylyn are gone for a couple of days. This is Shaylyn's surprise trip where she will receive a purity ring from me tomorrow night. Shemiah and Shaianne had their couple of days with Mom several years ago, when they were around 13. They both have purity rings as well.

We try to surprise the girls with this trip. Shemiah didn't have a clue until her mom went the wrong direction from the church parking lot. Her suitcase was in the back of the Suburban and she was completely surprised. For those of you who don't know Shemiah, she prides herself on being in the know about most everything - it was kinda fun to do something she had no idea was going to happen. I met them for supper (at the Fish Market in Phoenix) later that evening and presented her with her ring. They had that day and the next together in a nice hotel in Scottsdale.

Shaianne went to breakfast with me one morning and her mom showed up unexpectedly. Her stuff was packed after we left and mom had an easier time hiding some of the preparations. She received her ring at the end of breakfast. They went to the same hotel that Shemiah went to for her surprise trip.

Shaylyn told me right before she found out what was happening that she felt like she was everyones bodyguard today. Everyone wanted her to go with them to do whatever they were doing. She got her hair cut and then Shemiah assisted in the plot - she took her to Bashas and brought something to me at the office. Shaylyn looked like she was really unsure of what was going to happen when I mentioned to her that her next couple of days were going to be different than she was expecting. I talked to them a little while ago and they seem to be having fun. I get to go get Shaylyn's ring tomorrow and give it to her tomorrow night! It's going to be fun.

05 March 2006

M Blogs Misunderstood

I've run across a couple of blogs by missionaries that have given me insight into what is happening in different parts of the world. Marty linked them on his blog - SBC Outpost, so we can blame it on him (as if he need something else for people to blame him for.....)

The M Blog and Missions Misunderstood are carrying on a conversation at The M Blog that concerns some of the issues surrounding Church Planting Movements. It's usually better to listen to those who are in the middle of trying to do the job rather than those who don't even know that there is a job to do IMHO.

02 March 2006

Oh Look, a Sparkley!!!

It's amazing how much I depend on my computer and Internet connection. Been spending more time home trying to get things done in the past couple of weeks since my computer died. New (to me) machine should be here tomorrow - hopefully.

The new blog is just about ready for prime time. This blog will be for Arizona Southern Baptists to do some self-evaluation for our convention structure. When we roll it out, I'll provide a link so you can check it out. You can participate if you are a Southern Baptist living in Arizona. Registration is required to limit input to Az SBC'ers.

Food Bank time is tomorrow and Saturday. I look forward to these weekends. Getting to know folks in the community in a different way. It's fun developing relationships with them.

Our church recently started a clothing ministry - Women of Worth Repeat Boutique. It has been an outlet for several in our church, and we hope to make friends with lots of people in the community through it.

Don't miss the chance to encourage someone you come in contact with - especially when you are being prompted to do so. I missed an opportunity recently, and have regretted it ever since. Perhaps the opportunity will pass by my way again soon.

16 February 2006

Evaluation Team off and running

We had another eTeam meeting this past Monday. I am impressed with the caliber of people on the team. Everyone on the team has a good handle on the task we are to accomplish and insight that is remarkable.

We are going to take a broad approach to listening to people in Arizona concerning their impressions / perceptions of how our convention structure is working. It is refreshing to have leadership who encourages us to connect with people however we can. As a result, we are going to communicate many ways - through a blog, downloadable documents that can be returned by email or snail mail, personal letters to every pastor in the state, and an offer to meet with groups of pastors wherever they want to get together (and these meetings don't have to be by Associational area either!!!)

And to top it all off, my computer died yesterday morning..... I'm working from home for awhile until a new one arrives or the old one is fixed, whichever happens first.

09 February 2006

Desert Reign

Last night Desert Reign, a Country Gospel Music band performed in our church. They originally attended this church until they started traveling together as a band. They come back every year on their tours.

Last night I got to play my djembe with Breanna after everything was done and cleaned up. She received the CGMA-Western Region Songwriter of the Year award in 2005 and is the youngest person ever to do so. Needless to say, she is a talented musician.

Also found out last night that being an "entertainer" is not what I'm cut out for.... and that Elvis has left the building - one more time. But I did leave R.C. speachless with my Elvis imitation.

08 February 2006

February Meeting

Good trip this time! We got to talk about some policy issues with the lawyer for our Convention Council Church Planting Team. Good beginning for the discussion, but still have some things to work out. We were able to spend some money helping 2 churches reach their communities! We will be helping a third at some point - when some questions are answered. It appeared that they hadn't completely thought through all the issues they were facing, so we will readdress it when they find the answers.

We got to hear about what is happening with the Arizona Regional Campus of the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary - exciting stuff! They have 96 students taking classes this semester, and lots of money is being given for scholarships. Heard a story of a 70 year old man who has started taking classes, and another retired man who preached his first sermon in a church and they called him as pastor on the spot!!!!!

Also heard about the Desert Pines Baptist Association in the central north eastern part of Arizona. The churches in that Association are doing a good job reaching the people in their area using some creative ministries.

Mitch has promised me for awhile now that we would have a trailer. There was a reported trailer sighting on Monday night, so I'm fairly sure it exists......

Had a good afternoon drinking coffee and conversation with Sam on Monday. My lovely bride bought some new threads. She doesn't do that very often, so I was glad she found some she wanted, and they fit too! Two of my other women came home with new things too. Suppose that happens when they outgrow their old stuff.

05 February 2006

Headed to Phoenix

Tomorrow my women and I are heading to Phoenix. I hope to spend the afternoon with my friend Sam. I learn a lot and get encouraged every time we get together.

I have meetings with the Convention Council of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention. I look forward to these meetings because we get to assist churches do the things they feel led to do in order to reach the state of Arizona for the cause of Christ. The latest numbers I saw show that we are losing ground in the state. It appears that more and more people do not have a relationship with the risen Christ and have no affiliation with any church that is telling about Him.

I serve on the Church Planting Resource Team. We get to hear about how God is working in new church plants and decide how we can help them grow and become established.

Tonight in our evening services we talked a bit more about baptism. We are going to start the discussion about Prospective Member classes so that everyone who wants to be a member of this church will be able to know what we believe and how we want to operate. For some, this is old hat, for me, it is exciting news.

26 January 2006

Before You Go

Received this story (or something close to it) a couple of different times in the past couple of weeks. Thought I'd check the story out and pass it along if it turned out to be true. It is, and the message is worth it, so is the song - "Before You Go".

My father-in-law was a pilot during WWII. He died almost 5 years ago. I'm sure he would have appreciated this story and song, whether he would have said anything to anyone about it or not. I still miss him....... and will until we are reunited again. Thank you Dean.

25 January 2006

5 Year Checkup

1999 marks the year that the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention took a major hit. That is the year that the Baptist Foundation of AZ declared bankruptcy. One of the results of that explosion was that the structure of the ASBC was radically changed.

At the Convention in 1999, 17 people (pastors, laymen, a church secretary, and retired Navy Chaplain) from different parts of Az were appointed "to emerge a vision map strategy for our convention." The two-fold mission of the vision task force was: (1) To develop a convention wide vision. (2) To propose any structural or constitutional changes needed to support the vision. They were to report back to the 2000 ASB Convention with their vision and recommendations for its implementation.

They returned with a Mission statement: "The purpose of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention is to assist the Arizona Southern Baptist Churches in fulfilling the Great Commission."

They also returned 12 different recommendations. These recommendations drastically changed the structure and focus of the Convention at that point. One of those recommendations was for the new structure to be evaluated in 5 years. This structure has been in place for 5 years now.

At our Convention last November, 9 of us were approved as members of an Evaluation Team (eTeam for short). The makeup of the eTeam includes 3 Directors of Missions, a BCM Assistant Director, a lady who works in one of the Associations in the state, and 4 pastors - including a former President of our Convention. Our current President, Dan Coker, attends the meetings as a consultant, along with our State Missionary, Steve Bass, and the lady who makes sure it all happens - Mary.

We met last week to decide how we are going to go about doing our 5 year checkup. We need to report back to the Convention in November, so that is our main deadline. No one does much of anything outside in the summer here in Az, so we are trying to have most of the hard stuff done before it gets kinda warm.

I'm looking forward to finding the perceptions of how the current structure is working in the eyes of others in our state. It is going to be a bit of work (Ok, probably a lot of work), but I think it will be worth it in the long run.

I have the pleasure of designing a survey instrument (Thanks Julie.....) to help us determine the perceptions of leaders in the churches of our state.

I hope to bring updates fairly regularly on what we are doing (as much as possible), and the progress of the evaluation.

17 January 2006

My Shoulder hurts

Spent the last couple of days working at the Food Bank. Had some construction that needed to happen when people weren't around. Worked with some people who I am getting to know. I found out that just cuz you are older means that you know what to do or how to do it. I also learned that sometimes a younger person knows how to do something better than an older person. Sometimes there can be too much instruction going on. Other times, there is not enough to do to keep everyone busy.

Anyway, my shoulder hurts now. But the job is done, and the folks using it will be in a safer environment, and we have the satisfaction of a job well done.

12 January 2006

IMB Trustee Actions Summarized

Joel Rainey summarizes what has been happening with the IMB Trustees on his blog. His summary is concise and too the point. He does a much better job of it than I would if I tried.

If you want to catch up on what has happened, spend some time snooping around SBC Outpost. Marty is in the trenches in this one - not surprising since he likes to wear camo to the convention.

10 January 2006

The More things Change, the More they stay the Same

Lately, the trustees of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention have made some changes to their policies concerning baptism and tongues. It has cause a bit of an uproar in many places and with many people to say the least.

I spoke with a pastor friend of mine yesterday concerning his involvement in denominational life. He had been heavily involved in his local association, state convention, and also on the national level (Sunday School Board, etc). By his count, he was serving on 13 different committees / boards at the time. I didn't recognize it then, but looking back, I noticed that all of a sudden, he quit being involved with anything and anyone other than on the local level. He was very clear about his reasons for quitting and very open with me about them. He got fed up with the politics - plain and simple. Sick and tired of putting up with them, being on a rubber stamp committee and not being able to change anything that needed to be changed.

It would appear that although time has continued to march on, politics is still politics, not much has changed.

09 January 2006

A Friend has moved on......

I've been a pastor for the grand total of 2 years now. There have been several things that have surprised me in that time. One of them has been a friendship that developed between a fellow pastor and myself. Carl is a pastor in the Assembly of God denomination. He served as pastor in Morenci for about 6 1/2 years before moving recently to Prescott, AZ. He is now serving as chief cook and bottle washer I think - he said something about being Pastoral Care Pastor before heading out.

I never expected a friendship to blossom between us. I don't know what I was expecting from other pastors in town, but I didn't expect friendship - guess that might show more about my presuppostions than anything else......

Carl taught me many things. How to get involved in a small community by serving in different capacities - Rotary Club (Club Treasurer, Scholarship Committee, plus more), AYSO Soccer, Substitute teaching in the High School, etc. Much of my understanding of the community and its background came from Carl.

We discussed theology - translating about half way through Mark from Greek with Steve - another pastor from our community. We agree on the fundamentals of the faith. Others issues we knew we would not agree on, but would challenge each other on them - not to tear down, but to remind ourselves that we don't have all the answers.

I hope the next pastor in that congregation will be willing to attempt to develop a friendship. I plan on reaching out to him much the same way Carl did to me whenever the body there decides who he is.....

I'm gonna miss you Carl.
The LORD bless you, and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.' Numbers 6:24-26 NASB