Bringing Home The Bacon

Dylon has been hired in his first "real" job. He will be working at the local movie theater. As parents we really struggled with this as we were concerned about his schedule during the summer - church camp, band camp, youth missions endeavors, Wednesday and Sunday spiritual times, vacation etc.... He really only has a few years left then he starts running downhill for the next 45 years. I am very pleased that his boss is a Christian and understands the dynamics of mid-adolescent kids.

I do not always have a clear - unrestricted sense of what is best and when one's kid/family is involved sometimes that fuzzy view is skewed even more. But, my spiritual reading today took me to "The Seasons of Parenting" by Dr. John Rosemond. He states that at or about the age of 13 the season of "mentoring" begins to take place. The Season of Mentoring
Season two lasts for ten years, from three to thirteen, at which point a second transition takes place (or should) that moves parent and child into season three, the Season of Mentoring. It is no coincidence that in traditional cultures, early adolescent rites of passage—Jewish bar and bat mitzvahs being extant ex-amples—occur when a child is thirteen. These rituals mark and celebrate a major transition in the parent-child relationship. They acknowledge that the child in question has completed the disciplinary “curriculum” of season two and is now regarded as self-governing. He no longer needs adults to tell him what and what not to do; rather, he needs adult mentors to help him acquire the practical skills he will need to emancipate successfully—how to apply for a job, balance a budget, plan for the future, and the like. I do not necessarily consider myself to always be a good parent - I guess I just know my faults too well. But - we are here, like it or not!

Rob Bell - On Mars Hill and Its Ministry

Today I received a forward that is basically a short 3-part dissertation from Rob Bell on the various "thoughts" out there about him, his writings and the ministry of Mars Hill Bible Church. I found it very interesting and welcome hearing from the "horses" mouth. All three videos will take about 15 minutes with the last one speaking of the church and its need to reach out.

Memorial Weekend was a whirlwind of activity. Dylon and 46 High School band kids went to Austin for State Solo & Ensemble. His group received a "2" - that is very good for this young group of musicians. Saturday I tasted 19 different versions of Pork Spare Ribs at a local contest and there was really only one that was a little painful. I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon dealing with flooring and air-conditioning issues at our house - I hate this kind of stuff. On Sunday we had a nice service utilizing our new theatrical lighting system along with some interpretive dance, recognition of our graduating seniors and men/women that have/are serving in the military. Memorial Day itself started with a little time at Eastlawn (a local cemetery) where our quartet sang the national anthem and "America The Beautiful" for a nice service for those that have given their lives for our country. Then, on my hands and knees I scrubbed our kitchen floor. It was time!

Today - I am behind-way behind, so you have my thoughts and I leave you with this: Nothing would remain stable in human society if we determined to believe only what can be held with absolute certainty. -St. Augustine

I'm Gonna Read Another Book

Yesterday I received the Spring 2008 "Willow" periodical and quickly began to read while waiting for my son to finish his Youth Worship service. One of the articles was a quick review of the book Pagan Christianity? entitled "What Happened To The Church?" I found the article simply fascinating. Most of my worship comrades that read this blog will probably begin to laugh at how slow I am but - I am what I am! This particular statement; "As Christians, we are taught by our leaders to believe certain ideas and behave in certain ways. We are also encouraged to read our Bibles, yes. But we are conditioned to read the Bible with the lens handed to us by the Christian tradition to which we belong. We are taught to obey our denomination (or movement) and never to challenge what it teaches." This is a fairly frank statement - but, from my perspective, pretty accurate! I like to be challenged, well not always - but it is a good statement. Have you read this?

It's OK to be tired - Isn't It?

I googled "exhausted" - (which I will readily admit can be dangerous if you do not have a filter in place) and found this interesting picture. We got home last night from a good time meeting so many family members and friends from my Aunt Claudia's funeral service. The driving can make you tired, the emotions can make you tired even the "thinking" from trying to remember people's names can make you tired. As I arrived home I was going to take what I thought would be a "minute" to check email, read the online paper, etc. After seeing that I had 200 new emails I just shut the thing down. It was exhausting to think about all of that!!

Now that I have arrived at the office I am looking at the schedule and thinking - the "thinking" alone is getting me tired! School is almost out, summer programs are quickly ramping up for the church, community and family. I personally enjoy 88% of everything I do (I will not reveal the 12% I do not enjoy) and often find many physical and mental rewards for investing my time/energy into "stuff." But, today - not feeling it so much!

People Choosing Jesus

I have found in my 25+ years of full-time ministry service that this time of year is a busy year for people and families that are "church-goers" to find a church home. When school is out the number will continue to grow through the summer and often peak in August. I have said this to say the following. We have been in a sermon series on "faith" and some needed components in our lives to get the most out of our faith. During the musical portion of the worship time we read as a congregation the following passage of scripture: Acts 26: 17 "'I'm sending you off 18 to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.'(The Message)

Let's remember that I am not a theologian of the highest education possible - more along the lines, I try to be a student of scripture and always open to letting the Holy Spirit play a discerning role in my spiritual walk. I love conversing/reading with others and gleaning their thoughts and discernment of scripture. Yesterday following one of the services, a couple (guests in our services) approached me and was talking of how they wanted a church family that was willing to reach out in sharing and propagating the Gospel - specifically in such a way that people chose this spiritual life based on the positives it brings not just because it got them out of hell. The scripture above is from the chapter where Paul is talking to King Agrippa specifically about his conversion and purpose.

I know that I am really putting myself out there on this one but I would like your thoughts about this and not just an email but right here on the sight. I have close friends on both sides of this issue. Some believe the best method is a frank, often confrontational approach to the spiritual conversion and others to the more, often much more subtle "life-style" spreading of the Gospel. I think most of you will know my preference here and I will share later. OK - let's get after it!!

Losing People You Love

Claudia Mulkey, my mother's sister-in-law passed away this morning. She was a wonderful lady that I can never remember not liking. This particular picture (she is the second person from the right) was taken just a few weeks ago when she insisted on attending the annual Mulkey Reunion. My mom said to me just yesterday that she was more like a sister to her than and in-law and spoke of all they would do for them in their early years of marriage. As I have seen myself she was a strong mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She invested time and energy into not just her family but also her church, community and friends. I remember when we first took Erica to school at UNT - her and Uncle Laddie provided us (and Erica) with every imaginable telephone contact for them and then proceeded to take us to dinner at Babes (a place I would highly recommend!) Her investment of time and energy into helping make the lives of others better simply put, is inspirational.

I have a friend that consistently ask people if they are a good person and then follows up the question to ensure people are more than just good people but also have an honest relationship with Jesus Christ. Well, I can say with confidence that Aunt Claudia was a Christian and lived her life in such a way that led others to want to choose to have what she had in her walk. What a testimony! Here is a song that Claudia specifically asked for her service. How appropriate is this!

Up Early Again

Dylon, our youngest and most articulate child had Jazz Band rehearsal at 7:00 AM this morning which provides me with some real alone time at the office. Though it is not abnormal for me to stay up late at my ripe age of 45 it certainly is not the "normal" especially after a Wednesday, my typically busiest day of the week. Last night I just had to see if the two David's made the last round of American Idol. Surprise!?! Today, I've used this early morning time to read through the 10+ Blogs I look at on a regular basis. I love reading others thoughts, especially when they have taken the time to think through the process of putting something out there for the world to peruse. Here is what I have seen today:

• Ode To Forty-Something http://donkathink.blogspot.com/ Donna has a real sense of purpose in her blogging - something insightful and well written.


• Prayer - Whom Does It Potentially Change - I'll not provide the link here but it is from a Worship Leader Blog. Someone has made a statement and then allows some thought - then discourse. Here is the thought: A speaker at a Friday evening event at our church building made a statement I’ve heard several times before but have never really agreed with: “Prayer does not change God, it changes us.” Now, since God is immutable, this statement is technically correct. However, its implication (as I interpret it) is that prayer is simply a tool God uses to teach us and to grow us; it is not an avenue of communication that actually touches His heart and moves Him to respond to us. Now there is something to think about!


• Put Sensual Needs in Their Place-Acts 2:41f http://aintsobad.typepad.com/aintsobad/2008/05/put-sensual-nee.html This blog is from Dr. Rick Davis - a local pastor here in Brownwood who's blog is read by literally thousands. I will admit I have to read his blogs slower and a little more deliberately but he does have some very interesting thoughts.


• Missional or Not http://wonderingthoughts.typepad.com/my_weblog/ This blog is from John Henson - a former pastor in our community now a Pastor of Emergent ministries at FBC Shreveport. He is always posing questions and thoughts on how we as Christians, specifically within our church community can be on task in our spiritual walk. He provides a link to an article where a church in Georgia is raffling off (no money needed) two $500 gas cards to church attenders. Something to think about!


• http://tipitee.blogspot.com/2008/05/playing-catch-up.html - Lisa, a worship leader, cousin-in-law and friend. I love just keeping up with her and when she is so inclined gleaning some wonderful spiritual insights.


• http://www.consumingworship.org/ This last link is for the guy that is probably most responsible for my current blogging habit. A friend from my early years in ministry in the west Texas town of Sweetwater. He is the Worship Pastor at a church just outside of Denton in Aubrey. Today he listed all the new contemporary songs that he has introduced to his congregation. For me this was a very interesting read and inspirational for me today.

I'll leave you with a picture of Dylon. Though I might sound like I am complaining about having to get up early to take him to school. But, this too shall pass and I know I am going to miss those 25 minute drives into town (15 min if we are running late.) Kids grow up, head to college and well...you get the gist!

To Do List Too Long

Have you ever had one of those days when your "to do" list becomes "too long?" I'm there! Usually when this happens to me I have huge motivational problems and search for those feel good songs. Here is the results of my quick search - maybe this could help you, if not today - maybe some day!

Change Happens - Memories

I (along with Dexter) attended the graduation ceremonies of Howard Payne University today. Events of this nature seem to always take me back in my history to great times. Pomp and Circumstance, formality, family, uncomfortable hooping and hollering when one moves from stage left to right after shaking hands with the president of the university, etc..... We were on the floor directly next to the band and able to see the faces of students and they prepared to cross the stage. My mind this time went back to the day I helped Dexter move into the dorms four years ago - the kids whom were to become his best friends and how change just has to happen. I often pride myself in recognizing when change happens and embracing the new and all that it brings. But, there is something about this getting older that can be painful - you know that nose pressure and sensitive pain in the chest that is like tears but not. Dexter is and has moved on working full-time at a great church in a job that he just loves and today I begin to hear stories from some of his best friends of going to Iraq on a short-term mission trip, heading off to seminary to study for the ministry, leaving for the Dominican Republic to serve two years in a school, marriage, journeyman and so on. May God grant them safety, happiness and fulfillment in such wonderful endeavors. And may God grant me some continued wonderful memories of simple yet poignant moments from the past. Change happens - memories linger!

Oh! that the memories which survive us here Were half so lovely as these wings of thine! Pure relics of a blameless life, that shine Now thou art gone. --Tennyson

Our Eclectic World

When one hears the word "eclectic" a myriad of definitions can arise. Dexter and Erica came in last night from Denton to celebrate Mother's Day (a few days early.) Dexter also wants to see many of his friends graduate from HPU on Saturday. Now back to the post - They introduced me last night to a new show - at least new to me. Big and Rob - have you seen this one. I don't know that I would have ever even stumbled upon this one as it is on MTV and this particular channel is not even on my "channel flipping" process. What I found fascinating is that it was funny, clean and the particular episode I was watching, they cleaned out their closets of all the items they were not wearing - bagged them into grouping areas - then proceeded to go on to the streets of their fare city and pass them out to homeless people.

Then - this morning during my various news-surfing moments (I tend to flip between The Today Show and CNN) I am watching a Mother's Day moment with The Duggars. This is a family from Arkansas that currently has 17 children (one mother) and the mom announced on TV this morning that #18 is now on the way. I just don't have any words to say about this.

Our world is so very eclectic!

The 50% America

After a full day (Wednesday's tend to be the busiest day of the week for me) Jill and I were home by ourselves last night. After a delightful dinner of fish fillet (Jill) and big mac (eric) we settled into some TiVo(ed) American Idol. I can not pinpoint why I enjoy this show so much - but I do enjoy. For the first time in several weeks I felt the right person left the show. When Mr. Dreadlocks (as I like to refer to him) sang his styled - I really liked him but overall he was not in the same league as six of the others (three of whom have already been voted off!) I guess you could say that I agree with about 50% of America. That could almost elect a president!

Good luck to the Brownwood High School Band. They took off last night for a whirlwind trip (4 nights-3 days) to Orlando, Florida. They will spend over 48 hours in a bus between Wednesday at 4pm and Sunday morning at 6am. Dylon was honestly very excited about the trip. Oh - to be a teenager again!

Proud of My Kids

I am proud of all my kids and at times I get to share some of that with others. Yesterday I received and email from Dexter and he had made a music video for his church this Sunday. He works at Highland Park United Methodist Church in the Dallas area. He shot and edited this video. The people in the video are part of the church (main guy is the Jr. High minister.)

Variety in Life

I really enjoy where God has me right now. That certainly does not mean I am in a constant "bed of roses" but I so appreciate the eclectic ministry and various opportunities from day to day. On Monday I experienced three areas of my life - home, church, community. In each of these areas talk of spiritual "stuff" came up and the three individuals pictured in this post were either referenced, quoted (or misquoted). I admire all three of these individuals and honestly can attribute spiritual growth in my life from something they have communicated.

I know that I will receive emails or comments telling me some heretical statement they have made and I will find myself googling feverishly to "defend" them and/or discount the statement. But (and don't you just love the "but") I pray that I will never find myself discounting others because they are not on the same "spiritual" page as myself. I honestly do not know, nor do I have the time to check out all of the reasons why I should discount these lovers of Jesus. (How was that for a spiritual dig?) I do know that I enjoy spiritual discourse with: my minister comrades at church, friends at City Hall and Good Samaritan Ministries as well as my wife and children. And, the ability to have spiritual discussions in each of these areas in one day is a joy.

Here are some quotes from the above that you might enjoy (or at least have starting point of spiritual "thoughts" for you to comment on and me to begin my research!)

If you want to have sustained joy, you have to not only make sure that you think right, but you also have to make decisions now that are going to guarantee some joy in the future. One of the key things for people as far as joy is concerned is not living a selfish, self-centered lifestyle where we live our lives expecting everybody else to do something for us. - Joyce Meyer

You can be committed to Church but not committed to Christ, but you cannot be committed to Christ and not committed to church. - Joel Osteen

"I am learning that my tradition includes the rabbis and reformers and revolutionaries and monks and nuns and pastors and writers and philosophers and artists and every person everywhere who has asked big questions of a big God." - Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell

I Learned Something This Weekend

Trash - who would have thought. But this weekend, which was filled with weddings, our quartet singing at a Southern Gospel concert in Stephenville, church, my brother and family in town to celebrate Mother's Day (a week early) and my reading of this months GQ periodical. I'll not get into how my portion of the worship services went as I would need to schedule a counseling session to relieve my pain. Jill was able to go with the quartet in our singing engagement, that was a treat that does not always take place and while we were there one of the quartets (a mixture of a 14 year-old piano player to an 82 year-old retired Methodist minister) was also a treat to hear.
Now with portions of my weekend discussion behind - I also read one of the articles in GQ. Here is the link: http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_6769 It is bit long but a very interesting read on how Los Angeles is dealing with their trash issue. I find it fascinating to read how some people - obviously outside the "Christian" perspective - sense the need and responsibility we have (as top of the food chain) to be good stewards of our environment. I'll warn you ahead of time (if you read the article) there is some language in the article that would not be utilized during a church service.

Life Makes an Impact

I am sure you have noticed that "waxing eloquently" is not a particular trait of mine. But there have been people in my past that have this particular distinction. Dr. Michael Schepis is one of those individuals. I did not meet him until I was well into my 20's - but, he was the pastor my wife knew best as a young child growing up in Wichita, Kansas. He was vertically challenged (short) and could sing a song entitled "Ship, Ahoy" with an amazing amount of passion. So much so that in even in VERY conservative and often pinned-up Baptist churches people would clap and stand upon its completion - and this "standing and clapping" was not for the great performance but for the message it contained. He had a great deal of humility that was so obvious it seeped from his pours. He was not a perfect man (as his humility attested to often) and he was not dynamic as we might know preachers. But, he was an authentic minister of the Gospel. Dr Schepis passed away this week. Happenings of this nature sure can make one reflect upon their life - especially the "what kind of impact am I making" kind of reflection.

I don't think it is healthy to fret about leaving a legacy and trying to busy oneself and tell everyone how they should live. I do think it is healthy to live a life of authenticity, being real to yourself and real to God. I certainly have a ways to go - I am glad to have known Dr. Schepis and so many people that he impacted. He will be missed!

Maybe an Oxymoron!?!

My spiritual journey has taken me in the book of Acts today: Here is the scripture that stands out - Acts 20:32 "Now I'm turning you over to God, our marvelous God whose gracious Word can make you into what he wants you to be and give you everything you could possibly need in this community of holy friends. 33 "I've never, as you so well know, had any taste for wealth or fashion. 34 With these bare hands I took care of my own basic needs and those who worked with me. 35 In everything I've done, I have demonstrated to you how necessary it is to work on behalf of the weak and not exploit them. You'll not likely go wrong here if you keep remembering that our Master said, 'You're far happier giving than getting.'"

Over this past week I have had the privilege to see several groups of believers: The Havins' Security Unit (prison) in Brownwood - already blogged about this earlier, Youth detention center (prison) for girls located in Brownwood - yesterday played at a memorial service for child of a resident of the detention center in which the newborn only lived a few days, a group of economic leaders of Brownwood (men and women) all of whom I speculate were believers, our church Wednesday program then tonight I will meet with the Arts Council of Brownwood. It is pretty easy to see that I have a pretty eclectic circle of opportunities for ministry.

As I grow older those words of Paul become more real to me. Seeing men/women minister in each of these areas with distinct purpose often for little financial compensation was inspirational. At the memorial service yesterday the husband and wife sang "Somebody's praying..." (her voice was a dead-ringer {no pun intended} for Patsy Cline) to this grieving group of young girls, teachers, guards and warden. Last night at church watching so many teenagers interact with each other - praying, singing, hugging, tears etc.. I hope and pray that I can always view my opportunities as a minister as something other than a job. Well, I should get to work.

Was that an oxymoron?