One of the neat things about blogging is your email feedback. I always appreciate and value your insights and suggestions to the things I write.

Returning from Tahoe, though, I was floored by an email response to my blog from an unexpected source. It was from Seth Mnookin, author of Feeding the Monster. I had written from Tahoe about the book and how I devoured it. Well, Seth found my comments and included them on his website promoting the book, in conjunction with the comments from another baseball-loving evangelist.

What a blessing to see a marked increase in web traffic, thanks to Seth Mnookin.

-------------

This morning marks the culmination of my ministry in Marble Falls. Today is a day of emotions that span a vast spectrum. We will celebrate a baptism this morning. One of the young ladies who participated in our First Principles Day Camp, with the blessing of her mother, will be baptized this morning.

Yet, the celebration is mixed with regret. Regret that our ministry here was so short. Regret that our day-to-day relationship with Jimmy and Liz is being cut short.

To my Marble Falls family, please know that you join the Northside church, the Johnson Street church, the Sheridan church, the Pine Grove church, the Hurricane church, the Central church and the Village church as people who have invested in me. Every life touched by my ministry in the future will have the fingerprints of your investment in me on them.

--------------

This year at Tahoe was a blast! When I left to come home, there had been seven baptisms and I fully expect there were more after I left! God's blessings abounded this year as the theme "Blessed Assurance...Secure Forever" touched the hearts and spiritual needs of people.

In the future, I'll be sharing with you a couple of kingdom initiatives that I will be participating in that will excite you. The opportunity to work in Fresno with the Woodward Park church is already opening doors for a wider outreach among people, both within the church as well as without.

In the meantime, though, a 23-hour drive west awaits. I covet your prayers as the next 28 days will include separation from my girls, the beginning of a new ministry opportunity, a trip east to speak in a back-to-school youth rally in Teays Valley, West Virginia, a seminar at the Cross Lanes, West Virginia church, and the 50th homecoming celebration for the Hurricane, West Virginia church. The calendar is full, the opportunities immense and I welcome your daily prayers in the month ahead.

Thursday afternoon greetings from the Sacramento airport while waiting on a flight to Vegas (don't worry, it's just a 35-minute layover on the way to Austin). Thanks to time zones, the flight back to Texas isn't scheduled to land until 12:40 a.m. Aarrgh!

--------------

As I sit in the airport preparing to leave, Tahoe 2006 is in the rear-view mirror. I fly home with many precious memories and a cup filled with fresh spiritual insight and deeper bonds of fellowship. The Blessed Assurance theme was heart-warming and my heart heads home in peaceful assurance that my destiny is secure, not because of my righteousness but because of the righteousness of my Savior.

As the old spiritual declares: "I don't know why Jesus loved me. I don't know why he cared. I don't know why he had to sacrifice his life, oh, but I'm glad, so glad he did!"

Tahoe Family Encampment 2006 has really been a spiritual boost to me. I have enjoyed sharing meals and fellowship with so many wonderful friends, both old and new. I have enjoyed feasting on the spiritual food at the various keynote lectures. I have been challenged by the insights and collective wisdom at the early bird Leadership Class.

While it is a blessing to be here and to be blessed by such a spiritual smorgasboard, I miss my girls.

Last year, Trae and I did Tahoe together. It remains to this day one of the greatest memories Trae and I have made together. I missed her yesterday at the Carnival. Every time I drive by the amusement park, I wish she were her with me. When I pass by the putt-putt golf course, I wish she were here. I miss swimming with her, laughing with her and sending her off with Jenna and Joelle to ride horses.

One of the side benefits of our upcoming move to Fresno will be the opportunity to make the Tahoe Encampment a routine for our family. I already can't wait till next summer when Mandy, Trae, Tori and I can do the encampment together as a family, enjoying the carnival, amusement park, putt-putt, horseback riding and swimming together!

------------

I am teaching my class this week on the influence of our consumer-driven culture on our faith. The working out of our faith in community is impacted by the consumer impulses that proliferate our culture.

The way of Jesus and the fruit of the Spirit in the life of a disciple stands wholly opposed to our culture's dominant calling. How do we, as disciples of Jesus, resist the impress of our culture in order to be formed into the image of Jesus? That is the essence of the question we are seeking to answer.

Greetings from Leonard Sweet's favorite EPIC illustration of our contemporary culture, Starbucks.

The fun and relaxation of the first day-and-a-half grinds to a halt today as the blessing of ministry resumes. Tonight, I deliver the kick-off keynote for the encampment. The theme this year is "Blessed Assurance...Secure Forever." I have been given the task of speaking on "But If I Sin."

I have prepared my thoughts around how our mental misconceptions of Judgment Day do not square with the Biblical witness of Judgment Day. Conditioned by the cultural motifs of the judiciary, we typically envision the judgment bar of God as a heavenly episode of Law and Order. Reducing God's judgment to contemporary judiciary images reduces our salvation to this: is my excuse for my indiscretion and sin good enough to satisfy God and allow God to grant me mercy?

That view, when compared with the scenes of Scripture, just doesn't fly. One can couple the scenes of Job, a scene in Zechariah 3 and several scenes in Revelation to see that Satan is the prosecuting attorney in the judgment of our eternal destiny. It is Satan that levels charges against us. But John makes abundantly clear in 1 John 2.1 that we have an advocate, a defense attorney who speaks to God on our behalf: Jesus Christ the righteous.

Those who've contacted the righteous blood of Jesus in baptism have been clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Galatians 3.27). And just as in Zechariah 3 when God intervened and covered the stains on Zechariah's clothes -- symbolic of the covering over of his sins -- God, in Jesus Christ, intervenes at baptism and covers over our sins.

Judgment Day, then, is Satan's last stand, his last-ditch effort to rebel against the authority and power of the Creator of heaven and earth. But Satan will not prevail! God promises to remember our sins no more, to hurl our sins underfoot, and to cast all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

As we sing in that great hymn, "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less," we must take our stand "dressed in his (Jesus) righteousness alone" so that we might one day stand "faultless before his throne."

I am excited about sharing these insights from the Word with the gathering at the Tahoe Encampment tonight in the hopes that it blesses every believer to live lives of blessed assurance.

-------------

Tonight after speaking, I will join with good friend, John Wiegand, for the three-hour drive to San Francisco. Tomorrow, I will join John and the family at the Plesant View church in Pleasanton (home of John Madden located on the east bay). Between assemblies tomorrow, we are going to hustle back to San Francisco and catch the matinee game between the Padres and Giants at beautiful AT&T Park.

Greetings this morning from the Alpine Coffee Cafe in South Lake Tahoe, California. It's that time of year again for the most difficult of ministry tasks -- speaking at the Tahoe Family Encampment.

Yesterday, as I made my way from the Sacramento Valley up the moutain to Tahoe (elevation 7,000 feet), I watched the outside temperature go from 105 degrees to 74 degrees. Among the many benefits of 70ish degree weather in the dead of summer, it is just heavenly being able to spend a July night sleeping without the need for air conditioning.

This morning, with my body clock still set to Central time, I awoke at 4:45 a.m. I decided to greet the rising sun and admire the majesty of God's creativity. This morning was mostly overcast, with occcasional dashes of sunlight piercing through the clouds. The incredible blend of mountains, clouds, sun rays, remnants of snow from last winter, and the cool, clean air all reminded me of how incredibly, abundantly blessed I am to live in my Father's world.

The Psalm declares: "I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth." This morning, that truth is indellibly imprinted on my mind.

---------------

I picked up a great new book yesterday morning in the Austin airport to pass the flight time to Sacramento. For all you baseball fanatics, get your hands on a copy of Seth Mnookin's Feeding the Monster. Mnookin chronicles the incredible run of the Boston Red Sox (though I am not a Red Sox fan, I am a baseball fan and the recent history and success of the Boston franchise is impressive). From the sale of the team by the Yawkey estate to John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino to the building of the front office to the formation of organizational philosophy and the actual implementation of that philosophy on the field, it is an enlightening, behind-the-scenes tale that you'll love.

Gabe Bennett, Michael Bennett, David Owen and Dena Gattis are my friends.

They are also Braves fans.

I never have liked the Braves. Ever since Dad sprung for cable TV in our home in 1984, I was more intrigued by the unpredictability of Harry Caray calling Cubs games than the boredom of listening to the Braves announcers.

That being said, I'm not sure I remember a hotter offensive club in Major League baseball in my lifetime than the Braves. In their last five games, they've hit 20 home runs (one short of the MLB record for such a stretch), scored in double figures (the first team to do so since the 1930 Yankees), pounded out 91 hits, and scored 15, 11, 10, 15, and 14 runs in each of the games (a total of 65).

They are making it look like commercial league softball right now.

--------------

Tomorrow morning, it's off to beautiful Lake Tahoe, California and this year's edition of the Tahoe Family Encampment. My itinerary is as follows: Meet with Paul Methvin on Friday to discuss future planning for the encampment, deliver the keynote on Saturday night, travel to San Francisco following the keynote with my good friend John Wiegand, speak on Sunday at the Pleasant View church in the Bay Area, catch the Giants/Padres game between assemblies on Sunday afternoon at AT&T Park, and teach class Monday through Thursday.

For the last five years, Tahoe has been one of the highlights of my year. I can't wait to get back and see many great Christian friends.

-------------

The 30 kids attending our First Principles Day Camp experienced a gross disappointment yesterday as their afternoon activity came to an abrupt, screeching halt. You can read about their horrifying experience here.

-------------

One more insight for you this morning from Donald Miller's To Own A Dragon, building on some thoughts I shared yesterday..

"Here's something else I noticed John do with his kids. Chris and Elle were arguing one time, and John felt like he raised his voice too loud in telling them to knock it off. Not long after that, maybe a few minutes, he went to them and told them he was sorry for yelling. They didn't seem to care, and it wasn't a big deal, but for some reason it stuck in my mind as an interesting thing for a father to do. I asked him about it the last time we talked, and John said he tries to apologize when he messes up as a dad, letting his kids now they are more important to him than his pride. He kind of laughed and admitted he screwed up fairly often. But then he said something I thought was pertinent to those of us who grew up without dads. John said another reason he apologized was because he didn't want his kids to have any negative perceptions about God. He said that the way a kids feels about their dad is sometimes projected onto God, so if he apologized when he messed up as a father, the kids would know that was his mistake, and didn't have anything to do with who God is.

I liked that idea because it reaffirmed that our fathers aren't God. They can help us understand who God is and how good He is, but they can also do a lot of damage. But God is God regardless, and if we take the Bible as true, it's good to think He is fathering us prefectly" (82-83).

As of this moment, I am self-imposing a moratorium on all Rangers-related blog posts. Scoring one earned run in the last 35 innings -- after the 15 run outburst last Thursday night -- is making me ill.

--------------

I remember hearing it before my girls were born but I never deeply contemplated it until the day after we brought Trae home from the hospital.

What is "it"? The reality that my daughters' initial impressions of their heavenly father God are formed from their interactions with me, their earthly father. My girls formative years demand interaction with me such that a wholesome vision of their heavenly Father is formed deep within their heart.

To be honest, I've been far from perfect. There have been times when my interaction smacked of impatience and indifference. Through my imperfections I try my best to convey to them the image of a perfect Father but I fall far short.

This evening, I finished off Donald Miller's newest book To Own A Dragon: Reflections on Growing Up Without a Father. The book chronicles Miller's move west to Oregon where he was adopted into the family of John & Terri MacMurray. By watching John MacMurray's interactions with his children, Miller received mentoring about how a godly father conveys God to his children.

Here are some excerpts from MacMurray's counsel to Miller about the role an imperfect, earthly father plays in introducing his children to the perfect, Heavenly Father.

"I do things for Chris (MacMurray's son) because I know Chris will love it. We go on a hike, we go down to the river. Showing Chris things that give him pleasure also gives me pleasure. I've seen a river a thousand times; after a while, you just get bored. But when Chris and I go to the river, I live the whole (experience) through him. I feel his pleasure, and it gives me pleasure. So, God is like that. A father is a fitting metaphor for God" (58).

"I guess what I am saying is, one day, I've got to introduce Chris to his real Father. God put me in Chris's life to take care of him and love him, but ultimately, we all belong to God. In Scripture, He refers to Himself as our Father and I think He really longs for us to know Him as that" (59).

"There isn't any love like this. I love Chris and the girls in a way I can't explain. I really can't. It feels like some kind of miracle. I want them to love life; I want to give them joy; I want them to mature. And now that I have felt all of this, I understand so much more of life; I understand why a sunset is beautiful; I understand why I don't get what I want all the time; I understand why God disciplines me; I understand God is a father" (60).

Miller closes the book with this poignant thought: "The Scripture that states, if an earthly father knows how to provide for his children, how much more God knows how to provide for His, speaks volumes in antithesis to: If an earthly father abandons his children and wrecks their lives, how much more would an abandonment from God destroy a human being" (182-183)?

Dads, we have an awesome role, an incredibly integral part in the story of our children's faith. Will our children have faith? Only to the extent that we, as imperfect, earthly fathers take serious our calling to introduce our children to the perfect, heavenly Father.

Last Monday, I shared with you Jacob's story. Jacob was to visit his grandparents for a week (though he is staying over a few days to take part in our First Principles Day Camp which begins on Monday morning).

This morning, Jacob bolted into the aisle as soon as the invitation song commenced. He came down the aisle with a smile and a resolute determination that today was the day of salvation for him.

Last Sunday evening following his first response, I sent him home with his grandparents to work with them through stories in the New Testament of how Jesus made a difference in the lives of others. Apparently, those stories touched Jacob, because his grandmother told me that on Wednesday, following a golf clinic, he returned home and immediately asked, "When can we start studying the Bible again?"

His determination and willingness to unite with Christ in baptism touched his grandparents and, this morning, I had the honor of baptizing Jacob into Jesus Christ with his grandparents looking on.

The neat part, though, happened this evening. Jacob said to me before church, "I've noticed nobody ever sits on the front row at church. Can I sit there tonight?" Everytime I asked a rhetorical question, Jacob answered out loud.

Today, I have witnessed again the beauty of a babe in Christ. And it has reminded me again of the beauty of Jesus's words: "Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it" (Mark 10.15).

--------------

Sunday was my little sister's 31st birthday. Melissa is carrying two precious gifts from God in her womb, a little boy and a little girl that are due to arrive sometime around Thanksgiving.

Happy birthday, Mel! You are a blessing as a sister, a sister-in-law, and an aunt who gives really good Christmas gifts! And, I think your two little ones are going to be so blessed to call you their "Mommy."

--------------

With the girls back in Arkansas for some quality time before our move to California, my life has been devoted to ministry, sermon prep, baseball and reading. I remember well the envy I felt toward men who claimed to be able to read a book a week. With the girls gone and the house immensely quiet at night, I was able to read through three good books in the past week.

How To Read a Book was a best-seller in the 1940's and was reprinted in the 1970's. Written by philosopher Mortimer J. Adler, it gives insightful advice on how to get at the root thesis of any book. It is tough sledding but chock-full of practical advice in getting more out of the task of reading.

The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship is written by one of my favorite authors, Dallas Willard. In the Great Omission, Willard calls the church back to the quest of discipleship -- of realizing the character of Jesus through spiritual formation. The Great Omission is a great primer for understanding the role of spiritual formation and the spiritual disciplines in developing life-long disciples.

Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity is Lauren Winner's latest work. Winner converted to Christianity from Judaism and writes with poignant clarity about living chaste in a sex-crazed society. Winner, a professor at Duke Divinity School, exposes cultural lies regarding sex and calls the church, on the basis of Scriptural authority, to create community where accountability and spiritual discipline upholds chastity, both for the unmarried as well as the married.

On the agenda for this week are To Own A Dragon: Reflections on Growing Up Without a Father by Donald Miller, The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World by Alan Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk, and Breaking the Missional Code: When Church Can Become Missionary in Your Community by Ed Stetzer and David Putman.

Had it been a college football game, the commentators would have said, "The Rangers took the Orioles out behind the woodshed."

Nothing like coming back from the All-Star break with a 15-1 thumpin' of Baltimore. The A's won in Boston in extras last night, maintaining the dead-even tie at the top of the AL West standings.

It seems Mark Teixeira's season-long power slump might have just ended last night in his hometown of Baltimore. Last night, Tex hit three home runs and drove in seven runs. Another disappointment all season, Brad Wilkerson, also homered last night. If those two both produce throughout the second half, look out.

-------------

With Mandy and the girls back in Arkansas for some quality time with family and friends before our move west, I have resorted to watching CNN, MSNBC and Fox News in order to fall asleep at night (thanks to the fact that there have been no west coast baseball games on the DISH this week).

I mistakenly thought that a quiet house would make for good rest, but no, it's just too quiet. I miss my girls.

Anyway, I'm glad baseball is back in full throttle tonight because the last two nights of news watching have been depressing. Turmoil in the Middle East (what's new), murder, poverty, crime.

What was it Ann Murray sang years ago? "We sure could use a little good news today."

-------------

Next week, Jimmy, Allan and I will hold what has become an annual event in my ministry: First Principles Day Camp. The day camp is a three-day, Bible study intensive time for kids grades 4-8 where we share with them some good news -- the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When I first began my ministry by working with youth, it troubled me how often kids wanted to be baptized at church camp and I really didn't have a grasp on their understanding of the gospel and discipleship. So, the First Principles Day Camp was developed as a way to teach kids what becoming a Christian is all about.

Each day, we study and share about Jesus, faith, the age of accountability, the problem of sin, repentance, the cross, baptism and discipleship. Each evening, the kids have homework to do with their parents so that the parents are involved in talking with their child about faith and salvation.

I hope you will keep our day camp in your prayers. It always provides a time of blessing, for the kids, their parents and for me.

Michael Young. All-Star Game MVP.

That makes three of the last four All-Star games in which a Texas Ranger has starred in a key role in advancing the American League's win streak.

In 2003, it was Hank Blalock (Tori's favorite Ranger) homering off Eric Gagne. Two years ago, it was Alfonso Soriano who captured the MVP. And last night, it was the most underrated player in the game coming through on an 0-2 pitch with a 2-run triple to right center.

Now, if the Rangers could only translate those stellar mid-July performances into pennant winning performances in September!

-----------------

One of the really neat things about having a sitemeter on my blog is the ability to see where people who read this blog are located.

In the last 100 visits to this blog, there have been visitors from 15 different states (Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia) and 3 foreign countries (Brazil, Cambodia and Peru).

Thank you, my dear readers, for blessing me with your presence in reading my blog. I hope what you gain here blesses you as much as your drop-in visits bless me.

--------------

This morning, I am tardy getting my blog posted because of the need to have the carpet cleaned in our house. Those stains, primarily caused by the hapless spills of two little girls I adore, needed removing.

In ten days, I'll be giving a keynote at the Tahoe Family Encampment. The theme this year is "Blessed Assurance...Secure Forever." Paul Methvin has asked me to kick-off this year's encampment by speaking on "But If I Sin."

How would you tackle the problem of "sin" in an encampment with the over-arching theme of "blessed assurance"?

I keep coming back to Zechariah 3.1-7 and the intervention of God in the judgment of the high priest, Joshua. In the text, Joshua is presented before the Lord for an evaluation. And, as in the story of Job, Satan is also present. Satan is present to point out the stains on Joshua's garments, a metaphor speaking to Satan's interest in pointing out to God sin in Joshua's life. But the story turns when, God in His gracious intervention, clothes Joshua with new garments, hiding the sin stains Satan so wishes to expose.

Paul would say that baptism does for us in the New Covenant what God did for Joshua during the Old Covenant: "for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Gal 3.27).

That is blessed assurance, to know that baptism becomes the cloak that envelopes the believer in the blood of Jesus that is able to hide our sin stains.

62 Years of life, love and happiness together. That is the rare feat my grandparents have achieved. Congratulations, Grandmurna and Granddaddy on your 62nd wedding anniversary. What a remarkable achievement!

My grandparents have made an impression on my life in a multitude of ways. Just as the imprint of Lois's faith was evident in the faith of her grandson, Timothy (2 Timothy 1.5), so the imprint of my grandparents' faith is deeply impressed within me.

In fact, they play a crucial role in my birth as a disciple of Jesus.

I was baptized on August 1, 1984 in Lake Greeson at Camp Barton. I had gone to camp that summer as a 13-year-old kid with a burgeoning understanding of what Jesus had truly done for me on the cross. But it was on a stormy afternoon and an especially moving class session that propelled me to be saved.

The teacher of that class that moved me to commit my life to Jesus? My grandfather. And the head cook in the mess hall for that week of camp? My grandmother.

You know, there were a whole host of things my grandparents could have been doing as July turned into August in the summer of 1984. After all, they were retired. Recreation could have been on their agenda. Traveling could have been on their agenda. But no, my grandparents were at church camp, serving the Lord by serving his children.

As a result, one of the sweetest memories of my life, my own baptism into Jesus, was performed by my grandfather with my grandmother looking on from the shore.

The example of my grandparents teaches me, among other things, that the golden years provide a golden opportunity to be a vital link in the chain of faith from generation to generation; to provide more than just toys and temporal joys for your grandchildren but to invest and reinforce in them, through the blessing of your time, the most treasured gift of all: the gift of faith expressing itself in love.

Happy Anniversary, Grandmurna and Granddaddy! I Love You Both!

On Monday evening, the annual Home Run derby will be held in conjunction with the All-Star game festivities at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

What is the over-under on the number of times Chris Berman will say "Back, back, back, back...?"

On a side note, I had the opportunity to watch the Pirates and the D-backs two summers ago at PNC Park. The park is beautiful, situated at the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela rivers with a magnificent backdrop of the Pittsburgh skyline. Next to AT&T Park in San Francisco, it is my favorite ballpark for the scenery and ambience, not to mention the organ music isn't canned as in most modern ballparks. PNC is one of the few places where authentic organ music played by a living human being actually rings throughout the park.

----------------

Here are your up-to-the-minute AL West standings heading into the All-Star break:

Texas 45-43
Oakland 45-43
Anaheim 43-45
Seattle 43-46

The scary thing for the Rangers, A's and Mariners is the fact the Angels have weathered the storm. They looked dead in the water six weeks ago but have revived to surge within 2 games of the lead.

The Rangers go into the break tied for first, but their place at the top is tenuous, to say the least. Ever since the Phil Nevin trade, the Rangers have been treading water.

If nothing else, the logjam that is the AL West promises to make for an exciting race down the stretch for the remainder of the summer.

----------------

Tonight, I spoke on baptism in three streams: the historical stream, the contemporary stream and the Biblical stream. I was really into the message, excited about covering familiar, if not neglected, turf.

As I closed my lesson and moved into the invitation, I recognized most in the audience as disciples of Jesus, those who'd already been baptized.

But with the singing of the invitation song, a blessing entered the aisle. Jacob, the 10-year old grandson of a couple in our church whose here visiting for the week, walked to the front and excitedly announced to me: "I want to be baptized."

Pardon my shock, but the days of spontaneous baptisms just don't happen anymore. Sometimes, I read about the past with envy at preachers/evangelists whose stirring altar calls illicited scores of respondants desiring immediate baptism.

What struck me most, though, was the reality that the Word had sunk deeply into the heart of a 10-year old boy during the 35 minutes I spoke. As I spoke, the truth of God's Word obviously did a number of young Jacob's heart.

I asked his grandparents to come to the front and, after visiting momentarily, announced to the assembly that Jacob wanted to be baptized but that we would talk more about the meaning of baptism and discipleship (per his grandparent's request). He and his grandparents met in my office following church and we are going to continue the discussion throughout this week, in advance of Jacob's father's visit next weekend.

What a refreshing night and powerful reminder that the simple message of Jesus and the salvation available through incorporation into Jesus through baptism still touches even the youngest of hearts.

Today is a special day for us in the office of the Marble Falls church. Today is our sweet Ms. Ann's birthday. A little birdie told me that 39 years ago today :) she was born.

I love Ms. Ann for her commitment to Jesus. For the genuine way she cares for Allan, Jimmy and me. For her kind disposition to members and guests alike. And for her tireless work ethic.

Happy Birthday. Ms. Ann. Where do you want to go for lunch today?

-------------

Last night was a wonderful night for me. Trae was at Six Flags Fiesta Texas with the Stanglins so I watched two baseball games on Dish (Pirates vs. Mets then Giants vs. Dodgers), read Darryl Tippens' book Pilgrim Heart: The Way of Jesus in Everyday Life and played with Tori in between reading and baseball watching.

Tippens' book is about discipleship and the role of the spiritual disciplines and is packed with probing insights and illustrations.

The chapter on the discipline of "Welcoming" or "Hospitality" really struck a chord with me. Here are some excerpts from that chapter for you to chew on this morning.

"Sympathy and identity with the stranger in one's own community was a recurring theme in the Old Testament, and it proved to be a central theme of Jesus' teaching and practice... Jesus consistently acted out of a concern for those on the margins in tangible ways and to such a degree that it made him a scandal to those most concerned with ritual purity.

According to the way of Jesus, hospitality does not concern fine linens, elegant crystal, or gourmet cooking. Rather, it consists of a generous heart and a welcoming spirit that leads to tangible expressions of care for others. Very importantly, it entails an active concern for those different from ourselves.

The notion of hospitality as a personal and collective discipline in the life of the believer and the church must be renewed in our time. If we do not personally feel the urgent call to love the stranger, if our own hands do not touch the sick, the poor, the dying, can we really say that we are walking with Abraham or Jesus?

Long-distance care is necessary, but insufficient. The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry person; the coat hanging in your closet belongs to the person who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the person with no shoes; the money which you put in the bank belongs to the poor. You do wrong to everyone you could help, but fail to help. Institutional hospitality, in other words, is no substitute for the individual's personal obligation.

In practicing the discipline of welcome, we do not reduce Christianity either to a naive moralism or a burdensome system of salvation by works. Extending hospitality is the sacred privilege of those who have already been redeemed. Precisely because we have already received unimagineable grace, unmerited grace, we imitate our Savior by opening our homes, our lives, our checkbooks, and our hearts to others."

Warning to all my faithful blog readers who do not like it when I devote an entire day's entry to the Rangers (especially my mom): Don't give up on this one. This is about much more than the Rangers and I promise you'll like it!

Each Wednesday in my email inbox arrives Evan Grant’s Inside the Rangers feature. Grant always has a short essay on the Rangers before launching into a Q & A with Rangers fans on the state of the team.

This week’s edition, though, was outside the norm. Rather than an in-depth essay about the team on the field, Evan delved into some personal experiences from the Rangers recently concluded Road Trip to Colorado and San Francisco that capture off-the-field stuff to which fans aren’t typically privy. I enjoyed it and the perspective it brought. I hope you do as well.

Been thinking. Head hurts.

I know. I know. I should do that less often. But inside the old cranium, the voices are arguing:

Talk about something significant,” the one little man says. “This team is going nowhere.’’

“Take their minds off that,” says the other little guy.

Now maybe you understand the torment that is my life.

For once, I’ll listen to little guy instead of little man. If the Rangers don’t make a move in the standings in the next week, we’ll gather back here at the All-Star break with plenty of serious stuff to break down.

Today, though, I wanted to relate a couple of things I observed over the course of the last road trip. Based on the notes you have sent, you’ll remember it only for what you believe were a couple of nightmarish calls by umpires.

I’ll remember it because it reminded me how young the Rangers really are and what is really important. I mean, I was running into parents of players so often, I expected one mom to tell me she was in charge of snacks that day.

Maybe you’ve read that statistically speaking, the average age on the Rangers roster is less than 26. It makes them the “youngest” team in the majors. If you haven’t read it before, well, now you have.

And for many parents of these players, watching their kids fulfill a life-long goal at the highest level is the height of parental pride. I saw that expression on the face of Ian Kinsler’s parents at the start of spring training, but it’s no different now that the season is halfway over. Howard and Kathy Kinsler flew up from Tucson to Denver to watch Ian play for the weekend. The Rangers lost. The parents won.

It was more of the same in San Francisco, where Jason Botts’ mom, Judy, was basking and where a passel full of Scott Feldman’s family and friends crowded into a section over the bullpen to roar when he came into a game.

Judy Botts brought her parents, lifelong Giants fans and season-ticket holders, to one of the three games. There she presented them with a ball Jason hit during batting practice into McCovey Cove behind right field. Jason had autographed it, thanking his grandfather for instilling a love of baseball in him. Granddad was awestruck.

They were all gathered around the Rangers’ clubhouse after the games and their mood didn’t change regardless of what umpires Larry Young or Tom Hallion said. They were parents and family. They were proud. Feldman’s sister was so excited to have seen her brother pitch at AT&T Park, she was actually shaking.

And for a while, even if you were a Rangers fan and bummed out by the lousy record on the road trip, you couldn’t help but think that there are some things more important than winning and losing baseball games.

So how was your 4th?

I immensely enjoyed the blessed rest of the last two days. On Monday afternoon, Mandy, the girls and I caught Pixar's hot children's flick Cars with Allan, Carrie-Anne and their girls. We laughed heartily at the "Tractor tipping" episode.

At dinner following the movie, I asked all the girls about the point of the movie. And without hesitation, they replied in unision, "Friendship."

On the 4th, we watched the Hot Dog Eating Contest, cooked out, swam, watched a fireworks show, shot off our own fireworks, played games, and watched the finale of the Rangers game, a bitter loss to the Blue Jays following a valiant come-from-behind effort.

---------------

"A friend loves at all times...Some friends play at friendship but a true friend sticks closer than one's nearest kin" (Proverbs 17.17a, 18.24, NRSV).

In James' epistle, he notes that Abraham, on the basis of faith, was recognized as the "Friend of God."

Life is so much more fulfilling and enriching when it is shared in the company of good friends. To have a friend, a soul-mate with whom life can be shared is a priceless gift.

But what would it be like to receive recognition as the friend of God? And what was it about Abraham that warranted such wonderful recognition in inspired Scripture?

Abraham, like many of the heroes of faith, was far from perfect. His skepticism rings through loud and clear when he is told he and his wife will have a son well past their child-bearing years.

But when that son was selected by God to be a sacrifice, and God ordered Abraham to perform the act, he did so without hesitation. Having no reason to believe as he did, the Hebrew writer says that Abraham reasoned that God would raise Isaac back to life.

Abraham's unflinching faith in the face of an extraordinary call of God surely accounts for the depth of relationship between he and God.

Is there an area of your life today where you sense the leading of God into uncharted waters? Is there an opportunity on the horizon of your life that God is summoning you as an envoy for His kingdom?

The faith to act in the face of that opportunity speaks louder than any words you'll ever say in a classroom. Or a pulpit. Or a home Bible study. What you do says more about your faith than what you say you believe. And what you do might just be a ringing endorsement that you are a friend of God!

"About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, James and John with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem" (Luke 9.28-31).

One of the great events in the Old Testament was the Exodus -- the intervention of God in the lives of his covenant people to provide for them departure from Egyptian bondage.

Throughout Luke's gospel story of Jesus, the theme of Exodus resonates, most poignantly on the Mount of Transfiguration when Moses, leader of the Exodus, appears with Elijah to talk with Jesus about his own departure.

In Luke, the cross serves as a kind of second Exodus, not from the tyrrany of ruthless political rule but from the tyranny of bondage to sin.

Today is our nation's Independence Day, a day our nation pauses from the routine to recount the sacrifices and the blessing of freedom brought about by those who paid the ultimate price.

But this morning, my mind is fixed, not on a military battlefield but on a spiritual battlefield, the cross, where Jesus secured the ultimate freedom for those held captive to sin and Satan.

Why not today, in the midst of the cookouts and fireworks, pause to thank God for the ultimate price paid by Jesus to secure our own Exodus.

Dear Marble Falls family,

For the past year, Tori, Trae, Mandy and I have immensely enjoyed the blessing of being with you. In such a short time, we have grown to love and appreciate so many of you for your faith, dedication and commitment to Jesus Christ. Our love for the elders and their wives, for Allan and Carrie-Ann and their family, for Jimmy and Elizabeth and Jim and Helen, and for sweet Ms. Ann is without question. The past year has provided opportunities for deeper faith, hope and love for our family and we hope and trust for you as well.

However, because of what we deem to be an answer to long-time prayer, I have submitted my resignation to the elders, effective August 1.

Five years ago, I was first invited to speak at the Tahoe Family Encampment in Northern California. From that initial experience into ministry and the churches of California sprang various opportunities to speak along the West Coast. In our subsequent journeys into California, Mandy and I have been touched deeply by the overwhelming need for ministry in our nation's most populous state. The need there is great and California, truly, is a mission field within the United States.

I've never forgotten the words of one particular brother who'd moved to California from Ghana, West Africa. He lamented, "I do not understand why American churches continue to send money and missionaries to Ghana when every church I know of in Ghana is stronger than any church I know of in California."

Insights like his, coupled with our own personal experiences, formed in our hearts a burning desire to one day enter the mission field that is California.

That day has arrived, courtesy of an open door that we did not pursue but one that pursued us.

We have been invited by the Woodward Park Church of Christ in Fresno, California to come and serve as their Preaching Minister. The Woodward Park church is the largest Church of Christ in the state of California. Its resources and manpower provide an ideal place in answer to our long-term prayers to broaden the scope and reach of my ministry in a state where quality ministry is needed. Additionally, I have been invited by Paul Methvin, Director of the Tahoe Family Encampment, to serve on the Encampment planning staff, enlarging further the impact of my ministry significantly. It is to those needs and in answer to five years of prayer that we now must go.

Please understand that this relocation of our ministry in no way reflects any dissatisfaction with our elders at Marble Falls or any discontent in our relationship with you. When we moved to Marble Falls, we bought a home, brought two of our dearest friends in Jimmy and Elizabeth here to serve in Youth Ministry, and envisioned staying until God opened a door to California. This decision is the most difficult of our lives, not because we question the leading of God in our lives, but because we have to walk away from a work unfinished and from friendships we cherish.

Because I am certain that this opportunity is the will of God for my family and my ministry, I am equally certain that God has tremendous things in store for the advancement of His kingdom in Marble Falls. The best days in the history of the Marble Falls church lie ahead and God will provide for you the right man and family to lead you to higher levels of faith, hope and love.

Thank you for loving us. For accepting us. For supporting us. But now I ask you to pray for us as we prepare to embark on a journey of faith. Trust me when I say that wherever our journeys of faith lead us in the future, the Marble Falls church family will forever hold a treasured place in our hearts.

With His Love,

Jim, Mandy, Trae and Tori Gardner