Outreach

Wednesday night marked the finale of an effort to reach out to At-Risk families currently housed by the County of Fresno Human Services System. A group from Woodward Park went out every-other Wednesday and made a difference. Through feeding both physically and spiritually, and supplying both clothing and schooling, at least six different families have expressed an interest in knowing more about Jesus.

On Saturday, the crew will be back downtown for our first Saturday of the month outreach. It's supposed to be just a tad on the warm side, but living the mission of Jesus is worth it!

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Also on Saturday, the Bulldogs kickoff the season by hosting Sacramento State. The girls and I have purchased season tickets in the Family Section. Fall college football has been a staple for Mandy and I since our marriage and we are excited about sharing the pageantry of college football with the girls.

With that being said, look for the Bulldogs to get off to a fast start before heading into College Station. I see the Bulldogs taking down the Hornets by 4 touchdowns, despite the preseason injuries/attrition that have cut into the 'Dogs depth.

Profiting from the Prophets, #5

What James A. Garfield was to the Presidency, Cecil Cooper is among Major League Baseball managers.

With the dismissal of Phil Garner as skipper of the Astros, Cecil Cooper is the new manager of the Astros. Here is a past article in the Christian Chronicle by my cyber-buddy and fellow Rangers' fan, Bobby Ross, on Cooper and his faith. Bobby's article points out that Coop leads singing for the Anderson Street Church of Christ in Sealy, Texas during the off-season and worships at various downtown Houston church's during the season.

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I appreciate the interest in last week's discussion on the prophets. Today, answer me this: among all of God's prophets in the Old Testament, who do you have the greatest admiration for? Whose prophecy is particularly striking to you for the message conveyed?

Email me today at jim@wpcoc.com. As I teach through the Prophets on Wednesday nights and preach through Malachi on Sunday nights, I remain intensely interested in the level of understanding and appreciation among our heritage for the role of the prophets.

I look forward to what you share with me today.

Like Father, Like Son

Last night at Merced, I spoke to a group of men from Valley-area churches about how Isaac copied the example of his father, Abraham. You remember Abraham's propensity to skirt the truth when questioned about the identity of his wife, Sarah (see Genesis 12.10-13 and 20.12). When Isaac reached adulthood and married Rebekah, he copied his father's protocol, claiming Rebekah wasn't his wife but his sister (see Genesis 26.1-2, 7).

Where'd he learn that little white-lie trick? From his daddy.

For the last nine years, I have been engaged in the most difficult challenge/responsibility of my life...parenting. The challenge of raising children toward maturity who love the Lord and shun evil is a challenge.

Recently, in an email exchange with a parent, I was comforted and encouraged.

Our kids love the Lord, but have different approaches and challenges. I have come to understand, I mean REALLY understand, that God has allowed us to parent some wonderful, but not perfect, children. We share and feel so much joy with their successes, and grieve terribly with their mistakes.

The ride is frightening at times. I want to know the end of the story. Will they be OK? Will our children get through these difficult years and come out the other side whole and able to help others through their experiences?

I think so, but the fact that I can't control the situation is scary. So, we hang on for the ride, pull in every resource we can, provide all of the support we know how, and pray. This may sound shocking but its honest. If I had known how difficult and scary parenting would be, I probably wouldn't have gone down that road. But, we're in it and God is getting us through it. He gave us these children because He knew we could lead them back to Him. We'll work toward that end as long as we live.

Is it just me or is that not an honest assessment of Parenting, circa 2007?

To look into the face of the scary, difficult responsibility of raising godly children...and accepting that challenge is inspiring and encouraging to me. Amidst the challenges of parenting -- notwithstanding some of the less-than-stellar examples like Abraham that rise from the pages of Scripture -- I am grateful this morning that God is my "Father." And as such, God my Father shows me by Word and deed, in his handling of me, what a perfect Father is.

Would to God that I was to my children what my Heavenly Father always is to me!

Worship

Last Friday night it was Clovis East versus Hug High from Reno, Nevada at historic Lamonica Stadium. This Friday, it's Trent and the Buchanan Bears against Barry Bonds's alma mater, San Mateo Serra. On Saturday, the Fresno State Bulldogs open up against Sacramento State.

And Friday, before Trent's game via the Internet, it's the Salt Bowl, Benton versus Bryant, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

Ahh, it's football season!

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Tonight, I will join Gary Villamor in driving up to Merced to speak to a gathering of men at the Merced church. I am very much looking forward to being with the guys as sharpening my sword, as iron sharpens iron.

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This weekend, Jo Ann Glock sent me an email with a link to Danny Dodd's blog. Danny is the Preaching Minister for the Gateway Church of Christ in Pensacola, Florida and was a speaker at our Workshop this year.

One particular entry on his blog intrigued me as it relates to our discussions last week on the prophets.

Worship is a big deal topic in my circle. Everyone seems to have an opinion about worship- on how it should be and what style connects best. Unfortunately on occasion these opinions have boiled over into church strife and even division.


So, since so many others have given their two cents worth, I thought I would chime in too- specifically about our corporate worship times. As you will quickly discover, this is not a theological treatise.

I will start with what worship is not:


Worship is not about me- my preferences that is. Certainly my worship should be focused in my heart and therefore is about me joining in with my spiritual family in praising God. But too often it seems worship becomes more about my preferences- the songs I want, the style I favor, the time frame I like, the order I prefer- than anything else. When this happens we have lost the proper God perspective and have forgotten why we came to worship.

Worship in not an evangelistic tool- The church growth industry got us to buy into this one. “Just do worship right and the people will come.” we were told. Somehow I cannot find this in Scripture. Sure the Acts church- at one point- had favor with the people, but worship was not God-designed to put the church on display, but to honor and revere him. This approach puts undue and unfair pressure upon the worship participants and creates a performance-based worship style- which leads to the next point:

Worship is not a performance- In my opinion those of us who lead worship can fall into this trap. Again- it becomes about me and how I performed my role. Heaven gets lost in this approach.

Worship is not to be bound in the past- “We have always done it this way” can be a death-blow to a rejuvenating, uplifting worship. There are very few details revealed about the exact worship practices of the New Testament church. Obviously it reflected its time and culture. So should our worship. Our praise language should speak in ways that connect to our time and place.


Worship is not the everything that defines us- For too many Christians the hour or so they spend in corporate worship is it. Maybe this is one reason why the subject of worship has become so volatile. Our Sunday worship- if reflective of an active daily spiritual life of the church body- will simply be a coming together in an adoration celebration of the God we are so actively serving during the week. In this setting we will each consider others better than ourselves and rejoice that we have this time to be with one another. Thoughts of song selections and worship styles would take a back seat to thoughts of honoring God and loving each other.

With all that said, worship is- in my opinion- the time when God’s saints gather to honor him, celebrate his grace, remember his Son’s gift, offer up to him the fruit of our hearts and lips and embrace and encourage our fellow worshippers.


As Paul addressed the divided and worship- confused Corinthians he made it clear from the beginning what he was about: Christ and him crucified.

If we can be about this in our churches then our worship will mirror that. God will get all the praise and we will be glad when they said unto us, let us go into the house of the Lord!

Profiting from the Prophets, #4

On Wednesday afternoon, I went home for my daily 30-minute workout on the Elliptical before Mandy, the girls and I made a couple of visits at the hospital before Wednesday evening Bible class. As I worked out, I noticed the crawler on the ESPN game showed the Rangers ahead of the Orioles 14-3 after 6 innings.

No big deal. An easy win for the Rangers in the first game of a double-dip in smoggy Baltimore.

After arriving for Bible class, Ken McCollum cornered me and asked, "Did you see the score of the Rangers' game today?"

"What's the big deal?" I asked, assuming the Rangers had coasted to an easy win but not expecting anything out of the ordinary.

"They won 30-3!" Ken said enthusiastically.

Huh? Now that's a big deal! So big, in fact, it was the most runs scored since 1897 in a Major League baseball game. Amazingly, the Rangers scored their 30 runs in just four innings, becoming the first team in over 100 years to score at least nine runs in two different innings and the first team in the history of Major League baseball to score 30 unanswered runs.

For a team going through an excruciating 2007 summer campaign, Wednesday night was certainly a silver lining in an otherwise forgettable season.

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Have you heard the story of Mike Flynt that hit the news yesterday?

Flynt, age 59, gave himself one final chance at amending the biggest regret of his life. 37 years after being removed from his college football team for fighting, Flynt has returned to Sul Ross State (so named for Lawrence Sullivan Ross who, according to Texas Aggie lore put the lantern in the shed that made it a hot time in Austin one night) to suit up for the Division III Lobos. Amazingly, Flynt has made the team and will suit up throughout the 2007 season as a 59-year old senior for the Sul Ross Lobos.

Flynt, a grandfather, has two children older than any of his teammates on the Lobo football team.

You might question Flynt's sanity but I admire his willingness to chase a dream and his desire to undo his greatest regret despite the tall odds.

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I was stunned to learn that one of my old Arkansas turkey hunting buddies, Cody Mabery, is scheduled for a biopsy today. A suspicious growth has caused concern for his family and doctor and so the site will be biopsied and analyzed today.

I ask you all to keep Cody, as well as his parents, Lance and Shelly, in your prayers today -- that God will ease their anxiety and that everything regarding Cody's biopsy will be normal and healthy.

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Justice.

The prophets of old dreamed of a just world; that Israel would be a just nation and God's children would be the ones who advanced just causes. Some prophets give justice a passing glance. Others use a megaphone that consistently echoes the dream of God for justice among his people, i.e. the abolition of class distinctions, the removal of extremes between the rich and poor, the dissolution of ethnic, fiscal and social prejudice.

Among the prophets, perhaps no prophet sounded a more clarion call for justice than Amos. Amos, a contemporary of Isaiah, was altogether unimpressed with the Israelites' hypocritical assemblies that masked hearts with no hint of justice for their fellow man.

"I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream" (Amos 5.21-24).

Without apology, Amos links together the pursuit of justice with righteousness.

Let's eavesdrop on another prophet, Micah, and hear how he echoes the tenor of Amos's prophecy:

"With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good, and what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6.6-8).

The greatest prophet of all, none of than the Messiah himself, Jesus Christ, captures the centuries-old longing for justice in his woe-filled rebuke of the Pharisees:

"Woe to you, Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone" (Luke 11.42).

Law-abiding worship that dots every "I" and crosses every "T" doesn't for a moment fool God when justice is compromised on the altar of self-righteousness. How ironic that in an era of worship wars, the wars of injustice continue to fight for first place in our world's headlines.

Today, we all have an opportunity through our interactions with others to advocate the justice of God in this world through our kindness, our benevolence, and our acceptance of those who might not look, think, dress, act or talk as we do. To live with that in the forefront of our minds today is as holy as our gathering to worship on Sunday. Living as beacons for the justice of God in this world is an expectation the prophets harped on and one we must never compromise.

Profiting from the Prophets, #3

Megan Clanton grew up in the Woodward Park church and is the proud daughter, granddaughter, and daughter-in-law of some of our good friends and current Woodward Park members. She is a Harding grad and a very gifted writer. I have been blessed by the fact that Megan has joined blogdom and you will be blessed as well by her writing and insight. Check out her "Glass Still Half Full" blog here.

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With the beginning of a new school year comes the beginning of a new commitment in my life. The last two years have been a logistical mess and Trae has been affected most by our moves and the uprooting it has caused in her schooling. So, not only has Mandy committed to volunteer in Trae's class every Friday afternoon but I have committed to volunteer for two hours every other Tuesday morning.

Yesterday marked my first volunteer opportunity in Trae's classroom. I was delighted to learn that I was the only dad who signed up to volunteer in Trae's classroom -- it's all mom's...plus me! On day one, I sharpened pencils and refilled glue bottles and three-hole punched paperwork to go into the kid's homework packets.

What so interested me as I spent a full hour-and-a-half in Trae's classroom was the ethnic diversity to which she is exposed. For the first couple years of schooling, everyone in her classroom looked and talked and thought just like she did. Now, she is in a setting that is much more realistic of the world she will live in.

Tuesday's Fresno Bee, in an opinion piece entitled "What's a Minority These Days?" noted that non-Caucasians now constitute a clear majority in 303 counties within the U.S. (including a third of the most populous counties). In California, 57% of the state's population of 37 Million is classified as a minority. Fresno County is the third most diverse county in the state with roughly 60% non-Caucasian and nearly 40% non-English speaking.

Again, what some might perceive as an encroaching problem should be viewed by disciples of Jesus as a blessing. According to Paul, we who are "citizens of heaven," should view reality in light of what is best for kingdom expansion. As such, I thank God for bringing to our doorstep, even to my daughter's classroom, the nations of the world.

"Going into all the world..." takes on a whole new meaning in an immigrant-rich culture. The world is coming to us...are we ready?

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The book of Isaiah is one of the earliest prophetic writings in the long line of prophecies that close out our Old Testament Scriptures. Written in the 8th century (contemporaries of Isaiah would be Amos, Jonah, Hosea and Micah), the first 40 chapters sound a warning of judgment on Israel and Judah should they choose to continue to live in rebellion, unrepentant to the call of God on their lives. The last 26 chapters, however, capture a different tone as hope for the future, especially in the coming of the forecasted Messiah, rises to center stage.

Experiencing the prophets in Scripture is an exercise in "having our toes stepped on." For example, consider these words from Isaiah 1.11-17:

"'The multitude of your sacrifices -- what are they to me?' says the LORD. 'I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations -- I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hand in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.'"

The prophets' have no interest in our artificial distinctions of the sacred and the secular. What I do on Tuesday away from the assembly of the faith community is as much a statement of my faith as my commitment to gather with the faithful. Doesn't it seem as though Isaiah's in-your-face message is directed at a people who thought their "Sunday morning" faithfulness could mask their "Friday night" hypocrisy?

The assembly has never been an antidote to cover over a prejudiced, jaded, duplicitous heart. Social responsibility in upholding the dignity of others is a spiritual duty granted to those in union with the God of heaven. In an extremist world, where society inevitably marginalizes people en masse, it is the duty of the disciple to do right...to advance justice...to encourage the downtrodden...invest in the needs of orphans...to intercede on behalf of widows.

Profiting from the Prophets, #2

In follow-up to yesterday's post about the prophets, here are some words from Eugene Peterson in his introduction to the section of the Prophets in his contemporary English translation, the Message.

"Everyone more or less believes in God. But most of us do our best to keep God on the margins of our lives, or, failing that, refashion God to suit our convenience. Prophets insist that God is the sovereign center, not off in the wings awaiting our beck and call. And prophets insist that we deal with God as God reveals himself, not as we imagine him to be.

The prophet's purge our imaginations of this world's assumptions on how life is lived and what counts in life. Over and over again, God the Holy Spirit uses these prophets to separate his people from the cultures in which they live, putting them back on the path of simple faith and obedience and worship in defiance of all that the world admires and rewards. Prophets train us in discerning the difference between the ways of the world and the ways of the gospel, keeping us present to the Presence of God.

For a people who are accustomed to 'fitting God' into their lives, or, as we like to say, 'making room for God,' the prophets are hard to take and easy to dismiss. The God of whom the prophets speak is far too large to fit into our lives. If we want anything to do with God, we have to fit into him.

The prophets are not 'reasonable,' accommodating themselves to what makes sense to us. They are not diplomatic, tactfully negotiating an agreement that allows us a 'say' in the outcome. What they do is haul us unceremoniously into a reality far too large to be accounted for by our explanations and expectations.

Their words and their visions penetrate the illusions with which we cocoon ourselves from reality. We humans have an enormous capacity for denial and for self-deceit. We incapacitate ourselves from dealing with the consequences of sin, for facing judgment, for embracing truth. Then the prophets step in and help us to first recognize and then enter the new life God has for us, the life that hope in God opens up.

They (the prophets) don't explain God. They shake us our of old conventional habits of small-mindedness, of trivializing god-gossip, and set us on our feet in wonder and obedience and worship. If we insist on understanding them before we live into them, we will never get it.

One of the bad habits that we pick up early in our lives is separating things and people into the secular and the sacred. We assume that the secular is what we are more or less in charge of: our jobs, our time, our entertainment, our government, our social relations. The sacred is what God has charge of: worship and the Bible, heaven and hell, church and prayers. We then contrive to set aside a sacred place for God, designed, we say, to honor God but really intended to keep God in his place, leaving us free to have the final say about everything else that goes on.

Prophets will have none of this! They contend that everything, absolutely everything, takes place on sacred ground. God has something to say about every aspect of our lives: the way we feel and act in the so-called privacy of our hearts and homes, the way we make our money and the way we spend it, the politics we embrace, the wars we fight, the catastrophes we endure, the people we hurt and the people we help. Nothing is hidden from the scrutiny of God, nothing is exempt from the rule of God, nothing escapes the purposes of God.

Prophets make it impossible to evade God or makes detours around God. Prophets insist on receiving God in every nook-and-cranny of life. For a prophet, God is more real than the next-door neighbor" (1195-7).

Profiting from the Prophets

So that little passing diddy last Thursday about my girls arranging their entire week around the debut of High School Musical 2 wasn't unique to them. Apparently, 17.2 Million other little girls and their mothers tuned in making it the most watched cable television show of all-time, eclipsing the debut of Monday Night football on ESPN last fall.

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While my girls were doing their part to help set television viewing history, the Woodward Park softball game was involved in a run to the championship. We prevailed over Cross Church in the loser's bracket final and then bested New Covenant 19-18 to set up a winner-take-all showdown that didn't begin until nearly 10:00 pm.

Unfortunately, New Covenant won the finale 22-17 making the Woodward Park'ers runners-up. It was a valiant effort and if not for a series of questionable umpiring calls -- and it has been brought to my attention that the umpire making the questionable calls just happens to attend church at New Covenant -- WPCoC might have brought home the title.

Nevertheless, I'll not blame the umpire. Rather, I'll blame Gary Villamor (you know, we do live in an era where passing the buck and the blame is routine. Can't I get in on that too?).

Gary is the fine preacher for the Dos Palos church and author of the excellent book No Middle Ground: The Church in a Compromising Position. Gary and his lovely wife, Shirley, gave up their Friday evening to watch us play. Unfortunately, the late hour caught up with Gary and Shirley and they made their exit from the ballpark following game two. I told Gary as he and Shirley walked away that they had been our "good luck charm" and couldn't leave until the third and final game was over but my pressure didn't prevail on them. He laughed as he left, declaring, "I'll catch it Monday on your blog!"

So, since I can't blame the loss on the fact that I made a 3rd out at 3rd base (a cardinal sin taught me in tee-ball league), and it won't be right to live with a grudge against a well-meaning umpire for the next year, I'll lay the blame at the feet of Gary Villamor.

Gotcha, Gary!

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Speaking of championship standings, how ironic that last Friday on my dad's birthday, my dad's favorite team -- those lovable losers known as the Chicago Cubs -- found themselves in first place in the National League Central at the end of the day.

Somewhere, I think I hear the echo of Harry Caray crying, "Holy Cow!"

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Last night, I began a Sunday evening sermon series through the obscure, oft-overlooked prophecy of Malachi. Tucked away at the end of the Old Testament, Malachi means little more to many of us than an answer to a Bible trivia question: what is the last book of the Old Testament?

Yet, Malachi serves a critical role in the history of God. The last prophet among four centuries of prophets, Malachi serves as the bridge between the Old and the New. His voice, the last to be heard among the people of God for some 400 years, is the voice God uses to announce the coming "Elijah," i.e. John the Baptist, the forerunner to the Messiah.

The prophets' role throughout the Old Testament is a difficult one. They are used by God to reawaken his children from their malaise; to shock them out of their lethargy. Doing so often brought extreme duress on the prophet mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Still, the Malachi's of Old remained true to their calling in the face of their difficult task and our appreciation of God's activity among his people is enhanced as a result.

Happy Birthday, Dad

Today is a special day for my family. Today my Dad celebrates his birthday.

And in honor of my dad's birthday today, I want to share with you what my dad means to me.

My dad was born in Casa Grande, Arizona but as a child, he moved to Arkansas. He grew up in Benton and was a catcher on his baseball teams.

My dad taught me how to play baseball. He taught me how to water ski. He taught me the value of a strong work ethic. And he taught me through his own example how to be a diligent student of God's Word and how to convey that study through teaching to bless the lives of others.

It was through watching my dad teach, be it at a Nursing Home as was our custom during my childhood and later in classes, that greatly impacted my own life.

Some of my most precious memories in life involve turkey hunting with my dad. When I bagged my first ever gobbler, it was my dad who celebrated with greater fervor than I did. He called it in and that Saturday morning in 1999 is still crystal clear in my mind. From that morning on, we celebrated many more successful hunts on the Howard Mountain Hunting Lease in the Ouachita Mountains west of Hot Springs Village. But it wasn't just the hunting success but the countless hours spent in nature, talking and sharing. Several years ago, my mom and dad gave to me three framed pictures that are among the most treasured pictures in my office. The first is of my grandfather with his first turkey; the second of my dad with his first turkey; and the third of me with my first turkey. Those pictures capture a heritage that gives me identity and helps me to stay rooted regardless of where God leads us.

Without a doubt, my love for baseball, my love for turkey hunting, and my love for God all find their source in my dad's example and influence over my life.

I am eternally indebted to God for giving me my dad. His language of relationship has caused him to work exceedingly hard throughout his life to provide for his family. Through his countless sacrifices, my life and the life of my family are immeasurably blessed.

Dad, Happy Birthday to you today! Mandy, Trae, Tori and I thank God for you and appreciate everything you are and everything you've done for us. Thanks for supporting us emotionally even when the leading of God has taken us far away from home. Knowing we have your complete and total support is invaluable! We wish we could be there today to share your special day with you but know that you are in our thoughts and hearts today.

Beyond Imagination

It seems to have an earth-shattering blog these days, one must be acutely aware of all things pop culture. References to prime time television and movie clips suitable for use on the Sunday morning PowerPoint seem to be essential in crafting of a high readership blog.

So...what if one happens to be the father of two young daughters and the extent of his pop culture knowledge is Hannah Montana and Drake & Josh? What if the pop culture highlight of his summer is the anticipation of High School Musical 2 tomorrow night?

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As for the debut of High School Musical 2, I'll have to take a rain check (or watch it via the DVR, which has been set by my oldest daughter for a week now) because the Woodward Park softball team ends its season tomorrow night.

We plowed through the season undefeated but lost in the winner's bracket final to New Covenant last Friday.

Tomorrow night at 7:00 at Bethany, we play in the loser's bracket final. Win that and we'll turn around and play New Covenant twice in order to win the league tournament. All games will be played in succession, meaning we'll play at 7:00, then 8:00, and finally 9:00. Hopefully, by the 10:00 news tomorrow night, Woodward Park will be crowned champions.

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For all you Clovisites (or is it Clovisians? or maybe Clovisonians?), who will win the 2007 TRAC football championship this year?

Defending TRAC Champ Clovis West? Defending Valley Champ Clovis East? Perennial power Clovis High? Or Trent Powers and the Buchanan Bears?

Email me with your prediction (jim@wpcoc.com).

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Two Saturdays ago, a group from Woodward Park were once again downtown serving the less fortunate. As we cleaned up following lunch, one of the gentlemen, Steve, asked me for a ride to the north side of the city. Frankly, being with Steve was my first prolonged opportunity to rub elbows with a person who typified the lives God is bringing to our doorstep on their turf.

As we visited on the drive, Steve told me how that a divorce and the proceeding court resolution had left him destitute. Living behind a shopping center on the north side, Steve envisioned a future with a brighter tomorrow than yesterday while struggling to maintain some semblance of dignity in the face of his present crisis.

Since our time together, Steve has worshipped with us the last two Sundays. Well, that's not quite right. The first week, the person who was to pick up Steve for worship was ill. Steve caught the bus for a $1 but transfers put his arrival at our building just as we were leaving. Last Sunday, he made it on time.

Yesterday, Steve showed up at the church office with a young Hispanic mother. The mother has three children and her husband has been back in Mexico for two months caring for extended family. Consequently, with dad receiving no income, mom is struggling to survive and provide for her children in a minimum wage job. With school beginning Monday, clothes and school supplies are simply wishes.

Steve's needs are great. And Lillie and her family have great needs.

And thankfully, this morning I am grateful to be in union with a great God who is able to do abundantly more than we ask or imagine! The longer I live in Fresno the more aware I become of the needs that exist on our doorstep and the more overwhelmed I become with the necessity of asking God to do more than we can imagine.

Frankly, I can't imagine how we'll ever be qualified to meet and serve all the needs around us. But Paul reminds me that God's work in our world isn't contingent on our imagination!

Thank God!

Evangelism and Divine Purpose

One of my personal highlights from the week long sojourn in Shaver was the devouring of two books.

The first book I finished off was Scout's Honor: The Bravest Way to Build a Winning Team by Bill Shanks. Shanks' book is the traditionalist's answer to the Moneyball craze of Billy Beane and the Oakland A's method of scouting and player development. Shanks pulls back the curtain on the Atlanta Braves scouting and development philosophy during the era of John Schuerholz, Paul Snyder, Bobby Cox (who, incidentally, was thrown out of the game last night against the Giants setting a MLB record for most ejections in history at 132). As opposed to the high tech approach advanced in Moneyball, i.e. scouting via statistical data, the Braves have held to the timeless method of scouting by projecting with a high priority on makeup, most notably through a high commitment to drafting high schoolers as opposed to the A's preferred method of drafting collegiate players. Any baseball fan whose read Moneyball has to give Scout's Honor a read for the sake of the counter-argument.

The second book was one of those books that has set on my bookshelf for several years and finally drew away my attention long enough to be read in full. Theology Matters: Answers for the Church Today is a wonderful compilation of essays from some of the best and brightest scholars among Churches of Christ. Edited by Mark Black, Randy Harris and Gary Holloway, Theology Matters discusses the nature and work of God, Salvation, Scripture, the Church, Worship, Evangelism, Ethics and Eschatology in the course of 28 essays. Published in 1998, the book is an excellent primer from some of the finer minds in our heritage regarding the essence of theological thought.

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While we were away, the news became public knowledge that my long-time friend and co-worker, Jimmy Mitchell, has accepted an offer to return home to Arkansas. Jimmy has been invited by the leadership of the Northside Church of Christ in Benton (my home congregation) to return and serve as their Youth and Family Minister. Jimmy interned at Northside during college and it was at Northside that he met his wife, Elizabeth. They are now blessed with a beautiful daughter named Jenniva.

I count among the real blessings of my life the privilege to have worked alongside Jimmy in both Hot Springs Village and Marble Falls. Now, Northside receives the great blessing of Jimmy's passion, enthusiasm and skill.

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I'm pumped! Our 2007 season tickets for Fresno State Bulldog Football arrived in the mail yesterday. We have found the cost of living in California exorbitantly more expensive in all areas save ticket pricing for college football. We picked up a family plan of season tickets and a parking pass for less than the cost of one season ticket for Arkansas football in the SEC.

Guess becoming a fan of a non-BCS team does have its perks!

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Here's a highlight of paragraphs from Evertt Huffard of Harding Graduate School of Religion in Memphis. These paragraphs come from Theology Matters, chapter twenty entitled "How Does Theology Influence Evangelism?"

"Consider a problem much closer to home, where a biblical theology of the church relates to evangelism. Older established churches seldom develop a reputation for evangelistic zeal. They need a theological challenge that defines their very reason to exist. In fact, the strongest argument for new church planting is that they have a clear purpose to exist and have the best record for making new disciples. Few churches over twenty years old are evangelistic. Evangelists or preachers with a commitment to evangelism will find ministry in this context very frustrating. The church may give financial support to a mission effort but develop a status quo posture at home. The loss of evangelistic activity might explain why most of these churches tend to grow old and die. When the purpose of the church shifts to self-preservation, it loses a theologically valid reason to exist and dies spiritually long before it dies physically.

Recent studies also show that large churches are not as evangelistic as smaller churches. Based on the diagnostic analysis of 112 Churches of Christ, John Ellas discovered that growing churches tend to baptize more people than declining churches, except for churches with more than 700 in Sunday morning worship attendance. As churches grew larger, they declined in evangelistic effectiveness. Should this not raise a theological question? Would God equate bigger churches to kingdom growth?

Although I would not argue that smaller churches are more spiritual, a strong case could be made for the need to define the purpose of the church, large or small, or it will be distracted by a survival mindset if it is small or a self-sufficiency mindset if it is large. Both problems can only be corrected by a theological rationale for existence and commitment to the purpose of God for the church in a specific community at a given time in history.

Paul spells out the purpose of the church for Christians in Ephesus. God's plan assumed a spiritual war in which the church would manifest the wisdom of God -- to the end that God would be glorified (Ephesians 3.10-21). This theological principle connects with reality for any church, especially the older or larger ones, at the point of evangelism. To go months or even years without a baptism in a local church will leave many without the slightest evidence that God's power is at work in the church. The primary evidence of divine victory comes from the hearts and lives that are being transformed into his glory" (245-6).

Retro Summer

So it was just over two months ago that summer break began in earnest. And since that time, there have been two beautiful weddings to perform, two wonderful Vacation Bible Schools to teach, one First Principles Day Camp and one Yosemite Bible Camp and one Tahoe Family Encampment.

And, oh yeah, one long overdue vacation with the girls -- the first full-fledged family vacation in two years. Our summer Sabbath at Shaver Lake was outstanding. We slept late. We swam, check that, the girls swam (I'm getting old because the water was just too cold for me!). We played Trivial Pursuit and Battleship, we threw darts and watched movies, and we ate ice cream every afternoon. We made memories as a family as we refreshed ourselves in the beauty of God's creation. For you natives, Shaver might be old hat but for us, it is still amazing to live just 50 miles from what seems like a whole other world, tucked away some 5000 feet up in the mountains where the air is clean and cool.

It's been a full, memorable summer highlighted no doubt by the growth to the kingdom. Each encampment, each Bible school, each teaching opportunity was a blessing to plant kingdom seed. And God blessed our watering and planting with a growth to the tune of 17 baptisms this summer!

To God be the Glory!

Siesta

Today is a special day in my life for a number of reasons. For starters, today marks my family's one year anniversary of our coming to Woodward Park. It has been a wonderful year, filled with great memories and spiritual triumphs. Sure, there have been some potholes along the way, but the mountain peaks far surpass any valleys we've experienced.

Thank you to all our new friends and family in Fresno for welcoming us and loving us. You've made our first year together one of the most rewarding years in our ministry and we look forward to the future and all God has in store for the kingdom in Fresno.

Another reason today is special is it marks the beginning of our first family vacation in two years. With our move to Texas and then to Fresno, we've been through back-to-back first year ministries for the last two years. I've always felt that the first year in any new ministry is critical, therefore, we haven't taken a family vacation in two years.

I am grateful to the elders for honoring our commitment to Woodward Park and allowing my family a chance to get-away for a week. We're going to escape to the mountains where the temperatures are supposed to be in the 60's during the day and the 30's at night. I've got a backpack full of books I plan on reading and nothing else on the agenda except some R & R while making some new memories with the girls.

As such, I'll be taking a blog vacation as well. See you again here on Tuesday the 14th.

Till then, remember this: "The richest person in the world is not the one who has the most but the one who needs the least."

"I Tried to be Good but I Got Bored"

Among the things I am grateful for on this Thursday morning is the prolific publicity coming Woodward Park's way. In the current issue of the Christian Chronicle, there is a neat picture of David Lock baptizing his son Scott during last month's Yosemite Bible Camp with an accompanying paragraph about the camp.


Yesterday, I received an email request for pictures of our downtown/homeless outreach from a publisher for Homecoming Magazine, the journal of Bill & Gloria Gaither. Barbara McCreary attended a Gaither concert earlier this year and had her name drawn to receive a "Give It Away" gift she was to pay forward. She chose to give the money in her gift toward our downtown/homeless outreach and Homecoming Magazine has chosen to highlight her donation with the story, including pictures, of our ongoing downtown outreach to the homeless of Fresno.


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One of the lasting images in my mind from the 3-day speaking tour in Madera was the shirt little Luke was wearing on Monday night.


"I tried to be good," the shirt said, "but I got bored."


Funny, but the more I thought about that proverb -- as Luke made his way up and down the center aisle during the Monday evening puppet skit -- the more I realized that it told an accurate tale of the lives of many adult disciples of Jesus.


Why do we dally with sin? Why do we lurk in places and spaces we have no business going? We do we venture into uncharted waters, only to discover the consequential winds and waves are more than we bargained for?


Could it be we simply got bored? Could it be we took the majestic for granted?


1 Corinthians 10 recounts the plight of the Israelites on their journey to Canaan. Despite the majestic manifestation of God at every turn, it seems as though his children got bored.


The miraculous became mundane.


Consequently, God's children fell into all manner of vile and disgusting sin, abominable acts that betrayed the brilliance to which they'd been privy.


Paul says their stories were recorded as "examples to teach us." And one of the things they teach me is that little Luke's shirt, while altogether intended to be a witty truism about the two-year old inside the shirt, is true: boredom -- or taking for granted the majestic God blesses us with everyday -- keeps us from being good.

Tahoe Rewind

In front of the stage backdrop at the Tahoe Family Encampment. This was our first-ever true "family" encampment as all three girls were present. The afternoon naps were non-existent this year but the memories we made were wonderful.

Tori with Sidney (the paparazzi's granddaughter) and Ashlyn. Ash-a-lun (as Tori calls her) and Tori bonded during the encampment. Thanks, Ash, for all the help and for giving Mandy a break throughout the encampment.

The paparazzi caught the Preacher Man in the full throes of driving home a point. It was a pure joy to be able to deliver the Monday evening keynote to a tent full of disciples of Jesus longing to grow more and more into the image of the Lord.

Good friend and fellow minister Eli Hooper and I following Eli's keynote just before the Western Jamboree on Wednesday night. Eli and I were able to share a Starbucks together on Thursday morning and talk about future plans for ministry.

The Tahoe Family Encampment is always one of the true highlights of the year and this year was no exception. To gather with 1200+ Christians in such a majestic setting is just short of heavenly. Thank you, Paul and Pat Methvin, for your dedication and devotion in pulling off another marvelous week of spiritual renewal.

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By the way, today marks my 23rd spiritual birthday. It was 23 years ago today in the waters of Lake Greeson at Camp Barton that I was baptized into Jesus Christ by my grandfather. I'll never forget having my grandfather reinforce the magnitude of the commitment, coupled with the majesty of spiritual blessing, that accompany baptism.

God, forgive me today when I haven't lived up to my commitment. When I haven't upheld my end of the deal. Thank you for continually forgiving me through the blood of Your Son for all those times when my spiritual walk was a self-inflicted limp.

Thank you for the precious memory of my rebirth 23 years ago today. May the reality of that day propel my life in greater devotion and service to You this day and everyday for the rest of my life.