Since Josh is fifteen we are bracing ourselves for driving. We have already allowed him to drive short distances and around the church parking lot, but we are not ready for the “big” streets yet. He is a conscientious kid but learning to drive often means mistakes. I am not ready for that. Also, I can’t bear the thought of turning him loose by himself in a car yet. He is a good kid but I am very protective also.
When I saw this cartoon, I was reminded of what learning to drive means.
Today we have been having a laid back holiday. We decided that we would do no labor on Labor Day. It seems like that is an oxymoron in itself to have a holiday called Labor Day and they let you off of work. We woke up this morning with no agenda and late this morning we decided to head to our favorite cafe, Granny’s Kitchen in Huntsville. What a meal!
When we headed back, we took a different route (on purpose) and took a lazy drive through the Ozark Mountains. It was a beautiful drive. It is nice just to hang out with the family. It seems at times we are so busy and going in different directions, but I love to spend a day with Sonya and the kids.
Yesterday we had a great Sunday. We kicked off our new Sunday School quarter with a breakfast and it was well attended. In fact, new people came for the breakfast and got connected to a Sunday School class. Service was also great yesterday morning. The presence of the Lord was real!
Last night, we joined New Hope Assembly for their Labor Day picnic. It was great to fellowship with Pastor Longmate and his church family. They had a lot to do for the kids and Hannah really enjoyed herself. In fact, when she woke up this morning, she said, “Is it morning? All right let’s go to the picnic!”
As I went for my morning walk, I was thinking about how we as preachers evolve or at least should evolve. We are to grow as preachers. We are to become more accustomed to building quality messages as we mature in Christ.
Through the years, I have noticed something among preachers. A quick disclaimer: I have been guilty of this on many occasions. It appears that sometimes in our sermons, we spend more time developing a catchy title than we do writing quality content. So my question is: Title or Content? Sure the people can remember the title for a long time, but titles do not grow people. Content does!
When I began preaching, I worked hard to build a great title. In fact, I would get the title first and build a sermon around it. As I was looking back over some of my old sermons I noticed a couple of titles that I had built a message around:
“Don’t Be A Weinie Christian!”
“Get Off Your Spiritual Buts”
“I’ve Fallen And Can Get Up”
“Oscar Meyer Christians”
“There Were No Easter Bunnies At Calvary”
“No Smoking Section”
Some of these sermon titles are remembered by some of my family, but they do not remember what it was about. This is where content is key. It is what is within the message that helps people grow spiritually. It might be good advertising to have a catchy title, but word of mouth advertising is better when you have something important to say all the time. What I mean is, if we preach with good content, people will invite their friends to hear more messages with good content. When people learn something, they want to share it.
I am challenged in my own life to prepare a message where people leave with something learned and gained from it. If it is a slick title with a weak message they are sure to be disappointed. Kind of like a great title on a “B” movie.
A beautiful chapter of my life is turning the page. It is a romance of sorts between me and Lucille. We met in Jacksonville, Texas about 7 years ago. I was driving by and Lucille caught my eye. I instantly noticed how classy she was and it seemed we were meant for each other. Lucille entered my life when I traded my truck in for a luxury car that I named Lucille.
B.B. King has a Lucille (guitar). Kenny Rogers sang about her, “You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille.” Now, it is my turn to pay tribute to Lucille.
Several months ago, Lucille entered the last stages of her life with me. She is having mechanical problems and being a duct tape mechanic, I cannot hang onto her. I must let her go. I can’t take care of her, and I do not want to spend my money at the mechanic shop.
So, yesterday, I put a For Sale sign on Lucille and now I wait for someone else to love her. She will always be in my heart, but sometimes parting is sweet sorrow.
R.I.P. Lucille
Yesterday, I attended the Leadership and Preaching Lab in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. It was a one day conference with three speakers, Dr. Mark Rutland, Bryan Jarrett and Ron Woods. It was a day of insight and encouragement.
I have been to many conferences in my lifetime, but this is the first one that seemed to speak to me right where I was at. It was like God set me up to go and told the speakers what to say. As I left yesterday afternoon, I felt like God had spoken to me. Every word that was preached spoke to something in my life.
Out of all of the ways I was challenged and uplifted, it reminded me that God knows where I am at and what I need, when I need it. God is faithuful!
Many people have asked why I am not on Facebook. The main reason is I do not have time. Their reasoning is, you do not have to do anything with Facebook, just get a page. So, then I wonder, if you don’t do anything with it, why do it?
How about Twitter? It is all the rage today to Twitter what you are doing throughout the day. I wonder, though, is my life that interesting that we can post little snippets of it all day long? Or am I that self-absorbed thinking other people really want to know what I am doing all day long? If you want to know what I am doing, call me:)
There are other reasons for not getting on Facebook and Twitter, but I do not want to share them here because I might offend someone. However, Lee McFarland had a post recently about the trappings of Social Media.
It is an interesting read:
“I apologize for not posting anything on this blog for one month. I have been dedicating myself to working on my book, and blogging just took some of that precious time away for writing.
I also slowed down a little bit on Twitter too. I love all these social networking tools, but I also want to keep them under control. Why?
I have received emails from several wives who have "lost their husbands" to online role-playing games. It might sound like an innocent "passion to play," but actually, for many it becomes just another form of addiction. I know of at least two cases where the wife has filed for divorce. You might think that sounds ridiculous, but in both cases, it was total abandonment of the marriage relationship. The husband had decided he wanted time with "World of Warcraft" more than his wife!
I have also counseled with people who are losing sleep, having problems at work, and who are facing disciplinary action after getting caught on their cell phones, because they are updating either Facebook or Twitter.
Add to that the growing problem of people texting while driving. A recent article in Car & Driver magazine showed that texting while driving impairs your ability as bad or worse than drunk driving! The recent deadly crash of an aircraft and a helicopter into the Hudson in New York has been connected with the Air Traffic Controller being on his cell phone while trying to do his job.
All this technology for "staying connected" is positive in so many ways, and yet deadly too.
Many Facebook members have admitted to spending 4 to 5 hours per day on the site, updating their activities, connecting with friends, and even playing virtual games like, "farm town."
The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 6:12: "Everything is permissible for me"–but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"–but I will not be mastered by anything.
What do you think? How many hours do you spend on Facebook and Twitter and texting per day? Do you think you have it under control? Is it taking time away from something else?”
Josh is now one week into his public school experience and is doing great. He seems to be adjusting well. He has a load of classes that challenged me in school but he is handling it with ease.
I remember my time in high school (believe it is not, it wasn’t too long ago) and I was left with scars from my Algebra classes. I barely made it out alive. It was either that I wasn’t smart enough or that I didn’t care enough, but Algebra ate my lunch.
I saw this cartoon today that perfectly captures my experience with my two years in Algebra 2.
What I want, I want it now
To Christ, I don’t want to bow
I go through the ritual and all the motions
But in the midst of it all, I have little passion
I prefer to live life now, forever is too long to wait
I want the pleasure now, eternity will be too late
Sin feels good for me, it pleases me today
It is hard to overcome, so I will just give way
But soon our life will end
And then what will I depend
Sin will hold me close no more
And now Christ will not answer the door
I had my feel, I had my way
Now I have nothing left to say
I try to persist, trying to get through
But Christ only says, “I never knew you.”
Here lies for us a decision that we must make
Will we seek pleasure now or will we wait.
-Danny Cheney-
Life of a Pastor Blog 