Death And Spring
4/1/2005 10:25:04 AM
It seems the pope is near death. The headlines in the newspapers are still trumpeting the death of Terri Schiavo. This year, I have buried an unusual number of elderly this year, especially considering the size of my church. Lately, the death of judges, children, and innocents dominates the airwaves. In Louisiana, spring has demolished winter, yet the pall of winter continues through these deaths. The azaleas are outstanding this year, covering our neighborhoods in color and life. My mom has this one fourteen foot plus azalea bush that is just a monster of beauty. The irony of death seeping into our season of life isn't lost on me today. The older I get, the more I seem to notice it.

The Pope's Death
4/2/2005 2:52:14 PM
Despite the fact that I am a protestant, I stand in awe of the reaction to the loss of John Paul II. From all accounts, this was a very special man, both politically and spiritually. He may have been the most powerful, influential man on the face of the earth. Perhaps, one of the most powerful of all time. No man ever saw as many followers as this man. His message to the world was one of love, of protecting the innocent and the poor, of the virtues of selfless-ness. The one story that most moves me concerning this man is how he visited his would be assassin in jail and forgave him. I do not have access to the Book of Life. Only one was worthy to open The Book: Only the Lamb of God slain from the foundations of the world. He was a servant of Christ and Christ alone shall ultimately be his judge. This one thing is clear to me, however: John Paul II was as classy as they come in the world of religion. His passing is historically and spiritually important.

Loving Our Fellow Man
4/5/2005 3:39:32 PM
If caught in a flood and presented with the dilemma of having the time to save either a man who had cheated me, caused me harm, and disturbed my peace for several months or a stranded raccoon that had never caused me harm, I would use the moment to save my fellow human being despite my momentary thought to be done with my nemesis once and for all. Even though my enemy caused me such trouble, the fact remains that he is a human being with an eternal soul. I am moved by the cute mannerisms of a raccoon, but I certainly relate more to my fellow primate and would reach a helping hand to him in his moment of peril. It is not that I have no feelings for the raccoon: The mischievous little scamps are comical and entertaining. I am simply compelled by my nature to sympathize with this man before me. We are alike. We are cut of the same cloth, biologically. My choice would be easy, knowing that he would reach for me if the tables were turned. The same principle is at play in the scripture:

“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1John 4:20)

God is an entirely separate species of being. He created us. He is far above us: Even more so than we are above raccoons. Although we are made in His image, we can no more understand what it is to be God than we can know what it is to be a raccoon. Oftentimes, we imagine that we love Him because we do not understand “love” in the first place. We have a better feeling about God than we do most of our fellows. God has never bothered me by asking for a loan, by cutting me off on the interstate, or by charging me too much for gasoline. (C.S. Lewis has much to say on this topic.) Our lack of interaction with God combined with a lack of understanding what “love” means leaves most people with the impression that their relationship with God is just peachy. John is telling us that we are deceiving ourselves if we imagine we can love the Almighty Creator of the Universe, to whom we can hardly relate, and hate our fellow man, which is just like us. We are all sinners whose only hope is the grace and mercy of God. We are caught in the same peril and dilemma as others like us. We are wallowing in the same mud-hole as our enemy, our only escape being the benevolence of a perfect, righteous God. If you can’t relate to others, you will never relate to God. If you can’t forgive those who have wronged you, if you can’t strive to keep the peace, if you do not “love” your fellow man, you simply do not have the wherewithal to attempt “loving” such a being as Almighty God. I must learn this word: LOVE.

The Funeral
4/8/2005 9:17:16 AM
The day will one day come when the entire world will join together to worship anti-Christ. I never understood how something like that could happen. The whole world? The death and burial of Pope John Paul II has illustrated just how such a thing could take place. Never has our world been so united. Modern media, especially 24-hour cable news, has brought us into a new age where even what used to seem improbable is clearly revealed to be possible. Since the election of George W. Bush, fueled by the so-called "evangelical vote", everyone is getting religion. Where the very word "God" used to be avoided like the plague, it is now bandied about like any other political term. Suddenly, everyone is a religious scholar. The future of the Catholic Church has become the hot topic around water coolers in the working places of our world. The schisms among the religious faithful are discussed by the very pundits who once pronounced the death of spirituality in America. The past decades of a blatant attempt to remove God from the public conscious have left so many searching for something that is constant, holy, and true. Like everyone else, I couldn’t help but watch with a sense of awe and wonder the funeral of such a good man who had a deep impact on our world: A man who represented just such character and depth to many. But there also—the squeaky wheel in my spirit—sprang the thought that one day this same sort of homage will be paid to a man whose entire intent is to lead this world into the depths of hell.

The Humbling Process
4/12/2005 6:57:30 AM
Certainly, one of the most empty feelings is that of ingratitude in those you serve. I have found that at the very moment you need encouragement or some sign of appreciation from those you reach out to the most you will oftentimes reap just the opposite. Pastoring a church is a humbling process. Being a servant in any capacity is humbling. That is why our Heavenly Father instructs us to so all we do as unto Him. Then the expectations are always met. Then there is no feeling of futility in acts of service. Then you are adding treasure to your account in heaven: That's a wonderful way to spend any day!


Death And Taxes
4/14/2005 6:32:06 AM
We seem to always wait until the last minute to deal with things, huh? Taxes! I can't help but be amused at the mass of humanity out there that is in panic mode because taxes are due tomorrow. We've only had all year so far to get it done! So the scramble begins as the struggle to sneak past Uncle Sam continues. I wonder how many of us will succumb to the same sort of slothfulness on that Great Gettin' Up Mornin'. Good news and bad news about the Lords second coming: There will be no late fees and penalties but there will also be no excuses...no sneaking past the Holy Ghost. You'll be ready on time or you won't be. Let's take care of business ahead of time on that one guys. It's far too important.

District Council
4/17/2005 9:13:40 PM
Tomorrow I leave for District Council. There is nothing more entertaining that gathering together with a bunch of stressed ministers who are finally getting their chance to be the congregation and let the leadership have it. I am amazed that they still have these things, considering how poor a congregation ministers can be. The irony is that we do the exact thing we despise our own church members for doing. I found the experience very similar in the world of education. Teachers always seem to make the worse students. We whispered when we should have been listening. We griped when we should have been appreciating. At the very least, our leadership is giving us an opportunity to vent our frustrations and convince ourselves there are answers out there somewhere to all the obstacles we encounter in the performance of our duties. That alone is worth the price of admission: which is free. The fact of the matter is these are invaluable experiences for me: The reality that all of these famous, successful ministers are just as human as me is comforting...and scary.

Crawfish Boil
4/21/2005 12:28:16 PM
We are planning a crawfish boil for the church in the next couple weeks. The price of crawfish is as low this year as I can remember it ever being, due to the abundance of rain we received this year. There is nothing more fun than a crawfish boil. More than a hundred pounds of those mudbugs will be boiled in heavily seasoned water; we will do ours in a washtub. The potatoes, corn, sausage, onions, and garlic will be poured in with the crawfish, and after soaking up the spicy seasonings, the entire batch will be dumped onto a table in a mountain of delicious fun. People will dive in, eating everything with their hands, dipping potatoes, garlic cloves, or crawfish tails into either butter or catsup. There will be lots of iced tea. The laughter of the children, the whooshing of the cookers, the guffawing of the diners will soon fill the sultry air like an orchestra of lip-smacking joy! Louisiana is one of the few places on earth where you can see a man digging through a ditch for his food and others be envious of what he's having for supper.


Baptism
4/25/2005 9:55:54 AM
Baptism is always a most exciting moment in the community of our church. Last night, there were three young children who took the plunge, so to speak. One of the young men was at the altar, tears streaming from his face, during the altar service before baptism. I have no way of knowing what was churning inside of him, what was torturing his soul. I am certain that he found solace in the cleansing waters afterwards because the smile he emerged wearing as he arose from the baptismal lit up the entire sanctuary of our church. No matter how old, crusty, cynical, and critical I become, I will always remember how wonderful it felt to emerge from the waters of Searcy Lake, some thirty-plus years ago, shivering from the cold and basking in the knowledge that I was a part of something huge…something eternal…something worth dedicating my life towards. The fact is that even my wildest expectations at that moment were insufficient to prepare me for the life of love, joy, and peace I have experienced since that day. All my troubles just fade away as quickly as they come since He washed me in His blood, His water, and His Spirit. I pray that my new little brother in Christ find a similar reality in God.