tonight i got to have dinner with two of the people i lived with in south africa. it'd been a few years since i'd seen them and they now have an energetic little boy. we talked about south africa, the friends we made there and the experiences we shared there.
until tonight, it had been a long time since i last thought about one particularly horrifying experience. i remember one week i was told that i'd be preaching the next sunday morning in one of the satelite churches that met in a tent. only problem was that i'm not a preacher. i told the leadership this but they wouldn't have it. i was an american male and i would be preaching. so i studied and prayed and decided to preach on faith. i used hebrews 11 that sunday morning and said everything i knew in about 10 minutes. it was bad. i mean real bad. it was so bad that the pastor called somebody else up after me to preach. that's the God's honest truth people.
tonight while i was on the way back home, i started thinking about my text that sunday morning so long ago. i realized that i needed to build my own faith. so after i got home, i re-read hebrews 11 and hello!? my troubles aren't anything. enoch skipped death completely. noah built a ship in the middle of a desert. abraham answered God's call to be a missionary to an unknown place. sarah got pregnant when she was o-l-d. israel walked through a stinkin' ocean on dry ground. later on israel marched around jericho until the walls came a'tumblin' down.
so there you go. if He can do all that for them, then he can surely take care of my debt. i've got to have faith.
(sidenote: after that sunday morning in the tent, i was never asked to preach again. however, i am happy to tell you that God honored my obedience to my leadership and several people accepted Christ after my short, clumsily delivered sermon.)
Monday, July 30, 2007
sister diana
it's irritating when you get a song stuck in your head, unless it's one you are particularly fond of. however, i've had this song stuck in my head for three days now. it's really. really. annoying.
love child never meant to be love child born in poverty love child never meant to be love child take a look at me
Sunday, July 29, 2007
random thoughts v10
i decided to do a "random thoughts" post instead of my typical "sunday recap" post partly because church was SO QUICK today. first service started at 9 and we were walking out by 10. for real. i've got a new nickname for pastor: speedy gonzalez. _____
yesterday was my niece's 4th birthday. she was sitting on the couch when conner came downstairs inevitably looking for sugar. with an indignent look on her face and her finger waving, she looked at him and said, "that shirt does not go with those pajamas." yep. she's 4. _____
two of the people i lived with in south africa are driving through town this week and we're going to meet up for dinner. that should be fun. _____
i talked to a friend tonight on the phone and one of the first things he asked was how my pastor and church were doing since the newspaper article had been published. i hadn't really thought about it much lately, but the church is doing well. i don't know of anybody that we've lost, although we could have lost some and i just didn't notice, but i don't think so. if anything, we've had curious people come and see. i invited him and his family up to louisville for friend day and i hope they come. _____
my cousin got to visit the west wing of the white house last night. she's 20 and is making something of herself. i'm pretty proud of her, as is the rest of la familia. _____
i'm getting my mop (aka hair) cut this week. it's getting on my nerves.
Friday, July 27, 2007
not nvcc, but nvmc
first of all, let me start out by stating that i'm a frequent watcher of the tv guide channel. i start watching it to see what's on tv, but inevitably fall prey to the abyss that is the top half of the screen.
i've noticed in weeks past and was reminded a few minutes ago that our church's name is listed incorrectly on the tv guide channel. it says "new vision christian center" instead of "new vision ministry center".
it's the little things that bug me.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
dance for Jesus and live
i haven't blogged in a few days because i honestly haven't had anything to blog about. but that was before i went to church tonight.
meet tammy. she's a member of my church. she's the leader of our dance and flag ministry. she's a wife and mother. she's also living life with brain stem glioma. the doctors report isn't good. they've done all they can do and surgery isn't an option.
but tammy always has a smile on her face. she's always willing to do whatever she can to help. she's always dancing. in fact, she danced tonight at church and it was anointed. she doesn't dance for recognition or for show, but dances as if nobody else is in the room and it's just her and Jesus. tammy also knows that the doctors don't have the final say, but He does.
oh and when the love spills over and music fills the night and when you can't contain your joy inside, then dance for Jesus dance for Jesus dance for Jesus and live
Monday, July 23, 2007
wide eyed
after lunch today, i took a nap and woke up around 6:30pm. now it's 1am and i can't sleep. i should send text messages to everyone...
< evil laugh >
Sunday, July 22, 2007
sunday recap
today was so much fun. it's exciting when you're excited to go to church.
worship set was my redeemer lives,all things are possible and shout to the lord. it was a hillsongs sunday.
some of the people who've tried to hurt our church were there today. i'm glad though. i want them to see that their tactics didn't work, but actually helped us. so thanks!
today was b-u-s-y! we had baptism, church membership and communion.
my seven-year-old nephew was baptised today. he's been talking about it for weeks now. another little boy, lukas, who is nine, was baptised too. his mother died two years ago of cancer. she died at home and i got there about 5 minutes after she passed away. her eyes and mouth were still open, her skin still warm. i'm not sure how correct my theology is here, but i'm sure she was looking down at him today with a huge smile on her face, proud of her baby boy.
pastors sermon was from philippians 3:10-16. get connected. stay unified. pastor talked about all of the new people who joined the church this morning. black people. white people. tattooed people. pierced people. fat people. skinny people. punk rock people. old-school WASP'y people. i've been in church and around "church people" all of my life. i know pastors, bishops, overseers and directors of ministries who talk about inclusion, but don't always live it. i'm glad i'm part of a church and have a pastor that lives it.
from the pulpit, pastor said "get your butt pumping" when he meant to say "get your blood pumping". enough said.
the carl claw was in full force today. full force.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
i need a word
so i was sending an email to a friend tonight and used the word "unchurched". for the first time, i realized how much i don't like that word. for me, it conjures up images of an old, overweight white man wearing a 1980's polyester suit complete with vest and 5-inch wide tie, standing at a wooden lecturn in a huge church with a huge organ and about 30 faithful widowed ladies in the congregation, while talking about raising the standard of holiness.
i sometimes think that in our eagerness to reach those who don't know Christ, we belittle those we are trying to reach. we've placed a barrier between the two; they're the "unchurched" crowd and we're the "churched" crowd.
i'd like to use a word that places us on the same level, but still captures the differences between the two. but i don't know what that word happens to be.
do you? does it exist (yet)?
i believe i can fly
Thursday, July 19, 2007
i took a praise break
one week ago today i got a bad report from the doctor. it didn't look good. basically, he thought i had heart trouble and a brain tumor. yeah, i got both of those dumped on me in the same doctor's visit. not fun.
i've blogged about some of it (read below) and have received several encouraging emails from the blogging community. one blogger sent me an emailed prayer for my healing. i seriously thought the author was going to break out in tongues; it was that kind of prayer. other bloggers, people that i've never met, sent emails that said "let me know if i can do anything for you." how cool is that!? i've also received emails and comments from YOU that have really, really encouraged me.
it's only because of YOUR prayers that i can give you this update. the doctor called me back today and said that the brain scan was normal - no sign of a brain tumor.
you can take 3 minutes and have a praise break with me. make sure the sound is turned up, that you have some comfortable shoes on, and that there aren't any fragile items around:
all right now...
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
the carl claw
pastor did an impression of "the carl claw" tonight and i about peed on myself. it was too. funny.
hopefully we can get the video of it on youtube and i can post it on here. i'll warn you so you can put on a depend first.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
i love you tomorrow
so the doctor's office called me earlier today about the holter monitor i had to wear over the weekend. everything is normal with my heart. yeah!!!!
however, my triglycerides are too high. so i have to go on a low-fat diet. go figure. so tonight, we all decided to be bad and have one last hoo-rah. so we went to beef-o-brady's where i had fried fish, french fries and a large sweet tea. when we got home, my sister made some chocolate chip cookies. then around 10pm, my brother-in-law ordered two large pizza's and cinnamon sticks from domino's.
guess the low-fat diet starts tomorrow.
an eventful few hours
i had a CT scan this morning and it was a disaster.
first of all, a man called me back to the room which held the machine. i don't have anything against men (i am one), but i don't want a man to attend to my medical needs. call it sexist if you want, i don't care. i want a woman - someone gentle and kind with petite, soft hands - to take care of me.
anyway, we go back to the room and he asks a bunch of questions and makes me sign the medical waiver. i lay down on the table and he says he'll do the scan without contrast first. ok, no big deal. except the machine DIDN'T WORK. he had to "fix" it first. not an assuring feeling to me. so he finally fixed it, took the scan and i popped out of the machine.
now, he says, we're going to do the scan with contrast. i knew a needle and dye were involved, but i made the mistake of actually looking at the containers which held the dye. each of the containers was about the size of a small cucumber - and there were TWO of them. i start praying. jesus, please get me through this. please don't let me pass out. good thoughts. happy thoughts. my prayers didn't work. before he got 2 cc's of the dye in my vein, i passed out. yeah. room went dark. i went limp. the whole bit. not fun.
fast forward: i'm back to normal and he has to switch arms for the dye injection. (i had apparently dislodged the needle in my arm when i passed out.) i'm cool this time and things are going well. he's got almost all of the dye in me when i think he got nervous that i was going to pass out again and he starts to inject the dye quicker than he should. all of a sudden, i feel an inordinate amount of liquid in my throat and instinctively swallow. bad move. it was the dye. i told him almost immediately, "dude, i'm going to throw up." he rushes around to the other side of the table in just enough time to catch my vomit before it splatters all over the floor. so here i am, lying on the CT scan table, a needle in my left arm, my head turned to the right trying to lift my head up far enough from the table so as not to swallow it or have it run down my face. horrible feeling. horrible. the guy gives me some kleenex to wipe my face off with and suddenly he says, "they told me there would be some challenging days, and today's one of them." i wanted to get up off the table and punch him square between the eyes. but i kept my cool. partly because i had to keep my cool, i still had the needle in my arm and i didn't want to injure myself any more.
he went ahead and did the "with contrast scan" and got me out of the room as fast as he could. he didn't even walk me to the front. i had to ask him how to get out of the building.
i don't do medical procedures very well, as if you couldn't have figured that one out on your own. it's untelling what the scan will show now. i'm sure there was lots of brain activity going on.
Monday, July 16, 2007
plans
so i had lunch with one of my pastors today. we get together for lunch every six weeks or so. he's the kind of guy who always seems to know exactly what to say to me. he reminded me of a scripture several months ago and brought it to my remembrance again today. i needed to hear this today, especially considering i know what tomorrow will bring.
jeremiah 29:11 -
i know what i'm doing. i have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not to abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
sunday wrap-up
church was da bomb today! second service didn't let out until 1:30ish.
the worship set was praise the Lord, come on everybody and faithful. this set goes really well together.
we had some special guests who ministered this morning: the kauffman family. i'm not a huge southern gospel fan, but i am a fan of the anointing and these folks have it. no doubt.
i was called down to be prayed for not once, but twice. apparently God didn't do - or rather I didn't let God do everything He wanted the first time. the second time i was prayed for i went down like a domino. i've been in pentecostal churches all of my life and i've seen folks be "slain in the spirit", but today was the first time it happened to me.
i feel a whole lot better about the things to come this week. i'm scared like none other, but i know that everything will be ok.
at lunch, a waitress spilled a glass of ice water on the dude next to us. he jumped and yelled "drinks are on me!". pretty funny.
so i had some health trouble yesterday and i'm getting to wear a heart monitor. lucky me. i've got seven of these electrodes stuck on different parts of my torso. wires going all over the place. i'm thinking it's going to hurt like hades when i have to take the adhesive patches off.
the nurse also gave me two shots in my butt. not fun. (although the medicine did make me feel mighty fine.)
when i was reading through the literature they gave me, it listed several things for me to avoid while wearing this device. included were microwaves, electric blankets, high-voltage areas and garage door openers. now i get not being around microwaves and electric blankets. i can even see staying away from high-voltage areas, especially if you're in a metropolitan area with subway systems. but how many people are in close proximity to a garage door opener? it's not like i'm going to get out a ladder and climb up to the opener just for the heck of it.
and i'm not even going to attempt to explain the artwork in the literature. let me just say that if the nurse in the picture came up and tried to put the electrodes on my torso, i'd punch her in the face and get my self outta there! manly woman in the picture i tell ya.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
potheads and tight pants
i have a headache this big and it's screaming for excedrin. i've had it for two days now and it won't go away. i almost didn't go to church tonight because it was pounding. but i decided to go a little late and i left as soon as pastor dismissed us.
but i'm glad i went. i got to see some funny people: a person who was a pothead, a person who had on the tightest pants i'd ever seen in my life (it had to have been uncomfortable) and i got to hear pastor say "kiss my grits". that made me laugh out loud.
so there you go. we're a church for people with super tight pants who smoke pot.
jesus loves the little potheads, all the potheads of the world...
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
shady like a big tree
so somebody i consider to be important told me the other day that i'd been "shady".
ouch. that hurt.
i've thought about the situation in depth and don't really think i've been shady. but what worries me is the other person's perception of me. i don't want in any way to appear to be shady because that's not what i'm about.
i guess i have to work on being (more) transparent.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
blocked
can't write. can't blog. can't express.
i hate can't's.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
where's the antichrist?
my dad, who will be 63 soon, has learned how to send text messages. he's sending them left and right. this pic is him tuning everything else out except his new phone.
repent now my friend. i'm pretty sure the world is about to end.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
praise the lord and pass the ammunition
it's a beautiful day. i'm no longer a nextel customer.
while i'll miss the crackberry, i won't miss the dropped calls. or the alerts that won't go through. or the text messages i get got at 3am. or the horrid customer service.
a special shout out to joe-the-bear-hunter from nvmc for helping me out at the at&t store.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
too much red
i'm (a little bit of) a geek. i like maps and atlases and that sort of thing. this particular map shows the progress of spreading the good news of Christ around the world. the 10/40 window is still in red, still unreached for the most part.
but look at sub-saharan africa - it's mostly green or yellow! woo-hoo! while i'm psyched to see so much of the sub-saharan african church either growing or emerging, there's still so much work that needs to be done. so much work. so much work. so. much. work.
disclaimer: this is not my quote or my prayer, but i found it hilarious. in fact, the milk i was trying to swallow ended up shooting out my nose when i heard this.
on being interrupted during prayer: "you better quit interrupting my prayer before God directs me to whoop yo' ass."
mad church disease
ok, so here's the deal. pretty much anyone involved in ministry, whether you're paid or a volunteer, gets beat up and burned out at some point. if you're a pastor or a church employee, the spouse/family of a pastor or a church employee, or a volunteer at a church or ministry, i'm kindly asking that you take five minutes out of your day and help fight the epidemic of mad church disease. you can click on the banner below to be taken to the survey. please!?
Sunday, July 01, 2007
how to make bad conversation
as the hostess was walking us to our table at lunch today, she turned around and asked us one of the dumbest questions i've ever heard.
