DownshoreDrift

Michael Spencer (Internet Monk) writes a very provacative post on the seductive nature of entertainment in the church and in American culture entitled American Idolatry: What's Entertainment?   This post should be required reading for any discussion on ministry, parenting, or life in America in the 21st century. It is that insightful. Here is an excerpt:

Getting our bearings on the idolatry of entertainment is difficult. There is no doubt that American culture is addicted to entertainment, and that this addiction is now in a stage of consuming almost all aspects of our culture. For evangelicalism to exist in American culture, it will breath the air of this entertainment addiction. It is language, thought, the content of vast tracts of our cultural, family and individual lives.

This addiction is so deeply and completely part of our culture, that we are largely unable to talk about anything without judging it by its entertainment value or to conceive of improving it without causing whatever is being improved to become more and more “entertaining.” Our lives are empty, and entertainment promises to provide something- some feeling, some stimulation- that makes us real and alive. The promises of the Gospel to give us living bread and thirst-quenching water are covered over by bells, songs, lights and big screens.

Work must be entertaining. Education must be entertaining. Marriage must be entertaining. Family life must be entertaining. Children must be entertained. Our lives must be full of more and more entertainment. Entertainment will save our economy. Entertainment is the ultimate judge of talent, worth and value. We are entertained from cradle to grave. Leaders provide it, and the mob insists upon it. Of course, religion, church and God must all be entertaining, or we will have nothing to do with them.

Wow. I think he's right. As a pastor, I definitely see that in so many of the people who come and visit our church. In the discussion on whether our church is right for them, so often, what is meant is, "Is it entertaining for us and our children?"  God help us.

What do you think about this? Have you noticed this tendency or addiction in your own life? In your children's lives? How can we change this?

"Blessed are the peacemakers . . . "

Christianity Today has an article about the human disaster happening in the Congo right now. Here's an excerpt:

Unless God says otherwise, this former Belgian colony in central Africa, the combined size of Alaska and Texas, is not the place to be.

The statistics are depressing. The country's 62 million people live with an infant mortality rate that is ten times higher than that of the U.S. Nearly 50 percent of the population is under age 16, and few will celebrate a 50th birthday. Ten years of war exacerbates the brevity of life. More than 3.9 million have died since 1996, when perpetual fighting first broke out. The conflict has drawn in 16 military and rebel forces from seven nations in central Africa. The largest UN peacekeeping force in the world (19,800 "blue helmets") is stationed in DRC. Fighting persists despite the 2003 peace accords and withdrawal of foreign troops.

"We live in fear," confesses Bayoba Biguge, a church leader in Bukavu, an eastern border city of 1 million. Rebel groups fight each other and the government over territory and the mining of diamonds, gold, and coltan (vital for manufacturing electronics). Illegal trade makes the conflict highly profitable. Coltan has sold for as much as $400 per kilogram.

Please be praying for peace and for the Christians in the Congo who are suffering under horrible conditions but are still trying to be faithful. Pray that God would put a stop to the violence and that light would shine in,  what Joseph Conrad called, "the Heart of Darkness."  May our hearts be moved to prayer and action.  May we not sit back and bicker and live our silly little lives while we do not even pray for those who are suffering so and entering an eternity of darkness.

David Phillips talks about the demise of American friendships. How about you? Do you have close friends? How long have you known them? What do they mean to you? Are they real friends from church, or do you find that your closest friends are from your childhood or college years? I'm really interested.

Warren Buffett is giving around $37 billion to the Gates Foundation and his own foundations to fight disease and poverty. It's interesting to read some of his motivation: 

“There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way,” said Buffett. He presented the biggest gift to Gates, and $1 billion donations to his own foundation and the foundations run by each of his three children.

While I totally agree that the Oracle of Omaha, Buffett, is doing a great thing, this just speaks to the opinion of most in our culture. Here's the generally accepted idea: in one way or another, you work your way to heaven through good deeds, adherence to religion, or a good life. At the end of your life, you stand before God, and if the good outweighs the bad, you get into heaven. But what does the Bible say?

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9

²¹But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²²This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,^[a] through faith in his blood. - Romans 3:21-25

The Bible clearly says that salvation, and thus entrance into heaven, comes only through placing our faith in Jesus Christ, who takes away our sins. We must repent, or turn away from our sins, and receive the free gift of the grace of God by faith.  Good people like Warren Buffett will not find salvation through their wonderful works because they are trusting in their own works and righteousness instead of trusting in the way that God provides, which is faith in Jesus Christ.   We have to turn from trusting in ourself and trust in Jesus Christ.  One last passage of so many that speak to this:

⁷But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. - Philippians 3:7-11

The only way that we can find salvation is to repent of trusting in anything in this world and put our full faith and confidence in Jesus and receive His gift of righteousness and forgiveness. If we put our faith in anything else, even our philanthropy, I am afraid that we will be very disappointed. Not because we were not good people, but because on our own, we can never be good enough to be accepted by God. We have to place our faith in the Perfect One, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose from the dead so that we would be made right with God. What about you? What do you put your trust in? Just wondering.  If you'd like more information about how to actually become a Christian, you can start HERE and work your way through the links.

I want to continue to thank each of you who lift up my son, Caelan, and my family to the Lord through your prayers. God is definitely answering.  Erika will take him early tomorrow morning to Birmingham to begin his third round of chemotherapy with an overnight stay. This is the really intense stuff.  He has responded well to the treatments so far and does not seem to be suffering or getting sick - Praise God!.  He loves to play with his brothers and sister, loves to laugh and, we think he has said his first word! It was "cracka" (cracker).  Everytime he's around a cracker he points and says "cracka," so, we're pretty convinced.  Please continue to pray for him and for Erika as well.  She's in good spirits, but is getting tired with all the extra care and travelling.  Fortunately, our church family continues to support us in so many tangible ways. We praise God for you.

The Lord blessed us with providing a place for us to stay at the beach through family for a couple of days over the weekend. There were only two times this summer that Caelan could travel because of his blood counts, and this was one of them. So, we got to go play in the sand and surf in Destin, Florida. The kids all had a blast and we had some much needed time away for two days. Ashtyn and Peyton rode their boogie boards way out in the Gulf for the first time, and Peyton, my 4 year old, even beat all of us in putt-putt!  He's quite the natural athelete.  Next time, I'll show no mercy!  Anyway, we do praise God for the blessing of such a wonderful gift!  In the midst of a very stressful and difficult time, it was a much needed mini-vacation.

For a class that I am co-teaching this summer at our church, I prepared a lesson on characteristics of different time periods in Western history and how they relate to our Christian witness. For simplicity's sake, I called them the pre-modern (traditional) period, the modern period, the post-modern age, and the post-post modern age. These names are stupid and simplistic, I know, and it is impossible to generalize in this way. But, the purpose was to try and inform the class through a short primer of how people think from different time periods and how those worldviews co-exist. We have to know what language people speak before we are able to engage them in a redemptive way. If you are interested in the notes, they can be found at writings.downshoredrift.com.

This Sunday, Father’s Day, I preached from Philippians 1:12-18:

¹²Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. ¹³As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard^[a] and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. ¹⁴Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

¹⁵It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. ¹⁶The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.^{[b] 18}But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

This passage deals with Paul’s acceptance of being in prison and his pleasure in the gospel being preached, even though he is in chains. Apparently, he had enemies, who were trying to stir up trouble against him by preaching the gospel out of insincere motives so that people would blame Paul. I have heard this passage preached many times, and always the interpretation points us toward a belief in God’s Sovereignty so that we will have a confidence that no matter what situation we find ourselves in, everything will work out o.k.

I have always seen that passage that way myself. However, as I was reading, I began to see that the picture that is painted is that Paul is most excited that the Gospel is being preached. No matter what happens to him, he has confidence that God is going to use him to proclaim the gospel, whether he is in prison, or being maligned by his enemies. What an encouraging thought! I challenged the parents in our church, and fathers in particular to consider if they were passing on to their children the same type of passion for the gospel. For Paul the gospel was everything. It was more important than happiness, comfort, freedom, wealth, prestige, or position. It’s proclamation was the singular purpose of his life and it made every trial worth suffering. Are we teaching that to our children? Are we living that ourselves? Can we join with Paul in saying that the most important thing in our lives is that Christ is preached? Because of this, do we rejoice?

I pray that is the case, because nothing else is worth living for.

So, the SBC Annual Meeting is almost a week behind us and the Baptist Bloggers have mostly all chimed in their thoughts regarding the historic events of the past few days. Bobby Welch stirred up a hornet’s nest when he addressed the bloggers during his closing address by saying, “if we’d spend less time on these websites that we’d be able to spend more time witnessing? “Do you think if we spent less time blogging we might have more time to do some baptizing? Do you think if we spent less time fumbling around with those computers we might have more converts?” Welch advised the crowd not to gloat that he’s chiding “them bloggin’ boys. Why, you run around with that wireless telephone up in your ear all day long like a pacifier. “You think if we’d spend less time with those wireless telephones and more time on the street we wouldn’t win more people to Jesus?” It just goes to show how much folks do not get the dynamics of the blogosphere. If you address it in a disparaging way, the little people with computers and blogs are going to write about it. Pretty elementary, really.  He is also dead wrong, but that’s already been covered exhaustively.

My Own Thoughts:

• Surprise of the Bloggers,    Thoughts on the Convention,    Cooperative Program Analysis Cooperative Program Analysis

The Thoughts of Other Baptist Bloggers:

• Art Rogers-Analysis of the convention – 6/14 
• MartyDuren’s take on the Bobby Welch quote
• Marty Duren’s analysis of the SBC Meeting 
• Ben Cole’s wrap-up and analysis of political connotations – Condi Rice 6/16 
• Micah Fries 6/15 
• Micah Fries 6/14 – Tuesday night meeting in suite    
• Micah Fries 6/14 – Take on the election    
• Jeff Richard Young on politics at the SBC 6/17    
• Arkansas Razorbaptist on Condi Rice speech 6/15   
• Arkansas Razorbaptist on Calvinist issues 6/16   
• Wade Burleson on alcohol issue 6/14   
• Wade Burleson on presidential vote and bloggers meeting at the Sheraton 6/14   
• Tad Thompson on presidential election and the role of bloggers 6/13   
• Paul Burleson’s take onGreensboro, including comments on the bloggers 6/16   
• Dorcas Hawker’s links to other bloggers’ take on the convention 6/16   
• John Stickley on Bobby Welch’s comments re: the Bloggin’ Boys 6/14   
• Ronnie Floyd’s reaction to the election 6/15   
• Kiki Cherry’s response to Bobby Welch 6/15     Doug Cherry’s response to Bobby Welch 6/16
• Tim Sweatman on IMB Chairman John Floyd’s comments re: Executive Sessions 6/14
• Tim Sweatman's Notes from Frank Page’s press conference 6/13   
• Joe McKeever (New Orleans DOM) provides a different take on the convention 6/17   
• Cliff Cummings excellent synopsis of the entire convention through a series of posts   http://gracefullwords.blogspot.com/2006/06/historic-day-in-greensboro-with-few.html   http://gracefullwords.blogspot.com/2006/06/greensboro-one.html
• Tom Ascol’s Failed Resolution on Integrity of Church Membership   
• Ben Cole’s Failed Resolution on Baptist Dissent   
• Bowden McElroy’s Questions about the Annual Meeting 6/16   
• Kevin Bussey’s thoughts re: Condolezza Rice’s speech    
• CB Scott on the Young SBC   
• Steve McKoy on Alcohol Resolution    
• Steve McKoy on Pastor’s Conference and Young Leaders Meeting   
• Justin Taylor on SBC Resolution Against Alcohol 
• Joe Thorn is Encouraged - Things Are Changing
• Paul Littleton on possible Open Theism at the SBC Annual Meeting   
• David Phillip’s synopsis of the Tuesday events    
• David Phillip's possible implications of the Alcohol Resolution    
• David Rogers on The Blessings of Blogging
• Rick Thompson's Top Six Factors in the Election of Frank Page

Source Material:

Wes Kinney’s Famous Charts on CP Giving:    Jerry Sutton    Frank Page    Ronnie Floyd

Other News Sources, Blogs, & Articles:   

• Time Magazine   
• TheWashingtonPost 
• Dallas Morning News

Steven Taylor at Poliblog:

• The Standard Anti-Blogging Argument?
• More on the SBC Election
• Bloggin' Baptist, Redux

So, as I’ve been reading the blogs, I really felt that someone needed to chronicle the collective wisdom of Baptist Bloggers for posterity’s sake in the wake of the convention. Some have said that it is the first time that bloggers have been significant in affecting the course of a major institution in the U.S. While, there were many other factors involved, I feel that bloggers brought those things to light and helped give them a voice.  I put together a basic synopsis of opinion from the convention so that it can all be in one place. I picked out the pertinent and most original posts from a wide array of Baptist Bloggers and also added in the mainstream media’s take as well. Whatever your opinion on the 2006 SBC Annual Meeting in Greensboro, NC, there is no doubt that it was a significant event in the annals of communication and technology. 

In my opinion, through populist sentiment, the Southern Baptist Convention has begun a course change. As in the turning of any large ship, it is incremental and takes a great deal of time. It is encouraging that those who are seeking the course change are not liberal or moderate, but rather, rock solid conservatives who want to see us behave differently, follow scripture instead of tradition, and cease narrowing the parameters of cooperation. What if Wade Burleson had not publicly opposed the new IMB policies on baptism and private prayer language? What if Marty Duren had not launched SBC Outpost prior to all of this. What if folks like Art Rogers and Wes Kinney had not gotten involved in the process of reporting vital information to the rest of us through basic research and commentary? The IMB policies would be on the books unopposed and we would just have to deal with it. Now, I believe we are entering an era where these things will hopefully be dealt with in a positive way. The results remain to be seen, but I feel that Greensboro, 2006 had a lot to do with that. So, hopefully, this post will be a good resource to help chronicle the mood of bloggers in the week following the convention. Hopefully, we will not soon forget what brought us to this point so that we stay humble before the Lord and deep in prayer for the future.  Keep reading:

Batter my heart, three person’d God; for You 

As yet but knock; breathe, shine and seek to mend;

That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend

Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new . . .

Take me to You, imprison me, for I,

Except You enthrall me, never shall be free,

Nor ever chaste, except You ravish me.

                                                                          John Donne

I'm going to get off the SBC stuff pretty soon - I promise. The purpose of this blog, however, is to chronicle where God is working in our lives and how He is drawing us closer to Him, even through indiscernable ways, hence, Downshoredrift.  Having been to the convention this past week, I saw God working in amazing ways. He has increased my vision, helped me see beyond illusions, allowed me to meet in person the amazing SBC Bloggers that I had only known through blogs (see sidebar), and answered lots of prayers. I want to write about that in installments, and they will be coming over the next few days (I'm obviously trying to be sensitive to my readers who are not Southern Baptist, and there are many - follow along with this, however).

Today, however, I have a post on what I feel are some of the problems with the SBC's Cooperative Program as it relates to medium-sized churches, one of which I am a pastor.  This is important, because I think that God is working in AMAZING ways through our convention, but the way we have set things up, while working well years ago, actually work against medium sized churches taking initiative to fulfill the Great Commission themselves while they support the Cooperative Program.  For many mid-sized churches, tough decisions have to be made and it becomes either one or the other.  Check out my thoughts at my other blog, writings.downshoredrift.com.

I'm going to work on a massive post, or series of posts for posterities sake re: my time in Greensboro, NC for the SBC Annual Meeting, what happened, the role of bloggers and new forms of communication and their implications for ministry, and other observations. I've got some pictures and thoughts from my side trip to Asheville, NC on my way home yesterday, too. Interesting. So, that's coming in the next few days when I can carve out some time (taking Bobby Welch's advice bloggers!)

In the mean time, here are some great articles about what God is doing at Angola prison, the state penitentary in Louisiana.  You really have to read this! It was so encouraging to see how God is working in a very dark place through men we would give up on, and also through the Christian witness of the warden. If you ever wanted to see an example of people making a difference for Christ, check out these articles, Set Free in Angola Prison, and Violence to Peace: A Conversation With Burl Cain (he is the warden of the prison). This is amazing. Praise God!

What about your life? How might God use you, right where you are to change the world? His Spirit lives within you. Pray about how you can publicly give praise to God for what he has done in your life and how you can bring His light into a dark place. Sometimes, all people need to see is the joy of the Lord upon a believer in Jesus. What they definitely need to hear is the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. May God give us His power.

You've got to check out this article about the influence of Baptist Bloggers on the election of SBC president Frank Page. It even mentions my friend, Marty Duren!

Here's how the article starts:

For those who follow the internal politics of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) somewhat less avidly than the NBA playoffs or even the World Cup, perhaps the most interesting news out of their annual meeting, held this week in Greensboro, N.C., is that bloggers elected a president.

Thanks, Dorcas for the link!

Update 6.16.06: The Washington Post chimes in as well!

Yesterday, my friends Kevin and John, and me went over to the Phelps gang who were protesting the SBC (they are the gay hating group from Westboro Baptist Church - non-SBC in Kansas). We got interviewed by a reporter and she linked to this blog! Pretty interesting. Thanks, Amy! Right back at ya'!

Pretty amazing stuff happened today. Dr. Frank Page won the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention.  This is important because he was not the inner circle's nominee, and they have run nominees unopposed over a decade. He defeated Dr. Ronnie Floyd and Dr. Jerry Sutton handily.  Primarily, though, Dr. Page is interested in broadening the tent of cooperation among conservatives (this would lead to actions that in time would possibly overturn the IMB policies on baptism and private prayer language). 

Just before the election results came in, I had a chance to speak to Dr. Page and I asked him what his position was on the comments of Dr. Sutton re: making an amendment to the Baptist Faith & Message that would come against rank and file baptists having a private prayer language (see yesterday's post).  He said empmatically, "That will never happen."  His election, hopefully, begins a course correction in the SBC that will refocus us on missions and gospel and will begin to stop some of the shenanigans that have been going on.  What a day.

There were many factors at work in this. The most prominent were the issues of Cooperative Program giving (the way Southern Baptists fund missions) and a reaction against the inner circle, I believe. Interestingly, it also appears SBC bloggers played a role over the past several months after the issues of the International Mission Board and Wade Burleson came to the forefront (For a list of prominent bloggers, check out this post).  I have been able to meet and hang out with these guys the last couple of days, and I can tell you that they are just regular guys who want to see God work through the SBC.

I'll write more about this amazing day after I get some sleep, but check out what the Dallas Morning News said about the election:

But a handful of younger pastors used Internet blogs to call for new leadership and to underscore that Dr. Floyd's 16,000-member church had been a paltry contributor to the convention's Cooperative Program, its key means of pooling funds for missions, seminaries and other work.

Well, in a small way, mostly through comments, the Lord allowed me to be one of those younger pastors using blogs. For that I am grateful. I am also grateful for the friends I have made here the past couple of days. Unbelievable.

Well, I'm here! It has been a really interesting day as I attended the  pastor's conference and connected with a ton of SBC bloggers who are changing the world, one keystroke at a time. There has been a real positive atmosphere and  change is in the air, so Praise God!  It's late, all of my pictures were fuzzy so I won't be posting any images, and I'm WAY more limited on my internet connection than I thought I'd be (I could access from my room, but it's really complicated and I'm too tired). So, I'm downstairs at the Best Western in the lobby on a hotel computer!

Please be in prayer about tomorrow. The vote for president of the SBC is tomorrow. I have been positive about all three men who have been nominated (Ronnie Floyd, Jerry Sutton, and Frank Page), but I'm going to come out strongly against Jerry Sutton. Marty Duren linked to an interview that Sutton did today in the Baptist Press.  In the article, Sutton says this about the IMB Board of Trustees policy outlawing a private prayer language:

"Southern Baptists need a level playing field," Sutton said, citing the new policy for missionaries while the IMB president holds to the practice. "This is going to have to be addressed in the Baptist Faith and Message. I think there will have to be an amendment to it."

For anyone to say that, in my mind is beyond ridiculous. He has no idea how that would tear the SBC apart - how could he lead us? Please pray that we do not go down that road. I shudder to think what that would mean.

Tomorrow will be a big day as we head into the business aspect of the convention. Please be in prayer that God's will be done. I'll give an update tomorrow night!

By the way, Caelan had chemo today and he is doing great. His blood counts are high and God continues to perform His miracle through healing and medicine!  We give the Lord praise!

I have been trying to tell people for some time how prominent blogging is becoming. Well, Dorcas Hawker (baptist blogger) pointed to a report today in the Dallas Morning News about SBC Bloggers and their influence on the SBC Annual Meeting in Greensboro, NC that I am going to next week.  Except for getting some facts wrong about Wade Burleson's take on Baptism (he does believe in immersion), the article is pretty interesting. It talks about such Baptist bloggers as Burleson (whom I admire), and Marty Duren (who has become a friend of mine). In addition to the aforementioned, other Baptist Bloggers of note writing from the convention will be, Art Rogers, Kevin Bussey, Steve McKoy, Joe Thorn, and David Phillips, among others.  I do not endorse all of these blogs, necessarily, because I do not know what they will be saying. But, they are all Baptist pastors and leaders who will be at the convention and reporting on it, and many of them will be being very creative and will be providing an interesting slant on things. I hope to meet quite a few of them.

Of course, I will try and report on it here, as well. I am going to try and find out where God is moving, how He is shaping lives and ministries, and what individuals think about the whole thing. I'm also going to be providing some human interest stories on things happening at the convention. So, if I can get a wi-fi connection, and things work out, this will be my first endeavor at reporting on an event from the blog so all you at home can follow along. In case you're wondering if anyone comes here, and you can't tell by the comments, I just passed 10,000 hits since March and have had visitors from over 20 countries! I have one of the smaller blogs, averaging between 100-150 hits a day, and most folks come to hear about Caelan (he's still doing really great, by the way, as we are witnessing a miracle I believe - that is the only reason I'll be able to go to this thing).  So, I'll continue to provide Caelan updates this week, but I invite you to journey along with me on what could be a very interesting week!

Being a Southern Baptist (I'm a follower of Jesus first, and am pastor of a Southern Baptist church), we talk a lot about sharing the good news of Jesus with people. We spend a lot of time talking about the effectiveness of our churches, how to do ministry, and about the politics of our denomination.  The Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention is next week in Greensboro, NC and I am going. Starting Monday, I hope to be blogging live from the convention throughout the day until Wednesday about what I experience there. I want to do human interest stories, so check in regularly to learn about what really happens at one of these meetings behind the scenes! It promises to be very interesting as there is quite a bit of controversy surrounding many issues.

How Many People Actually Go To Church in America?  You've Got to Check This Out!!!

I ran across an article in Outreach Magazine about the state of the church in America that really puts things into perspective called The American Church in Crisis. While many researchers peg regular church attendance at around 40%, new studies have come out that show that only around 18% of Americans are in church on a given Sunday, and only around 25% attend 3 out of 8 Sundays.  Check out your state on these maps and graphs concerning actual church attendance per state and throughout the nation:  American Church in Crisis Slides.  This is actually what I have been thinking for years and never could understand the research that had church attendance so high.  By the way, Montgomery, AL is around 32%, better than the national average, but that still means that 200,000 people in our metro area are not connected to a body of believers. Does that awaken us at all?

Check Out 7 STARTLING FACTS: AN UP CLOSE LOOK AT CHURCH ATTENDANCE IN AMERICA:

We started the book of Philippians on Sunday. We'll be preaching through Paul's letter until at least Labor Day. I love Philippians and it has always been a major source of encouragement to me in my walk, especially when I am going through difficult times.  The most important thing that I get out of this letter is Paul's encouragment to rejoice in the Lord always (Phil. 4:4), even though He writes from prison! 

Sunday's message was on the greeting that Paul, Peter, and John give in their letters: Grace and Peace to you.  What does it mean to receive God's grace? How does our peace flow from His grace? After receiving and accepting God's grace and peace, not just for salvation, but for daily life, we are to then extend it to others so that our relationships can be whole - so we can truly experience Shalom.  Bible.org has a good introduction to Philippians.  Take a look at my message notes HERE.

By the way, starting next week sermons will be online at gatewaybaptist.com.  Robby Collins, one of our elders, will be preaching on Philippians 1:3-11, so check it out. I'll create links here to the messages for those interested!

"Let me taunt you some more!" Caelan says in his best French accent like the soldiers on the wall in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. 

This picture was taken about a month ago, but it perfectly displays his attitude. He had chemotherapy yesterday and returned home today. He is doing great, although in the past, he has run a fever within 24 hours of his chemo treatments. We are praying and thank you for all of your prayers. God is answering.  He and Mom returned home this afternoon. He is playing with cars and Erika is taking a nap - spending the night in the hospital is exhausting.  The doctors feel like he is doing well.  He has now had 4 of the 48 doses of chemotherapy and 2 of the 4 major treatments that he will have. He still has not thrown up or shown any ill effects that we were told he would have. My wife even asked today if they were sure the chemotherapy was strong enough! They assured her it was.  We continue to praise the Lord and look to Him, though this continues to be stressful and difficult at times. But, God has been so faithful - and so have all of you. Grace and Peace to you all!

One more thing: You would think we could comb his hair, wouldn't you?

We had an infromational forum re: the upcoming SBC Annual Meeting next week in Greensboro , NC that I am going to as a messenger. I have not preached on any of these issues or have bothered our church with it. Frankly, I wanted to wait until things panned out, hoping that the situation would reverse itself and that it would not be something that we had to get involved in.  Well, today, I informed a group of interested folks from our church because I wanted them to know the situation and I wanted my church to be behind me as I went to the convention. I presented our elder's and my perspective on the issues. They were unanimous in their support and are praying that things change.  I gave a handout of basic information regarding the main issues that we are facing as a convention in Greensboro.   Here's a link. You can request a copy of the handout if you are a church member and you email me.

Also, we covet your prayers for Caelan tomorrow. He goes to Children's for another major dose of chemotherapy that will result in an overnight stay. I'll be staying here with the other kids, so it will be Mom and Caelan in the hospital. Please pray that he accepts the chemo well and that he does not run a fever this week. Also pray, please, that his white blood cell counts stay high so he can ward off infection. He is doing so well, but I want to keep praying so that God will receive the glory through all of this and so we do not forget from where our help comes from - our help comes from the Lord, Maker of Heaven and Earth.

Just a few random thoughts on a Saturday night:

Tomorrow, we start a summer sermon series on the book of Philippians. We will preach through it until around Labor Day, I think. I'll start tomorrow with Philippians 1:1-2 on the grace and peace of God. To open many of Paul's letters, he says, "Grace and Peace to you." How much we need to receive grace and peace from the Lord and give it to one another. I'll have my notes up from the message in a couple of days, maybe.  A neat thing about this is that our elders and student minister will be preaching on 5 Sundays in June and July on different sections of Philipppians. It'll give me a break and will allow our church to hear from their other pastors. I'm excited about it and pray that we grow this summer.

I also, along with a couple of other guys start a class on varying views of Jesus that will go for 10 weeks during our morning Bible study time. I'm going to start with questions raised from The Da Vinci Code (by the way, I saw the movie last night, and what a dog! It was awful, in my opinion, and not just because it was so untrue - the acting and especially the directing was atrocious. Probably no need to boycott it - it fades from memory before you walk out of the theatre).  We'll move on to talk about how we are moving into a spiritual age that is not necessarily friendly to Christianity and we will spend the last few weeks talking about what other religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam think of Jesus. It will be kind of a Christology class in reverse, by looking at Jesus and the Bible through the eyes of their critics and then showing what the Bible says and answering questions raised. It should be interesting.

Tomorrow afternoon, we will have a forum at our church on the emerging SBC Issues that will be coming up at the convention in Greensboro, NC June 13-14. I am going to the convention, and I wanted to give an opportunity to educate my church before I went.  I have not mentioned these things to our church as a whole, but I wanted to provide an opportunity for folks to learn about what is happening. I'll save you the commentary right now. I'll post some of the general response to the issues from rank and file church member this week. It should be interesting.

We will also have a farewell dinner for all of our military folks who will be leaving us this summer. It will be so sad to see them go.  They have contributed a great deal to our church this year and it has been awesome to get to know them. They will be transferred to other bases around the country. I pray that God will bless them and use them mightily in His Kingdom.