Happy Holidays...it is not a big deal...get over it

I know the word I use is quite provocative. It is not cool to use Holidays in our midst. In the last year we have been told about the War on Christmas. John Gibson and O'Reilly have told us about the Culture vacuum and that Christians are being fought on all sides. I do agree that there is a a culture war and we must do our part I am not sure about the war on Christmas. My guess is the Christmas being spoken of is not what Christ came into the world for. Greed and Materialism is not Christmas. Christ is Christmas. God in the Flesh coming to earth born of a virgin who was killed and bodily rose again is what Christmas is about. So I am not sure we should really care what a clerk at Target or Walmart tells us when we check out. Because I bet the Christmas their is not a Christmas worth fighting for.

Preaching

I am often asked the above question. Is it hard? Well imagine writing a term paper every week. Usually mine are about 15 pages. It takes about 25 hours to write a good sermon. Then there is Sunday School, Sunday night. Trying to visit people that are sick and shut in. Pick up orders, order supplies..etc. Here is a very dated but good quote about what it is like to be a preacher

"This is the claim I make for a good theology of preaching—that it introduces order into the chaos of a mans ministry. He is lost in the thicket and tangle of crisscrossing paths and dense undergrowth. A dozen major responsibilities tug at his sleeve, this way and that. Administrator, educator, counselor, prophet, pastor, social worker, maybe custodian, secretary, copier, plumber, carpenter, and husband and parent—on the side he is expected to be many things, indeed even wants to be. But there are definite limits to his time and energy and physical composure. He would like to be all things to all men, but there are times when he feels the need of saying, ‘this one thing I do.’ And the one thing claiming precedence over all the others, demanding to stand at the center, because it has been the distinctive, necessary task of the ministry in every age, is the matter of proclamation. Nothing else will substitute for it. Its priority is absolute. It alone is capable of bringing to heel the multitudinous and variegated duties which yip and yap at the minister’s coattail like mutts of hell wherever he goes.”

OOOPS

Monday Monday

I trust everyone gad a great Thanksgiving. I got to spend time with my parents over part of last week which was great. We spent Thanksgiving day with Tina's parents and brother and his family. Got to see my neice and nephew. Spent Saturday night in Greenwood with my wonderful wife and do some Christmas Shopping. The Bulldawgs upset the Jackets and I turned 40. WHEW!!!!

Hope everyone has a great week. Starting a Christmas Series this week. Now to get motivated..lol

Appreciation

I love to be appreciated don't you? I love to know that someone is thinking of me and loves me. My wife loves me and my kids love me. I am a very lucky man.

Yesterday the love the church here at Shoals has for me and my family was reaffirmed. Rowena Tripp wrote a song for the choir to sing about our family and we were given a wonderful gift.

We love Shoals and will serve here as long as God gives us opportunity. I hope my friends felt that as well. I have many great friends who are serving God in churches and I want you guys to know I love and appreciate all of you.

Monday Monday

Had a great day at Church yesterday. We have one baptism and a very good crowd. Looking forward to fall break this week. Me and the boys are going to hang out together on Wednesday and hopefully we will have a fun day on Friday.

We had a great Revival last week with Mike Kjeergard and I wish I could be at the GA camp meeting this week. Three of my students will be speaking.

Have a great week. Starting a new sermon series this week pray that it goes well.

Monday, Monday

Our Revival got off to a great start yesterday here at Shoals. Mike Kjergaard did a great job and I am really enjoying the fellowship. Today we are eating lunch with a great couple, Mike and Kathy Harker, and then off to Boggs Lake for 9 holes of golf with some good friends.

This will be a great week. The Mitchell family will be here tonight thru Wednesday and tomorrow will be our study group meeting and Wed possibly lunch with another good friend. Then to top it all off I get to do my favorite thing on Thursday...TEACH at LBC.


Have a great week...I know I will

He is Coming

It is official. Isaiah Charles Sullivan will make his apperance around Feb. 27th. We are very excited and can't wait.

Three boys, going to be a fun house

Yes he is here to save the world

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Yeah I kind of do...

Monday Monday

What a great weekend. Tina and I went to Evansville to look for Baby Furniture. We bought a few items and I prices furniture. WOW!!!!!! It has been sometime since I needed to do this.

We are looking at getting a crib that will eventually transform into a full size bed.

Good day at church yesterday and we had a good time playing volleyball last night during Family fun night.

This proves to be a long but a good week.

Flood

MY home state of GA has had some incredible rain lately. My brother is a LT in his a fire station in Douglas County and he and others worked all Night pulling people out of the water. I found this pic and had to post it. Props to whoever did it.

Good Stuff

I love music. I can listen to almost anything. I can listen to the Rolling Stones and turn around and listen to a country song.

As far as "Christian Music" my taste is as fluctuating. However, I still remember the roots and love the Cathedral Quartet. This is one of the best they ever did">

Went to th Dr. yesterday. We heard the babies heartbeat. We go back October 7th to find out if the baby is a boy or girl.

Men's Retreat

Today i am Leaving for the Men's Retreat at the Whitewater Christian Camp in Vevay, IN. I am really exicted about the opportunity to preach the next two days.

I know they have been preparing for a good while and I even had one man from the area call me on the phone to pray with me. I was not here and he left his prayer on the answering machine. Outstanding!!!!!

I hope to tell you soon how it went.

Also, we have begun our new school year at Louisville Bible College. I love that place. They are training people for Christian service.

Hope to talk to you again soon

The Northmen

It is hard to believe that it is August Already. Tomorrow Wade Allen and I are leaving to speak at the Northmen Men's Clinic. I am excited but nervous about it. I am looking forward to seeing some friends and hearing some good preaching.

Last week was the Hillsboro Family Camp and my family enjoyed the time together. I took the Louisville Bible College Booth and enjoyed representing the College. Maybe I can do more of that in the future.

Hope to blog later

In Memory of George Trueblood

So Long....the dynasty is over.

Well it is over. Today the Atlanta Braves released the last pitcher of its dominant 90's staff, Tom Glavine. I Still remember the Playoffs of 1991 watching this guy come from nowhere it seemed to dominate that season and many to follow.

I only got to see him pitch once, last year in Cincinnati. We will miss you Tommy and thanks for the memories.

I will always remember game 6 1995 World Series.

Monday Monday

Today is the last Monday of the school year here in Shoals. I am not sure who is more excited, the students or the teachers. We had a busy weekend with Saturday being our annual Gas Buy Down here in town. For two hours our church paid .50 cent for each gallon sold. So for two hours gas was $1.79 instead of $2.29.

I am very proud of the way our church wants to serve this community. Yesterday we had 114 in services. I spoke on the urban legend "Living together will prepare us for marriage." It seemed to go over quite well.

Hope you all have a good week.

Vision, indifference, or Complacency

That is the question that I find myself asking lately. As change is made you always expect to feel some push back, I have friends that can testify to that. However, what if no push back happens at all. Is it because that a group of people have a grand vision? Is it because they are indifferent or am I not paying enough attention.

Am I complacent and somewhat bored? Do I need a new challenge? What form will that Challenge take? Can one become too comfortable? Does no problems mean good things are no one is paying attention.

I am just wondering. Maybe this is normal, maybe it is not. Maybe it is the Lord, maybe it is not.

Anyone have any ideas?

Monday Monday

I hope everyone had a great Mother's day yesterday. We began a new series here at Shoals called Suburban Legends. It is a series that I noticed that Southeast did last year. I am adding to and taking a way some of the titles but I preached from Proverbs 31 yesterday about appreciating our moms.

We had a great day at Church. We had 134 in attendance and the service was really good.

I was also honored to attend graduation at Louisville Bible College Saturday and was pleased to learn I had been moved from instructor to Assitant Professor, pretty cool.

Have a great week.

Waiting

I hate waiting. It drives me crazy to have to wait on anything or anyone. I know it is about being patient.

That does not work well for being a Christian. For being a Christian is a discipline in waiting. Waiting for the Lord to return. Christianity is about the All ready and the Not yet.

Already we have won a victory but not yet. Already we share in a meal, but not yet.

It is the not yet I get tired of waiting on. I want it all now but I have to wait on God's Timing and God's timing is always perfect.

As I say this here I am waiting again. Waiting on something I have no control over and I am growing more impatient on waiting on a person than I should be waiting on the Lord.

Why? R u like this?

Great Day

Yesterday we had a great day at Church. We had 157 in attendance which was a record for my time here in Shoals.

Our young people sang a special yesterday as we as our ladies and both did wonderful. We had our annual Sunrise Service yesterday and breakfast. Ronnie McKibben, Keith Albright and all their crew as always did a stand up job.

Now what will happen this Sunday?

Also a shout out to my good friends Darrel and Mark for breaking the thousand barrier at the Christian Church of Jasper

Handling Adversity

I have a friend who has had some real adversity lately. It has been so refreshing to watch him use the Lord, his friends, and his own resolve to see it through.

It made me wonder how would I handle adversity. How should we? God never promised that he would wipe every tear from our eye on this earth but would one day.

I am proud of my friend, he has shown how a Christian should act even when times seem very bad.

I hope I will honor the Lord by doing the same thing.

Tuesday not Monday

We had another great weekend at Shoals. We used our projection System for the second week. Things have gone rather smoothly with everything thus far. I am very excited about staying and working with the church here. They are really wanting to grow and expand their influence in the world.

I am sad to see Dr Terry Peer leave Louisvlle Bible College as Academic Dean. He is a great leader and the church where he serves will be lucky to have him.

Blessings to all my fellow preachers who will be speaking of the wonder of the resurrection this coming Sunday.

Spring Break

This week is our spring break. Both of my boys are enjoying the time off. Tomorrow we are going to the Indianapolis Children's Museum to see the new Star Wars the Clone Wars Exhibit.

Robert is a Star Wars nut and he is very excited. Then we pick up my mom at the airport and she is going to spend a few days with us.

I am preaching on the Lord's Supper this week. I am enjoying the study and it is opening up some wonderful truths.

Thanks for Checking

I was told I had not blogged in a while so Here I Go: BLOG. How is that Darrel.

National Preaching Summit

Today several of my friends and myself are heading off to the National Preaching Summit. This is one of the great blessings of my year. Outside of time with my family it is the best thing I do most of the year.

I always come away refreshed and motivated for another year of ministry. Plus we have a great time.

Happy Bday Jonathan

Today our oldest son Jonathan is ten years old. This is very hard to believe and is making me feel very old. Last night we went to O'Charleys to celebrate. That is his favorite place to eat.

Monday Monday

Well it is Monday again. It is nice to be out of the house and back at a normal pace of work. We had a good day at Church yesterday and I finished my Stewardship sermon on giving.

Looking forward to getting back to LBC this week and I very proud of my brother.

There is a new Christian Movie coming out in May called "Help My Child is Missing." Mark and his agency, Consumed Artist, are in charge of publicity. This is an incredible opportunity for him, so please pray for him.

Service is the only way

Yesterday we had our annual Ministry Team Fair. We encouraged people to find a ministry in our church and begin to serve there. I spent the last week iced and snowed in for a couple of days and really began thinking about it.

WE live in a world that hass the motto, “Do whatever you must to conquer gravity” Up is the direction of greatness. Many people think the word privilege and the word serving should not be in the same sentence. When you think of someone who is privileged you think of someone who has servants not someone who needs to be a servant. We live in a world that says to be privileged is to be on the way up to be over others.
In our culture we use words like upscale, up and coming, upwardly mobile, upper class. Compare those to words like down and out, downscale, down hill, and down hearted.

But then the most intriguing man whoever walked this earth comes along. A man who could have chosen the view from the top had he wanted it, and Jesus of Nazareth chose a downward path.
In this radical counter culture kingdom that he formed he said downward mobility is the path of greatness. In Christ’s Church the noblest honor of all is the privilege of serving. The roll of servant is the highest calling in the kingdom of God. There is no role in the kingdom of God that the role of servant.

There are many job descriptions in the body of Christ but there is only one role and that role is servant. The reason this needs to be talked about is because the body of Christ can only function well when everyone of us understand that our main task in the Church is to be servants. It seems to be there are some who want the benefits of being in the body but not the responsibility of being a servant. That should not be surprising because it is human nature. Human nature is to want the benefit without the effort.

We want the benefit withoug the effort. There are some in the church who want the church to be everything the bible says the church is supposed to be for them but not through them.

I have had many calls from people about the church over the years. The call I usually get is What can you church do for us? I have never been asked “How can we serve Jesus at your Church?”

Are you one of those Christians who won’t minster but expect ministry? Or are you following Jesus to greatness on the path of downward mobility.

What a game

Last night was a fantastic game. I really enjoyed watching it and it was a blast to have Robert getting into it with me. We are missing our 5th day of school in a row today. We, along with most of Indiana, was snowed and iced in most of last week but even with all that snow and ice we were able to muster 92 for church.

Looking forward to a great week. I am starting a sermon series on 1 Corinthians this week. Any ideas let me know.

Monday Monday

Well it is another Monday and a busy week has started. Yesterday was the last sermon in our stewardship. This Sunday is our minstry team sign up.
This has been a tough but good week. This coming week some rough weather is heading our way. We are under a winter storm warning. Several inches of ice and snow are headed our way.
Also, I started facebook this week. It has been a real blast to reconnect with some old friends.

Monday Monday

Well we woke up to about two inches of snow this morning. It was great! We had a good day at Church yesterday. I am currently preaching a series of sermons on leadership. It seems to be going really well. Yesterday we spoke about the Standard of giving found in the scripture.

Watched the Steelers win a great game yesterday. I am pulling for them to win the Super Bowl. My brother was a huge fan of them growing up.

MASADA

On our trip to Israel we explored the fortress of Masada. It was orginally a fortress built by King Herod for him to flee in case of a Coup. He was paranoid beyond belief.

After the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 many of those who escaped fled to Masada. They stood the Romans for about two years until they finally scaled the mountain and when the Romans entered they found mass suicide. The Jewish Zealots had killed their own families and each other leaving one man to kill himself. The only real writings about Masada is from Josephus Flavius.

School Daze

Today is the day I head back to Louisville Bible College to start another Semester. I am teaching James and 2 Corinthians.

Looking forward to the semester.

Reflections on Preaching

Props to Wade on his Preaching post recently. It made me think how do I describe myself to others.I found this Quote and thought it was a dated but good description for the life of a Preacher.

“This is the claim I make for a good theology of preaching—that it introduces order into the chaos of a mans ministry. He is lost in the thicket and tangle of crisscrossing paths and dense undergrowth. A dozen major responsibilities tug at his sleeve, this way and that. Administrator, educator, counselor, prophet, pastor, social worker, maybe custodian, secretary, mimeographer, plumber, carpenter, and husband and parent—on the side he is expected to be many things, indeed even wants to be. But there are definite limits to his time and energy and physical composure. He would like to be all things to all men, but there are times when he feels the need of saying, ‘this one thing I do.’ And the one thing claiming precedence over all the others, demanding to stand at the center, because it has been the distinctive, necessary task of the ministry in every age, is the matter of proclamation. Nothing else will substitute for it. Its priority is absolute. It alone is capable of bringing to heel the multitudinous and variegated duties which yip and yap at the minister’s coattail like mutts of hell wherever he goes.”

Location Domination

Well it has happened again. Oklahoma Choked and Florida brought home another National Championship to the SEC. Shock Shock. I would want to see USC and FLA play. Not sure who would win but what a game.

The only thing I agree with Obama about is the need for a playoff. Maybe after we become socialist we can pool our resources and have one.

Me and the Pilgrims

Here is the group that I went to Israel with. They were a great group.

Back Back Back

Last Night I returned home from Israel. In the future I hope to have pictures to show you and some info. Even though the conflict is going on our group so no evidence of it. We felt 100% safe the whole time.

Thanks for the prayers!