Pastor in Chief

Came across an interesting article based upon a series of interviews with Billy Graham.

Check it out.

The Gospel of Convenience

Why is it that at times, especially when I'm on "ministry trips" or whatever, that I can flow naturally in the Spirit and follow His leading, have His compassion, share His grace with anyone and everyone He puts in my path, and then totally ignore my next door neighbor or the homeless guy hanging out near my workplace because it's not convenient?

Too much of the time, when a ministry opportunity presents itself, I immediately rationalize it away and look for a "better offer". The sad thing is that the better offer is usually of benefit only to me, and only in the immediate, with no lasting merit.

What does that say to others about this Gospel I tout and upon which I stake my life? Is another person not worth of my sacrifice of convenience? My life is worth Jesus' much more costly sacrifice, is it not?

How does this happen? How do I get to this point? Now that I'm here, will it change me?

The jury is still out.

My better half

Is this not remarkable?

Beth and I -- we have these times, especially when we are working in Europe, that we are together for weeks on end with no break from each other. It's rather remarkable that I cannot recall one time when we wouldn't choose to be together. We simply don't get tired of each other.

I am truly blessed with my soulmate.

Reflections on the weekend

As you know, Beth and I traveled to Kansas and Oklahoma this past weekend. It was a really good trip, although it was very busy and tiring. Here's what we did (adapted from our weekly email last week):

Thursday:
- Flew to Wichita, picked up rental car, drove to Pratt (trivia: Pratt has been home of the Miss Kansas pageant since the beginning of time and my mom was the "voice of the Miss Kansas pageant" for many years, broadcasting the event live on the radio.)
- 7 PM - gathering of old friends at Pratt United Methodist

Friday:
- Breakfast with friends who couldn't be there Thursday PM
- "Pop-in" visits on friends throughout the day
- Drove over to Greensburg to see the devastation from the tornado
- Visited my parents graves

Saturday:
- Traveled to Tonkawa, OK to my sister Dianne's home
- Set up for Sunday AM
- Had a nice time with our niece, Stacey and her two kids

Sunday:
- Shared at early service (more of a Bible study type gathering)
- Main service - we led worship and I preached
- Did a workshop that afternoon with Dianne's worship team at her church
- In the evening - dessert party at Dianne and Ken's with a few of their friends to share about our ministry in greater detail

Monday:
- Drove to Tulsa to meet with friends there and shot some video footage to be used in our own videos (our friend does that sort of thing professionally)
- Drove back to Tonkawa in the evening

Tuesday:
- Drove to Wichita to fly home, stopping through Winfield, where I went to college a couple of years. (trivia: the character Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island was from Winfield)

So that's why we're so tired!

Heading home (the current one)

In the Wichita airport, getting ready to return to Gulf Breeze. We've had a good weekend and I'll give the highlights in the next day or so.

I've been saving up quarters and I only need about 792 more to get that iPod out of the machine in ATL.

Hmmm