Churches Marketing Hollywood

James Smith has an interesting take on churches marketing movies in an editorial found in the Florida Baptist Witness.

http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com/7536.article

I am always a bit uncomfortable telling my people to go to a certain movie because Hollywood's overall depiction of Christianity is anything but exemplary. "Facing the Giants," and "Passion of the Christ" are the two exceptions. When I saw the promotion of "Evan Almighty" by some churches I was VERY uncomfortable. We need to be careful.

CBF Counting

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's counting practices have been called into question. See the following article:

http://www.bpnews.org/bpnews.asp?id=25983

If a church affiliated with the SBC has a few members give to the CBF, should that church be counted as a CBF church? I think not.

Confused and Dazed

This is a wonderful example of confused and dazed in religious America. An Episcopal priest in Seattle is a practicing Muslim. Read this one and scratch your head in disbelief!

http://www.bpnews.org/bpnews.asp?id=25959

This truly is "inclusion run amok."

Retirement

This is where I intend to spend my retirement!!!

Hilton Head

My two favorite girls!

25 Years

Lesa, Stephanie, and I just returned from Hilton Head Island. It was our first time there, and during the week Lesa and I celebrated our 25th anniversary. She's put up with me a long time!

Father and Daughter

Ten things a teenage daughter doesn't want to hear from her dad.

10. “Let me explain what 'deductible' means on car insurance.”

9. “Your mom’s almost ready. Where are we going on our double date?”

8. “Seems to me last year’s prom dress still has some life in it.”

7. “I signed us up for the pairs karaoke contest this Friday night.”

6. “We ate possum toes like popcorn when I was a kid.”

5. “Let's get ice cream, my treat! Just let me grab my jar of coins.”

4. “I am proud that you decided to keep the family unibrow.”

3. “You don't need to go shopping after all. I picked out a purse for you on my way home.”

2. “I ran into Bobby at the grocery store. I told him that you're really hoping he'll ask you to the dance.”

1. “By the way, I had to borrow your deodorant yesterday.”

(www.fathers.com)

I can't wait to give this one to my daughter. I'm sure she could add to the list!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day one day early. I'm writing today because I doubt I have time tomorrow. I wish my Dad were still here to wish him a happy day. Dad died in 2001, and I still miss him. There have been many times over the last six years I would have liked to receive his advice, as crazy as that was sometimes.

My Dad was a bricklayer who wound up owning a catfish restaurant. While he and my mother rarely took my siblings and me to church when we were kids, I owe him alot. Primarily, I owe him the value of a hard day's work and the reward of a good afternoon's nap!

SBC

As expected Frank Page was re-elected without opposition yesterday at the SBC in San Antonio. I've gotten to know Dr. Page slightly in the year I've been at North Greenville. He is the man for the hour in our convention.

Jim Richards of Texas was elected 1st VP. Some see this vote as an opportunity for the "old-guard" to reestablish itself. Perhaps, but since Richards is executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas he had a home-field advantage, much as Page had last year in Charlotte. It will be the presidential vote next year that will determine whether Page's election was just a blip on the screen or something more substantial.

Sermons On-Line

Some of you may be interested my Sunday sermons are now available on-line:

http://www.fairviewgreer.net/page2619.php

We're experimenting with this right now so be patient.

When God Comes to Church

I've just finished reading Steve Gaines' new book, When God Comes to Church. Gaines, the pastor of Bellevue Baptist in Memphis, writes that what churches need is not a reformation of theology, but a reformation of worship. I agree.

The book primarily deals with worship but is also greatly concerned about revival. Some of the salient quotes are:

• You haven't had a great Sunday until God shows up!
• Definition of revival: the glory of God filling the house of God.
• One of the reasons so many people are turned off from the idea of church these days is that it is all so explainable.
• The motto of some churches is "Come as you are; leave as you came."
• Some Christians talk urgently about getting God back into government. Others talk about the need to get God back into the public schools. What I'm most concerned about is getting God back into our churches.
• Worship services should not be designed primarily to attract people. Rather, worship services should be designed to attract the manifest presence of God, and He in turn will attract the people.
• Before any talk about doing, let's talk about being.

These are just some of the nuggets you'll find in this book. My favorite chapter is "What Attracts the Presence of God." Gaines deals with what essentials must be found in a church for God's presence to be real and powerful. Those essentials are: sincere and passionate prayer, tithing, fasting, repentance, corporate worship, and unity.

He writes a great chapter on music. Of course everyone knows this is the silly subject that is getting so many church folks upset today. Every music minister knows the tension of trying to please everyone. Gaines advocates a 50/50 split between the old and new [something we try to do at Fairview with varying degrees of success I might add].

A great quote from the chapter: "Can we all please understand that church was never meant to be your personal jukebox? Everybody has 165 other hours in the week to pick out just the songs you personally like. God to your nearest Christian music supplier and load up on whatever you want. Play it nonstop from Monday to Saturday. The new technology of the iPod makes this even easier. You can select, download, and then replay your handpicked favorites as often as you want. But in the house of God, we have a different agenda. We're offering up praise and adoration for the pleasure of someone else."

Well said--if we want God's blessings we must understand that worship is not about us; it is about Him. I'm tired of people telling me what they like or don't like. It makes no difference what I like or dislike. The question about worship is what does God like and dislike?

This is an important read for those grappling with the idea of what true worship is all about. Gaines seems to be saying that real worship brings Holy Spirit revival. Amen! Let it be so.

I may blog on this more later.

Been A While

Sorry that it has been so long since I've posted. Life has been terribly busy this second semester at North Greenville University. Between classes and doing the interim pastor gig at Fairview Baptist in Greer, I've met my self behind and ahead of myself. My spring and summer terms are now over and maybe I can catch up on a few things of interest as the June and July unfold.

We just finished Vacation Bible School at Fairview. I'm not sure what our final enrollment was, but our average attendance was something like 255. We had at least 18 kids saved! What a blessing. I still believe VBS is the best opportunity for evangelism a church can be involved in. Besides, it reaches the most important generation--the next one!