Andy Mckee - For My Father - www.candyrat.com

I stumbeld on this guys yesterday and likely watched this clip a dozen times. Amazing.

Baptism Cannonball!

A Prophet

Thursday’s in the office are typically laid back. Youth meetings are over with nothing too urgent to prepare, so I used my time to do some reading. I’ve been in Brain McLaren’s book, “The Story We Find Ourselves In” for a while now and I would like to finish it by next week.

I’m reading along and on the 78th page I read...

“The prophets where very different. They were an odd and special breed. They had no credentials except their own charisma and courage and refusal to be ignored. They are seized with a passion from God to convey a message from God. Often they confronted the people about moral and ethical failures – oppressing the poor, forgetting widows and orphans, that sort of thing. The prophets cried for justice and genuineness, and would confront hypocrisy wherever it appeared – including in the powerful.”

This is a subpoint to his book but McLaren has helped me understand that a part of my spiritual DNA is that of a modern day prophet (not just in this book but in others). We are odd guys that many do not understand. And like the prophets of old, their voices are often marginalized, ignored, and misunderstood. They believe they were sent from God to speak a message from God to his people. That’s a big part of who I am.

I wonder what my church would think about that? But that's another blog entery.

I Got One

With the deer season finished I went out bird hunting for the first time this season. I grabbed my gun and my dog Duke then went out. Duke is not a hunting dog but I wanted to see what he would do. As predicted, he did a lot of nothing. He minded well, not getting to far ahead and coming back when I called. He did help me cover more territory that might have flushed out game but he does not have the instincts to be a hunting dog. I’ll take him hunting with me none-the-less. I kicked up two large covey of quail and to my surprise I got one. I saw it fall and ran to the spot. I could hear it flap it’s wings but then it stopped. I looked for nearly two minutes with no success. We were near a road and Duke wanted to go across it into someone’s yard. After calling he didn’t come. I went over to grab him, dragged him to my side the road, I looked down in the grass and saw two feathers, then a little blood, and quail bird. I was more proud of harvesting that bird than I did of my deer. Hopefully we will go sometime next week.

 

The Morgans

The journey to Mr. Morgan’s funeral was long but well worth the effort. The funeral of this great man was a celebration of hard work, investing in others, and a simple faith that had an extraordinary impact in the Kingdom. I was reminded of how blessed I am for being part the JBC family and for being one of the few students of my era to have known the Morgans. Memories of fried eggs at Homecoming, conversations of UT football, cans of diet Coke-a-Cola, and the unending number of stories told raced through my mind as the day ran its course.

Perhaps my personal highlight (and there were many) was at the grave site. I approached Mrs. Eubanks to simply greet her. She gave me a huge, thanked me for coming, and said, “Chad, you were one of his boys.” Being one of the Morgan’s “boys” is a very special honor. To be called a Morgan “boy” was a rite earned by much sweat and hard work on the basketball court or on one of his work crews. I’m not sure if I earned that rite but I am proud of being a boy of a Morgan boy (Dad). Then again maybe I was one of their boys. Maybe I was the very last. If that be true then what an honor.

Think About It

“Life falls into two categories that take our life’s energy: achieving and connecting. Unless we are intentional about connecting, the achieving becomes our top priority and we fill our life with achieving activities. Achieving can not be a substitute for meaningful connection.”

…a sermon delivered 10/15/06 by Mike Breaux of Willow Creek Church

A Christmas Q

You see them all over the place. Church signs that display a short phrase to make passing drivers laugh or think. I drove past such a sign last Saturday and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. The sign read, “What does God want for Christmas?” It’s an interesting question. As a child, the focus of my Christmas was about getting what I wanted. As an adult, my focus is getting others what they want. But to be honest, asking God want he wants for Christmas is a question I do not recall asking. A few possible answers come to mind. But instead of writing the things I came up with I would rather have you wrestle with the question yourself. What does God want for Christmas?
I would love to hear your answers. Leave a comment stating your answer for myself and others to read.