Exciting Clothes

I had no idea how much excitement would be generated by the jeans I wore to church. I think it's my biggest clothing splash since, as a young naive teenage preacher, I wore a black suit with white socks and oxford shoes. I stood out in the crowd.

Preachers are to be nondescript, and not call undue attention to ourselves. This is why Calvin required his preachers to wear a black robe. Nothing was to distract from the Bible being the focus of attention.

One fact is sure. For better or worse, my attire captured a lot of attention. I posted a picture on Facebook, and received 88 responses, the most I have ever received on a post.

I read words about my clothes I had never seen before. "You are stylin'." "Lookin' good." "Keep it up." "I can't tell you how proud I am." "Glad I'm rubbing off on you."

Stay with me this week on my blog. I will try to process this episode, and see what it might mean.

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Princess Pink

It's amazing how much good will a few donuts buys for a grandpa. The moment I arrived at my daughter's house, with a white sack in my hands, I became a super-hero. They especially like the ones with "sprinklers" on them.

I had to do some fancy mental gymnastics. Lilly Ruth, age 3, likes pink icing. They only had orange. This presented me with a dilemma. I devised a plan as I drove to their house.

I told Lilly Ruth that kings and queens like the color purple, so the donut maker had mixed purple in with pink to make this special icing. I told her the icing was princess pink. She was very pleased and tore into her donut.

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Change

I hate change.  I think the only change I ever fully embraced was when I went from being single to being married.  I like things the way they are.  Consistency keeps life simple.  I come by this trait honestly.  My Grandpa Hill sat in the same chair every day for 25 years, watching PBS, preachers, baseball, and soap operas. He was the most contented man I ever knew.

We would ask him to go to the mountains with us.  He’d say, “I’ve seen a mountain.”  We’d offer to take him to the beach.  He’d say, “I saw the ocean once.”  That was it.  He was satisfied to sit next to Grandma every day.

Speaking of change, I’m learning a new way to post my blog.  Well, actually, I’m relearning an old way of doing it.  It’s complicated.  See what I mean.  Change is painful.

Again speaking of change, I’m going to do a few blogs about my wearing jeans to church last Sunday. It’s been a hoot of a trip this week as people have responded by Facebook and other ways too.

iTunes Ruth Marshall
Family blog www.yeebird.blogspot.com
Twitter @john316marshall
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This is a Test

I am trying out a new way of posting my blog.  If you read this, it is a waste of your time.  I apologize.

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Why Jeans On Sunday

Since Facebook is abuzz about my decision to wear jeans at the 11:00 service this Sunday Aug 22, I decided I had best explain my sudden change in attire. I got burned on a dare.

Daniel Hood, our college minister, always wears typical college fare, which I do not need to describe. A few weeks ago he conducted a wedding.

Daniel bought a beautiful suit and a world class tie. By the way, I had to tie the tie for him. He looked so classy that I told him if he wore that suit to church on Sunday morning I would wear jeans later.

I never for one second believed he would wear the suit to church. Uh oh. He did. Now I'm behind the eight ball.

Today I went to Express in the mall and bought my shirt and jeans. I'll be decked out on Sunday. People will probably mistake me for a college student. I doubt it.

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Our new churches

These are exciting days at Second. I feel a stirring among us I really like. One huge evidence of God's hand being on us is the way He is blessing our new church plants.

Epic in San Francisco had its first outreach event last night. 43 came to a big community cookout. Our team there was touched by how desperately people want community.

Harvest Hill in Strafford has averaged 120 in attendance these first two Sundays. We will ordain their two co-Pastors this Sunday night Aug 22 at Second.

Eric Arnall conducted his first baptism at our church plant in Chicago. He sent us pictures of seven new believers being immersed.

The Pursuit is gaining momentum. John David will host question and answer sessions at Second on the next two Sunday nights Aug 22 and 29.

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Pessimism all bad?

Lo and behold! While looking at a bookshelf in my office yesterday, I saw three books I had long lost. Each had a humorous albeit significant impact on my life. I remember them well.

The books are Murphy's Law (books 1 and 2) and The Peter Principle. The latter taught, in an organization, people are usually promoted to their level of incompetence. I've seen it happen too often in ministers. Blessed is the person who finds their stride and stays hitched.

The Murphy's Law books helped me look askance at a skewed world and not be upset thereby. Too much pessimism leads to defeatism. Too much optimism leads to disillusionment.

I think the best way to live is with a limited amount of pessimism. This way, life is filled with pleasant surprises all the time, which in turn allows you brief interludes of true optimism. You will be happier when you accept as a normal axiom of life, if anything can go wrong, it will; also remember its first corollary: and at the worst possible time.

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Dog Days of Summer

The first three weeks of August, in church parlance, are called the dog days of summer. This is when summer church work grinds to a screeching halt.

The children's sports leagues and summer school keep many in town through July. People with children have to be back in town by the fourth week of August for the opening of school.

Many families take their annual vacations during the first three weeks of August. We even have an unusually high percentage of staff members out on vacation right now.

Though we are in the lowest days of summer, I have to admit we are doing very well at Second. Attendance and offerings have remained relatively strong, and the energy level in our worship services has remained high. I love you, dear people of Second Baptist. You are a truly remarkable congregation.

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Harvest Hill Launch

4,3,2,1. We have lift-off. Harvest Hill, our new church plant in Strafford, will launch in the morning at 10:30am.

Months of prayer and planning have gone into this event. I vividly remember the first time Craig Coppenbarger shared with me his desire to start a church. I've learned a lot about church planting by watching it through his eyes.

Craig and his co-Pastor John Edwards have been very close friends a long time. John recently graduated from Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth. He has moved back to Strafford to help start Harvest Hill.

Their Minister of Music is another Second Baptist member. I have been Jackson Campbell's Pastor for over 14 years. I'm proud of him.

Take time to pray for Harvest Hill tonight and tomorrow morning. Only the Lord can make the day a success.

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It's A Girl

An ultrasound today gave us the big news. Grandchild 5 is a girl. We are thrilled.

Lilly Ruth will have a cousin friend to play with. Ian will have another girl to help protect. Caleb and Sam will have a little sister to dote on.

It is amazing to see your grandchild while she is still in the womb. We are grateful Amanda let us be there to experience the wonder of the moment.

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Caleb is 14

Did I say 14??!!! I am aging faster than I want to. I remember when he was born. Jana went into labor on Aug 5. It seemed Caleb would be born Aug 6, my mom's birthday. But Jana did not deliver until a C-section on Aug 7.

Caleb and family moved to Spfd when he was about 5 months old. He has lived here or in Marshfield ever since. He's a proficient cellist, an excellent student, and a grand grandson.

My four grandchildren are wonderful. I thought that would be my quota, but God has decided to give us a fifth one. Maybe I'll end up with six, eight, or ten grandchildren. The more the merrier. Bring them on.

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No Machine Guns

In many places around the world, voting places have to be guarded by military or police personnel toting machine guns. Not in Springfield.

Yesterday when I entered the voting location, I saw five sweet, older ladies sitting at a table. They were the bosses, in charge of law and order at the polling place.

To me, those ladies were beautiful representatives of what it means to live in a land of liberty. Thank You, God, for freedom.

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Harvest Hill

Harvest Hill, our new church plant in Strafford, launches this Sunday August 8. All prayers are appreciated.

Many months have passed since Craig Coppenbarger came to my office and told me he felt the Lord may be calling him to plant a church. His first inclination was to start a church in Charleston SC. I encouraged him to pray about Strafford. The rest is history.

Craig and Maggie will be working alongside John and Alaina Edwards, who have been appointed as NAMB missionaries. We will be ordaining Craig and John on Sunday night August 22.

I feel stress mounting in Craig and John as D-Day approaches. Pray the Lord will give them peace this week, and will anoint Harvest Hill's first Lord's Day as a church.

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