Preaching at 100°

I preached an outdoor worship service tonight. When it started, the temp was 100°; it cooled down to 95° by the service's end. I kept wrapping ice cubes in my handkerchief to dab my brow, cheeks, neck, and arms.


I actually fared much better than I thought I would. I did sweat profusely but that's ok. My clothes are hung up right now to dry.


The most amazing thing was not the temperature, but the 360 people who attended. I couldn't believe it. Folks kept coming and coming and coming. I pray God blessed them tonight.


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3 Services to 4

After months of praying, planning, and working, we are ready to make the move from three Sunday morning worship services to four.  It's been a long time in coming, and much needed.

9:30 Sunday School has become so full that we have no more room for growth in it.  8:00 worship has been wonderful, but has not grown.  People who wanted contemporary worship at 9:30 couldn't have it.  The same was true of those who wanted blended worship at 11:00.

We are praying that three fully graded Sunday Schools, coupled with the four worship services, will open every hour for all classes to meet, knowing their class members can choose whichever worship style they prefer.  Pray for Sunday.  Invite someone to share the day with you.

The three Sunday Schools will meet at 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00.  Contemporary worship will be in the gym at 9:30 and 11:00.  Blended worship will be in the auditorium at 9:30 and 11:00.

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Simpler Times

The Wilson's Creek battle reenactment was more than fun and games for me. I did enjoy every nanosecond of it, but I was also analyzing the experience.

The wedding reenactment was plain. It reminded me again of how we have made many modern marriages into events so complex that everyone connected with them is miserable. For many, the best part of their wedding is when it's finally over. Sad.

The 1861 church service was also simple. Hay bales were the only pews. Two logs tied together to form a cross provided the only furnishing. Shade and a gentle breeze were the only air conditioning.

Do I want to return to those days? No. I like air conditioning and soft seats. However, I do think we need to always be examining the accoutrements we build around worship. We should ever be asking, is this addition meaningful or superfluous?

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$5000

I was sitting at my desk when the call came. "A real estate developer found the original logs to Old Bethel in a barn he is tearing down to build a subdivision.  He plans to sell the logs for use as mantles, but will wait a couple of days to see if we want to buy them for $5000."

This kind of phone call radically affects your day.  I kicked into hyper-drive, calling church leaders as fast as I could.  Before day's end I felt confident enough to say Second would pay for the logs. It's the boldest decision I made as Pastor at Second without going through all the proper channels.  I'm grateful for a loving, supportive church.

Yesterday Ruth and I visited the newly constructed Old Bethel Church building near Jackson MO.  The $5000 we invested in this historic site was well spent.  Huzzah, Second Baptist.  I love being your Pastor.

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Boyhood

Ruth and I drove through Sikeston, where I was born in 1951. Dad drove Mom to the hospital in a Model A Ford. I still like old cars, especially Falcons.

I did my student teaching in Sikeston. I taught high school math under Mrs Margaret Coates. I was 19 years old. A few of my students were 18.

Drove to the farmlands outside Benton. Visited with two of my Dad's brothers. Uncle John was playing a Christian song on the piano as we arrived. When we went to Uncle Bill's, he was reading the Bible. The heritage of righteousness runs deep in my roots.

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Nostalgia in waves

It's been years since I came to Southeast Missouri for a visit. I was not expecting the overwhelming surge of emotions this trip has caused.

In Poplar Bluff we stopped to buy gasoline. My Mom's parents lived here over 40 years. In my childhood and teen years, I spent Thanksgiving and Christmas here every year. Those seemed to be simpler times.

The next town on today's trip was Dexter. I preached there one Sunday night as a teenage preacher and then decided to drive home to Cape to go out for pizza with my home church youth group.

When I arrived I saw a new young lady. It was the first time I laid eyes on Ruth. I remember it vividly. It was precious to point out to Ruth today the precise ramp I drove out of Dexter on that night.

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Smallest Baptist College?

I'm on the last leg home of my preaching trip to what may be the smallest college connected with our Southern Baptist state conventions. Clear Creek Baptist Bible College has about 150 students.

The school is nestled in Appalachia, in far eastern Kentucky. To get there I flew into Knoxville and then rode by car for about two hours.

The auto ride was amazing. The mountain scenery was breathtaking. The biggest thrill to me on the journey was seeing the Cumberland Gap, where Daniel Boone blazed a trail.

Cars used to have to go up and over the Gap, but now a one-mile long tunnel runs beneath it. I entered the tunnel in Tennessee, drove through Virginia, and exited the tunnel in Kentucky.

The faculty, alumni, and students at CCBBC treated me like a prince. I felt like I was being welcomed to Walton's Mountain. I am heading home a preacher blessed by the kind, gentle folks at a small Baptist college with a huge heart.

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