Triskaidekaphobia

You know I love new long exotic words. I proved that when I led us two years ago as a church in celebrating our quasquicentennial anniversary.

Triskaidekaphobia means fear of the number 13. Lots of people seem to have it, and this unrealistic phobia is increasingly manifesting itself as we approach a new year, 2013, which has the dubious distinction of ending with the number 13.

The number 13 has always had a tough row to hoe. I notice that in tall buildings, when I ride the elevator, the floors often go directly from 12 to 14. I've often wondered if the people on the 14th floor have ever pondered the fact they are actually the 13th, no matter what the lit button on the elevator says.

The problem with this obsession over the number 13 is that it has absolutely no basis in sound reasoning. It's nuts, but superstitious people would never admit that. They would rather suffer with their triskaidekaphobia.

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Grand Oak Windfall

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www.facebook.com/john316marshallGrand Oak had recently reached a low ebb, but today God's provision was abundant. Reliable Chevrolet brought in five pick-up loads; Second brought in eight.

Dinah Ensor says they have enough food on hand for two weeks. It's been a long time since Grand Oak had that much food on hand. Thank the Lord.

Coffins

A picture is worth a thousand words. I don't know why this photo hit me so hard, but I feel compelled to say something about it. These are coffins made by people in our unreached people group. They are kept underneath their houses.

I guess the image made me think of the reality of death. Every one of these people will enter eternity someday. Death is coming. We at Second must do whatever it takes to get the Gospel to them.

We have worked some 14 years among them. Only 200 or so are believers. I pray for revival to come among them every day. I would appreciate your taking upon yourself this prayer burden with me.

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Armistice Day Wedding

World War 1 ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. November 11 was celebrated as Armistice Day till President Eisenhower changed it to Veterans Day in 1954.

On the 30th anniversary of Armistice Day, in 1948, my parents married. They eloped, riding a train from Northeast Arkansas to Memphis TN.

Unfortunately, all the marrying places in Memphis were closed. They found a taxi driver who said he would drive them to Hernando MS for $20.

There they found a Pastor Vincent. (I met him about 30 years later.) He performed their ceremony. Mom was 15; Dad 21.

The can driver served as their witness. Mom remembers he was an odd looking fellow who had a v-shaped hole in the top of his left earlobe. Stranger than fiction, yet all true.

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Grand Oak

Bob Roberts and I visited Grand Oak today. Dinah Ensor gave us the grand tour. It had been 16 years since I was there. I saw clothes, food, books, poverty, and the love of Jesus on display.

It is easy to stay isolated from poverty on the southeast corner of town. I don't see the raw side of life often. Grand Oak's work is made more poignant by the fact it is less than half a mile from where a large contingency of homeless people live in a wooded area.

The work of the Lord is being done at Grand Oak. It is a Greene County Baptist Association treasure. I'm glad Second is a part of what they are doing. We have for years fed the poor in November through Grand Oak. After today, I'm grateful for every item or penny we send their way.

By the way, while there, Bob asked how the center got its name. I expected to hear a grandiose explanation about a huge tree somewhere on the property. Nope. Not that glamorous. It sits at the corner of Grand and Oak Park Street. Mystery solved.

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Machine Guns or Oldness?

When I go vote this morning, will my ballot box be guarded by a machine gunner or a little old lady? Isn't it grand to live in the land of the free?

Of course, to be totally honest, let me remind you, if you do anything at the voting place that breaks the rules, you might prefer tangling with a soldier rather than that little old lady. Don't underestimate the resolve of those seemingly innocent poll guards.

Vote. Many paid the ultimate price to give us this privilege. God bless America.

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Missionary Suitcase

I love sermon props. Rarely do I get "out-propped", but Kenny Qualls slam dunked me at the Missouri Baptist Convention. Just before he brought the annual sermon, a group of men carried a casket (thankfully empty) onto the platform. You can see a picture of it on my Facebook wall. Kenny had our attention.

Several minutes into his sermon, Kenny asked us what we saw beside him. We all of course thought a casket. He then said it was not a casket, but rather a missionary's suitcase. He told us when missionaries left the USA in the old days, they took all their belongings with them in a casket, thereby picturing the fact they intended to never come back home.

The silence in the room was deafening. Dying to self took on a whole new meaning to me in that moment. Thanks, Kenny, for a powerful word.

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MBC Officers

Dr. John 3:16 Marshall, Pastor
Second Baptist Church
3111 E. Battlefield Road
Springfield MO 65804
417-887-3111 x110

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www.facebook.com/john316marshallHere are the new Missouri Baptist Convention officers (left to right). Wes Hammond, Pastor at FBC Paris MO, is President. Neil Frank, Pastor at FBC Branson, is First VP.

Joshua Hedger, Pastor at Freshwater in Bolivar, is Second VP. David Krueger, Pastor at FBC Linn, is Recording Secretary.

These four men will do an excellent job for Missouri Baptists. We are going to miss two former officers.

Micah Fries, who served as Second VP, is leaving MO to work with Lifeway in Nashville. Jamie Hitt, who served as Recording Secretary, is moving to Amarillo TX.