Epic in San Francisco

I am on my way home from San Francisco, where I have been in meetings with Ben Pilgreen and other staff members at Epic.

Friday morning and afternoon I served with two other Pastors in giving guidance to Ben on questions he had raised. The other Pastors were Steve Stroope, Pastor of one of Anerica's largest churches, and Andy Wood, whose church plant is running over 1500 in attendance in less than 5 years.

Friday night I took the Epic staff and their spouses to a fine dining restaurant. They were significantly blessed.

Our work in San Francisco continues to do well. All four couples who moved there to plant Epic love San Francisco, and are thrilled to be there. God wrought a great work in their hearts.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, but it's time to be home. When I travel, I miss Ruth, family, friends, and Second.

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Jesus' Groups

Thank you for your kind response to my Sunday morning sermon. It was the first time I ever used 140 living breathing human beings as props. I thought it would be like herding cats. Instead, it came off like clock work. Huzzah.

The method Jesus left us for Kingdom work is organizationally simple. He started with Himself—holiness matters most. He then found 3 who would provide accountability and support—He took the three with Him into the death throes of Gethsemane. He poured His life into 12—they were His vanguard into lostness; He gave the Great Commission to them first. He sent the 70 out on mission. This is still a good size for mission and ministry work. It is no coincidence the average USA church runs 70 in attendance. Everybody can know everyone else, and they can band together to get God's work done effectively.

And then there were the multitudes. We need to be together to hear the Word preached, to sing, and and to be inspired. We don't have to be rocket scientists to figure out Jesus' approach to successful Kingdom work. His methods worked then; they will work now too.

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Preparing for Sunday

Saturday has always been for me a day set apart to prepare for the Lord's Day. Even when I was a kid, Mom made sure we all had our Saturday night baths in plenty of time to go to bed early so that we would be well rested and at our best Sunday morning. I never hear stories like that any more.

I'm not a stickler for things like this, but I do appreciate the fact my parents were trying to teach me the need to be at my best on Sunday. That still weighs heavily on me. On Saturday, I cloister myself, work hard on sermons, pray, and go to bed early.

I will see you in the morning. I pray I'll be in the right frame of mind and spirit to be a blessing. Always pray for me on Saturdays. I want to be effective on Sunday morning. I seek to bless you. This can only happen if God works through me to minister to you. I love you.

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Heaven is Sweeter Today

A few weeks ago I met a man who is terminally ill. He's been a hard-driving unbelieving Marine since his Viet Nam days. He met a lady who knew me, and asked him if he would be willing to talk with me about his soul. Surprisingly, he said yes.

After a couple meetings, he received the Lord. The change was immediate and profound. I tried to mentor him. We made it through only one session. He asked if we could talk about death. We walked through I Corinthians 15, word by word, together.

His health became much worse last week. He had to go into ICU. When I entered his room, I saw the paperback Bible I had given him all dog-eared and worn. It was a great testimony to the change in his life.

I left his bedside about 20 minutes ago. He will be going on to see the Lord face to face soon. He says he is ready to go. He is dying at peace with God. It's been a beautiful experience for me. I am reminded; the Gospel works. People are still being radically changed by the good news of Jesus. My friend will be gone before long. Heaven is sweeter today than it was yesterday. Thank you, Jesus.

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WW2

Today in 1939 Germany faked a Polish attack on one of its radio stations. This scam provided the supposed justification for Hitler's decision to attack Poland the next day, thereby beginning World War II. The battle would rage relentlessly for another 2 years and three months before Pearl Harbor brought the USA into the war.

My Grandpa Hill was already 45 years old when Pearl Harbor happened. He immediately volunteered to be a chaplain, but was told he was far too old. He kept pestering them, and finally they took him in the army. He was soon on his way to France, where he had served in World War I as a soldier boy under John Pershing.

My Grandpa always said his years as a chaplain were the best years of his ministry. He felt maybe the most fulfilling part of it was writing dictated letters from wounded soldiers that they wanted sent to their family members.

After the war, Grandpa was briefly assigned to the VA hospital in Memphis. When he mustered out of the service, he took a Pastorate and moved his family to nearby Luxora, Arkansas, which is where my dad lived. The rest is history.

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Back-to-School Week

This was a great week at Second. let me recap some of the highlights.

Last Sunday 201 youth attended Second U (our three Sunday School hours). This was the third highest attendance since Cory West arrived.

Sunday night 79 high school students attended Connexxus (small groups).

Wednesday night, 111 Middle Schoolers and their leaders attended SYNC. This exceeds the previous small group attendance record by nearly 30. Congratulations to Cory and his awesome leaders.

Our new Men's Ministry Bible Study group met for the first time Wednesday night. 85 attended. Come join us next Wednesday night at 6pm. We are proud of Shane Segars and Jay Hughes for leading this.

The MSU Vine met Wednesday night for the first time this semester. Several hundred students attended. We had 200 students gather Tuesday night for our first meeting of The Drury Vine. To put it in perspective, that's 10% of their student population. Congratulations to our College Minister, Daniel Hood, to his interns, and to his leaders at the Drury Vine, Clayton and Katie Havelka.

Our Preschool and Children's Ministries filled all volunteer positions. Thank you, Leah Capps and Denise Schriver.

Thanks goes to Kevin Hawkins and our church choir for their singing the National Anthem at the Cardinals game last night.

Blackwood Brothers Plane Crash

In my growing-up days, the Blackwood Brothers, a Southern Gospel group, were by far my favorite singers.  On my recent vacation, I had a chance to re-visit a painful memory that happened to them before I can remember.

Through the years I have often heard about the tragedy, a plane crash in Clanton AL that took the lives of two of the group. On vacation this summer we drove through Clanton. I happened to remember that a monument at one time had been placed at the site. With help from Google and a few locals, Ruth and I found it. Isn't it interesting how something like that from the past can suddenly take on deeper meaning?

On June 14, 1954, the Quartet won the Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts national competition (similar to today's American Idol). Sixteen days later two of the group were killed in a small plane crash. One of them, R. W. Blackwood, was the singer that young Elvis Presley modeled much of his own performing after. Elvis wept when he heard the news. He auditioned to take R. W.'s place, but was turned down because he was "too animated". How's that for an understatement?

Few people remember or care about the events of June 1954, but for me they still hold value. I love history.

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