Reunion

I have to say, the word "reunion" means a lot more to me as a child of God than it use to. There are a lot of words and ideas that are applied to heaven that I believe are simply wishful thinking, but I don't think the idea of reunion is one of them. Jesus even talked about sitting down to dinner with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in heaven, so not only are we talking reunion, but a pot-luck provided by God! How awesome is that.
Well, I've said that to simple say that we are at the Curtis family reunion in Searcy, AR right now. Hopefully, I can share a couple of picture when I have time on Sunday or Monday. It's fun to see everyone, but it's also the first family reunion without Donna's dad being here. So, I guess we'll just have to wait for the eternal one, with God, to see everyone. See ya there, if not sooner.

Limiting God?

Does God limit himself? I mean, the Bible is clear, he knows everything and he's everywhere, but should we add the caveat, if he chooses? It seems to me that God chooses to limit what he can know in order to have an honest interaction with his creation, who are clearly limited by space and time. For example, when God was talking with Abraham about his plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, did he know ahead of time that he'd let Abraham talk him into changing his plans multiple times - as in from fifty to just ten righteous people? If he did, wasn't he leading Abraham on to let him keep offering up new numbers? I don't know. It just seems to me that there are times when God waits to hear from us, hopes we'll change our minds about something, or even changes his mind in response to a prayer request, all of which doesn't make as much sense if God already knows everything and has everything already worked out?
Again, we never were meant to understand everything about God whose ways are much greater and higher than we can comprehend, but still, just because he can know everything and can be everywhere, does that mean he does it? For instance, God knows our every sin, whether they're secret and hidden from others, or out in the open for all to see. He is also omnipresent, but does that mean he is there in the midst of sins darkness and ungodliness? Does he have to be there to know about it? I don't know. I do know that he doesn't need to be informed about anything and he doesn't want to be part of anything that is unholy and unrighteous.
What am I getting at? Something that many of us still don't get! Our God is relationship driven. Was he in the garden when Adam and Eve made the wrong choice? Remember, it wasn't just choosing good over evil, it was choosing self over their relationship with God. Why was he looking for them in the garden afterwards, and why was he asking them so many questions when he knows everything? Does he limit himself because of his desire for a relationship with us? Seeking a relationship with God changes the way he is present! James said, "Come near to God and he will come near to you." Doesn't that mean that God limits himself until we choose to want him closer? "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." That's pretty close contact! How amazing is it that our God is waiting for us to invite him to come closer? Maybe the real question for us isn't about God limiting himself, but how are we limiting God - who loves us and wants to be close to us!

Bathroom Report

Okay, this may just be for family, but I wanted to show off our latest DIY project at the Root house. This is the first time we've owned an older house, so we've been needing to update a lot of things, especially the bathrooms and kitchen. We started on the downstairs bathroom, but had new toilets put in all three bathrooms. Hey, it's the little things in life that mean the most! The picture below is the "BEFORE" sort of, after some demo. Man it's nice to get that old light & man-made fixture out. Here is the "AFTER". The biggest part of the project, not counting the Lowe's plumber putting in the toilet and new vanity top, was moving the electrical wire from the far left of the wall to a new box were the new light fixture would go. Lot's of wall board removal and fixing, and sanding and sanding, and I still missed some spots that I couldn't see until I got the new light up, but by then I'd done all the painting. Still, I'm happy with it.

I threw this picture in so you could see the new light fixture better.

Just a little FYI about our DIY. Please no LOL.

I Wish...

My wish list changes with age. I guess that's to be expected since our priorities constantly change with age. I don't waste time dreaming and wishing for a new car or a new house, and don't wish I could travel and see the world, though an occasional cruise or bow hunting trip is nice. I guess part of aging is learning to enjoy the simple things of life, which I do, and when I find myself saying "I wish" it's usually dealing with some church related concern, problem, or hope. And, I do find myself wishing we could see our family more often, but that might be true even if they lived closer than Nashville, Dallas, and New York.
What do you find yourself wishing for? What are some of the weird and quirky things that you find yourself saying, "Man, I wish..."? Here are a FEW of mine.
* I wish I could stop eating when I was full instead of continuing just because it tasted good.
* I wish I didn't allow myself to get uptight about time - especially on Sunday morning.
* I wish I could totally forget ALL my stupid mistakes from the past.
* I wish I'd go ahead and take painting lessons, golf lessons, and yes, dancing lessons.
* I'm better at it than ever before in my life, but I wish I was more uninhibited.
* I wish I had better discipline about writing.
* I wish we could stop calling ourselves "church" and call ourselves the family of God or the Body of Christ. Church has been institutionalized too much for it to be what it was in the NT.
* I wish everyone in our family here at Florissant understood the preeminence of loving one another and that "church" exists to help make that happen.
* I wish that folks would understand that wanting more giving, more outreach, more involvement, and more dedication can only happen with MORE passion for Jesus.
* I wish our government was made up of true servants and not people driven by partisan politics.
* I wish Fritz's Turtle Concretes were part of the Recommended Daily Allowance for fifty-somethings.
* I wish I wasn't paranoid about being betrayed by church leaders who are friends. I don't want to be cynical or fearful about anything, but "burn me once..." or more, leaves scars. I do trust Jesus completely.
* I wish broccoli always had a cheese sauce on it.
* I wish I'd remember to thank God more for the little things each day that make like wonderful.
* I wish I didn't have bags under my eyes, had more hair on my head, and less spots and growths on my skin, but hey, the important things still work - Praise the Lord!

Poor Theology?

I mentioned a couple of blogs ago about the importance of having a God who never gets tired of hearing us ask "Why" when it's part of our pursuit of knowing Him better. When you have been blessed to have had some incredible teachers through the years, those incredible teachers sometimes become so idolized that they become the personification of truth. That's a problem that students must work through not the teacher. Any teacher worth their salt wants to point their listeners in the right direction, motive them to further study, and create a seeking mindset that will sick with the student through their life. A some point, each of us must discover God's will, the truth, for ourselves or it will continue to be a borrowed theology rather than an owned theology.
For example, several of us were challenged the other day about which day of the week the Lord's Supper is supposed to be taken. I was taught that our practice of Sunday only communion was the only biblically correct view that any doctrinally correct Christian could possibly have. After all, we've always done it that way, the Church Fathers said it was done that way, and the early church, according to Acts 20:7, came together on the first day of the week to break bread. Done deal! Biblical example = biblical command = restoration of NT practices.
Why would anyone dare question it? It's poor theology, that's why. Acts 20:7 says they broke bread, and it's our tradition (and reverse interpretation - imposing what we believe on the Bible) that declares this verse to be talking about the Lord's Supper. Any really good commentary will say that "It's traditionally believed that this was the communion," but NO ONE knows that for sure. Jesus gave it to us on Thursday night and Paul reminds us of that in 1 Corinthians 11 without pausing for heart beat to point out, "But now we do it on Sunday." Not only that, the Acts 20 story is taking place on Saturday evening, when Sunday day began at 6 P.M.. As far as the Church Fathers go, what Christians did in the second and third century is a long way from what happened in the first half of the first century. Do you know how long it takes for a church practice to become a tradition and thus law? I've always said it takes about three weeks of doing it the same way without change.
There is no "church ordinance" example in Acts 20:7. When you start out looking for ceremonial acts of worship that we assume must be part of a "formal worship time," we find them. Unfortunately, we got that presupposition from Catholicism not Restorationism.
Jesus took the most common elements from every meal of that day, and said, use these tools to remember my physical body given for you and the Body you have become as my church, and "whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." It was a simple meal to be used as a simple tool to help the followers of Jesus remember who they live for - anytime they choose to use it. In the New Testament it was always part of a common meal and according to Acts 2, they were doing that daily.

Back Home

We are back from being gone four days to a retreat at Paris Landing State Park in TN. It is one of the true highlights of each year for us as we get to see lots of old friends and have several days of spiritual feasting. The picture above is one I took Wednesday evening as a group from Alabama called the Southside Singers performed for our retreat group. They were great and I'm sure they haven't done many programs for a group as ready to "rock out" as our group was. We really enjoyed their singing.
While we had a wonderful retreat, it's good to be back home and we're looking forward to sleeping in our own bed. And, of course, we managed to hit our favorite Mexican restaurant in Florissant for lunch. It helps when you leave TN at 6 A.M. and don't stop. Isn't it amazing how it's the little things in life that you enjoy the most? Salsa makes my wife happy, and when she's happy...

Why?

This little baby bunny kept me quite entertained this morning as I sat on our porch swing cooling down from our morning hike. It was so young it didn't know to run, and it it just continued to feed and to preen itself about ten feet away from me. God's creation is amazing. Even looking at that cute little bunny, I found myself asking God why he made that little creature the way he did. That made me think of how many questions one of my grand children might ask if they were sitting beside me. I could hear all the "why's" coming faster than any parent or grandparent could answer. It made me think of a statement I made in my lesson yesterday morning. "We have a Father who never gets tired of us asking why." That is especially true if our "why" is coming from a heart that is seeking to know him better. It has been a truck load of "why's" that has driven me to discover things about God, His Word, and His plan that I never had seen in all the past years of my spiritual journey. Enough "why's" will send you all the way back to "In the beginning" and even beyond that, because the Bible tells us that God "planned" before the creation of the world, to do whatever it took to allow us a chance at an eternal relationship with Him. Talk about amazing? I'm thankful for a Father who wants me to ask "why".

Selective Forgiveness?

Did you ever notice that we tend to think of forgiveness in terms of what someone has personally done to us. Just mention the word "forgiveness" and your mind automatically goes to the people in your past who hurt you, offended you, or in some way did something that caused you to make a conscious decision to forgive them. Forgiveness isn't a option if your goal is to please God. He made it clear that we only get it if we give it. But, it's much more than a chosen response to personal injury by others. Forgiveness must be an attitude, a spirit, an inseparable part of our character - if we truly want to be like Jesus.
Maybe the key is learning to be a forgiving person as a natural response to anyone who - well, just ticks you off, gets your goat, and/or daily causes you grief and stress. Here are some people I need to forgive.
* People who don't use their turning signals
* People who walk through the mall talking loudly to the box stuck in their ear
* Folks who DON'T turn off their cell phones at the movies
* Christians who say un-Christ-like things about my President (past or present)
* Crazy people who text and drive
* Those who misuse scripture to justify their traditions or their preferences
* Friends who don't tell you there's a problem
* Drivers who risk lives to get one car length ahead
* Smokers who make my clothes stink when I leave the restaurant
* Today? Colorado Rockies players who hit home runs in the ninth inning

Transfiguration?

What was with that whole "Transfiguration" thing in Mark 9? I've always wondered about that. It just seemed so strange and unrelated to what was happening in the narrative of Jesus, but, hey, it's got to be important or God wouldn't have included it - right? It really is an amazing part of the Gospel story. Even with all the miracles, teaching, and personal time together, the apostles had a lot of things they were unsure about. They didn't exactly shout out in unison that "You are the Christ" when Jesus asked them "Who do you say I am". They were totally disconnected with his prophetic words about his suffering, his death, and his resurrection. Remember? Peter even rebuked him for saying such discouraging and "un-leadership-like" things.
I suggested Sunday that the Transfiguration of Jesus was a "Let me show you something" event for Peter, James, and John. Jesus was glorified, affirmed by Moses and Elijah - the symbols of the Law and the Prophets, and he was confirmed by God Himself, who professed Jesus as His Son and the only One they need to listen to. In fact, the whole event is pretty well summed up by the words of God: "Listen to Him!"
The three apostles were scarred to death! Peter wanted to build ceremonial shelters for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, but the voice of God made it clear that what He wanted was for them to pay very close attention to His Son.
I wonder, is there a lesson there for us? Are we sometimes tempted to build ceremonial shelters when what we really need to do is just listen to Jesus? I'm not talking about church building, but about missing the point. What ever we do, as individual children of God or together as the Body of Christ, must be about Jesus. We must be about the business of learning more about Him and becoming more like Him, either of which are helping us draw closer to Him.
Forget the shelter building and the control of fear, and as God said, "Listen to Him!"

Cardinal's Game

We decided Thursday that it was past due time for us to take in a Cardinals game. We've only been to one since they opened the new stadium. One big incentive was having a nice cool evening ahead. So I got us some good seats just past the first base line. Donna took these pictures, and we both agree that we need to do it again.

During pre-game warm ups, several of the Cards were fairly close to us on the field. Here's "The Man" doing some short jogs out on the grass.

This, of course, is the real star of the game. Fred Bird did a little entertaining just in front of our seats. We were on the seventh row.

This is a great picture Donna took just as Albert hit his home run, the only real highlight for the Cards all night. Unfortunately, they lost.

Here is Albert just after crossing the home plate after his HR. Fun night! Come and visit us and we'll go see a game together.

Camp Jesus?

I've always said that one of my goals in preaching is to cause people to think. Thinking about a lesson after hearing it, is what gives it legs - makes it last longer than the minutes it took to share it. Sometimes, even when I'm working on the next lesson, something from the previous lesson keeps bouncing around in my mind like a golf ball on concrete. Last Sunday I made this point in my introduction. "At some point we must stop being campers for Christ and start being soldiers of the King." I was talking about Jesus preparing his apostles for his approaching arrest and death, and why he was challenging them to profess who they thought he was. They had been with him for a long time, enjoyed his mentoring, and been amazed at his miracles, but they hadn't truly been called on to do much or risk much. I described them as having been to Camp Jesus, and now it was time to move on to the next step of their spiritual journey.
A faith that never causes discomfort, sacrifice, or loyal obedience is a faith that is still at Camp Jesus. Soldiers must learn to be uncomfortable, do without, and carry out the mission regardless of the cost.
What has your church experience been like so far? Most of us would have to say that we've been enjoying Camp Jesus for a long time. Every time we have discussions about how to keep everyone happy with our assemblies, or how how to make it more comfortable for members to attend at times that work better for them, I wonder - how long will camp be in session? When do we dare start being soldiers of the King? When do we start expecting it of ourselves and members?
Just something to think about - so I'm not the only one thinking about it.

Smelling Sand & Sea?

Okay, so we don't have any self-control. We decided we couldn't wait two years before we took another BIG vacation. It's been our plan since the mid 90's to take a good vacation every two years (to give us time to save or pay it off), but the combination of REALLY enjoying that two week vacation this past year in a warm climate in the dead of winter, and the lowering of prices to attract people like us, and well, we just want to do it. We doing a 14 Caribean cruise that leave January 31 and stops at some great places - all warm. Doesn't sound so exciting in the Summer, but come January, it will sound sooooo good. We've got a couple of friends going with us, and we've also decided that who you're with is more important than where you go. So if you'd like to go with us - come on! Check it out on Princess.com and click on the search cruises tab. Click on Caribean, 8-15 day, January 2011. You'll find it. There's only one doing that on Jan. 31st. We fully expect them to come out with some better deals on this cruise as it gets closer to it, and we'll simply have them do what's called a "re-fare" where they re-book you at the lower fare even if you're already booked - and we are. Contact me if you have any questions.

Up Tight? Out of Sight!

In a day and time when we spend so much effort on feeling safe and secure, it may be difficult to know what are fears really are. Besides, when it comes to fear, we tend to think of big, major, life-threatening possibilities rather than the deep fears we carry in our hearts 24/7. When you think about it, however, it's really quite easy to determine what our fears are. All you have to do is think about what causes you stress in life. Stress comes from what we fear whether real or imagined. What makes you anxious or what do you worry about? Things you fear. And very few of those fears involve life-threatening monsters, bad guys, or catastrophic events. It's usually things that have to do with our doubts, our weaknesses, our insecurities, and our imaginations. What causes most of us stress in life is the fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of criticism, fear of disappointing others, fear of being judged, and the fear of not being respected, appreciated, and loved by others.
Do you notice a theme in these fears? Others. We have such a strong drive to receive the affirmation of others that we fill our life with stress trying to get it. The stress of trying to look right, talk right, act right, and just BE RIGHT, so others will like us, admire us, and affirm that we are "worthy" of their praise - robs us of the peace and contentment God wants us to have. Oh - we can't completely avoid it, but at some point, "others" have to take a back seat to God. And the amazing thing is, when we please him, what others think about us isn't so important any more, and when that happens, all of a sudden a great deal of life's stress vanishes and we begin to enjoy "the peace that passes understanding" (that means "others" don't get it).
So, is it safe to say that if we want a good evaluation of where we are in our journey to a deeper relationship with God, we only need to look at our level of stress to see how we're doing? Hey, if "love casts out fear," doesn't that mean it also casts out stress too? Didn't Jesus say something about not fearing anyone in this world, but fearing the One who can "destroy both body and the soul"?
My stress is defined by my fears, but my only fear should be that I disappoint my Father. When that becomes our only fear, what do you think will happen to the stress of life?

Inspired By God?

Twenty-five years ago, if I had been asked, "Does God inspire people today?", I would have been alarmed that anyone would dare to ask such a question. It would have violated all my rational, theological, and fundamentalist training, and would have given me visions of Pentecostalism, spiritualism, and, at the very least, liberalism. I would have immediately thought about all the verses I could quote about being "thoroughly furnished" and "given all things" and "rightly dividing the Word of truth." All of which have nothing to do with the question. Inspiration does not mean new revelations, nor does it threaten existing revelation, or mean it's in anyway inadequate or incomplete.
Why do so many people find it so hard to believe that God can put something into your heart? Yes, we all know the horror stories about "crazy people" who think God was talking to them, calling on them to do something terrible. Those are extreme cases involving psychologically impaired people. Does that mean God doesn't put thoughts into our hearts? We have no problem (usually) believing that Satan can. He's the Tempter! What good is a Tempter who can't even get you to think about what he's tempting you with? Is God limited simply because He has given us His message about His plan for redeeming man? Should our fear of things unknown, things like the Holy Spirit, prevent us from hearing something God might put into our hearts? Where do "good thoughts" come from? Isn't being "moved with compassion" a Christ-like quality that God fosters, encourages, and helps with? When that pull hits your heart telling you that you ought to do something, is that just your conscience speaking or is it God speaking through your conscience? What does He mean when He tells us "draw near to God and He will draw near to you"? If prayer is communication with God, has He already said all He's going to say?
I don't have to understand how it all works, but God putting godly ideas into our heart - ideas that are also proclaimed in His written Word - is totally consistent with His nature and His Word. How can we have "the mind of Christ" and not be tuned into God? There is nothing in the Bible that says that God can't inspire or guide us through our thinking, our talking, and our writing. He's not going to inspire anyone to think, say, or write anything that contradicts what He's inspired others with in the past, but that doesn't mean He's stopped doing it!
Did Paul know he was writing under the inspiration of God? His reference to "scripture" to Timothy is talking about the Old Testament. Did he know that He was writing something that would become "God's Word" for all time? I think the answer is "no" both times, but it doesn't change our believe that God was inspiring him.
I love what Paul said to the Corinthians in his second letter. He said, "I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you." (8:16) I don't believe he was talking about a special miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Titus beyond what every child of God has. (Acts 2:38)
Just maybe, if we'd give God a little credit for the godly thoughts we have, we might be a little more motivated to follow through on those thoughts instead of seeing them as merely "one option".
Is it possible that He has directly and personally answered our prayers, but we didn't recognized that it was Him speaking?
Wow! Now why did I write this?

Cast Picture

This is the official cast & crew photo for Fearless: The Story of Esther. Ben Lanterman has taken pictures for us every year and he does a super job. He brought the DVD of pictures he's taken to my office last week and there are over 800 pictures on the two disks. He really is very professional and does some awesome work. The hard part is trying to decide which pictures to use for our official picture collage in the hallway of the church building. I can only put 10 or twelve in it. Oh, just an FYI, only one person was missing for the cast picture, so I asked Ben if he could Photo Shop that person into the cast picture. He did. Can you figure out who it is?

My next blog (I think) will deal with the question: Does God inspire people today? What do you think? I'll tell you what I think tomorrow - or the next day at the latest.

Lesson From The Porch

This is the view from where I sit on our porch each morning as I cool down from our walking. No, this isn't about the porch. If you look real close, in the middle, you'll see what keeps me entertained most of the time when I sit out there. I always love watching one of our visiting cranes (Blue Heron), but lately I've been enjoying watching the battle of the floating tire.

You can't see much of it, but you can see the turtles resting on it. A couple months ago, this tire suddenly appeared in our pond. Well, after all, it really is just a holding tank for rain run off. I didn't like looking at it and thought about rigging up a grappling hook to snag it and pull it out. The turtles love it - I guess. Every minute of the day there is a constant positioning battle going on as turtles crawl up on to the tire, and one another, to find a place to rest and get some rays. I mean turtles of all sizes, colors, and shapes. I never knew we had so many in the pond. They load up the tiny space above water, someone moves, and splash - they're all in the water and it starts again. What makes it even more interesting is that the tire is not anchored. It obviously has some muck and mud in the base of it, but if the turtles get it overloaded or out of balance - it rotates and dumps 'em all. Then they start all over again.

I caught myself in mid-laugh this morning as it dawned on me how much those turtles reminded me of mankind's constant attempt to seek preeminence, comfort, and success in a world that will, at some point, dump them like the turtles in my pond. Lessons? Climbing over one another? Repeating the same mistake over and over? Knocking everyone else off to open the way up for yourself? Following others to achieve success and ending up in the drink? Ignoring the need for balance in life? And, well, you get the picture.

They are turtles who only follow their instincts. They can't reason and make wise choices. What's our excuse? Kind of makes you want to crawl into a shell.

Thoughts On Thursdays

Tonight we will have our first Thursday evening at home since February. Why? Because we've had our play rehearsals every Thursday night since the first Thursday in March. As much as I'm looking forward to having a nice, quiet, and undemanding evening tonight, I already miss our rehearsals. It's a lot of hard work, but when you get to be with people you love and enjoy being with, and when you're sharing a mission that you all are very passionate about, it's a joy not a burden. In fact, everything about our musical production is a living illustration of our church Purpose and Steps. Our Purpose is "Helping people develop a deeper relationship with Jesus," and the play does that on multiple levels. We do it to share a message from the Bible and touch people in ways that only a musical can. We introduce hundreds to the Lord's work in this place, and invite them to see how much we love one another and are working together to glorify Him. The process of working together builds loving relationships between all the cast and crew and give us all a sense of accomplishment and shared experiences that bond us even more.
Our Steps of spiritual growth are clearly seen too. People Connect with one another. Many times it is people connecting for the first time even though they've been in the same building together for years. And, as mentioned, we grow in love for one another as we get to know and appreciate each other more. Through our labors, laughs, and evening ending devotional time, we have a special bond that truly makes us Care deeply for one another, and thus, become very Committed to our task.
Connecting, Caring, and Committing, are really just steps to relationship building - whether it's with one another, or with God. If the church is not helping that to happen, it's not functioning as God intended for it to function. Putting together a musical performance about the story of Esther is just one tool to help those involved draw closer to Jesus. I am thankful that we have it - and it works.

Random Pictures

The Odd Couple, or as we know them - Art & Leonard, do their Bigthana & Teresh song that made their trip to the hangman seem hilarious. By the way, they won the Best Duet Award for the play at the cast party.

Little Miss Ashlyn waiting her turn to run through the yard sprinkler. She was smart enough to not go near it while the boys were running through it. It's a trust thing.

This is a picture I took while we watched the bigger grand kids play in the sprinkler. Deborah is holding her nephew, our grandson, Curtis, who has really turned into quite a sweet & polite little fellow - not to mention handsome.

What can I say? With a face like that, how could you not give Daniel anything he asked for?

Just another day at the C of C - NOT! This was my rendition of Bad Bad Haman Brown that I sang with the chorus as part of the play. Probably won't do that again...but it was fun.

This is a picture that my sister Becky took of us at Union Station. It was one of the places we took her the week after the play. I can't believe that I don't have a picture of her, but like I said, Donna and I were both so busy that we both forgot to take lots of pictures we meant to take.

Deacon Root

What are deacons? Have you ever wondered what God's intent was in having a "special group" of people in his church as deacons? Did he intend on them being appointed to an "office"? Were they supposed to have authority and power as spiritual leaders in the church? Did he intend on 1 Timothy 3 to be a clear list of qualifications for the job, with some very legal requirements about their marriage history, the character of their wife, and well behaved children (who, as you remember, don't have to be old enough to be Christians like elders kids)?
Could it be that the simple word "deacon," which is the Greek word for servant, was just a simple way of referring to Christians who had specific responsibilities, and Paul was just trying to make sure that Timothy didn't put an inexperienced and unproven person in charge of something important? I mean, it's never capitalized, it's not a name or position, it's not in the Titus 1 leadership passage, - it's a servant! Which Christians are exempt from that description? Is 1 Timothy 3 really a list of required qualifications for us to argue about, divide over, and strain through a legal sifter, or was Paul just trying to say, use people who have a proven track record and "served well"? And why does that word "deaconesses," which really is the better translation of "their wives" (vs.11), frighten everyone so much? We're just talking about servants - right? We all know who the best "servants" in the church are anyway - right? Oh yes, but we've been told it's a "leadership" position, so he couldn't possibly have been talking about women deacons - right? Wrong.
I think we've had so many years of assuming "Deacon" with a capital "D" that we can't see the simplicity of what the Holy Spirit is saying. If we'd stop trying to force a pattern from everything we read, we might see that Paul was just saying, "Tim, use some wisdom, and don't give people responsibilities that they aren't ready for." I don't think for minute that Paul was setting up an "office" in the church for "special" servants, or creating a worldly hierarchy of authority, or saying that a church isn't a church if it doesn't have "Deacons". Jesus was a deacon/servant, but for him it meant that he humbled himself to the point of dying on a cross. I think we're all deacons - or at least we should be!

Family and Show Time

With the play in full swing and all our family in town - we had a full week. The crowds for each of the four nights of the play were wonderful. I couldn't get an accurate count, but it was well over the 2000 mark again for the four nights. And the cast did an awesome job. The results of five years of experience together, and the fact that I wrote the play to fit our talents and stage peculiarities made for, what I think was, the best play we've done. Still, the best part is getting to be with family.

These are pictures that Elizabeth sent to us. Donna and I both had our cameras with us, but didn't have time to take any or many, pictures. The top picture is us with the bigger grand children and the one below that was taken Saturday night with all four Milom grand children. One of the real highlights of the week was the surprise arrival of Jonathan and Holly late Friday night. They helped me keep make it a very special surprise for Donna and they were here to see our Saturday night show, and then they flew back to NY Sunday evening. It was so great to see them and spend a little time together. We don't get to do that very much because of their hectic career demands. It's only the second time they've been to St. Louis to visit us in five and a half years. For a short while, late Friday night, the entire family got to sit and visit for a few minutes. Pat and Deborah and their three boys had to leave early the next morning to get back to Dallas so Pat could preach on Sunday morning. We are glad for whatever time together God gives us.

It was a great time with family and a wonderful experience with each of the four nights of the play. Maybe I'll share more about that later. We have the cast party and watching the rough cut of the video on Thursday. God is good!