One Pastor's Perspective

Okay, I am a serious Bond fan. Actually, I haven’t seen the last Pierce Brosnan bond, but I have always followed the super agent through every fire. He fought the Cold War as a one man army; he has defeated countless independant villians; he fought the drug cartels and won. And now, we see how he earned his “00”s. I am PUMPED!

Why are we fascinated with such characters? Has there ever REALLY been a James Bond? (No, Ian Flemming wrote a series of books about the British super-agent.) Do we enjoy living in a fantasy world where the good guy always wins and he always gets the girl?? (Absolutely.) I don’t really know, but I will see this one!

Who is your favorite Bond?? The choices are (check me out on this one): David Niven, George Lazenby, Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, or the new guy, Daniel Craig? I might have said Connery, but this new guy looks promising. What do you think?

Drew and I were watching a movie from the 80’s that was on the other day. Puzzled, he asked me, “Do they go to a school where everyone has to dress up?” I looked at them, and they were merely dressed EXACTLY as everyone else in the 80’s. So I told Drew that. He wasn’t impressed.

The other day I was talking to someone and asked them if they remembered a particular occurence on the most popular afternoon show on syndication, the BRADY BUNCH. She looked at me as if to say “HUH???”

I think I really AM getting old . . .

I can’t wait for this weekend! I get to go to Easley, see my folks, stay at the house I grew up in, and on Monday I will go to the SC Baptist Convention in Taylors (actually, the Pastor’s conference is Monday and the convention starts Tues.)

Diana loves to help with our annual Ladies’ Holiday Dinner, and she does a great job with it. But it really causes all of us to burn both ends of the candle. For various reasons, I have not been home before 9:30 ALL WEEK. I drove to church tonight with the purpose of coming home when my obligations were over. So much for the best laid plans . . . I got home at 9:45!!

I can’t complain too much. I am not the only one in this thing burning both ends of the candle. When I left, Keith Pettigrew, Dwayne White, and Greg Hamlin were trying to chart out how we men will serve tomorrow night.

Hope it goes well!!

Dean Lisenby said something very wise tonight. (WRITE IT DOWN!!! DEAN DOES HAVE A BRAIN!!!) Ernie Strickland brought some green peanuts by the church late last week, and I decided to boil them tonight so all of us working on the Ladies Dinner setup could eat them and have a little reward. So, I did a little research, brought them to a boil them this afternoon, then let them soak for a little while. When I got to the church I would boil them for an extended period of time and then PRESTO! we would have boiled peanuts.

When I got to the kitchen, Jim Kizziar was there. He LOVES boiled peanuts. Jimbo got on the phone, got a precise recipe for us, and he and I went to work. We probably boiled them for an additional two hours and then took them off the heat to let them soak. THEY WERE AWESOME!! Some of them were green, and a couple of people told me it was the type of peanut, but they were good.

Someone else made a comment about how some of them were really good, and some of them were firm and green. That is when Dean let it fly: “That is how life is . . .” You know, he is right!! Peanuts from the same farm, from the same plants, in the same pot, and each one turned out a little bit differently. But all of them were GOOD!! Just ask the folks that were there at the end of our setup time!

And, life IS like a pot of peanuts . . . You never know what you’re gonna get!

Watching SportsCenter this morning, I saw an article about a poker player called “The Mouth” . . . Mike Matusow. He verbally attacks players to knock them off their game and seems to be successful. He is the man every poker player wants to beat. And he defines the world’s idea of success.

He told a story of all of the drugs, women, and partying anyone could stand. He talks as if it is the ultimate life, and yet when you watch and listen to him, you see the emptiness. The hopelessness. Even to be the greatest poker player in the world doesn’t measure up to a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Yeah, he can bluff the world’s best poker players and win. Yes, he has won tons of money . . . And, admittedly has lost tons as well. One of his quotes is to succeed in poker, you have to not care at all about money. And it isn’t about the money, but about the rush.

One day, the rush will end. Where will he turn??

One of the things I really enjoy in life is technology . . . Since I was a kid, I have been naturally drawn to it. When I was 12, my dad bought a satellite dish kit. He installed the mechanical side . . . I did the wiring. VCRs, video games, anything that required an electronically-familiar mind was my domain. Naturally, I dove into computers as a career and enjoyed it immensely.

After leaving software development in the early ’90s and surrendering to ministry, I have made it a point to try and stay well connected into the technology world. I enjoy it, and it serves me well. Folks at Ebenezer know it, and it gives me another avenue of ministry in helping those who are not so familiar with technology.

Today I had an opportunity to do just that. I helped a friend and I think he left happy with the help. But as I instructed and encouraged, I was reminded that everyone in the world does not love technology the way I do . . . In fact, some do not like it but they realize they need it. So I find myself dragging them into the 21st century, kicking and screaming. And there are two things I hope I learn when doing this:

1. I need to be sensitive to others and realize they might not be thinking on the same wavelength I am (most people are higher) . . . I need to slow down and let others catch up.

2. One day, I will respond in exactly the same manner. So if I show patience now, maybe someone will show it to me one day . . .

Every Sunday is like a rollercoaster. There are things I expect to happen today, but sometimes you never know where this rollercoaster called “pastoring” will take you. Maybe someone will come to the office at 8:25 or 10:55 (five minutes before the service starting) and drop some type of emotional bomb, or tell me that the church was broken into and something precious was stolen, or something like that. I prefer it when they come by to show me pictures of their new grandbaby or to tell me that a prayer has been answered or that they shared their faith and someone accepted Christ. I love the positive stuff, but the negative really hits me before worship. Anyway, you never know what to expect.

The reason I call today a rollercoaster is simply that I will leave my home in about 40 minutes and will see very little of it until sometime around 9 tonight because of meetings and commitments. I certainly would rather come home and watch some football (wink wink, code for fall asleep in my recliner), but that is not likely today. Not all Sundays are like this, but today already promises to be just that.

All that said, Sunday is still my favorite day because I will get to spend time with some people who are very special to me . . . My church!

After Drew’s soccer game this morning, we went down to Garden City to see my mom and dad, who own a share of a condo on the beach. They are down here 6 weeks a year and we try to go down at least for a little while each time (OR for the entire week if timing allows!).

The beach was sunny and clear today, but COOOOOOLD. Windy. Drew and I tried to throw a frisbee, but that was not to be. We could throw it, but there was no telling where the wind would take it. Still, it was time spent with Drew, and that is enough.

Krissy didn’t take her surf board, but there were some great waves. She wears a wet suit so the water doesn’t freeze her. But with all of the talk of shallow sharks lately, she probably made a wise decision in leaving it home.

We all watched the Clemson game, and what a heartbreaker. But I am a Tarheel, and therefore football means very little to me. C’mon, basketball!!!

This morning I joined a small crew to install the subflooring on top of the floor joists we built last Saturday. We had a great time, and a good crew of guys to work. Olin Bullock, Bill Watkins, Ted (I can’t spell his last name, but he is a Habitat coordinator), Philip Kennedy, Mike Rallings, Deano, and I met on the site at 8 am and installed the OSB. We were completely finished at 11:30 and the site is now ready for WALLS TOMORROW!! I can’t wait to see it! This thing is really starting to take shape, and I find that very rewarding.

I am task oriented, and am really enjoying this phase of the project . . . There is no feeling like going out there, swinging my hammer for three or four hours, and seeing the advancement on the house as I walk away. God is GREAT!

Pray for Dwayne White. He is doing a great job as our Project Coordinator, and is taking heat from all sides but holding up well under the pressure. Pray for this project, that God will appeal to the hearts of His people to go and to give!!

I think it is important for a leader to be aware of his/her strengths and weaknesses. It really is. Tommy Dowling says a mistake made when aware of these is to over-focus on the weaknesses, and neglecting the strengths. BUT there needs to be a balance, a delicate balance between dealing with the two.

With all of that said, one of my major shortfalls is in the area of encouraging volunteers. I would never take forgranted the value of a volunteer, or the important role played by each volunteer. In a church, there really are NO minor roles . . . Every one has a role to play, and every role is important. And, I do not say that near enough (even though I believe it).

I think I get so caught up in putting out fires during the week that I forget to spend time encouraging others. SO, I want to encourage you if you are a worker at Ebenezer. As I sit here, I am thinking about and praying for some of the hard workers I know read my ramblings . . . Many of you are good friends to me, and I want you to know that I appreciate you.

You serve on ministry teams that work hard with little recognition. You volunteer for major roles, many of which bring little or no recognition. Some of you serve so hard I worry about you burning out . . . I pray twice as much for you.

Just want you to know that I DO appreciate you!