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Stressers and things I can do NOTHING about

20 Oct

What stresses you?? This is the first real day off I have had in a while, and I’ve been thinking a lot about things . . . About life . . . About stress and what seems to be pulling my chain lately.

Yes, even a pastor has stress in his life. You wouldn’t think so, since we only REALLY work two days a week (right??), but we do. Not only as a pastor, but as a husband and father, I am not immune to stress. One of the hardest facts of life to accept is that there WILL be people or situations (about which you can do nothing) that will cause you heartache. A few of them are really getting to me today.

It stresses me that there are people in our church family that consciously choose NOT to get along with others. That just boggles my mind. WHY would anyone even want to do that?? Is this a failure of leadership on my part, or do I just need to accept the fact that some people like living life this way?? I think the second, but I am beginning to question the first option.

As a Southern Baptist pastor, I also realize the volatile nature of my employment. I am commanded to follow God, to do as He says at all costs. If I ever fail on that one, He will take care of me. But the volatile part comes into play when taking a stand for something right, even if my people do not agree. Case in point would be what has happened at several of our churches in recent months. People don’t realize that some of these folks are friends of mine, and I hurt for them, too. And it makes me wonder . . .

Now, I will be the first to admit that I am not perfect. And I NEED your prayers. I concern myself with being a faithful child of God, a faithful husband, a loving father, a good pastor, and a friend to those who call me by that name. And that is just the tip of the iceberg!

David

Have you ever seen the devil?

20 Oct

I have . . . Of course, as the pastor of a Southern Baptist church, you KNOW I will see him. I saw him in the last couple of months in what happened to some of my friends and colleagues at First Baptist Florence and a couple of other churches in our association. Over the years I have seen his handiwork in our church, when pride and arrogance creep in to the lives of our people. Honestly, I see him trying really hard to bring our current Habitat for Humanity project to a grinding halt.

And the irony here is this: He has NO POWER other than that we give him in our lives. Satan only gains ground in the kingdom of God WHEN WE GIVE IT TO him. And, when it comes to the Habitat project, he is having a lot of fun. And that really disappoints me.

What can we do?? Pray and make sure he does not get a foothold ON US. If EACH MEMBER of Ebenezer would do this, there would be absolutely no problems whatsoever. Truth is, some are too proud to even admit that Satan could gain a foothold, and they won’t pray that prayer. And, we are in for a bumpy ride.

With all of that said, please pray for the Habitat project, and pray for me!!

David

My Favorite Things about Disney World

20 Oct

For those of you who missed it, my wonderful family took me to WDW for my 40th birthday. Here are my kids . . . (Just the two with blonde hair.) Anyway, we had a blast and there were several rides that were AWESOME this trip! We loved the GREEN side of Mission: Space at Epcot, as well as Soarin’. The Auto Stunt Show at MGM was great, as was the Star Wars simulator (Star Tours). I really didn’t find anything I was crazy about at Animal Kingdom, but Diana claims that is because I didn’t give it enough of a chance (we were only there for four hours). At the Magic Kingdom there were several that I have always loved and continue to love: Peter Pan, Pirates of the Carribean, the Tea Cups, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, the Haunted Mansion, and of course the MONORAIL!!! I was disappointed to find that Mr Toad’s Wild Ride is no more (especially after LIVING IT while I taught Krissy to drive) and the Hall of Presidents was a little disappointing. I thought the show was longer than it was . . .
As for shows, there were some good ones: The fireworks at the end of the day in the Magic Kingdom were unmatched (Tinkerbell FLYS from Cinderella’s Castle over to Space Mountain), the Muppet Theater is good, the Indiana Jones show is good, but the BEST show I saw was Mickey’s Philharmagic Theater in the MK.
Okay, I guess I am a Disney geek. I love it!! Hope to go back real soon . . .
David

Saving the Columns

19 Oct

Ebenezer has a unique identity as a church . . . For years, I always heard we were that church without a steeple. That is absolutely true, but there is another physical identifier on our campus that is very special to the people of EBC. I am talking, of course, about the columns. (There they are, posing with Pam Gaddy’s car.)
The story of the columns is cool: Upon returning from the Civil War (or the War of Northern Aggression, as it is called in Dillon), the grandfather of Dick Langston HANDMADE those columns and gave them to the church. Apparently he ran a lumber mill. Dick was very proud of those columns. Dick was a great man, and it was a tremendous honor to assist with his funeral a few years back. Dick was a graduate of Clemson who, along with many of the young men of his generation, volunteered to go and fight the Axis in World War II. Dick served under General Patton, saw Europe the hard way . . . From behind the wheel of a tank.
Anyway, if you get a chance, check the columns out. One issue you will notice is a little rot on the bottom of the northernmost column. Our Building Maintenance team has already contacted a craftsman about creating a new base for the column. I am glad they are saving the columns as they are . . . It would probably be easy to order some out of vinyl or pvc and install them, therefore greatly reducing the required maintenance. But I am glad our current team recognizes the historical value of those columns.
That is only ONE of many stories just like it at Ebenezer. If you want to know more, pick up one of the two history books written about our church and READ IT!!!
David

A New Place

19 Oct

My blogs have blown the minds of our web server . . . Okay, the REAL reason I am moving to this spot is that my thoughts are getting so random and scattered, and the mere lack of logic have crashed the servers several times . . . So, a new place and a new look are here!!

I STILL hope you will read, comment, and have as much fun with this blog location as we have had in the last 18 months on our church website!

Sound off and let me know if you made it over here!!

David

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