One Pastor's Perspective

Last night at the funeral home was surreal. I have no idea how many people came through the line, but it was hundreds. HOWEVER, when you are at the END of the line (as my sister Elaine, Drew, and I were), you don’t really get to talk to too many people. TONS of people point at you and talk about you, but not too many actually make it that far to talk TO you. The line was LOOOOONG . . . I have a lot of cousins.

On the other hand, Ebenezer was well-represented in my opinion. One of the first people through the door was Dana (Rose) Lewis. She works just down the road from the funeral home at Greenville Memorial Hospital. It was great to see her! ALSO, the biggest flower in the place was from the EBC staff and church family . . . I rested under it’s shade. I loved it!

Today we get an early start out to my aunt’s house and then to the funeral. It will be a rough day for the entire family, but we will make it. There are many positives concerning the last few weeks AND concerning my grandmother’s life in general, the greatest of which is the fact that Jesus Christ IS her Savior and she is now with Him in paradise. And that is one of the only things holding it all together!!!

Thanks for the prayers! We are doing fine and God is good!

Almost 13 years ago (in fact, it was two weeks before I graduated seminary and moved to EBC), I was called to Greenville from New Orleans and made a similar trip as to the one I will make today. My grandfather, Ben Hooper, passed away and our family gathered to do the things that families do in such times. I still miss him.

Tomorrow the events will once again end in the Graceland Cemetary at the same burial plot as we bury my grandmother. I appreciate all of the calls and contacts after her passing late Wednesday evening . . . I will write here the same things I have said to almost every person calling to check on me and my family: Keep praying! My grandmother was ready, both physically AND in her relationship with Christ. That does make it easier on me, but I know my mother and her four sisters and one brother really need prayer and support right now.

Many people have asked, “What can I do?” My answer is ALWAYS “pray for my mom.” Below you will find a link to my grandmother’s obit. I am disappointed they did not include her given middle name . . . “Narcisus.” And, I am NOT KIDDING about that one . . .

Obit of Tweeter Hooper

C’mon . . . Lets just give the trophy to the Patriots (like the media says we should, because we ALL know the media is always right and truthful)!

I wonder who the guys at ESPN are pulling for?? Could they possibly film ONE MORE cutey clip on Tom Brady being part of the cast of Gilligan’s Island, or about the injury to his face when he had acne as a teen (and the bearing that will have on his injury status for the game)???

I say “GIVE ‘EM THE TROPHY and give me back the minutes of my life they are wasting! (Don’t kid yourself . . . The slim chance of an upset is the ONLY reason I will watch, but I will watch!)

Values play such an important role in raising children. From where do YOUR values come? If Christ is our Savior, we are called to a higher standard, as are our values. And through His word, God is pretty clear about what He expects in us. In other words, He is pretty clear about what is right and what is wrong. Our job is to teach this to our children.

A man and wife need to TALK about their values and be consistent when applying and teaching them to their children. Okay, that is OBVIOUS . . . The next step, while maybe not so obvious, is just as important. A great dilemma in life is the fact that you cannot choose your children’s friends. This is true . . But you MUST be careful to know the parents of those friends when your child starts spending time in other homes. DO NOT ASSUME that all parents share your values, even if they LOOK like you (coming from the same socio-economic background). There are a billion different value systems just in Florence. And some of them, in my opinion, are pretty messed up.

There are parents in Florence who would buy your kids alcohol (and worse). There are parents in Florence who would laugh if their child was caught stealing from a retail establishment . . . (My kids would be grounded until they turn 50). Bottom line, there are parents who do NOT believe the same things that YOU believe about right and wrong, and some of them might be your neighbors and acquaintances.

That is why it is so important to know the parents of your children’s friends. Trust me, if you do not, it WILL come back to burn you (like when your kids do something wrong, you ground your kid for a month and they ground theirs for two days . . . Wait until that happens and see how pleasant it is!)

Several folks have commented to me about the previous post . . . This is a sad time for my family (even realizing all of the circumstances) and I would remind those that know me of TWO things:

1 – I tend to deal with stressful situations (especially personal ones) with humor

2 – IF there is any chance that my grandpa learned to use the Internet in heaven and reads my blog, he KNOWS that I’ve got his back (even in the afterlife). Pa-pa (as we called him) was more than a grandfather to me, he was my buddy. And I KNOW he would want the advanced notice.

Pray for my mom and her sisters and brother as there has been no improvement in my grandmother’s condition. Thanks!

A solid fact of life (unless Christ returns before) is that we will all die one day. Different cultures deal with death in different ways . . . We westerners mourn death and celebrate the life of the one who dies (in the best case scenario).

As a pastor, I deal with death almost on a weekly basis . . . In a church the size of Ebenezer, we have our share of funerals. AND, our church families experience death in their own families on a regular basis. Seldom does a week go by without a prayer request on our prayer list for one of our families touched by death.

Well, it looks like it is my family’s turn. My NINETY-SIX (yes, that is 96 to you and me) year old grandmother (technically she is ALMOST 96) is in St Francis Hospital in Greenville right now and will probably pass away in the next day or two. I went up to see her on Saturday and I know she is ready. She has outlived her husband, most of her friends and peers, and she is ready. And as someone who sees people in this place in their life I certainly understand and sympathize with her. And I know my mom and her four sisters and brother do, too.

But, they are still losing their mother. And THAT part of it hurts. Even though they KNOW she knows Christ, and they KNOW she will be in a better place, it still hurts. That is the price of love, and in my estimation, it is worth it.

I am okay, just concerned for my mom. And I haven’t decided yet if they should tell my grandpa that his break is over or should they just surprise him?? God has a sense of humor, so who knows what will happen!

Selfish Pride

I don’t know if you have heard all of the mess surrounding comments made by Dana Jacobson, an ESPN personality, at a recent roast. To make a long, filthy story a little cleaner, she dropped three f-bombs referring to Notre Dame (University), Touchdown Jesus (a well-known statue of Jesus holding up both arms on the Notre Dame campus), and finally one referring to Jesus. The question now is how far will ESPN and ABC go to make this right??

Yesterday on SportsCenter they read the weakest of weak apologies from Jacobson herself. I was extremely disappointed. I am not a fan of Jacobson’s and now will never be, but I am disappointed in ESPN and in ABC (parent company of ESPN). This summer, ABC FIRED an actor named Isaiah Washington for using an anti-gay term referring to a gay costar of his . . .

But, when it comes to God and Christianity, fair is NOT fair . . . Christianity, once again, is an open target to anyone who wishes to take a shot. I know that any kind of celebrity roast nowdays is going to use filthy language and be unwatchable . . . Roasts are not like they were when Dean Martin seemed to broadcast one each week in the 70s. Those could be watched by families. I made the mistake of trying to watch one on Comedy Central a couple of years ago: That ended in about 47 seconds.

The bottom line is this: Neither ABC, ESPN, nor the rest of them are going to show any respect or reverence to the name of our Savior. We need to take THAT into account as we patronize these folks . . . That is the great thing about a free market system: WE decide who is successful and who is NOT.

After all, fair IS fair!

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Dave’s thought for the day:
What you say ABOUT people, and HOW you talk TO people, tells the story of YOUR CHARACTER.

On Tuesday night I had the privilege of speaking at the Francis Marion (and Flo/Dar Tech) Baptist Collegiate Ministry out at the FMU campus. As I stood and faced a room full of young adults, I was humbled . . . What an awesome God to give a lunk like me a chance to share with such a room full of hope and future!

If you’ve never been out to BCM, talk to Justin or Christina and make arrangements to GO. You won’t regret it. For me, as a pastor, that kind of thing is what it is all about . . . Those guys and girls WANTED to be there, and WANTED to open the Word of God together. I LOVED IT! And I am thankful for the privilege . . .

Drew’s alarm is going off right now . . . He must have hit the snooze instead of turning it off ten minutes ago, because he just got into the shower. And this alarm is obnoxious, kind of like the old Civil Defense horns of years ago. We will be getting a call from the Florence Airport any minute now asking us to turn it down because it is interfering with their RF stuff.

And on SportsCenter, a revealing clip about the fact that Tom Brady is really the FOURTH Brady brother from the Brady Bunch. One of the things that drives me nuts about this time of the year is the lack of real sports news . . . But the Final Four will be here before we know it, so we persevere.

Well, gotta go . . . Phone is ringing and it appears to be the FAA.