What Does Christmas Mean to You?

The Christmas season is a special time for our whole family, even me. I was a hum-bug for several years, but I have come out of it during the last 5-6 years. I know that Jesus was not born on December 25th. I know that Roman Christians changed from a pagan observance in early 300 A.D. to celebrating the birth of Christ. I know that the world has increasingly commercialized it over my whole lifetime. Need I go on and on?

Whether we celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25, or in the Spring, or even in the Fall, we still need to celebrate His birth. I am not seeing a substitute date any other time of the year by folks who do not celebrate Christmas. We need to celebrate the birth of Christ because if there had not been a birth, there would not have been a resurrection. I guess I feel sorry for Christians who refuse to celebrate Christmas because of its pagan beginning. We may be throwing the baby out with the bath water.

A long time ago Patti did something really special for our family. She gave us each a small gift every day in December. It was something like a small package of coated paper clips for me. The kids and I never forgot how Patti did that for us for several years. I don't know where the tradition came from, maybe Hanukkah. I don't know. All I know is that it was meaningful to us. It didn't matter what the gift was, we knew it came from Patti.

This year I picked up the tradition or whatever you want to call it. I decided to do the same thing for Patti during the six days leading up to Christmas Eve. I had an absolute ball deciding on what to buy and then what day of the six to give it on. Then I wrapped the gifts and put a sticky note on each with the day it would be given. Talk about fun!!

Today is Saturday, December 19 and the Christmas season moves into full force in a family sense beginning today. Tonight Miranda, Steve, and the kids will be spending the night with us. Tomorrow we will all eat lunch at Tiffany and Jared's house. Tomorrow night our extended family (Leroy and Sharon) will be with all of us at our house. I am not sure that it will really stop after that.

You see, Christmas is first and foremost about the birth of Christ. Secondly, it is about family being together to celebrate that birth and what that birth means to us. The presents that seem to take over Christmas, if you let it, are down the list for us. We all enjoy picking something out for another family member, but being together is way ahead of that. We enjoy playing games together, listening to each other, and hearing laughter more than anything else.

I've only written one blog this quarter. I've let other things crowd out my time to write. I'm going to do a little bit better these next couple of weeks while I am enjoying the Christmas season.

The Passing of the Shoes

I don't have much time to write anymore, at least this kind of writing. My days are filled with writing curriculum, PowerPoint presentations, and preparing lectures, but I had to make time to write about this little topic.

Tonight I threw out a pair of shoes that had given all they had. The shoes were Rockport penny loafers that I bought in June 2003. A friend and I each bought a pair of shoes and had them shined right on the spot. They were my favorite shoes ever.

The shoes began wearing out last Spring, but I could just not part with them. Patti bought me two new pairs of loafers, but they sat in the closet. Sunday morning I spent part of the morning in the church parking lot while it was raining, My feet were soaked by the time worship began and I knew that these precious shoes had just walked their last mile.

Tonight I gingerly placed them in the garbage and brought out the two new pairs. I am one of those who believes in putting polish on new shoes. Now they are back in the closet, ready to wear tomorrow morning. I know that my feelings about those shoes will pass.

Those worn out shoes still looked good on the outside, but the soles, heels, and insides were deteriorating. I could have had them resoled and added new heels, but then I would have invested some dollars in a really old pair of shoes. Discarding the shoes was the right thing to do.

The old Rockports represented the past six years of my life. I know that sounds a little over the top, but they represented a transition from the early 2003 to late 2009. A lot has happened in the past 6-7 years. I think in many ways those shoes represent the passing of one period into another. Maybe you have something like that going in your life right now. You know exactly what I'm talking about.

Our Journey of a Lifetime involves throwing away old "shoes", putting on the new ones, going about our business even if they have to be broken in, and leaving that part of life behind us. Tomorrow morning I'll put on my new shoes and take the garbage out, which will include the old shoes and leave it at the curb. New life will begin! I just don't know what all is involved in that at this moment, but God knows and that is all that matters.

Tomorrow Is Labor Day

Many people say that Labor Day is the end of summer. They are probably correct, although there will still be many days with temperatures in the 90's.  We are still a couple of weeks away from the official first day of Fall. I still understand why people feel like tomorrow is the last day of summer.

It seems like only yesterday that it was the 4th of July and Memorial Day was the day before yesterday. The summer went by all too quickly. Now we are going into the third week of school, Alabama has won it's first game, and Big Brother is coming to an end.  Even the days are getting shorter. It must be the end of summer!

So, our family will celebrate Labor Day tomorrow. I will probably cook something on the grill tomorrow, but don't know what that will be as I'm writing this post. Patti has made a chocolate chip cake, so I know the dessert that is on the menu. Whatever it ends up being, it will be good. 

Jared and his family will be here and if Steve and Miranda stop by on their way back to Lake Jackson, we'll have the Corns with us too.  It is Miranda's birthday. If we don't celebrate it tomorrow, maybe we will celebrate it next weekend.

On Tuesday it will be back to the school and church schedule. I don't think we will have another break until Thanksgiving. By then we will know if Alabama is going to the SEC Championship and if Pearland H.S. is in the state playoffs. It will all be about football this Fall.  Not really, but that is what some people think. That is what some people live for during the Fall. There really is more to life than football. I'm watching Friday Night Lights for the umpteen time. They think it's all about football.

Next month our church has set aside about a week in early October.  We are going to have what we're calling a Thirst Conference.  A team of 28 is coming in to spend at least four days with us. We have a tendency to "substitute" in our Christian lives and that is the main cause of dryness in the Christian's life. We see how otherwise good things, such as work, hobbies, entertainment and food, become substitutions for our main source of fulfillment and joy, the source of living water,, Jesus Christ.  These should be life-changing days throughout our congregation. It will be the highlight of 2009.

You can see that this Fall will be a busy time, but a profitable time. I hope your future is just as bright!

One Scary Place

We really like our house. It had to be a gift from God. We are just taking care of it for Him. We are purely stewards of what He has entrusted us with at this point in our lives. One day someone else will live in it, but right now we are the occupants. Thank you Lord.

My favorite rooms in our home are the den, where we spend most of the time, followed by the master bedroom, bath, and kitchen. We don't eat many meals in the dining room and I don't get to the other side of the house very often, except when I am emptying trash cans. I used to spend some time in the office, but since I bought the laptop, I'm not back there very much. But, there is another room that I want to tell you about.

We have a walk-in pantry that Patti really enjoys. I was standing in it the other night and I thought, "This is one scary room." I try to stay out of that room, but sometimes you can't avoid it. What is wrong with it? It is jam-packed with a year's supply of everything. I probably don't know everything that is in there. The scariest part are the shelves right in front of where you are standing. It is a giant "seasoning" area. There is every kind of spice you can think of. They are able to "walk off" the shelf so easily. Have you ever seen a floor full of red pepper mixed with all-spice?

Most people whose lives are out of balance, or who may not be living up to the Christian life that they could be living, all have a room like the pantry. It looks like a pantry, it smells like a pantry, and it is arranged like a pantry, but something is scary about the room. Maybe it needs to be re-organized and some thing thrown out. Maybe there are old things in there that need to be replaced with the things that would seem new. Sometimes our lives need a fresh spring cleaning where we get rid of the old and replace it with the new.

The "room" in our lives is turned into what it should have been all along.

A Couple of Goals Before School Starts

School starts Monday. At last count I will have 77 students and saw some of them at "Meet the Teacher Night" this past Thursday night. Most looked like they had grown 3-4 inches and looked older facially. I look forward to seeing then in class on Monday morning.

I had three goals the past three weeks. One was to be ready for school to start, the second was to read Daniel Silva's new book, The Defector, and three was to finish designing a new assimilation thrust for the church. Let me tell you how I've done.

First, I've spent hours creating a six-year Bible plan for our junior and senior high classes. It begins with three basic courses for seventh graders, progresses to Bible book studies through eleventh grade, and culminates with a special year of course for seniors.

I designed a Biblical Backgrounds class for our new seventh graders, planned special projects for junior and senior high, and completed all the administrative start-up duties. I think I am close to being ready.

Second, I read The Defector, by my favorite author, Daniel Silva. Lest you think that he is the only one that I read, these are my other favorites as follows:

Vince Flynn

John Lescroart

Robin Cook

David Baldacci

Stephen Coonts

Steve Martini

Robert Ludlum

Jack Higgins

Patricia Cornwell

Allan Folsom

Patrick Robinson

I have just started The Assassin by Stephen Coonts and one of Patrick Robinson's books is waiting in the wings.  I try to read most of these authors each year.

Anyway, back to The Defector by Silva. It is the best Thriller that I've read in the past two decades. It is Daniel Silva's best yet obviously. I am not one of these armchair critics. I don't even deserve to critique any of these writers, especially Daniel Silva. I 'll just tell it from the heart.

Silva always does a terrific job of researching for his books. It is so obvious that any reader just knows it, even if it never crossed your mind when you read another author. I am also amazed at how he develops his characters. They come to life and have great depth. Silva spins a story that will keep the reader spellbound and not wanting to put the book down. I feel like I know his characters and can picture them in a movie. His settings are so real that they can likewise be visualized easily.  Daniel Silva is one of those rare mystery authors who really pulls the story together in the last 75+ pages. Most authors seem to rush the ending and sometimes it is so abrupt it leaves you in shock. You will we amazed at what the author does with two main characters  during the last few chapters. It is just one of the best novels that I've read in recent years.

If you want to have a good read this fall, pick up a copy of The defector and you will not be disappointed. You will probably start reading Silva and may even attend his book signing next July in Houston. It was a great way to end the summer.

Third, I did the basic design of our new Assimilation Thrust while I was on vacation, but now I have it all on paper. This thrust will affect how we relate to guests, regular attenders, and potential members. It will lead us into our discipleship program for spiritual growth.

Today I wrote up final drafts of the communication tools we will be using with our new targets. Now they will be put on the computer for easy access. Then we will need to enlist some needed workers and get ready for implementation the week of September 13. I am pleased with the way it looks on paper, but workers and implementation will be the key to success.

This has been a good summer, but it is just about over. New challenges and opportunities lie ahead.  The same holds true for you. Keep your eyes open.

The journey today took me to the pool.  I had been walking on the beach 2+ miles a day, but today was our last day and I decided to devote all day at the pool.

I took my new novel, The Defector, by Daniel Silva, with me to the pool.  I would read for awhile, speed some time in the pool, and then lay in the sun.  It was great.

We met a couple from Texarkana this afternoon.  They grew up in Texarkana, so it was like 'ol home week around the pool. It was a wonderful time talking about our time there from 1982-1990, people that we both knew, and what was going on there since we left.

We are just about ready to leave for an early dinner.  It is our last night in Orange Beach.  Tomorrow I head home.  Patti will stay until Monday morning.  Our family has had a great time together. It just went by way too fast. Wish I had one more week of this, but I do feel rested and ready to begin teaching again.

I hope you have a chance to take a break sometime soon.  At least make it a long weekend away from the everyday grind.  Get your batteries recharged and maybe you will even look at things differently.

A Need for Change

If you are over 40 years of age and still functioning, we've got a problem. If we don't do something about it, we will end up leaving it for our grandchildren and I'm not talking about our national debt.

If you are over 40 years of age, we all have something in common with each other. It is how we relate to a world that is living increasingly without Christ.  Sometime in our lifetime we were exposed to the church being in a building and a popular movie told us to "build it and they would come".  We've been waiting ever since!

Around the same time in our lives we were exposed to Relational Evangelism, but we said, "If Evangelism Explosion was good enough for the 70's, it's good enough for the 80's and 90's."

By the 90's we thought that a vital Children's Ministry would bring them in and it did, but we didn't know what to do with the parents, except put them in an unpopular Sunday morning study, or put them to work helping out in what??? The Children's Ministry.  We thought the parents had not had enough of the kids during the week and surely would not want some adult time. Maybe we just needed vast numbers of parents to make it work.

Now, I've said a lot of this with "tongue in cheek". I wish it was as simple as I've stated it.  A whole book could be written about our transition from the 70's to late in the first decade of the 21st century.  What bothers me is that the gap between us Christians and the world is widening!

Today there are a lot of 20 and 30 Somethings who have never been to church. Their children will not go to church unless something profound happens.  If they are lucky, maybe a high school campus ministry will reach them, but if we wait for them like we've done for so long, our churches will not reach them. 

We, the over 40 crowd in our churches, have got to change. We have got to start going to them.  We need to know how to welcome people to our churches, but that is only if someone is coming, or there is a chance that someone will come.  As my son-in-law, Steve Corn, would say, "We need to become "The Welcomed".  That will only happen if we are going out into the marketplace and creating such a love that they will be glad to have you around them.  

I'm sure I'll have more to say about this in the days ahead.  Until then, think about what the lost around you need. Obviously, it is Jesus, so don't go there. That is a given.  Don't tell me church.  They don't know that they need the "family" and there are some families they would do better without.  The question is--what do they need and how do we get an audience to be the provider??

Life Is Often Not As It Seems

This is vacation week at Orange Beach, Alabama and today was golf day at Craft Farms. My son, Jared and I had a reservation for an 8:00 tee time.  We had a great breakfast in the club house before we went out. It was a wonderful start to a day on a resort golf course.

[You may remember that one of my summer goals was to play golf with some regularity to see if I could improve with at least two rounds a week.  I can't say that I really improved this summer like I expected to do. I always wondered what kind of a golfer I could be with some kind of regular play. Disappointingly, I think that I know.]

Jared and I went to the driving range and hit a few balls to get warmed up.  I was hitting a utility club like I owned it, straight as an arrow.  I felt pretty good, even though I had not played in 2-3 weeks.  I was ready to tackle a course that was in absolute top condition.

I hit my opening drive down the middle. My second shot dribbled into a fairway bunker. The third shot made it to the front of the bunker. A fourth shot within pitching distance to the green and a fifth shot to the apron of the green. Add two putts and you've got a triple bogey 7!

The next seven holes were more of the same with triple bogeys on six of the seven. I never played the ninth hole, but with a triple bogey on it, I would have shot a 62.  I could not stop from picking up my left foot during my swing. I struggled with it all summer. My highest score ever was a 63 when I was 12 years old.  I "caddied" for Jared the rest of the way around.  I can't ever remember quitting in the middle of a round...ever!

Maybe 52 years of not being able to play golf regularly is enough. After playing this summer, maybe regular play would not have improved me either. I always pictured myself in retirement like these old men that you see hitting the ball about 150 yards straight down the fairway, never getting the ball more than 50 feet high. They would usually score bogeys, with a few pars and a double bogey.  I no longer see that. Maybe I just need to find something better to do with my time and money.

It was bitter sweet leaving the golf course today. It was sort of like leaving a job on the last day. You knew what you had experienced, but did not have a good, clear image of what was to come. Now I'll have to find something that Jared and I can do together. I'm sure we will find something.

What I experienced today is part of the journey that we call life.  I will miss the idea of playing golf, but not like I was playing. I can leave that behind. What about you? Has anything in your life changed this summer and you know that it will never be the same again? But, need I remind you that it can be better!

The Passion of Silva Followers

I attended the Daniel Silva book signing today at Murder By the Book bookstore in Houston.  It is usually SRO at one of these events, so today I arrived one hour before Mr. Silva would speak. The place was packed out one hour before the event time. I could not believe it.  

I bought a book and was given #77--meaning I was the 77th book they had sold and there would be 76 ahead of me for book signing. There was a maximum of three former books and as many of the current as you purchased.  Looked like it could be a long wait when we got to that point.

I found a fairly good place to stand, but it was still 50 minutes before the start time. While waiting, I found out that people started gathering three hours before the event.  The room could have been filled in the first hour with two more hours to go. That was amazing to me that people would gather for a seat three hours before Daniel Silva would arrive.

Who were those folks that got to the bookstore so early?  They were educated, fairly affluent, well-read (besides mystery novels) highly communicative, and very knowledgeable about the writing of Daniel Silva.  They were "disciples" of the author to the utmost degree.  I felt at home amidst these folks because we all had something in common.

I am not sure if I have ever witnessed Christ followers arriving for Bible study or worship three hours in advance. I know what you are thinking...in the church we always have adequate seating. No, it was more than that. They love Daniel Silva.  He's my favorite author, but he has not changed my life! I enjoy reading his novels, in fact I will take the new one with me on vacation, but it is a far cry from God's Word.

The Silva followers love to have their books signed by the author.  They thank him for a certain character in his books.  I don't think I've ever heard anyone pray, "Lord, thank you so much for giving us Peter. You will never know the impact he has had on my life."  They buy multiple books as gifts.  Many had three and four new books at about $29 per book.  I wonder how many people in my church bought a hardback study Bible this week for one of their family members or friends?

The folks that I've been talking about would make great believers.  We, the church, are missing out on that kind of passion.  How can we ignite those around us to have that kind of passion?  It would change our world.  

Family Makes the Difference in Life

What got me hooked on conspiracy mysteries?  I read part of Seven Days in May many, many years ago and then saw the movie.  I was immediately absorbed in political intrigue and any story that dealt with Washington, D.C.  Then, about 15 years ago I began to read novels and it was all a result of Seven Days in May.

If I started writing a non-fiction piece tonight, it would probably be titled Five Days in July, because I just had five wonderful days this week. 

On Tuesday I took my grandson, Reid, to the Houston Zoo.  We had a ball and Reid knew exactly what he wanted to see.  The weather was hot, with a slight breeze, but we started the day at 9:00 a.m.  We saw lazy lions, sleepy tigers, elephants getting a bath, monkeys eating breakfast, and so much more. We ended out day out at Chick-fil-A.

On Wednesday Miranda, Steve, Kason, and Kesleigh spent the night with me.  We had a great time.

On Thursday, the Corns, the Mathews, and I went to the Circus.  We took the kids for an up close and personal look at the animals before the circus performance.  Then we watched a great two-hour presentation by Ringling Bros./Barnum and Bailey.  We all felt that we really got our money's worth.  We went to a late lunch at Moonya's.

On Thursday night everybody was at my house for dinner.  I cooked steaks with a special Caribbean rub and Miranda fixed the rest of the dinner inside.  It was good, but the time together was even better.

On Friday Steve ran errands with me most of the afternoon.  Miranda  had a GNO so the guys had the children.  We ate leftover steaks and the trimmings, put the kids to bed and watched a movie.  Miranda and her Girls Night Out gals came home about 10:00.  We stayed up until  after 11:30 just talking.  It was all good!

Today we got up and Miranda supplied us with Shipley doughnuts.  Everybody left around noon and now it is sooooooo quiet!  It was five really great days though.  Now I am doing a little catch-up and it is all good too. 

Tomorrow my favorite author will be in town for a book signing.  Guess where I will be going?  To Murder By the Book, a bookstore in the Rice U. area.  My favorite author is Daniel Silva.  He always spends about an hour sharing info about his new book and following is the actual book signing.  It is strictly standing room only, so I am going early to get a seat. I always look forward to Silva's down to earth presentation about his preparation, research, characters, and other wonderful tidbits.

So much about me...how is your week progressing?  I hope it has been as good as mine!