I finished up my “preaching tour” of the Southwest, well Southwest FL Presbytery. I had a few “home games” and a few “away games.” I finished up the tour on the road in Riverview, FL. Before the worship service officially started, we had the opportunity of hearing how God had impacted middle school youth group on their week long camp last week.

One of the little lads exclaimed, like the 80’s smash hit-though he probably wasn’t quoting it, because I’m sure had never heard of it or Dirty Dancing-“I had the time of my life.” He said it was the best week of his whole life.

He had been challenged greatly and wanted to learn how to live out his faith, “sticking out” among other simply by his life. Then he told the congregation something to the effect of, “I want to be able to share my faith with my friends, but I have no idea what to do. If anyone wants to help me, you know where to find me…”

I was blown away. What humility to confess weakness, uncertainty, and the need for his community to assist him. I assured him I often feel the same way about evangelsim and a lot of other things, and I have to ask for help often. I of course used him as an example of the need for discipleship. But I what alluded to was his attitude. What would churches be like if not only youth, but adults were to embrace his posture? I want to grow, and I would love for someone in particular, and my church community in general, to assist me in that discipleship. I really wanted to go over there and hug that kid. But I think he would have thought I was a bit weird. Maybe next time I will, knowing that he’d be in good company.

Here’s a short video of Connar using his new “bumbo.” Unfortunately he thinks its a toilet.

Last night Amy and I had a hot date. Literally. We went to a free screening of a movie called Fireproof at a place called Marriage Works (a marital ministry that looked pretty cool) in Bradenton. Because I’m some big shot pastor (yeah right), people can get a hold of my email without too much homework. I’m assuming this ministry sent out a ton of emails to people in the area asking if they would be interested in a free screening of this movie. And free Chick-Fil-A. Oh, about the “hot part.” It was way hot with all the pastors, ministry, and community leaders crammed into the room.

From the people who brought you Facing the Giants comes Fireproof. Some time in September for the lay folk. Sorry for bragging. The plot takes you inside the struggling marriage of a fire fighter who encounters the gospel and the possibility of a renewed marriage. I was skeptical of how much Amy and I would enjoy it, since I don’t really like “Christian” movies-though I did like Midnight Clear which I saw a few weeks ago on recommendation from a friend. I actually did like it. I was drawn into the story, which I guess is what makes a movie “good,” at least in part.

The acting was fairly bad and the jokes were cheesy. But I still laughed. If I told you Stephen Baldwin was NOT in it, then can you guess who played the fire fighter? Its a no-brainer. Yep, Kirk Cameron. He was decent, I thought.

We had to fill out cards at the end which indicated whether or not it would be a good outreach movie. Sending non-Christians to movies to hear the gospel may work. But I can’t imagine sending my kayak fishing buddies to it though. But maybe a neighbor or two.

My view of evangelism takes place in relationships, hospitality, and community, as opposed to in a theater. Why can’t I just tell them myself? But do I?

When I left, I realized that many attending that night WERE those type of people who would bring their unbelieving friends to such a movie. And that’s good. People will hear the gospel. But what would I do? I can say that I believe the gospel is to be proclaimed in relationships, in hospitality, in dialog, in mercy, etc…But if I never actually verbally discuss, speak to, investigate with, or preach (at church by bringing folks) the content of the gospel, and the response of repentance and faith, then my style of evangelism is not really evangelism. That hit me hard.

I have a few folks in mine that I could bring with/send to a movie like this. But otherwise, our hot date really challenged me to be more intentional in seeking opportunities to dialog with and discuss the content of the gospel.

I’m pretty excited about Connar’s sleeping. He went 6 hours last night between feedings! From 12:00-6:00 am. Unfortunately he sleeps like the Bucs played after they won their Super Bowl in 2003. He has yet to put back-to-back “wins” together and will probably go for three hours tonight. But there’s some promise….

Anyhow, one thing we do to try to calm him and make him sleepy is to use the pacifier. It has quite the soporific effect. Sometimes Connar loves the pacifier. Sometimes he spits it out. And as soon as he spits it out, he wants it back in. He enjoys the pacifier, then spits it back out. And sometimes he won’t take it at all.

I think Connar’s use of the pacifier parallels our own desire for intimacy and relationship. At some levels, we crave intimacy. To be known, to be known deeply. Yet we are scared to be known because we don’t want people to really know our thoughts and hearts. Their filled with all kinds of stuff. We’re ashamed, and so we pull away. And yet don’t want to be unknown and so we draw close only to spit the relational pacifier right back out. Sometimes we don’t want to have anything to do with intimacy.

We were created for relationship and intimacy because we are created in God’s image. Because God is Trinitarian (deep relational intimacy existing among Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and we’re made to reflect something about Him, we obviously are made for relationships and intimacy. Yet sin entered the world and Adam and Eve hid from God and each other by covering themselves with leaves. They spit the proverbial first pacifier out on the ground. And we’ve been spitting it out, and crying for it to be put back in, and enjoying it, and then spitting it out again, and refusing it back. And so goes the pacifier cycle.

I was listening to my sermon introduction from Sunday yesterday and something stood out. I would like to clarify something, particularly in light of my “Holy Spirit Trump Card” post. I truly did feel led by the Spirit to preach on the specific parable of the unmerciful servant. Allow me to explain myself.

Since I’m not going verse by verse through a particular book in the bible like I normally do, I’ve been preaching through the parables. So I’ve limited myself to choosing from those parables. Since I’m not going to re-preach the same parable, and there are several similar parables, that leaves a select number to choose from. Within that pool, I looked at a few parables but kept finding myself strangely drawn to the parable of the unmerciful servant. So I said that I “felt led” by the Spirit to preach that passage. I believe that God was leading me to preach that passage. I didn’t just open up the bible, close my eyes, and see where my finger landed.

The reason I feel the need to explain myself is because “feeling led” is WAY different than saying, “God told me to say this to you, and you cannot question it!” I’m not a prophet, and I don’t think you’re one either. However if you say, “I feel led,” then we can talk. Maybe you’re right, maybe not; that’s why we have community. Maybe the Spirit didn’t lead me to this passage specifically. But I certainly didn’t want to preach on this difficult passage and pleaded with God for wisdom, and that he would not allow any personal hidden agenda to get in the way. And since he plainly states in James 1 that he gives wisdom generously to those who ask, I’ll believe He led me to this passage. Of course with the full awareness that I can be mistaken. Yet its no different than all of us being led each day to figure out when to speak, when to shut up, when to share the actual content of gospel, when to just listen, when to hug, when to speak boldly, etc…

Regardless, God’s word is useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness. So if I were wrong, certainly there would be no harm, no foul.

Someone really liked my unconventional methods for interrogation/torture for terrorists. Just read the “Slightly cruel but certainly unusual post.” Only for terrorists mind you, not for Yankees or Red Sox fans-though that is tempting. And he suggested I run for president; I assumed of the U.S., since I’m a citizen here. Have been since birth.

Well, apparently word has spread quickly and now it looks like it might not be a simple McCain vs. Obama race. Now it’s a three-way race with “Henderson” smack dab in the middle of it. A news channel 3 out of New York has already run a special report. Click on the picture below to check it out. I’ve got work to do for sure.

One thing that people remember most easily from a sermon is an illustration. So if a preacher can give a good illustration, he can be more confident that the truth will be more ‘accessible’ to the hearer throughout the week. Obviously the HS is the one who will convict and apply, but the pastor is called to be a ‘workman’ and has the responsibility to illustrate and apply the truth-not simply explain what the passage means (that’s the first part).

One preacher who uses them as well as anyone to communicate deep biblical truth is Jean Larroux, pastor of Lagniappe Pres. His stories connect you to him, and then he points you to really deep and challenging truths. A good illustration connects the hearer with the preacher. From there he can more effectively lead him/her to drink more deeply from Christ. And since Jesus, the prophets, and Paul all made use of illustration (for teaching, correcting, rebuking, training in righteousness), Jean is in good company.

And you know you’re a gifted preacher when folks can do fine with only the audio. A lot of communication is non-verbal, but I don’t feel like I’m missing that much by not being present. And since Jean didn’t preach when we visited Lagniappe on our mission trip last year, I don’t know what I’m missing (since I’ve never had a visual).

Amy and I have really been ‘enjoying’ (being challenged as well as encouraged) his sermon series on The Lord’s Prayer. I-pods are great. He’s called this payer the hardest prayer you’ll ever pray. And so far he’s “backed it up” from the passage. This one is on “Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven” but you can also click here to find more with their podcast. I often use these sermons for my devotional time on Mondays.

As a Bucs fan, its nice to see Brett Favre not go back to Green Bay. As a football fan, it would be sad to see him leave. In case you haven’t heard (and that would mean that you don’t care-in which case this little parenthetical and entire sentence would be mute so I’ll stop typing), Favre retired back in March, but now is saying that he was ‘pressured’ for a decision to retire. I guess by pressure, Favre meant that they wouldn’t let him wait until training camp to give them a decision! Of course the Packers say something entirely different. Is one side lying? Did one or both parties misunderstand each other? Happens a lot, but I really don’t care about it in this case.

Favre is free to un-retire. That’s his prerogative. And because of all that he’s done for the Packers, they probably ought to release him. But the question of why he is choosing to un-retire is the subject of my thoughts this lovely morning.

I’m no mind or heart reader, so I’ll not accuse the lad of anything specific, but rather try to speak in ‘generals.’ I don’t want him talking to Gretta van Susteren-yes he went on her show yesterday-about me.

For anyone who is an athlete, at least a football player, the training is year round. And for someone who is 38 years old, Favre has probably played football for 30 years. Probably close to 16 at the professional level. When you do something that people praise you for, for that long, you will become tempted to be defined by it. It’s WHO you are. It’s WHO you have been. When you quit, you’re not a football player anymore. I think that’s why its so hard for some folks to quit. So they often play for a different team at the end of their careers and end up not doing anyone any favors.

But its really kind of sad. Not so much for their legacy, but (again I’m just saying this could be the case for some; after all its the tendency of the human heart) because folks are easily enslaved to this definition. It’s their identity. How can I be someone else? Someone who is not a football player?

Now some folks can become coaches, but they will NEVER be able to define themselves anymore by the title of “Football player.” And so the search is on for a new definition, a new identity.

It happens with all of us. The mother who has finished raising her kids (and has done well), the man approaching retirement, the athlete forced to retire early due to injury. Few identities will stand the test of time (such as athlete, mother, employee, pastor, etc…) and all fall short as idols. Our only secure identity is that of child of God. We can’t be taken out of His hands, so that’s a pretty safe one to stick with.

Some folks have problems with torture being used to get important info out of terrorists. I haven’t given it a ton of thought, so I won’t really take a stab at defending a particular side.

When we think of cruel and unusual punishment, does that then give our government the right to use punishment if something is unusual but not cruel? Can something be unusual but not cruel? And would we be open to trying something that is slightly cruel but certainly unusual? Here’s what I’m thinking.

I don’t know how successful our present torture tactics are-not to mention I’m sure they’re cruel, and perhaps unusual. But I have another idea that might be cruel enough-but not too cruel-and perhaps effective.

What if terrorists were forced to watch really bad movies? What if they were forced to watch Mama Mia, the musical based on Abba’s hits? I can’t think of any more painful way to spend 2 hours. Or what about Kevin Costner’s Waterworld, Shaq’s Kazaam (yes, the same Shaq)? Or Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s smash hit Gigli? Or From Justin to Kelly? Or Paris Hilton’s The Hottie and the Nottie?

Perhaps both parties could rally around this approach. But of course then there might be disagreement on which movies to show. But I bet watching hours of terrible movies like the aforementioned could really shake some security secrets loose. If I’ve missed any movies that are bad enough to be helpful, please comment.

There have been a lot of things associated with our economy lately: lower home values, higher gas prices, and lower divorce rates. Could a bad economy actually help marriages? The latter initially surprised me and the subject of a brief spot on The Today Show: divorce rates in certain places were in fact down. In Dade County they were down something like 19%. Is the love in the air? Have people begun to take wedding vows more seriously? Not really, but maybe inadvertently.

The most likely explanation is the housing market. Since a divorce would require the selling of assets, and the house is the most valuable asset, and since that value has drastically decreased, people are holding off on divorce.

Perhaps many of these marriages will continue on miserably until the economy picks up. And then they can cash in. But one psychologist did admit that the slow housing market might be helping marriages in some cases. Some folks are actually seeking counseling to save their marriages. Instead of trying get out quickly, many are now not responding so hastily. They may be willing to put more worth into their marriages since their other main source of worth isn’t worth as much. Some may end up salvaging their marriages. Who knows?

While their motivation for giving marriages another chance has sprung largely from monetary reasons, that’s still a start. God in His providence may work things into our world, even into our economy, for the good of His children, and even for the good of those outside His Church. After all, he does display goodness, although in different degrees, to both. Remember that the rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous. So does the economy.

Someone the other day told me, “The Holy Spirit told me to say this.” Not an exact quote but close enough. Now it is clear that no one can by the Spirit of Christ say something bad about Christ as well (I Cor 12). So that includes those strange folks that say “Jesus told me to kill that my kids.” Obviously the heard incorrectly.

But what if someone tells me “The Holy Spirit told me such and such,” and that such and such is not contrary to scripture, well then do I have to accept what he/she said as from Mt. Sinai?

I don’t think so. Many people like to play the H.S. card and assume it with such authority as “thus saith the Lord!” I have actually heard that one before as though he had as much authority as Jeremiah or Jesus. I never came back to that meeting again. But how do I know that person really did hear? Better yet, how do they know?

The bible is 100% certainly God’s Word. I know for 100% certainty that lust, adultery, murder, slander is not God’s will or plan for my life. The Holy Spirit confirms that in my daily life. He convicts me of sin. That’s one way in which the Spirit speaks.

However I think a lot of times, people just think or feel something, and that thought or feeling automatically becomes God speaking authoritatively and clearly to them. But I wonder how folks can always be so certain. Could they not have misunderstood? Could it have been indigestion? Could it have simply been something that they just really wanted to do? I think that’s the case more often than not.

I would recommend adopting more of a “feeling led” mentality. I can be mistaken on what I think I feel led to do. You can be correct, and you can be mistaken as well. And that’s OK. We’ve been given the certainty of God’s Word, and the HS to understand and apply it to our lives. And a community to help confirm those applications. So don’t feel bad if you don’t believe the next person that tells you “God told me this or that.” Maybe He did, but maybe He didn’t. The latter is always a possibility.