Someone called one of the morning sports talk shows I listen to on Tuesday. It was the day after the men’s NCAA championship and she wanted to talk some women’s hoops. Mistake number one. Apparently the Final Four was in Tampa this year. Who knew? Needless to say her air time was short lived.

Most dudes I know don’t watch, follow, or care about women’s basketball. My reasoning is this: I don’t want to watch a slower game in which layups make the highlight reel. I can lay it up. I can’t dunk. I want to watch people do something I can’t do (I know several women can dunk, but it doesn’t look nearly as cool).

Regardless, most men don’t respect what women can do on the basketball court. But when it comes to the church, men must be careful not to take the same approach. As much as I don’t like watching (I’m not arguing against its existence!) women’s basketball, the opposite could be said of how highly I view women in the church.

I’ve personally been blessed by women in the church throughout my life. Obviously my mother has played a huge part in my life, as has my grandmother. But there have also been some more obscure folks who’ve just been around me for a season. One particular lady about 8 years ago listened to me when I was at my lowest battling anxiety. And on another occasion she flat out rebuked me for speaking against my church. I’ll never forget that-I needed it!

Just thinking about my own church now, I’m thankful for all of the “women’s work.” In addition to shepherding their own children, women here have taken initiative in ministry, reached out to neighbors, led discussions and bible studies, mentored others, served behind the scenes, shown mercy to those who didn’t deserve mercy, provided me necessary encouragement at just the right time, etc….Without women serving in the church, we would miss so much that only women bring to the table. I don’t think I could be part of a church that didn’t hold a high view of women, and recognized the necessity of them being actively involved in the ministry of the church.

According to Randy Greenwald, last week we had an excorcism of sorts. Our friends with the spray paint were back to leave us a clever little message on our church sign: “Satan.” Actually come to think of it, they could have thought of something more original. A lot more original. Nevertheless, I shan’t judge them by their lack of originality. They’re probably just kids, eh?

Regardless, what was really quite encouraging was how one chap exorcised our demons (or the biggest demon of all) for us. He actually is a member of our sister church Cornerstone of Lakewood Ranch, and the reason we know this is because someone ‘busted’ him removing “Satan” from our sign.

He lived in the area and saw a need, knew how to erase the paint, and ‘got to it.’ Unprovoked, unasked, he just saw the need, felt the passion, and served. This ‘grassroots’ desire to serve is exactly what we hope to see at Hope, and at any church for that matter. People who see needs within the church and in the community, have a passion to meet those needs (and take some others with them), and simply ‘get to it.’

So in light of one of my posts a week or two ago, “We salute you, Mr. Unasked Satan Spray paint remover guy.”

If you are debating whether or not to have, or when to have kids, don’t go to the mall. Amy and I are having a kid, and are really excited, but our recent trip to the mall gave us something to think about. Or rather worry about.

First there were the teenage girls wearing long belts for shorts and giving their breasts as much oxygen as possible. I guess these girls fear that if their breasts don’t get enough oxygen, they’ll turn blue or something. But that’s really not true-they’ll be just fine if fully covered. Nevertheless we really did feel compassion for these girls. Seriously.

Next we saw many dudes that looked like, well, like I would not want my kid looking. I’ll never get the skin tight jeans that dudes wear these days. The jeans we saw even tapered at the bottom, just to make sure the ankles were included in the tightness.

We of course had ideas of how we wouldn’t let our daughter out of the house looking like that and how our boy could buy those tight jeans with his own money. But I really discovered a lot more about myself than just future parenting strategies.

Amy and I were expressing the difference between compassion and prejudice. For the most part (our motives are never 100% pure), we felt compassion on these girls because they had fallen prey to a worldly picture of how girls should act, interact, dress, etc…Their lack of clothes expressed more than a fashion statement. Jesus had compassion on those who had no shepherd but the status quo.

For the lads, I saw their tight jeans and immediately judged them. Simply by their appearance and nothing else. My evaluation of them had nothing to do with their heart. I was concerned my child would one day look like them. This exposed to me how I was way different than Jesus. He hung around folks who didn’t look socially acceptable. And he rebuked those who did look good on the outside.

So I had to repent and realize that while tight jeans are not my style, they are not inherently sinful. Not my taste, but not sinful like my own judgmental heart. Things I learned at the mall.

One of the reasons why I needed to get back from vacation was because of a Candidates Committee meeting. I’m the chair of the committee, so it doesn’t look good when I skip it; and I’m not really sure if that’s a possibility anyway. Anyhow, our committee oversees (the best we can) potential ministers who spend time developing their gifts in their respective churches for a season.

In addition to tough oral examinations which require extensive study (so that the minister can articulate difficult theological truths, not just know them), the candidate has to do an internship lasting the equivalent of a year. It is during this time when his gifts are developed, tested, discovered, etc….It may be that the candidate may find things he is not gifted in at all and that may affect his ministry direction. And vice versa.

That’s why its so important to surround this candidate with people who can speak love and truth into his life. What gifts does he display? What are his weaknesses? How are those gifts being developed and tweaked? He can’t do this on his own.

A self-evaluation misses tons of stuff. I mean you really don’t know your weaknesses and strengths, nor can you tell what needs to be improved, perpetuated, dropped unless you have people involved in your life. Ignoring and seeking this feedback time is quite comfortable, but also quite irresponsible.

More than just having a ‘feeling of calling’ or folks who simply say, “You’re our man,” without a season of testing and developing, the candidate can say, “God’s people have seen proof that He has indeed called and gifted me for ministry.” Having this season benefits both the church and pastor, particularly in tough seasons that will certainly lay ahead.

Well, we’re back from St. Augustine and thankful for the ‘mini’-vacation. Always nice to get away for a bit and feel refreshed. Neither of us slept all that well, both because of me. Amy’s pregnancy kept her up, and eating late night white-chocolate peanut butter fudge wasn’t a good idea for me.

Anyhow, I do want to make one last post about the city we left behind. Perhaps the most famous (and my favorite) part of St. Augustine is the fort, also known as Castillo de San Marcos. The cool thing about the fort is that it was attacked numerous times, and even flew several different flags. But those different flags were not the result of breaching the fort. Each one came about by treaty.

The fort was never taken. Even a month’s worth of British canon balls in the 1700’s didn’t do the trick.

The fort was constructed exclusively from coquina: a local rock, fairly soft, and loaded with shells. So when folks fired canon balls, the walls of the fort would literally ‘suck’ them in and be no worse for wear. I can only imagine the frustration of soldiers firing those things for a month.

The bible describes God as a refuge and fortress. Forts today are cool, but they are no big deal. We don’t really need them, so they’re just cool or interesting. Yet for several hundred or so, several hundred years ago, this fort would have been more than a cool thing. It would have been shelter. It would have been a refuge. Folks and even their livestock fled there and found safety during attacks.

Looking at the fort as a monument (knowledge about) and looking at the fort as a refuge (experiential) would give one a totally different perspective. Often times God throws stuff our way so that we would stop simply reading about Him (still a good thing to read the bible, books, blogs, etc…) and start experiencing Him as a refuge. Coming to him out of interest is different than coming out of great need.

But we’re always needy, just sometimes we don’t realize it. However when attacks come, we realize our need, and get to experience and find delight in God as our refuge.

We’re about to check out of our 30 square foot room in about 10 minutes. The stay was nice. The owner of the bed and breakfast was not nice. How do you run a B&B and not be friendly?

Fortunately the Breakfast was also nice. And so were the people eating it (not just Amy and myself). Some of the folks from yesterday were back eating with us this morning. I made the mistake of asking how the Ghost Tour was last night. He then proceeded to tell me of all the ghostly encounters of his own life. Ghosts from both sides of the family. I thought he might stop after one. Then two. Then three. Then four. Then back to the first.

I learned a lot about my listening skills. They are for from perfect. They are far from good, especially when it is material (or immaterial in this case) I don’t care about. But I think we’re supposed to listen as best we can. Why would James 1 tell us to be quick to listen about things we already are ‘in to?’ And I don’t think he’s only referring to sermons or alluding to fishing shows-both of which are easier to listen to then this man.

If nothing else, listening may give us a not-so-abrupt way to change the conversation. And maybe the ‘conversation leap’ from spirits to the Holy Spirit won’t be so large.

Today was a fairly active day, at least fairly active for someone with only 7 weeks left to deliver. We learned a lot about this amazing town, much of which I’d love to share in a different format. Maybe through “face-talking.” Also known simply as talking, or conversation. Someone actually called it that. Crazy.

But for now, I think I know who to ‘blame’ for the phenomenon of Florida winter residence. It is kind of a phenomenon really, even though animals do it. But they don’t have the benefit of actual shelter, heating, grocery stores and the like.

Anyhow, Henry Flagler may be the father of this phenomenon, or behavior, if you want to call it that. In the late 1800’s, Flagler, co-founder of the lucrative Standard Oil Company, erected the lavish, ahead of the times, colossal hotel Ponce de Leon.

If you were loaded, you could come down to this hotel. The catch? You had to stay from January through March. Even if it wasn’t a leap year, that’s a long time. Of course you didn’t have to stay (it wasn’t the Hotel California), but you had to pay for the whole three months up front with cash. So rich northerners often ended up staying the whole three months.

Eventually the Great Depression hit and the hotel lost its luster a bit. But then cold fronts hit too and people made their way farther south. Winter residence soon became a way of life for more than just the wealthy-although I’m still not exactly sure how people swing that. Anyhow, I just found it interesting that Flagler gets credit for a lot of stuff, but not this. He may deserve more credit for other things as well. Amy and I found it interesting since both of us grew up not really hearing much about ‘winter residence.’

Amy and I have finally arrived to the destination of our final pre-baby vacation: a bed and breakfast in St. Augustine. To lessen the chances of being followed by the paparazzi (I spelled that word right on the 2nd try), I checked in under the name of Ron Mexico, since I knew Michael Vick won’t be using that alias for a while.

So far the area looks really old and really cool. Our 30 square foot room should encourage us to take plenty of advantage of the sights instead of lounging around in the room and watching the 9 inch TV.

St. Augustine is the oldest city in the America. And as much as new things tantalize us (I’m blogging just a hundred or so yards away from the old spanish fort), most folks are somewhat attracted by antiquity. This is especially true today: one benefit of our post-modern times.

Though some folks now prefer hymns to newer “guitar-ish” arrangements, one thing that all hymn appreciators-if not aficionados-can agree upon is their rich lyrical heritage.

Now I’m not bashing new worship music. I am saying that just as many folks appreciate historical monuments, more and more people are now appreciating a personal AND historic faith through the vehicle of some great hymns. It’s one way in which we express (and possibly feel) connection to those saints who’ve gone before us. The Church doesn’t have to sing all, or even any of the same songs as they did, but I think singing at least some of those songs helps us realize we are part of the same great story that has been going on for a long time.

In regards to a previous post on licking door knobs, I felt my readers deserved an updated report. The young lad who fell prey to the great temptation of licking door knobs has been out sick the past few days. We’re currently unable to do a biopsy on him to tell if his sickness had anything to do with a week’s worth of door knob licking. However, it is believed (by me) that licking door knobs did play a part. But I do confess that I’m no doctor. He should be fully recovered by the end of Spring Break, back to school, and hopefully keeping his distance from knobs.

On Friday night I DVR’d a special on prostitution in America. It was pretty darn sad of course. And I guess informative. My favorite part was Diane Sawyer’s concluding remarks. She said something to the effect of, “In light of this being Good Friday, let us remember Jesus’ words to the woman caught in adultery, ‘Let he is without sin, cast the first stone.'”

Now she does have a good point. I need Jesus just as much as those prostitutes. And you do too. If you don’t think so after Sunday, I didn’t do a good job preaching on this subject-or you weren’t there, or weren’t listening. In the latter case it would be your fault, not mine.

Perhaps one of the purposes of the special was to challenge people to respond with compassion instead of condemnation. In that case it worked. I felt sad for these women. Only one really thought it was a noble profession. But I felt saddest for those who left the lifestyle and then returned to it. They tasted freedom and then went back to slavery.

Yet I found those closing words from Diane most thought provoking. People like Jesus’ words when they support their agenda. But they can’t take much of what Jesus says about Hell, or himself being the only way to salvation. These are far less popular, and consequently less quoted.

Now I do like Diane Sawyer the reporter and interviewer. But I have actually seen her oppose any sort of exclusive faith claims before so I know for a fact she wouldn’t be caught dead quoting John 14:6.

But are we that much different than Diane? We may use some more verses, but there’s probably plenty we tend to leave out of our repertoire. Solution? Regularly read the gospels.