Here are the Junior Class Powder Puff Game Cheerleaders from Cedarville High at halftime. Can you find my son? Oh the pride we feel!!!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Been down for a while, just like our power
Well, I haven't blogged much the last few weeks--first busyness, then powerlessness. Not some sort of spiritual heavyness, but our electrical power. The remnants of Hurricane Ike blew through Ohio and turned off the lights for most of southern Ohio. Some here in our town still do not have power, eight days later. Internet and email were also down, so there was an enforced silence for some of us, which was actually a benefit in some ways. I couldn't answer emails I didn't receive, nor worry about internet news I couldn't read!
Now the power is back on for us here, and I'll get back to occasional blog entries.
Now the power is back on for us here, and I'll get back to occasional blog entries.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Somebody Needs To Call Their Contractor!
This house was built in Tressheide, Germany as a means of allowing occupants to "view life from a new perspective." It was not the result of a contractor holding the plans upside down. Either way, living there would probably be difficult to get used to.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
From Joel Rosenberg: AL QAEDA TARGETS ARAB EVANGELIST OPERATING IN U.S. FOR PREACHING THE GOSPEL TO MUSLIMS
This story is one that needs to be read and then prayed about. I've read other reports on this brave Coptic priest, Zakaria Botros, who has now fled to the U.S. for his own safety and to continue his work, but this is a great summary. You can find his website here.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
"Thank you."
These two simple words were on my mind as I drove to the Somers’ family home in western Illinois. Being a parsonage, the home not only belonged to the church Al has been serving for eight years, but it spoke of the vocation that had been his calling all of his adult life, and into which he was born during the ministry of his pastor/father.
I knew these two words were terribly inadequate for my task, since what I had to be grateful for and what Al had to do with it encompassed so much about my life that has been good. I also know how much I wanted to say these words now, because Al wouldn’t be here much longer.
Al and Judy were no strangers to adversity and illness. Ministry in hard places and times had been their lot for much of their service. In the midst of these circumstances, they still found many joys and friends along the way. Eight years ago, a diagnosis of incurable leukemia and a painful departure from a long term ministry was coupled with one of their best blessings—a call to serve a church that seemed ideally suited to grow under Al’s pastoral care. The leukemia was controlled, and care seemed to flow as much into Al and Judy’s lives from their congregation as did their care toward the flock. Both thrived.
Then came the news of colon cancer, and the growing realization that it was not going to be overcome as the leukemia had been. Having been told his remaining time would be measured in days and not months, I began to lay plans to pay one final visit to someone who had shaped my life and ministry as much as anyone I have known. I got there just in time.
Al became my youth pastor when I was in 8th grade, and for two years he led our church’s youth ministry. It was one of those churches, that as I look back, put the “fun” in “fundamental,” and Al’s arrival was followed months later by one pastor’s departure, and the arrival of another who didn’t believe in youth pastors. Al soldiered on as best he could, and faithfully led our teens. More than that, he took a personal interest in me that included discipleship training. He was the first to challenge me toward regular Bible study and prayer, and show me ways both to do so and to benefit from the exercise. When the Lord moved him on, we stayed in touch through occasional letters (I was the more frequent writer, but to be fair, he did have a new church to serve). I never had another youth pastor like him, but the seeds he planted took root, and my sense of calling to ministry became clear.
Our correspondence continued through my college years, and took a new turn when one letter offered the possibility of coming to assist him in the church to which he had been called less than a year before. A visit to the church ensued, and my life’s direction changed much more than just geographically.
From the first day as Al’s assistant at First Baptist Church of San Bernardino, I was introduced to ministry through a true apprenticeship. I read Scripture for the first time in a funeral my first week on the job. The first person I baptized was Al—he made me get in the tank and practice on him so I wouldn’t lose anybody when the real thing came along. Back then he had three messages to prepare each week, so he usually asked me to do one. Perhaps his boldest move was to decide that we would preach through books together, with one of us taking a passage, then the other picking up the next week where the first left off. I was going to seminary at the time, and found that Al’s practical training was enriching my class work immeasurably. Few others came into Sermon Preparation class with the experience Al had provided me, and few had the chance to field test what they were learning in school in ministry that was given through Al’s generous investment in me.
What made this even more amazing was the way he and Judy welcomed me into their lives and family. Sunday dinner was always at their house, as well as at least one other meal each week. I got to be more than just a babysitter for their kids—they treated me like a beloved uncle, and I had the joy of entering into their lives—attending soccer games, having them stay at my place, and giving them rides everywhere. When my interest in my wife first developed and deepened, but my demonstrations of my affection were not moving fast enough to seal the deal, it was Judy who told me that I needed to sit with Kathy in church NOW. So I did. Of course, she clued Kathy in on this, to make sure there was room next to her in the pew!
Al married us, and he and Judy sang in the service. Their family continued to be a blessing to us, and when God called us away to my first senior pastorate, Al was instrumental in helping that process, too. As our ministry saw God’s blessing, I was conscious of the fact that much of what I did, I did because Al taught me how to do it. When I did a funeral and people remarked on its poignancy, I knew that it was because Al taught me how to make it personal. When a wedding couple rejoiced in the service they had, it was due in large part to Al’s training in how to put a wedding together.
Until his pastorate at Checkrow, Al’s ministry had usually been in difficult environments. Yet he worked faithfully where God had placed him. After my departure from San Bernardino, Al repeated this apprenticing process in two more men’s lives. For a time, all three of us had more visible fruit in ministry than Al was experiencing. Yet all of us would have to confess that the fruit we saw was not just ours, but Al’s. His commitment to multiplying what God had done in him can be seen in thriving churches and ministries in California, the Midwest, and even overseas, who have never met him.
So I was able to arrive and speak one more time to this man who had given me so much. Judy, Steve, Elizabeth, and I sat around his bed and shared some precious memories and some laughter over the past. He was weak, but he was clear headed, and once again, he blessed me—literally, with a prayer committing me to continuing in God’s service. I prayed for him, too, thanking God through my tears for Al’s life of faithfulness, and asking God to welcome him home soon if a miracle healing was not in store. I told Al that I didn’t know how to say “thank you” for so much to one man in one moment. From a human perspective, he taught me about ministry, he was the reason I met my wife and have my family, and he showed me in practical terms how to walk with God.
I left, and the next day Al was no longer able to speak. He fell asleep Sunday night, August 31; and at 1:00 the next morning, Judy woke up and found that Al had left for Heaven.
I love Al and Judy Somers and their family, and my appreciation for his legacy of faithfulness will continue, in part through me. It is my prayer that I will be found to have been similarly faithful when I join him in the Savior’s presence.
I knew these two words were terribly inadequate for my task, since what I had to be grateful for and what Al had to do with it encompassed so much about my life that has been good. I also know how much I wanted to say these words now, because Al wouldn’t be here much longer.
Al and Judy were no strangers to adversity and illness. Ministry in hard places and times had been their lot for much of their service. In the midst of these circumstances, they still found many joys and friends along the way. Eight years ago, a diagnosis of incurable leukemia and a painful departure from a long term ministry was coupled with one of their best blessings—a call to serve a church that seemed ideally suited to grow under Al’s pastoral care. The leukemia was controlled, and care seemed to flow as much into Al and Judy’s lives from their congregation as did their care toward the flock. Both thrived.
Then came the news of colon cancer, and the growing realization that it was not going to be overcome as the leukemia had been. Having been told his remaining time would be measured in days and not months, I began to lay plans to pay one final visit to someone who had shaped my life and ministry as much as anyone I have known. I got there just in time.
Al became my youth pastor when I was in 8th grade, and for two years he led our church’s youth ministry. It was one of those churches, that as I look back, put the “fun” in “fundamental,” and Al’s arrival was followed months later by one pastor’s departure, and the arrival of another who didn’t believe in youth pastors. Al soldiered on as best he could, and faithfully led our teens. More than that, he took a personal interest in me that included discipleship training. He was the first to challenge me toward regular Bible study and prayer, and show me ways both to do so and to benefit from the exercise. When the Lord moved him on, we stayed in touch through occasional letters (I was the more frequent writer, but to be fair, he did have a new church to serve). I never had another youth pastor like him, but the seeds he planted took root, and my sense of calling to ministry became clear.
Our correspondence continued through my college years, and took a new turn when one letter offered the possibility of coming to assist him in the church to which he had been called less than a year before. A visit to the church ensued, and my life’s direction changed much more than just geographically.
From the first day as Al’s assistant at First Baptist Church of San Bernardino, I was introduced to ministry through a true apprenticeship. I read Scripture for the first time in a funeral my first week on the job. The first person I baptized was Al—he made me get in the tank and practice on him so I wouldn’t lose anybody when the real thing came along. Back then he had three messages to prepare each week, so he usually asked me to do one. Perhaps his boldest move was to decide that we would preach through books together, with one of us taking a passage, then the other picking up the next week where the first left off. I was going to seminary at the time, and found that Al’s practical training was enriching my class work immeasurably. Few others came into Sermon Preparation class with the experience Al had provided me, and few had the chance to field test what they were learning in school in ministry that was given through Al’s generous investment in me.
What made this even more amazing was the way he and Judy welcomed me into their lives and family. Sunday dinner was always at their house, as well as at least one other meal each week. I got to be more than just a babysitter for their kids—they treated me like a beloved uncle, and I had the joy of entering into their lives—attending soccer games, having them stay at my place, and giving them rides everywhere. When my interest in my wife first developed and deepened, but my demonstrations of my affection were not moving fast enough to seal the deal, it was Judy who told me that I needed to sit with Kathy in church NOW. So I did. Of course, she clued Kathy in on this, to make sure there was room next to her in the pew!
Al married us, and he and Judy sang in the service. Their family continued to be a blessing to us, and when God called us away to my first senior pastorate, Al was instrumental in helping that process, too. As our ministry saw God’s blessing, I was conscious of the fact that much of what I did, I did because Al taught me how to do it. When I did a funeral and people remarked on its poignancy, I knew that it was because Al taught me how to make it personal. When a wedding couple rejoiced in the service they had, it was due in large part to Al’s training in how to put a wedding together.
Until his pastorate at Checkrow, Al’s ministry had usually been in difficult environments. Yet he worked faithfully where God had placed him. After my departure from San Bernardino, Al repeated this apprenticing process in two more men’s lives. For a time, all three of us had more visible fruit in ministry than Al was experiencing. Yet all of us would have to confess that the fruit we saw was not just ours, but Al’s. His commitment to multiplying what God had done in him can be seen in thriving churches and ministries in California, the Midwest, and even overseas, who have never met him.
So I was able to arrive and speak one more time to this man who had given me so much. Judy, Steve, Elizabeth, and I sat around his bed and shared some precious memories and some laughter over the past. He was weak, but he was clear headed, and once again, he blessed me—literally, with a prayer committing me to continuing in God’s service. I prayed for him, too, thanking God through my tears for Al’s life of faithfulness, and asking God to welcome him home soon if a miracle healing was not in store. I told Al that I didn’t know how to say “thank you” for so much to one man in one moment. From a human perspective, he taught me about ministry, he was the reason I met my wife and have my family, and he showed me in practical terms how to walk with God.
I left, and the next day Al was no longer able to speak. He fell asleep Sunday night, August 31; and at 1:00 the next morning, Judy woke up and found that Al had left for Heaven.
I love Al and Judy Somers and their family, and my appreciation for his legacy of faithfulness will continue, in part through me. It is my prayer that I will be found to have been similarly faithful when I join him in the Savior’s presence.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
An Anomaly or a Break in the Dam?
This story, reported by Todd Rhoades' Monday Morning Insight, is notable for two reasons. First is the content. Irving Bible Church's elders made the decision to allow their female Pastor to Women, Jackie Roese, to preach Sunday in the worship service--the first time a woman had been given the right to do so there. IBC is a conservative, evangelical Bible church with strong ties to Dallas Theological Seminary, and this marks the first time of which I am aware that one of the Bible churches within that circle has had a woman preach. Further, the elders have indicated their belief that this is the proper theological direction for the church--espousing what they call "an ethic in progress." Even so, they have concluded that the role of elder is given solely to men, so Mrs. Roese's preaching will be under their authority.
This leads me to the second notable fact--this represents an attempt to place the ability of a woman to preach to the congregation within a "complementarian" framework--that is, it maintains the idea that there are distinctions in roles between men and women within the church (the home would be the second venue of such distinctions, but is not discussed in this report). Most who believe that women are free to preach in churches hold "egalitarian" perspectives (that there are no continuing distinctions of roles between male and female within the church--some would add the home as well--based on their interpretation of Galatians 3:28 and the view that restrictions in 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy apply only to the specific cultures and times in which those passages were written). IBC's elders have concluded that women may exercise a preaching gift over women and men.
Is preaching the same thing as exercising authority? And if so, should a woman do so? For most of us, preaching/teaching carries more than the idea of dispensing information--it involves a call to response. It would seem that a preacher, by virtue of his (or her) activity, is in some way exercising authority. In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul says he does not "permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man..." in the context of public worship, basing this on both the created order (man was created first, then woman) and order of deception in the fall (the woman led the way in being deceived). Some look at verse 12 and see two activities--she may not teach and she may not exercise authority. Others (also complementarians) believe the grammar points to the idea of "teaching as an authoritative leader." It would seem that the elders at IBC have opted for this view and then said that, as long as they (the authoritative leaders of the church) have asked her to preach the Word, then her teaching is actually under their authority.
This is a similar paradigm as was used by Kay Arthur of Precept Ministries in settings where she taught men and women in church gatherings. I'm told that she would even wear a hat to symbolize that she was teaching under her husband's authority and that of the church leaders.
In some of my travels overseas, I have observed that women often fill roles in churches that would be seen by most American complementarians as those that should be filled by men. In some cases those churches make no distinction between male and female roles, but other times it is clear that women are leading prayer, leading singing, taking the offering, or even preaching, only under the authority of male pastors or elders.
Whatever their reasoning, IBC's elders' decision has already had the effect of causing the President of DTS, Dr. Mark Bailey, to remove himself from the list of regular guest speakers at the church. Pastor Tom Nelson, well known and respected leader of Denton Bible Church, has spoken out against this decision as well. Whether it will prove to be an anomaly that isolates IBC from its fellow Bible churches, or the first crack in a dam among them, is a question whose answer will only emerge with time.
This leads me to the second notable fact--this represents an attempt to place the ability of a woman to preach to the congregation within a "complementarian" framework--that is, it maintains the idea that there are distinctions in roles between men and women within the church (the home would be the second venue of such distinctions, but is not discussed in this report). Most who believe that women are free to preach in churches hold "egalitarian" perspectives (that there are no continuing distinctions of roles between male and female within the church--some would add the home as well--based on their interpretation of Galatians 3:28 and the view that restrictions in 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy apply only to the specific cultures and times in which those passages were written). IBC's elders have concluded that women may exercise a preaching gift over women and men.
Is preaching the same thing as exercising authority? And if so, should a woman do so? For most of us, preaching/teaching carries more than the idea of dispensing information--it involves a call to response. It would seem that a preacher, by virtue of his (or her) activity, is in some way exercising authority. In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul says he does not "permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man..." in the context of public worship, basing this on both the created order (man was created first, then woman) and order of deception in the fall (the woman led the way in being deceived). Some look at verse 12 and see two activities--she may not teach and she may not exercise authority. Others (also complementarians) believe the grammar points to the idea of "teaching as an authoritative leader." It would seem that the elders at IBC have opted for this view and then said that, as long as they (the authoritative leaders of the church) have asked her to preach the Word, then her teaching is actually under their authority.
This is a similar paradigm as was used by Kay Arthur of Precept Ministries in settings where she taught men and women in church gatherings. I'm told that she would even wear a hat to symbolize that she was teaching under her husband's authority and that of the church leaders.
In some of my travels overseas, I have observed that women often fill roles in churches that would be seen by most American complementarians as those that should be filled by men. In some cases those churches make no distinction between male and female roles, but other times it is clear that women are leading prayer, leading singing, taking the offering, or even preaching, only under the authority of male pastors or elders.
Whatever their reasoning, IBC's elders' decision has already had the effect of causing the President of DTS, Dr. Mark Bailey, to remove himself from the list of regular guest speakers at the church. Pastor Tom Nelson, well known and respected leader of Denton Bible Church, has spoken out against this decision as well. Whether it will prove to be an anomaly that isolates IBC from its fellow Bible churches, or the first crack in a dam among them, is a question whose answer will only emerge with time.
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