The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I've been chastised by a friend and called out as a slacker blogger! I've decided to retaliate by posting a really long post!

The Good:

I have had a really fantastic weekend and week!

I started the weekend by taking Chris out to breakfast for her birthday. Then the really big birthday present...I left town for the rest of the weekend! I was on my way to Centralia, MO for a weekend Revival. Centralia is about a half hour north of Columbia. I left early enough to meet Aaron for lunch before continuing on my way.

I had really been looking forward to this particular Revival. My part was to provide magic and share the Gospel message to kids on Saturday afternoon and during the Sunday School hour on Sunday morning. I also spent some time with the youth on Sunday night, plus a few moments in each of the three services. The preaching evangelist for the weekend was Clyde Chiles. It was an incredible honor to be invited by Clyde. He is one of my evangelist heroes! Last summer, Clyde was honored by the Southern Baptist Convention as an inaugural member of the Hall of Faith. You'll find his name among the likes of Cliff Barrows, George Beverly Shea and Billy Graham to mention just a few of the honored members. Needless to say, the preaching was fantastic and many responded by making decisions to trust Jesus and to live according to His teachings. I was a guest in their home and owe Clyde and Betty a great debt of gratitude!

Returning home was also a great treat. At my home church, we were also in the midst of Revival meetings. Our guest evangelist was another of my heroes. Ron Mills has probably had the greatest influence on my own ministry. He has been a great encourager and has really helped to introduce me to many pastors. He has helped me to get involved with the Fellowship of Missouri Baptist Evangelists (FMBE) and many of the Associational Evangelistic Conferences. My own ministry and work kept me from most of the meetings at Hopedale, but Chris and I did get to enjoy breakfast with Ron and Cheryl Tuesday morning and I managed to be at Tuesday and Wednesday night services. The services were very well attended and once again, many decisions and commitments were made. Kudos to Rich for all of the work to bring the music and musicians together and to Dan and the guys in the sound booth! Great job to all!

The Bad:

Have you ever had one of those moments that you later really regret? I'm not just talking about saying or doing something stupid...I have those all of the time. I'm talking about acting out of character; doing something that can change somebody's opinion of you...or worse--change somebody's opinion of the God that you're supposed to love, honor and obey. I've had a couple of those moments recently and it really frustrates me. It frustrates me because I usually have a pretty good handle on what was once a very bad temper. Today, there isn't too much that makes me mad enough to lose control. Even the little outbursts that I'm referring to are nothing like they once were. But still, they are unnecessary, they are hurtful and they do irreparable damage to your personal testimony and reputation. In a day when cultural sensitivity and political correctness are the themes, insensitivity and offensive attitudes are seen as primitive and immature. Jesus teaches that humility is a better way when it comes to dealing with others. So it would seem that apologies are in order. Man, I hate that!

The Ugly:

The Presidential Campaign continues on. Wednesday morning's NPR had a fact check on the Tuesday night debate. It was disturbing that both candidates were either telling boldfaced lies, giving misleading information, telling half truths and making promises that everybody knows they can't and won't keep. It's less than four weeks to the election and the end of the political ads. At least we have that to look forward to!

John

(OK, so it wasn't really that long of a post!)