SPLASH!

SPLASH is the title of the new book by Ken and Paula Hemphill. More than a book, it is a lifestyle of evangelism that fits so perfectly with my own philosophy of sharing Jesus. The acronym SPLASH stands for Show People Love And Share Him.

I have always believed that the best way to effectively share the story of salvation is to build a relationship that allows for the free discussion of eternal matters. For the next two days, Dr. Hemphill will be sharing the nuts and bolts of SPLASH with the pastors and lay leaders of the Tri-County Association of Missouri Southern Baptists.

New evangelism strategies can be expensive for churches to purchase all of the necessary training materials. The Hemphills have made this an affordable tool by putting all of the training materials online...for free. You only have to purchase the books. Even though my work schedule won't allow me to attend these training sessions (they actually expect me to show up like 5 days per week now) I'm looking forward to reading the book that Dr. Hemphill practically gave me.

I was buying some of his books and devotionals yesterday (I've decided to drop by and pick up a couple more today) and was totaling up what I had when he came over to help me. All of his books were discounted by 20-25%. I had my total at $39 plus the $7 SPLASH book. But he said just to make it $40 for the whole thing. He said that he knew that I would be telling pastors and churches about the material as I travel to churches and wanted me to have it. Nice, huh?

Looking back over my posts for the past few months, it's easy to see that I'm not your stereo typical Southern Baptist Evangelist. I'm not positive that's a good thing, it's just the way it is. What is positive is that I really believe that God created us; that He loves us; and that He has redeemed us (bought us back) from our sin. I really believe that there is no way for us to earn salvation and so we have to trust that God has paid for our souls by the death, burial and resurrection of His Son, Jesus. I believe that to be as true for you as it is for me.

A while back, I had a short conversation with an atheist. He wasn't really an atheist, more of an agnostic. He believed that there could be a supreme being--a designer of the universe, but really wanted some proof. In our conversation, it came out that he also believed that we have souls that live beyond our physical bodies--he believed in ghosts. He really wasn't comfortable talking about the possibility of places like heaven or hell but admitted that those places may indeed exist. My question/challenge for him was this: If you believe that there might be a supreme being (and you do) and you believe that we have souls that live beyond our physical lives (again, you do) and you think that there might be places like heaven and hell; then don't you think that it would be worth your time to investigate what it takes to get into one and stay out of the other?

What about you? What do you believe happens to you when you die? Is that it? You take the big dirt nap and life is over. You live on only in the brief memories of those that knew you and then...nothing? Does the soul cease to exist, the mind grow quiet when the lights go out? Against the background of eternity, the Bible says that life is like a vapor...here for a moment, then gone. Have you made any plans for whatever is beyond living?

I know that there are readers from beliefs that vary from atheism to Christianity to "I believe in a god," and many in between (or outside of these). For the past few weeks, we've been open about our political beliefs. How about an open forum for our religious beliefs?

Any takers?
Be nice.

John

Reading and Writing

Actually, Writing and Reading would have been a better title...but it just doesn't sound right. Speaking of not sounding right, I had the opportunity to listen to a man that pays very close attention to the way things sound.

Barclay Newman and his wife Jean were the keynote speakers at this month's meeting of the Ozarks Chapter of American Christian Writers. Rev. Newman has written Bible Commentaries, Bible dictionaries, books and children's books. He was also lead on the team of translators for the Contemporary English Version of the Bible. A big part of this translation includes translating the original text into the thought patterns and speech patterns of today. Since the Bible is a book best read aloud, how the translation sounds when read was also of important consideration.

Mrs. Newman is the illustrator for the children's books as well as the manager/secretary/agent for the business. Both were very interesting speakers and it was quite a privilege to meet them.

I think that much of the club was more interested in Mrs. Newman's information that dealt with the publishing of their books (this is a writer's club) than with Rev. Newman's Bible work. For me, I could have listened to the stories and subtleties that went into the Bible translations for the entire time. Kudos to the team that secured this month's speakers.

This evening, at Hopedale Baptist Church, I heard author, lecturer, pastor, past President of Southwestern Theological Seminary and the go-to guy on Sunday School growth, Ken Hempill, D. Min., PhD.

Wow! What a day for listening to a couple of great Christian authors. In the morning I plan on purchasing several of Dr. Hemphill's books (signed of course) since he will be at our church for the day.
I can't wait to hear what he has for us tomorrow!

John

Social Networks

It seems that more and more people are joining social networks like My Space, Facebook, and there are still a few on Xanga. I have an account on each of those. I never really got into the whole network thing. I signed up on My Space when the kids started, but I never did anything with it and Tom is still my only friend. I signed up on Xanga when I wanted to post on a friend's blog but had to have an account to do it.

My Facebook (FB) account was the result of an experiment testing the effectiveness of social networks in fund raising. It was brother Steve (the social minded activist) that was involved in fund raising for a Baltimore organization. The cause is Prevent and Eliminate Homelessness. So Steve recruited members to Facebook and to his cause and then was a part of the experiment raising funds through Facebook.

My Facebook account is the only one that I ever use. I'm up to a whopping 74 friends that include family and friends from school, work, church, other churches that I've visited, e-mail lists and even some fellow bloggers. I've managed online chats with a few of them, written on their walls or sent them a message. I haven't sent plants, drinks, bumper stickers or pieces of flair but have received quite a few. (I'm not sure that I understand the point of it. If I want someone to know that I'm thinking of them, I just say hi.)

Next week I'm meeting an old friend and high school classmate at the airport in Springfield. We found each other on FB and his business travels find him in Springfield every now and then. A simple FB message and reply and we get the chance to catch up the last 30 years or so. There is a link to this blog from my FB page but I don't know if anybody has found this blog from FB.

The network does have a way of making the world a bit smaller. I've reconnected with some people that I never would have and been surprised by the people that have contacted me. I know that I don't use my account to the extent that most college kids use theirs...I'm not sure that I even have an idea of the potential that I'm missing out on. But I'm having fun with it, just the same.

How about you? Any other social networkers that are readers?

John

Who Am I?

As I was driving in to work tonight, I was thinking about the many comments I've heard about the election of our President-elect Barack Obama. There still seems to be a great fear in this part of the country of what lies ahead. I received one doomsday e-mail of the judgments that await our country for the election of this liberal, baby killing, anti-Israel, anti-military, false Christian, gay loving person to the highest office of our country.

The question still comes up, "How can a Christian vote for a liberal, pro-abortion candidate (Democrat) for public office?"

My question is, "How can somebody be so single minded or one faceted?" I know the moral high ground that many want to take and I don't think that there is anything wrong with a person's single mindedness when focusing on God (or whatever/whoever their god is, should it be different than mine). But in this case, we're talking about government and...well you all ready know how I feel about mixing religion and government.

I realize that I am quite the conundrum for many of those that think that they know me. The problem is that they often only know the part of me that fits into their world. I am a very multi-faceted person and most people are only exposed to one or two sides. It occurs to me that readers of this blog may actually have a better perspective of the total me than many of the people that I know personally.

So, who am I? What is it that influences my thoughts, actions, philosophies, beliefs and decisions? How does a conservative, evangelical Christian (not to mention--a registered Republican) end up supporting a Democrat? What other areas of beliefs are influenced by factors that some would view as worldly or ungodly?

I actually think that these are fair questions to ask of an Evangelist. Let me introduce you to myself. I really don't think of myself as a very complex individual. Mostly, I'm just a simple man with simple thoughts and simple needs.

First, you should know that I come from a large (by today's standards) and diverse family. Mom and Dad are both still living and still married after 50+ years. There are six kids, four boys and two girls. I'm second in the birth order. I'm also the least educated or at least the only one without a college degree of some sort. We are a great family, though not a perfect family. Of the six kids, there was one teen pregnancy, one divorce, and one blended family. Two are in the military or guard. Though we were all raised in the Catholic Church, today some are still active and devout Catholics others are Protestant or Evangelical and others are not attending church at all. We live in big cities and rural areas from Oklahoma to the East Coast. We are as politically diverse as you could imagine. But when we are together, we laugh! All in all, there are Mom and Dad, six kids, five spouses and seventeen grand kids...30 total. This alone gives me many perspectives on family and family values.

I've had several different jobs since I entered the work force some three decades ago. Currently, I have a government job. I am an air traffic controller (ATC) and have spent most of my ATC career actively involved with the union that represents the controllers...the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). I have been a state legislative coordinator (Iowa), served on two national standing committees (Legislative and Constitution) and been Facility Representative (local president) at two facilities. I have worked in environments and conditions where the workers flourished and I have worked where the workers have dealt with tactics of intimidation and abuse of power. Labor/management gamesmanship and playing inside or outside the rules is a game that I no longer enjoy. It is a game that I can play very well, but I usually become a person that I don't really like anymore. This is my second union job. I was also shop steward at an aluminum factory and served on the union committee at that plant. Politics from a Union perspective is way different that the politics from a church perspective.

If you were to put me into a religious box, I would best fit into the conservative, evangelical Christian box. I am a Southern Baptist evangelist. I believe that I am called to preach the Gospel of Salvation by grace through faith in Jesus. I believe that we are God's creation and that He loves us dearly. I believe that He demonstrates His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ (Jesus) died for us. (Rom 5:8) And yes, I do believe that Jesus is the only way to get to Heaven. (John 14:6) I also believe that is not my place to judge your testimony. Your belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior is between you and Him.
I keep reminding myself of Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). The part that haunts me is when Jesus says that we will be judged by the standard with which we judge others. If that's the case, I want to be judged with a merciful and forgiving standard. I want to be judged in love. I didn't grow up in a Baptist church and so I don't have a lot of the Baptist baggage. I'm not going to say that you can't be a Christian and still drink alcohol or tell you that drinking is the social sin of the day. It's just not that important to me.

I'm also a dad that isn't quite sure of how to be a good dad (at least where teenagers are concerned).
I'm a husband that worries that I'm not letting my wife know just how much I love her and how much she means to me.
I'm a home owner that is absolutely lousy at home maintenance and repair and a man that doesn't know enough or care enough to work on his own cars. My philosophy in this area is: they pay me well to do the job that I know how to do; I should be willing to pay somebody else well to do the job that they know how to do.

Today, I struggle enough with John doing the right thing and I don't have the time nor inclination to make sure that everybody else is doing the right thing. I want to teach my kids to do the right thing and to make good choices.
I like being generous. I think that my kids are generous, too. I like to tip well when we go to a restaurant.
I should probably worry more about retirement and what lies ahead. This may sound incredibly naive, but I really do trust God. I mean I know that I have a responsibility to be a good steward, but I'm not going to spend a great deal of time and energy worrying.
I know that I need to live a healthier lifestyle. I even know a lot about what I should be doing/not doing and eating/not eating. It's just a matter of getting to it!
I like to read and I love to learn.
I like to tell stories. (they don't even have to be true stories!)
I like to smile and I like to make other people smile.
I'm a people person...but I also like to be left alone.
I have an ugly side; a bad temper. I really hate it when I lose control and say something that is hurtful. I'm getting better and lose it much less frequently as I get older.

Some would say that I'm getting more liberal as I get older. I disagree. I'm just less insistent that others agree with me all of the time.
Although religion and politics are often subjects to avoid, I'd gladly discuss them with anybody that would agree not to get mad about our differences.

Now you probably know more about me than anybody could possibly care to know. So if you ever have a comment, question or argument about one of my posts, feel free to discuss it here or by e-mail or phone. My contact info is in the right column.

John

Election Day Prayer

Dear Readers,

It is now early on election day in the US. The day and the outcome of this Presidential election is heavy on my heart. I wanted to share my prayer with you. Perhaps, you too, would take a moment to offer a prayer for the US of A. For those readers that are outside of the US, please don't think me selfish this morning. I hope that you can recognize that a better US is best for this global society of ours.

John

Heavenly Father,

The out come of today's election is heavy on my heart. I know that it will be a close contest. I have already committed to pray for the winner, for our new President. Today, I would like to pray for the other guy. I don't have the foresight to know which candidate will be the winner or who will lose, but my prayer this morning is for strength and honor for the loser. I ask that you will give him a heart of humility and strength to now stand by the man that was once his opponent and will soon be his President. I ask that you would give to him leadership to lead his supporters to rally behind our nation and our new President. I pray that a nation divided by politics will unite in purpose.

I pray that our nation can leave behind the divisions of red states and blue states; conservatives and liberals; Republicans and Democrats; and serve as These UNITED States..."one nation under God." I think of how our Founding Fathers must have felt as they wrote the words to the Preamble to our Constitution..."WE the People, of the United States, ..." Their purpose, our purpose "...in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Oh, that we would unite in purpose again, that we would become a more perfect Union; that we would establish justice and peace, safety and security. I know that my country has its many faults and I would ask for your mercy and forgiveness. I would ask that you would unite the people of this great nation and that the grand experiment that is the United States would continue. I ask that you, O God, would heal this nation and help us to continue to serve well in the global society. Secure us from our enemies and allow us to be a blessing and sanctuary to those in need.

Bless us this day, O God.

I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen

I've Heard That Before

Yesterday afternoon we were talking about the outright lies that are being spread as the election draws near. We were amazed at the things that people are willing to believe without checking out the source or validity of the claims being made. Somebody made the comment (not me), "I think that overall, Democrats are more informed voters."

I've heard something like that before...it'll come to me in a minute.

Then last night at church, I heard one man explaining to another man, how "sharing the wealth" works. It was a great explanation of the Robinhood Theory (take from the rich, give to the poor), but had nothing to do with Sen. Obama's economic policies. My bet would be that he's never read the policy (available on Obama's web site) but is just spewing forth some regurgitated nonsense that somebody else has said.

Bilbo always says, "Don't let anyone do your thinking for you." But that's not the quote I'm thinking of...it'll come to me.

Oh yeah, now I remember...it was Karl Rove:

“As people do better, they start voting like Republicans - unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing”

What??????

Be informed. Don't take my word for it. Think for yourself...then vote.

John

So much for no more political posts!

Broken Hearted

I really don't get it. This morning at church, an older man that I (and my wife) have a great deal of respect for, told Chris that he questioned our Christianity and lost all respect for us because we have chosen to support Sen. Obama for President.

Personally, I can take it. I'd write it off as a curmudgeonly old man that doesn't really know how to express his disappointment in our differences. I'd just forgive him his ignorance and move on. But it really hurt Chris. I'm in a bit of a quandary as to what to do about it, though. It seems a bit mean spirited to confront the old guy and tell him that he can say whatever is on his mind to me but to stay away from Chris. On the other hand, doing nothing is really against my nature. Somebody has attacked and hurt my wife! Normally, Chris is a tough girl and I have learned that you don't want to cross her. The judgment of her Christianity is something that I'm sure she'd shrug off (I'm sure that she's confident of what she believes), but the part about this old man losing all respect for her really got to her. She was in tears as she told me about it. She serves on two committees with this man and is already concerned about how that interaction will be in the future.

I don't understand how we are able to let such petty differences come between us. And why does it always seem like it's the ones that should be forgiving (the religious right) that are the most hateful and divisive? Another young man from our church (serving at another church now) has expressed that he has lost friends over political differences; friends that said they could be his friend if he held to those political beliefs.

I'm going to go out on a limb and make a prediction about Wednesday, November 5th.

When I get up on the 5th, I predict that God will still be on His Throne, He will still be Sovereign, the United States of America will still be my home and I will still proudly claim citizenship in both the United States of America and the Kingdom of God. The rules of love your God and love your neighbor will still be commands for the ages and hopefully a divided nation can begin to heal. All-in-all, I don't expect that my life will differ a great deal between November 4th and November 5th.

Go vote!

John

What an Evening!

I just got home from seeing the Honorable Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, campaigning for President of the United States. The place was packed! There was three times the number of people that turned out to see Governor Palin last week. I said that I wasn't going to post another political blog, so I won't. But I do want to say that Sen. Obama was incredibly gracious. The two times that some of the crowd started booing, he stopped them with a..."Don't boo, just vote." Other than mentioning the political ads that are meant to tear him down, he didn't say anything negative about Sen. McCain.

Whatever your choice...vote.

I missed telling you about part of my week in my last post. I was given an award last week. Thank you, Heidi. Heidi's blog is one that I subscribe to and one that I should pay more attention to. It's full of healthful ideas that would make me a better person. It would take a major overhaul of my current eating habits and activity levels. You know me...I'll get right on that!

By the way, I want to invite you to follow my blog. You can do that where you see the others that are following in the right column.

I've about used up all of the bonus 60 minutes I get as we set our clocks back, so I'll post now and remember the other stuff later!

John

The Week in Review

I really had grand week. It started with a four hour drive across the state to preach at a small, traditional Southern Baptist church. I'm really more of a story teller than I am a preacher and I love the stories in the Bible. They are stories that are important for the day and place where they happened and they are stories that are still relevant today. Although my ministry started out by doing shows and using magic to share the message of the Bible, today I feel more compelled to just tell the stories and share the teachings of the Bible through the spoken word. Sunday I got to do both. In the evening service I shared about my ministry using magic and also shared a few of my favorite effects. In between the two services I had a wonderful lunch and met some new friends.

On Sunday evening I headed into St. Louis to check into the Millennium Hotel to get ready for the Annual Meeting of the Missouri Southern Baptist Convention. I ran into Jim Wells, our Director of Missions (DOM) and his wife in the hotel restaurant and spent some time talking about our upcoming Evangelism Conference. (Funny how you have to travel across the state to have a few moments to talk to a guy that lives and works a few miles from you!)

I was seeing quite a few pastors and their wives that I hadn't seen in a while and knew that it would be a good week for renewing acquaintances. I was up early Monday to set up our Fellowship of Missouri Baptists Evangelists' booth and soon old and new friends began to stop by.
I managed to have lunch with missionary friend that is home from Northern Iraq. I really love to hear his stories of how God is working in this Muslim area of the world and how he and his family are living and adapting to the community.

I spent time visiting the other displays in the exhibition hall and picking up all of the freebies that they offered. I now have a new supply of pens, pencils, notepads, key rings, key rings with flashlights, even a toothpick carrying case! One booth that I spent some time at was the Pillsbury College and Seminary booth. They offer free tuition to bi-vocational pastors. In talking to them about my ministry as an evangelist/air traffic controller, they said that I would also qualify for the program. That eliminates the biggest hurdle of going back to school. There is still the time thing...but that will always be there. I am always reading/studying anyway, I might as well use an organized study program and work towards a degree.

In true procrastinator form, I told them to expect to hear from me about the beginning of the year!

There was also a booth from a new organization that is like Focus on the Family but at the state level. I can't remember the name of the state organization. The lady there was very excited about the group and their promotion of traditional family values. I hope that I didn't hurt her feelings as I expressed my concerns over Focus on the Family and their group. While I believe in traditional family values, I also recognize that we have very few traditional families in our society. Are we to make them feel like they don't fit into our (religion based) idea of what a family is?

The other day I spoke with a divorced mother of two kids. She grew up as a pastor's kid. Her husband was a deacon in the church. She had a job as a church secretary. In her mind, she had a dream life. Then one day her husband announces that he's been having an affair and wants a divorce. All of a sudden, she no longer fits into the standard church mold of what a family should be. She feels like an outcast among the people that she was a part of a few weeks ago. Through no fault of their own, the kids are now a part of a blended family (ex and wife2 are having a baby) and a split family. I'd like to say that through no fault of her own, this woman is now a single parent (but I know there are always two sides and we are rarely completely without fault). So how do we teach and promote traditional family values without ostracizing those that are not in traditional families? I don't have the answer, but I feel like James Dobson's Focus on the Family often comes across as a right-wing, judgmental, self-righteous, you're going to hell and you're not welcome here kind of organization. Surely there has to be a better way.

My St. Louis adventure ended with meeting Mike at Ted Drewe's as I was heading out of town. It's tough to beat a week that has Ted Drewe's!

Aaron topped the week off by making a trip home for the weekend. I doubt that we'll see a lot of him, but it's good to have him home.

John

A Letter That I Wish I Would Have Written

It has been a number of days since I've had the time to sit and write a short post. It seems that just reading the many blogs that I read and keeping up with my e-mail has taken all of the computer time that I have. It has been a busy, but enjoyable week.

As one could imagine, my inbox has been filled with political forwards. Most of them are hateful and inaccurate or plain old outright lies. It's too bad that the truth has little place in politics. Among all of the political horse manure I ran across a letter that I wish I had written. I hope that Christian people can join this author and understand what he is saying and what he is promising to do for the President...no matter who it is.

Here is the letter:

Dear Mr. President:

I do not yet know your name, but in a few days you will be elected to our nation’s highest office, and become the leader of the free world at the end of a long and engaging election season.

I wanted you to know that I will be praying for you. Not praying against you, or about you, but for you. That is both my pledge, and my obligation as a follower of Christ. In the Bible, the apostle Paul writes, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

And I will do so with a full and undivided heart.

I will be praying for you from my position as a father of four children, and God willing, future grandchildren; that you will have the foresight to think through what your decisions will mean for them as the next generation.

I will be praying for you as a citizen of the United States; that you will seek wisdom from God and humbly submit yourself to His leadership as you lead our nation through economic turbulence, domestic divides, and cultural diversities.

I will be praying for you as a member of the global population; that you will work with other well-intentioned leaders from around the world as we face environmental challenges, wars and rumors of wars, and humanitarian crises.

And finally, I will be praying for you as a Christian; that you will encourage faith in God to flourish and never allow deeply held spiritual convictions to become a matter of ridicule, instead encouraging everyone to grant them a respectful hearing, even if they go against the political policy of your party.

It is being widely spoken that the next president will inherit more that needs immediate attention than any other president in recent memory. As a result, it has been a hard-fought and hotly contested election. Yes, I will vote, and I do not know if you will be the one for whom I cast my ballot. But following November 4^th, all that must be set aside no matter how deep the divides may be.

So while I do not know if you will be the candidate I voted for, I do know that no matter your name, I will support you in one way without question.

I will be praying for you.

James Emery White

Sources

Scripture reference: I Timothy 2:1-2, New International Version.

For an online community committed to praying for our leaders that is both non-political and non-partisan, see www.presidentialprayerteam.org.

This is from the site Serious Times Update and you can subscribe to receive regular postings.

More about my week in another post.

John