Continuing With More Good News About the Good Guys

To keep up with the theme of good news about good guys, I want to share a bit about our group of youth at Hopedale.

Yesterday was Youth Sunday at Hopedale and our kids taught in several of the Sunday school classes, greeted people as they entered the sanctuary for service, led worship in the Neos Service, read scripture, received the offering, played an instrumental special for the offering time and a very challenging message was delivered by our Youth Pastor.

I know that I'm an extremely biased person when it comes to my church family, but I'm just going to tell you that it was a great service and a great Sunday. Our little youth group continues to grow and many of the kids are really serious about growing in their relationship with God through His son, Jesus. We have a great group of adults that give of their time to teach on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights and help with the tech stuff. It's an honor to serve with them. I am looking forward to seeing the work that God will do through these young men and women as they continue to follow Him.

Like many stories of good kids and good people, this one won't make the evening news. Most people might say that it isn't even news worthy. Maybe that's true. But it is a good story and one that ought to be told.

...so I'm telling it here!

Great job Hopedale!

John <><

Let's Hear It for the Good Guys!

There is a lot of good news and there are a lot of good people. Unfortunately, most of what we hear is bad news or news about bad people.

Today, I want to share some good news about good people.

Check this out:



John <><

Christmas Readings Meeting

The December meeting of the Ozarks Chapter of American Christian Writers (OCACW) is our annual Christmas reading meeting. Member write and read about Christmas or winter.

WOW! We have some great writers.

The readings included poetry, prose, some fictional stories and many stories that were recollections of Christmases past. These stories reminded me of Christmases from my childhood and also of Christmases from when my kids were little. As you would expect from a group of Christian writers, the story of the birth of Jesus was included in many of the stories.

Listening to members share their stories reminds me that we are all living out our own stories. Whether we chose to write them down, share them by the telling of our experiences or just live them out so that others will tell our stories for us; we need to remember that we are called to tell His story as we live our own.

Thank you to all of my writing friends for sharing your stories and for always encouraging me to share my stories. Thank you for encouraging me to share His story.

John <><

Christmas Wish List

When it comes to a Christmas wish list, mine is pretty short. Chris and I have been blessed to have the things that we need and many of the things that we want. We don't have smart phones and my tablet is a cheap clone. We have a single laptop that was a cheap sale computer from a couple of Christmases past. My car is more than 20 years old.

We have what we need.

I am looking forward to going out for coffee or lunch with Hannah when she is home during her short semester break. I hope to go out for some hot wings with Aaron when he and Jenny are here for a few days. I'd be happy to give them a chance to beat me at a game of Scrabble or Five Crowns. Having them home to spend some time together as a family is enough.

It's funny how quiet the normal seems after a few days of having them here. And I'm not talking about quiet as in a lack of noise. It's more like a lack of activity that makes it seems quiet; makes it feel empty. It will be more than a week until Hannah is home and New Year's weekend before Aaron and Jenny make it. Having them here is what we look forward to this season.

God is good.
We have more than what we need.
We are blessed.

John <><

War on Christmas

There are only a few minutes more than an hour to get a post in for today's date. I'll just make a couple of quick observations on the so called War on Christmas and the impact that has on me personally.

The War on Christmas has had no impact on me at all.

I suppose that I could just leave it at that but that really isn't my nature, so I'll add a few more comments.

First of all, the only places that I've heard about this War on Christmas is from Fox News programs, people that watch Fox News programs or people that make fun of Fox News Programs. I'd provide video links but you can get those on your own.

One has to ask the question, "Is there really a War on Christmas?"
Or is it just something to stir the anger of what should be the peaceful, joyous followers of Jesus?

Actually, I fully understand the limiting of nativity scenes or other Christmas decorations on governmental properties. Can you imagine the conservative entertainment complex's outrage if there were government supported displays for Muslims, Buddhists, Wiccans, atheists or other beliefs?

So far, nobody has restricted my rights to make Christmas displays on my own property or in my own home. Businesses seem free to make their own decisions on how to decorate their properties and how they greet their customers--Happy holidays or Merry Christmas.

I'm also wondering--Is the United States the only country that makes such a big deal about all of this or do other countries face these same issues each year?
I know that I have readers from several different countries around the world. would any of my international friends care to weigh in on the War on Christmas debate. I'm just curious.

John <><

Black Thursday Laws

A few days ago I posted about Black Friday and what it costs us. Obviously, I'm not a fan.

Having said that, I am opposed to the law proposed by Missouri State legislators that would restrict stores from being open on Thanksgiving Day. In spite of the fact that I think it is silly to spend a holiday at the store instead of with your family, the reality is that for some people, holiday shopping is a family event.

I doubt that you will see me in a store on Thanksgiving Day, waiting in line for a great sale on a "door buster" special. However, I think that the decision to be open or to shop should be left to the retailers and shoppers. Face it, this was an experiment by the big box stores. If nobody showed up or the profits didn't exceed the expenses, it won't happen again. If people showed up and spent enough money on items other than the loss leaders, it will happen again and again.

I will say that I feel for the employees that have to work on the holiday, but I've worked the retail racket myself and currently work in a 24/7 occupation. I've worked on plenty of holidays and missed too many kids' events and family gatherings. It is an occupational hazard.

So on the one hand, we want people to spend money and have jobs. On the other hand, we want stores to be closed and people to stay home from work and shopping. Hmmm...

I think that our legislators (at every level) have plenty to do (like working on...oh, I don't know...governmental things), without passing stupid regulations on people. We can make up our own minds about when we want to shop and what we are willing to give up for a great deal.

Really? Did you think that we sent you to Jefferson City to help us figure out when to shop?
Give me a break.

John <><

A Few Good Men

This morning I had the privilege of meeting with the Search Team and the Administrative Team of the TriCounty Baptist Association.

I've got to say that I really enjoy serving with these men. Most of them are pastors, although there are a couple of exceptions. They allow me to serve with them as an "at large" member out of their goodness and graciousness. They each bring great strengths and giftedness to the teams in order to serve the churches of the Association.

The Search team is charged with finding the person called to serve as our Director of Missions. We are made up of several members of the Administrative Team plus one pastor that is not on the Administrative Team. After our meeting the full A-Team met for our regular meeting.

I love thse guys! They serve their churches and the Association to bring glory and honor to God through His son Jesus. They have a real heart for reaching the lost and for encouraging believers to grow in the faith. They really ache for the churches that are struggling and have a great desire to see new churches started to reach those that do not know the joy of salvation through our Lord and Savior, Jesus. I leave every meeting encouraged by their faith and dedication. Just being with them is inspiring.

If you know these guys well, you know that they are not necessarily men of great stature by the standards of our society. They are inspiring because they model the compassion of Jesus.

I hope that they will continue to allow me to serve with them.
It's pretty tough to have a bad day when you get to spend the morning with these good men.

Thanks, brothers!

John <><

Is it Pride...or Jealousy?

I know that pride is one of the seven deadlies, but it is one that I sometimes struggle with. In this case, it's not self pride; it's that I am really proud of my church and church family. I love my pastor and I brag on my church family every chance I get. Last fall I asked a visiting evangelist what he thought of my church. He responded by saying, "Now I know why you always brag on your church!"

I bring this up today because of a post by Ed Stetzer, pastor, author, speaker, church planter and President of Life Way Research. The post deals with high praise for the friendly hospitality of a neighboring church. I know that Hopedale is far from a megachurch like our neighbors, but we are a great community of believers. And when it comes right down to it, there is nothing in the article that would suggest otherwise.

You can read his post here.

Maybe I'm just jealous (another of the seven deadly sins as envy) that a guy from the Southern Baptist denominational entity Life Way, would write such high praise for a neighboring church of another denomination. Is bigger really better. I know that church planting is Stetzer's thing, and I do wish that Hopedale was into planting churches because I see that as a good way to advance the Kingdom. But I also believe that Hopedale is reaching the lost and discipling believers. We are growing and we are expanding the Kingdom.

To be fair, I'm sure that Dr. Stetzer would accept an invitation to come to Hopedale. We have hosted other denominational leaders in the past. And Hopedale is still learning and adapting and getting better at receiving people and making them feel welcome. We could learn a few things from our neighbors. If it were in my power to invite him to Hopedale, I would. But I do believe that God is guiding our pastor and our church along a path that will bring glory and honor to Him through the working of the Holy Spirit in His people. I do applaud Dr. Stetzer's Kingdom vision as he works across denominational lines to advance the Gospel. It is a mindset that we all need to have.

If you are a follower of Jesus, then we are brothers and sisters in Him. Let's take advantage of the holiday season and ask somebody what role Jesus plays in their family celebration of Christmas. His birth is only the beginning of the story. His life, death and resurrection is the main body of the story. Each of us gets to write our own ending. Each of us get to choose to follow Him, to follow another or to go it on our own.

Who is the Jesus of Christmas to you?

John <><

First Sunday of Advent

Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus. It is the time that covers the four Sundays prior to Christmas.

From the time I was a kid, Advent has been about preparing for Christmas. This year, Advent will be different. After reading this article from The Gospel Coalition, Advent takes on a whole new meaning. It makes my focus on the Return of My Lord Jesus.

The author makes some good points about living without the expectation of His return vs. how we live as an expectant believer. Remembering that He is coming again always gives me a sense of urgency about sharing the Good News of God's grace and salvation through His son Jesus.

I would echo the author's invitation and ask you to join us in skipping the "Christmas Season" celebration. By all means, celebrate Christmas and the birth of our Savior. But lets keep Advent about preparing for His coming--His return.

John <><

December 1

Okay, so it's late in the day but still December first and I'm in for a short post. Maybe this daily posting thing is getting to be a habit.

I have been taking additional time (although not every day) to do some writing. Some of it has just been free writing kind of stuff, but some has been in story form. I don't know how long the story will end up being. It maybe short story length or it may be a little bit longer. At this point, I would doubt that it would be book length. In any case, it is nice to work on the habit of writing.

In other news that nobody really cares about, I'm back in the weight loss mode after taking a little longer than a week to indulge in the Thanksgiving holiday foods and the leftovers. Okay, I went beyond the leftovers and just indulged for a few extra days. I ended November pretty much where I ended October making the entire month pretty nonexistent as far as weight loss goes.

Lesson learned. I won't be doing the same for December. I'm sure that I'll manage a few holiday treats and a good Christmas Day dinner, but nothing like the week long binge during November. Regular exercise is going to make its way back into the program (even if it's just a daily walk) and a renewed discipline on how much and what I'm consuming. Losing just 3lbs/week in December will start 2013 at a weight far below what I've been to start the year for many years.

I haven't been keeping the daily diary of food for several weeks but think that I'll get back to it. Just writing down what I'm eating seems to help with the awareness and regulation. I'm trying not to make this whole weight loss thing too much of a chore, but want to keep the importance of it in mind as I continue to work at it.

Enjoy your Sunday.
If you are in the vicinity of Ozark, come visit us at Hopedale and join in our worship of our Lord and Savior. Neos Service is at 11.

John <><