What It Was...

Andy Griffith wasn't always Sheriff Taylor. He had a comedy career before Mayberry, and this is just one of the routines he did.

I thought of it tonight because earlier our neighbors across the street exited their house in whoops and hollers of joy - the Gators had won the NCAA Football Championship. Young men were shouting out loud in the middle of the road.

What it was... was football.

I don't get it.

Play it,sure. Enjoy watching it even. But I don't know, I reserve that sort of emotion for things like when I saw Bunny start to walk down the aisle on our wedding day, or when our sons were born...

Or when I hear, as I did Wednesday night, that someone has been reborn into new life.

Go God! Beat Satan!

Sacred Places

It was at this desk, a man built a career. He rose from salesman, to territory manager, to manage a district. He'd leave his family late Sunday night or early Monday each week and drive all over the Southeast, returning on Friday. Later on, he'd fly to distant places and meet a salesman that he'd hope to help become better. But every Friday, he'd be home.

Saturday night he'd study his Sunday School lesson at this desk, preparing to teach the class he led for decades. I can remember the men in his class and the respect they had for him as a teacher. But it wasn't just his teaching they were looking at - it was the way he lived his life. There are lots of ways to teach.

He retired from his career, and came home. Enjoyed his wife, his kids and his grandchildren - had a garden, and a shop downstairs. Still every Saturday night would find him sitting at the desk, preparing a lesson. Broadman Commentary, Standard Sunday School Lessons, Open Bible, Amplified - tools of the teacher. In retirement, he did more around the church and around the house. He had the time.

A stroke came, and he was no longer able to teach the class he loved. Some of the other things he enjoyed were affected too. Still, he adjusted. He did what the doctors told him. Lost weight, took his medicine. Though he was not teaching anymore, he still studied his lesson on Saturday night.

Now his wife of over 60 years has fallen ill, and her recuperation comes along slowly. She's being cared for in a nursing home for now. He can tell you how many days it has been since she's been home. Her picture is placed near the desk so he can see his sweetheart every time he sits there.




And the same man who left home to take care of her and his children years ago - still does. Every day he drives himself over to where she is. He can't stay there all day, but after he goes home at lunch to take his medicine, he comes back and stays until darkness approaches.

Then he kisses her and returns to his home alone.

I looked at this desk and realized this weekend, that the lessons he taught all those years at Bethesda Baptist church about what the Bible said...

... he is still teaching.

Every day.

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her...
Eph 5:25 (NLT)

Friends it's one thing to follow when the road is easy and the pathway is bright. The mark of a true disciple is that they are just as faithful in the hard times. I've seen many a man in situations like this one turn inward and pull back from what needs to be done.

Not Curtis Clinard. He's got a man's faith.

That's why I added that desk to a list of my sacred places. God used Curtis to prepare other men for trials for many years. Now the demonstration of how to bear them is being shown to all who watch. He's still teaching us.

Among Men

Our "Wild At Heart" men's small group began tonight. I'm pretty wary of the current trend of "rah rah go men!" books and videos out there right now. And in fact John Ethridge went too far himself in my opinion at times in this study. But there were other times that I thought he connected.

Well.

When we talked about what movies we liked and the characters that we would see ourselves as in them, it was amazing how many of us chose the same ones. When we examined what we hoped to be remembered as, none of the "stuff" that we acquire along the way got any air time - it was as husbands, fathers, followers of Christ.

Yes we laughed at how they kept calling the area of Montana they were in, with rolling hills and grassland "untamed." Seemed pretty tame to me, and I haven't spent any time in Vietnam's jungles, Iraq/Kuwait/Saudi Arabia's deserts, or Afghanistan's mountains as some of the men gathered had. Sure we grinned when one man complained that his horse's favorite place in the world was "behind the horse in front of him with his nose stuck up his butt."

But we're working at being together, as men. And we're working together with the Holy Spirit as He works in us and among us.

Yeah, I like it.

I Once Was Blind...

...and still am in some areas at times.

That's why the Lord put me in relationships with my wife, my family, my friends and with the people of New Hope. There are just too many blind spots in my field of vision. So Bunny can help me see what I can't interpersonally, and others chip in too and for the most part, I can walk around without hurting myself or others.

I cannot imagine life without those "eyes".

But some people seem to have the notion that they can see all they need to see alone, or from a hand-selected group given the same task as those court followers in "the Emperor's New Clothes". Just tell me what I want to hear when I want to hear it. Don't ever suggest that it might be anywhere within the realm of possibility that I could ever be wrong, mistaken, or caught in a sinful trap of my own making.

Tonight I'll be headed over to Panama City to attend a Men's Conference at FBC Panama City. The guys that are going over are pretty special to me. Over the last few years I've had the honor of being their pastor and the privilege of being their friend. We're going there to get another set of "eyes" - to listen to what Steve Farrar and really the Holy Spirit sees in us that needs to be different than it is.

Whoever you are, wherever you are when you read this - don't fall into the trap the devil has laid for you. You need other people with the power to speak truth into your life. No one can make this life work alone.

Take that blindfold off.

On Men and Faith

The internet has provided me with so many benefits, but at times the information it brings isn't pleasing at all. Dee Lauderdale, the moderator of a pastor's group I'm in posted the results of a survey he found in a Men's health magazine. The findings do not bode well to any of us who are serious about reaching men.

In God We Trust? from December 2007 issue of Men’s Health

How would you describe your religious beliefs?
Very Religious: 21% Somewhat Religious: 26% Spiritual but not religious: 35%
None of the above: 18%

Which belief do you most closely identify with?
Christian (nonspecific): 27% Catholic: 17% Protestant: 16% Atheist: 11%
Agnostic: 10% Buddhist: 10% Jewish: 3% Mormon: 3% Scientologist: 1%
Other: 3%

If you were God for a day, what would be your first order of business?
“Eliminate corruption in all governments”
“Banish to hell everyone who has killed in my name”
“Get everyone to stop relying on men and take responsibility for their own lives”
“Whatever’s on the agenda, I suppose. I’m assuming God has a personal assistant”
“I wouldn’t want that kind of responsibility”

Do you believe that morality can come only from faith?
Yes: 29% No: 71%

Have you ever witnessed a miracle?
Yes: 32% No: 44% Unsure: 24%

How often do you attend services
More than once a week: 12% Once a week: 21% Once a month: 10% On religious holidays: 9% Almost never: 28% Never: 20%

If they shortened the service and relaxed the dress code, would you attend more?
Yes: 7% No: 93%

Are you more, or less religious as you age?
More: 35% Less: 25% Neither: 40%

Have you ever terminated a romantic relationship because of religious differences?
Yes: 18% No: 82%

10.When politicians say things like “God Bless America,” does it comfort you or freak you out?
It’s comforting: 56% It’s creepy: 44%

Is it important for your kids to be religious?
“Yes. We all need a moral foundation.”
“No. It’s more important that they are happy and fulfilled.”
“I want them to have at least one constant: God”
“I’m responsible for their life, not their afterlife”

What’s your reaction when retailers say, “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”?
It irks me: 31% I’m glad: 13% It’s a silly debate: 56%

How much influence should religion have in the United States?
More than there is now: 19% Less than now: 50% It’s fine as it is: 31%

Can religion help with today’s problems?
It’s still useful: 46% It’s out of touch: 31% It’s part of the problems: 23%

In the next century, will religion grow, stay the same, or diminish?
“Decency and morality will exist for their own sake”
“It’ll grow freakishly stronger”
“It will diminish as people become more educated”

When you die, where will you go?
Heaven: 50% Hell: 1% Purgatory: 3% Back to earth in another form: 8%
Somewhere else: 11% Nowhere: 27%

When you break it down, it's clear that for most men, churchianity doesn't "work", if by work you mean add anything meaningful to their lives. And efforts to make church more man-friendly by cutting sermon length and relaxing dress codes aren't the answer. Over half think that religion either doesn't help today or is part of the reason things aren't as they should be.

When I looked the survey over, I was sitting in the room here with my wife Bunny. I was a 19 year old guy going nowhere when I was invited to Bethesda Baptist Church in Macon GA to play church basketball. At the time I was playing in three separate leagues. But after seeing Bunny, I realized she was in a league of her own and came as often as I could to be near her. As a result, I was saved and committed my life to Christ.

Just to be clear - I was dead in my sins. I wasn't looking for God. I came to play ball and stayed to play ball and to hang as close as possible to Bunny until my charm and rugged good looks wore her down. :)

So I read the survey and thought, what has happened?

It seems that within the last 30 years we've gone from being an option for guys who were looking to find a place to do guy stuff and find a nice girl to a place that isn't even on the radar. We've gone from acceptance through toleration and are now in aggravation/wish you would go away land.

Networking used to be one of the reasons people would come to church. Some of them even got saved. But now with the culture shift, those people are more likely to bunch up on the golf course, the PTA, or at soccer practice for the kids than come to church.

And with the church's moral behavior on par or even below par with the culture, finding a "good girl" at church might not be a given to say the least. We are in a heap of trouble with men. No need for us, nor reason to lean our way, and in fact some annoyance thrown our way.

It's going to take everything we can muster to get back on the options list with men.

First thing is we have to admit we have a problem. Duh.
Second thing - pray that God would guide everything we do.
Third thing - We must begin to get into the places where men hang out and build relationships with people. It's not what we do well, but it's always been the way the gospel has spread.

My friend Bill Martin put it this way:

It can't be about the institution anymore. It has to be about personal relationships. (That doesn't sell well in the Bible belt, but that doesn't make it any less true.)

I wonder if we can do it.

Oh I know God can do it, but can a generation who equated church growth with bigger and better - can we get small? Can we go from empire builders to insurgents? Can we stop yelling long enough to have a cup of coffee and talk?

Can we learn to count conversations and ask God to let us be involved in His work to change the hearts of men?

Glorify your name Lord.