Archive for October, 2007
It Could be a Long Season… Episode 5.
October 7th, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in » In the News..., KC Chiefs
I could write quite a bit about today’s disaster at Arrowhead, but I think six words say all there is to say about the sheer ugliness of the game, especially from the offensive perspective…
Chiefs get shut out at Arrowhead.
(Whoops, strike that… Brodie lead us to a score as time expired. Here’s hoping he starts next week.)
*SIGH*
In other Chiefs-related news, former Chief QB Trent Green suffered another concussion in Houston today, after defensive tackle Travis Johnson kneed him in the head while Trent heroically tried to throw a block for rookie running back, Ted Ginn, Jr. Showing a complete lack of class, Johnson then stood over Trent following the cheapshot taunting him as Trent lay there seeing stars.
If Johnson doesn’t get fined by the league for that kind of nonsense, the league has no credibility.
Hopefully, Trent will recover quickly. After the severe head blow he took last year and the danger subsequent head injuries can present, I’m sure he and his family would appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers.
MBC Officer Nominees Announced
October 5th, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in » Baptist Issues, In the News...
Looks like its time for MBC political life to gear up again (after all, the state convention is coming up soon). How so, you ask?
Well… I received an e-mail today, with recommendations for officers from “Save Our Convention”.
The text follows:
CONCERNED BAPTIST LEADERS RECOMMEND
MISSOURI BAPTIST CONVENTION OFFICERS* * * For Immediate Release * * *
Many Pastors, staff members, Directors of Missions, laypeople, and the Save Our Convention group, have expressed concern for the future of our beloved Missouri Baptist Convention. Wanting our churches to focus on missions and evangelism, and to emphasize funding these efforts through the Cooperative Program, we ask you to prayerfully consider electing the following slate of officers at our annual meeting at Tan-Tar-A, October 29-31, 2007.
President: Gerald Davidson, Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church Arnold.
(Nominated by his Pastor, Kenny Qualls)First V. P.: Bruce McCoy, Pastor, Canaan Baptist Church.
(Nominated by Bob Curtis, Pastor, Ballwin Baptist Church)Second V.P.: John Marshall, Pastor, Second Baptist Springfield.
(Nominated by Hosea Bilyeu, Pastor, Ridgecrest Baptist SpringfieldRecording Secretary: Chad Pendergraft, Split Log Baptist, Goodman
(Nominated by Bob Caldwell, First Baptist Arnold)
Unless I’ve missed it (I don’t subscribe to either our current or former state newspaper, and don’t recall seeing anything on the MoBaptist list), these are the first nominees to be announced.
I do hope that Missouri Baptists will not allow their feelings about “Save Our Convention” (or any other organization) to influence their prayerful consideration of any candidate. If we’re not choosing individuals for convention service based on their real qualifications in consideration of God’s direction, but instead simply basing our votes upon how we feel about them as a result of what others have to say about them, we’ve got problems.
Friday Photos — River’s Edge
October 5th, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in » Pictures
While I was in St. Louis this week, I took some time to play around with the camera in taking some night photos.
I think they turned out pretty well, even shooting through the window of my room. Take a look, and let me know what you think.
I-70 along the Mississippi through downtown…
The Martin Luther King Memorial bridge over the Mississippi…
A closeup of I-70…
The Mississippi… I love the light on the water…
St. Joe Serve
October 1st, 2007 | 4 Comments | Posted in » In the News..., My Life / Family, Pictures
Yesterday, I briefly mentioned St. Joe Serve, and how my normal Sunday afternoon interests took a back seat for a week. I thought I’d share a bit about the event and the experience tonight.
Obviously, the day wasn’t about exposure… but with approximately 1,000 volunteers from local churches running around in orange shirts, investing their lives in the community, it was pretty big news for our mid-sized community. The St. Joseph News-Press ran a story this morning, accompanied by a pretty good photo from our particular work site (check it out here). KQ2, our local TV station, put together a pretty nice story on it as well (watch the video here).
As is clear from the picture… I was a painter for a day. If you were to have visited our work site, you’d have found me standing on the steep roof of a back porch, bucket of paint in one hand, brush in the other… covered in paint. You’d have found me stretching with everything I’ve got to reach a spot seven feet above my head with an improvised paint-brush extension (an old broom handle and some electrical tape), doing my best to apply a good coat of paint while avoiding the painful plunge nine feet straight down to the hard earth below(OSHA would not have approved). Hard work, for sure. Quite a bit of fun too (primarily because I worked with people I thoroughly enjoy being around)… but definitely hard work.
Service? Yeah… it definitely fit the bill.
We served. We used our hands… we put our hearts into what we did… we got down and dirty (some more than others)… and we made a difference in the lives of several people in our community. We stopped our Sunday charade for a day… and actually embodied what the church should be.
How’s that you ask?
Don’t get me wrong… I’m not railing on Sunday worship. It’s usually one of the highlights of my week. But service? Well… don’t we so often overlook that critical part of our faith? Are our Sunday offerings to God really all that pleasing to Him when those two or three hours represent 95% of what we give Him for the week?
Serving others is a huge part of what real Christian faith entails. Â It’s rarely a glory-filled proposition, sometimes it’s not all that enjoyable… but neither of those even come close to the point. Service is simply what we, as Christians, are called to do… by Christ himself.
In Mark 9:35, Jesus tells us, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
Again, in Mark 10:43-45, he tells us, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.â€
We’re supposed to give of ourselves… to serve, for the benefit of others… as Jesus did. Not to bring glory to ourselves because we’ve done good things… not so we can be recognized by newspapers and TV stations… not because it brings us great rewards in heaven… not because it brings us closer to God… not even to bring ourselves the warm fuzzy feeling that often accompanies a job well done.
We give of our lives simply because Jesus did, as a visible and loving proclamation that we belong to Him and will follow in His footsteps.
You see, Christ loved us so much, while we were still sinners, while we were unworthy, while we had absolutely nothing of value to offer Him… that He endured being beaten and brutalized by violent men… that He endured the humiliation of being nailed and hung from a cross, naked and exposed. Jesus gave His life for us, because it was the only way He could save us from our sin.
For those who place their faith and trust in Him, a little hard work to share just an ounce of the love He has for us with others? Well, it’s about the least we can do, in light of what our Lord has done for us.