We are very blessed, both in the track of the storm which avoided Kingwood, in the reports that other than some branches down, our home is fine, and in the place God arranged in advance for us to land. Though it took a long time to get here on Wednesday and Thursday, we are in a wonderful place. Tulsa is a lovely town, Redeemer Covenant is a really great church full of wonderful people, and Jim and Debbie Consedine couldn't be nicer hosts.
The "Bringing my World to Christ" seminar is going very well - we wrap up tonight - and it has been a treat to share this weekend with Ed Delgado, the Covenant's new Director of Evangelism and Prayer. Ed is here to observe and learn how evangelism has been taught in The Covenant over the last 15 years as he strategizes for the future.
And - as if we need icing on this cake - a church member has made connections and arrangements for Ed and me to have a private screening of the soon to be released film (January 2006) "End of the Spear". Here is a link to the trailer. Long-time readers of this blog know how passionate I am about this film. (See posts on 3/17 and 8/12).
Monday
Thursday
Evacuee Report 1
If you made the trip or know someone who did, or even if you just saw the freeway shots from Houston, then you know what it was: 50 miles in 5 hours before we were able to break onto a minor road and off the main freeways. We left at 11:15 pm and were bumper to bumper the main part of 5 hours to Livingston TX. Then we cut off and went to Onalaska and turned towards Trinity, Palestine and Athens. By 10 AM we were in the Dallas environs. The whole experience gave me some compassion for the whole refugee experience world-wide and more recently out of Katrina's wake.
It was like the Runaway Scrape all over again.
As I drove into Oklahoma today I had the music of Rogers and Hammerstein in my head - but more authentically, the music of Woody Guthrie (as I learned it from a Michael Parks LP called "Closing the Gap" in the late 60s or early 70s:
Many years have come and gone
Since I wandered from my home
In those Oklahoma hills where I was born.
Many a page of life I've turned,
Many a lesson I have learned;
And I find that in those hills I do belong.
'Way down yonder in the Indian Nation
Ridin' my pony on the reservation,
Oklahoma hills where I was born.
'Way down yonder in the Indian Nation,
A cowboy's life is my occupation,
Oklahoma hills where I was born.
It was like the Runaway Scrape all over again.
As I drove into Oklahoma today I had the music of Rogers and Hammerstein in my head - but more authentically, the music of Woody Guthrie (as I learned it from a Michael Parks LP called "Closing the Gap" in the late 60s or early 70s:
Many years have come and gone
Since I wandered from my home
In those Oklahoma hills where I was born.
Many a page of life I've turned,
Many a lesson I have learned;
And I find that in those hills I do belong.
'Way down yonder in the Indian Nation
Ridin' my pony on the reservation,
Oklahoma hills where I was born.
'Way down yonder in the Indian Nation,
A cowboy's life is my occupation,
Oklahoma hills where I was born.
Wednesday
Here we go...
OK, readers, my family and I are about to become hurricane evacuees. I'm leaving work in a few minutes and we anticipate driving north to Tulsa around 10 pm or midnight tonight. Pray for us; pray for our home and region; and pray for our church. I'll check in with you from Tulsa.
Rita Update #2
The plan now is that the kids and Alicia are coming to Tulsa with me. We're leaving Thursday and since I'll be teaching through Monday evening, the earliest we can come back is Tuesday. Humble ISD has cancelled school Thursday and Friday. I've set up a blog called CTK RITA to communcate with our church members and friends the impact this is all having on our church calendar and schedule.
Tuesday
...and now, Rita...
...and I don't mean the lovely meter maid.
Rita's anticipated to be cat 4 when she makes landfall. As luck would have it, I will be in Tulsa for a weekend teaching evangelism at Redeemer Covenant, accompanied by the new Director of Prayer and Evangelism, Ed Delgado. But Alicia and the kiddos are making plans to evacuate to Dallas for the weekend.
Rita's anticipated to be cat 4 when she makes landfall. As luck would have it, I will be in Tulsa for a weekend teaching evangelism at Redeemer Covenant, accompanied by the new Director of Prayer and Evangelism, Ed Delgado. But Alicia and the kiddos are making plans to evacuate to Dallas for the weekend.
Thursday
John Mark Reynolds on yesterday's pledge ruling
Excerpt:
I will not swear absolute allegiance to the state. I view the "under God" clause as making the same point as the Declaration of Independence. It limits more than it affirms. My rights do not come from the state. They come from the Creator. The state cannot take away what it did not give. My allegiance to the state is qualified. My obedience will be limited by the laws of Nature and of Nature's God.
Read more...
I will not swear absolute allegiance to the state. I view the "under God" clause as making the same point as the Declaration of Independence. It limits more than it affirms. My rights do not come from the state. They come from the Creator. The state cannot take away what it did not give. My allegiance to the state is qualified. My obedience will be limited by the laws of Nature and of Nature's God.
Read more...
Wednesday
Three27
This post's title comes from Proverbs 3:27 - a verse Alicia and I memorized almost 20 years ago.
"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it."
We've always understood that verse as a call to all kinds of good, including the giving of public thanks to those who have in many different ways given to and blessed us.
When my dear friend and mentor Jim Russell finished his earthly race 2 weeks ago today, I wrote a post remembering him and how his faith and love had blessed me over the last 19 years. Since then I have missed him and wished for one more chance to verbalize my appreciation one last time. I especially missed Jim when Jerry and Michaella sent me a copy of the worship folder from the Memorial Service, and again when I read Terry Mattingly's column about Jim.
I had been thinking this past week, perhaps I should dedicate a few blog posts to talking about the other people who have had the most significant impact in my life.
So I've started a new blog called three27.blogspot.com to honor and give thanks for those people through whom God's greatest blessings have flowed to me.
"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it."
We've always understood that verse as a call to all kinds of good, including the giving of public thanks to those who have in many different ways given to and blessed us.
When my dear friend and mentor Jim Russell finished his earthly race 2 weeks ago today, I wrote a post remembering him and how his faith and love had blessed me over the last 19 years. Since then I have missed him and wished for one more chance to verbalize my appreciation one last time. I especially missed Jim when Jerry and Michaella sent me a copy of the worship folder from the Memorial Service, and again when I read Terry Mattingly's column about Jim.
I had been thinking this past week, perhaps I should dedicate a few blog posts to talking about the other people who have had the most significant impact in my life.
So I've started a new blog called three27.blogspot.com to honor and give thanks for those people through whom God's greatest blessings have flowed to me.
Tuesday
Offspring of the Passion
Excerpts:
"I think religion or spirituality in the modern era tends to be treated almost the way sex was treated in the 1950s: If you just watched our movies, you wouldn't even know it's part of our culture, and I wanted to write something that wasn't propaganda, wasn't trying to persuade people to think the way that I do, but to recognize the fundamental importance of those essential questions: Does the spiritual realm exist? Is there a Devil, and more importantly, Is there a God, and if so, what are the implications of that? I don't care what you believe, those are questions tobe reckoned with."
. . . . . .
"I think if you go all the way back to Augustine via Plato, there's always been a sort of antipathy in the Church toward the arts, a fear or suspicion, and I think that much of the hostility between Hollywood and Christian audiences has been more on the side of Christian audiences than it has on Hollywood's."
Read more...
"I think religion or spirituality in the modern era tends to be treated almost the way sex was treated in the 1950s: If you just watched our movies, you wouldn't even know it's part of our culture, and I wanted to write something that wasn't propaganda, wasn't trying to persuade people to think the way that I do, but to recognize the fundamental importance of those essential questions: Does the spiritual realm exist? Is there a Devil, and more importantly, Is there a God, and if so, what are the implications of that? I don't care what you believe, those are questions tobe reckoned with."
. . . . . .
"I think if you go all the way back to Augustine via Plato, there's always been a sort of antipathy in the Church toward the arts, a fear or suspicion, and I think that much of the hostility between Hollywood and Christian audiences has been more on the side of Christian audiences than it has on Hollywood's."
Read more...
Sunday
Sunday Notes
• Mark Senechal has discerned God's voice calling him to remain at CTK. All of us are thankful.
• The Dateline NBC filming went well on Friday night. Watch for it on Monday evening. There was a follow up to the content of the Friday night interview, which I am sure will be aired along with it - it's a happy ending and we all need to hear one of those.
• The brother of Darryl, who is part of the family interviewed by Dateline, has a houseful of displaced friends. Danny and his wife moved here from NOLA only 2 months ago. There are 17 under their roof. 3 of those families decided to rent the house across the street. So yesterday was a day of helping them connect with people who have beds, appliances and furniture.
• I am taking to heart the wise counsel of my friend Paul Knight, pastor of Hope Covenant in Grand Forks, ND, where floods and fire ravaged the town back in 1997. Paul wrote:
I would also encourage you all to pray for the relief workers and pastors. I absolutely loved the ministry going on during the flood and afterward. I was reveling in the adrenaline and hopefully some the power of the Holy Spirit. God was clearly giving us opportunity. However, about 1 1/2 later I nearly crashed my ministry and spiritual life -- I did not take care of my heart or spirit. A fatique so deep set into my life that I didn't care about anything........... My counselor walked me through deep waters. A disaster of this magnitude is a long-term opportunity for recovery -- where the pastors and workers will need to drink deeply from the fresh waters of the Holy Spirit.
Good Words. Thanks, Paul. As I said to him in a note yesterday:
You probably remember the addictive rush that one gets when in the thick of this kind of ministry. Friday and Saturday are my days off and between them I worked more hours than I want to admit. At CTK we track our hours and are careful to take comp days, but still, it is important to be reminded of how we sometimes try to save the world and lose our soul. Thanks for calling me back.
• The Dateline NBC filming went well on Friday night. Watch for it on Monday evening. There was a follow up to the content of the Friday night interview, which I am sure will be aired along with it - it's a happy ending and we all need to hear one of those.
• The brother of Darryl, who is part of the family interviewed by Dateline, has a houseful of displaced friends. Danny and his wife moved here from NOLA only 2 months ago. There are 17 under their roof. 3 of those families decided to rent the house across the street. So yesterday was a day of helping them connect with people who have beds, appliances and furniture.
• I am taking to heart the wise counsel of my friend Paul Knight, pastor of Hope Covenant in Grand Forks, ND, where floods and fire ravaged the town back in 1997. Paul wrote:
I would also encourage you all to pray for the relief workers and pastors. I absolutely loved the ministry going on during the flood and afterward. I was reveling in the adrenaline and hopefully some the power of the Holy Spirit. God was clearly giving us opportunity. However, about 1 1/2 later I nearly crashed my ministry and spiritual life -- I did not take care of my heart or spirit. A fatique so deep set into my life that I didn't care about anything........... My counselor walked me through deep waters. A disaster of this magnitude is a long-term opportunity for recovery -- where the pastors and workers will need to drink deeply from the fresh waters of the Holy Spirit.
Good Words. Thanks, Paul. As I said to him in a note yesterday:
You probably remember the addictive rush that one gets when in the thick of this kind of ministry. Friday and Saturday are my days off and between them I worked more hours than I want to admit. At CTK we track our hours and are careful to take comp days, but still, it is important to be reminded of how we sometimes try to save the world and lose our soul. Thanks for calling me back.
Friday
Getting Intense
I had hoped to be in Michigan by this time, to remember and give thanks for my friend Jim. But it could be I was supposed to be here to keep efforts moving on Hurricane relief.
Things are ramping up as people realize what a huge challenge lies before Houston in caring for the people displaced by Katrina. This situation is going to get bigger faster and stay here longer than anyone can imagine, and it is taking a while for infrastructure to get in place. I suspect we will all be doing ministry 2 weeks from now bigger than we can imagine ourselves doing now.
A CTK family will be featured on Dateline NBC Monday evening. The producer just left and the filming will occur here tonight.
Keep checking the church website for our most comprehensive news.
Things are ramping up as people realize what a huge challenge lies before Houston in caring for the people displaced by Katrina. This situation is going to get bigger faster and stay here longer than anyone can imagine, and it is taking a while for infrastructure to get in place. I suspect we will all be doing ministry 2 weeks from now bigger than we can imagine ourselves doing now.
A CTK family will be featured on Dateline NBC Monday evening. The producer just left and the filming will occur here tonight.
Keep checking the church website for our most comprehensive news.
Thursday
CTK Responds to Katrina
Please see the CTK website to learn what is happening in Houston as we repsond to the Hurricane Katrina situation and thousands of displaced families. There may even be a way you can help, wherever you are.
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