Merry Christmas To All!

Just one way of celebrating Christmas in Cajun Country....

One Reason Why Christmas Sales Are Up This Year

I don't think Dave Ramsey would be pleased.....

Stupid and Graceless

I admire Bob Costas for saying something on national television that needs to be said.  He uses words like "obnoxious," "knuckleheads," and "idiots."  


In the words of Tim Challies:  “Bob Costas carves the selfish idiots who make a spectacle of themselves after they do something good on the football field."


He raises a good question:  "Where are the coaches in all this?"

Preach on, Bob!


Anybody with us?

You Think It's Cold Here?

Captured on an October morning in Lake Charles, LA.

A Good Reason To Let Sleeping Classics Lie

Many, many years ago, I read the classic work, "How to Win Friends and Influence People," by Dale Carnegie.  Its impact on my life since then has been beyond measure.  Its practical, sensible, and proven advice for getting along with people is worth a read by anyone.  In fact, I have recently been listening to it on compact disc in my car.  Though my eldest son will grimace here, I once insisted that he read the book after some now forgotten relational infraction he committed.  He did read the book, or said he did, though I recall thinking that he must have had some angle on a rapid reading method.

It is a classic book.

That's why it should be left that way.

I happened to notice the other day that the book has been "updated" for the 21st century.  Admittedly, some of its illustrations and examples are dated.  After all, the book was originally published in 1937 during the height of the Great Depression.  The world has changed much since then.

Unfortunately, the book apparently has as well.  Just one sentence will suffice as an example:

Today’s biggest enemy of lasting influence is the sector of both personal and corporate musing that concerns itself with the art of creating impressions without consulting the science of need ascertainment.

Huh?  What?  And just what in the name of Dale Carnegie is "need ascertainment?"

Here is a good example of why classic works need to be left to stand as they were first conceived.  One of the reasons this book has spanned the generations, no doubt, is its plain and simple language.  Now that clear and easy to grasp wording is changed into gobbeldygook. 

Let that be a lesson to all.  

Some things are better left alone.

I recently finished the book, Renovation of the Church: What Happens When A Seeker Church Discovers Spiritual Formation, by Carlson and Lueken.  It is a part biographical, part confessional story about a church that moved from being "seeker driven" to become more focused on spiritual formation.  They went from a megachurch to a much smaller one. But they found that they gained quality over quantity.  As a matter of fact, I could resonate well with their staff's feelings of having to sing and dance, so to speak, in order to please the crowd and keep them coming.  In short, they went from a consumer church to more of a contributor church.  They have the scars to prove it as well.  Music style may not have changed as much as the tone of the church overall.  

In my informal conversations with pastors of traditional churches, I have discovered that we all struggle with "performance anxiety" as well.  At the end of the day, we manage to offend and please almost all individuals in the worshipping crowd.  Then again, who ARE we there to please?

I maintain that it is the spirit of the worship, not necessarily the type of songs we sing.  I have felt God's presence deeply while singing "A Mighty Fortress," as well as I felt I was at a rock concert performance while the band cranked out the latest worship tune as heard on "YOUR FAVORITE CHRISTIAN MUSIC STATION!."  Likewise, in a more "worshipful" service, I have felt anything but.  Then again, with a hard rock'n band, I truly felt God's nearness.

My eldest son, going from a megachurch in Dallas with all its bells and whistles to a coffeehouse with a guitarist seated on a stool, said he felt closer to God in the latter setting.

But the order of worship is not up for a democratic decision, just as the sermon topic isn't.  However, a sense of what people will like is an ever nagging presence.  Some us, even in ministry, still struggle with the desire to please our fellow humans.

In closing, I say as I have said for several years:  The pendulum would one day swing. It is now swinging.  The move will be back to a more liturgical form of worship.  It is already happening in the more avant garde churches, particularly in urban areas and on the left coast.  What type of worship will characterize the next generation?

God only knows.

One Of My Favorite Quotes

Years ago, I discovered these words by Theodore Roosevelt. For some time, I had them displayed prominently under the glass on my desktop where I could see it daily.

For some reason, I enjoy reading them aloud with a voice that is my imitation of Winston Churchill. (Imagine him saying these words in the tone he used to inspire the British people during World War II saying among other things: "We shall never, never, never give up!"

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Sounds to me like Teddy had his own share of critics. But unlike so many who wither under criticism, he refused to knuckle under.

Cold and timid souls they are who are content to carp and criticize yet never even enter the arena. Things do look quite differently from the field than they do in the stands. Often one has only a split second to make a decision while the armchair quarterback can pontificate almost endlessly.

Am I immune to criticism? Of course not. Whether it is valid or not, I have many times spent restless nights replaying a critic's comments in my head.

Just the other day, I received a comment from a church guest on a response form saying that my sermon had no practical application to everyday life. In fact, I had specifically added ways there the biblical principal could be applied to work, school, etc.

So what happened? "What we have here is a failure to communicate." Whether the person wasn't getting it, or I wasn't sending it, no matter. I pledged to do better to communicate application in my sermons.

And I choose to remain in the arena.

Church Music: Style Or Substance? Or Both?

I was working through some files and found this observation. I am not sure who wrote it, but it was not I:

If a church hires a new music leader, it can expect a significant turnover. Musical style and presentation in the church is one of the biggest factors for choosing a church in the first place. And when that changes, even slightly, we feel we have an excuse for leaving. I love our music leader. Great guy, great life story. He spent three stints in prison in his 20s before he surrendered his life to the King of Kings. But I don’t like the songs he chooses on most Sundays. I don’t want to sing about me and how blessed I am. I want hymns, the richness of lyrics that have been handed down for hundreds of years. But should I leave my church just because our song leader doesn’t choose songs I like? Is it really all that important what I think about the music selection? Can God not receive praise even if I think the lyrics are trite and bland?

Many of us church leaders have well programmed and produced and timed our church worship to the point that even rock stars are envious.

All the while, are we may be saying, "You can have it your way." Some of us also know that if we don't give it to 'em like they want it, well, there's always another church down the road.

What of being a follower of Jesus Christ means that we are to "deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him?"

Our music and art can be a dead giveaway.

New Celebrities/Rock Stars

I heard a story the other day (probably apocryphal) that an unusual event occurred in Baton Rouge, LA. After living in Louisiana these eleven years it seems that the unusual is part of our culture. Who Dat?

Nevertheless, a concert by a well known country artist was in progress. They are so well known that I do not recall their names.

As the story was told to me, all of a sudden a sea of heads turns from the stage to see something at the back of the venue. The band is playing and singing. The ocean of bodies then parts like Red Sea to reveal The New Rockstars.

The Swamp People.

Swamp People is a History Channel "reality" show about people who live in the Louisians Bayou and wrestle alligators. I often hear from people around here who watch the show and enjoy it. The Swamp people have become quite celebrities, and not just in our native Louisiana,

The poor band on the stage didn't know what to do- keep playing or stop. I understand the dilemma. As a public speaker and church leader I have often wondered what to do when some emergency or something unepected happens during a worship service.

Unfortunately, I know the rest of the story.

I do know that the Swamp People appeared at the mall in nearby Lake Charles yesterday and people stood in line for two hours to get their autographs.

Celebrity Syndrome. It used to be politicians, musicians, and artisans.

Now it is the Swamp People.

They are apparently taking their show on the road and may be coming to a town near you. Be prepared to wait in line to speak with someone who works out of a boat and who kills 'gators for a living.

If you missed them in Lake Charles, don't worry. They did leave behind signed momentos of their visit. I hear there still a few left.

By the way, a smiliar thing happened here recently with Billy the Exterminator. People do the strangest things. While I didn't stand in the line, I did get to see him up close!

The Day Has Finally Come!

I have heard of disunity in church. Now it is a reality.

Last Sunday morning at our church, during our worship service, we had a minor emergency.

A young man who is a walking miracle due to burns he recently suffered was back for the second time since his release from the hospital. Doctors initially told him that he had an 8% chance of living. He suffered the burns due to a gasoline fueled bonfire that went out of control. He was taken by airlife helicopter to Baton Rouge and spent a few weeks in ICU. He is still a bit weak.

The worship music began and the first song felt so powerful and worshipful. Things were rolling. During the second song, I sensed something wasn't right in the room. This young man got weak on his feet and almost passed out. Fortunately, we have several nurses who rushed to his side and were caring for him until an ambulance arrived.

What does one do? We stopped and prayed, and the choir sung on. There did seem to be a sweeter spirit, the music felt more powerful, and one lady joined our church at the service's conclusion. I enjoyed preaching and for a moment thought I might not get to deliver the sermon. I prayed for guidance and God provided. It is not always easy to weigh a person's needs with carrying on worship.

But as one man said, "What is better in a crisis like that than to be praising the Lord?"

At the conclusion of the service, we leaned of the young man's financial needs and our church took a significant love offering to help he and his wife out. Had he not come to church, that need might not have been addressed and there might not have been medical professionals around to help.

God is good.

God is sovereign.

He showed me that Sunday morning...again.

By the way, I found out that another church across the river from us also faced an emergency situation. The church was on fire...wel, just a bit of smoke from a burned out light ballast. But it did empty the building and that pastor did not get to preach. I reminded him that he can "coast" this week and use the sermon this coming Sunday...perhaps...

Save More Than 15%?

Just a thought...

If all these insurance companies who seem to be running cute, nonstop ads on Television and radio would not spend so much money on advertising, could they not save us way MORE than 15%?

Just a thought...

Prophetic Timeliness

Last Sunday, I preached a message on "Affirming Life." I stated my prolife stance concerning abortion, gave Biblical, scientific, and personal reasons for it, and invited the congregation to join us this in attending the Louisiana Life March event in Baton Rouge on Saturday, January 22.

Simple and direct. That was my plan.

It was also untimely, in the sense that this coming Sunday, January 23, is reserved as "Sanctity of Life Sunday." I was one week early.

No, the message was right on time.

I had felt a simple urging to preach on this vital topic for several days prior to Sunday, Jan 16, even though the official day was one week later. To be sure, it really doesn't make all that much difference.

But in this case it did.

I preached the message for three reasons:
1. The topic needs to be addressed.
2. I am pro-life.
3. I haven't addressed the topic as a sermon subject in a few years.
4. I wanted to publicize the Louisiana Life March coming this Saturday. To wait until January 23 would be one day late.

Actually, the message turned out to be right on time.

As it turns out, a person was considering aborting a baby on Monday, the day after I preached that message. A friend who heard the message was able to show the person considering the abortion that it would indeed affect a human life; a baby.

As a result, the person decided not to abort. A decision is made, and a life is saved.

One week later, if I had waited to preach that message, that life would have been taken.

Prophetic Timeliness.

I believe it was the work of the Spirit of God.

I stand in awe.

For The New Year...

Against the change of passing years
The crumbling stone and steel decay
And every cynic voice that jeers  
     Unchanged this simple truth will stay:
He serves God best unto life's end
Who plays the neighbor and the friend.
-Edgar Guest