The speaker who came in for our Disciple Now told a funny story. Maybe it’s an urban legend, but it’s funny either way.

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Two college roommates. Guys. One’s a cheerleader (let’s call him Bob). So during one of the big competitions when the cheerleader dude is on stage, his roommate (let’s call him Fred) runs out and yanks his pants down. In front of hundreds and hundreds of people (possibly a thousand.) Talk about embarrassment.

So Bob is looking for a way to get him back. Bob knows that Fred is going out with a girl who is at least halfway skanky….probably much more than that. She’s been around the block a few times, if you catch my drift. Anyway, Bob empties out Fred’s shampoo and refills his shampoo bottle with Nair. Bob then asked Fred if he’d heard about a guy they knew in school. “He was sleeping around with this girl, got an STD, got cancer or something, lost all his hair and died.” “No way!” Fred said. But that was that.

Then that night when Fred’s in the shower, washing his hair w/ hair removal cream….clumps of hair are coming out of his scalp. He begins to freak out and worry. Fred goes to bed that night and then wakes up with lots of hair all over his pillow and bed. He’s about to lose it. He thinks he’s caught something from his girlfriend that’s causing him to slowly die now.

Fred knows that Bob is a Christian so he begs Bob to pray for him. “Pray for me dude. Pray that God will heal me.” Bob is laughing on the inside, but keeps his game face on and says okay. So Bob then puts the real shampoo back in Fred’s bathroom. That night, Fred washes his hair….and nothing noticeable happens. He wakes up the next morning and his pillow is clean. HE’S HEALED!!! He begins to thank Bob profusely. He begins to praise God for his healing. And he breaks up with the girl, gives his life to Christ, surrenders to the ministry, and to this day is a pastor at a church with a pretty vivid testimony about skanky girls, STD’s, hair loss, and healings.

Bob never had the heart to tell Fred what was really behind the hair loss.

Is it true? Dunno. Could be. Funny either way.

It was a good weekend overall, like I said. I had four great small group leaders that connected well with my kids. I think that’s the most important part of the weekend. I guess we spend the most money on the speaker and worship leader, but I think those guys just set the stage, so to speak, for what goes on in the small groups back at the homes.

As I said, there were a few concerns with the speaker. I think he did a pretty okay job. But sometimes he added stuff to his talks that were really unnecessary. Two major instances stand out. Once, he was talking about being passionate for Christ. Talking about what passion is. He says, “You know what I’m going to do first thing when I get home after this weekend? I’m not going to bring my luggage in and sit down and talk with my wife. I am going to come in, give her a big kiss, and then I’m going to make love to my wife.” Um, let’s just say I thought that was a little too far. Maybe a good point. Definitely a bad visual.

The last night, he was trying to paint a word picture of God giving Christ, His Son, as a sacrifice for all of our sins. Explaining propitiation. I think it occurred to him at the last second. But he calls my wife up from the back of the room asks her to bring our daughter up there as well. He asks The Wife to show The Kid to the room. It was like a scene from the Lion King or something. Everyone does the obligatory, “Awwww.” Then he calls me up as well. Anyway, he begins to tell a story of me coming home and seeing The Wife brutally killed before my eyes. Then the Prez calls me and asks me how this situation would be resolved. Someone has to pay for the wrong, but it’s up to me to decide. Then, in striking detail, the speaker describes me taking The Kid with me to Washington D.C. to do something about it. The Prez said that it’s up to me but “someone has to pay for this wrong.” And I fill a syringe with some kind of poison or another and instead of poking it in the killer, I inject it into my pure, innocent daughter and take her life instead of the life of the killer.

Well….I see his point. But I don’t think it’s an entirely accurate analogy. Christ died willingly for our sins, The Kid would have been a participant forced to comply (in that situation). Plus, she wouldn’t have know what was going on. But I see the point he was trying to make. Let’s just say that all the students in the room who knew me, The Wife, and The Kid were really offended. He got pretty bad reviews after that.

BUT…it sure gave the small groups something to talk about when they got back home!

This Disciple Now weekend has been pretty good so far. And it’s nearly over.

I’ve not posted in the last couple of days because my time has been precious. But to be honest, the last three days, running full fledge with Disciple Now, do not hold a candle with Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Those had to have been the two craziest days of my working life, it seems. I promise, the phone rang for me every 10 minutes at least. Sometimes I’d get off the phone and get a message that I needed to return another phone call. It was nuts.

But the weekend has been a blast. All that’s left is church in the morning with lunch afterwards. The speaker has been pretty good, but there’ve been a few things that have caused a touch of concern here and there. I’ll touch on those more later when I feel like typing longer. But I think the heart of all of his messages have been solid and beneficial. But to me, the heart of a Disciple Now weekend is what goes on in the small groups in the homes. The other churches we do Disciple Now with get their small group leaders from the BSU at Mississippi State. I always get folks I know personally. And I sometimes get folks who are members of my own church. College kids who are alumni of our youth group. Some people might think that is not such a good idea. But I think in my case there’s nothing wrong with it. It can be a positive thing, even.

I think it allows the kids to see someone who’s been where they are…I mean specifically where they are: same school, same teachers, same town, same things to do on the weekends, same church. And now these young adults are committed Christians with a passion to serve Jesus and share Him with Junior and Senior High students (or basically anyone). Something I hope my current students end up doing as well.

Hopefully I’ll carve out some intentional time in each of the next few days to talk a little more about Disciple Now, some other goings on I’m a part of (applying for seminary – hoping for a quick enrollment), and some goofy stuff too. But it’s past time for bed, and I was up late last night. And early service comes quite early in the morning.

Thanks to anyone who prayed for our weekend. Many, many thanks.

My wife and I have been talking about this a little lately.

How do you know if you’re called to missions?

If we’re a Christian, then we probably recognize the need for missionaries. We recognize the need for taking the Gospel of Christ to people who either haven’t heard it, or haven’t heard it in a ‘relevant’ manner. No one denies that.

But what is it that actually ‘clicks’ in someone’s head or heart or soul….that says, “Hey, I should go do this!”? Is it just a greater realization of the need? Is it a specific, compelling urge to go do it, or is it a still, small voice heard in the depths of prayer that is a confirmation?

We’ve taken our youth group on mission trips before. A couple each year, actually. Some to rural North Carolina, some to the ghetto-licious parts of Jackson, MS. Some to Montgomery, Alabama. Some mission work even in our own hometown. But what about launching out and taking some pretty big steps. How do you know if your called to do something more than a week at a time?

I don’t claim any impressive skill set to be able to do great and mighty tasks. But there’s always been a small interest in seeing “what could be” with a missional sort of situation. The bigger part of me was probably in the “God, don’t send me to Africa” crowd. Because that’s what we grow up thinking missionaries are, right? People sitting on a tree stump, sleeping in a hammock surrounded by mosquitoes in the deep dark jungles of the Congo learning to make clicking sounds with our language and presenting the stories of Jesus on a felt board.

But is it a specific “call”? Or could it be just a light going off saying, “I see this as a need for God’s Kingdom. I, as a follower of Christ, am called, expected even, to join Jesus in His Kingdom’s work. Therefore I should strongly consider jumping into this.”

I say all this with nothing really in mind. I’ve heard of tons of possibilities over the years…but just throwing all this out there. Random thoughts and everything, you know.

Our community’s Disciple Now is this weekend.

To me it’s always one of those weekends that can be lots of fun and lots of good can come out of it, but it’s also one of those weekends where you are so relieved when it’s finally over. If you don’t know exactly what it is, it’s basically a weekend long Bible study where you have some “small group” meetings in homes usually lead by college age or above young adults. I will break up all the kids in our youth group into those small groups. But there will be times when we all come together as a number of churches in our town are participating. Some times of corporate teaching/worship and some meals.

Last year’s was pretty much a success. Not a ‘blow you out of the water’ sort of deal, but a good time with potential for having a meaningful impact on the kids’ lives.

This week has been and will be kinda hectic leading up to the weekend. But I’m hoping that it’s not too crazy. But I ask that people lift up the weekend in their prayers if they think about it.

I walk outside this morning to a really wet and cold day. I’m going after the newspaper. I didn’t get one yesterday to read the previews of the big MSU vs. LSUx game. But after a nice win, I figure I’ll get a good story and read some quotes. As I wrestle with a little bundle of energy at the end of a thin green leash, I see that there’s no Sunday paper today either. No sports news. No coupons for The Wife. Dang!

But it was a good game yesterday anyway. Mississippi State, after losing on a last second shot to Kentucky last Thursday, invaded the Deaf Dome in Baton Rouge to jump out to a big lead (19 points), then let is slowly slip away, then end up winning by five. Tim Brando said we’re a Sweet Sixteen team at the minimum. I hope Tim’s right, but I’m not counting any chickens. But this team has potential. But they have to keep improving.

But we’re 3-1 in the SEC right now, 14-1 overall. The new rankings come out tomorrow night. How sweet would 15-0, 4-0 be right now? Man, don’t get me thinking about it. But the next best thing this season is that UMiss is terrible.

I walk outside this morning to a really wet and cold day. I’m going after the newspaper. I didn’t get one yesterday to read the previews of the big MSU vs. LSUx game. But after a nice win, I figure I’ll get a good story and read some quotes. As I wrestle with a little bundle of energy at the end of a thin green leash, I see that there’s no Sunday paper today either. No sports news. No coupons for The Wife. Dang!

But it was a good game yesterday anyway. Mississippi State, after losing on a last second shot to Kentucky last Thursday, invaded the Deaf Dome in Baton Rouge to jump out to a big lead (19 points), then let is slowly slip away, then end up winning by five. Tim Brando said we’re a Sweet Sixteen team at the minimum. I hope Tim’s right, but I’m not counting any chickens. But this team has potential. But they have to keep improving.

But we’re 3-1 in the SEC right now, 14-1 overall. The new rankings come out tomorrow night. How sweet would 15-0, 4-0 be right now? Man, don’t get me thinking about it. But the next best thing this season is that UMiss is terrible.

A 55-year-old man is suing a local church because it won’t give back a $126,000 donation he gave during a deep depression five years ago.

Moral of the story….don’t give away money when you’re in a depressive state.

A 22-year-old says he was ordered by voices from God to break into a lion cage at the zoo and taunt the lions. Needless to say, the lions pounced on him, knocked him to the ground and bit him repeatedly …

Moral of the story…. Daniel was thrown in the lion’s den, not sent in there to taunt the creatures.

I have a ski trip planned to Colorado in March. 40 of us going. Mostly students from our church. They’ve paid a few hundred dollars for this trip. We’re taking a charter bus there. We think we got a pretty good deal on the bus ride too.

But then I get a phone call today from them. They didn’t sound good at first. I say, “How are you doing?” They tell me, “Not so good…There’s a problem with your trip.” “Oh really?” I say. Then she proceeds to tell me that due to the economy they are having to downsize and there will be no bus available for my trip.

Surprisingly I’m pretty calm here. “Wow,” I say waiting for what she’ll say next. She ends up telling me that the two options we have are for her to refund my the money we’ve paid in so far, or that she’s gotten another bus company who can carry us BUT….BUT they were not able to comp the price so it will be $1005 more than the price on my contract. Wow!

I don’t say anything again and then she asks if there’s one or the other I’d like to do or if I needed to talk to someone first about it. Uh, yeah! I’ve taken my contract to someone in my church who’s a lawyer (who’s going on the trip to, ironicly) to check it out. But I think they’d be responsible for getting me up there at the price we’ve contracted. How frustrating!

In no way do I want to sue for this stuff, but I have a bunch of people expecting to go to Colorado for a price that’s originally been quoted (and contracted).

What would you do?

The Kid got plenty for Christmas. I could spend a few paragraphs here listing stuff that relatives got her. The Wife and I really didn’t get her much. We knew she’d get more than enough from everyone else. There were the toys that look so nice when you first pull them out of the box, but don’t really get a lot of “re-play” out of.

The little plastic castle with Snow White, Cinderella, and Belle that they can sit on and it will play music and spin around. After a few days, that’s all played out. Then there’s the barn/ranch house with the girl and her best friend (who happens to be a horse that can talk) live and they will talk to each other if you stand them in the right place. But there’s the many, many books that she loves to read. There’s a baby or two. Her new kitchen with she spends a lot of time cooking me something in the oven, bringing it too me, then telling me to be careful I don’t burn my hands on the hot cake.

But she’s invested some time in another game she got. We tried to play it a time or two, but the “taking turns” hasn’t fully clicked in her mind yet. But she loves to play with her cards from her MEMORY game. You know the game. All those different cards with the pictures on them and you have to find a match.

She wanted to play Sunday night after I got home from church. The Big Game was on, but I figured I’d play a little where her and The Wife. Well, all I can say is that I want to blame it on the Big Game. I was watching LSU beat Oklahoma. That’s why my two year old daughter completely schooled me in a game of Memory. It would be my turn, I’d turn over a monkey or a train or something, and I’d know I’d seen one earlier, and that it was on one side of the arrangement of cards. And as I’d be looking, she’d show me where it was. Nearly ever time. I’m nearly thirty. She only two. She’s smarter than me. I like football more than she does.

That’s my excuse.