Ensley Kate

It's been a delight to have Grace and little Ensley in Alabama for a few days.  It's given me time to reflect a bit.  This afternoon as I held Ensley, I was taken back to earlier years.  Seeing her little legs almost involuntarily flail as she enjoyed a clean daper, I was given to the thought of how we often flail about in life.  I could see the generalities of her future-she will soon be sitting up, then crawl, walk, talk, and hug.  She will begin to make choices-some good and some bad. She will have to be disciplined and at times even punished.  The love of her parents and grandparents, as well aunts and uncles, will be no less, however.

Yesterday, as I held her innocent little body, I prayed that God would draw Ensley to Himself at an early age.  As much joy as there is in seeing your child win awards, excell in athletics and academics, as joyous the occassion is when they are married or even bear their own children, there is no greater joy than knowing they are born again. 

I have prayed the same prayer for our two other granddaughters and we continue to repeat that prayer. The same God and Creator who made heavens and earth, who has redeemed countless millions can do the same for Ensley.  I am grateful for His power, His willingness, and His desire to do so.

She, like all of us, can continue to flail about in life or she will have to opportunity to discover the plan He has for her.  Just like I pray for Ensley's salvation, I pray for her discovering and carrying out the plan God has custom designed for her.  Salvation secured in heaven and obedience in following Him on earth.  Both very good ideas!

Stick With the Basics

I was fed, taught, have studied, and have learned the most basic of Sunday School principles the whole time I have been involved in Christian education. Never have I had the desire to get "fancy, shmancy" with this very critical and effective ministry. For that I am grateful.

In recent days, many of those basic ideas learned have come to light in practicality. After a recent leadership meeting where there was a lot of discussion about "open" enrollment or spinning off the old Andy Anderson "Growth Spiral" statement of enrolling anyone anywhere anytime, my pastor asked me to teach enrollment principles to the whole church last night and next Wednesday. I had a great time and I trust the congregation did as well.

I was excited to enroll a young lady for Sunday School this Tuesday night while making visits then this morning our awesome Latino pastor came to my office with "buenas noticias" (good news). He said that after teaching open enrollment to his congregation they have enrolled two families this week. One of the moms said that we were an answer to her prayers. They had no idea as to where to go to church but knew that we were sent by God. Amen to that!

I've had the opportunity to see God Almighty work in such amazing ways, not only in our lives, but in the lives of others recently. I should not be surprised...just reminded! I will continue to stick with the basics.

Seek His Face

In recent days, there have been numerous occassions when I needed to know what choice to make in situations that would effect others as well as myself.  I know that my wisdom is limited, to say the least, and I also know that eventhough my choice matters, I don't know the "unseens".  However, I know that God knows and there are no unseens for Him.

I had to just say, "Lord, this is what I think but I don't want to choose X if You want Y or A or B or something else of which I don't even know.  Please make it very clear as to what I should do."  It should be no suprise that He did.  As a result of seeing Him work in my life, I have begun a daily prayer of  something like, "Lord, there will be things crossing my path today that I, in myself, am not equipped to make a decision on.  Please give me wisdom to deal with what comes my way today.  I am not asking for tomorrow yet, just today."

Earlier this week when I was solicited for advise, I made a couple of suggestions but said, "Ultimately God knows all the details and you just need to get on your face before Him and see what it is He wants."  They did and He did make it clear.

Now here is the problem with all that; why is it that I sit here and write of a principle that all Christians know but so few, including me, seldom practice?  We know the power of prayer. We know the omniscience of God. We have been taught since an early age to seek Him first.  We have head knowledge of the right things to do but flesh, self-will, lack of faith, and who knows what else gets in the way of the implementation.

But the good side is that I am growing.  I am moving closer to Him. And I am daily experiencing how much He can be trusted.

A New Adventure

My new adventure with God started on Monday.  I am the new Christian Education Pastor at Decatur Baptist Church in Decatur, Alabama.  And what an awesome church! The ministry staff, the administrative staff, the support staff, and the people at large are just awesome.  Do I miss the folks at Clements? Of course, I do. They will always be family and will hold a very special place in Zannie's and my hearts. Our family has just enlarged ...a lot!

I don't really feel that I have done anything significant this week because it has been eaten up with getting the computer set up, filling out new employee papers, studying resumes for a ministry assistant, trying to find things in my newly "organized" office, and eating lunch.  This is the most "eating out" bunch of people I have ever met.  I'm liking it...a lot!

I am humbled and in awe of how God Almighty could entrust the education ministry of such a great church to me.  Early in the process of praying about coming here, I told God that I didn't know that I could do all that was required of me here.  Very, very clearly I heard Him say in that still, small, yet very loud and distinct voice, "I don't want you to do it; I want to do it through you." And that is my prayer-that it will not be me doing any of this but me being emptied of myself living in complete reliance on Him.  Then I can watch Him amaze even me.

God is good all the time and all the time God is good!  Amen and amen!

"Hello! Goodbye!"

God sure does bring surprises into our lives.  Eight years ago this week, God brought Zannie and me to one of the greatest churches on the face of the earth, Clements Baptist Church in Athens, Alabama.  I was a salesman and passionate Sunday School director who God allowed to serve Him vocationally full-time as a minister of education.  Then low and behold, He decided that it was time for us to go elsewhere.  And I am convinced that, once again, He has placed us in one of the greatest churches on the face of the earth, Decatur Baptist Church in Decatur, Alabama.

For people who change jobs every few years, I suppose it would be rather hard to understand the angst that is taking place in my heart.  On the one hand, we are leaving family.  Eight years is enough time to see see elementary children graduate from high school and enter college.  It's time to see students join the military, get married, have children and start whole new lives.  It's time to see God work in good people's lives who had served faithfully within the body of the church then realize that they, up to that point, only had lots of religion then enter into a personal realationship with Jesus Christ. It's enough time to fall deeply in love with the people God had called you to serve.  It's enought time for them to truly become family.

On the other hand, we are getting a whole new family.  God is the only One who knows whether we'll be at Decatur Baptist Church for another eight years or 28 years.  (That would put me at 87.  I have always said that Caleb was one of my heroes of the faith.)  In any case, God knows and He knows the blessings He has in store for us at Decatur.  We have trusted Him in this time of decision-making and we'll trust Him in the time of transition.  We'll trust Him to bring victory in all situations.

Thank you, God, for wanting only Your best for us. 

A Few Of My Heroes

Everyone of us has or has had some heroes in their lives. Over the years, I have had many. A few of my heroes growing up were Tarzan, Superman, Rifleman, & Roy Rogers just to name a few. Well, I’ve outgrown these heroes…sort of. Those heroes can be fun as a child but heroes begin to shape your life at some point.

Heroes such as Ann Moore-there are few reading this blog who have ever heard of Ann Moore but she helped shape my life. Mrs. Moore was a high school English teacher who expected no more of me than I was capable of doing but required no less either. For C+ students, she expected no less than a C+ but at the same time understood that to expect more was not realistic. She knew how to get the best out of every student in her class. To this day, I cannot sit down to write something that I am not transported back to Obion County Central High School in Troy, Tennessee and ask myself, “What would Mrs. Moore think of this?”

In 1985, as a young Sunday School teacher and deacon, I really understood the sacrifice and love of Jesus Christ for the first time. At that point I committed my life and my soul to His care a direction for my life. He has absolutely revolutionized my life and my future. He is the ultimate hero!

Then there’s Gene Moss, my dad. I learned hard work, ethics, going to church, and being on time from him. I remember going to the Old & Third National Bank in Union City, Tennessee and borrowing a few hundred dollars as a 12 year old to by some hogs and setting up an account at the feed mill. I remember on the way home him telling me that whether or not I had signed a piece of paper saying I’d pay back the money, my word should be enough. A handshake and a verbal promise to him were as binding as a written contact.

A hero for over 36 years is Zannie Moss, my wife. She has not just told me about and modeled compassion, mercy, and forgiveness for me, she has lavished all three of them on me when I deserved justice instead.

Robert Raikes is another hero to me. Raikes is credited for his innovation in setting up the first “Sunday school” in 1780 for the unruly children who lived in Glouster, England. Many of you are headed to heaven because of the “out of the box” idea Raikes had to teach the children to read by using the Bible as a text book.

Another of my Sunday school heroes is J. M. Frost who had the ability to look into the future to see the need for a publishing house for Southern Baptist Sunday School curriculum and presented a resolution in the 1890’s which formed the Baptist Sunday School Board.

For his “Formula” for Sunday School, Arthur Flake entered the ranks of hero to me when I read his book “Building a Standard Sunday School.” He taught me long after his death of the great organizing power of Sunday School and the basic principles that has strengthened Southern Baptist Sunday School for almost 100 years. Flake was a layman who joined the Baptist Sunday School Board in 1909 and became the first Director of the Sunday School Department in 1920.

Then there is Harry Piland whose drive and passion for Christian education influenced me like I didn’t know anyone could. His statement, "the word 'retire' is not in my vocabulary," to a group of Sunday School directors in 1994 has let me see that age has nothing to do with retirement. Retirement is a state of mind. Harry fanned a flame for Christian education in me in 1994 that burns hotter than ever today. Harry left LifeWay in 1994 at age 65 to become associate pastor/minister of education at First Baptist Church of Dallas where he served until 1997 before brain cancer forced him to return to Nashville for treatment before he died in 2001.

His predecessor at LifeWay as director of the Sunday School department, Bill Taylor is a hero to me because as I offered excuses as to why I could not become a minister of education, he showed me why and how I could.

One more Sunday School hero to me is Allan Taylor, the minister of education of First Baptist Church, Woodstock, GA. Allan leads the education ministry for Pastor Johnny Hunt. I have never met anyone who and has more passion for what he does and believes in and loves Sunday School any more than Allan Taylor…unless it’s me!

Then there’s Dr. Frances Grace Moss Wood, my daughter. As she was in undergraduate school at the University of Tennessee at Martin her fiancé (now husband), E. J., was about an hour away at Lambuth University in Jackson Tennessee. On Friday and Saturday nights instead of chucking the studies for time together, Grace chose to close the library down. Her commitment to her studies and focus on the task at hand inspire me to this day.

One more set of heroes before I share with you some of my very favorite heroes. That is the local pastor-he works long hours doing a mentally, spiritually, and often physically grueling task. There is an incredibly heavy load to carry that he can share with no one. He leads under a microscope and has the opportunity at every turn to upset somebody.

Then there is a hero that goes so often unrecognized exercising constant faithfulness with little reward. He puts in countless hours of ministry, study and preparation every week of the year, most often after a full week of work. That’s the Sunday School teacher. Your level of scholarship inspires me. Your desire to minister to your flock causes me to re-examine my own heart regularly.

I have a lot of heroes and there are a lot more people than me who are looking at you as heroes. Live your life not as a hero but as a servant of Christ. Pour yourself into the task and invest in the lives of others. Wouldn’t it be great to have Jesus say someday, “You are one of my heroes!”?

God's Creative Genius

It seems a bit understated to refer to "genius" and "God" in the same sentence but that's just the weakness of the human language...or at least my grasp of it.  However, as I recover from my recent surgery (removal of 12" of my colon), I can't help but think of  how He designed the human body.  Yes, it is true that I had a part to become defective.  But, thankfully, I had a very good doctor to do some mending. 

I can detect improvement everyday and am extremely grateful.  The interesting thing is that God didn't design us as we design a car.  By that, I mean that when a part goes out on the car, a part replacement doesn't occur unless it is put in correctly and all the circuits, fuses, and connections are operating correctly. A car repair doesn't improve itself over time. 

God's plan for the human body is that, yes, the part has to be put in correctly or taken out, in my case, but He designed us in such a way for the body to mend itself.  He doesn't "make" it mend or "force mend" it.  He gives us the sense or lack thereof to assist the healing process and understand the changes in our bodies to know when to get off the couch or when to back off physical activity.

Salvation is sort of like that.  God does the work...all the work.  He just allows us to accept what He has done for us and apply it to ourselves or ignore and continue to go our own way.  He allows me to abuse my soul or take care of  it. I am thankful that in 1985, I realized His work and I chose to allow it to do it's work in my own life.

This may be a stretch to compare God's plan for the healing of our bodies and our souls but it is something to think about today.