It is December, after all

The first of December came with the first dusting of snow, today.  It had the feel of December, and some of the look.  It makes it seem like it could be about Christmas time.  We have been told that Christmas was coming, by our TVs, since before Halloween.  It could be true.

This weekend, a lot of people from our church will be involved in The Living Christmas Tree.  It is a huge event for us.  The number of volunteers is up around 1,000, and that much volunteering adds up to quite a gift to the community.  No one is charged for a ticket, or for parking, even though about 50,000 people come.   Hours upon hours go into just preparing the arena for the presentation, not to mention the practice time that extends back for months.  Tonight a team of people will be there, after the Lady Vols basketball game is over, unloading all the equipment and starting construction of the stage, tree and sets.  The professional lighting and sound people will be there rigging their hardware, and programming the operation.  There will be no stopping until the first presentation on Saturday afternoon. 

Christmas may be talked about constantly on the air, for profit.  This weekend it will be presented for free, because of the hard work of "a host of volunteers."  Pray that the message about the ultimate gift will not be lost in the clamor about a limited sale.

Evaluation

How are you evaluated?  How do you evaluate things or other people?

It has something to do with value, doesn't it?  We are measuring the value of someone or something.  Will I buy this, for this price, or decide it is not worth the cost?  We do it all the time, over and over.  What are comparing to, or measuring by? 

Most likely there is a particular time of year when you get evaluated.  In school, they call the evaluations exams.  At work, hopefully they have a different name for them.  Neither the test nor its outcome should be a surprise.  The test is intended to show what is there, what you have and what you don't have.  If it works out that way, it is helpful.

When it matters most, when our Lord evaluates us, what is He looking for?  What role is He testing?  How does He structure the exams, and when do they come?  Does He even do that?  It sounds like it...
     "Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work." (1Cor 3:12-13 NASB)

Let's talk about this.

lil' Birds

Hummingbirds are so attractive to me.  I don't think I am alone in this.  There are a lot of them that flit around our back deck in the summer months.  (It could be that feeder we hang up...) 

There are some friends that swap pictures of them back and forth by email.  They are much better photographers, with better equipment than I have.  If you saw their pictures, you would not care to see mine.  But I am not going to share their work.  Here are a few of the pictures that I like, from this summer.

Now they are gone, until it gets warm again. 

"Snow birds."

Tornado Dancing

We were planning to go out, but now we think that we will NOT go dancing with tornadoes tonight.  We are staying in, and think we should try again next week.

Try again next week. 

Isn't it good to be able to try again?

Unless you dance with a tornado, you probably can.

DH

Dis-Place-ia

There is a medical term that sounds kind of like dis-place-ia, even though it is spelled as dysplasia.  You medical people know what that is - abnormal development of cells.  It may be a warning sign of CANCER on the way.  Scary stuff. 

Sometimes that word comes into my mind, but referring to the much more mundane condition of being out of place.  When I am outside my normal range, I feel out of place.  Sometimes I feel out of place even in my normal range, but especially when traveling or when things mess with my schedule. 

I have been out of place lately.  There have been some good and even great things that have happened, and I am glad that I went where I did, but I am also glad to be back home.  I am even glad to get back to work, and start catching up on what accumulated while I was out.  I am pretty much a home-body.  It doesn't take a lot for me to feel dis-place-ia. 

Can I get an Amen?

Well, I am back and there is a lot I like about that.  If you have not been where you belong, I hope you will be there at your very next opportunity.  This weekend, perhaps?

Seeing the kids

This weekend has provided us a chance to see our children, who are not little kids anymore.  Rachel is in college and Seth has graduated.  They are out of the house. 
  {The nest is empty.  That is quite a transition.  At first the house seemed too quiet.  Now, it seems nice and quiet.  ;o }

We don't see them a lot, like we did when they lived with us.  We do see them when we can, and our relationship is good.  That is a sweet thing for parents to be able to say.  So we made the run this weekend and visited.  It is a five hour drive for us to get to Rachel, and about 1.5 hours for Seth to get there.  It is worth it for us to get together for a while.

Do you suppose that God feels that way about His family?  Probably like that, but stronger.  Worth the trip from heaven to earth, through heck and back, to be able to get together.  It is not a "meet you half way" deal at all.  He did it all.  For me.  and you.

Get with Him when you can.

Parenthetically

In the first part of the third chapter of Ephesians, there are a couple of things that get my attention.  One is what appears to be a parenthesis running from verse two to verse thirteen.  (Notice that Paul picks up where verse one left off when he gets to verse fourteen.)  I guess he would have loved to have a word processor of some kind, instead of a scribe unwilling to start over that far into the letter.

The other thing that stands out in the first part of the chapter, inside the parentheses, in the middle of all that mystery talk, is the fourth time that something is said about the heavenly places, in case anyone is not counting.  There is one more coming later in the book, making five in all.  It makes me believe there is something to the presence of this phrase.  I want to gather the occurrences up and look at them as a group. 

I think I will.  (Parenthetically)

Get to know.....

Andy Langston: I'm from the Knoxville area & just graduated from UT this past May with a business degree. I'm looking to start seminary in the spring & see where God takes me from there. I love Jesus & people so its pretty cool when those two meet.

Hidden Talent(s): I do a mean Jar Jar Binks impersonation from Star Wars

I know nothing about: Makeup

Once lived in: A house from the Civil War era

In HAITI!

 Don't want to live without: my iPod or running shoes

Absolutely won't eat: I wont drink buttermilk

Nickname(s): LPK

Favorite song to sing in the car when I'm alone: Dont Stop Believing by Journey

Pet Peeve: Traffic

Best recently read books: Blue Like Jazz (you need to read it)

Color Apple should make an iPod: UT orange
Favorite aroma: the breeze right before a big storm
Least favorite aroma: when you leave laundry in the wash to long, or a paper mill

Becoming

... the fullness of Him who fills all in all.  What an amazing line!  Ephesians one ends with that description of the body of Christ, which means you and me.  Who would have thought?

There is a lot going on with us. 

In Ephesians two, there is more.  There is a massive amount of power involved.  It has been used for a good reason, according to an eternal purpose.  Part of that would be forming us into a force to be reckoned with in this world. 

Have we become, or are we becoming that force, aligned with the eternal purpose of God?  Let's talk about what that would be like, and how we can make it happen.

Get to know....

Brent Lackey: born in Jackson Tennessee, lived in Parsons TN until I graduated high school and started college at UT. I am the youngest of 3 children, my parents own and operate Lackey's Supermarket in Parsons. I grew up on the farm, both ours and my grandparents. In my free time you can most likely find me in or near the water.

Hidden Talent(s): Freaky ability to remember names and faces. It is both a blessing and a curse...

I know nothing about: lots of things

Once lived in: charter bus

Don't want to live without: Jenny's Cooking

Absolutely won't eat: Shellfish...allergic

Nickname(s): If I put them here I am afraid that I will have to start answering to them...

Favorite song to sing in the car when I'm alone: "God of This City" "City On Our Knees"

Pet Peeve: Backbiting, and lying

Best recently read books: I am a John Grisham junkie, if he has written I have read it.....twice!

Color Apple should make an iPod: Tennessee Orange

Favorite aroma: Sunscreen

Least favorite aroma: Body Odor

The Letter to the ...

Ephesians is an amazing book.  It has a lot of sweet stuff in it, but a lot of tough stuff, too.  Some is complex.  I suspect that what seems simple has complexity in it, even if we don't see it. 

Did you know that there is debate about who the letter is written to?  That is not obvious since the very first verse says it is to the saints in Ephesus, faithful in Christ Jesus.  Our English versions  say that.  Many old manuscripts say that, but some just say to the saints, faithful in Christ.  If it is to the Ephesians, it is uncharacteristically devoid of any mention of the people there or reflection on the years that Paul spent with them.  Maybe it was intended to be circulated to a lot of churches.  That is what is happening with it now, anyway.

That is curious, but may not matter much to us.  There are other questions that might matter more.  Does Paul really believe in predestination?  There it is, right in the first chapter, mentioned explicitly, twice.  Oh wow.  What are we going to do with that?

Do you wonder?

Have you ever wondered what nature's most perfect food might be? 

I don't know.  But I would have to say that sausage balls are near the top of my list.  We are going to bring some tomorrow.  I don't know if there will be enough for everyone to get all they want.  Don't get there late.

Have you ever wondered how infinite the world is? 

I don't know that either, for certain.  I do have some thoughts.  They include an idea that God's reality may be more infinite than ours. 

Wait a mintue - does it make sense to say more infinite?  Isn't there just finite, and then infinite, and nothing beyond that?  Not exactly.  We will talk about it in class. 

See you there.

Get to know...

Nathan Carter: Born and raised in East Tennessee. I went to UT, and became a believer in college. Thanks God....and Campus Crusade! In 2000, I married my high school/college sweetheart. Thanks Christin! I have been a real-estate appraiser since I graduated, and since 2008 I've worked for myself. Christin and I lived in China for a couple of years. We drove a scooter and ate shameful meals that are illegal here. Living there was crazy awesome. Coming back was the hardest, and weirdest, thing I've ever done. You try it. We're adding a baby boy to the mix. I'm pumped.

Hidden Talent(s): Seeing Deer. I see 10 times more deer at random than the average person.

I know nothing about: XBOX. Guitar Hero not included.

Once lived in: Yellowstone. I got lost for three days in the Tetons without food, but I saw lots of deer.

Don't want to live without: My Blackberry/XM radio. Invention is the mother of necessity.

Absolutely won't eat: Slaw, duh.

Nickname(s): Nate, NateDog

Favorite song to sing in the car when I'm alone: Umbrella by Rihanna....don't tell anyone.

Pet Peeve: Weaving cars on the interstate. I love to hate them.

Best recently read books: Vonnegut entertains me.

Color Apple should make an iPod: Baby Blue for baby gifts.

Favorite aroma: All Christmas smells.
Least favorite aroma: My dog's 'puffs'.

Respect

Sunday was a great day.  Day 1 for The Road.  I had been looking forward to it, and wondering if anyone would be there.  There were people there!  That's cool.
There were 58 people there!  That's respectable.
We were crowded.  Next Sunday we will probably be in the room next door to where we were.  It has more of those cushy chairs in it.  That is better than the folding metal chairs we had to bring in on Sunday. 
Thanks for coming to check out The Road.  Hope you will be back.

Get to know somebody else

Anna Grier:  I moved to Tennessee in 2008 and knew right away this was home! I live in Maryville and love seeing the Smoky Mountains. I work for UT in the English Language Institute doing their bookkeeping and accounting. I love to be outside, travel, sports, singing, watching movies, playing the piano, & spending time with friends! I am excited about being involved in ministry at my church and can't wait to meet the people who come to The Road!!!

Once lived in: Oak Brook, IL (just outside of Chicago)

Don't want to live without: The gift of Sight (God's creation is so beautiful)

Absolutely won't eat: Durian (stinky fruit in Southeast Asia, once was enough)

Favorite song to sing in the car when I'm alone: Hard to pick only one, but my favorite song is "Lord, You're Holy"

Pet Peeve: Drivers not using their Turn Signals

Counting down

There is a good bit of activity right now, in a lot of places and for a lot of people.  It is not just me.  This is a busy time. 
If you were still in college, you would have just moved back to campus and barely have started classes.  The load would not be too heavy yet, but ramping up in that direction.
But you are not still in college.  If you just moved, it is likely to be for a job, which you might stay in for a long time, and from which most people don't get summers off.  If you are in school, it is grad school, which doesn't need to ramp up, because it never slows down, and from which most people don't get summers off.  That has something to do with that thing people say too often - "Welcome to the real world."
On Sunday, I want to spend a little time on that concept - the real world.  Did your world suddenly get more real after college? 
Sunday!  That is this Sunday.  It is about here.  Counting down....

Get to know somebody

David Harkins, born in Nashville, but do not remember living there. My family moved when I was two years old. Saved at age six, living in Texas, while my dad went to seminary and pastored a small church. Parents became missionaries to Korea. We moved there when I was eight. I stayed there until I finished high school. Went to Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC, near where my parents came from, which is Union, SC. Visited Union often while in college, staying with family. Met Cheri there. We were married after college and lived in Greenville. Moved here to go to graduate school at UT. Thought we would move back after that, but have not yet. This Tennessee thing might work out.

Hidden Talent(s): inventing knots and various tangles
I know nothing about: Buckling swash
Once lived in: Wyatts Grove, not too far from China Grove, but not the one in the Lone Star State. If you are there, you are probably lost. When you ask for directions, remember that they pronounce it “Wites Grove”
Don't want to live without: blue jeans, warm showers
Absolutely won't eat: don’t know yet
Nickname(s): don’t go there
Favorite song to sing in the car when I'm alone: It is situational – sometimes “Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road”.
Pet Peeve: Less than half a cup of coffee in the pot, scorching on the burner. Go ahead, pour it out and make a new pot. I will do what I can to help drink it.
Best recently read books: Radical, by David Platt. It is. We should be.
The Shack. I especially like the part about wisdom and judgment.
Color Apple should make an iPod: ONE campaign Red
Favorite aroma: wind on a stormy beach
Least favorite aroma: roofing tar, paper mills, dead skunks in the middle of the road

The "Group W" bench

Do you know Alice's Restaurant?  It is an old song,by Arlo Guthrie, which tells a story.  If you have not heard it, and you have about 20 minutes, you can find it on YouTube.  It is a long song that tells a long story.  In one of its parts the singer talks about trying to join the army.  He is told to wait, and sit on the "Group W" bench.  That is because he has a criminal record.  His crime?  Littering.  Because he has that on his record, perhaps he is not suitable for the army, not moral enough to kill people.  So he waits, along with all the other people who have criminal records.  He feels out of place, especially when asked what his crime was.  "Littering."  People move away from him on the bench, until he adds "and creating a nuisance."  Then they move back and all talk together about their lives of crime.

Wow.  Where did that come from, and what does it have to do with anything?

I am still reading Acts these days.  The story of Philip was in chapter 8.  Chapter 16 tells about Paul and Silas and their criminal record.  Their crime?  Casting a demon out of a slave girl.  It landed them in jail, along with other prisoners charged with all sorts of crimes.  They were sitting on something like the "Group W" bench: they had their feet in stocks.  At midnight, they were still there.  They sang and praised God.  Why?  The text does not give reasons, but they were doing what they usually did.  They praised God because that is the kind of people they were.  They did it because they were the same wherever they were.  They were where they were, because of what the world thought of what they had done.  Waiting, on the "Group W" bench, not allowed to serve. 

Then God showed up, in a big way, and everything changed.  The time spent waiting created an opportunity to see God work, and to see people come to know Him.  I don't like to wait.  I don't like it when the world's opinion of me or what I am doing says that I am not good enough.  But sometimes those things are the steps needed to create something I will love when it comes.

Philip - traveling man

Talked about Philip today.  He traveled several times in Acts 8.  The first time was north out of Jerusalem to Samaria.  He started preaching there, and the result changed the city to one filled with joy.  People getting right with God can get that way.  You could say the trip was very successful. 
It was not really Philip's idea to go to Samaria.  It seems he went because persecution started in Jerusalem.  Persecution is not what we hope for, but in this case it led to the spread of the gospel, and great joy in another city.  The persecution intended to shut down the church actually spread it. 
In the middle of great success in Samaria, Philip heard from God that he should leave, and head back south, past Jerusalem out the desert road toward Gaza.  How inefficient does that sound?  Why should he leave what he was in the middle of doing in Samaria, to stand by a desert road?  He did, because he heard from God.  Then there was this one man who came by... and was saved and baptized. 
Then Philip disappeared.  The Holy Spirit teleported him from one place to another.  Philip did not plan on going to where he ended up, but (poof!) he was there.  He kept on doing what he had been doing.  He preached the gospel, and people responded.  Working his way through several towns, he settled in Caesarea.  He is mentioned again in Acts 21, as "Philip the evangelist" living in Caesarea.


We may be moved from one place or position to another at times, in God's plan.  If were to choose, I think I would like to try out the Holy Spirit teleportation thing.  I have not had that choice so far.  If not that, then the best I can do is pay attention to His Spirit and go when He says to.  
There may be times when I find myself in places I had no plan or expectation to be.  If so, perhaps the best I can do then is to continue what I had been doing before, in God's plan.

Like it

I met with A. Langston today, talking about several things.  The Road was on the list, and we were both glad about the idea of a class for people not in college any more.  I am way out of that age range, and even have children who fit it.  I could be the dad of the people who will be in there, but I am not.  Maybe that is a good thing.  We can be good for each other.

Getting Ready

Today was basically the first day we said it out loud.  Cheri and I will be leading a new class in a few weeks.  The people in there (hopefully) will be right out of college, either going to grad school or into their first job.  I expect they will be sharp, and will not want to waste time.  We will work at coming in with something to say, and being ready to hear.