West Cocoa Chat

O.K. blones, my turn to tell you about my wonderful Sunday. First, let me take you back to Saturday. My wife and I went down to the building to deliver some supplies for our “Fall Family Roundup” that we held yesterday. We ran into our preacher (Don) who was feeling down. He had just found out that the sister who cleans our building was contemplating divorcing her husband. It was disappointing from the standpoint of where this couple (apparently) was spiritually just a few short months ago. They came back from the Mid-Ohio Valley Workcamp seemingly on fire for the Lord. Soon after that their attendance fell off and they stopped answering phone calls from Jeff and me. So needless to say, Don, Barb, and I were in the dumps heading into Sunday.

Then Sunday came and our spirits took off as on a “holy roller-coaster!” First the sister I wrote about came to Sunday School. I was reminded of Heb.10:25 and the encouragement we get when we assemble together. This sister was an encouragement to me. She chose to be with us and God in her hour of discouragement.

When services started I was running the computer once again. During Don’s sermon I stepped into (don’t tell Don) the foyer to check on something in the bulletin. I ran into a good friend of mine who a few weeks ago came to us (elders – Jeff and I) to ask for prayers for his marriage. To say that we were shocked at his request would be an understatement. Intellectually I know that all couples are subject to marital problems. Nevertheless you still have those in your church that you consider safe / steady folks. In the meeting he said he was worried his wife would not be willing to acknowledge their problems or work on them. Praise God, he told me yesterday that he and his wife were working towards being “O.K.” again. I couldn’t help but pump my fists in the air and hug the stuffing out of this brother. It was a sign of things to come. Oh, I did remember to go back to my post.

Don’s lesson (I know Greg is going to bust my chops on this one but I was only outside for a few minutes) was on commitment and service. Don did a masterful job of admonishing folks to be called to more than their baptism! We’re called by Jesus to be the “Light of the World.” That means going beyond being “saved” to a life of service in the name of Jesus.

When Don extended the invitation the flood gates opened up. First “Steve” came forward. Steve has been attending with his wife for some time. His wife is very involved but Steve is one of those discerning folks. He wanted to know what we and the Lord was all about. When he came forward he gave Don a simple confession. He said, “I got it.” The Lord had been working on his heart for months and the message finally got through.

Then there was Louis, a former elder of our church. Louis has been “distant” for quite some time. He asked to speak to our church family. He told the church that he had been a hypocrite and a knucklehead. He said his actions as of late hadn’t matched up with what he believed. God bless Louis.

Then came “Christmas” for me. Lynn and Irvin came forward. They had been away from us for the past few months. They had decided the best option for their disagreement with the direction our church is going in was to fall away from the Lord. Lynn and Irvin are special people to me. With both my father and mother having passed away, I’m naturally attracted to the wisdom of folks older than myself. But recently the roles had been reversed through phone calls as I tried to encourage both of them that their decision was wrong. Irvin got up and spoke to the church asking for our forgiveness. I almost knocked a few folks down as I made my way to Lynn and Irvin. They both looked at me with tears in their eyes and asked for my forgiveness. I told both of them that not only did I forgive them but the Creator of this Universe forgave them as well. As I hugged both of them I told them “merry Christmas” because as far as I was concerned, this was better than any material gift I had ever been given.

You know, there can be many things wrong with your church but when folks feel that they can come forward (and as one visitor told me) and be real with the church, that says a lot about how people feel about their church family.

Then my wife took over the day. She planned our Fall Family Roundup and it was a rousing success. We had close to a hundred kids in our parking lot and the weather was perfect. We finished the evening with our annual “Trunk or Treat” in the parking lot. We bought one of those fog machines from Wal-Mart to put underneath my Expedition. It was cute to see the kids filling up their bags with fog.

So there you have it blones, we all had a good day of worship yesterday. Take care.

First, I have to blog this:
Nanny boo-boo - I beat you Greg. I know, I’m blogging childishly but I couldn’t help myself. Greg just blows me away with his early posts especially considering our coastal positions. Greg gives new meaning to the term “West Coast Offense.”

In keeping with the theme of being “early,” earlier today I picked up Steven from “voluntary” conditioning for the High School Baseball Team. The Varsity coach had the team running the football stadium steps. As I was watching one of Steven’s coaches from last year walked up and started talking with me. I asked him how Steven was doing and he said the following things:
1. He told me that Steven was a hard worker. He was pleased with his physical development over the summer and during the fall “voluntary conditioning.” I can vouch for his “physical development.” The last few times we had a “voluntary” wrestling match gave me proof that the “hedonistic little sucker” (see previous post and Dr. Leman) is getting stronger. The only advantages I have on him now are height, weight, and a propensity to fight dirty when defeat is at hand! As I was saying, you always like to hear from other adults that your child is a “hard worker.” Of course sometimes I want to ask if they’re talking about the same 15 year-old that I live with.
2. The coach told me that Steven has a great attitude and isn’t a complainer. He said it didn’t matter what they asked Steven to do last year, play 3rd (not one of his “natural positions”), short-stop, 2nd base, or pitch – he was always willing to give 100 % no matter where they put him.

There you have it; a shame-less proud father bragging about his son. Trust me, I know my son (like his Dad) can be a knuckle-head but so was I at 15. I’m just thankful to the Lord for giving me a glimpse of the man Steven might become one day.
The rest of this blog is mainly for meowmix. I’m going to post some pictures of our 2 cats. If they look stressed out they had good reason. I took these pictures while Wilma was pounding us with 60mph winds and 14 inches of rain. Have a good weekend my fellow blones.

This is our problem solver - Buddy. I had a hard time taking this picture because he was in one of his licking modes. That's right, this cat will lick me like a dog, over and over. You might say he has great taste.

This is our girl, Cloe. She is a sweetie but don't try to pick her up. I coined the phrased "Hell-cat" the day I made that mistake. It's pretty embarrassing when you have to call the vet to cancel your appointment because a 3 pound cat just "kicked my butt (singular version of an old red neck saying) and took my name."

This is Cloe on our pool patio at the height of Hurricane Wilma. You can see my son standing behind her. She wants inside the house and now! It's O.K. meowmix, we accommodated her wishes.

First my fellow "blones," I ask that you pray for my brother Ray (deacon of worship) who is serving with the Florida National Guard in Miami as well as the people on south Florida. He was able to call his wife yesterday to give her some details of their hurricance recovery efforts:
1. Estimation of power restoration in the Miami area run from 2 to 3 weeks.
2. They are being housed in the Orange Bowl. If you've ever been to the Orange Bowl you know that the surrounding neighborhood isn't the best place to be day or night.
3. The people that Ray and the National Guard are trying to serve are becoming very impatient with their lack of services.
4. Ray said that he and his troops had to draw their weapons to maintain crowd control as they tried to issue ice and food.
5. At one point they were spat on by the hostile crowd.
Ray said that he needs prayers for wisdom and patience as they will probably be down in Miami for at least 2 weeks.

Next - Last night I sat in a class that is watching a series of DVD's on Parenting by Dr. Kevin Leman. My interest was sparked when I heard him say, “Children are hedonistic little suckers.” Can’t argue with that kind of scholarship.

After the tape we were led in a discussion on how to help your child to feel like they “belong” to the family. Someone mentioned how their family went camping (not in the Keys) and through the process of setting up camp, everyone having a job, and all the activities you can do with a family when you’re camping; helped each member of the family to feel like they had a place within the family. Then Stacy spoke up.

Stacy is a single mom with a 10 year old named Tyler. She spoke about the demands on her to support the two of them and for the most part she didn’t have the money or the time to take Tyler camping. She said in her type of family they improvised camping trips. She said it wasn’t unusual for her and Tyler to set up a tent in their living room and watch outdoor type movies.

First, as Stacy told her version of family it melted my heart. As she was talking I asked God to honor this family and to put a hedge around them, to protect them. Stacy is doing the best she can with her version of family. It kind of tore me up to know that there isn't a "man" in their home to "protect" them. It reminded me of the same feelings I had for my mother when my father passed away.

I ask that you say a prayer for Stacy, her son Tyler, and the rest of our “families” that our churches contain and hopefully minister to for the Glory of the Lord. God bless you guys.

I went walking with my neighbor, friend, and Deacon of Facilities, Monty. Correct that – walking with Monty is more like running but I’m not whining. It was interesting to walk around our circle that less than 24 hours before (see previous blog for pictures) was more of a river than a street. In fact, the entrance to our street was guarded by a sign that read "Slow – No Wake Zone." I think I just had an "Angels (sorry Steve) Doughnuts Post / flash-back event."
Any way, during our walk/run, Monty mentioned the problem we’re having with the young lady that is currently cleaning our building. The previous couple that cleaned our building ($600 a month) ended up leaving our church over biblical issues. Their biblical answer ended up being not to worship anywhere but that’s another story.
Their replacement is the mother of one of our teens. Monty gave her a walk-through when she applied for the job and even gave her a list of things that needed to be cleaned each week. He emphasized the fact that our building has 5 (from basement to youth suite) floors and 13 restrooms which would probably require a minimum of 6 hours a week to do a decent job. To Monty’s credit he even emphasized the ministry aspect of her job. We want folks to take pride in their personal ministries and to go above and beyond the call of duty since we should do all things unto the Lord.
Unfortunately the result has been at most, 3 hours of week and a drop in her attendance to services. By the way, before anyone says it yes, if you want to get rid of anyone at your church just send them to us and we’ll put them in charge of cleaning the building!
Monty told me that there’s another sister at our church who just quit her job at Wally-world and is now spending time at the building doing odd jobs. She has asked him for things to do and has stated, "I love the building and I want to do whatever I can to make it better." Now I know loving the building sounds a bit "hokie" (apologies to V-Tech fans) but consider her attitude towards ministry. Perhaps those of us in "leadership" should be more intentional about looking for folks to fill voids in ministry who live out their grace everyday by the way they do anything for the Lord. That’s a good lesson for me as well. Take care blones.

We survived our battle with Hurricane Wilma. A serendipity of our brush with Wilma was some “national recognition” for my hometown, Cocoa, Florida. Now keep in mind that most of the footage of the flooding was shot in my neck of the woods, West Cocoa. In West Cocoa we pride ourselves on big trucks, pit bulls, attacks by wild boars, and the extreme sport of ditch surfing. I’ll post some pictures of my son and his two friends from the youth group going through their paces.

All kidding aside, there was a point where my wife and I became extremely concerned about the amount of rain (2 and ½ inches in 20 minutes at one point) that was falling. The thoughts of having our septic tank back up or having flood water come into our home was quite un-nerving. All in all some 14 inches of rain fell on our neighborhood. The county came by and put a sign in the entrance to our circle that read “Slow – No Wake Zone.”

A great amount of the water had subsided by this morning and we were able to drive out of our circle. There were still several neighborhoods off of Friday Road (our main drag to State Road 524) that were still quite flooded even this morning.

My brothers and sister, don’t under-estimate the power of prayer. We felt your prayers yesterday and were comforted by them. Now for some pictures:

This is looking towards our home from 2 homes over. Where is the street?

This is looking out my front door towards Monty's house. The sidewalk at the bottom of the picture is just a few feet away from my front door.

This is looking left and west from our "yard."

This is a picture of my son Steven doing some ditch surfing West Cocoa / 14 inches of rain style.

This is picture of the West Cocoa Boys. From the left - Matthew (the Chuckster's son), Zack (Brett - our Deacon of Pain's son) and my son - Steven. The shadow is yours truly.

If I may alter a term from Jim Rome's "Sport's Jungle" - Hello "Blones."
It's official here in Brevard County, home of the "Space Coast" - no school Monday. Normally I wouldn't griped about an unexpected 3 day weekend. The only problem with this break is that we'll have to make it up with losing a day from our Winter Break.

It looks like we'll feel the effects of Wilma sometime on Monday. Our county is part of the east coast
hurricane watch ordered by the Hurricane Center at 5pm today. We're expected to get tropical to hurricane force winds which means we'll probably lose power as well. We have a large number of residents that live in mobile homes. They may undergo an evacuation order tomorrow. We'll probably hold services tomorrow morning but we'll cancel our evening services. I know you guys are keeping us in your prayers and we really appreciate it. If the storm travels any further north of the current projected track, my son and I may get the privilege of "boarding up" our home again. I have a 2 story home and the 2nd story isn't any fun boarding up.
Hope all of you have a blessed Lord's Day tomorrow at your respective churches. Take care.

Hello my blog nation.
As we speak Monday is in doubt. Our county may cancel school dependent upon Wilma’s track.
Greg – I’m heading off to the Cheese Cake Factory with a group from church tomorrow to eat my sorrows. And no, I will not be sharing my (as Joshua used to say) “sheese-cake.”

Barb called me at the end of my last period class yesterday quite irate. Seems the Postman had delivered a “copy” of Steven’s report card. When she opened the report card it contained not one, but two “D’s!” As she was talking to me on the phone she was contemplating the various restrictions/ bodily damage that would be done to Steven for this poor report. However, in mid-sentence she stopped and sighed a huge breath of relief. She noticed that the report card was for an 11th grader (Steven is a sophomore) who’s first name was Travis! That’s right child abuse fans; the High School mailed the wrong report card to us. We later found out that Steven came through with four “A’s” and two “B’s.”

More irony, the other “Walker” is also on (at least for the moment) the baseball team. With that in mine we suppressed our “April 1st” (see Greg for details) urges and decided not to play a cruel joke on Steven. Besides the fact that it wouldn’t be very professional of two school teachers having a laugh at the expense of their own child, it would also mean exposing private information. I took the report card back to the high school without any fanfare in front of Steven.

Now for “Hardy-ville.” Steven had his 2nd pitching lesson last night. It was neat by the way, to find out that his pitching coach is also a Christian who had just come back from a mission trip to India. Any way, Mr. Hardy is the owner of what Steve and Randy would call a “Baseball Paradise.” Mr. Hardy is a widower in his 60’s. He bought the 3 houses next to his so he could build a baseball training facility. His “complex” houses a lighted pitching mound, a lighted long-toss field, and a lighted batting cage. He showed me his “computerized” pitching machine last night. That’s right; you can program any kind of sequence that would include settings for curveballs, sliders, and fastballs for both right and left-handed batters. He even has a remote control that you can use if you don’t feel like standing in the cage behind the machine. “Hardy-ville is a good place.

Mr. Hardy has a grandson that he built all of this for but he also allows anyone involved with Cocoa Little League to use his “paradise” as well. I’ll take some pictures next week so you can see “Hardy-ville.”

Got to go. Keep us in your prayers as we anticipate a visit from Wilma.

This blog is courtesy of Steve.
For my personal record for the fastest act of disrespect displayed by one of my students, I would have to award Serena. Serena was a new student in my class back in the late 80’s. On her first day with me, I welcomed her to the school, our team, and my math class. I escorted her to her seat and told her that I was available to help her with any questions she might have since she was new to the school. What do you think? How much nicer could I have been. Makes me want to hug myself.

About 5 minutes into the class I noticed Serena busily writing a note. I walked over to her and asked her for the note. Unknown to me was the fact that she had a friend in the class. At first she told me “no” which is always a dangerous thing to say to a teacher who is asking but really demanding that a student comply with his/her request. So I did what most behavioral specialists would have recommended in this kind of case – I snatched the note right out of her hand.

As I read the note it became very apparent why she didn’t want me to read her note. Now remember, Serena had only been in my class for 5 minutes. The first two sentences went something like this:
“Hey so and so, what’s up? This guy (that would be me) is a real a_ _ hole!”

That’s right; her impression of me after 5 minutes was a walking impersonation of a person’s backside. I asked her if she had been talking to my wife which completely sailed over her head. I promptly sent Serena down to the Dean which probably reinforced her opinion of me.

So there you have it – 5 minutes – disrespect. Can anyone top that?

First a "hair update." I picked up Steven from "voluntary" conditioning for the baseball team. The coach had them run the football stadium stairs after they had finished weight-lifting. Steven said it was one of the most intense workouts he's experienced. This new coach may be a good thing. Any way, I asked Steven if the coach said anything about his haircut. He said the coach called him over, lifted his hat off his head, and said, "Atta boy." Score one for short hair. Steven is really focused on making the varsity as a sophmore and if it means cutting his hair, he'll go for the "cut."
We had enough time after practice for Steven to take a shower before we had to leave for Steven's guitar lessons. Barb and I dropped Steven off at the guitar store and then went for a walk around Merritt Island's new Little League fields. One of the fields was holding a "Fall Ball Coaches Pitch" game with kids probably around age 6 to 7. But instead of the coaches pitching they were using a pitching machine. "Cheaters" I thought to myself. The sounds of the parents laughing and cheering brought back memories of Steven playing Little League. In many ways I miss those days.
This is for Randy - after we picked Steven up from guitar lessons we drove to, yes Randy, Sonny's BBQ for dinner. We had the feast for 4 and it was, well as Randy Quaid said in the Christmas Vacation movie, "Clark, this is um, um good."

After we came home I had time to check out the weather on the local "all news" station. Can you guess what is headed for possibly Florida by the weekend? That's right, a
hurricane. I was hopeful that we might get through an entire hurricance season without one visit but it doesn't look promising. At this point the forecasts says we'll get tropical force winds and we might have to deal with a day or two without power. Looks like I'll be heading to the gas station and stocking up on water. Keep us in your prayers.

I had one of those moments with Steven today that caused me to think my Dad was probably laughing at me. I grew up in the 70’s, you know, the decade of leisure suits, bell bottoms, and of course, long hair. My desire to have long hair back then very much clashed with my "Sargent in the Army" father who liked hair "high and tight." I can remember thinking I’ll never make my son cut his hair. You know, "power to the people" and "can you dig it" kind of thoughts.
Well, some 25 years later my father must be laughing at me because today I had Steven cut his hair much to his displeasure. The difference here was that I was able to lay it off on the Baseball Coach at Cocoa High. He told the boys last week that they needed to get their hair cut and start looking like ball players or start braiding it. After my wife turned down Steven’s request for braiding, he realized that he needed it cut. He still wasn’t happy and I had to "push" him just a bit but nevertheless, he walked out of the "salon" (now Sgt. Walker Sr. isn’t smiling, sorry Dad, it’s the new millenium) with the same look I had on my face after the 70’s when I had my hair cut. And so I found myself becoming my father with my son.
Here’s a question my blog brothers and sister, can you recall a time or have you entered that strange zone that I have entered, where you have become your father or mother to your child? Let’s hear it out there.
Love you guys.

Hello my Blog brothers and sisters. Speaking of early (like Greg’s blogs) starts, my Sunday started at 3am. It all started when our youth group (and my son Steven) went camping in the Key’s this past Friday. That night, a typical Keys thundershower came through and drenched our intrepid campers and their gear. Fortunately Saturday was sunny and windy enough to dry out most of the gear. However as the day grew to a close, our chaperones could see another thunderstorm coming in the distance. So at 5:00 the teens were polled and they decided to start back to Brevard County. At 2:30am they arrived back in Cocoa. Brett, our youth deacon, gave Steven and two of his partners in crime a ride to our home where they slept off their Keys Retreat. We were thankful all arrived back safely. As we all know especially considering what happened to Mike Cope’s son, a safe and uneventful return from a youth event isn’t always a given.

Sunday at Central was a good day. Don had a good message during worship and my “Mayberry Bible Study” Sunday School class was enjoyable. I heard many complements during the day about worship as well as Sunday School. And then there was Sunday evening when we went to the other extreme. Now this pendulum swing could have been my fault since I was the speaker and my subject was “mercy.” Anyway, afterwards I was approached by one of our older members. Greg knows this gentleman whose first name can also be a greeting.

Question – Why is it when someone starts a statement off by saying, “Now I don’t mean to complain but….,” you know they’ve come to do what, complain! This man, “Mr. Greeting,” was upset because we used the word “Messiah” on our sign facing the highway. I asked Mr. Greeting, what could possibly be wrong with using the word “Messiah” on our sign. Mr. Greeting said that most of our people (I hope he’s wrong) don’t know who the Messiah is? That was my answer, “I hope you’re wrong!” Next complaint.

You “professionals” out there, my hat is off to you. Isn’t it amazing that you can have a number of folks walk away from the same worship service or church, and some are happy and some become, well, aggravating? I hope you don’t get the feeling that I’m frustrated because I’m not. In fact, let me tell you the (my apologies to Paul Harvey) rest of the story. I’ve come up with an answer to complaints. In fact I used it last night. I asked Mr. Greeting, “How does that sign get in the way of our mission to reach the lost of this community?” And that is going to be my standard answer for now on to complainers. Should we not filter everything we say and do by the commission that Christ gave us?

I arrived at our church building this morning at 7:30am with my son and 2 of his buddies from our youth group. They wanted to be early (bus was scheduled to leave at 8am) so they could get a prime seat on our bus for the trip to the Florida Keys. I helped them load their things in our church’s trailer and then I spoke to Chad (our youth minister) for a few minutes. I didn’t notice Steven and his 2 buds disappearing into our building. They were headed for our youth "suite" (the room is too big to call a room) to play some ping-pong while waiting for the rest of the teens to arrive.
At about this time 2 of the chaperones drove up in a pick up truck loaded with supplies. They needed help loading them into the trailer that Chad was going to pull behind the bus. Instantly my "servant mode" kicked in and I looked for the 3 young teen boys ( I had to be at work by 8) that I had just delivered to the premises. I ran into the building and up to the teen suite to get the boys to help load the trailer. When I delivered my admonition to serve, initially the boys weren’t too happy. They were having fun playing Ping-Pong and I can’t blame them. I would have been doing the same thing at 15. It was at this point that I told my son Steven that I didn’t raise him to be a "slug." (another southern post-modern term)
To his credit he immediately deciphered my message of guilt and headed downstairs to help load the trailer. The other boys slowly followed behind. It was at this point that this thought occurred to me. I wondered where the line was between trying to make Steven into a "copy" of me vs. teaching him legitimate lessons on service to others? Does that make sense? I want Steven to be his own person but at the same time I feel this urging to "tweak" his behavior to make him a better person in my opinion. When do you back off and allow your child to make or not make those kinds of decisions vs. doing what I did and step in and effect some change?
To Steven’s 15-year-old credit he cheerfully pitched in and helped load the trailer. Thanks for reading and have a good weekend.

O.K. guys, I sense a need for some brevity and this gives me a good excuse to share another “Zoe moment.” When ever I travel somewhere, I have this need to jog (too old to “run” anymore) around my surroundings. Our accommodations in Brentwood were in a nice area with a mix of urban and country type settings along with some nice hills. Being from Florida you’ll have to excuse my fascination with elevations greater than 10 feet!

So on Thursday morning I was enjoying my 2 legged tour of Brentwood. I found a road that went uphill and led to a nice apartment complex that overlooked the city. So I headed uphill at a very slow rate and was rewarded for my climb with a nice view of Nashville and then I headed back going down hill. Always important to make that return trip downhill.

As I got close to the Holiday Inn I started into my (my son would be laughing at this point) sprint. As I sprinted into the parking lot I made a left turn and headed towards the front of our hotel. As my mind drifted to great moments in Olympic track and field history, I felt a pinching sensation on my Gludious maximus! Now here is where this gets weird. I have to admit that as my thoughts turned from Olympic glory to the pinching sensation on my buttocks, I thought to myself that this must be: A. Greg, B. Randy, or C. A very sick (and slow) resident of Brentwood.
The answer is “B.” It was Randy. Any reactions out there? What does this say about my relationship with Greg and Randy?

Hello my blog brothers and sisters. Son #1 (one and only) is heading down to the Keys with our youth group tomorrow for a weekend retreat. I can’t think of too many places that would be more beautiful (in the southeast at least) than camping out on Bahia Kay Key. The water is so clear that you can actually see fish swimming in the water as you travel across the “Overseas Highway Bridges” that connects the individual Keys. Unfortunately I cannot chaperone this trip due to a “Teachers’ Workday / Teacher Inservice” tomorrow. The kids are off and when students are not present in the building its almost like having a holiday! If you get a chance remember Steven, our chaperones, and our youth group as they make the 6 hour trip to the Keys and back.

I had an interesting conversation with my fellow elder Jeff last night. We were greatly encouraged by the Zoe Conference last week. We were encouraged by the worship and by the fact that in many ways we feel our home church (Central) has made great strides to reach out to the unchurched in our community as well as starting down the path to be more missional in our intent. Of course, as with any church there are aspects that need prayer and work. With us, we have a very small group (5 out of 300) of disgruntled members who are openly spreading discord with anyone who will listen. This group has been openly rude and attacking in their demeanor towards our ministers and our deacons. Jeff and I met with one of these folks, a sister who is in the middle of this discord several months ago. She ignored our suggestion to follow the model of conflict resolution in Matthew 18 and instead continues to spread discord to anyone who will listen. She has been openly rude to our Deacon of Worship in just the past few days.

So Jeff and I are praying over a possible meeting with this group. Our intent is to communicate to them in love, that disagreement and having differences in opinions is healthy to the Body of Christ. These differences and disagreements help us to grow, to re-examine ourselves, and our beliefs in light of Scripture. What is unhealthy and can be a cancer to the Body is sowing discord, rumors, and innuendo as well as being just plain rude, something the world accepts and fosters.

Here’s my question for you – what would you tell this group if you met with them? I’m thinking something along the lines of: 1. If you need to confess your sin to us, Jeff and I will gladly hear your confession and pray with you. 2. We expect you to have a “sweet spirit” about you as move about the body and that would include when you disagree with something. 3. We asked that prayer would be your first response when you feel that you are getting upset. 4. Practice the Matthew 18 model when you have conflicts within the Body. 5. And finally, if you can’t abide by this you may want to consider another place of worship.

I know #5 might seem harsh but these dear Brothers and Sisters seem very unhappy in their present state and they are attempting to bring others into their un-happiness. As always, I’m interested in your responses. Keep Jeff and me in your prayers.


I thought I'd throw in one final Zoe picture. This is a picture of the "hospitality tent" outside the "Great Hall" at Woodmont. From the left is my wife Barb, neighbor Sally, Ann, her brother Steve who is a Praise Team leader in his church, Therese, and her husband and my fellow elder, Jeff.

Our flight from Zoe arrived in Orlando around 2pm. We drove home, unpacked, and then “packed off” to our Sunday evening service. When I come home from Pepperdine or an experience like the Zoe Conference; I’m always looking for a little piece of what I experienced in my home church. Sometimes I’m rewarded in my search and then there are times like this past Sunday evening.

As I literally walked through the front door of our church, I saw a young man (late 20’s / early 30’s), a visitor, engaged in a rather serious conversation with one of our deacons. Ray gave me the kind of look one gives when someone in the church is looking to pass off an irate “customer” to an elder. So I walked up, introduced myself, and inquired if I could help (where was my bat when I needed it) with this young visitor’s questions? If I told you that he came from a very traditional background can you guess the nature of his question? O.K., I’m going to insert another picture from Zoe. Make your guess and then I’ll give you the answer under the picture. This will be fun.

This was taken at dinner on Friday night at Zoe. A great place downtown (I haven't forgotten the question) Nashville next to the CMT Building called "Demas."(or Dumas?) I'm the 2nd guy on the left with my lovely wife Barb next to me. If you ever go there, get the "club steak." It was outstanding. Two of our formers (Heather and Jerod - last 2 on the right) who now live in Nashville took us there.

Back to the question. The answer is (drumroll from the movie Christmas Vacation) "divorce and re-marriage!" Yes, this young man wanted to know if we had divorced deacons and elders. Jeff and I have been blessed to have not experienced the tragedy of divorce but we do have some deacons who have a divorce in their background. When I explained this to our “visitor” he wanted to engage me in a debate. I gave him a few quick answers and then I told him that our church had gone through months of study on the issue. I told him that I didn’t have the time or energy (having just returned from Nashville) to re-visit that study to someone that I had just met off the street. I started to tell him that I would be interested in sitting down at a later date (dumb idea?) to show him what I felt were the biblical answers to this subject but he just grabbed my hand, shook it, and said the “true church” isn’t in this building and left.

You know, in some ways I hope he’s right. The “true church” should be Jesus, living and working inside each of us as we touched a loss world around us.

First, congrats to my blog brothers who are L.A. Angels fans. I’m glad the “evil empire” is now sitting at home counting up their Major League leading salaries! Lot of good it did them.

2nd, my league predictions:
Angels vs. White Sox------------White Sox! (Shoeless Joe can leave the cornfield and RIP.)
Astros vs. Cardinals-------------Cardinals! (As Atlanta has been to many division series, the Astros will take their place as heart-breakers of the League Series.)
Now for a Florida term, “swamped!” When I came back home from Zoe I hit the ground running. My first nine weeks grades had to be in by today (Tuesday) at 4pm. I still had some papers to grade as well as make-up tests.

Yesterday I also received a call from a good friend of mine, Monty, who informed me that his mother in law who is in hospice care, was asking for me. So that meant that I had to pick up Steven from “voluntary” conditioning for the baseball team at 5, take him home, go back to the hospital to visit Barbara, and be back at my school for a 7pm meeting of our school’s “advisory committee.” I had a good visit with Barbara. She and my Mom worked at our Bible Camp together and they both had the gift of love for children.

As for the Zoe Conference, overall I would say that I was a bit disappointed. The worship times were outstanding as was the Michael Card Concert. Seeing Greg and Randy (you had to wait until the afternoon) is always a plus although they were strangely absent from the local guitar stores. (in the morning that is) Brentwood where our hotels were located is a nice place. I enjoyed the rare jog up and down some of their hills.

The Leadership Conference (Thursday and most of Friday) seemed as if it was an after-thought. The classes had very little “meat” and we spent a great deal of time talking about each others’ churches. There are some benefits to such an activity but not at the price of airline tickets, hotel accommodations, and the $150 price tag of the conference itself.

If we go back next year we will probably fly out after school on Thursday and enjoy the “worship” part of the conference. Other than seeing my blog brothers, the other plus was getting to spend some rare time alone with my wife as well as at the conference. The worship time was a big encouragement to her.

So there you have it, lots of work to get ready for the conference, good time for the most part at the conference, and then lots of work upon returning back home. Good to “see” you all again in blog world.

Now for some pictures from Zoe:

Obviously this picture was taken in the afternoon since Randy and Greg are in the picture. You can see my lovely wife Barbara sitting right behind Greg in Woodmont’s “Great Hall.”

This is a picture taken at our hotel restaurant. On the right is our preacher – Don, his wife Brenda, my wife – Barbara, and then one of our worship leaders, Paul. On the left is Ann, my next door neighbor Sally, myself, my fellow elder Jeff, and his wife Therese.

My fellow Americans and blog brothers and sister:

I know that my math brother in Fresno understands the “pain” that I have endured as I attempt to get ready for two days out of the classroom. Trying to prepare sub plans as well as close out the grades for the first nine weeks hasn’t been fun. I also don’t relish the thought of being gone from my son for that long. Well, there are moments when being away from a 15 year old has its appeal but for the most part I’ll miss him.

Last night was a prime example of this paradox. In one instance Steven was being a typical obnoxious teen-ager as we had a discussion on when it was time to get his hair ( I know my Dad is laughing at me now!) cut. And then the next moment he was reminding us that we needed to arrange a ride so he could make it to church tonight. What can I say, the kid loves the Lord and his long hair!

So I will be away from you my blog nation until after the Zoe Conference in Nashville. Unfortunately I haven’t acquired a laptop computer yet.

I am looking forward to spending time with my wife and seeing Greg and Randy again. Until next week, Go Angels, Braves, and White Sox.

As I drove to work this morning in my wet (there's a good reason) pants, this profound thought occurred to me: I'm tired of all the rain we have had since the summer! Thats right tired, no, sick and tired. Oh, what about the wet pants? They were a result of my "un"-balancing act as I walked out to my car with a handful of graded (yes, some of them "washed out" as well) tests, my gradebook, and of course the ever present, the ever wonderful golf umbrella. I was actually pretty dry until I closed my golf umbrella in an attempt to bring it into my “motor-vee-hickle” and the ensuing spray nailed my pants.

Now I know some of you in “blog-nation” live in wonderful places like Fresno, (isn’t it “Cal-li-forn-ya) California, Long Beach, Arlington, Virginia, and even in Switzerland so you might have a hard time identifying with someone in Central (the thunderstorm capitol of the world) Florida complaining about massive amounts of rain. Again, as my students would say, “I feel you.” So, feel free to chime in about the weather you “hate” (Brady started it) the most or a time when you experienced your particular brand of hated weather in mass quantities.

This “Gator-hater” (Roll Tide – Go Seminoles) is interested in your responses.

Have a sunny (unless you like rain) day.

Last night during a meeting at our church, of folks who were interested in helping with a Fall Festival, a note was given to me along with my fellow Elder Jeff, our ministers, and our Deacon of Worship, Ray. The note was from one of our members who isn’t happy about the recent move of our communion table from the front to the back of our auditorium.

We moved our communion table from the front of our auditorium to the back a couple of weeks ago. Initially the main reason was one of aesthetics. We recently re-decorated the front of our auditorium and the result was it made the communion table (40 years old) stand out in a negative way. It needs to be re-finished or re-painted due to numerous scuff marks and just the wear of time. We also purchased a clear podium and that combined with moving the table opened up the front of our auditorium. And as I last reported, most of our members didn’t have any problem with the move. For them the table is not part of any ritual they go through as they concentrate on what the Lord has done for all of us during our communion service.

In fact, during our last “Family Talk,” a little less than 10 out of 80 people in attendance indicated they had a problem with the move when Jeff asked for their feelings on the issue. Hence the subject of my blog.

In the note given to me, the following rational was used. If 80% (more like 88% but who’s counting?) of the people in the meeting indicated the move of the table didn’t bother them, then that must mean they’re ambivalent either way. And since they’re ambivalent, the 20% (again, more like 12% but who’s counting) who are passionate about the placement of the table should have their wishes (nice way of saying “get their way”) honored.

Now I don’t know about you but this passion for the “communion table” disturbs me. I usually try to err on the side of compromise (and maybe to a fault) but in this case I can’t help but think we’re dealing with idolatry. Please tell me if I have a “thinking error” but to me, if one has to have a communion table to help them remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, isn’t that person focusing on an object that has nothing to do with what the Lord commanded his disciples to do on the first day of the week?

My first instinct is to keep the table in it’s present position. And I hope that I’m coming to that decision not so I can show someone who is “in charge,” but rather, to correct a thinking error in a brother. Let me know what you think. I need input.