West Cocoa Chat

As my family faces the dreaded FCAT today as well as Barb’s C.T. scan, I wanted to share something positive that was inspired by John Roberts’ post from yesterday. (http://seekshim.blogspot.com/)

Our game against Melbourne Central Catholic last Wednesday was the first game that my son Steven didn’t participate in as a starter or sub. He was bummed out and quite upset on the way home. As we tend to do at times when we’re hurting, he lashed out at me and his mother telling us we didn’t understand. I made a comment to him that his mother and I was his #1 advocates and that we should be the last people that he should lash out at even though I understood what was motivating his pain.

A couple of days later I happened upon his 2 game hats and notice there was some writing underneath each bill. It was in Steven’s hand writing.

Hat #1 – “Jesus is my number one Advocate.”

Hat #2 – Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me.

In an environment that at times is anti-Christian, Steven is allowing his light to shine. Can a parent ask for any greater blessing from God than to know that his son has started on a journey of Faith in the Lord?

Good Monday to everyone.

I ask that you continue to remember my wife, Barbara. She has a C.T. scan tomorrow to determine the nature of a 1cm long nodule in her lung.

I also continue to ask for prayers for my son Steven who is taking the FCAT today and tomorrow. If he passes he’ll be done with the FCAT and eligible for a high school diploma. If he doesn’t, I’ve listed all of the ramifications in my previous post.

Speaking of my previous post, Greg tried to get me going with a comment he made about the FCAT. It didn’t work Greg. Well, it kind of did but I’m over it. Anyway, what got me going was a phone call into our local Contemporary Christian Music radio (Z88.3) this morning. The caller was the mother of a 3rd grade girl who was as she stated, “Stressed out over the FCAT!” I may be a softie but it seems to me that there is something inherently wrong about an educational system that stresses out 7 and 8 year olds. Third graders (along with 4th – 10 graders) know that if they make a low score on the FCAT they will have to attend Summer School.

As I’ve said in an earlier post, as a teacher I know how to prepare my students for the FCAT. I have nothing against accountability on my part or with respect to my students. Year in and year out my students tend to do well on the FCAT. But guys, holding a 7-year old accountable?

If we wanted accountability in our school system – we have it! If we wanted a society of stressed out kids – we have that as well.

On to baseball:
Huge win for our varsity team Friday night. We beat our cross river / district rivals 4 to 3 on their home field! Steven played a couple of innings at right field.

Saturday – Steven “swung down” to play both games of the J.V. doubleheader. He threw 5 innings of one hit ball in the first game and went 1 for 3. His hit was a double in his last time up. Steven was the batter when we tried to sacrifice a run in. The pitcher got lucky when he threw an outside pitch that Steven couldn’t put his bat on to put the ball in play. Consequently our runner was out at home. Steven then hit the next pitch into deep left field for a double. Go figure.

He went 3 for 4 in the second game with a double and 2 singles.

He plays with the Varsity tomorrow night against Astronaut High School.

Have a good day.

First, an update on my wife Barbara. Her C.T. Scan is schedule for this coming Tuesday afternoon. Please continue to keep Barb in your prayers. Our prayer is for the node on her lungs to be a glitch of a Doctor’s Office x-ray machine at the very worst.

Next – Steven. He faces the highest type of “high stakes” testing on Monday and Tuesday. He takes the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) to determine whether he qualifies for a high school diploma. A failing score has many different ramifications such as:

1. Summer School for remediation.
2. Facing 3 more attempts to pass the FCAT to qualify for a high school diploma.
3. A loss of one or two electives substituted by an extra math, and, or a reading class depending on what part of the test was failed.

If he passes the FCAT he’ll be done with it. Then he’ll just need a “certain” score on the ACT or SAT to qualify for certain state scholarships. No pressure.

Steven has done well the past 2 years on the FCAT. Please pray that he doesn’t freeze or go blank during the testing.

On the baseball front, last night’s game (which we won 10 to 0) was the first game he didn’t play in. He was bummed last night but in a better mood today. We play Merritt Island at their place tonight. He has a lot of friends on M.I. and would love to play in front of them.

Have a good weekend bloggers. Again, thanks for the prayers.

I’ve just spent 2 hours outside with about 700 middle school students courtesy of a bomb threat. That wasn’t the worst part of the day. After we sent the kids home I called my wife (Barbara) who has been sick for the past few days.

She went to the doctor yesterday for flu like symptoms. He took an x-ray and told her that he was sending it to a Radiologist. We assumed that it was to verify or deny the existence of pneumonia. The doctor’s office called her today to tell her they found a nodule on one of her lungs. They are scheduling a C.A.T. Scan at our local hospital.

I can weather a lot of storms. This is one that I don’t want to face. My wife is the light of our family and our church. Please pray for my wife Barbara. I love her with all of my heart.

Thanks.

On the way to school this morning I heard the following lyrics from a song by “Phillips, Craig, & Dean” –

“You are God alone – in the good times and bad – You are on Your throne.” These words spoke to me this morning because in my walk with the Lord, I have to be very careful in not falling into the pattern of what I’ll call “situational Christianity.” In other words, the condition in which I allow the circumstances of my life to influence my walk, my closeness, my relationship with God. It is a comforting thought to know that when I mess things up in my own personal life, the greatness, the holiness of God isn’t diminished one (I heard Rubel Shelly use this line once) whit.

Further, His closeness, His willingness to help me hasn’t changed as well. We serve a mighty and wonderful God!

On the baseball front –

Saturday – lost 10 to 5. Our 2 basketball players started, one at shortstop. He ended up committing 4 costly errors. Steve was bumped from the starting lineup but he did come in as a pinch-runner, stole 2nd, and scored a run.

Monday – Lost 14 to 8. Our coach started a freshman pitcher who summarily gave up not one, not 2, but 3 homeruns in the top of the 1st. Score at the end of one was 7 to 0. Our boy came entered the game in the 5th inning in right-field. He singled and went one for one. Our next game is Thursday.

Have a good day my fellow bloggers.

Isn’t it funny how things work out sometimes? My son Steven seemed pigeon-holed into the 3b position for our high school team as the season started. Due to a change in pitchers in an earlier game, he was sent to right-field where he made a spectacular (apologies from a proud Papa) catch I referenced in an earlier blog.

The coaches were so impressed with “the catch” (a phrase my wife used to use to describe me) they told Steven he might be playing there more often than 3b. Steven really wanted to play third but he also really wanted to “play.”

Last night at our first regular season game vs. Satellite Beach High, he started and played the whole game in right-field. He ended up with 4 or 5 put-outs including a running catch into foul territory to end the game. Yeah, we won our first game. It could be our last but for the very, very temporary moment, we’re undefeated baby! 1 and 0!

I once coached with a fellow who often spouted the very well known philosophical view that in baseball, one can go from “Hero” to “Zero” in a matter of a few moments. Last night, Steven was in the “Hero mode.

We were behind 1 to 0 in the bottom of the 5th. Our first 2 batters (4 and 5) struck out. “Zink” who was batting in the 6th hole drew a walk. Steven was batting 7th and he lined one down the left-field line. That put runners on 1st and 2nd. A passed-ball moved Zink and Steven up to 3rd and 2nd and then our #8 guy hit a single and drove Zink and Steven in to put us up 2 to 1. The smile on Steven’s face was priceless as he crossed home as the go-ahead run. The smile on the Head-Coach’s face was even broader. He coached at Satellite last year. Nothing like beating your former employer.

So there you have it sports-bloggers. We play again on Friday. Have a good day.

Steve- its baseball season!!

Matt. 15:22 And behold, a Canaanite woman came out from that region, and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed."15:23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came to Him and kept asking Him, saying, "Send her away, for she is shouting out after us."15:24 But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."15:25 But she came and began to 285 bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"15:26 And He answered and said, "It is not good 286 to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."15:27 But she said, "Yes, Lord; but 287 even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."15:28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; be it done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at 288 once.

I was reminded of an article Steve Weathers once wrote for Wineskins back in 1992. His comment on Jesus’ answer in verse 24 was basically, the Creator of the Universe just told this Canaanite woman, “No.” What ever your hermeneutic might be, it’s hard to argue with God when He says, “No.”

But we all know this story. Not only does she not accept Jesus’ answer, she comes back with a counterpoint in verse 27. Then Jesus, the Jesus of John 1, the divine being who was present before “matter” mattered, changes His mind and grants her wish for her daughter to be healed. I believe Steve Weathers made the point that God isn’t an inflexible text but a living, breathing being.

This article was resurrected in my mind due to the incident I mentioned yesterday. Our teens are leaving Thursday for “Winterfest” (a 10,000 kiddo youth rally) in Gatlinburg, TN. Our church has a long standing policy – only those from grades 7 – 12 are allowed to attend such events. That’s the policy, no questions asked. Then came Johnny.

Johnny (his real name) has been dating one of our teen girls, Debey, (not her real name) for about a year. He doesn’t come to church very often. When our youth minister put out the sign up sheet for Winterfest, Debey’s mother signed Debey and Johnny up for the trip. Not too big a deal except the fact that Johnny is 19 going on 20. He graduated from H.S. last year. None of us were aware of that fact. We had just assumed that Debey’s mother would only allow her daughter to date someone in H.S. As to why she didn’t disclose this information is another story.

Johnny’s age was discovered about 2 weeks ago. Our youth minister asked if he could remove Johnny’s name from the list and we gave him our blessing. This was a clear violation of the policy.

Our youth guy was going to inform Debey’s mother until he found out that she was in the hospital with high blood pressure. Rightly or wrongly, he didn’t want to burden someone who was at a severe (240 over 130) risk of a stroke. So a few more days go by and now were at this past Sunday. Youth guy asks Jeff and me for help.

I couldn’t help but think of the Canaanite woman and Jesus. Jesus says here’s the policy, Canaanites need not apply. Our policy, 19 year olds don’t make the trip. Clear cut, right?

We met with Debey and Johnny, as well as her parents. We told Johnny about the policy. The first thing he said was that he understood the policy and he also understood there was a possibility that we would have to remove him from the trip. It was at this point that this hard-line (that would be me) guy no longer understood what I had thought to be a clear cut position.

This young man out of high school became a person to me and all of us in the room. Especially when he said that Debey had been after him for about a year to attend a Christian event with her. He said he felt himself starting to search for answers.

We have a policy. It’s clear-cut. But then we had a young man who said he was searching. We allowed him to go on this trip. Big mistake? Did we get duped? Are we being wishy-washy? I don’t know. All I know is I kept hearing a woman’s voice in my head saying, “Please heal my daughter.” Or maybe it was a son?

By the way, in case you think we totally lost our minds – our youth guy agreed to allow him to go. We drew up a behavioral contract and had him sign it. Debey’s mother is going on the trip as a chaperone.

We might have blown this one but I pray that we just opened the door for a young man searching for the Lord.

Impressions from the weekend:
Friday – We lost to Winter Park 10 to 3. Steven didn’t start but was inserted into right field when we pulled our starting pitcher in the 1st inning and replaced him with the starting right fielder.

Steven made a spectacular catch at the warning track. All of us including the 2 base runners thought he had been burned. Steven took off in a full sprint with his back to home. He caught the ball over his left shoulder like a wide receiver at the warning track. The runner who took off from second was nearly doubled up by Steven’s throw from the outfield. Steven was told by the coaches to start bringing his infielder and outfielder gloves to the next game so he can play 3rd or right.

Funny how prayer works. My prayer was for Steven to make a good impression in the game. It wasn’t the impression he was necessarily hoping for but nevertheless, it was an impression.

Saturday – Our first Bible Camp Meeting. We went with my wife’s idea of using the T.V. show “Lost” for the theme of our week. The next meeting will be for hammering out the daily themes based on “Lost.”

Sunday Morning – Our worship was engaging. Paul (one of our worship leaders) is doing a good job with engaging the church with a nice variety of traditional songs and “Zoe” songs.

Sidebar – As Jeff and I were talking to Joe Beam in the moments before the Friday night session, he asked us if we were using a “praise team” during worship. We answered “no” and he said that meant that we were only 2/3 liberal. When we asked him to elaborate he said, “The 3 markers of a liberal church are a “clear pulpit, video projector, (we have the first 2) and the use of a praise team.” Thus, in his tongue and cheek opinion we were 2/3 liberal.

For Brady – I asked about having the communion table in the back to which Joe replied that could make us ¾ liberal if we consider it as a marker.

Spent most of the rest of Sunday debating and deciding if a 19 year old boyfriend of one of our teens could go on the upcoming trip to Winterfest in Gatlinburg, TN. The details will be in my next blog.

Pray for me tonight. Due to my “announcing partner” having a medical procedure tomorrow, I will be announcing a double-header (4:30 and 7pm) at the ball field tonight. The temperatures are supposed to dip down into the 20’s!

Have a good day my fellow blones.

This was the only picture I could find of my hotel, I mean my home. Have you ever had one of those weeks when your house felt more like a hotel than a home? That is how I would describe this past week so far. To put it in perspective:

Monday – House felt like home. Arrived “home” with Steven around 6:30pm following baseball practice.

Tuesday – Steven’s first game. I ended up announcing the game not knowing ahead of time that I was going to be doing so. It took me a couple of innings to catch my “scoreboard duties” up with my “announcing duties.” The high school A.D. noticed this lag when during the 2nd inning he yelled, “Who is running the scoreboard?” My response somewhat under my breath was, “I am you old grouch” to which my son who was sitting beside me, burst out laughing and pointed out that the old grouch was the school’s A.D.! Arrived at my hotel/home around 10pm.

Wednesday – I know I should be typing that we came home from church but this was Steven’s first varsity game. I ran the scoreboard while my good friend Tom announced the game. Arrival time at my hotel/home around 10pm again.

Thursday – Every parent’s favorite night, “Parent Conference Night.” It went from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Six of the seven conferences I had were frustrating. You don’t hold out a lot of hope as a teacher when parents say things like “He’s been doing this for years” or “We don’t know what to do with him, do you have any suggestions?” Since we’re not allowed to utter the words “justifiable (a little joke there guys) homicide,” what suggestions I do give usually do not have any positive effects. I arrived back at my hotel/home around 9pm.

Tonight – Final game of the Pre-season Tournament. We play Winter Park H.S., another big school from Orlando. They have a short-stop that had 40 or so major league scouts in attendance at their game on Tuesday that I announced. He is a big kid, smooth on the field with a cannon for an arm. He ended up going 1 for 4 but I can understand with 40 or so major league scouts watching you. Tonight’s arrival time at my hotel/home, you guessed it, probably around 10pm.

So there you have it, my week in review. Are you guys ready to have a pity party for me? Come on, show me some love or at the very least, some real “sappy” sympathy.

Have a good weekend my blone family.

My 10th grade son plays in his first varsity baseball game tonight against a school (University High) from Orlando. He’s hoping to get some playing time at third base. If he does, I pray that he gets some hits, makes some plays in the field, and makes a good impression on some coaches that our trusting a sophomore at the hot corner.

The following was emailed to me by my wife. It gives a whole new meaning to “squeaky clean.”

Subject: Lipstick at School According to a news report, a certain school in Garden City, MI was recently faced with a unique problem.A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the washroom. That was fine, but after they put on theirlipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night, the maintenance man would remove them and the next day,the girls would put them back.

Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. He called all the girls to the washroom and met them there with the maintenanceman. He explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night.

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, he asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

Have a good day bloggers.

I’m still reading Henry Blackaby’s book, “Experiencing the Cross.” I don’t think I’m a slow reader but it seems to take me a long time to get through a book.

At the end of chapter 7 and the beginning of chapter 8, Blackaby postulates some interesting questions. On page 62 he writes, “So the question I keep trying to get believers to ask themselves is: Where is the evidence that my life has been transformed?”

At the beginning of chapter 8 he quotes Romans 6:3 – “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” Then he writes, “The Cross is more than a doctrine; it’s an experience.”

A little later after quoting Gal. 2:20 (“I have been crucified with Christ.”) he states, “The Cross isn’t a doctrine to be discussed, but a fact to be experienced.”

Now for my question – How do we get folks to “experience” the Cross? How do we get them to start the process of transforming their lives? Is it through engaging and relevant worship services? Is it in service to community? Is it “yes” to both of the above, neither one, or more?

I know in my heart of hearts it’s necessary but where do we start?

This seems to be a pattern with me lately but I would ask (once again) that you keep my son, Steven, in your prayers. He along with every other 10th, 8th, and 4th grader in the state of Florida will take what we fondly know as the “FCAT Writes Test.” The test consists of 2 multiple choice tests on grammar and spelling as well as a 45 minute “blind prompt / essay” test. The essay test is graded on a rubric of 1 to 6 (with 6 being the top score) by 2 different “trained” scorers at the state level. Steven must make a 4.0 or higher to pass this part of the FCAT.

Our weekend with Joe (“a known sinner) Beam was a success in my opinion. We had close to 100 couples on Friday night and most of the day on Saturday in attendance for his “Love, Sex, and Marriage Seminar.” I’ve heard Joe speak many a time at Pepperdine and he always does a good job. This past weekend with us “crazy (as Randy said in a previous comment) Cocoans” he was nothing short of outstanding. He had the right mix of information, humor, and wise counsel that made being in attendance a blessing. I can honestly say that Barb and I have already reaped some rewards from the Seminar!

Other high points of the Seminar to me were:
1. A couple who flew from Indiana to attend the seminar.
2. A young man from our church, in his early 20’s and recently divorced. When he was asked why he was attending the Seminar he said, “I don’t want to make the same mistakes in my second marriage that I made in my first if I get married again.”

I would highly recommend Joe’s Seminar to you if you would like something that is “hands on” so to speak that will bless the members of your church.

Happy Monday Blones.

This is a picture of Joe Beam. He is conducting his 2 day seminar at our church called "Love, Sex, and Marriage." How would that have been for a catchy blog title? The title I used (“A Known Sinner”) comes from a story that I heard Joe tell at one of the Pepperdine Lectures. The gruesome details are somewhat foggy but I do remember him telling either about a preacher or a publication (Brotherhood porn as Mike Cope called it in one of his blogs) that labeled him as a “known sinner.” I think he was at some seminar or lecture when word of this came to him. He apparently went around for the rest of the seminar or lecture wearing a name tag with his name and that moniker.

We’re excited about this weekend’s seminar with Joe. We have over 100 couples committed to spend $65 of their own money and give up their Friday evening and their Saturday to hear what Joe has to say on this important topic. I know there is a tendency to snicker (and I would count myself as a “known snicker”) when you read his seminar’s title, (Love, Sex, and Marriage) but I really do feel this seminar could make an impact on the health of our church. Especially when you consider that depending upon who you get your statistics from, the divorce rate among Christians is at the very least, the same as non-Christians and some number crunchers report a slightly higher rate among Christians vs. non-Christians.

In my short tenure as an elder, I have seen divorce hit families that some would say, “We saw that one coming,” and then I’ve seen divorce creep into what I considered to be a “strong marriage.” So I ask you to pray for our church family this weekend as well as the many visitors that we’ll receive as well. May God bless and anoint Joe as he attempts to spur us on to having Godly marriages.

Have a good weekend bloggers.

Don’t forget to pray for Keith’s family and especially his son Brandon.

This past Sunday was what most of our members who spoke to me (or I to them) termed a "good day." It was the second Sunday in a row with drama, an uplifting worship (thanks Randy and Greg for the AVOW Slides) service, and Don had a good message in a series of sermons on "service." We had a catered lunch for all and the ministry fair seemed well attended.
(My wife Barbara, good friend Jan at our Ministry Fair)

But get ready for a couple of (besides the color of the freshly painted room) "shockers:"

1. There were some who didn't sign up for even one task for the year.

2. There were some ministries (Children's Sunday School) who had very few people sign up for them.

This all begs the question, "Why do some people who have been redeemed by the ulitmate act of service to mankind, the shedding of Jesus' blood, not choose to serve in the Kingdom? What is it that makes some brothers and sisters in the Lord "serving machines" while others consistently stay on the sidelines of service. By the way, have you found in your experience that there is a high percentage of these "bench-warmers" who tend to be the biggest complainers about things that take place within the Body?

Is there a gene that predisposes one to serve? Are there environmental factors that lead to one becoming (as my good friend Monty would say) a "slug" in the Kingdom?

Sidebar - There are times when I wonder if I use my "level" of service in the Kingdom as a badge of merit or honor. I hope that isn't the case and I pray that this sin isn't spurring me on to blog about this phenomenon.

It's funny, I've always understood the discussion in James 2 about "faith" and "works," to show that "faith" and "works" are not opposed to each other but are (for lack of a better word) complementary towards each other. It's some people that I don't understand.

How about some pictures of "faith" and "works:"

Wouldn't you say that it takes some mixture of faith and works to get teenagers to dress up in "BDU's" and march to a cadence in front of the entire church? The reason Ray is looking at his "troops" (Steven - second from right) is when he asked them to come to attention, they performed a little "Broadway / slide step" which broke up the whole church.

You can see Ray trying to regain his composure. He had a tough job considering sitting in the congregation is a fomer "The Sgt. Major of the Entire Army," Glenn E. Morrill. If your bored sometime, Google Glenn's name. I did and what came up was most impressive and this is the guy who cuts our grass at church.

Looks like Sgt. Major Ray is thinking, "When is the skit going to end" or "I want to make these guys drop and give me 50!"

Feel free to weigh in on my question. Are all of our experiences the same?

Is it too late to post some pics from Christmas? I guess not since I just did it. This is Steven opening up his favorite gift, the guitar that his Uncle Greg gave him. Greg did not give him the hat by the way. You had to wear this hat when we played our family "Roll the Dice for Presents Game."
This is Steven reading the letter that Greg wrote him. In it he told Steven how special he is to their family, how special the guitar is that he gave him, and how he was happy they could share this passsion. With my Mom and Dad having passed from this world, it's good to know that Greg and his family can replace that "advocate void" that most Grandparents fulfill with their Grandchildren.

Now is that a happy boy or what? The "sickness" has it's upside.

This is a picture from our Teen Retreat over the MLK Weekend. Steven is in the blue "hoodie" along with his friend Daniel (wearing shorts w/ temps in the 30's) and his 2 friends that are more like sisters to him, Brittany and Chelsea Oliver. Chad (our youth guy) sent the teens out in groups to read and discuss the book of James.

The remnants of a birthday cake for one of the teens can be seen next to the teen (John) pouring the milk. This was taken inside the Greeson Cabin on Saturday night.

And finally from this past Sunday - a picture of Steven and Carly participating in a skit to kickoff our USSC Ministry, "United Saints Serving Christ." As you can tell, the skit had a military theme. One of our deacons, Ray, who is in the National Guard full time, put the skit together complete with uniforms. This was as they entered the auditorium.

The skit was done with Ray calling out a cadence that he developed to encourage everyone to sign up for a "job" for one year. We held the ministry fair in a room across from our fellowship room .

I'm almost caught up now. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.