West Cocoa Chat

Hello family and other readers.

A bit of family news. I can't help but think of some of my posts from last year at this time. My son was a sophmore who was dying to make our high school's varsity baseball team. He has played baseball since he was 4. He has a love for the game that is internal. Out of the 3 major sports, baseball was the sport I was the least gifted for and (sorry Steve) enjoyed. For some reason baseball connected with my son and his love and passion drew me in as a fan and coach.

Steven came very close to making the varsity as a freshman. One of the varsity coaches told him that year the only reason he didn't make the Varsity was due to his size. This admonintion motivated him to lift and run and as most of you know he made the varsity as a sophmore last year.

But as my good friend Greg relayed through a personal experience, sometimes making the varsity “early” isn’t all it is cracked up to be. Steven suffered through a season where he was mostly used as a pinch runner although he played enough to earn a letter. The Coach was good enough to inform him this would probably be his lot but knowing and experiencing are 2 different realities. But my son has a warrior’s heart and he wasn’t going to be satisfied with just a letter if he couldn’t contribute significantly to the cause. His dream was to start and at least for the moment, he has realized this goal as he will start at 2nd Base in our first game next week.

I haven’t read Keith’s blog today but please lift up his son, Brandon, as he is trying out for his baseball team as well.

There is a scene in one of my favorite movies, Hoosiers that reminded me of what took place in our church this past Sunday. If you remember, Gene Hackman takes over as Head Basketball Coach at small, rural Hickory High School in basketball crazy Indiana. The best player in the school, Jimmy, mourning the loss of the previous head coach refuses to play for Hackman. The season starts off rocky and it reaches a boiling point with a town meeting for the purpose of firing Gene Hackman.

An initial vote is held and the Coach is fired but just as the vote is read, Jimmy walks in and announces he is ready to play basketball again, provided the Coach stays. A re-vote is called for and the Coach is reinstated. The unifying factor most likely is the town’s best player agreeing to play for the Coach and yet there are still a few “fire him” votes in the second vote.

A vote can be tricky at best when it comes to decisions made in the life of a church. This past Sunday we held a vote to install 2 new elders. Our church had been given 3 weeks to bring concerns or praise concerning two brothers who we felt not only met the qualifications set forth by Paul in Timothy and Titus, but also in many respects were already acting as shepherds of our church.

Since my brother Ray, is at home recovering from his back surgery, the vote and the counting thereof fell on my shoulders. Now remember, our church is in Florida so you can now insert jokes pertaining to hanging chads and re-counts.

Any way, when the votes were tabulated the results where: Brother #1 – yes - 99%, 1% - no.
Brother #2 – yes - 98%, 2% - no.
Is that phenomenal? Sometimes if I talk (I know this hard to believe) too long in class I’ll ask my students, “How many of you would like me to shorten the assignment?” Do you know that I usually have some students who raise their hands to vote no! I was blown away by the unity and sweet spirit that seems to pervade our church. I look forward to elders’ meetings that are a little more crowded as we attempt to effectively shepherd this precious church.

I’ve been impressed by some of your posts recently. Greg (http://gregengland.com/) did one today asking about such scholarly matters as “the tractate in the Mishnah, “Avot” as well as having comments from my good friend and Camp partner in crime, the Puckster, commenting on “The Talmud,” Halakha, Shanah, and Gemara.

Now I am not a Biblical Scholar or a “preacher (see Greg’s list in the above post “Just Out Of Curiosity…”) type” but I do have a scholarly question for you preacher types and the rest of our blog church. Are you ready?

What is a “Christian Caldwell?” Are you stumped?
Is it killing you that me, a non-professional (a term Greg labeled me with) knows something that you don't know?
O.K., one more guess. If you really want the answer to enhance your knowledge base, just scroll down. If your pain is too great perhaps a time of fasting might be advised before you come back to this post to find the truth. For those that are ready, scroll down:













I found out the answer to the question, "What is a "Christian Caldwell" this morning.
It was about 8:30 am EST. I had a student in my class serving a detention. At about that time our school secretary announced over our intercom.
The “Christian Caldwell” is taking place in the Conference Room." A little background:

Despite the fact that we’re a public school we have a strong contingent of Christians starting with our Principal. We have a very active “Christ on Campus” club as well as a group of teachers that meets for a weekly devotional. So, when the announcement about the “Christian Caldwell” meeting came over the intercom I asked out loud, “What is a Christian Caldwell?” I knew we had some teachers involved in various types of ministries at their respective churches so I was interested to find out about this “Christian Caldwell.”

So, I asked out loud, “What is a Christian Caldwell?” As I pondered the possibilities the little girl that was serving her detention gave me the answer.

Her answer: “He’s a kid in my fifth period.”
There you have it. Like my brother Steve in Fresno (http://intentionalwalk.blogspot.com/) who tries to open his classroom with his car keys, I too need a break. Did I get anybody?

First, does it get any better than being able to blog while watching Jack's (24) brother bemoan the fact that they should have taken Jack out instead of turning him over to the Chinese courtesy of our new wireless router. I can't wait for 10pm EST.

I wanted to thank everyone for their prayers for my fellow elder, Ray. He is home from his disc fusion surgery and is beginning to get better. I'm looking forward to this coming Sunday when we'll install several men as elders, deacons, as well as identifying some ministry leaders.

My son Steven seems to be doing well as baseball tryouts come to an end. He really wants to start at second base. He seems to be fielding the ball consistently as well as hitting with some authority. I've always said that the key to starting is hitting. If you're hitting you'll be an everyday player in high school ball.

Sidebar - Steve, we're talking about baseball!!

Next on the "sickness" (those who feel compelled to play a guitar) front, our Steve-o has now started delving into song writing. He played part of a song he wrote for us tonight as my in-laws dined with us. Now, if you ask this proud papa how well the boy did I would say that he would blow the socks off of Simon. Then again you would expect that from Papa. What made my eyes moisten though was the subject of his song, Jesus and his relationship with our Lord and Savior.

Some days its good to blog.

We had one of those special weekends at Central this past weekend. It started with the arrival of Olan and Barbara Hicks on Saturday. For almost 30 years they have been literally traveling coast to coast helping people deal with the pain of divorce. The name of his seminar is “Beginning Again.” We took Olan and Barbara to our church on Saturday for a fellowship meal followed by a time of “picking and grinning.” Our “blue-grassers” played and then Olan and Barbara played with them. Olan is 81 and Barbara is in her last 70’s and yet they play and sing quite well.

Sunday morning started off with my son thinking I had lost my mind. Olan and Barbara travel the country in their Motor Home. They were parked in my driveway so I was driving them to church. They were sitting in the middle seat in my Expedition as I was idling in my driveway awaiting my wife to join us for the trip to church. I was talking to them as my son was walking up our driveway. As I was talking I noticed that he had stopped and was staring at me with one of those “Dad has lost his mind again” looks. I rolled down my window and asked him if there was a problem. It was at that point he noticed Olan and Barbara in the car. He almost sighed with relief as he said, “I thought you were talking to yourself.” Fortunately he didn’t add the word “again” to the end of his sentence.

Olan taught our combined Sunday School, preached for Worship, and taught again at a special evening service we held for him. I would highly recommend Olan to any church that has folks that are divorced, divorced and remarried, or considering qualified men for serving as elders or deacons who have a divorce in their background. There is no one (my opinion) who is more studied on these subjects than Olan.

Olan quickly establishes that his seminar is not about giving an “O.K” to divorce. He and Barbara have been married for 61 years. I told someone I just hope to live to be 61. Any way, his ministry is about correcting the errors that has creped into our theology in the past concerning marriage being a “sacrament” that cannot be broken and how the power of the blood of Jesus Christ can forgive all sins, including divorce. The other part of his seminar deals with the traditional practice of “forbidding marriage.” Olan is Biblical taking things back to the original Greek as he lays down the true meaning of God’s words concerning these subjects. In fact, our web guy has posted Olan’s lessons at our website, http://www.cocoachurch.org/

Please feel free to listen for yourself if you’re interested and please, if you feel the need please invite this brother to your church or home if you or those you know have suffered through the pain of divorce or considering adding men for elders and deacons who have a divorce in their background.

I did want to add that we also had a “Family Talk” yesterday before our evening service. The spirit of our meeting was nothing short of encouraging. People truly seem to want to find a way to engage in ministry. One of our worship leaders and his wife at their cost built a small stage in the corner of our Fellowship Hall. They are looking to open a “Bluegrass / Story-telling / Coffee Café” to be held on Tuesdays or Thursdays. To me it was another example of folks using the talents that God has given them to creatively think of another “on-ramp” to our church. I certainly hope it is successful.

Have a good day family.

First, let me ask for prayers for my fellow elder and friend, Ray. Ray goes in today for back (disk fusion) surgery today. Ray is a Sgt. Major in the Florida National Guard having served our country in Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom. At the moment Ray and I are a “dynamic duo” at church so I will miss him for a while.

Yesterday was quite a day. It started off with an email from Steven’s baseball coach around 10am. The coach wanted to know if Steven had a physical and a record of it. This was an important question seeing as tryouts started yesterday and one must have a physical to tryout. God bless the coach for alerting me in the morning. When I read the email my heart skipped a beat. I was sure Steven had a physical back in September but doubt now entered my mind as well as the fact that I didn’t have proof of it.

As I entered panic mode I called several doctors, chiropractors, and walk in clinics before I was able to procure an appointment for the boy. Fortunately I had 2 planning periods in the afternoon and my Principal granted me comp time to pick up Steven. A teammate of mind agreed to cover my 5th period. So, it was off to Cocoa High to pick up Steven at 1:20 and then off to the Doctor’s to his physical. I was able to get Steven back to school before the end of his last class.

At 3:45 Steven started tryouts fully legal. I would ask that you say a prayer for him. It shouldn’t be a question of making varsity although you never know. He is hoping to vie for a starting position at 2nd or leftfield. His fielding was almost flawless yesterday. Today starts the hitting phase of practice.

After tryouts it was off to church to meet Barb and then off to Merritt Island for Steven’s guitar lessons at 7. While he was at guitar Barb and I went to B.J.’s Wholesale Club to shop for tonight’s Wednesday night meal. At 7:30 we were off to Ray’s to pray with him before today’s surgery.

This is a ritual we’ve repeated many times when Ray went off to his 2 week Annual Training or when he was deployed to Afghanistan. When then headed back to church to get Steven’s and Barb’s cars as well as drop off the food in our church’s kitchen.

It was a busy day full of scares and prayers but all in all it was a good day. Don’t forget to remember Ray, Steven, and Keith’s boy who was also trying out for his baseball team.

O.K. bloggers, its time for some old school blogging. By the way, is that an oxymoron? It reminds me of the time in a Wednesday night class long, long ago when I heard a brother make this statement to the Bible Class Teacher:
“Brother, (which btw, using that word is tantamount to using the phrase, “Bless his heart but ……”) what we need around here is some (are you ready) “harsh Gospel preaching!”

I remember asking, “How do you deliver “harsh – good news?” I tried in my mind for a while. “Excuse me sister, you just won the Publisher’s (not that I do that of course) Clearing House Sweepstakes, you moron!” No, it just doesn’t work.

Now back to old school blogging. Throughout my time in the Churches of Christ I have heard many lessons taught on the following text from Hebrews 10.

Hebrews 10:23 – 25
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

In fact, yours truly was used as an example during one of these lessons back in the 20’s, that is, my 20’s and I wasn’t being held up as a positive example. I remember the preacher teaching on these verses. The previous weekend Barb and I had gone camping returning on Sunday evening. As this preacher was preaching he said something like, “God says we should never forsake the assembly. Now say for instance, the Walkers want to go camping or …..” Needless to say I wanted to morph with the material in the pew at that point. You’ve probably heard similar lessons but hopefully you weren’t a sermon illustration which by the way (Greg, Randy, Keith, Steve, Brady, Puckster) is the ultimate weapon of deterrent of ministers. They can say, “You mess with me man and you’ll become a sermon illustration.” I actually heard a guy tell one of the above, “Oh no, I’m not answering that question just so I can become a sermon illustration!” You guys are brutal.

Any way, I digress. The other part of these verses from Hebrews talks about the encouragement we receive when we do see each other at church. I used to think that was hokey. “Come on, how can my very presence “encourage” you?” I used to follow that up with, “How can just seeing me (factoring out my beautiful outward appearance of course) encourage you? What if I never say a word to you? Tell me how that can be “encouraging?” O.K., everyone together, “Stupid!” I feel better now.

Last night this point came through more clearly than ever before. Its been a stressful few days and I wasn’t expecting a crowd at the Wednesday night dinner my lovely wife prepares at our church each week before our Mid-week classes. This is where God comes in and I get out of the way. Lo and behold we had one of the best crowds we’ve had in a while last night. Talk about encouragement, a dear, sweet sister who has been struggling with some personal issues was there last night. I meant to say something to her but I was never able to get over to her. But you know what, I was encouraged to the (little SoCal terminology) max! Thank you God for the encouraging people, circumstances, and moments you send our way.

Have a great day family.

They did it, the Florida Gators pull off the "Tiger-slam" beating Ohio State last night 41 - 14 thus becoming the first school to hold both the NCAA Division One Championships in football and basketball. I stayed up the entire night watching the game and yes, even though my team is FSU Seminoles, last night I along with the rest of the State of Florida became part of "Gator Nation."

Growing up in Florida I remember when our local paper used to publish a poll called "The Bottom 10." It was a poll ranking the 10 worst College Football Teams and almost without exception, UF, FSU, and Miami were frequent members of that list back in the 60's and 70's. Last night’s win by the Gators is just another part of an incredible ride that was first started by FSU in 1979 when they became the first Florida school with a shot at a national championship losing to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl that year.

Hats off to QB Chris Leak, a 4 year starter for the Gators who was recruited by Steve Spurrier before he left for the NFL, played 2 years under Ron Zook, and now finishes his career a National Champion under Coach Myer.

I’ll leave you with red eyes and one of Florida’s favorite slogans:

“Ain’t it great to be a Florida Gator!”

Of all the courses I’ve played, Cooper’s may be the most secluded course of all of them. There are no developments within miles of the course, no houses on the course, and even the road to get to Coopers is out of sight of the course. In all the times we’ve played Cooper’s we’ve had deer walk across the fairway and this time we had wild turkeys invade our zone of fire. Bob had to identify the turkeys for me since I’m only used to seeing turkey on my plate or between two slices of bread. This next picture is looking from the tee box on number 6, a par 4 and you can see #7 (a par 4) and #8 (a par 3) which are side by side.

At the risk of this sounding like an article of “Golf Digest” I just want to thank Bob, Shelby, and Nathen for not only showing us a great time but just having some time to unwind, relax, and be ourselves. We all need friends like these and I pray that each of you have these kinds of relationships. They are truly priceless.