Tillie Burgin leads a ministry called Mission Arlington in Texas. She has been called by many in TX the “Baptist Mother Teresa.” MA is responsible for feeding 1000’s, providing medical care, homeless shelters, shelters for abused women and children, furniture, dental work, if there is a need Tillie and MA find a way to meet the need. In addition to that you cannot be around her long to to discover her passion for telling people about Jesus. I love this ministry but the real reason I mention her…

Tillie related the following story to a few of us one day. I may not remember all the specifics but the end is the same. A few years ago when Mission Arlington was just beginning to get  on its feet there was a need that had arisen and the leadership was praying about how to do what God had called them to do. One afternoon Tillie returned to her office to find a sullen and angry man sitting in the hallway. One of Tillie’s assistants came into the office and told her the man had been sitting there for hours demanding to see Tillie. Miss Tillie invited him in thinking he was going to complain about something and in a way he did. The man said that God had told him to do something and that he didn’t want to do it. He said he couldn’t eat and couldn’t sleep thinking about what God had told him to do. He told her that he did not particular care for Mission Arlington and that these people were not good citizens and that she was just promoting dependence, etc, etc. Miss Tillie asked him what God had asked him to do. At that moment the man pulled out a check for $10,000 dollars and said he hoped that she and God were satisfied. He turned and left the office. Kind of defeats the purpose of God loving a cheerful giver, but at least he was obedient and cleared his conscience I guess.

“For God so loved He gave…” He gave the first. He gave the best. He gave the most. I am not one of those people that believe that if I give to God or others that God owes me a Cadillac. He does promise our daily bread not a steak at Outback. I am not a “prosperity gospel” person. In fact I don’t much care for them.

But I do believe in giving and expecting nothing in return. Some of my most joy filled moments in life have been when God allowed me to give and see the result of what and why He led me to give. Several years ago I worked at a children’s shelter. My wife and I almost came to the point of adopting a 12 year old boy, but the state made so many other demands that we could not bear the cost. But I poured about a year into this young man’s life. I remember his eyes at Christmas when he opened gifts that were just for him, with no strings attached. I have lost touch with my young friend. I do know he eventually found a family and then joined the Navy so that one day he could attend college. I think I remember that year most because God allowed me to give – time, advice, care, concern, even brought some (healthy, not abuse) discipline to a young man’s life that he had never known.

Give this Thanksgiving season, because HE gave to us. Touch someones life. That will make it a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! May you and yours enjoy this season of Thanksgiving by GIVING.  

One of my pet peeves is people who fail to express gratitude. We all know people that just expect you to do things for them. They live life like they are entitled to whatever you give them. I try to be careful not to let this attitude take control in my life. I know that most of what I have is a gift and I am thankful.

Things I am thankful for: 1. My salvation, I know that’s an easy one, but I hope I never get to the point that I overlook the greatest gift man can receive. 2. My wife, too often I take advantage of all the work she does in our home and the things she does for me without aasking for thanks. 3. Great kids, my girls have brought me so much joy throughout their lives. I am proud of you. 4. My job and my church. Since these two are linked that is a good thing. Pastor Brian said Sunday, I would go to this church even if I wasn’t the Pastor. Me too. 5. Friends and family. Never had a lot of friends, but I am thankful that the ones I have continue to endure me. My family has to. 6. A home that is comfortable for me. It’s not fancy. Sometimes messy. But a refuge when I need to get away from the world. 7. My country. Freedom for all is a lofty goal even if unattainable. 8. That I live in an age of comfort. One of the strangest verses in the Bible says Jesus came at just the right time. Me, I would have come when I could at least ride the bus instead of walking those dusty trails in Jerusalem and got the message out on TV instead of having to shout from the hillside. For some reason though I cannot imagine Jesus weighing almost 300 pounds. Maybe I should walk more. 9. That even though my children, family, and friends are far away we live in an era of technology where we can keep up with one another. 10. Faith, even my faith is a gift from God. I certainly wasn’t seeking Him when He revealed Himself to me. Thank you God for showing me your love and grace.

So, Be Happy and Live Thankfully. Happy Thanks!

I have been told by more than one person that I do not appear to be a very happy person. Some people see me as a “grinch”, some people see me as “distant”, I have even been accused of being “stuck up.” There are lots of reasons I guess that I could expound on all that traces back to a lousy family life. But I try not to use them as an excuse, I’m afraid my children might make the same leap some day and some therapist will say, “he did what, no wonder you’re screwed up.” (if they read this not that I think either of my you are screwed up ) They have been perfect daughters, well almost anyway.

But what is happy? Is it constantly smiling? I don’t have perfect teeth and hate my smile. Is it laughing all the time? Have you seen the news? Is it being around a lot of people and having a party all the time? Some of my loneliest times have been when I was around a lot of people. I could ask about sex but I don’t want to embarass myself. I could ask about food but if you know me you know I find way to much happiness in food. Perhaps it is the Holidays that make you happy? But alas the bloated feeling, the emptiness when the guests leave, the fights over the remote control with your kinfolk (parade or football?) Is it people? travel? money? What about religion, surely it’s religion? Religion is kind of boring if you ask me.  What makes you happy?

Now I’m gonna get real spiritual. You will never find happiness in circumstances. Because circumstances change. Some old guy in the Old Testament asks these same questions. He even claimed to have experienced them all and found emptiness. Happiness is about experiencing God on a regular basis and knowing that He loves me no matter what, that I have the promise of eternal life, no matter what, and that no matter how I ”feel” He is still there.

May you find your HAPPY place this week.  Just in case anyone is wondering. Even if the face doesn’t show it most of the time I am HAPPY with my life. I will be temporarily insanely angry if UGA loses to the trade school from Atlanta on Saturday, though. (can’t bring myself to call their name). HAPPY TO YOU! 

I have probably written about this before but I am a crazy about this topic. I try not to be judgemental toward non-believers, I mean I recognize sin and all but it’s not my place to be the Holy Spirit and judge their salvation. Inside the church is a whole different matter. I am a beast when it comes to pastors. Paul did say that the “saints” should appraise all things. He also indicated there was a much higher standard for those that preach the gospel.

I was in a church when I was a kid about 12-13 and a pastor got caught running around with not one, not two, but three women. Left the church got a girl pregnant in another church. I remember thinking at that time, “if this is the way Christians are I don’t want any part of it.” It took me another 6 years to reengage and only then after I found some guys who I thought were the real deal. Those guys led me to places where I could hear and understand the gospel for the first time because I saw it lived and communicated. Anyway I moved away from GA for a long time. When we came back my wife and I were riding around with this real estate agent and he started telling me about his pastor and how he was running around with the secretary and such. Out of the blue I said I bet I know his name. I nailed it. 25 years later this guy was still pulling the same stuff on churches and women.  

Anyway at lunch the other day a name came up. All three of us had stories about this person and his reputation that he has left behind wherever he has gone. I don’t know how people keep trusting pastors like this. One time anyone can fall, but when it is repeated two or three times, it is time to remove guys from the pastorate.

There’s the judgement. Oh, well. Guys if you don’t have integrity then leave the ministry.  Don’t harm the name of Jesus, the church, your family, and destroy the faith of some young kid because you can’t keep your pants on in the presence of other women, can’t keep your hands out of the offering basket, or whatever it is that haunts you. My wife will tell you I’m no “saint” in the worldly sense. She can list a whole bunch of stuff in my life that is sin. But I tell you when it comes to church and public ministry I put all sorts of protection around me when it comes to other women and money.  If you’ve got any integrity you’ll do the same. If you don’t care about your name, protect the name of Jesus.

My office is just down the hall from our Creative Arts suite. Every once in a while about this time I start to get serenaded. First let me clarify, I think the music at WRC is the best in Atlanta. You cannot get it too loud (if it’s too loud, you’re too old). I love it when it’s rockin, a ballad or two is alright once in a while, but I want to rock it out most of the time. But………..sometimes they record and when they record some times the music gets repetitive, redundant, and repeats itself. Last Easter I got the same line of one song for about 4 hours straight, it was somewhat like chinese water torture.

What voices do you allow to speak into your life? We all need someone that can speak into our lives, professionally and personally. I know too many pastors that only want to hear what they want to hear. And if they hear something different then the other person: doesn’t understand my (our) situation, hasn’t grown anything, hasn’t led anything, etc. etc.

Sometimes from the most unexpected places God has spoken to me. I don’t always want to hear it, accept it, or embrace it, but sometimes I need to hear it anyway. Who’s speaking but you’re not listening. That is probably says more about you than the ones you are listening too. Make sure you’re not listening for the right reasons.

Staff breakfast this morning. I had leftover biscuits for lunch. Which I don’t mind, I’ve always been partial to biscuits as my waist line can prove.

This set me to thinking. Many people refuse to eat leftovers. I don’t understand unless it was a poor excuse for a meal the first time around. I’ve had a few of those. But I especially like soup that has had time to absorb all the flavors of the soup. And with the advent of the microwave leftovers can be pretty tasty.

But there is something about a newly cooked meal. The aroma of the kitchen. The heat generated by an oven cooking some biscuits or cornbread or maybe if you’re lucky a fresh dessert of some kind. Vegetables cooked to order. Mashed potatoes. Gravy. A good steak or roast. I am getting hungry as I type.

What started me thinking about this is how often do I give God leftovers. You know my quiet time is done after I’ve answered that important email. Or after I’ve made an important phone call. Or after I’ve watched my favorite TV program, football game, read the newspaper, etc. etc. etc. What’s your excuse.

Sometimes I like the leftovers, but usually they are best taken after a sweet time alone with God. I need to learn to give God the first place more often and not make Him take “a cold ‘tater and wait” as  my mom used to tell me and my siblings when the preacher came to eat at our house.

I was roaming through the bookstore some time ago. I was looking for a devotional book for men. Stumbled onto DREAM by Kenny Luck. I had never heard of Pastor Luck nor his book which is surprising since he is the men’s pastor at Saddleback Church.

This book is really challenging me on many levels. Luck writes about how to make God’s dream a reality in your life.

Here is just one “If critics accused Jesus of consorting with sinners, they’ll just as offended by us.” Maybe, but probably not. They should, but most of us are pretty guarded when it comes to hanging around with people that do not look like us, think like us, or act like us.

How comfortable are you in a bar? Worried about who may see you? What will other pastors think? How about hanging around the camp fire with some hunters from North GA. spittin’ and chewin’ and throwing back a cold one? Does the conversation bother you (probably should bother you but not embarras you)? When was the last time an unbelieving family was in your home? Confession: it’s been a long time for me.

I’m open for ideas on meeting people not like me. I hope its not to late for me to relate.

Others have said it but I just am reminded all the time of how extreme Church Planting is as a ministry. Going out without members, a building, support, no programs can be a very scary thing. A lot of guys are jumping in because they think it is the cool thing to do. Most of them will find quickly that Church Planting is a lot of work. That’s the reason that according to some failure rate is upwards of 70%.

I doubt that figure IF: 1. You start with SUPPORT. 2. You go with a TEAM. 3. You get sufficient TRAINING. 4. You are CALLED. 5. You go to the right COMMUNITY.  6. You go to WORK. 7. You go with the right PLAN. 8. You go before and after with PRAYER. 9. You get COACHING. 10. You don’t do anything STUPID, like ignoring these things!

Church Planting is hard, but rewarding. I’ve said before, I’ll say again, “Do the right things the right way, and God will bless.”

Last Thursday some church planting guys met at Vinings Lake Church with Pete Hixon. Pete has done a tremendous job at restarting a church that was near death. In a building and location that most would have passed on Pete has gone from about 40 folks on just a few acres, a building that seats about 200, and parking for less than that Pete is now averaging about 450 in attendance. They are looking for the possibility of going multi-site soon. God is blessing and they’re even meeting the budget! Great job Pete.

I heard from another guy at the meeting, I won’t divulge names, but he commented that the church he attends is about 14% ahead of last year’s attendance and 20% behind in budget. He said another friend is in the same situation. WRC numbers are almost the same as these. Attendance up, giving down. It is a rough economy right now. I’m thankful that God continues to supply “our daily bread.” and His promise is that the “righteous shall never go hungry.” I’m believing Him for these promises and provision.

We’ve got a big month coming up. WRC, partner churches, and community partners will be providing Christmas for about 1200 families in the month of December. I’m sure even more will show up for benevolence request. We do a lot of big stuff but this is as important as it gets. We get to touch a lot of people. We want to make Jesus famous! Can’t wait to see how God provides.

I don’t know that I was ever in “it.” But right now I sure feel out of “it.” I am sick as a dog right now and came to work anyway because there were some meetings I had to get to, appointments that were made that I didn’t want to miss…life happens. Anyway, one of the meetings I was expecting got canceled and my lunch appointment bailed on me. Not only do I not have the appointment now I have to pay for lunch. Bummer.

I know I have issues with time. I think I have written before that I am addicted to my watch and time. If I set an appointment I 98 times out of 100 will be there, unless I am contagious to you of course. When someone comes to me late here is what I am thinking: I was not important enough for the other person to arrange his schedule to meet with me on time, or some other person was more important, or maybe even worse if I am considering sponsoring, supporting, or contributing to a ministry that the person that set the appointment was just too scattered, unscheduled, undisciplined to do what he said he would do.

I’ve actually been getting a lot of this lately. People being late or not showing up and they apologize profusely but I have still wasted my time. Oh well, they were probably more important than me, had something or someone better to do. I guess I’m just out of “it.”