Our church meets in small groups most Sunday nights. My wife, Rochelle, and I belong to one that meets just up the street from our house. Our group started about 3 years ago and its present look is drastically different from what it was 1,095 days ago.
The biggest difference is obvious: there's a line to use the changing room! No, not the kind of changing room you might find in a department store: that's where customers change. It's not even the kind of scum-stained changing room you may remember from high school: that's a locker room. You might be thinking of the bristling backstage area you might find at a concert or play: that's a dressing room. No this room is not for customers or athletes or thespians, it's for children.
In three years our group has grown from 9 people to 17 people. 17 PEOPLE! Our group used to have discussions, now it has diapers. We used to talk about our beliefs, now we talk about bottles. We were a group in search of sanctification, now we are a group in search of sleep.
Our small group has changed dramatically the past few years. We've had people join our church family and join our group. We've also had other kinds of changes. Financial reversals, job changes, career changes, stay-at-home-moms, family trouble; they've all visited our group.
We've also been visited by some angels-in-waiting named Nicole, Kristen, Julia, Parker, Naomi, Alyssa, Cole and my favorite, Malia Rose. Each one of them has been a continental shift when it comes to change. The other night as I stood in line waiting for the changing table, I thought about the subtle, yet powerful, image it is--though it may not be the prettiest (or most nicely scented).
I was reminded that we all need to be changed--babies, toddlers, adults, everybody. We all need to be freshened up and made clean. And though a dirty diaper can oftentimes leave me desirous of a life without messes, no life like that exist. You see, sin has really made us dirty, and we need to be cleaned. I'm thankful for a God who doesn't mind changing me.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Friday, February 13, 2004
Faithful Father
I have a lot of books sitting on my office floor. There are more books there than I can probably read in the next few years. The titles and topics cover everything you could imagine from the Dead Sea Scrolls to churches that abuse. There are some impressive author's names nestled against the stained green carpet of my office. Names like Luke Timothy Johnson and Dietrich Bonhoffer. The books are all marked up inside with thoughtful, insightful ponderings and notes, sometimes with depths greater than the author's writings. You see, I just inherited the entire library of my father-in-law, Dempsey Stripling.
He died of a heart attack on January 27. It was sudden! It was shocking! It is still surreal!
If the world were to sum up his life they would probably say he didn't mean much, just another preacher, just another person. He never amassed a great fortune. He never enjoyed great fame. He never wrote a book, or hit the speaking circuit. But what he did do was amazing. He actually changed people's lives! Many people set out to do that, but few actually do!
In the days after his passing, the family heard from people all across the country. In fact, we heard from people all across the world. They would tell Rochelle, "your dad changed my life." People would say, "I've never known anyone who had so much integrity." We heard things like, "he always made me feel special" and "he was the best man I'd ever known." When I come to think about it, he was the best man I've ever known too.
The funeral services were held in the next town away, in a church with a large sanctuary. We knew that the small Salado, TX funeral home could not hold all the people. It turns out, no place could hold the love Dempsey had for people. And he let people know it.
I must confess that I am often concerned about all the wrong things: myself, my career, my ministry. But Dempsey's life was always about the right things: faith, family and fidelity. I wish you could have known him. You would have been better for it.
As Gayle Sayers once said of Brian Piccolo, I say to you: I love Dempsey Stripling, and I'd like all of you to love him.
If you want a full description of my father-in-law, it is found in Matthew 5. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."
He died of a heart attack on January 27. It was sudden! It was shocking! It is still surreal!
If the world were to sum up his life they would probably say he didn't mean much, just another preacher, just another person. He never amassed a great fortune. He never enjoyed great fame. He never wrote a book, or hit the speaking circuit. But what he did do was amazing. He actually changed people's lives! Many people set out to do that, but few actually do!
In the days after his passing, the family heard from people all across the country. In fact, we heard from people all across the world. They would tell Rochelle, "your dad changed my life." People would say, "I've never known anyone who had so much integrity." We heard things like, "he always made me feel special" and "he was the best man I'd ever known." When I come to think about it, he was the best man I've ever known too.
The funeral services were held in the next town away, in a church with a large sanctuary. We knew that the small Salado, TX funeral home could not hold all the people. It turns out, no place could hold the love Dempsey had for people. And he let people know it.
I must confess that I am often concerned about all the wrong things: myself, my career, my ministry. But Dempsey's life was always about the right things: faith, family and fidelity. I wish you could have known him. You would have been better for it.
As Gayle Sayers once said of Brian Piccolo, I say to you: I love Dempsey Stripling, and I'd like all of you to love him.
If you want a full description of my father-in-law, it is found in Matthew 5. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Why I'm Here
Walking briskly through our church building, one of our members asked me a question that I used to be asked a lot. "Were you comfortable when you first came here?" You have to understand that I'm a young black man ministering to a mostly upper-middle class white church.
Before I moved here, I ministered in a mostly Hispanic city and was asked the same question. The answer to that question is simple. My father constantly ingrained into my brother and me the idea that black people should be represented everywhere.
Once we were watching the movie, The Lords of Discipline. The movie tells the story of an all white military school that enrolls it's first African-American student. Needless to say, the students did not welcome him with open arms. I asked my dad, "why doesn't he just leave, why would anyone stick around to be treated that way?" My dad told me, "because if he stays and makes it, he can prove that he's not only as good as the other students, but that he's better and he makes it easier for the next guy."
Hide this story away in your heart.
Once a king built a great highway and invited his people to see who could travel the highway the best. On the first day, people who traveled the new road complained to the king that a large pile of rocks and debris had been left and the mess hindered their travel. One lone traveler, tired and dirty, handed the king a bag of gold, explaining that he had stopped to clear a pile of rocks that blocked the road and found the gold. The king gave the money to the man, saying, "You've earned this gold. He who travels the road the best is he who makes the road smoother for those who will follow."
I think that's one of the great aspects of my life. I get to break down barriers, plow through pre-conceived notions, and make the road smoother for those who will follow.
Before I moved here, I ministered in a mostly Hispanic city and was asked the same question. The answer to that question is simple. My father constantly ingrained into my brother and me the idea that black people should be represented everywhere.
Once we were watching the movie, The Lords of Discipline. The movie tells the story of an all white military school that enrolls it's first African-American student. Needless to say, the students did not welcome him with open arms. I asked my dad, "why doesn't he just leave, why would anyone stick around to be treated that way?" My dad told me, "because if he stays and makes it, he can prove that he's not only as good as the other students, but that he's better and he makes it easier for the next guy."
Hide this story away in your heart.
Once a king built a great highway and invited his people to see who could travel the highway the best. On the first day, people who traveled the new road complained to the king that a large pile of rocks and debris had been left and the mess hindered their travel. One lone traveler, tired and dirty, handed the king a bag of gold, explaining that he had stopped to clear a pile of rocks that blocked the road and found the gold. The king gave the money to the man, saying, "You've earned this gold. He who travels the road the best is he who makes the road smoother for those who will follow."
I think that's one of the great aspects of my life. I get to break down barriers, plow through pre-conceived notions, and make the road smoother for those who will follow.
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Out or Safe At Home?
Pete Rose. Cheater? Maybe. Gambler? For sure! Charlie-hustler is back in the news. The entire sports nation is all ramped up about Pete's confession that he bet on baseball. Is this news? Did we not all know that he bet on baseball? If he were innocent he would have fought Fay Vincent and the Dowd report 15 years ago. He didn't. He knew he was guilty then. We all know he's guilty now.
Did I mention that he owes Dowd an apology for 15 years of slanderous allegations of falsifying records? He also owes all of us who wasted an entire evening watching the Pete Rose mock trial starring Johnny Cochran on ESPN. That's an hour and a half I'll never get back.
Did I mention he owes reporter Jim Grey an apology for Pete's ill-treatment of Grey at a World Series game (or All-Star game, I can't remember) a few years ago when Pete was honored with some of the greats of the game? Sports fans went on ad nauseum about how "inappropriate" it was for Grey to ask Charlie-highstakes to admit his wrongdoings.
Well Pete's come clean now! Oddly, just before today's Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee announcements. Pete is hustling again! Only this time, he's stealing the hall-of-fame spotlight from worthy honorees.
By the way, why has Dale Murphy not been inducted into the Hall of Fame. He played the game good and clean and with honor. He was everything Major League Baseball wants in a player--a two-time National League MVP! But still, no Hall of Fame.
I don't think Pete Rose should EVER get to be in the Hall of Fame. And I think Dale Murphy should be inducted with much haste. Nevertheless, I don't get to make that decision. In truth, I'm not qualified to make that decision. I only have my opinion (which, by the way, is extremely well informed).
Heaven is like that too. Luckily for all of us, I don't get to make decisions on who's in and who's out. When confronted with issues like Pete Rose, I'm reminded of how narrow and unforgiving I can be. I'm sure that like Pete Rose I've called into question the integrity of the endeavor I consider most sacred--the salvation of my God.
It's a good thing that Jesus died and lives for all us Charlie-hustlers. It's the only way we will ever get in.
**P.S. Dale Murphy should be in the Hall.
Did I mention that he owes Dowd an apology for 15 years of slanderous allegations of falsifying records? He also owes all of us who wasted an entire evening watching the Pete Rose mock trial starring Johnny Cochran on ESPN. That's an hour and a half I'll never get back.
Did I mention he owes reporter Jim Grey an apology for Pete's ill-treatment of Grey at a World Series game (or All-Star game, I can't remember) a few years ago when Pete was honored with some of the greats of the game? Sports fans went on ad nauseum about how "inappropriate" it was for Grey to ask Charlie-highstakes to admit his wrongdoings.
Well Pete's come clean now! Oddly, just before today's Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee announcements. Pete is hustling again! Only this time, he's stealing the hall-of-fame spotlight from worthy honorees.
By the way, why has Dale Murphy not been inducted into the Hall of Fame. He played the game good and clean and with honor. He was everything Major League Baseball wants in a player--a two-time National League MVP! But still, no Hall of Fame.
I don't think Pete Rose should EVER get to be in the Hall of Fame. And I think Dale Murphy should be inducted with much haste. Nevertheless, I don't get to make that decision. In truth, I'm not qualified to make that decision. I only have my opinion (which, by the way, is extremely well informed).
Heaven is like that too. Luckily for all of us, I don't get to make decisions on who's in and who's out. When confronted with issues like Pete Rose, I'm reminded of how narrow and unforgiving I can be. I'm sure that like Pete Rose I've called into question the integrity of the endeavor I consider most sacred--the salvation of my God.
It's a good thing that Jesus died and lives for all us Charlie-hustlers. It's the only way we will ever get in.
**P.S. Dale Murphy should be in the Hall.
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