Does God Speak Through Blogs? Feeling Nemo 33

Pretty heavy for a Monday morning? I wrote last Thursday morning about the place where we need to change most. Wow, did I get slammed for 48 hours. Don't want to get too transparent here. I am not into to those frustrating, trendy, contemporary church core values of transparency and authenticity. Never gets me anywhere.

There is a certain kind of pain I experience. Nemo 33 pain (The deepest swimming pool in the world, 108 feet or 33m). Deeper than the average kick in the backside kind of pain. The pain of knowing that someone (God Himself) has gone deep. Deep to the soul, to the place I need to change the most. The place . . . I was aware of the least.

The consolation prize??? If God wants to deepen a man, He must go deeper to do it.

No deeper water exists in the shallow end of the pool.

Cola today at World Headquarters. Preached at FBC Eutawville, S.C. yesterday. Real folks who love the Lord. Hung out with movement
maker Bryan Plyler to look at an exciting future for The River Church http://www.theriverchurchonline.com/ .

So much to blog about, no kidding. Had to get today off my chest. Tomorrow, no more transparency or authenticity. I promise.

Confessions II - Things that Scare Me Worse Than Halloween

1. Churches that get warm fuzzies over who showed up on Sunday instead of those who did not . . . 77 % of South Carolina's residents will not be in church this Sunday.

2. The rapidly aging leadership base in many of our SBC churches in South Carolina. Could tomorrow for the SBC body of Christ be literally dying before our eyes?

3. Our sense of self-importance. We all suffer from momentary lapses. Bottom line, we are no where near as good as we would like to think. I remember that every time I get the courage to listen to my own sermon cd's.

4. The way we communicate. When 61% of our people are functionally illiterate why do we keep communicating in our churches like they are seminaries? I discovered another reason why some of our contemporary churches are doing so well - creative communication of the Gospel message. Slides, pictures, clips, stories, popular culture illustrations . . . Why? Because it is easier to understand for the common man.

5. None of us understand the QBQ (Question behind the Question) which is What am I going to do about it? I am part of the problem. I am part of the solution. I am personally responsible before God for this mess. Lord, bend me. Lord, bend the church, save the world!

Lexington Baptist deacons last night; Fellowship of Praise (great story btw) building dedication and a 5K run in the Northeast on Saturday; my friends at The River in Camden, Sunday. BTW since I have been cheering for the opposition, my teams have won 75% of their games. So . . . go Jags and Rajun Cajuns!