A while back ago, I was eating lunch with a friend.  I mentioned that we are going to have powerpoint soon.  It took six months, which I thought was too long of a time, but he shot back that this was amazing.  Amazing, I wondered.  Six months, amazing.  “Yea, six months compared to seven years is amazing.”  “It took me seven years to get powerpoint in the congregation I was at.”  I started feeling better about the six months after that.  This Sunday will be the official kick-off for the powerpoint system.  We used powerpoint a few times in the worship but this was always a put together job.  Now the system has everything we need.  We are doing the training on it today.

It was nice last night as I was working on a lesson in the evening to see Mitchell painting his office.  He is moving in the building to have his own space.  He has been with us for awhile, but having his own office makes him even a larger part of the team.  Hopefully, I will see him more.

It is really nice to see the development of the congregation taking place.  This past Wednesday in class, you can tell the congregation is growing in all the right ways.  People in class were open and honest with feelings.  There was a desire to give ideas and to discuss feelings.  We talked about the problem of racism in the church from the past and how people were blinded by culture.  We asked how are we blinded today in the church to how culture dictates practices.  We are really being a church, we are being a church.

A recent friend of mine is dealing with some issues in a congregation that is overly given to debating and disputing over “the issues.”  The focus of the congregation is on disagreement and doctrinal disputes.  There is nothing wrong in discussing the issues, but when the focus of correctness is solely the purpose of the congregation, then the congregation has ransomed the work of God for debate.  A minister, elder, congregation that seems more concerned with all the correct answers than doing the work of the Lord is similar to the lawyer in Luke 10.  My friend asked me how to handle this overemphasis on doctrinal arguments.  I mentioned that there is a time and place to insure correct doctrine, but our identity or Christianity is not solely done to be correct but to really “do” the work of God.  Luke using the ring parallelism in Luke 10:25-28 “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” And he answered and said, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS, AND YOU WILL LIVE.”  In the religious circles of that day there was a movement that was trying to discover the essences of the O.T.  The lawyer and the Christ agree, but the difference was that it was knowledge on the debating level for the lawyer.  To Christ, once the correct answer is discovered, the next step is to “do this and live.”  All the knowledge of the religious disputes and debates is pointless unless we “do and live.” 

It seems that seriousness is equal to reverence in some circles.  Having a serious, reflective, quiet attitude in worship is a sign of true worshipping.  It seems that this assumption is prevalent in most congregations.  A silent, individualistic worship is the preferable style of some people.  We almost assume that if someone is laughing, talking, or smiling that he or she is not taking worship seriously.  But is seriousness truly the sign of true worship?   There is certainly a need for conducting worship in a orderly style according to Paul.  But orderliness is not always seriousness.  One must wonder if David dancing before the Lord was done through the feelings of seriousness or joyousness.   Those who were baptized in Acts are said to be rejoicing after the baptism.  I wonderful if this was done in the assembly today, what would the rejoicing look like?  I wonder if the newly saved individual started to yell “Praise God, Praise God” at the top of his lungs if he would be asked to stop or would the congregation join in?  There is a line between chaos and worship.  A line that must not be crossed, but probably the majority of congregations of the church border more on equating reverence with quiet, reflective, seriousness.  There is nothing wrong with quiet, serious time with God, but on the other hand there must be liberty in realizing that some of this imposed seriousness could be more from the culture than from the Biblical text.  It seems perhaps that our attention to having a reverent worship, also known as a serious worship, has maybe pushed aside the genuine sense of joy and rejoicing in the modern assembly.  Recently, I was preaching at a congregation that said “amen”, that laughed, that looked at one another during the sermon, and seemed to be having a great time in worship.  Dare I say that sometimes worship can be Fun.  I hope so.

The mission trip to Pearlington, MS was a wonderful success. The church is a recent plant after some hurricane relief work took place in the small town. The congregation has about 20 members who are attending services on a weekly routine. It was nice to work with the Hartsville Pike congregation and with an old friend Jeffery Hall. He was a young man that was baptized from the community. It was nice to be in the southern part of the country, but it is always better to be home.

Once again great things are happening at the Waynesboro congregation. Reagan Skelton was baptized by Mitchell Skelton, her father on Wednesday night. It was a great time of rejoicing. I called Mitchell up the next day to rejoice with him. I told him that “I hope to have the honor of baptizing one of my children for the forgiveness of their sins.†This was certainly a special time for the congregation, the family, and most importantly, Reagan. She is a wonderful young lady.

We were blessed once again with another baptism on Sunday night. Ginda Inman responded to the invitation and had her sins washed away in baptism. Ginda has been attending the congregation for some time and it was a blessing to see her make that good confession that Jesus is the Christ. We rejoice with her and her family over this super decision. Ginda has a bright and glorious future in the Lord’s Church.

It seems that the Lord is truly providing the increase at the congregation. We had 197 people at services on Sunday morning. The best part was that we had 151 people at Bible Class too. It is wonderful to see the positive atmosphere and growth that is taking place in the congregation. We are growing stronger each week in the Lord. Praise God for the growth and the faith of these two new Christian sisters in the Lord.

I. Still in Mayberry

1.Extreme views of the small town.

a.Peaceful place.

b.Backwoods people.

2.There are no strangers.

a.The minister is instantly recognized.

b.Ministers have not become marginalized but have been glorified.

c.The members know everyone and everyone’s business.

d.This creates problems because certain newcomers are automatically eliminated because of the person’s past performance.

II. Understanding the system behind Mayberry.

1.The power of influential families.

a.Most rural congregations are dominated by only a few families.

b.Sometimes these families jockey for political power.

c.Typically, these families attempt to influence the minister.

d.The minister must navigate between family units without becoming enmeshed with anyone particular family.

e.Never be involved in intra-family fighting.

2.Coalitions.

a.Coalitions are deeply rooted in the culture.

b.Certain families interact with certain families.

c.Look for the parental figure in every family unit.

3.Boundaries.

a.Many times the minister is the minister of everything.

b.Most of the congregations are in the pastoral size category.

c.This size is from 125 to 175. The minister’s timeline is the congregation’s timeline.

d.Be careful to guard against excessive dumping.

III. Functioning in Mayberry.

1.The three laws of the small town minister.

a.Visit, Visit, and Visit.

b.Pay special attention to the older members.

2.Introduce new ideas slowly.

a.New is a dirty word in a small town.

b.Change is difficult and not desirable.

c.Start with small changes first.

3.Understand the level of education in the congregation.

a.There are not many college graduates in the congregation.

b.But do not treat them like they are slow.

c.Challenge them and they will feel good about it.

4.Be a community do-gooder and not a community activist.

a.Leave small town politics alone.

b.Join a civil club and go to the Friday night football games.

c.Pick your community activities wisely.

d.When you first come to town you will be asked to join every committee or board. Choose wisely one or maybe two organizations. Your first priority is to the Gospel.

 

IV. The Secret Laws of Mayberry Success

1.Learn the story of the past first.

a.Talk with the older members and learn the important events.

b.Learn about former respected elders and ministers.

c.See what characteristics people admired.

2.Focus on your preaching.

a.Remember you are a preacher.

b.All the visiting and community involvement will not make up for weak preaching in the pulpit.

3.Remember your call from God.

a.You are an equipper.

b.You are a theologian in residence.

c.You are a counselor.

4.Beware the chronics.

a.Some people will always demand your time.

b.Some people will always have huge problems.

c.Chronic complainers.

5.Do not create too high of expectations.

a.If you come in like superman you have to keep the “S†on.

b.Have an even and balanced approach to ministry.

6.Mayberry knows about your money.

a.Your banker and tellers could be your members.

b.Pay your bills and avoid debt.

7.Take the day off.

a.You have to force yourself to take a day off.

b.When you are the “everything minister†there are always events on the weekends, weeknights, and weekdays.

c.If you do not take heed to this you will wake up and realize that you have just worked 90 days in a row and this is destroying your attitude.

V. The Lack of Leadership in Mayberry

1.Most of the future leaders move.

a.Small towns cannot provide high paying jobs to young professionals.

b.The best future leaders move away.

2.The minister must provide silence leadership.

a.The elders do not have a large context to draw from.

b.Many have been in one congregation for years.

c. You have to research new ideas.

This book is a strong call for loyalty to Christ above all.  It is written by Lee Camp who is a professor at Lipscomb University.  I never had Mr. Camp as a professor.  He was a popular teacher on campus in the Bible department.  The book is a strong plea for total dedication to the kingdom of God.  It has a great explanation for the coming together of the present age and the age to come.  This was one of the best parts.  Also, the book deals with the problem of people seeing Christianity as a religion that is believed but not to lived.  The book is written at a high level of understanding.  A person would need a deep background in the church to grasp the majority of the ideas that are presented.  The book is deep.  The book highlights the problem that some Christians are more dedicated to the nation of America than they are to the kingdom of God.  I love America, Canada, but I love the church and Christ more.  This is a needed call to numerous Christians.

Today was a wonderful day on the campaign trail.  We ate a waffle, not as good as I expected, and headed to the city of New Orleans.  I drove by there once on the way to Texas but never stopped because it was late and I was on a trip.  Since I was so close to the big city, I wanted to see the place myself.  As we were driving there, it was amazing at the amount of buildings that still were in disrepair.  The city was truly destroyed.  It was hard to imagine that all those buildings were under water.  We did not stay for a long time, but we did hit the French Quarters.  It was beautiful.  It was a very historic place.  We went into the St. Louis Basilica, which was an extremely old congregation of the Catholic church.  It was interesting to walk into with the statues and scenery.  We ate at Jimmy Buffet’s place, I had a po-boy and hot onion rings.  The food was great.  On the way back, we walked on Bourbon Street for about two blocks.  I heard of this street, but always thought that it was more of a tourist trap of a few bars and resturantes.  I was wrong.  It is really a nasty place of all types of perversions.  I felt dirty walking on the street.  But then I got thinking about Jesus going into the house of sinners.  This must have been how the religious people felt about the sinnerful people in His day.  These people must have seemed nasty and dirty.  No wonder they felt Jesus was wrong in eating with them.  This was no place for religious folk.  I learned a valuable lesson about the Lord and myself today.  It is truly hard to reach out to truly sinnerful people.  Us religious people just do not like it.  It really makes us feel uncomfortable.  Just admit it.  Another interesting lesson was about the huge church building in the middle of the French Quarters.  Here was this big church, and here was this culture of sin.  The point of christianity is not to build a big church building and have no real influence on the community around us.  It was a great day on the campaign trail.  We stayed at the building for hours after the preaching just to sing and fellowship.  It is really a blessing to be down here.  Ray is doing great.  Poncho was in the good books for picking a great place to eat.  The women are super to be around.  It is great to be with the in-laws all by myself.  They are truly family, my family.  

I am engaged in a Gospel Meeting with the Pearlington church of Christ in Mississippi.  This is a small town that was forgotten during much of the relief efforts but was cared for by the churches of Christ relief effort out of Nashville.  There was not a congregation of the Lord’s people in the town, but because of the good work done by the churches of Christ, there are new Christians in the area now.

     The amazing part of driving through the town is that there is still much work to do in a relief effort.  Homes are still being rebuilt.  Cleaning is still taking place.  People are still living in Government provided housing.  Hurricane Katrina hit a few years ago but the effects are still being felt in this small town.  It was a moment in time for millions of people across the nation, but it is still a way of life for people along the gulf coast. 

     This background brings us to the part of pain.  Severe pain in life is like a hurricane through a town.  Most people know about another person’s individual pain but to the individual the pain can continue for years to decades.  When a loved one is lost, when a people has be violated, when a person has suffered, these times of pain are not fixed up in a matter of years, but linger for ages.  We go to a funeral to offer support, but the loved one will remain in a state of grieving for months to years.  We forget about the long lasting effects of severe pain in life.

     For Pearlington, as well as neighboring communities, Katrina was more than history, it was a life shaping event.  In one of the homes that we visited, there was a little girl and her cat named “Katrina.â€Â  “Katrina,†I said.  “Why did you name your cat Katrina?â€Â  The little girl answered back, “Because that is her name.â€Â  We can forget the pain of Katrina, we can forget about the pain of people around us, but for those who have suffered, they will never forget.

     The day went great.  We ate a nice breakfast at the Hotel.  After this we went swamping and saw a ton of gators.  It was amazing being a foot away from these powerful animals.  It was entertianing, educational, and relaxing.  After this we went to the building to clean it because there was a funeral and an all night vistation which was new to me.  It is a Cajun thing.  We had a lot of people for the meeting.  We had some wonderful people from nieghboring congregations.  Even one of the visiting ministers played chess.  It was a great day.  Carter almost killed us a few times driving.  Poncho chickened out on fighting a gator.  It has been a great day and meeting so far. 

The first day for the meeting at Pearlington was hugely successful.  It started off on a perfect note as there is a Starbucks next to the Hotel.  A Starbucks always makes for good preaching.  The building was nicely built with a loving and kind congregation.  This is a relatively new church plant that numerous congregations across the South has helped.  Hopefully, the preaching went well, that preacher certainly has room to improve.  The service was simple without the suit and ties.  The area is a poorer area that was serious damaged by the storms.  People are still struggling to get back on their feet.  People forget the major devastation that Katrina caused.  Years later towns are still in disrepair.  We had a great potluck.  A lot of wonderful Cajun food, it was not your typical Tennessee potluck.  I enjoyed the variety.  I met some wonderful young Christian people from a sister congregation in Tennessee.  The only sad part was that one of the teen boys was an Alabama fan, he grew up there then moved to Tennessee.  He will see the light with time.  It was nice to be with Poncho again.  We had a blast teasing each other.  It was nice to see the young man that I baptized fives years ago from Gallatin.  His parents mostly do not attend with him, but he has stayed faithful all these years.  It is amazing to see how he has grown into a sharp young man.  Please continue to pray for the work.   

This Sunday through Wednesday I will be in Pearlington, MS for a campaign and meeting.  I should still be posting throughout the week as I believe there is wireless at the Hotel that I am staying at.  On Friday and Saturday, the town will be covered by workers from the Hartsville Pike church of Christ.  I will arrive on Saturday to preach for the meeting and to knock doors if need be and conduct home Bible studies.  In the evening, I will be doing the preaching for the congregation and campaigners.  This is a small town close to New Orleans that was severely damaged by the Hurricane a few years ago.  It is a church plant.  Those who have been working with this congregation have done a good job of following up and maturing the congregation.  If I have any extra time, I believe I will go on one of those swamp tours to throw some rocks at the alligators and snakes (Maybe I will just look at them).  This should be fun.  If one of them comes after me, I have a young man that is a close friend of mine named Jeffery or I call him Poncho, that I will toss to the reptiles.  I am looking forward to serving the Lord through this congregation.  Please pray for the success of this endeavor.