revival cancelled

A friend of mine recently saw a sign outside a local church that read "Revival Cancelled" and it began to stir my thoughts. Revival cancelled... really? Is that a status report for the good old US of A? Revival cancelled... can you do that? Revival cancelled... what if it really is? What would life be like if God removed His hand from our existence? What would that be like? First of all it would bring utter chaos but beyond that how would it feel? If we all woke up tomorrow and the hope that so many of us rely on was over night simply removed or cancelled... what would we do?

I have read many reports or studies that keep a pulse on the church in America and from I have read maybe in some places revival has been cancelled. Reports show that there are churches closing the doors for good in almost every city, town and neighborhood across our country. For numerous reasons they are just calling it quits. Maybe some of them need to close. They haven't seen a convert in over a decade. They haven't baptized anyone in recent history. They are more of a drain on the community than there are anything else. Maybe they should close down. Maybe revival has been cancelled. However, be not dismayed... there are some great, vibrant, healthy churches out there as well. I know first hand revival has not been cancelled. I see each week people from all walks of life being revived, brought back to life, new life!

But I ask myself this question... what if as of this moment on God never answered another prayer of mine. What would I do? I would hope and like to think that I would continue living my life and playing on His team but I can only imagine how discouraging that would be. If He never answered another prayer, I would still have my lifetime of personal miracles and do-overs to thank Him for. I would guess that I could take one day at a time and thank Him each of those days for just one answered prayer and never run out of days. I would like to think if He stopped responding to my petitions it wouldn't make a difference and I would carry on. But how many of my prayers are prayed out of sincere love for Him and mankind and how many are prayed because I need something? How many prayers are prayed because I am just flat out desperate for Him to move on my behalf? If He never answers another prayer... I still have a huge pile of things to be thankful for.

Revival cancelled? Not at my house... what about yours?

Saying revival cancelled is like saying Freedom Revoked... you don't have the authority.

life in the customer service line @ walmart

I realized today as I stood in the return line at customer service at my local Wal-Mart that Apple Bottom Jeans is an actual brand... all this time I just thought it was part of the song. Anyway, I am sure that at some point in every adults life we will all experience a Wal-Mart return. Thus was the case for me today. As I stood there I experienced a flood of emotions and questions...

For example, am I the only one that feels like if I don't have my receipt I am viewed as the guy who is trying to pull a fast one on the largest retailer in the world? I didn't have a receipt today and my simple exchange had to be reviewed by what seemed to be at least a half dozen managers. Now I am sure that there are those who were standing in the long line with me that were simply out to pull the wool over the CSR in charge but why the pressure? And what takes them so long? Everything is computerized but the process of scanning what I want to bring back along with the pain-staking scanning of my new merchandise was similar in length to a full store, late night inventory. But for some strange reason I still felt like I had to prove something to the clerk serving me today.

And if you have something from the electronic department to return, even if it is completely unopened... be prepared to give a full blown account of your actions for the last two months, a blood sample or two, and two of your three most recent credit reports. If it is something from ELECTRONICS that doesn't work, forget about it. You in for a good half hour ordeal. I witnessed it first hand today with a slightly elderly woman in front of me. The final call from the obvious big man on duty... "I will do it this time but just know I am doing you a favor and I will not be able to do this again." Oh mister wal-mart manager man... thank you so much for your grace and mercy as I return the broken merchandise that I paid good money for that didn't work to begin with. I am so sorry that I have inconvenienced you with my petty wish to actually get something that works. As you can sense I was a little perturbed by my trials and tribulations earlier this afternoon.

I guess the lesson I want to share is this... I am a simple man. I normally try to treat others with decency and appreciation. Is it too much to ask for to be treated in the same way. In the good book we find a valuable lesson in "treat others in the same way you would like to be treated." Or as we so fondly call it... the Golden Rule. Honestly I don't know if it is even in the scriptures that way but it should be. Life Lesson # 32 (from the book of Andrews) if I am rude, respond to me with rudeness. If I am nice and appreciative, help a brother out and return the service.

Until later, avoid the customer service line at Wal-Mart if at all possible.

there's no crying in soccer...

Every time I think about the movie "A League of Their Own" with Tom Hanks, Madonna, and others I think of my dear friend Phil Harris. I also remember the great scene and line by Hanks, "there's no crying in baseball..." Well, today the Andrews family began our journey in the world of girl's soccer. I have been blessed to be asked to serve Ella's (my 5 year old) team as assistant coach. The greatest humor in this is that I have no idea how to play soccer. In fact, the only rule I know is that you can't touch the ball. Which by the way is quite confusing to 5 and 6 year olds when they see someone throw the ball in from the sideline. Anyway, we had our first practice this morning and let me just say, "there is crying in soccer." I dealt with that scenario on numerous occasions today with multiple young athletes. Once I even kicked the ball and hit Ella in the arm which summoned an outpouring of emotion. Not to mention at 8:00 in the early morning Alabama heat my youngest fell apart when we told her she had to kick it one more time.

But all in all the initial experience was good. At this age you basically try to get the kids to learn a little ball control and learn how to have fun playing the sport. One of the greatest aspirations is just to instill the love of the game in each child so they will actually want to show up the next time out. Not a bad strategy I might add. Maybe we in the modern, American church can learn a bit from little league soccer. Am I as a father, are we as a culture, are we as believers, is the church... instilling in our children a love for the body of Christ? Are we teaching them by our actions how to fall in love with our Savior? When it is all said and done, do they want to show up in a place of worship because we make them or because they actually want to go? VBS is great and all but what do we do the rest of the year to create an atmosphere where our kids learn about God but equally as important actually want to go?

If our children are our future what kind of investments are we as the church making for that future? My church, Church of the Highlands, I feel does a great job at this. There are churches all over our city, state, and country that do a good job at creating a child friendly environment to learn about Christ. My heart goes out to those who do not. I want my girls to want to go to church. I do not ever want to be the kind of dad who makes my kids go (which I do not believe is actually a bad idea if it comes to that) but I want them to have that deep desire at an early age to know Christ but also to simply go to church. After all, "there's no crying in church."

Real Men Wear Sunscreen...

As I sat on a stool in an old fashioned soda shop in Apalachicola, FL listening to Lionel Ritchie sing "Stuck on You" during my recent family vacation... I realized that there are some things you do on vacation that you just don't do on normal days. A long standing tradition in our family is that we leave our watches at home when we leave for vacation. Time really doesn't matter. We declare it from the get go. We sleep late... well, I do anyway. I wear a hat almost everyday. If my wife doesn't want to wear make-up, she doesn't have to (and I might add that she looks amazing with no make-up. Seriously.) The rules of family vacation are just different. The pace is slower. The capturing of special family moments seems to slide up the importance scale a bit more. We make sure to relax and eat what we want, when we want. It's vacation.

With the exception of baseball caps and the absence of Lionel Ritchie, why aren't more days like vacation? I can only imagine that the stress levels would drastically fall. I often wonder what life was like in the "good old days"? When it took weeks to travel across country and days to cross the state. How simple life must have been. And why does the term "simple" have the connotation of poor and being without? I think we all need to take a big old break, take a few more deep breaths and relax. Why not enjoy the small things like sitting on the porch at night and watching for shooting stars? So, my deepest advice for America... slow down. Enjoy the ride. There's lots to see.

And as the title suggests, yes... I did wear sunscreen on my family beach vacation.

Binge Thinking.

Fads. Here today, gone tomorrow. Out of sight, out of mind. Why is it that we often don't think about certain things... that is until it seems a little more pertinent to our immediate situation? For example, what is the expiration date on your driver's license? I would be willing to bet that no one knows it without looking (except for those with self diagnosed OCD like members of my family). But once you realize that date of expiration is drawing near, then it becomes something to address. Or what about that little sticker you get each time you get an oil change. Are you really mentally aware of how many miles you travel between oil changes? If it weren't for those little stickers, maybe you might forget all together when you even got your oil changed last. There are so many things in life that we just tend to forget about until it becomes urgent.

What about our walk with God? I wonder if I am the only one that turns up the heat between me and the Lord whenever the heat gets turned up on me? Maybe you've noticed in your own life the tendency to think much more about Him when you sense the need for His intervention. Maybe you realize that He is not quite the center once thinks get shaky and you find yourself thinking about Him a little more often. Why is it we don't think about Him as much when things are going well? Why do we binge think during tough times?

I am realizing more than ever the dangers of binge drinking (which if you don't know means the excessive intake of alcohol during a short period of time) and as I think now I am also realizing the dangers of binge thinking. Lord, let me not neglect you during the easy days. Let me not forget You for even a moment.

By the way... have you changed the ac filter at your home? Have you changed the batteries in your smoke alarms?

n-da-pin-dance dae

for me... it's BBQ, homemade ice cream, all the family, fireworks in Homewood, buy one get one free bottle rockets and possibly a watermelon. Most of my life the 4th of July has been about everything other than celebrating my Independence. Even though as I have grown older I may have had more of an awareness about those who fought for my Independence and those who sacrificed, dreamed, believed and then kicked a little British booty but really it has been a simple and quaint acknowledgement at best of my true freedom and my amazing country. I imagine Independence is much like grace in that you really don't notice it unless you don't have it.

I can't imagine not having the freedom to choose who and how I worship but break it down a bit... how about not having the simple freedom to watch the news, or report the news, or even down to what I wear, drive, live? I can't even begin to imagine what life is like without freedom. I have absolutely no frame of reference to comprehend such a life. Or do I?

Spiritually speaking. God infused us all with the ability to choose, in a sense a freedom to make our own decisions. But on the flip side who wants to be independent from God? In the Bible it says that apart from Him we can do nothing. In my mind and my heart I would never consider living independently or away from God but what about my actions? Do they say otherwise? Do my actions tend to be those that I choose or the ones I feel He chooses? If I'm not careful here I can get a little confused. I love my Independence in one sense but I cherish even more my dependence. I thank God for options, however...

This 4th of July season I will celebrate two things. My Independence and my dependence. Happy BBQ day.

tiny miracles

I have often wondered why we don't experience more of the old school BIG miracles here in the good old USA. I have listened to way too many self-proclaimed theologians try to debate this issue and for me none them adequately make their case. Earlier this week I had the opportunity to go and speak to about 25 senior adults about The Foundry. After about 35 minutes of babbling chatter I sat down and a gentleman who appeared to be in his mid 70's stood and gave a brief devotion.

Near the end he told of an experience he had witnessed the day before. He had been called to the ER because a friend had fallen and had been knocked unconscious. When he arrived at the hospital he said he stood and softly prayed a very simple prayer that went something like this... "Lord, we commit him into your hands, please heal him." The man was quite delirious and coming and going out of consciousness. He was very physically shaken by his fall. About 15 minutes later the man suddenly popped out of his crazed state and was perfectly back to normal. In fact they released him from the hospital in no time at all and only a few short minutes earlier they were ordering every kind of test they could to find out what was wrong.

As the man finished his story he softly but forcefully proclaimed that God was still alive, walking with us and still performing miracles. The crowd that surrounded me erupted into an elderly applause. It resembled a quaint golf clap at best. I too joined in with my 11 seconds of amazing praise to the King of Kings for His mighty works.

Then as I sat there I wandered away mentally. Why is it that I just discounted a miracle? A supernatural intervention of the Lord Almighty and I dismissed it as a tiny miracle. Have I been so jaded that the normal everyday moves of God's Holy Spirit no longer move me? Will it take another "inside the belly of a whale" kind of moment to crank my motor? I have to imagine that I am not the only one that haphazardly clapped as you sat in a Sunday School class and listened to the testimony of a tiny miracle. Is there such a thing as a tiny miracle? Isn't a tiny miracle like a minor heart transplant?

Why is it that unless it is a raising of the dead we too often first respond with a skeptical attitude? Is it the church's fault? Is it my fault? Is the devil's fault? Let us NEVER forget that God is the same today, yesterday, and forever. There are no tiny miracles. Just ask those who have been on the receiving end of such miracles... and see what they say.