1st and 2nd Samuel

Last year, when we brought Robin to Master's Commission on opening day, we told everyone we were dropping our little Samuel off at the temple. It was a tongue-in-cheek reference to the wonderful Old Testament story of Samuel and his mother Hannah's promise to dedicate her child to God. This weekend we brought 2nd Samuel and dropped him off at the temple too. (There are two Samuels - go check your Old Testament!)

Chase, who would have been a Senior this year, finished his remaining credits this summer so he could go to Master's Commission early. (He will still participate in our local Home School Network Graduation ceremonies in May.) We are very proud of him and we can't wait to see what God will do both in and through him this year!

Robin is doing her second year at Master's and will earn her Bachelor's Degree in Missions from the West Coast Bible College. Afterward, she plans to spend a year in Kenya assisting with planting a Master's Commission program there. We plan to all go to Kenya in January on a missions trip to see where she'll be working. Just thought I'd catch you up on what's happening with 1st and 2nd Samuel!

Makes Sense!

This weekend two of my great loves come together for what promises to be a wonderful time! I'll be kicking off a brand new message series at Crossroads that combines my love for preaching with my love for horses. The series is called Horse Sense.

The premise is simple: There are many similarities to what we do to train horses and the things God does to provide us with spiritual training. I figured, why not point out the comparisons and learn some things about what God wants to do in our lives? We'll be looking at the principals of trust and respect, harnessing the power we have in Christ, bridling our tongues and spurring one another on to good works! 

Our media director, Richard Gaspard, filmed a wonderful local horse trainer named Dwayne Desormeaux giving us some interesting insights into training horses. These short tutorials, along with everyone dressed in boots and jeans, some preservice games and a few surprises throughout the series will make for a lot of fun at Crossroads in September! Saddle up and come join us!

Families Reach Cities

A while back I attended a service where my friend Rich Wilkerson was preaching. He shared an incredible message about how families reach cities for God. His premise was that the Levitical Priesthood is a trans-covenant reality. Just like God chose a family in the Old Testament to serve as His priests, He also chooses families today, in this New Covenant hour to do His work upon the earth. He pointed out the many examples we see around us like Franklin Graham following in the footsteps of his famous father Billy, Joel Osteen taking over for his dad John, the list goes on and on. Rich pointed out that, growing up as a pastor's son, he was raised with the idea that you never attempt to persuade your children to follow you in the ministry. He confessed that he ignored that advice and told his four boys everyday of their lives that, although he wasn't sure what they would do for a living, he believed that they would preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth! Today, all four of his sons are involved in ministry. At the end of the service he invited all the pastors in attendance to come forward and dedicate their families to God. I was there by myself, but as I stood at the alter I took my iPhone and I held pictures of my children up to God and cried out to Him to use them in His service anyway He sees fit!

I am so proud of my kids and so thankful that both of them are in Master's Commission this year following the will of God for their lives! In addition, we just hired my nephew Jordy as our Youth Pastor here at Crossroads Church and it was one of the most thrilling moments of my life! Rich is right - Families reach cities! 

The Help

I will admit, I’m probably more inclined to be attracted to the subject matter of this film because of my upbringing. I was born in 1962. My formative years were spent watching the rise of the civil rights movement from the den of segregation. I was raised in the deep south of rural north Louisiana. Our family didn’t have a maid but we knew people who did. I remember what it looked like and it looked like this film. Our schools in Ouachita Parish were integrated the year I entered first grade. My parents pulled me out of school and sent me to a private Christian school that was all white. A year later I returned to public school and I remember well the struggles of desegregation first hand. 

The Help is the best movie I’ve seen in a long, long time. I am a movie fanatic. I see a lot of films and I like all kinds - Action/Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy... I enjoy them all. But once and a while a different kind of film comes out. A film that can change who you are. A film that makes you want to be a better person. A film that makes you evaluate yourself and the world around you. The Help is that kind of film. 

Based on the best selling book by the same name, The Help takes us back to the turbulent 1960’s in the racially-divided city of Jackson, Mississippi and let’s us view the world through the eyes of the black women who cleaned the homes, cooked the suppers and raised the children of prominent white families in southern communities. 

The story centers mainly around the character of a young Mississippi white woman named Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan, a journalist who plans to write a book from the perspective of the black maids she has grown up around. She attempts to enlist the help of Aibileen Clark, who works in the home of one of Skeeter’s close friends, but Aibileen initially declines. When she later agrees to tell her story, Skeeter asks her what changed her mind. Her response is “God.” Her Pastor’s sermon has reminded her that courage requires us to sometimes do things we’re not comfortable doing. Courage becomes the theme of the movie, as Skeeter’s mother, who is initially critical of her daughter’s view of the world, eventually expresses pride in her by telling her, “Courage sometimes skips a generation. I’m so glad you’ve brought it back to this family.” 

The film brings laughs, the film brings tears, the film brings regrets and hopefully the film brings change. Because, as much progress as has been made in race relations since the 1960’s - We’ve still got so far to go! Those changes will require courage and our courage depends on a different kind of help - The help of the Holy Spirit. Through Christ, we can bring lasting change and love one another as God has called us to! I can almost hear Him whispering now, “You is kind, You is smart, You is important.”