Unbelizeable Update #1

Hello, from Belize!

Well, we're on Day 2 of full-time ministry here in Belize City. I thought you might like to get a brief update on how things have been going so far ...

Saturday, May 26
Arrived here with no problems at all. That evening, we had dinner at the hotel with three pastors (and one of them brought his wife). After dinner, we all met together in a meeting room at the hotel for a time of worship, followed by our four guests telling us about what is going on in Belize from a spiritual perspective. These three pastors work with the Baptist Association of Belize. Lydia, the wife of one of the pastors, said it was her "heart cry" for the youth of Belize to find the Lord. There has been increased violence among the teenagers -- with almost daily shootings.

Sunday, May 27
We attended church at Calvary Baptist Church, the church of one of the pastors we had dinner with the night before -- Samuel Brown (Lydia's husband). Our group divided up among the children, youth, young adults, and adults Sunday school classes and led the lessons in each. During the worship service, Rich led us all in a couple of songs while Lori and Cristina provided backup vocals (and I held the microphone for Rich's guitar). Then, Nathan and Jen shared their testimonies. Overall, they had about 30-40 people there. (By the way ... Lydia played the electric guitar the whole time! That's a first for me -- a jammin' pastor's wife!)

Sunday night, we attended a "singspiration" evening at Queens Street Baptist Church (the church of another one of the pastors -- Lloyd Stanford). Imagine our group mixed in with about 25 of their members -- all ages -- for an evening of music! They were gracious enough to welcome us, allow Carolina and me to say a few words -- and then they asked us for a song! So, their keyboardist played "Here I Am To Worship" while the impromptu "HFBC Adult Choir" came forward and sang as a group. After that, Lori shared a testimony.

Monday, May 28
Monday was our first full day of true ministry. We went to an orphanage and had "Happy Fun Kingdom" (that's what we referred to it among ourselves). That consisted of us playing with kids in the sandy yard and going through 500 balloons for balloon animals, hats, swords and "snakes" (for those on our team who did not know how to make anything). While they ate, we went to Subway. Standing in line in front of us were two Mormon missionaries in white shirt and black pants. That was just a snapshot of what life is like here for the Belizeans. There are people here sharing God with them from all different perspectives. You can imagine how confused they can become.

After lunch, we returned to the orphanage and broke out by age group for VBS. There are many stories that came out of this time with the kids. One that I experienced was with three boys we've dubbed "The Bible Scholars" of the group. Aaron (10), Errol (11), and Kenrick (13) know the Bible -- and share it with such boldness -- unlike any children I've met before. And Aaron in particular has such an annointing on him! Earlier the day, he was given a toy car (like a Matchbox). He was playing with it all afternoon, and told me this was the car he would have one day! In the afternoon, when he was "preaching" to us, he held out his hand and showed us the car. "Do you see this? It is just metal. When we get to heaven, it will mean nothing." At that, he threw the car over his shoulder into the dirty yard and did not look back. "These are just material things and do not count for anything here on earth." Imagine that! An orphan in a third-world throwing away a brand new toy as an illustration in a "sermon" there in the playground!

(Aaron also had a dream in which Satan drove a "white Nissan Pathfinder" and killed people with his golden fork. I'm stickin' with my Ford Explorers, thank you very much!)

Tuesday, May 29
Today, Rich, Russ, Travis and David are doing some light repairs at the orphanage while the rest of the group prepares a gospel play/presentation for this afternoon when we go back and minister to the kids some more. Carolina and I ran errands and purchased some supplies that the Director needed -- as well as some new basketballs and jump ropes! Tonight, we head out to Belmopan (the capital city) for a one-night stay. Tomorrow, we'll be at the Belmopan Baptist High School (where only 1/3 of the faculty members are believers), and will do some street evangelism at the University of Belize. Or at least that's the plan -- you know how mission trip schedules can be!

Please keep us in your prayers!

"She's a Grand Ol' Flag ..."

Late Friday afternoon, I received a phone call at work from an elderly woman with the sound of concern in her voice.

"I understand that you are the person I need to speak to about flying the American flag for Memorial Day," she started as soon as I answered the phone.

"Huh?" I thought without expressing it out loud.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I'm not quite sure what you are talking about," I said much more diplomatically. "Are you trying to reach Houston's First Baptist Church?"

"Yes, I am. I want to make sure that we fly the American flag on Memorial Day."

"Well, the American flag is always flying by the CLC entrance on the south side of the building."

"I'm want to make sure they are flying by the front entrance."

"Oh, right! The flags along the front sidewalk!"

From there, she proceded to talk sweetly about how the American flag is important to her generation. Apparently, the flags were not up last year and several of her peers noticed. She wanted to make sure that that didn't happen again.

I assured her that plans were already in place to put up the American flags this coming Monday, May 21, and that they would be up through Memorial Day. She was pleased to hear that. I also assured her that the American flag is important to my generation. She was pleased to hear that, too.

I just wonder if anybody from my generation (myself included) would ever take the time to call ahead and make sure that Old Glory was flying. Kudos to her generation for doing so.

A really big MILEstone!

Remember the story about the damage to my car? The passenger-side scrape and the mirror hanging on by wires?

Well, when my dad saw the car and the dangling mirror, he said, "What you need to do is get some duct tape ..."

"No!" I asserted as I interrupted him. "Any conversation about repairing a car that begins with getting duct tape is not a conversation I want to have."

Truth be told, I stopped by Walgreens on the way home from that encounter, bought some duct tape and put the mirror back in place. At least they make black duct tape now so it blends in with the rest of the car. At least that's what I'm trying to convince myself.

Anywho ... this good ol' 1995 Explorer turned 200,000 miles yesterday. I was on my way to a dinner with the Belize mission team and was just a few miles away from the milestone. Since I was running early, I decided to cruise around the Rice Village area until the odometer flipped. The big event took place somewhere on Kelvin not too far from Thai Spice and Antone's. (The historical marker should be put in place soon.)

I'll admit that since this car was a hand-me-down from my brother, I only put 15,000 miles on it. But my guess is that this is the only time I'll witness a car hit the 200,000 mark, so let me have my moment.

For all those cynics out there who say "Ford" stands for Found On Road Dead -- take that! I guess it stands for Found On Road Duct taped.

Podcasting: Death of the Local Church?

"Of one thing we can be certain: The range of our choices in life will be on the rise. With wealth and knowledge growing exponentially, life has begun to resemble a smorgasbord, where the appetizers are laid before us in an alluring array, making us ever more gluttonous but with proportionately diminishing satisfaction. We need to be reminded that imbibing and disgorging are not just physical problems; they ultimately cut deeply into the very spirit of our human experience. And if recognized too late, the symptoms of the bulimic spirit are destructive of more than the flesh." - Ravi Zacharias, Deliver Us From Evil

I was recently introduced to this quote and it spoke directly to a concern I've had over recent months. While I am fairly certain that Zacharias did not have this in mind when he wrote this, his words capture what I feel is a potential downside of podcasting.

You may be saying, "Huh? Podcasting? What in the world?"

Hear me out.

In the Christian world, podcasting has made it easy for us to hear messages from people around the world. Like the internet in general, it has made distance and geography non-issues when it comes to learning from people we admire and trust. It provides us with a seemingly endless smorgasbord of messages from which to choose and grow.

Now, let me be upfront and say that in my role at HFBC, I am involved in the process of promoting our own podcast. What a blessing it is to receive feedback from people around the world who have tuned in to hear what Pastor Gregg has to say each week! I'm glad to be a part of extending HFBC's ministry beyond our walls and borders.

However, I am seeing signs of podcasting going too far on the side of the listeners, approaching "gluttonous" levels in some cases. How so? Let me explain.

I will frequently find myself in conversations with people who ask if I've listened to so-and-so's latest sermon. Or, I'll receive an e-mail from someone sharing what another so-and-so had to say in his most recent podcast. And sometimes, I'll be left out of a conversation because I was the only one who had not heard that week's message from yet another so-and-so.

But my concerns go beyond simply feeling left out. My concerns are for a new manifestation of consumerism in the American church (or perhaps the internet-enabled church, however far it may extend around the globe).

With access to the best-and-brightest and latest-and-greatest teaching in all of Christendom, a podcast listener's standards and expectations rise and may become unsatisfied by the preacher at the church down the street. And to the extent that we all have limited time and mental capacity to "take it all in" each week before we reach saturation, something has to give in order to make room for the messages we just downloaded.

Unfortunately, the victim may be the local church.

I would like to think that I am not an alarmist on this, but I've heard comments from people lately that back up my concerns -- comments from people in my life and comments I've read online. I've witnessed people who listen to several podcasts each week somewhat withdraw from the church body.

Rather than seeing the local church as a place where they can serve with others, worship with others, minister to others, fellowship with others, rejoice with others, and grieve with others they see it as just one of many sources in the "alluring array" of places to be fed. And if they don't like what's being served they just keep on driving until they find what they like, seeking a source that is just the way they like it and forsaking the commitment and relationships that go with being in a local church.

You know, I would love to have a Mercedes-Benz, but my Ford works just as well at getting me from Point A to Point B (even with a mirror held on with duct tape). It's not my ideal preference, but it's what I have, it works, and I'm grateful for it.

As I type this, I'm reminded of stories from when church services were first broadcast on television decades ago. Church members around the nation were convinced that people would never again fill their pews if they could "go to church" in the comfort of their living rooms. While I do not have all of the data at my fingertips, I'm pretty sure the local church did not die with the onset of broadcast worship services. But did many Americans forsake connecting with the Body as a result. I feel confident in saying that yes, they did.

I would hate to discover that there was somebody in the world listening to HFBC's podcast in lieu of going to a local church simply because he or she liked our preaching better. Just think of what that person would be missing out on in his or her spiritual growth!

Let's pray against podcasting having the same impact. Rather than allowing downloads from people around the world to take the place of connecting with a local church, let's pray that they simply add to what God does in our lives. Nothing can take the place of what God can do through the Body.

Leadership Houston - Class XXVI

As a member of Leadership Houston's Class XXIII, I was introduced to nearly 50 other classmates from all walks of life throughout the Houston community. Together, we learned about a variety of issues facing our city and heard from leaders in the public and private sectors about what can be done about them. We also gained valuable experience about leadership in general.

Applications are now available for Class XXVI. To learn more about Leadership Houston, check out their website at LeadershipHouston.org. To cut to the chase and see an application form, click here.

Just to be nice, let me save you a click and go ahead and tell you a little more about Leadership Houston (taken from their website):

What is Leadership Houston?
Leadership Houston serves all business sectors of the community – private, public and nonprofit, as the 'portal' for leadership in the city. It is the 'go to' place to build leadership skills and understanding of the civic affairs. Our goal is for Houston to be known locally, nationally and globally for leadership – resourceful, informed and talented leaders making major contributions to their organizations and the betterment of Houston.

Our Flagship Program accepts applications from proven leaders who currently have some community involvement. Fifty individuals are chosen from the pool of applicants to experience the 10 month program, which includes an opening retreat, 8 class days and a closing retreat. Class days are full 8 hour days, once a month covering subjects such as, local government, Houston economy, social justice, education, quality of place, arts, healthcare and human services. Class members create and launch a project that will better the community.

The friendships formed in Leadership Houston classes provide long lasting relationships across all sectors and demographic groups. These relationships promote understanding and collaboration that continue long after class days end.