The ATL and the GCC

I will basically be on blog hiatus for the next week and a-half. First up is a mini-vacation we are taking to Atlanta. We plan, God willing, to visit the Georgia Aquarium and the New World of Coke plus take in a Braves game.

Immediately after this trip I will be packing up for Gateway Christian Camp. We rent a week from Gulf Coast Bible Camp in Lucedale, MS. It is always an awesome time.

Thanks for checking in. See you again here in a couple of weeks.

Are You Smarter Than a Sunday School teacher?

 One of my favorite reads is the back page in Preaching magazine. Editor-in-Chief, Michael Duduit, usually offers some real nuggets in his column. This month he asks, “Are you smarter than a Sunday School teacher?”

Take the test and find out!

1st grade: Where did Jesus perform his first miracle?

2nd grade: To what did Naomi change her name after she was widowed?

3rd grade: Which Bible character had surgery performed on him as he slept?

4th grade: What soldier criticized David for coming to the battlefield?

5th grade: What color was the cloth draped over the Ark of the Covenant?

No fair peeking at other answers in the comments!

So are you smarter than a Sunday School teacher?

Homeless Work Camp

Just imagine about seventy “homeless” teens hanging out at your church building. How would you handle that?

Well that is what is up at Gateway this week.  The Homeless Work Camp is the brainchild of our youth minister, Eric Petty and a couple of his friends.

Youth groups from Houston and Nashville have joined ours to experience a little taste of the homeless life while working hard with Habitat for Humanity and the Ronald McDonald house. Specifically, the teens are living on the floor in our gym and are not allowed to shower until the end of the week.

Yea, it is smelly work but they are loving it. And their awareness of the homeless plight is being raised.

I do not know about where you live, but the homeless population in the Florida panhandle only grows. I do not know the solution to homelessness, but I do know God has called us to minister to them.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me. - Matthew 25:35-36

Old School

I think about him quite often as I struggle to get to Bible class and worship a few minutes early. He never seemed to have that problem. He was always there at least thirty minutes early. This was “on-time” to Dee Hughes at Pine Grove Church of Christ. Today we would call him “old school.” 

 

We never had to worry about communion preparation at the Delhi Church of Christ. Miss Jessie Alred took care of that. She lived three blocks from the church building and never failed to have all things ready. I can still see her in my minds-eye walking those three blocks regardless of the weather. She was another member of the “old school.”

 

The baptistery at Skyway Hills Church of Christ almost looked polished. Lee Rast took special pride in taking care of it. He had voluntarily and meticulously looked after it for years. He and his bride, Elsie, were always there too- every Sunday and Wednesday. You could count on them. Yep, “old school” they were. 

 

Sometimes we diminish the legacy of previous generations- especially so- it seems in our churches. We look back and often only see the mistakes they made or the “traditions” they upheld which now seem dated. But if this is all we see as we look back, it is we who become diminished. 

 

Faithfulness was the class primer in the old school. Sure, okay, maybe, occasionally, that faith might have been placed more on form than on the Father, but its power in them was undeniable. They worked hard, raised families, sacrificed, built churches, faithfully supported them, came early, stayed late, got excited about gospel meetings, regularly visited other congregations, and shared their faith. 

 

I know, times have changed and many of the old school methods that were effective in spreading God’s kingdom then, no longer are. Yes, I realize they certainly were not without fault (who is?). Not everyone always made the grade every time in the old school. And it is true, that occasionally some, who graduated from the old school, had great difficulty seeing beyond that education.

 

But, overall, what a tremendous faith legacy they have left us. In some ways they remind me of another great cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 12. 

 

Clay Hopkins definitely did. He was old school to the core. His understanding on some things was limited, but he loved the Oak Ridge Church of Christ and was always there, doing what he could. He was a great encouragement to me even though I was from the new school.  But just like the others I mentioned, I will never forget him and his dedication to his family, his church and his Lord.

 

Could it just possibly be that the “old school” still offers some coursework needed today?