Janet and I celebrated 36 years of marriage July 17. That’s a long time.
I often remind couples during the wedding ceremony that they are making a promise for a lifetime. They make this promise without knowing what the future holds. Many challenges await them, but they promise to be faithful.
How can two people, not knowing the future, make a promise of faithfulness one to another?
God’s love is the guarantee of the promise. Love never fails, as the Apostle Paul eloquently reminds (1 Corinthians 13:8). The gift of God’s love is the reason that two people can make a promise for a lifetime without knowing the future.
The power of love is not that we love God or one another. It is that God loves us. Can you capture this with your heart and head? God loves you—passionately and beyond explanation. This love is the central power of the universe. It holds together the Trinity. The Three are One because of divine love.
So two can become one through the power of this love.
The freedom to love is granted us by the Creator God. Love must be free to be real. How could anyone coerce true love?
Love freely given and freely received—this is the ebb and flow of the divine nature and the true description of the greatest cosmic force. You will never run across anything greater than the love of God.
What are you waiting for? Leap into the current of love and discover what the Creator intended for your life.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Immediate Neighborhood - Lakeview
The population around our church is now almost 40 percent of what it was before Hurricane Katrina hist our shores. We consider this great news.
The bad news concerns blighted properties. The Lakeview Civic Improvement Association estimates that 1,400 properties remain blighted.
All of Lakeview, population 24,000 before the storm, went under water, some of it as deep as 11 feet. Lakeview is the neighborhood into which the breached 17th Street Canal poured its flood waters.
More good news—900 homes in Lakeview are under construction. When these homes are occupied the population should jump to around 13,000. Many of the new residents of Lakeview are young people. Our church is eager to reach out to these families.
The excellent elementary school, Hines Charter, should be housed in new facilities in Lakeview by the end of next year. This will be a huge incentive for young families to relocate in our area.
Lakeview now has 1,900 vacant lots as a result of widespread demolition of flooded properties. Many of these lots will be purchased by neighbors next door and become green space.
Even more good news--our Early Learning Center, the only full-time day care facility in Lakeview, now has 112 children enrolled and is gaining new enrollees almost daily. This ministry is bringing new faces to our door step and provides us an opportunity to teach little children about the love of God. Our excellent faculty uses the LifeWay curriculum for age-appropriate learning.
The best news of all—First Baptist New Orleans has an opportunity to reach out to these new residents with the message of salvation in Christ. We are privileged to be part of an active community. And we are called to communicate the love of God found through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The bad news concerns blighted properties. The Lakeview Civic Improvement Association estimates that 1,400 properties remain blighted.
All of Lakeview, population 24,000 before the storm, went under water, some of it as deep as 11 feet. Lakeview is the neighborhood into which the breached 17th Street Canal poured its flood waters.
More good news—900 homes in Lakeview are under construction. When these homes are occupied the population should jump to around 13,000. Many of the new residents of Lakeview are young people. Our church is eager to reach out to these families.
The excellent elementary school, Hines Charter, should be housed in new facilities in Lakeview by the end of next year. This will be a huge incentive for young families to relocate in our area.
Lakeview now has 1,900 vacant lots as a result of widespread demolition of flooded properties. Many of these lots will be purchased by neighbors next door and become green space.
Even more good news--our Early Learning Center, the only full-time day care facility in Lakeview, now has 112 children enrolled and is gaining new enrollees almost daily. This ministry is bringing new faces to our door step and provides us an opportunity to teach little children about the love of God. Our excellent faculty uses the LifeWay curriculum for age-appropriate learning.
The best news of all—First Baptist New Orleans has an opportunity to reach out to these new residents with the message of salvation in Christ. We are privileged to be part of an active community. And we are called to communicate the love of God found through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Changing Central City - Prayer Walk Saturday!
Dozens of churches in Greater New Orleans are mobilizing Saturday to strike at the root of violence in our city. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of members of local churches will walk through the streets of Central City praying for the residents there and praying for an end to the bloodshed.
Central City is an important part of our community and home to thousands of our citizens. The area includes some great churches, schools, neighborhoods, businesses and public instititutions.
It also continues to be plagued with drug wars and senseless killing.
Churches from across the region will converge at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 28, at New Hope Baptist Church, 1807 LaSalle Street, just off Claiborne Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard. Groups of 50 persons will fan out in the area, praying for needs and talking with residents.
All Christians are invited to participate in this unique, interdenominational effort sponsored by the Greater New Orleans Pastors Coalition.
Southern Baptists will host a major evangelistic and prayer effort in Central City in November. The prayer walk this Saturday, June 28, is part of a continuing effort to saturate our community with prayer and witnessing.
Only God’s love can change the culture of violence that makes New Orleans the perennial homicide capital of America.
Central City is an important part of our community and home to thousands of our citizens. The area includes some great churches, schools, neighborhoods, businesses and public instititutions.
It also continues to be plagued with drug wars and senseless killing.
Churches from across the region will converge at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 28, at New Hope Baptist Church, 1807 LaSalle Street, just off Claiborne Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard. Groups of 50 persons will fan out in the area, praying for needs and talking with residents.
All Christians are invited to participate in this unique, interdenominational effort sponsored by the Greater New Orleans Pastors Coalition.
Southern Baptists will host a major evangelistic and prayer effort in Central City in November. The prayer walk this Saturday, June 28, is part of a continuing effort to saturate our community with prayer and witnessing.
Only God’s love can change the culture of violence that makes New Orleans the perennial homicide capital of America.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
This is Daddy
“This is Daddy’s truck,” Hope told me when she was two years old. She was pretending to drive, her little hands barely moving the steering wheel. I reached for the steering wheel. “This is Daddy’s truck,” she said again, protectively.
She loved her Daddy, that was clear to me, and she missed him every hour when he was away.
Fathers have a special place in the lives of their children.
I spoke of my father last Sunday in the message—the wrestling matches when he pinned me and my four brothers all in a pile in the living room floor. I have wonderful memories of a Dad who loved me.
I forget sometimes that some people—lots of people—did not grow up with a loving father. A person reminded me this week of that painful reality.
The absence of a loving father is one of the great tragedies of the present time for millions of children and adults. It is a wound that does not heal easily.
Loving fathers are in great demand. There is no role in the family where so little means so much—a little time and attention, a little listening and talking, a little affection and direction. So many kids are longing for it—just a tender look or loving touch from Dad.
Fathers, you are heroes, know it or not. You cast a shadow that lasts a lifetime.
She loved her Daddy, that was clear to me, and she missed him every hour when he was away.
Fathers have a special place in the lives of their children.
I spoke of my father last Sunday in the message—the wrestling matches when he pinned me and my four brothers all in a pile in the living room floor. I have wonderful memories of a Dad who loved me.
I forget sometimes that some people—lots of people—did not grow up with a loving father. A person reminded me this week of that painful reality.
The absence of a loving father is one of the great tragedies of the present time for millions of children and adults. It is a wound that does not heal easily.
Loving fathers are in great demand. There is no role in the family where so little means so much—a little time and attention, a little listening and talking, a little affection and direction. So many kids are longing for it—just a tender look or loving touch from Dad.
Fathers, you are heroes, know it or not. You cast a shadow that lasts a lifetime.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Kneeling at Their Work
Update from New Orleans
A former president in his mid-80s is entitled to do whatever he wishes with his time. So it wrinkled my brow to see President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, on their knees affixing boards to a porch in the Upper Ninth Ward this week.
I decided, watching them work, that this presidential couple really believe they are changing the world with these small acts of kindness. Looking around, I saw many of the hundreds of volunteers who graced our city this week pausing in their own work to observe this famous man and woman accomplishing their humble service. These young faces, eyes shining, are portraits and symbols of faith and hope. They come to our city with the express purpose of lifting our spirits, holding up our arms, and joining us in the grunt work that moves our community forward.
Former presidents in their 80s seem empowered to say whatever they wish, as President Carter has demonstrated over high-level objections. They also appear empowered to do whatever they wish. And driving nails to build decent and safe houses for working people is just what this president wants to do.
He and Rosalyn are all smiles as they greet people, grab their tools, and hit the deck with gusto. They request routinely that admirers not interrupt their construction time so that they can get something done.
Harry Connick, Jr., and Ellis Marsalis dropped by to greet the volunteers and visit with the Carters. I thanked Harry for giving high visibility to our work of rebuilding, but he turned that thank you right back on me. The Carters did the same, and instructed me to pass on their gratitude to my congregation.
Sometimes, around some people, it is hard to get a thank you in edgewise. I suspect that people who are busy trying to change their world are also very grateful as a matter of disposition.
Our environment here in New Orleans is being changed one hammer stroke at a time. For us, the progress is visible and palpable. It may be hard to extrapolate our progress to the rest of the world, but all the same principles apply whether we are looking at changing a city or changing a world. The accumulated effect of millions of tiny hammer strokes is the rebuilding of a devastated region. If multiplied throughout the world, the goal of eradicating poverty housing seems truly within reach.
Of course, the only people who hope for and expect such a transformation in our city or our world are the people swinging hammers. Hope springs eternal only when we are busy building what we hope for. If despair or resignation benched us, our inactivity reinforces the despair and quells the hope.
Billy Puckett, construction manager for the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, challenged a thousand volunteers one morning this week to persevere in their good work. Perseverance, he said, would build character. And character produces hope.
When you see the Carters kneeling at their work, your own heart swells. You start to imagine a world where people give of themselves in this way. You begin to believe that people can make a difference. Their determination and courage ignite hope in you, the observer. Maybe genuine hope has always traveled on these arcs of imagination and admiration that connect people. Maybe hope always emanates from the sweat of honest labor and the embrace of active love.
A former president in his mid-80s is entitled to do whatever he wishes with his time. So it wrinkled my brow to see President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, on their knees affixing boards to a porch in the Upper Ninth Ward this week.
I decided, watching them work, that this presidential couple really believe they are changing the world with these small acts of kindness. Looking around, I saw many of the hundreds of volunteers who graced our city this week pausing in their own work to observe this famous man and woman accomplishing their humble service. These young faces, eyes shining, are portraits and symbols of faith and hope. They come to our city with the express purpose of lifting our spirits, holding up our arms, and joining us in the grunt work that moves our community forward.
Former presidents in their 80s seem empowered to say whatever they wish, as President Carter has demonstrated over high-level objections. They also appear empowered to do whatever they wish. And driving nails to build decent and safe houses for working people is just what this president wants to do.
He and Rosalyn are all smiles as they greet people, grab their tools, and hit the deck with gusto. They request routinely that admirers not interrupt their construction time so that they can get something done.
Harry Connick, Jr., and Ellis Marsalis dropped by to greet the volunteers and visit with the Carters. I thanked Harry for giving high visibility to our work of rebuilding, but he turned that thank you right back on me. The Carters did the same, and instructed me to pass on their gratitude to my congregation.
Sometimes, around some people, it is hard to get a thank you in edgewise. I suspect that people who are busy trying to change their world are also very grateful as a matter of disposition.
Our environment here in New Orleans is being changed one hammer stroke at a time. For us, the progress is visible and palpable. It may be hard to extrapolate our progress to the rest of the world, but all the same principles apply whether we are looking at changing a city or changing a world. The accumulated effect of millions of tiny hammer strokes is the rebuilding of a devastated region. If multiplied throughout the world, the goal of eradicating poverty housing seems truly within reach.
Of course, the only people who hope for and expect such a transformation in our city or our world are the people swinging hammers. Hope springs eternal only when we are busy building what we hope for. If despair or resignation benched us, our inactivity reinforces the despair and quells the hope.
Billy Puckett, construction manager for the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, challenged a thousand volunteers one morning this week to persevere in their good work. Perseverance, he said, would build character. And character produces hope.
When you see the Carters kneeling at their work, your own heart swells. You start to imagine a world where people give of themselves in this way. You begin to believe that people can make a difference. Their determination and courage ignite hope in you, the observer. Maybe genuine hope has always traveled on these arcs of imagination and admiration that connect people. Maybe hope always emanates from the sweat of honest labor and the embrace of active love.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Unique and complicated
Unique, interesting, and charming—these are great descriptors for the Crescent City.
But it is also tough duty these days to live here, and we do ourselves no favors by insisting otherwise.
I just spoke to a former resident who relocated and is enjoying the experience of "normal"—a landscape without Katrina litter.
Every time I drive through New Orleans East, particularly at Read Boulevard, I fight a surge of despair. The vacancy—empty frames and windswept lots and abandoned medical facilities and sparse population—thunders with emotional and physical challenges for our people.
And it wears on us all whether we are directly involved in rebuilding or whether we are trying to do life without reference to the greatest devastation of our times.
Encouragement flows, as it always does, through healthy relationships of mutual support. Family and friendship circles sustain us. Tempting as it may be when we are weary, when we are conserving our energies, we should not withdraw from the oasis of loving connections. Now we need our dinner parties and holiday gatherings and summer vacations and backyard barbeques more than ever before.
Do not waste energy blaming those who have relocated. Instead, view the rebuilding of New Orleans as a great relay with many runners. Some carry the baton for short distances. Others invest for the long haul. Every assignment in this setting is unique to the individual gifts and temperament. We are not "abandoned" when friends leave. That is simply one stop on the road to getting healthy when we are grieving.
And we are grieving, make no mistake, each in his own way. The losses continue to weigh heavy upon us and our community. At some point we must accept the realities of our new way of life, create and sustain the new relationships that are required, and settle into a pace that we can manage for the years to come. Anger, resentment, and jealousy work against our greatest good and must be rejected in favor of contentment (not resignation), peace (not inactivity), and joy in the journey.
Can people be healthy and happy in the wake of great devastation? Of course they can. Right now in New Orleans, great friendships are flourishing, marriages are growing stronger, and families are learning to lean on each other as never before.
Great teams are being built in all sectors of our economy and community. These dynamic new connections are already lifting us beyond our pre-Katrina environment in many instances. The chaos--the sloshed and sloppy soup of flooded New Orleans—together with the influx of great resources has produced here the richest seedbed in the world for new ideas, art, poetry, social structures, business relationships, and break-through alliances.
Tomorrow’s amazing advances are germinating now in our city’s slippery scramble toward its emerging order.
Some will pass up this chance of a lifetime. Some will contribute significantly from a distance or in short tenure. Others, sensing the moment laden with potential, will dive into this history-making mix and discover the wave that carries them to their greatest accomplishments.
Honestly, not everyone is cut out for post-Katrina New Orleans. But for those who want to slip "the surly bonds of earth and dance the skies on laughter-silvered wings," for pioneer stock and cliff-dwellers, this flattened expanse of swamp by the river is the Promised Land of opportunity.
This is where we are, where we live—this bustling nexus of hope and despair, glitter and litter, yearning and possibility. Hear the saxophone on the breeze, a mournful and beautiful improvisation, a brand new tune for our times.
But it is also tough duty these days to live here, and we do ourselves no favors by insisting otherwise.
I just spoke to a former resident who relocated and is enjoying the experience of "normal"—a landscape without Katrina litter.
Every time I drive through New Orleans East, particularly at Read Boulevard, I fight a surge of despair. The vacancy—empty frames and windswept lots and abandoned medical facilities and sparse population—thunders with emotional and physical challenges for our people.
And it wears on us all whether we are directly involved in rebuilding or whether we are trying to do life without reference to the greatest devastation of our times.
Encouragement flows, as it always does, through healthy relationships of mutual support. Family and friendship circles sustain us. Tempting as it may be when we are weary, when we are conserving our energies, we should not withdraw from the oasis of loving connections. Now we need our dinner parties and holiday gatherings and summer vacations and backyard barbeques more than ever before.
Do not waste energy blaming those who have relocated. Instead, view the rebuilding of New Orleans as a great relay with many runners. Some carry the baton for short distances. Others invest for the long haul. Every assignment in this setting is unique to the individual gifts and temperament. We are not "abandoned" when friends leave. That is simply one stop on the road to getting healthy when we are grieving.
And we are grieving, make no mistake, each in his own way. The losses continue to weigh heavy upon us and our community. At some point we must accept the realities of our new way of life, create and sustain the new relationships that are required, and settle into a pace that we can manage for the years to come. Anger, resentment, and jealousy work against our greatest good and must be rejected in favor of contentment (not resignation), peace (not inactivity), and joy in the journey.
Can people be healthy and happy in the wake of great devastation? Of course they can. Right now in New Orleans, great friendships are flourishing, marriages are growing stronger, and families are learning to lean on each other as never before.
Great teams are being built in all sectors of our economy and community. These dynamic new connections are already lifting us beyond our pre-Katrina environment in many instances. The chaos--the sloshed and sloppy soup of flooded New Orleans—together with the influx of great resources has produced here the richest seedbed in the world for new ideas, art, poetry, social structures, business relationships, and break-through alliances.
Tomorrow’s amazing advances are germinating now in our city’s slippery scramble toward its emerging order.
Some will pass up this chance of a lifetime. Some will contribute significantly from a distance or in short tenure. Others, sensing the moment laden with potential, will dive into this history-making mix and discover the wave that carries them to their greatest accomplishments.
Honestly, not everyone is cut out for post-Katrina New Orleans. But for those who want to slip "the surly bonds of earth and dance the skies on laughter-silvered wings," for pioneer stock and cliff-dwellers, this flattened expanse of swamp by the river is the Promised Land of opportunity.
This is where we are, where we live—this bustling nexus of hope and despair, glitter and litter, yearning and possibility. Hear the saxophone on the breeze, a mournful and beautiful improvisation, a brand new tune for our times.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Esther
Esther is a woman of courage and virtue, a fitting place to be as we think of Mother’s Day. She is in a very difficult position. Her life is filled with limitations. She is young and inexperienced, and the future of her family and her nation is in her hands. Her adoptive father, trying to encourage her and help her do the right thing, says to her, And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14).
Everyone should consider these words of Mordecai to Esther. We do not select our time, and much about our place is also assigned to us.
You are at this moment blinking on God’s GPS screen. He knows right where you are. Is it possible that you, too, have come to this exact time and position to accomplish the purposes of God?
No matter how alone you feel--or how afraid--you are in the presence of your memories, your loyalties, and your enemies. Always. Your memories chronicle the story of your life. Your loyalties constitute the pledges and promises that you have made and that have been made to you. Your enemies remain present because you are not yet delivered from the presence of the world, the flesh, or the devil. One day you will be, but not yet.
Make your choices knowing that God alone controls the compass and the timepiece.
Everyone should consider these words of Mordecai to Esther. We do not select our time, and much about our place is also assigned to us.
You are at this moment blinking on God’s GPS screen. He knows right where you are. Is it possible that you, too, have come to this exact time and position to accomplish the purposes of God?
No matter how alone you feel--or how afraid--you are in the presence of your memories, your loyalties, and your enemies. Always. Your memories chronicle the story of your life. Your loyalties constitute the pledges and promises that you have made and that have been made to you. Your enemies remain present because you are not yet delivered from the presence of the world, the flesh, or the devil. One day you will be, but not yet.
Make your choices knowing that God alone controls the compass and the timepiece.
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