The following is an excerpt from my imaginary book One Thousand and One Things They Don’t Teach at Preacher School.

There was a beautiful regal red cardinal sitting on the foyer windowsill. I was struck by his beauty, and at first I thought he was not real. He was, after all, perched on the windowsill in the church foyer just above one of the red couches. I walked over to him. He turned away and decided to fly out toward the trees. He did not understand the concept of plate glass windows. He was inside the church, not outside.

I have some experience handling birds in church. One weekday morning in the mid-1970’s I was heading up the north stairs to the third floor when I surprised three urban pigeons that startled me. An upstairs window had been left open. Pigeons are not clean birds. Various birds, even a bat or two, have managed to find their way into the building over the years.* I found a large apron, dampened it, and captured the birds one by one. A damp cloth thrown over them works every time. The cloth needs to be large enough to cover the bird completely. The dampness depends on the weight and size of the bird. The weighted cloth, along with the darkness of the material, disorients the bird sufficiently for you to scoop it up and whisk it outside, without getting bit or clawed or contacting any uncleanliness. The rules are simple: 1) close the doors to the sanctuary to keep the birds out of the biggest room in the building; 2) open the main doors to let them out if they would rather not wear the damp cloth; and 3) remember, they are more confused or panicked than you are.

I followed the rules for capturing the cardinal, less the cloth. After repeatedly banging into the window trying to get out, he was dazed and confused. I scooped him into my gloved hands (see # 35 – Items to Always Have in Your Desk Drawer), escorted him out by the trees, and released him. He never looked back. The flash of red against the clear blue sky was spectacular. Birds belong outside. People belong in church. 

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Go to church this week. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

*No creatures were harmed in these stories.

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The university graduation scene this year seems to be in total disarray. The young people graduating from college are from the high school class of 2020, who had their graduating events and activities canceled by Covid. This year many private and public university graduations were disrupted or canceled by campus protests and administrative indecision. There have also been some notable and controversial graduation speeches. 

I have advocated for many years that no one should give a graduation speech unless they have personally sat through fifty commencement addresses by someone else. I say this on behalf of all students and their families. A corollary to this would be: a kindergarten graduation does not need a commencement speaker. Pop quiz: who was your high school, tech school, collegiate, or graduate school graduation speaker? Bonus question: What was the point of the address?

Last year I attended three graduation ceremonies. All three speakers were deeply experienced in the art of the graduation address: America’s teacher of the year, a long-termed local public official, and an Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice. They each were excellent, relatable, and moved rapidly to the point of their address.

My mother saved highlights from the lives of her children and grandchildren in large accordion folders. In the one marked for me she had saved my college graduation program as well as a newspaper article about the speaker. This is the only reason I now know that my college graduation speaker was a U.S. Representative and Baptist layman, John H. Buchanan. He was a last-minute substitute for Joseph Blatchford, Director of the Peace Corp, who had taken ill. Rep. Buchanan’s points were: “Follow the truth wherever it may lead you…change what is unjust or unworthy. Change does not mean ‘to destroy.’ Be a realist…and do something about the problem…but don’t be a problem yourself.”  Too many points for any graduation where everyone is seated on a football field, but on target for a meaningful life. I always find myself, on these occasions, thinking about our ultimate graduation. The Speaker will be our Lord, so I take the advice of Paul to Timothy to heart: Study (God’s Word) to show yourself approved unto God. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Live your best life. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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I am always asking myself, ‘What time is it?’ That question ranks right up there with my other self-talk question, ‘What am I going to eat next?’ I wore a wristwatch for many years, except for that brief period during the post-hippie era when three-piece suits and pocket watches were all the rage. I was hard on my wristwatches. They broke or they cracked or clouded up with condensation. I resorted to having a Sunday or special occasion watch, and an everyday one. I have discovered that it is not really about the watch; it is the tyranny of the clock I am wrestling with.

​During my college days I served as song leader with Evangelist Bob Posey. We held revivals in small towns and in rural churches, mostly in Alabama. It is amazing how God puts unlikely experiences in our lives to help equip us for future service. We discovered one church that was dominated by the tyranny of time. It was an old country church near Phenix City, Alabama. (That is the correct spelling of Phenix, founded in 1830 as Girard, but re-named in the 1880’s after the local mill.) To an outsider it can be the most confusing place in America. The town proper is in both Lee and Russell Counties, Alabama, and intersects into Muscogee County, Georgia. Therein lies the time problem. Alabama is in the Central Time Zone; Georgia is Eastern Time. Crossing the street can put a person across the invisible time boundary. Phenix City tends to be on Eastern Time even though it is in Alabama. But many hardcore time purists stay on Central Time for the principle of it. When we announced that revival services started at 7:30 p.m. we had to clarify that meant 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Starting things on the half-hour was sort of a compromise in order to reach the community for Christ.

​I no longer wear a watch since I can always find the time on my cell phone. The drumbeat of time marches onward. Ephesians 5:15-16 teaches us to redeem the time, seize the opportunity, for the days are evil. ‘Hear my voice,’ says the Lord, ‘Now is the day of salvation.’ (see 2 Corinthians 6:2)

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Discern the time. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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Today I am picking up the story of our churches from last week. I am also re-sharing some from my message during last Sunday’s Combined Worship Service. In 2017, GracePoint Church merged with us becoming Braden Park Baptist Church. At that time we also developed a working plan, that in God’s timing, Monte Los Olivos would begin to take on more of the expenses of the facilities, with a goal to be equal partners in ministry, but with their being responsible for the buildings and grounds, which would be a reversing of our current operational system. This also included recognition of The People’s Pantry Ministry as a vital part of our ministries together.

It appears that God is opening the way for us to begin implementing that plan from 2017. A group of us met to discuss our first steps. Present were Francisco Gaona, Rodrigo Urquiza, David Dryer, Donelle Enos, Armondo Urquiza, and both pastors. We outlined a few next steps like verifying that both churches’legal documents are current and in order.

We set a goal for July 1 to begin to phase-in a new bill-sharing plan to see how things would work. We are checking with our utility companies and major vendors to see their preferred ways of receiving payment from of our churches together. When things are clarified, both of our churches will need to review drafts of an Operational Agreement as an official starting point. By intention there are three things that we are not doing:

1) We are not merging churches.

2) We are not combining budgets.

3) We are not changing either, or both, of our church names.

We are working alongside each other to promote our common ministries and mission efforts. We are working to protect our churches from “wolves” who might seek to take over or destroy our churches, especially during a time when pastorsmay change. There needs to be much preparation work behind the scenes to faithfully follow God to use both churches to proclaim a greater witness to our community, together in service

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Keep telling the story. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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At the beginning of the year 2000, after the Y2K fears had subsided, our church was asked to consider meeting with Rev. Victor Orta, a pastor in our association of churches and leader of the local Baptist Hispanic network. He had a few families that were interested in starting their own church in our neighborhood. Rev. Orta knew that we had had modest Hispanic Bible classes during the 1980’s and early 1990’s. We met a few times for careful discussions and developed a plan for going forward together. With full congregational approval, we invited this group of about 25 or 30 people to begin meeting with us starting on Palm Sunday that spring. They organized themselves as Departmento Salem, with Ariel Benetiz as their pastor/leader.  

Our people volunteered to be certified to teach English as a Second Language and held weekly sessions for about 3 years. We were able to provide some workshops where experts taught the basics of church operations, age-graded classes, and the role of deacons. We also provided how-to sessions on immigration matters, citizenship, tax requirements and keeping documents current. The children, as they felt more comfortable, joined in our Sunday School classes and Vacation Bible Schools. We led in the ordination of Pastor Benetiz and the first set of deacons including their current pastor, Francisco Gaona, who is also an original member. Soon their attendance outgrew their department room. They gathered for worship in our Fellowship Hall during the 11:00 hour. By 2009 they were consistently overflowing their space and began dreaming of forming their own congregation and finding their own church facilities. They secured an older church at Pine and Harvard, debt free from the start. They fully incorporated in 2010 as Iglesia Bautista Monte Los Olivos (Mt. Olive Baptist Church).

By 2013 the Monte Los Olivos congregation had outgrown their church building. In the meantime, we had invited GracePoint Church in 2012, to have a similar relationship with us in our facilities. By 2013, Braden Park and GracePoint began holding all our services and activities together. By early 2014 our churches invited Monte Los Olivos Church to share our facilities once again. Three separate congregations approved a new arrangement where we would start our worship Sundays at 10:00 a.m. with Monte Los Olivos beginning at 11:15. Here we are, ten years later, stronger than ever. 

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Praise the Lord for growth and unity. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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