Sacred Cows

The guys at Shrink the Church have put together a great look at the so-called 'Sacred Cow' List of the Church in America:

The Ultimate Church 'Sacred Cow' List | SHRINK the church

So..... What do you think: AMEN or MOO???

Grateful to Know.... YOU?

It is one thing to be grateful for the people in your life.  It is in an entirely different thing to have given those same people cause to be grateful for you...

I have amazing people surrounding me. Better people than I deserve.  It is easy for me to say that I am grateful for them.  However, have I given them legitimate reasons to be grateful for me?  Have I brought anything to the table of their lives? Or am I always there to take and never to give?

Here are some introspective questions about relationships to ponder in the spirit of thanksgiving:

• Do I ever bring the same value to my friends' lives, that they bring to my life?
• The special people around me are always there to listen to my dreams/concerns, but do I ever listen to them?
• Do I ever give to my loved ones or am I always on the receiving end?  

In a relationship there must giving and receiving on behalf of both parties.  Give a little, get a little. If we are truly grateful for the relationships God has placed in our lives, then we must make a conscious effort to not just be served, but to serve.

So, here's the moral of this little post:  It is easy to say you are grateful for the people around you, but are you grateful enough to live in such a way that your loved ones have reason to be just as grateful that you are in their lives?

Have you given your friends cause to be just as blessed to know you, as you are to know them???

Alva Wilson: Mentor. Maverick. Man of God...

Alva Wilson was a rare gem, a God-ordained spiritual maverick who permeated love and was consistently an encourager of the discouraged.  This week, Alva entered the Gates of Heaven and while I celebrate his arrival there, I mourn his departure from here.

With Alva's entry into the eternal Throne Room of Christ, I lost a bishop of my ministry whom was not only an irreplaceable father to me in the spirit, but also a mentor whose nuggets of wisdom I will continue to mine for a lifetime.

I'm not sure of how I will handle the moment when I pick up the phone, dial his number, and suddenly remember he is no longer available to answer my many questions, but that occurrence will undoubtedly serve to be a shaking experience.

I am grateful for the time Alva took to invest in me. From lunch appointments scheduled weeks in advance to spontaneous phone calls, he was always available to provide me with counsel.  Many times I sat in the office of his prayer center (The Fountain; Owensboro, KY) and viewed him leaned back in his chair, the skyline of architecturally-crowned old buildings visible through the large rectangular windows behind him.  This image of a relaxed Alva, sharing stories of his adventures in a by-gone era, often for the purpose of promoting the pursuit of a new anointing for a new day, and even more often to testify of grace overcoming legalism, never failed to remind me of my mental picture of the Apostle Paul. The New Testament having long ago provoked in me a vision of Paul finishing the course of his life while being situated among the columns of Rome.  Perhaps, much like Alva, in a musty, yet picturesque building, welcoming young men to glean from an aging patriarch of the Church.

Alva accomplished much for God.  Passing from Earth to Heaven at the age of 77, he had over 60 years of ministry to his credit and perhaps his greatest legacy will be his family tree, both spiritually and paternally. Through just his son, Billy, and grandson, Ashley, Alva's mantle will continue to not only reach thousands, but millions.

I am grateful that such an incredible elder statesman of the Faith granted a farm boy from Creelsboro, KY the privilege of sonship.  My seven years of tutelage under his mentoring have shaped me in a specific way that only Alva could provoke and I simply hope that now I can hold that shape as I do my best to imitate a man whose most famous quote was, "I'm from the OLD SCHOOL, but thank God I graduated..."

May I never fail to follow in Alva's legacy as I ever adapt to the will of an exceedingly great, ever-increasingly glorious God...