Category: Biography

As much as I like to think that “it is all about me” I know that it really is not all about me. But if it was all about me then today would be my 30th anniversary of becoming a dad. Incidentally, it is also my daughter’s 30th birthday. I find it very hard to believe that my baby girl could possibly be 30. I’m quite sure that she does as well – but that is beside the point because today is about me. As such, I’d like to take a trip down memory lane and highlight a few remembrances through the years that I have of Christy and me. For example…

I remember the day she was born and how excited I was to discover that epidurals made my job in the delivery room somewhat obsolete. And then the sheer joy of seeing that miracle enter the world. She is still a miraculous young woman in so many ways.

I remember when she was perhaps 1 year old tossing her high up into air – and always catching her, much to the pleasure of her mom.

I remember when she accidentally got dropped on her head as an infant and our race to the hospital as she was drifting in and out of consciousness.

I remember her crying as she prepared to be spanked and pleading that we not spank her on “her cute little hiney.”

I remember running into her room to make sure she was OK when a tornado tore through our neighborhood in Raleigh.

I remember the 3 years that we spent involved together in Indian Guides – Little Rainbow and Swift Buffalo.

I remember when she learned her first cuss word – imagine my shock when I heard the word “stupid” come out of her innocent little mouth.

I remember the concerts she had with her friend Catherine when they formed their girl group “C & C Totally”.

I remember the day that she gave her heart to the Lord, trusting in Jesus for her salvation.

I remember the day that I had the honor of baptizing her.

I remember the day that she turned 13 and giving her a necklace that she could one day give to her future husband as a token of her sexual purity.

I remember the fun times that we shared when I was her Youth Pastor.

I remember teaching her to ski at Snowshoe Mtn and how quickly she picked it up.

I remember what a great big sister she was to her brothers and the example she set for them.

I remember our first mission trip together and how hard she worked at serving other people.

I remember teaching her to drive and how easy it was to watch her drive away by herself the first time because I knew she would make smart choices.

I remember the first date she ever had – with me, before she ever went out with a yucky boy.

I remember all the years that she starred in the Durham Christmas Pageant as an angel outside the tomb of the resurrected Jesus.

I remember the day we took her to college at Appalachian State University and knowing that she was going to be a great student and have a great 4 years there.

I remember the day she got engaged – at a fairy tale setting at a castle in Slovakia along the Danube River which I got to watch and videotape as it happened.

I remember the day she got married – as I walked her down the aisle, gave her away to a yucky boy (who is really great husband) and then turned around and officiated the ceremony.

I remember lying in a bed beside her in a hospital in India after a scooter accident that we were involved in.

And I remember that day that my daughter became a mom – when I became not only a dad but also a Pop Pop.

Lots of memories. And a lot that I did not even mention. And now that I think about it, this day really is not about me. It is about my wonderful and beautiful daughter Christy who has made my heart glad every day that she has been alive. She has brought incredible joy into our lives and to so many others as well and has been a tangible expression of God’s grace to us all these years. Happy birthday darling daughter!

(If you would like to see Christy’s reflections on her 30th birthday you can click HERE.)

Many of you who are Ridgecrest people have already seen these videos. I’m including them in a blog post as a way of archiving them for my personal memories bank.

But here is a little history to go along with them. Not long after I came to Ridgecrest (21+ years ago) we began putting on a church-wide Valentine’s Banquet. It included a good meal, some table talk, some entertainment, some games, and some giveaways. At some point, perhaps 15 years ago, our staff took on the task of providing the entertainment. Our thought was that it would be good for our people to see that we had a fun side as well as a spiritual side. 15 years later The Staff Infection, as we were dubbed, is still going strong. There have been some very memorable performances. But I might also add that there have been some very forgettable ones as well. Here is a short compilation video of some of the ones that we have done over the years – put together by our Worship Pastor, Al Huffman.

Last night we had a blast doing this year’s entertainment. Here is some of the backstory. We were brainstorming a few weeks ago about what to do and threw out the idea of doing something with the movie Frozen since it has been so huge this year. Al started googling some things and came upon another group calling themselves The Staff Infection who had done some choreography to the song “Let It Go.” They are a bunch of Cru (Campus Crusade) staff guys who were performing at a “Night of Elegance.” Anyway, most preachers will tell you that they have never had an original idea in their life and this is especially true for us. We put our own spin on what we saw them doing and this is what we came up with. Watch and enjoy. We sure did.

 

So last night was a historic night  – especially if you are a long time Mets fan.

I adopted the Mets as my team back in 1967 when they were perennial cellar dwellers. I went to a ball game in Atlanta to see the Braves vs the Mets and came away a fan for life. Baseball was my sport. I played it whenever I could. I watched it whenever I could. Like many kids back in those days I knew champions and statistics of players who had died long before I was ever born. I WAS the kid on The Sandlot.

I struggled with the Mets through ’67 and ’68 and for a good part of ’69. And then the dog days of summer came along. The Mets were 9+ games out of first behind the Cubs  on August 14 and they got hot.  (This was the year of the infamous black cat at Wrigley Field during a game with the Mets). They roared to first place in their division, went on to sweep the Braves in the first ever League championship playoffs and then after losing game 1 of the World Series they won the next 4 to beat the powerful Baltimore Orioles (Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell, Jim Palmer, Dave McNally…)

Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Nolan Ryan, Ron Swoboda, Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee, Bud Harrelson, Tug McGraw, Jerry Grote, Art Shamsky, Donn Clendenon, Al Weis. managed by Gil Hodges. Heroes. They were dubbed The Amazing Mets. It was a magical year. We saw a man walk on the moon in July and we saw a team go from next to last place to first place (in 1968 they finished 24 games in back of the St Louis Cardinals) to win a World Series.

The last 40 years have been interesting. 3 more World Series appearances: Losing to the Oakland A’s in ’73. Winning in miracle fashion against the BoSox in ’86. Losing to the Yankees in 2000. Several heart breaking years when they had things wrapped up and then just folded down the stretch. But through it all – always a fan.

Back to last night. Historic. The Mets organization started back in 1962. That makes 50 years. And NEVER in all 8,019 games (prior to last night) had anyone thrown a no-hitter. A couple of guys had come close. A bunch of guys threw them for other teams after leaving the Mets (most notably would be Nolan Ryan) but never for the Mets.

And last night it finally happened. Johan Santana. You can read about it HERE if you like. So I figured today was as good a day as any to chronicle a bit of my love affair with the Amazin’s. Here is a picture of some my Mets memorabilia. I brought it out just to relive my childhood, to bask in the celebration of a no-hitter, and to get ready for a playoff run this year. The boys are playing good ball. We’ll see if it lasts. Always a fan!

I love to watch American Idol. There, I said it. And I’ve published it so I am officially out of the closet. But my reasons for loving it may surprise you.

I love it for the entertainment value – I think it is a very well produced show. And this year, oh my goodness, they have an incredibly amazing stage that is worth the watch in and of itself. I get very emotionally involved with the performers – especially at this time of the year with only about 6 weeks left. I feel like I’ve gotten to know the contestants. And when one of them gets booted off the show I feel like I’ve lost a friend. This will surprise you if you know me at all – I cry at the end of every show. Not like weep, but I get real teary and can’t talk for a few minutes because someone just lost a part of their dream.

Like this week for instance. Colton Dixon got the boot. I liked Colton. He was not my personal favorite but I really liked him. And he is a strong believer. For his goodbye encore he got down on his knees and sang a worship song and then later in an interview talked about wanting to honor God with his music. He was very humble when he heard he was going home and apologized to his fans for his performance on Wednesday night. He was referring to the Lady Gaga song “Bad Romance” that he did which he admitted was VERY out of character for him. I was thinking the same thing as he was performing it. So I was sorry to see him leave – and I cried a bit.

If you watch the show then these names will be familiar to you: Jessica, Philip, and Joshua. All 3 of them are incredibly gifted. The other 3 are also really really good, but not in the same way as these 3 – for me at least. I realize we will perhaps differ on this as we all have our own reasons for liking someone. But I can’t wait each week for the 3 of them to sing. As J-Lo often says, they give me goosies.

But I digress. There is another reason why I love Idol. I love it because it teaches me things about being a better preacher, teacher, and communicator. 3 things in fact that I am reminded of each week by the judges.( A quick word about the judges from my perspective. I think Randy and Jennifer do a great job of giving excellent feedback to the singers and helping them to become better. Steven Tyler is useless – he opens his mouth every week but never says anything. Just my thoughts – don’t be a hater)

The judges are constantly telling the contestants these 3 things:

1) Pick the right song – for me, translated, this means that the message you convey is very important. As a communicator I need to make sure that I do a great job of teaching the Bible. Not teaching what I think or what others think but what God thinks. It is God’s Word that is eternal and it is God’s Word that changes lives so I need to teach God’s Word. I need to stay true to Scripture – God’s Word is always the “right song.”

2) Know who you are as an artist – At this point in the competition the judges expect the idols to have this figured out. For me as a communicator, I need to be true to who I am. I am not a Billy Graham or a David Platt or a John Piper. I know need to know who I am and let my personality be a vehicle through which God’s Word is conveyed. I cannot try to be somebody that I am not as it will come across as ingenuous.

3) Connect emotionally with the audience – I hear this every week on Idol. And I admit, the songs that make me go WOW are the ones that not only are sung well but are sung with passion and conviction and feeling – all of which you can see written all over their faces. As a preacher/teacher I need to feel what I teach. Which is hard for me because a) I am a guy and b) I have learned not to express my emotions over the years. But I also recognize that the messages that I best remember are the ones that I felt as they were preached – not just heard as they were preached.

So there you have it. That’s why I love American Idol and what it has taught me about preaching. The next time that I preach in church will be at about the end of the Idol season. I will probably be so teary over my favorite losing (or winning) that I will be an emotional mess. But hopefully, any emotion that I convey in the message will be because I feel passionately what I am preaching and can deliver God’s Word in a way that gives Spirit inspired goosies that result in life changing obedience.

I’m Just Sayin!