You thought I was kidding when I threatened not to stay away for long in my last post, didn't you? See, that's the beauty of surprise and unpredictability (I possess neither quality -- I'm being a poser). Just when you let your guard down, Mr. Short Attention Span decides to get all clever. I know...the nerve of some people.
Any-hoo...my thoughts at this late (early) hour are fairly scattered but I was thinking about a couple of things sitting here watching TV.
First, Numbers. That's the TV show. Actually it's spelled Num3ers -- get it? Val and I absolutely love this show. I'm so much of a geek that I can't even watch TV just to be entertained anymore...I want it to be academic. For those of you who don't know the premise, it's essentially about FBI cases that are solved with the help of a math genius: Professor Charlie Eppes. Charlie is pretty much my TV hero right now when it comes to the "brains" category. For the more "braun" side of me, Jack Bauer of 24 fame pretty much has it...and he also has brains so that helps his cause.
Second, church. I've been teaching a class on Revelation in our Wednesday night adult class right now and it has been going pretty well. Mind you I'm not teaching anything new that hasn't been taught before...but I am taking a lot more time to do it. Revelation is by far one of the most mis-interpreted books in the Bible. Why everyone wants it to predict the end of the world is beyond me...and while there's bits and pieces of that there, it's not in near the quantity everyone thinks. And I have the study notes to show these conclusions. I'm hoping to start posting the class notes to our church website (www.rockbridgechurchofchrist.org) soon so if you interested surf on over to our virtual home and check it out within the next few weeks.
Along that same vein of thought, I'm looking to start a Sunday sermon series on the Biblical pattern for church growth. I don't really care for the phrase "growing churches" because it sounds like we are the ones who make them grow...but truly it's God. We do, however, plant the seeds so that there's something there to grow in the first place...so while we don't own the farm, we certainly do till the ground and throw out the seed as much and as often as we can. This series will be starting soon and I'm hoping to be able to post it to the website as soon as it gets underway.
Final thought for the night...and then it's off to bed for me. Friendship. For some time now I've struggled with this one. I don't know if it's laziness or busyness on my part, but I can honestly say that I've struggled to maintain a strong, close friendship with anyone for sometime now. That's not to say I don't have friends. That's not to say I'm not social and love to meet and be with people. But I think about those friendships that never, ever die. Not matter what you do (or don't do) to them. I'm glad to say I have some of those...but I don't feel I've cultivated any new ones lately...nor have a done a good job nurturing the old ones. I can count on both of my hands people that I consider some of my best friends...but the problem is that I haven't talked to these people -- some of them -- in 7 or 8 years. And I know it's me. I know that I have not reached out like I want to or need to in order to keep these friendships alive. I've let them go. I allowed other things to get in the way -- work, hobbies, self-centered interests that detract from the important things of life (you know, God, family, friends). And I'm seeing it permeate its way into these facets of my life and I'm just not happy about it at all! And so, I decided this past week to start making amends. And it began. God help me put away my stupidity and learn what it means to nurture relationships again...cause if I'm not careful, it won't end here. And to any of my lifelong, good, decent, kind-hearted, and patient friends -- I apologize for my level of stupidity and hope to make it up to you...and very, very soon.
This isn't goodbye...it's only goodnight!
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