Okay, I can’t seem to bother to write anything past 140 characters. That being the case, I’m probably not going to post much, if any, here anymore.  But I do like twitter! If I “tweet” enough, and you add all of them up, they equal a blog post every other week or so. So, follow me at www.twitter.com/rockytopphil.  So long from here for now!

Many of my friends and younger peers are at a conference called Catalyst ‘08 in Atlanta. It is primarily for a younger generation of ministers, church planters, and their “groupies.”  Everyone is jazzed about so many of the “celebrities.” One guy getting rave reviews is Seth Godin. I’ve never heard of him. So, I checked out his blog (all “cool” rock star type people have a blog). I did find this post interesting and thought I would refer you to it. I cannot vouch for him or any of the rest of his blog but click here to check out his thoughts on “whether effort is a myth.”

While I am referring you, check out this blog post by someone I have heard of (and met) and read ocassionally. This post is on “parenting by grace.” Click here. Other posts by him are excellent, too!

I’m not very consistent (okay, I’m not consistent at all) with this blog thing.  I’m much better with twitter (see my tweats on the left).  It seems it easier to think, write, and post in two-sentence blasts.  Well, for me anyway. 

So, a random thought just crossed my mind.  Ever have the penetrating question that haunts you til you are satisfied with an answer?  If I can share one of mine (among many if I focus and think about them) was this question posed one Sunday by our Singles’ Bible Fellowship teacher, John Ankerberg.  It may not sound earth shaking today (it was almost 24 years ago that he first challenged me) but he was ahead of his time then and perhaps now.  The question?  How will you spend 100,000 hours of your life?  That, in essence, is your working contribution while you are on this planet, give or take a few hours.  His follow-up question was, “If money was absolutely no issue, what would you do?  So… why aren’t you doing that?”  What a moment of enlightenment for a then 25 year-old unsatisfied accountant.  My search and openness toward an answer re-framed my life’s purpose and vocation.

How about it? I believe God has a ‘sweet spot’ for us that feels right when we’re in it.  Remember Eric Liddell, the Olympic runner made famous in the movie Chariots of Fire?  When asked why he ran, he replied something like this:  “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.”  Do you feel the pleasure of God in what you do and how you are spending your time? One of my friends on twitter (and fellow blogger, Ron Edmondson, in the column at the right of this post) raised another similar question recently:  ”How will the world be improved, changed or different if the vision for your life comes true?” Answering those related questions are worth your time.  While we need to enjoy the journey (and I’m still learning how), it needs to be toward the right destination.  Then the outcome(s) as well as the means will be in alignment. 

How do you find out?  “Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7, NLT).  But the key? Be willing to act on what you discover.  That is a step of faith. Give yourself permission to see your greatest desire fulfilled. Don’t take yourself out of the equation. Don’t say, “That could never happen to me. I could never _____ ” (fill in that blank).  Yes, you can (if you will)!  As John Piper says in his book title, “Don’t Waste Your Life.” As Switchfoot sings, “We were meant to live for so much more!” Let your life be a song. You still have thousands of hours.  But the clock is ticking.  Read (or re-read) Rick Warren’s, “The Purpose Driven Life.”  Search the scriptures.  Ask God for guidance. Be active while waiting.  

Thank you, Dr. Ankerberg, for challenging me with what matters! To the extent I stay true to our common King, may my life influence others as yours has, as Eric Liddell’s has, as Switchfoot’s has, as John Piper’s has, as Rick Warren’s has, as Matthew’s (and Mark, Luke, John, and Paul) has! There is only one me, one contribution that I can make. I don’t want to miss the purpose for which I was created! I don’t want you to, either!

As of today, Gustav has wreaked havoc and Ike is blasting Texas. In my networks trained volunteers are being deployed to provide physical, emotional, and spiritual relief.  My spiritual tribe is called Southern Baptists. Collectively, we are 43,000 autonomous Baptist churches who choose to cooperate for missions, education, and ministry. Disaster Relief is one of the finest efforts these followers of Christ gather to accomplish. Many individual churches train and own resources. Pooled with the state convention resources, and directed by the national convention, these volunteers and their resources are ready to provide first response assistance ranging from chainsaw relief, water purification, childcare, mud-out, rebuilding, shower/laundry, meal preparation, etc.  In fact, something like 80% of all meals served by the Red Cross and Salvation Army during times of crises are prepared by Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers.  Nearly 1 million meals have already been prepared and served for Gustav alone. Thousands of volunteers donate their time. Nearly all dollars given go straight to relief. Why do we do all this? Because it is what Americans do.  It is what Southern Baptists do. It is what Christians do.  And especially because it IS what Jesus would do. 

Two links provide an index of links to the stories, opportunities, trainings, statistics, video and written reports of current ongoing efforts. For the role Tennessee Baptist churches are playing, click here. For the overall response and overview of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, click here.  Pray for those affected by the hurricanes as well as those saints serving to bring relief. I’m proud of their love for their country, their neighbors, and their Lord.

Okay, okay…Let’s get back to this. I have two tendencies. I either over-achieve and go all out (perfectionistic) or I under-achieve. In blogging, I am underachieving. Not that I feel I have so much to add to the world’s knowledge but I do have preferences, opinions, and ideas that some may feel is worth a minute or two. So, rather than trying to perfect a story to post, I am going to attempt shorter but more frequent posts.  “Attempt” is the operative word.

Having said that, I was privileged last evening to view a pre-screening of the upcoming movie, ‘Fireproof,’ starring Kirk Cameron. From the church and creators that brought us “Facing the Giants,” this movie helps us face the challenges of marriage. It is not just a “good” movie. It is a powerful movie, a “moving” movie, if you will. It has humor, reality, hope, and help. So, I’m telling (not just suggesting) you to go see it. Take some friends. Find a sitter, double-date, and then talk about it afterwards.  If it has a great opening it will stay in theatres longer and favorably impact more marriages and lives. So, go as close to opening day as possible, September 26. For another favorable review click here. For the movie website, trailer, and resources, go to www.fireproofthemovie.com.

Its official.  The Nelsons are homeschooling (and it doesn’t suck). Our girls are in the 4^th and 7^th grades. Our son is a sophomore at a local high school.  I was the reluctant one at first but I’m becoming a believer. I always said I was not an “early adopter” to new things but I do eventually adopt and adapt. My wife, The Teacher, has both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree, though not in education. However, when she teaches, it comes from a place beyond what degrees can confer. She has the natural and spiritual gift of teaching. I, as The Principal (though not with a job description), have had the privilege of overhearing their class for the first week. If I was a skeptic before, I am a fan now. My kids are not the only ones learning.

We’re not totally new to homeschooling.  Many of our friends do and their kids are turning out fine or better. We witnessed many families home school while we lived overseas though our kids always had other more “normal” options. Ditto here where they have spent most of the past several years at our church’s accredited private school.  But we felt led as a family (with everyone in agreement) to take this more intimate and less public setting to teach our girls for at least this year.  I know that one week does not a school year make but I am sensing that it will be a year well-spent for reasons practical, personal, and spiritual.  I am not advocating others to jump on board and I am not one trying to withhold our kids from the “socialization” process (though I’m becoming a skeptic of that argument). I just know it is right for us at this time and we are blessed to have the freedom to choose this course of education.  And with textbooks like “Math Doesn’t Suck,” it seems to be fun as well as educational! Could English be as well? We may have to work on our vocabulary right after math.

Curious or considering? Check out www.homeschool.com, or, The Ten Most Important Things You Need to Know (here).

I am, as is evident (I hope) to those who know me, a follower of Christ. My “tribe” is of Southern Baptist identity, and I in fact work for one of the denominational agencies of the Convention. I love a good debate and its been said that where two or three Baptists are gathered you have 4 or 5 opinions! Southern Baptists are continuing to explore the distinctives that define them and the parameters that unite them. Diversity is alive and well in our Convention. I pray, too, that a unity of the Spirit will continue to characterize our debates and perspectives. My good friend Michael Hamm reminded me at lunch last Sunday (upon finding out that I now blog) that there are two kinds of bloggers: thinkers and linkers.  True to my first blog, part of what I will do is to link to those whose opinions are probably worth our consideration. So, if you are the least bit interested in SBC life (politics, theology, mission, the future of our convention, etc.), you can get a snapshot of the variety of debate and discussion from the minority of those who blog on a summarized post by Ed Stetzer by clicking here. You’ll find links to bloggers and their posts which will encourage you, frustrate you, inspire you, surprise you, perhaps anger you, educate you, and challenge you. However, if this does not interest you in the least, you’re better off grilling out and making home made ice cream! Life is too short to miss too much by staring at a computer screen. Happy reading or eating!

I’m adjusting to a new job and all the new experiences it brings. I get to travel in our country’s Midwest and last week was my first official trip there. My first, and unanswered question is, why is Ohio the “mid” west? Still seems that ought to be somewhere just west of the Mississippi River, like Kansas or Nebraska. 

So, off to Ohio I go, via western Kentucky for a meeting. I like to venture into Central Standard Time but in this case it simply made me an hour later looking for a hotel in the Cincinnati area later that night. But I like driving. And seeing places off the beaten path always pleasantly surprise me.  For a change of tunes, the Allman Brothers and the Marshall Tucker Band provided a bit of background music to the back roads (and I drove near the hometown birthplace of Bill Monroe). Who’s Bill? He’s in both the Country Music Hall of Fame AND the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Click here.

Some observations about this trip: 

The Waffle House is still a great diner. If you sit in the right seat, you can hear virtually every conversation going on in the place. In addition to good waffles and the best sausage, you get to participate “virtually” (or vicariously) in the lives of a variety of regular people. It is a bit less sophisticated version of Cheers (and I’m not sure what all that implies). 

If there ever is a Y2K or similar catastrophe, I’m moving to Ohio. They grow enough corn and soy beans to feed far more than their state. I haven’t seen so much edible green growth mile after mile since my last drive through central Thailand, the rice bowl of the world. 

My work puts me face-to-face with fellow followers of Jesus we call “pastors” (a term related to “shepherds”, which makes Christians “sheep”). One radio commentator remarked that no school has sheep as a mascot (“Watch out, the mighty Main Street High School Sheep will wool you to death”). But we all are looking for someone to follow. Elections have a way of forcing us to choose one person to follow, though we all eventually end up disappointed with the elected choice to one degree or another since no one is perfect. After all, there was only one Messiah. So, pastors point the way to One worth following. My role is to help them shepherd others to follow Him to the ends of the earth. Following Jesus wherever He leads, denying self, and serving others are how they help us discover that in dying to self we truly live, in surrender we have ultimate victory, and in giving we receive. And that is Good News much of the world has yet to hear. Thank you, pastors, for all you do to serve us, that we might serve others, and thereby live the abundant life that never ends. Still haven’t found what you are looking for?  Look up. Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. 

While in downtown Cleveland to meet another pastor and go to an Indians-Tigers baseball game (“all work and no play make Phil a duller boy”), I was stuck by a poster several stories tall of Lebron James (“King James”) with his arms stretched straight out to each side while he is looking up. The caption read, “We are all witnesses.” Hmmm. Sounds like Luke 24:48. Thanks, Nike, for the spiritual reminder and symbolism but you’ve got the wrong Messiah. You’re not alone, though. 

Driving back into my home state, the corn and soy bean memories seemed like a gourmet meal. If there was a catastrophe, East Tennesseans had better learn to eat kudzu!  That vine grows in equivalent abundance as Ohio cornfields but for what purpose? We could eat deer, though. I passed two right on the side of the interstate crossing from Kentucky into Tennessee at Jellico. Hopefully they didn’t become road kill. Some may have in the past which may explain why that area has an exit for Stinking Creek Road. Just a hypothesis.

Why Blog? Why not?

I’ve delayed jumping into blogging but for no reason. So, why blog?  

Blogging is a way for me to process. I like journaling and writing but do very little of it.

As one friend said, blogging (twittering, etc.) doesn’t create community but it can foster it. We are a fragmented and disjointed society as it is. Blogging is one way to build some bridges and connections with those who care to check in occasionally.

Blogging is a way to pass along the best of what I read, think, and observe, perhaps adding a little beauty or light to our paths.

By blogging I don’t know that I will say much that is profound but I may serve as a marker toward someone who does.  The Blogroll links (to the right)  are often a source of stimulating thought for me and I suggest you occasionally check them out. I don’t agree with all they say but I learn from them.

We’re all on a journey.  Blogging is one small way at this moment in time to share that journey with others. We may experience a bit more of life’s richness along the way.  That is my prayer for you.

Oh, yea, one more reason to blog.  My dad (born in 1937) is now on Facebook. If I don’t blog now, he may beat me to it!