Max is Thankful for Nancy Grace

He hasn't sent me an email telling me this, but I would guess Max Lucado appreciates Nancy Grace more than anybody else does these days. Of course, he also may be the ONLY person I know who appreciates Nancy! He has to appreciate the fact that, for at least a couple of days, folks are talking MORE negative about her than they do him. I have found he doesn't get replaced all that often at the top of the "Hammer" list. Enjoy your time off, Max! It probably will be short lived.

Truth of the matter is, I doubt Max even notices the negative things being said about him. He is too busy spreading the Gospel, both in word and the way he lives, to notice. Have you EVER heard Max say something negative about ANYBODY? For me, that speaks volumes.

Did anybody else see the irony when the buzz was that Nancy was going to interview Max as a representative of our fellowship? Believe me, I did. And yes I will admit, I was loving it. Some folks would have been between the proverbial "rock and a hard place".

This too shall pass, and we will look back on it and laugh..............or cry. Or both.

Thanks Nancy, for giving Max a break. I'm sure that was your motive all along. :)

Some Days Are Diamonds

"Some days are stones" Do you remember that John Denver song? Well this past Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were DIAMONDS! I attended my first "Tulsa Soul Winning Workshop".................and it was a tremendous blessing to me and thousands of other people also. I wish all of you could have been there too. On Friday night, there were some where between 6 and 10 thousand people in the Pavillion, and we sang for over an hour. Oh my goodness! If Heaven is going to sound better than that (I'm sure it will) then I am ready to go NOW! ASAP baby. Zoe was leading the time of praise and singing, and the songs were just so beautiful. Our brothers and sisters from the Christian church kept telling us how MUCH they love our singing. We'll just let them keep thinking that is how ALL our congregations sound EVERY Sunday! :)
All the speakers I heard were outstanding. I had not heard Max since he was at the College church here in Searcy back in the early to mid 80'S........and it was so good to be able to sit at his feet again. His message was very powerful. I had never heard Bob Russell from the Christian church, and he was equally as powerful as Max Friday night when they shared the stage together.
The message they brought was simply a Gospel plea.............let's make it as hard as we can for ANYBODY in our communities to go to Hell. There are many ways to do this, but one SCRIPTURAL way is to let the world see us working together instead of them seeing us act like enemies.

One good story I heard this weekend was about a reporter who went to a visit an institution for the mentally handicapped. When I was little, people used to call it "the crazy farm". Anyway, the reporter observed that many times there were only 2 or 3 employees overseeing about 150 or so patients. The reporter inquired as to how safe that was, and did the staff ever fear an uprising amongst the population? The person giving the reporter the tour gave this answer: " We never, ever worry about that. Guess why? Lunatics don't have enough sense to unite". If the shoe fits, wear it.

It was good to see many Harding folks at the Workshop! I saw Keith Brooks, Jim and Martha White, Ted Maple, Steve and Melody Smith, Tim Baur, Don Mclaughlin, Greg and Jill Taylor, Shawn and Arleen Mayes, and I am sure there many more. Of course we had several Harding grads as presenters, like Clint Davis, Stan Granberg, Mike Cope, and Randy Harris. I hope I didn't leave any presenter out! Several families from Searcy made the trip. It was a blessing to be there with my own minister and his wife, Dave and Debbie Mathews! The Davis's, Turleys, Spears, and Galyans were there also. It was an encouragement to see all of them there with their sweet families!

I plan on being there in 07........why don't you start making plans to be there too!

They will be Diamond days for sure!

Yee-Haw!

Yep..........Luke's wires are off, and he can eat again! Thanks again for all your prayers. We couldn't have made it without those. What a gift, huh? Prayer.

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This also means I get to attend my FIRST Tulsa Soul-Winning workshop! I am on cloud NINE! I am sure I will have some posts concerning the rich feast I will be partaking of there this week. What a blessing! LOTS of Harding Alums will be attending.........and several will be speaking. I hope I get to visit with all of them.

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I hope everybody has a super rest of the week and weekend. Who is going to the final 4? Not Bama! :(

The One and Only

You don't hear the phrase as much anymore, but remember in the old days when you would hear somebody referred to as "the one and only"? It was always somebody famous, like "the one and only Willie Mays" or " the one and only Jackie Gleason". I remember more than once hearing about "the one and only Elvis Presley". Did Ed Sullivan use that phrase a lot? Seems to me he did. I'm not sure why you don't hear it as much as you used to........at least I don't seem to hear it as much. I guess that is why I noticed it in my Bible recently. I love the fact that the NIV uses "One and Only" instead of "Only Begotten". Begotten doesn't mean didly to me. I've never heard it said or read it anywhere besides in the Bible back when I had some other version besides the NIV. John uses the phrase twice in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. Who is he talking about? Three guesses and the first two don't count. Who else but Jesus? Who else deserves to be called "the One and Only"? In verse 14 he talks about "the One and Only" being full of grace and truth. If you have heard Monte Cox talk in the last 10 years, you know this is one of his favorite verses to preach on. Later in verse 18, he talks about "the One and Only" being at the Father's side.

If somebody asked you about who your "One and Only" is, how would you reply? It's something to think about.

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The month of April is upon us really soon, and it is going to be an exciting month for me! Randy Harris comes to Downtown for a weekend, the Invisible Children folks come to Harding for a day and evening, Spring Sing and President's Council meetings on campus, Easter Sunday festivities, and I leave for the Pepperdine lectures......all of this in April! WHEW! Hey, it's all good!

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Luke is supposed to get the wires off his jaw this week. Good thing, cause he is bout to dry up and blow away! :) God is good.

Annie May, Luke, and Other Thoughts

I attended the service for Annie May Lewis yesterday in Memphis. We lost a very special person last week. The testimonials to her servant heart were very moving and inspiring yesterday. I told someone that whenever we lose a giant like Annie May, I always think of the George Jones song "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes?" . I know God has done it many times in the past, and He will do it again.........another Annie May will follow in her steps. I just hope I get to meet her.

I got to see a lot of folks that I had not seen in MANY MANY years yesterday. Rodney Plunkett, the pulpit minister at White Station, led a prayer. Rodney's dad, Lamar, and my father were ministers at the Eastside congregation in Sheffield, Alabama in the 60's. Leon Sanderson led the singing, and I had not seen Leon for several years. Another of my dad's preaching buddies, Jimmy Moffett from the Raleigh congregation in Memphis, lead another prayer. I don't know if I had seen Brother Jimmy since the 60's. Jim Howard, Don Meredith, and Randy Harris all reflected on the life of Annie May, and all 3 did an outstanding job......duh. Randy is amazing. I know that word is overused, but he is just that.......AMAZING!

Continue to keep brother Jack in your prayers. I know the hole that is left by Annie May going on home is going to be a tremendous one to fill.

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Thanks for all of you who continue to ask about Luke! He is doing good, and has even returned to work again. He is not loosing too much weight, thanks to a bunch of supplement drinks and soups. Dr. Hatfield thinks the wires will come off next week. Luke is going to have an appreciation for eating that he has NEVER had before! :) Thanks ALL of you for your continued prayers on his behalf.

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The NCAA Tournament is upon us again. The best thing about the games to me is all the upsets! I can't wait to see what Goliath falls to some David again this year. What are the odds two #16 seeded teams could meet in the finals? I would take just ONE of em making it that far! :) I wish they would, but I don't expect my Bama boys to go very far.........they are really young. I'm predicting Memphis has a really good run for the title. I am pulling for any team that is NOT in the ACC! GO BELMONT! :)

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The Tulsa Soul-Winning workshop is NEXT week! How many of you are going? If Luke is up to me leaving, I will be attending it for the first time. I have been listening to tapes for YEARS from Tulsa, but this will be my first time to have the blessing of being there in person. I can't imagine a better theme. Sad to say it, but I get the feeling some folks hope it is a flop. If God is not a part of it, it will be. If it is a success, it will be because HE was glorified and HIS spirit was there. I want to be anywhere He is. How about you?

James Simrel Woodroof

73 years ago today in Obion, Tennessee a baby boy was born. I would venture to guess NOBODY could have foreseen the impact that baby would have on God's Kingdom. Little did they know how MANY lives he would influence!
He's not the greatest orator you will ever hear, and there are deeper scholars than him around. But myself and many others will take him over those folks any time. Why? Because he always brings Jesus with him. He can't get enough of Jesus, and he inspires me to want more of Jesus too! He lived and preached Jesus to the folks of New Zealand for 5 years, then he lived and preached Jesus to the students at Harding for 8 years. I won't mention the names of some of the well-known ministers that he impacted, because you already know them. And now look at the lives they are impacting! Jesus told us what he could do with a mustard seed, so I guess we shouldn't doubt what he could do with a toe headed baby in Obion, TN. Or what he can do with each of us.

That baby was named James Simrel Woodroof......better known as Jim. I found out Simrel was his mom's maiden name. Like the boy named Sue in Johnny Cash's song, I guess Simrel just made him tough! Jim and Louine have been married for more than 50 years, and raised 5 wonderful children. I don't know how many grand-children he has, but I know several of his sweet grand-daughters here in Searcy.

Not everybody loves Jim the way I and many others do. A few years ago he had the audacity to point out some things our fellowship might could improve on, and that was taboo. How can you improve on perfection? :) He was a prophet then, and he is a prophet now. And he is still talking about Jesus!
He's genuine, and he is transparent. He's also humble. Thanks Jim, for living Jesus before me. I love you dearly! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

"This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." Keep walking Jim, cause we're walking with you!

A Must Read

Please check out this article in "New Wineskins" by Beth VanRheenen.

http://www.wineskins.org/filter.asp?SID=2&fi_key=109&co_key=1065

Luke

I am in my office at 10:30 at night to take a few minutes to post this. My youngest son Luke fainted today at work, and busted his face up pretty bad. He broke his nose, broke a bone in his upper mouth, messed some teeth up, and fractured his jaw. They took him to surgery and wired his jaws shut, but the good news is that it is not a bad fracture and he will only be wired up for 2 to 3 weeks. We praise God for that, and we know it could have been worse.

I hope the blogging church will keep him in your prayers. Thanks ahead of time.

God is good.