My Thoughts Exactly!

From Fox Sports Forum:

It amazes me just how low some people's standards are when it comes to athletes. They can lie,cheat,steal, beat the hell out of some woman, kill animals for fun, rob someone and yet many have no problem with them playing on their favorite team. Some represent a college that the fan attended and worked dam hard to get a degree from. They just blindly support these thugs who care not one little bit about anything or anyone except themselves. It's all about show me the money! I got news for you boys. There are millions of kids attending college that have very tight finanical situations. Oh, and their having to borrow the money to pay for school not being given a free ride. So excuse me if I don't feel a bit sorry for the players that squander their free ride for a few quick bucks.

My Opinion:
The NCAA is a money racket.

Advent Words from Bonhoeffer

For the great and powerful of this world, there are only two places in which their courage fails them, of which they are afraid deep down in their souls, from which they shy away. These are the manger and the cross of Jesus Christ. No powerful person dares to approach the manger, and this even includes King Herod. For this is where thrones shake, the mighty fall, the prominent perish, because God is with the lowly. Here the rich come to nothing, because God is with the poor and hungry, but the rich and satisfied he sends away empty. Before Mary, the maid, before the manger of Christ, before God in lowliness, the powerful come to naught; they have no right, no hope; they are judged.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (February 4, 1906 – April 9, 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, and martyr. He was also a participant in the German resistance movement against Nazism and a founding member of the Confessing Church. His involvement in plans by members of the Abwehr (the German Military Intelligence Office) to assassinate Adolf Hitler resulted in his arrest in April 1943 and his subsequent execution by hanging in April 1945, 23 days before the Nazis' surrender.

A Really Helpful, Meaningful Sermon

Today, our Interim Associate Pastor, Brian Grassley, preached on this Fourth Sunday in Advent. I've never heard the Christmas story presented in this way. The Holy Spirit used Brian today.

If you wish to hear it, go to cpcboise.org

Then, on left side, click on sermon recordings and choose today's sermon, "Born of the Virgin Mary".

You will be blessed, especially second half of sermon.

Planning a Church's Future

When I first became a senior pastor of a sizable church in my early ministry, I soon realized I did not have the skills to manage a larger church effectively. So, when the opportunity arose, I attended a two-week National Institute on Church Management seminar led by two Harvard Business School professors. The planning process I learned was extremely helpful and I soon found myself serving as a consultant (as time permitted), leading local churches in planning their futures. The process I led looked like this:

A. Building a Statement of Purpose characterized by the following:
KISS (keep it simple stupid)
Will the person off the street immediately understand the Mission Statement?
Is it doable?
Is it forward moving?
Is it biblically based and theologically sound?
etc.
[I've seen Mission (Purpose) Statements that are long and winding, uninspiring.]
B. What goals need to be reached for the statement of purpose to be realized? Limit the goals to the five most crucial
I. Goal 1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
II. Goal 2 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
III. etc
IV. etc
V. etc
C. What objectives, if accomplished, would insure the goals are realized?
1. Objective
2 - ?? etc
D. What strategies, if implimented, would insure the objectives are accomplished?
a. strategy 1
b - e ?? etc.

Recently I noted a number of churches using a similar approach which looks like this:
A. Where have we been?
B. Where are we now?
C. Where do we want to be?
D. How do we get to where we want to be?

Whatever approach is employed, the point is that if a church (or any organizatioin) wants to be relevant, successful, sure of their path to a desired future, serious planning has to be completed, then reviewed/monitored regularly.

Too many local churches are simply maintaining rather than building a planned future. They are reactive rather than proactive. Leaders have no clear idea where and what they want to be -- meaning they haven't seriously sought God's direction for their future. They haven't asked:
Why are we here?
Why has God placed us here at this time in our life as a congregation?
What is it God wants us to be and be doing?
MOST IMPORTANT: Are we willing to risk ourselves to be what God wants us to be?
If we don't know where we're going and how to get there, we'll get nowhere, simpy dog paddling along.

The Holy Spirit is waiting to empower churches of all and any size.

Where Have You Been?

Someone asked, "Where have you been on your travels? Here's some of our favorite sites in the last three years, in no particular order:

Alpine, Texas, at Donna and Manning Davis' ranch:

Scotty's Castle in Death Valley:

John Wayne movie set Gammon's Gulch in Benson, Arizona:

Deer near our site at North Forks RV Park in northeast Idaho, parked on the banks of the Salmon River:

Hoover Dam on the border of Nevada and Arizona:

Tombstone, Azirona:

Mackinaw Island, Michigan(near the family compound on the mainland of Mackinaw City):

Fishing the Owyhee River in Oregon:

Talledega, AL, Speedway:

Tybee Island, Savannah, GA:

The Shed (fish camp restaurant) next to Journey's End RV park in Ocean Springs, MS:

Fredriksburg, TX, near Spring Branch RV Park:

Sun Valley, Idaho

Kentucky Horse Farm, Lexington, Man of War

Rodeo, Caldwell, ID:

Pahrump, Nevada at the Terrible's RV Resort:

Lemhi Pass, Salmon, ID...7300+ feet elevation:

A return to Duluth, GA (Johns Creek) to preach in spring '09 at former church:

Trip to Presbyterian College, Clinton, SC, for Homecoming:

Colossal Caverns, near Benson, AZ:

Oxford, MS, for Ole Miss vs LSU game

Salmon Fishing, Lake Michigan

Trout fishing in northen Idaho with the Deliverance Foursome

Date Farm in California's Death Valley (30,000 pounds produced each year)

Bad gang after round of golf at Tetons Jackson Hole, WY, with Buck, Mike & George


NOTE: check back for more photos in near future

Not a Good Way to Start a Day's Reading...

From Presbyweb ...

Over 1,000 attended a November 20 funeral Mass at the cathedral in Lansing for 17 abortion victims whose remains were found in the trash by a pro-life activist. Following the Mass, the babies’ remains were interred in a Catholic cemetery.

The Bishop in charge of the burial said...

“Today we mourn, like Rachel weeping for her children, we mourn for how some seek to destroy Jesus in these his least brothers and sisters.”

“Yet, not only for the hurt to the Lord, we also mourn for these children themselves, whose very lives were desired by God, whose dignity was given by God, whose purpose and destiny are known only to God.”

By everything that is holy, what kind of people would throw a child's body in a trash pile?

Not a good way to start a day by reading this, but this is the sick world we live in!

May God have mercy on us!

Sunset in Idaho - Just Before the Snow!

Beautiful evening sunset in southwest Idaho at our RV resort near Boise:


Sparrow gone for the winter and abandons her nest in little tree next to our RV:

Forty-two Years Ago Today ...

On this day, November 18, 1968, our second son, Lance Wade, died in Hinds General Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi, of a brain tumor, with my older brother, Gene, as the attending physician. His death is still fresh in our minds and hearts. He would have been 44 now. Any parent (most at least) who loses a child never gets over the loss. You give the sadness to God and pray for strength to go on, believing you will enjoy his presence once again when you arrive in God's eternal presence. And, you remember, God gave his only Son that insures the grave is not the end. God promises to 'whipe away all tears' and detroy death forever...and ever.

We will be forever grateful to the hospital which named a room in pediatrics in Lance's honor and to the (former) Church of the Hills for naming its chapel "The Lance Wood Chapel". Memories are helpful in dealing with grief, but the greatest help is our hope in the resurrection of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

Musings, November 15, 2010

The Next Years...

If, as it has been reported, the average American lifespan is 81 years, I'm wondering how I am being called by God to use the last 9 years (give or take a few years) of my life for good. I'm in the process of moving my presbytery membership from Greater Atlanta Presbytery to Boise (ID) Presbytery (first time my presbytery membership will not be in the southeast.) It'll be interesting to learn how 'things' are done out west, to establish new collegial relationships, work with new colleagues here to revive the PCUSA (prospects not good for PCUSA as membership continues to fall radically and the theological differences continue to grow at an alarming rate). This Wednesday I will be joining Boise area Presbyterian pastors for lunch and discussion of the forthcoming vote on amendments to the PCUSA constitution. More importantly, I want to be of whatever help I can be for my granddaughters here in Nampa and the other five grandkids in Atlanta and NY in my last decade of life. Those of us who are older need to assess how we plan to use the last years of our lives for good.

Different Landscapes, Different Pace…

I still am amazed at the radically different landscapes out west from those with which I was most familiar in the greater Atlanta area and in the southeast generally. Yesterday, on our way to Covenant church in Boise, I saw many nice neighborhoods with beautiful homes adjacent to the corrals housing their horses -- many half-acres with one or more horses grassing leisurely in their fenced small pasture. Horses are everywhere out west. It's a way of life to be expected where there are untold thousands of acres of open range as well as the neighborhood pastures.
The pace of life is much slower out west. People don’t seem to be in such a hurry. And it doesn’t take hours fighting traffic to go a few miles. We are five miles from our daughter’s home and have to drive through two towns (Caldwell and Nampa) to get there and it takes 10 minutes max! The less traffic may extend the nine years I mentioned above, you think…?

New York, New York…!

In late December, we are flying to New York to spend time with our son, Todd, and his five kids (two in Atlanta area and three in the NY area) at his house in Connecticut. It’ll be a fun time, and likely, will be cold!
We spend much of our time here with Anna and her two girls, Emily and Molly. Last evening after a wonderful meal at Anna’s, we moved three beds between the girls’ bedrooms. We all got rather hysterical with the project. It was fun. Today Helen is working at Anna’s school and I’m playing golf at noon with my Monday foursome. Weather is beautiful right now…68 degrees and sunny. Some rain forecast, but in this part of Idaho, it seldom lives up to the weather forecast. Going for that elusive 79 today.

Staying in Touch…

We enjoy staying in close touch with dear friends from our last pastorate. We’ve done a lot of praying for some of them. George is recovering from an illness, but at 86 he’s now starting to play golf again. Sooooo good to hear that! Myra has taken good care of him. (Remind me sometime to tell about Myra’s driving adventure with her girl friends in Jackson Hole, WY, going to see the buffalo.) Bonnie is beating her cancer with Mike’s help. Buck and Billie have been great support for both couples. Buck and Mike live and die with the Georgia Bulldogs, as I do with the Ole Miss Rebels. For sanity, I have the undefeated Boise State Broncos. Then, there’s Lee (and Amy), Rusty (and Sonya) and Rees (and Daryl), my other Atlanta foursome, three trusted friends I have known for 15-plus years, but there’s not much I can tell publicly about those three! What happens …stays! LOL. I’m so proud of Lee’s leadership with World Water Relief. Children are dying by the thousands for lack of clean water! Rees is always available to help me solve mechanical problems and Rusty is as close as the phone to offer advice on a myriad of problems I run into on the RV trails. I stay out of issues in my former parish, but enjoy the friendships I share with these and other friends, as does Helen with her girl friends.

Note 1: There are many other old friends in COH/JCPC that hold special places in our hearts and memories, but I am careful not to be intrusive in our former church's life, so I don't call them.

Note 2: Our former church has a new pastor now and I am so grateful for Gray's ministry. Thanks be to God for a rich future ahead of the church under his leadership. (Now, if the PCUSA doesn't collapse in the next few years....)

New Friends Out West...

Everywhere we go we make new friends – in Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas. When we leave here in the new year (later than usual this time), we will be meeting up with these friends, many of them also full-time RVers. Also, it’s been good to catch up with older (and I mean older!) high school and college classmates. I just got a PC Class of ’60 pictorial directory and discovered the names of those in my class who have died. Some huge surprises, too. And a friend in Moss Point, Mississippi, keeps me up to date with classmates, live and dead. Friendships renewed are precious.

Last Home Gone!

I used Google Earth to look via satellite at our last home, nearly five acres in north Atlanta (Cumming, to be exact.) The home, of course, is gone, and the acreage on GE is scraped and cleared. The paved roads, street lights, etc are in, but it still looks weird to see the empty space where we enjoyed living ‘down in the woods’ for nearly 15 years. Hold on to good memories

Idaho Ski Swap...Amazing!

Last evening Helen and I served our first night at the Idaho Ski Swap at the Boise Fairgrounds Exhibition Hall. Our grandaughter Emily joined us and tonight our daughter Anna joins our volunteer team. People came from all over Boise, Idaho and out of state (one man came from Machinaw City, Michigan), bringing used and new skiing and snow boarding equipment and accessories to be placed on consignment. I expected a lot of skiing stuff, but was blown away by the volume of items placed for sale.
The Exhibition Hall is enormous, (think SuperWalmart store) probably 8-10 basketball courts size. Helen and I, working the 'stocking' assignment, would push a grocery cart up one of the intake lanes and other volunteers checking in the equipment and recording same on computers would fill our cart with equipment, etc. Then we would wheel the cart to the appropriate area to place the items according to size, age, etc.

There was, at the 9:30 p.m. closing time, 25,000 items -- skis, snowboards, skiing and snowboarding boots, googles, poles, etc., and enough snow clothing to fill a Target store!





Emily is hoping to make the Idaho Varsity Snowboarding team and go on to try to make the National team. She is really good on the board. She boarded on the Nampa High School team last year, but won in competition so easily she decided to go for more challenging competition, thus the Idaho team.

Helen and I are working four days as volunteers at the Ski Swap. Last night we 'stocked' equipment. Today we work Security, tomorrow Admissions and finally on Sunday afternoon we work Inventory.

Think of a SuperWalmart store stocked wall to wall with only skiing equipment and you get a mental image of the enormous scope of the Ski Swap.

I Wish I Had Met Him ...

... Secretariat, that is. Helen and I saw the movie last evening. An emotional experience! I wiped away tears throughout the movie. Diane Lane who is the star of the Disney movie went to high school with our children at Savannah Christian Prep school in Savannah, Ga. This morning I visited www.secretariat.com and spent an hour reading about this magnificent animal. Within the official site -- -- you can also find a moving story about Secretariat's brother, Straight Flush, who was rescued from the slaughter house. Here are photos of Secretariat winning the Belmont and the Triple Crown by 31 lengths! Helen and I visited the Horse Farm in Lexington last spring where many of the horse great are buried. Here is Secretariat's grave:
GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

Thinking of whom I would have liked to have met, here is my initial list:
Martin Luther King, Jr. -- to say, "Thank you"
Babe Ruth -- I was ten when he died in '48
William Faulkner -- to sit on the Square in Oxford and talk about Mississippi
Ernest Hemingway -- to ask "Why did you end it like you did?"
John Wayne -- to throw down a drink with him
John Denver -- to ask, again, "Why...?"
Geronimo -- to say on behalf of my country, "I'm sorry"
Peter Marshall -- Scottish preacher, my first dorm room at Columbia Seminary was his dorm room, too -- I'd ask, "Who was your early mentor?"
Bobby Jones -- I'd ask, "What was the most difficult shot you ever had to hit?"


Others I did meet:
Ronald Reagan -- I met him in the late 80's when I was a delegate to the Georgia GOP convention in Atlanta
William 'Bill' Gardner -- former pastor of First Presbyterian of Atlanta, who was my early ministry mentor
Gayle Sayers -- Chicago Bears great who was best friends with Brian Piccolo and helped him thru his illness with cancer till his death. They made a movie about their friendshipo. He came to my church to speak and with whom Helen and I shared a meal

Oh, I could go on with a long list and will add others later.

Add yours in the comment section.

Boise Rescue Mission

Helen and I helped serve the evening meal at Rescue Mission last night in Boise, ID. The Rescue Mission is located in near downtown Boise. We volunteer there several nights a month with other Covenant Presbyterian Church volunteers.

Last night we arrived a half hour early so I slipped into the back of the chapel to listen to the Bible lesson/preaching. (Helen joined me later.) Approximately twenty-five to thirty men whose ages ranged from (I'm guessing) 30 to 65 were listening attentively to the speaker, a black pastor named Pastor Mike, a 74 year old pastor in the Boise area.

At first I was more interested in the responses of the men than in listening, but soon found myself captivated by Mike's style and words. I realized immediately why the men in the room were paying such rapt attention to the speaker. It was obvious to me that Mike was 'empowered' spiritually.

Mike was preaching from I Timothy, pointing out to us how the Apostle Paul so carefully instructed his young protege, Timothy, about 'keeping the faith'. It was so readily apparent that Pastor Mike truly cared about the men before him. His eyes seemed to penetrate each man toward whom he looked. Then his easy smile would warm the entire room. The men in the room received and returned his affection. There was no doubt about the respect which Mike extended to each man. Though every man in the room was 'down on his luck', struggling financially and some fighting personal demons, Mike honored their dignity, not talking down to them.

Later, with Helen, I was honored to help serve a meal to these same men. I was blessed to hear Pastor Mike and be a part of the Covenant Church volunteers.

Friends' Teen Takes His Life

I've had trouble sleeping the last several nights. My mind has been processing the suicide death of a 15 year old of Johns Creek, GA, son of parents who are members of my last parish. Last Friday morning, before a school day, the son took his own life in his bedroom. The family and friends and all who knew the boy are stunned, as am I. I'm grieving with his parents; just can't get his death off my mind. I remember him at church on countless occasions, smiling and happy. I talked with his mother Saturday. Understandably, she said, "I just don't understand it." While some suicides are explainable (disease, pain, unbearable loss, etc), many are not. The suicide of a child produces a pain that is so deep it is almost unbearable. The words of Job help: "I know my Redeemer lives and I, too, shall live." The Christian has this hope: God is merciful; his love never ends." Jesus has healed the young teen's pain and Jesus will heal the pain of his parents. We have no other hope than Jesus. We lost a son, too, and the loss is still very real, even after years, but God has constantly reminded us that this life is temporary and we will see our son again. Bereaved parents hold on to that hope in the darkest hour.

Teen suicides are rampant in the U.S. I was a member of the governer's Teen Suicide Prevention Commission in Arkansas in the mid-90's. We published a list of the "10 Warning Signs of Teen Suicide".

Here is a list of warning signs:

Talking or joking about suicide.

Statements about being reunited with a deceased loved one.

Statements about hopelessness, helplessness, or worthlessness. Example: "Life is useless." "Everyone would be better off without me." "It doesn't matter. I won't be around much longer anyway." "I wish I could just disappear."

Preoccupation with death. Example: recurrent death themes in music, literature, or drawings. Writing letters or leaving notes referring to death or "the end".
Suddenly happier or calmer.

Loss of interest in things one cares about.

Unusual visiting or calling people one cares about - saying their good-byes.

Giving possessions away, making arrangements, setting one's affairs in order.

Self-destructive behavior (alcohol/drug abuse, self-injury or mutilation, promiscuity).

Risk-taking behavior (reckless driving/excessive speeding, carelessness around bridges, cliffs or balconies, or walking in front of traffic).

Having several accidents resulting in injury. Close calls or brushes with death.
Obsession with guns or knives.

EVERY TEEN SUICIDE IS A WAKEUP CALL TO ALL PARENTS OF TEENS!

Here are more indicators to watch and listen for re all ages:

Behavioral Indicators
Acquiring a Weapon
Hoarding Medication
Putting Affairs in Order
Making or Changing a Will
Increased Interest in Suicide
Giving Away Personal Belongings
Mending Grievances
Checking on Insurance Policy
Withdrawing from People
Verbal Indicators

Straightforward Comments:
"I wish I were dead"
"I wish I had the nerve to kill myself."
"I wish I could die in my sleep."
"If it weren't for my kids, my husband ... I would commit suicide."

Hints:"I hate life."
"Why do I bother?"
"I can't take it anymore."
"Nothing matters anymore."

Parents! Talk to your kids! Listen to your kids! Spent time with your kids! Give up tennis, golf, social events, shopping, TV, etc, if necessary, to save your teen's life!

Ambassador RV Resort, Caldwell, Idaho

Ambassador RV Resort is a 150-plus site rv park in Caldwell, ID, (population 85,000), 15 miles west of Boise, ID (population 250,000). We've been here (as we are every year) since August 1. Today it's been in the high 60's, beautiful sunshine and little or no wind. We've got friends all over the park with whom we play golf, cook dinners, discuss grandkids, shop and talk politics. Anna and our two grands are only 10 minutes away in Nampa and we see them several times a week for football games, cross-country races, meals out and in, and other school and family activities.

We have joined the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Boise which is 18 miles from our park. This has enabled us to make new friends in Boise and worship with a church family. Our church is very mission minded and we have participated in local mission work. It is an absolutely beautiful drive into Boise on Sunday mornings driving thru the beautiful farmland with the mountains always in front of us. Being a Presbyterian Church the neighborhoods are definitely upscale real estate with country clubs and golf clubs all along the route. We also pass many other large churches of various denominations and many Mormon houses of worship. Many Sunday mornings we see hot air balloons floating quietly near the mountains.

The Owyhee Mountains are only minutes away and the snow will be here in a few weeks which means snowboarding and skiing. It also means colder weather, for which we are prepared. Bosie is an old town and very interesting. It has a very nice restored historic district downtown with gas lights and beautiful trees and foliage.

Planes are constantly in the air above us most every day as the Caldwell airport is less than a mile from our site. Many farmers have their own planes. We can watch sky diving everyday when the weather permits (sky diving is on Larry's 'bucket list'). They say you can fly 365 days a year in Idaho. You may have to de-ice but they still fly. That is why the headquarters of Missionary Aviation Fellowship is in Nampa.

One of the amenities at the Ambassador Resort is individual immaculate white tile bathrooms/showers with stacks of personal white bath mats. Access to the bathrooms is only by code keypad. Other services are propane delivered as needed, coffee, danish and free newspapers in the mornings, heated salt water pool (which Helen loves), regular potlucks, poker nights, full mailroom, immaculately kept lawns, weekly jam sessions with local musicians,and ready assistance with any RV needs/problems.

California and Oregon are only a short drive west. Our great niece is in grad school in Eugene, Oregon and we hope to see her this fall, here or there. Other great friends throughout the west will be meeting us in various locations when we start travelling again in the new year.

Here are some scene at Ambassador I took today.

Our pool, hot tub and sauna:

Our Pad:

Other RVs in Resort:

Flag on back of Molly II;

Main building housing office, rec hall, pool hall, dining area:

Neighbor walking dogs:

Airplane overhead:

Older couple next door:

Neighbor (whose dog bit me!):

Neighbor (friend Charlie who was recently hospitalized):

Over 75 5th Wheels in the Resort:

Salmon on the grill tonight:

Honey, the Guard dog, on duty: