I love to preach and teach the Bible. For me there is nothing really like it. The Bible has so much information, it is so packed full of wisdom, and wonder. And every week, as I preach through the Bible, I always have to leave something out. There is just so much stuff there, but there is only so much time.

So today, as we were looking at 2 Kings chapter 2, I felt I had to cut out the last part of the chapter. Up until now, I would just let it go, and hope at some time in the future I would be able to preach on it – but we live in the age of the blog.

2 Kings 2:23-25
²³ From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" ²⁴ He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. ²⁵ And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

Elisha has taken Elijah’s place as the prophet, and God’s mouthpiece. He was the man who was responsible for representing God. Elisha, has performed two miracles up to this point. He rolled up Elijah’s cloak, struck the Jordan, and he cured the water that the people needed for their crops.

In this section of scripture something very interesting happens. Elisha called down a curse upon some teenage punks who were harassing him as he walked along a road. On the surface this seems to be cruel and excessive on the part of Elisha. But let’s go a little deeper.

First, the punks say, “go on up.” Like Elijah went up in a whirlwind, they are yelling that God’s representative, should just go away, because not only were they not respectful for God, but they were not at all respectful for His messenger. And they added, “you baldhead.” Those of us whose hair is not as thick as it used to be understand how Elisha is feeling.

2 Chronicles 36:15-16 “The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. ¹⁶ But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.”

Second, Elisha curses them, “in the name of the Lord.” Elisha was God’s man – and the youth completely disrespect him. So, by disrespecting him, they are disrespecting God. So when Elisha speaks, he speaks on God’s behalf. The main point of this passage is that we must have respect for God, for the things of God, and for the people of God.

It happened to be a bear, but it could just as easy have been a lion, or lightening, or whatever – the youth died because they showed no respect for God. As a parent I need to understand this. Not only must I show respect for God (and his representatives), but so must my children.

Tonight was our first evening of using the “Building Blocks” journals and the time went really well. I want to do this most nights as our quiet time, but I realized afterwards that we did not read any of the Bible. So, next time, we will read from their Beginners Bible, and spend some time praying and filling out our journals.

I found some of their prayers very interesting, so I pass them on to you.

Dear God,

I love you because,

Hannah-Grace – “You make my bad feelings go away.”

Caleb – “You are powerful”

Joshua – “You listen to my prayers.”

I am sorry I,

H-G – “yelled at Caleb.”

C – “hit my brother, Joshua.”

J – “accidentally hurt Isaac.”

Thank you for,

HG – “my ballerina, and my pencils”

C – “daddy, mommy, Granny, Nanna and Pop-pop, and Grandpa Bunny.”

J – “the toys I got for Christmas (R2-D2), and for making the earth.”

My prayer requests are,

HG – “please bring me a prince.”

C – “keep Santa safe, and the reindeer.”

J – “keep everybody in the whole world safe.”

I have learned tonight that my children are going to be teaching me some things about praying. Isaiah 11:6 “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.”

Vintage Faith

vin·tage adj. of high quality, especially from a past time period n. the date or time period when something was originally produced or existed

faith n. reliance and trust in a person or thing

The rethinking of my faith…

There is a rising feeling among followers of Jesus, that in many modern contemporary churches, something has subtly gone astray in what we call “church” and what we call “Christianity”. Through time, church has become a place that you go to have your needs met, instead of being a called local community of God on a mission together. Through time, much of contemporary Christianity subtly has become more about inviting others into the subcultures of Christian music, language and church programs than about passionately inviting others into a radically alternative community and way of life as disciples of Jesus and Kingdom living. We want to change this perception, and we are going to start with ourselves.

In our next series, we are going “old school,” as we look at how the prophets of old lived out their faith. Invite a friend and experience Vintage Faith together.

This exciting series will start January 30^th and go to February 17^th.

I wanted to make you guys aware of a resource that my children received for Christmas. It is called “Building Blocks” and is a journal for children aged three to seven. It is divided into three sections (My Daily Prayers, Counting My Blessings, My Personal Diary). The journal is designed to encourage and show children how to pray.

My children can not fully read and write yet so I am planning to have a time when we sit down and ask the various questions, and I will write down their response. I am looking forward to beginning with them. It asks them questions like: “I love God because . . .”, “I am sorry I . . .”, and “My prayer requests are . . .” and some others. On the back of the pages is an area for the children to draw a picture, paste a photo, etc…

If you want to check it out you can go to www.penmanpaper.com/index.php?cPath=34_40_47, plus their pretty cheap ($4.95). If you get one and try it out with your kid/s let me know how it goes, and I will give you an update in a few weeks.

It’s been awhile since we had a program designed just for our kids at church. But on Christmas Eve we abandoned our traditional candlelight service in lieu of allowing our kids to remind us of the meaning of Christmas. They came dressed in costume, so the Delaplaine was filled with sheep, wise men, Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus, shepherds, singers, and readers. There were also grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, friends, etc… Sara T. reminded them that they were not there to be cute, but to bring glory to God but telling the Christmas story (and they did a wonderful job!) The funniest event of the night was when Callie T.(who was dressed as an angel) sat in the box/manger and was stuck right there in front of everyone.

The program was filled with a lot of flash photography! I believe that room could have been seen from the moon, because of the flashes (yes I was one of them). It showed me that sometimes we just need a time to celebrate the gift of children and what they teach us about the Lord. Usually we think of how we can show them spiritual truths, but they understand more than we often give them credit for.

The following is a portion of an e-mail that Sara T. sent out to the children and I couldn’t agree more with her comments:

“Hi guys! This is Miss Sara. I just wanted to say that I thought you all did a wonderful job on Monday. You all looked great and sounded great too! And you behaved beautifully! I am so proud of all of your hard work. And I know that on that night, God was looking down on all of you and smiling because of the beautiful worship you gave him and the wonderful blessing you were to everyone who was there. Thank you so much for being a part of our Christmas Eve service!”

Whewwww. . . its’ over. We started the day at the top of the stairs of our home, asking a series of questions (what is Christmas about? “Jesus” – typical pk’s response, -- and what’s the best gift? – “Jesus.”) They know the right answers, and they are showing signs of living those answers out.

Then they ran downstairs, and it started. You know what I’m talking about. The craziness! Christmas day was a whirlwind of wrapping paper and bows. Well, ok not a day, but at least a good 20 minutes.

The day settled down to me opening and assembling various children’s gifts and making sure that no tiny parts went into the trash piles. Why do they have to put those twisty ties on everything?

The boys favorite gift this year was a star wars jedi light saber that cost us around $8 (when will we learn that the best is not always the most expensive?) Hannah-Grace’s favorite gift was a Barbie princess island doll. I have started a tradition (last year) of giving her a dress up outfit, so I found a Barbie princess island dress that was her size. She wore it all day, and we had to fight her to take it off for bed. We also found a Barbie princess island dvd – so she is set. The grandparents went crazy with gifts, but I won’t complain too much. I believe that if I were to ask them, they would say that that’s what grandparents do – especially since we live so far away.

We called and were called by various family members around the country, and over all it was a wonderful day spent together.

Merry Christmas!

Sometimes people ask me, “Drew, do you ever miss Alabama?” and images such as this pop into my mind, and I think, “You know, sometimes I do.” In suburbia most houses look alike, most people dress alike, and even those “angsty teens” who are so individualistic look amazingly similar. But in Alabama, believe it or not these type of “displays” are not so infrequent as to draw anything other than a second look. Can you imagine the outcry of this Santa ride in some of Frederick’s suburbs? So, yes, there are some things that I sometimes miss about Alabama, like the sound of automotive chains rustling in the breeze, the smell of wedding cake at a wedding of too close of relatives, and the outright creativity that is shown everywhere. We call it “folk art.” Who in suburbia would have thought, “you know I have a car, and it is Christmas, why not make the car a little festive?”

Merry Christmas

PS- Dad, thanks for the picture of your new “display” in our yard.

Mark 4:37-41 “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" ³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. ⁴⁰He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" ⁴¹They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Today it was supposed to be a icy, cold, very bad day.

We face decisions every day. We choose what to eat, what to wear, and even more impacting things like whether or not to have a worship service. There are temporal things to consider like the exertion that goes into setting everything up and breaking it down. We tell ourselves that we are doing it for the Lord, but let’s face it, it’s hard work. There have been two occasions when I decided to have church on an inclement weather day, and the only people that showed were those setting up the service. That’s a morale kick in the pants.

If few people show, then it looks like we are a smaller church than we are to guests. (Yes, perception is important). There is a much smaller offering than normal, and if we cancel then there is none at all. There is the danger of accidents if you don’t and there is a missed opportunity to share the gospel if we do. I used to think that there might be a person, who would have come, and their life may have been changed forever – but we canceled instead.

When making these decisions I have decided to let God be God. If Daybreak were a church located in remote Alaska then snow and icy weather would be a way of life. Even in Maryland we are often not equipped to handle a storm. So, God controls the weather, He knows where we are, He knows what we need, and He is control. If He allows a storm to come, I believe He understands our need to not have a service.

I also believe that storms lead us back to asking the question of, “Why do we assemble anyway?” I mean, “Why have a church worship service?” Many times in life we go through the motions, even things that we have done our whole lives, but forget their purpose.

Obviously, gathering as the body of Christ is important (and commanded). I believe that I will soon do a sermon on this exact question, because storm or not there are those who find something far more insignificant than an ice storm to keep them away. I also become focused on lights, sound, media, chairs, etc…when my focus should be worshiping God instead. Sometimes storms help us to re-focus on what is truly important.

Today was Hannah-Grace’s last day of dance for this cycle. She will start dancing again beginning in January. Today was also the one and only day when the instructors would allow the parents to actually sit in the room and watch them dance. After several of the girls would suddenly bolt and ran back and forth, and back and forth to their parents, I understand the restriction.

In the next round of dance we will have our first recital – I’ll let you know how it goes. But for now Hannah-Grace loves to put on her pink tutu, pink dance shoes, pink dance outfit, pink Cinderella backpack, pink, pink, pink, …. (you get the idea). Her face lights up when it is time to go and to be only three she shows great potential. (I know all parents say that about their children, especially daddies about their little girls.) She wants to get married, and asks Jesus to bring her a special boy soon. I am in the background praying the exact opposite – Lord let it be many, many years from now. I want to hold on the pink ponies and dance lesson Saturdays as long as I can. In a house where the guys outnumber the girls (4-2), Hannah-Grace is all girl, and that’s ok with daddy.

Today was the second annual Gingerbread House Building morning. We had well over 80 people to attend and it was a wonderful morning. Everything went very smoothly, and Karine planned everything exceptionally well. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped to make this a wonderful time for families. There were several requests from people from the community asking, “Are you guys doing this next year?” We had several families that even returned from last year.

Our goal was simply to give families in the community and in our church an opportunity to have fun with their family. So everyone went home with their very own Gingerbread House, smiles on their faces, and a little gift from us. I wanted to give people another entrance to our church other than a Sunday morning worship service.

I also didn’t want to hog all the fun, so Craig G. got to wear the Gingerbread Man outfit. He looks pretty snappy in a giant green bow tie. Our volunteers were outfitted in brown felt aprons, complete with red buttons – very festive. All of my children had a sugar rush at some time during the two hours, and they all crashed in the car on the way home.

I know that there are much larger churches, and far busier pastors than I, but this past weekend was very busy. It’s the end of Monday and I am still pretty tired. Friday evening was the Kris Kringle Parade in downtown Frederick. Saturday was Respite, and this event had two additional hours than normal. Sunday we have our normal two services, there were the regular afternoon meetings, and I attended youth Sunday night. You could say, “Drew, that’s why buy you get the big bucks!”

Yes, perhaps, but there were several people from Daybreak who don’t get any compensation for this high level of involvement. They believe in what we are trying to accomplish so much that they are willing to serve at this level of sacrifice and commitment. I know of one person who came from work, served pretty much the whole weekend and then went back to work on Monday. This person’s weekend had to only have been a blur.

I am so blessed and thankful to be a leader of a church where so many people understand that there is more to life than being compensated or getting personal gain from service. Daybreak people understand that there are eternal issues in everything that we do, especially as a church. This past weekend was a time of physical exertion and eternal kingdom growth. Both seem to go hand-in-hand.

When it comes to ministry, numbers aren’t everything. There are times when I have been able to minister to one small child, or young person that truly means more to me than when I have been able to preach before hundreds. But increased numbers do sometimes indicate that you are being effective at what you are doing, or that you have identified a need that you can attempt to help with. Today at our Respite ministry we had over 200 people involved. This was the largest one so far. We partnered with several churches, community groups, and various individuals who helped to make this massive event a huge success. With special needs children you need just about one-to-one attention. We had some special Christmas events this year like licensed beauticians/hairstylists who cut the children’s hair and Brody the therapy dog (who is a huge malamute).

I want to thank the two Kims (they know who they are) for being the organizational superstars behind this ministry. They met with close to twelve new families that were apart of this event. They took the registrations, organized the volunteers, and pulled it all together (and they made it look easy!) I would also like to thank all the volunteers from all over Frederick who helped today – we truly couldn’t do it without you.

I was very encouraged that a church from another county visited our Respite simply for the purpose of taking notes. They had heard of what we do, and had felt led by God to begin such a ministry themselves. Daybreak’s Respite ministry cannot get too much larger led by volunteers and located where we are. There is really no need for it to continue to grow larger. While the need is greater, (we did have a waiting list) it is my prayer that other churches will get the vision for beginning their own Respite Ministry, thus multiplying the impact. It looks like God may be answering our prayer in this way.

When I found out that I was going to be the one to wear the Gingerbread Man costume for the Frederick County Khris Kringle parade I was not all that enthused. It was difficult to put on, it was difficult to move around, and when we got to our group’s location it was very difficult to put on. I couldn’t see and it was terrible hot. But when we walked across the parking lot of the Delaplaine Visual Arts Center we walked passed hundreds of kids.

There were at least twenty kids who immediately ran up to me and started to hug me. Others smiled and waved from a distant. Then something changed in my heart. Pastor scrooge’s heart got two sizes larger. I discovered that whenever children (and many adults) saw me they smiled and many even cheered.

As we walked down the streets of Frederick I gave children high five’s and ran back and forth from one side of the street to another. I gave hugs, patted children on the head, and even petted a dog (which is very dangerous for a gingerbread man). By the half way mark I was drenched in sweat, but I was having the time of my life. I knew what it was like to be “the chicken.” (www.famouschicken.com)

There was another thing that brought joy to my heart other than the smiles of children. The children from our own church handed out over 800 cards advertising our Gingerbread House Building Fun Morning at our church. That’s a lot of cards! They were wonderful.

This morning, miraculously, we were ready to go to the bus stop and school over forty minutes early. I am still not sure how that happened. Our morning routine usually involves hedge hurdles and twenty-five yard dashes to lunge onto the bus at the stop. But not today; today we strolled to the bus stop with all kinds of time to spare. As I stood there basking in the rarity of the moment, Joshua and Caleb began to rummage through their backpacks. They pulled out postcards advertising an event at our church.

On their own they had gotten them off the desk in my office and began to hand them out, inviting their friends to come to the event. They lacked the hesitancy that I usually have to check – they gave them out with a huge smile on their face. It was like they wanted to hand them out (like they “got to”). It reminded me that everything that we do for Christ is because we “get to” not because we have to. It should give us joy to give away the news of what God has done for mankind. They are my little bus stop evangelists, and I pray that their hearts will always be tender toward their friends who don’t know Jesus.

Joshua lost his first tooth tonight. He came over to me, showed me how his tongue could push the tooth backwards and forwards. So, I asked Hannah-Grace to go and get some tissue. I used the tissue to hold the tooth, and with a gentle tug, out it came. The tooth flew into the air and was lost for about 30 seconds. I was scared that it was still in his mouth, so I told him not to swallow. Caleb found it on the floor, and handed it back to me. It is about the size of a match head. The whole event was very exciting and now Caleb and Hannah-Grace are trying to figure out how to get their teeth out as well.

This is the first tooth of eighty teeth that will come out of my children’s mouths. As I write this, Joshua’s tooth is in a zip-lock bag under his pillow and awaits the Tooth Fairy. He is on the top bunk tonight, by the way. Pray that the TF doesn’t break his neck trying to get the bag. How much should he give Joshua? A dime or quarter seems chintzy, but a dollar or five over the course of time comes out to $80 or $400. Yikes! I think we will start small (how does a piece of candy sound?)

This afternoon we had our church’s annual Thanksgiving Fellowship Dinner. We held it at a family restaurant in Thurmont, MD. Some ladies in our church did a wonderful job of decorating, and we even had door prizes. I gave a short devotion from Luke 17:11 ff. we had an “open mike” for testimonies. Caleb (my 5 year old son) wanted to tell everyone that he was thankful for his family. We then watched a slide show and concluded with prayer.

This particular event is always special to me because as the afternoon wears on, at one point I can look over the crowd and see how God has blessed so many people in our church. I know most of their stories and I know how much of a blessing they have been to me.

Also, as we watched the video I was reminded of how many things our church had done over the past year. We, by most standards are a small church, but God has used us to make a huge impact for His kingdom.

God, thank you for my church. Happy Thanksgiving!

Daybreak is finishing our current sermon series “plastic people” this coming Sunday. We also have several weeks before we begin our Christmas series, so I wanted to do something a little different. The apostle Paul has always been one of my favorite men in the Bible, but recently I have been reminded by the fact that Paul's letters were in large part a series of answers to various questions he received from the church.

Paul's example got me to consider what it would be like to do something similar. The result is the upcoming preaching series entitled ‘Questions’. It will Begin November 18^th, 25^th, and perhaps even December 2^nd (depending on how many questions I get from you guys).

So send your questions to icthus1st@aol.com and put “questions for Drew” in the subject line. You can send as many questions as you would like, and you can ask about anything you would like. I will not reveal your name or web address in my response, so you can have a degree of anonymity in your questions. Also, please keep your questions fairly short and I will seek to read them in their entirety as you pose it.

Ok, so it’s happened. I sit down at the computer to write my blog and my mind is blank. Well not really blank, but there are some things that I would love to write on (venting), but it not a wise move to put that kind of stuff on the internet. There are also some things in the mix that I just can’t talk about. Either it would affect other people or simply is just private. This is one of those things about leadership that I never really understood until I was the leader.

As a pastor I am privy to a lot of “inside” information, but I do not have the freedom to do anything with that information. Even if I know something embarrassing or sinful about a person, they could blast me in public, but I can’t use this “ammunition” to blast back. I’m supposed to the spiritual leader and mature one – so I pray. So I take it, and deal with it, and it usually always passes over. So, I show them respect, love, and grace even when they do not (do unto others, etc…). God has always been faithful to take care of me, my wife, and my family and there is also a lot of truth in “you reap what you sow.”

But sometimes it just about kills me to not talk about exciting things God might be bringing our way (but I know that it’s not the right time, so I have to remain quiet) or to blast someone when they are trying to hurt me, my ministry, or family. Don’t worry this hasn’t happened that often. Usually the things I have to keep quiet on are things God seems to be orchestrating and it’s too soon to unveil the plan. Then when the time is right, I speak and tell others.

So the leadership principle of the day is “keep your mouth shut until God tells you to let the people know what’s going on.” I have also found that God usually is working in other people’s heart as well showing them a different part of the puzzle.

Tonight we cooked burgers on the grill. After all the kids had eaten Kimberly and I were cleaning up and I realized after looking at both of my boys plates that they had literally eaten as much as I had. Joshua and Caleb are my twin boys, and they were born premature. So they have always been a little smaller than most kids their age. As I am writing this, I am very full from dinner and can not imagine where someone their size manages to put the food.

I am also doing the math. If at five they are matching what I eat, will they at ten be eating double what I am eating? Oh, brother, I don’t think our pantry is big enough.

The Boswell family went to Lancaster, PA for the weekend for an annual ministerial get away. We stayed at the Willow Valley resort center and dined on some wonderful food (www.willowvalley.com). We prepped the kids for weeks on how to “act” at a real restaurant. Their closest experiences have been at fine dining establishments like McDonald’s and Famous Dave’s B-B-Q. Willow Valley has linen table clothes, full place settings, water goblets, etc.. and you can get as many Alaskan King Crab legs, cut beef, home made pastries, etc… as you can eat. One of my favorites of the food, were the omelets made to order as you wait (I got one with everything). The kids did great.

The conference center also has multiple indoor pools. My children loved a giant frog that you slide down its’ tongue. We swam for hours!

Just between you and me, one of my favorite things in life is to give my children gifts. I love the way their faces light up. I love how their minds begin to imagine. I love playing with them with the gifts. So I gave Joshua and Caleb a Transformer toy a piece, and I gave Hannah-Grace a ballerina Barbie.

To be honest, I just simply needed some time away. I thank God that He loves me and provides wonderful things like this weekend simply because he loves to bring joy to His children. One of things that I have learned about having kids, is that they have taught me about God’s relationship as a Father to His Children. I love my children, but how much greater is His love for me. I enjoy giving my children gifts, and He enjoys giving gifts to His children. He knew I needed to get away, to spend some intense time with my family, and so He provided this wonderful weekend.

Matthew 7:9-12 “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ¹²So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

So, I thank you Father for your special gift.

Several years ago Kimberly and I attended a children’s conference in San Diego, CA and I walked away from the experience thinking that it was one of the most beautiful places that I had been. The temperature was perfect, we were next to the ocean, and the sun sets were spellbinding. So it breaks my heart to hear about the wildfires that currently ravage the California landscape. As I was running today at the YMCA I caught the tag line that there is a person they have on suspicion of arson. If it turns out to be true, imagine the massive impact.

One man intentionally starting one small fire, caused over a billion (yes billion) dollars worth of damages to property, over four people dead, and thousands of peoples are being relocated, having to live in rustic, primitive housing. Not to mention that the president stopped running a country to make a personal visit. One man with a twisted desire to start fires has drastically changed thousands of people’s lives forever.

We also have something just as potent as fire. We also have a means to radically change thousands of people’s lives. Jesus describes it like this in Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

One man with an evil desire can change so many, but so can one Christ follower who allows his heart to blaze for God.

Below is an e-mail that I received from a leader in our church. I pass it on to you in it's entirety to read because I think it shows why we show God's love through service.

Hi Drew,

I got a call today from Bruce Gurley, the case worker from the ARC who referred the Little family to us. He was very appreciative of us doing the ramp for Eddie, and stated that Eddie was ecstatic with the ramp.

Mark and Stephan went out tonight and finished with the concrete work at the end of the ramp, so we should be done now. I wasn't sure if you saw the thank you letter from the Littles - below is what they said:

Dear Kim and your entire Daybreak Crew,

Thank you so much for giving up your time to spend the day at our house building me a new ramp. Although Dad tried very hard to accommodate me, he usually did things by cutting too many corners. I never felt safe using the ramp I had.

The ramp built for me today, by the very special "Daybreak Crew" is absolutely beautiful and I will feel very safe using it. I never dreamed I would ever have a ramp looking this nice. I am very grateful for all your hard work and I will be proud to tell everyone who built my new ramp.

I know this isn't much, but please accept these candles as my way of saying thank you for all your hard work and a job well done. I hope you enjoy them.

Ed Little

As a matter of fact, the Littles told me a story of how, at one point in the past, Ed had fallen off the top of the concrete ramp and ended up strapped upside down with his power chair on top of him. That must have been a scary moment - those power chairs are incredibly heavy.

Kim

This past Sunday Daybreak met at the Holiday Inn “Holidome” because our normal location was used for a fun raiser by the owners of the Delaplaine. We decided to only have one service, and to have all the children (except nursery and pre-school) join us in the service. As we were setting up, an older woman (who we didn’t know) came and started carrying stuff inside our room. We stopped her and asked if she was looking for another church (I didn’t have the heart to let her carry all our stuff in, and then stop her.) She named the church, and we pointed her in the right direction. That Sunday, there were three different churches all meeting at the same location. There were several other snafus similar to this, but you get the idea.

Among our people there were various responses to this fact. Some were excited that three churches were there; perhaps wanting to see the confusion as various people stumbling into the wrong locations. Some were nervous that somehow, there would be some kind of conflict. Others were just excited about meeting in another location. But why is it that we sometimes see other churches as competition, rather than fellow soldiers who are in the same army, who fight the same enemy, and worship the same God?

There was a church who is beginning a new church in our area, and they were meeting there. They had a fleet of various trailers and huge display signs. Instead of thinking they are competition, perhaps we could learn from them, and them from us. I plan to contact their pastor and sit down over lunch to see how we can work together.

If you are wondering about the other church (there were three, right?) – they never showed. We find ourselves in the middle many churches in our area. Some are thriving and exploding, others are dying – I want Daybreak to be apart of bringing churches together for the purpose of working together to reach people for Christ. The sooner we stop seeing each other as competition the better.

Last Monday my father and I visited Harper’s Ferry, WV. It is about ten minutes from my house and I had never been. What made the day memorable (other than having some much needed “dad-time”) was what you get for six dollars. If you have never been, you pay at toll booth style gate, park your car, check out the welcome center – which was manned by at least two people. You are then given a map and encouraged to get on a bus (which was air conditioned and clean) and driven about two miles to the town. There at Harper’s Ferry is a whole town of displays complete with tour guides taking various school groups around through the town. We were even told we could “audit” the group if we wanted. Plaques and things to read are on every entrance, bench, and pathway.

Let me get to the point. I have a job where I am constantly thinking about cost (I know for example how much the four color folding map we were given would cost). Someone has to pay for the person at the gate to take my money, the campus itself, the bus, gas, upkeep, landscaping, personnel, on and on – and we get all this for six dollars!

Who’s paying for all this? Our elected officials feel that the story of Harper’s Ferry is important enough to spend what has to be hundreds of thousands of dollars to let people know the story.

There is a saying that goes something like, “if we do not know our history, we are condemned to repeat it.” I know it’s not the exact quote – but think about a modified version of the quote, “if we know our history, we can build upon it.” We become a better nation when we and our children know what has happened. John Brown is a hero to some, and a hated person of antiquity for others. But he and his story allow our society to move forward, having learned from him. A society moving forward is worth me paying the six bucks.

Knowing your history helps you to build upon the future, whether it be unmentionable or heroic. Just keep moving forward.

Monday evening was our first parent/teacher conference since our move to Brunswick. The school system sent an info sheet home which included some suggested questions and behavior that would make the meeting go smoothly. I found it humorous that they suggested that you compliment the teacher in some way in order to establish rapport.

I think I know where the origins of this piece of paper came from. Some where in the school’s past there had been a string of bad parent/teacher conferences and the basis of the problem was parents coming to the meeting unprepared, upset, uninformed, hurt feelings, etc… and things did not go well. So an administrator somewhere said, “why don’t we put together a list of suggested questions, comments, and how to “talk” with a teacher about their children.”

I just find it a shame that our society needs someone to tell us how to talk to each other. Whatever happened to courtesy, common respect for each other, or even just love for our neighbor?

Kimberly and I left the meeting encouraged, a list of things to work on with our boys, and a renewed high respect for professional educators.

Yes, we did use the sheet of paper, and we did ask some of their questions – it was helpful.

Caleb and Joshua go to Brunswick Elementary School and have recently been learning about safety issues (police, fire, 911 etc.). Since their grandfather was visiting we thought it would be a great idea if he would come in and give a “safety” presentation. He is the sheriff of Russell County, Alabama and has over 30 years of law enforcement experience. Pop Pop gave an age appropriate talk on safety, and gave out some pencils, rub on tattoos, and plastic sheriff’s stars. Then we all went to lunch in the lunchroom and enjoyed some pizza, pretzels, and some kind of chopped fruit (I couldn’t make out what it was).

By the way, those seats that are built into the table are made much smaller today than they were when I was in Elementary school. All the students were amazingly well behaved and well mannered.

Thank you Nana and Pop Pop for making today a special day in the life of my children.

Daybreak was at the Frederick County In the Street celebration this past Saturday. In the past we spent a ton of money four color slick brochures, did a craft that got the children to come over to the table, and from there we would push the church. This year we decided to just share the gospel through a necklace with various colored beads that circled a small wooden cross. We decided to scrap trying to get people to come to us, we have decided to just focus on going and serving them.

The highlight of the day was to see our young children precisely and effectively sharing the gospel to other children. Sometimes you begin to wonder “are we making a difference?” and God gives you something like this past Saturday. I was very precious be apart of this wonderful event.

This past Saturday was Daybreak’s quarterly Respite ministry. This is where we provide a program for children with special needs so that their parents can get a break and rest. This was a special respite because we had a new friend join us. His name is Brody and he is a 100+ lbs. Malamute. Brody is a rescued gentle giant, who this past Saturday brought joy to many children.

As a therapy dog, he has been trained to do specific things, but there is a love within him that just can not be taught. Somehow he realizes that his touch brings healing, therapy, joy (whatever you want to call it) – he knows that kid’s faces light up when they see and touch him. He even seems to be especially sensitive to children who are incapable of coming to him or expressing their joy as others might. Cathy and Glen Fudge are Brody’s handlers and their ministry is wonderful.

Have you ever wondered why Sesame Street has lasted so long as a top children’s television show? There is a Sesame Street clothing line, Sesame Street toys, computer games, and many other recognizable Sesame Street icons all throughout American culture.

Another famous and long lasting children’s television show was Mr. Roger’s neighborhood. Whereas Sesame Street is loud, past paced, and introduces new technology as it is developed, Mr. Roger’s neighborhood changed very little over the years proceeding Fred Roger’s death. Mr. Roger’s neighborhood used the same hand puppets that were first used when the show began. The show followed the same flow over the years, with the famous changing of the shoes and sweater, to the trolley going to the magical world of the neighborhood of Make-believe. It was slow and often a monotone monologue with Mr. Rogers. Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood did not have the marketing arm as Sesame Street had yet there it was day after day for children and their families.

I believe that it was not flash, technology, or marketing that made these shows a success. Instead it was the laser focus on their purpose and goal of the two shows. For Sesame Street, their goal is to teach children the letters of the alphabet, and for the children to be able to count to twenty. (That’s it) They sought to appeal to the mind. Mr. Roger’s sought to appeal to the heart. He sought to show and tell children that he loved them, they are of great value, and that he wanted them to become apart of his world. He wanted to give them a world where things were quiet, predictable, and slow paced. And children loved him for it; they wanted “to be his neighbor.”

In comparison to the previous successful children’s organizations would be the decline and seeming failure of the U.S. government’s Head Start program.^[1] From its inception in the 1960s, the founders conceived of Head Start as much more than an educational program. The health, nutrition, motivation, and self-confidence of poor children were deemed to be at least as important to their future well-being as their academic learning. Another feature present from the beginning was Head Start’s rule that parents be involved in running each local program. A rationale for that principle: building parent’s self-esteem would help develop their children’s.

In short, Head Start has not been primarily an academic program.^[2] Instead of staying focused on teaching academic facts, they allowed this one admirable goal to be encroached by other goals and objectives. By allowing themselves to become sidetracked they are not reaching their ultimate and most important objective, the children’s ability to be successful in future educational excellence. Head Start believes that by helping children get a solid educational foundation, when they are young, they will be far more likely to do well in later schooling. However, instead of giving them the essential academic information needed, they have become side tracked with issues like self-esteem and nutrition.

If we are to make it over the long run, we must not allow ourselves to become sidetracked from our ultimate purpose as a church. Matthew 28:19-20 tells us the Great Commission of the church, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (NIV)" This is God’s instruction for what the church is to be doing. Every action taken by the church should be compared with this passage as the standard.

By helping people I don’t mean false sentimentality, rainbows, prancing unicorns, or an effeminate blurring of gender roles. God has given us the way to help people, and it is by authentically loving our “neighbor” (Luke 10:29). The most powerful show of love is for a person to share with another person how to have all of their sins forgiven, how to live a life with purpose, and to introduce them to their own Creator.

As a church, Daybreak is firmly rooted on the Bible and its’ teachings. To argue and fight for this (at our church) would be synonymous to “bombing rubble” after you have already won the war. We are also a church that loves people as evidenced by our ministries and stories of how our people are serving their neighbors.

But here’s where I think we are. Are we willing to change how we prefer to worship, experience God, song selections, socialize, and even express our love for God in order for someone else to feel more comfortable? Somewhere along the way, someone changed how they worshipped God (our services aren’t in Latin) in order to reach new people for Christ. One of the most powerful ways we love and help our neighbor is to give up our preferences, in order that he may be able to understand and know his Creator.

Our vision is to be constantly changing, for the purpose of reaching Frederick County for Christ. The change has to begin with you and me (not them). Paul said it like this, “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Change is hard for most people. Here are some things to think about:

1. Christ calls us to lay our lives down for others (1 John 3:16)

2. Paul as an example shows us how (1 Corinthians 9)

3. Things that are alive change, if they don’t they die. (what would you say about an infant that remained an infant for 5 years? – would not something be wrong?)

4. You already believe in Christ, and by your willingness to change, others can come to believe as well. You can be missional simply by being willing and open to change.

I am the type of guy that not a lot of things scare me. It doesn’t bother me to jump out of planes, rappel tall towers, or going extremely fast. Animals insects, ect.. don’t bother me (except for snakes-yuck). But there is a word, that when it is spoken causes a chill to go up my spine. It is the word “vision” – even writing it now, I’m wigging out. Every leadership book I have read speaks of sharing your vision, always talk about your vision, etc… I realize that as a young pastor/leader there are so many things that I don’t know, and desperately realize how very far I have to go to be a “superpastor.”

But I have what I believe God has shown me where we are going as a church, a future reality. But getting it out of my head and heart is important – how can others follow, if they don’t know where we are going?

Let’s begin with a verse of the Bible – 1 Thessalonians 1:5 (and following) “because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.” This church mentioned here weren’t just talking about the Bible, they were living it out with power and deep conviction! They were not plastic, shallow, phony, Christians; they were serious about their faith. Everywhere Paul went in this area of the world to tell others of Christ, this church’s name came up as being faithful there.

So here we go . . . .

Who Are You?

Daybreak is a church that is helping people. We are helping people here in Frederick (Hope Alive, Frederick Food Bank, Children’s Camps, Special Needs, Prayer, etc…). We are also helping people in our country (mission trips to Alabama, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, etc….). And we are beginning to help people around the world, specifically in Peru. Daybreak is not about political wrangling, but helping people.

Everyone has a need to be understood, to be loved, to belong, and we all need help. We want to be apart of something that is changing our world for the better.

How Are You Helping People?

We begin with ourselves. We want to be real and authentic with how we truly are and live. We understand that the world wants nothing to do with hypocritical Christians. We know that God is not pleased with this type of religious people (see Matthew 23). So we seek to be deep in our relationship with Jesus.

We then want to make a difference in the life of others by showing them how Christ has made a difference in our lives. We have learned that before people care about our Jesus, they have to know that we truly care for and love them. So we want to be about genuinely loving our neighbors and the world. It may be cutting their grass, watching their kids, or just listening over a cup of coffee.

Why Bother?

Because all people are important. Jesus died for them. He gave His life, and so as His disciples or followers we are to do the same. We lay down our lives for others (John 10:14).

We Accept All Kinds of People

We understand that we are growing ourselves, and we become better people by having diversity within our church. You can feel comfortable, no matter what your background may be. We know people aren’t the same and we look forward to learning from each other.

We have a bin of movies that sit beneath our television, and my children plumage through them, and yes it is necessary to them to take every single one of them out and line them out on the floor. On one of these occasions, they decided that they wanted to watch Polar Express.

There is one scene that I really enjoy watching. The children are on a magical train, they are given a free ticket (but they have to keep up with it), and they are traveling to a wondrous place. At one point the conductor asks over the intercom system, “Is anyone in need of refreshment!” All the children’s hands shot up, and at that moment stewards run down the aisles and begin to dance, sing, serving, and the children (and the viewers) are spellbound. They dance on the tables, and they shoot hot chocolate with sharp shooter precision. Everyone has fun, they are refreshed, and train moves on towards its magical destination.

What if church were like that? If we ask people, “Who is in need of refreshment?” their hands will shoot up. But often times what we give them is bitter stale coffee, which was brewed back in 50’s sometime. It’s not sweet hot chocolate, it’s moldy and irrelevant. The display before them is not energetic or served with precision; it is an entrenched, old school, boring routine.

So, Drew, you want church to be Cirque du Soleil? Yeah, sort of. What if church could be a place where people would be swept up in a wondrous movement? What if people could leave refreshed and excited about the journey. The person we are journeying to see is far better than Santa, and the place is far better the North Pole. Can we dance for the king? Can we sing with all our hearts? Can we present His mighty Word with creativity?

Who is in need of refreshment?

At a recent conference that I attended, one of the presenters asked the question, “What if your church closed its’ doors, would there be an outcry?” The idea being that the church is either making a difference, and the community sees the value they are adding, so much so that they actually speak out when it is gone. Or the church simply disappears and no on even notices, or cares.

This coming Saturday Daybreak will be serving our special needs community in a ministry that we call Respite. Parents of children with special need a rest, period. There are many parents who are on the go, protecting their children who may lack inhibition to danger, or their metabolism is extremely high and are constantly moving, or because of their medical condition they are constantly having to perform various medical procedures. We truly have a love for these families and especially the children.

But to be honest, for those who are involved and dedicated to this ministry, if we had to stop it for some reason, there would be an outcry. I believe the children themselves would cry out because a special group of people who genuinely loved them were no longer there. Their parents would cry out because a true need in their life, is now gone.

We have lost two of our precious ones since the conception of the ministry, at it still breaks our heart to even remember these children. Some have moved away to distant states, and we miss them as well. If you want to be apart of something that will cause others to cry out – be apart of Respite at Daybreak.

David is the Bible is a man that I really respect. Besides being a musician, fierce warrior, he was also a great leader. While he was running from Saul people from all over the countryside joined his band of misfits. He had a magnetic personality and leadership style. I believe that one of the characteristics of being a magnetic leader is transparency. David, in many ways, wore his heart on his sleeve. David wrote psalms, poems, songs, etc.. as expressions of love for his God, and his spiritual journey.

Some time ago, as I was studying the Bible, my heart was heavy and I wrote my own form of a psalm. Sometimes it helps just to put something down on paper. Before you read it, just know that I do not think that what I have written is “Scripture” – it is just something that I hope helps you today.

A Psalm to the Lord

My sin keeps me up at night,

it robs me of sleep and it haunts my thoughts

that should be focused on you and your purpose.

My sin remains as long as I desire it

and returns when my focus is not on you.

My enemies return and my heart pounds

and I look to my sin for relief

instead of you as my fortress and wisdom.

It is a broken crutch.

Lord cleanse me and forgive me.

I know your presence and companionship.

Your plan is far better than my sin – please take it away.

I thought it was gone, but here it is again.

Keep my ways pure and my path straight.

It is my desire to follow You.

Amen.

As a church staff we have recently read Mark Driscol’s book Radical Reformission and we are currently in the middle of Rob Bell’s book Velvet Elvis. In both of their books, chapter six seems to be their most radical chapters. For Driscol it is his acceptance and even encouragement to drink alcohol, specifically beer. For Bell, he seeks to show that heaven and hell will eventually be real places when Christians live this life in such a way to bring it about. Plus there are many other heretical statements peppered throughout the book. Bell also has a high respect for Jewish Rabbis and their traditions, but little respect and value for the Bible. Driscol on the other has a very high respect for Scripture and holds to orthodox concepts such as inerrancy and infallibility.

Is there a difference? You bet. I may not agree with Driscol’s view on alcohol, but I have heard him speak and heard his heart (and doctrine) and have absolutely no hesitation in standing beside him in order to reach our world for Christ. I have recently come to understand that if we cut off other brothers and sisters who are Christians, just because we disagree with them on a peripheral issue, it is analogous to cutting off our arm. As churches we end up hopping around, handicapped, bleeding, and we wonder why the world says, “no thank you.”

Bell on the other hand, by his teachings completely undermines Christianity by encouraging people to consider concepts about Christ that are foolish and ungrounded (see Genesis 3). We must show his book and such discussions for what they are – liberal theology that kills churches and changes the definition of the gospel from what Jesus and the disciples clearly taught.

Both argue for church culture to change, both say they desire to see people saved – but one is a serpent and one is a saint. Bottom line -- foundational doctrine is very important. Without a solid foundation, trampolines (with springs) collapse. (see Bells introduction).

Yesterday was the "car load" special at the Frederick County Fair. So Kimberly and I took the crew to see the animals, ride rides, and to have some much needed "family" time. It was a blast!

I usually take Fridays off from work and try spend the whole day doing something with my family. But recently, I confess, Fridays have become crowded with other stuff.

You have to guard your time, and make sure that those precious moments spent with your family don't slip through your fingers. I don't want to be one of those guys who gained the world, but lost what was most important to him.

There are two main ways to reach people for Christ. One is to focus on the outward appearance of a person, and expect them to change how they look. Another way would be to focus on the inside first.

A person who disciples by focusing on the outside, wants their disciple to immediately change how they dress, how they fashion their hair, their make-up, etc… One of two things can happen. Either they will change their appearance and look “Christian,” or they reject Christianity all together. The concern is really not their spiritual walk; many disciple makers simply don’t like diversity in their church.

They feel all Christians should look, sound, act, dress, and worship like they do. There is, however, a problem with this mentality – the person may change on the outside but there is little change on the inside. I believe that Jesus talked about this type of disciple making when he said to the Pharisees, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.” Matthew 23:15 When a person only focuses on the outside, you get a shallow disciple.

There is another option available to us. A disciple maker could look past the weird dress, colorful makeup, and course comments and instead focus on the heart. Jesus called people to holiness, repentance, love of neighbors, etc… The problem with this process is that it takes time and there will be moments where your disciple does things that embarrass you. But as you love them, the change comes from the inside out. They will slowly begin to make decisions about dress, behavior, etc. on their own without having to be told. Their discipleship will be heartfelt and authentic, not shallow and hypocritical.

Currently, our youth ministry is exploding and there is subtle pressure to focus on outwards things. There are some that wants us to focus on certain outward “things” immediately because it makes them feel uncomfortable. We are having tons of kids coming, and they don’t look like “us.” I say, “Praise the Lord!” In order for us to have a true impact on their lives we have to love them for who they are right now, and disciple them into whom they will become. Authentic and real discipleship takes a while. Lasting change doesn’t happen overnight.