I wonder...

This Sunday we'll celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the beginning of Towne View Baptist Church.Ours was, in many ways, a typical baptist church start of it's day.  Noonday Baptist Association saw the need for a new church as Cobb County grew north and west, spurred by the recently developed Town Center at Cobb Mall.  Supportive churches were enlisted: First Baptist of Marietta in the early days; and First Baptist of Rome would serve as primary sponsor.  With support from the association and FBC-Rome key leaders were enlisted: a missions volunteer to provide support; a distinguished baptist minister to serve as interim pastor; a generous baptist layman offered wisdom and resources; volunteers canvassed neighborhoods, set-up chairs, and provided music.  And so, on the first Sunday of March in 1989 the Kennesaw Baptist Mission held its first service.

I wonder what those pioneers would think if they saw us worship last Sunday?  Only five are still around.

• I would guess that they would have imagined a larger congregation by now.
• Without knowing the whole story, they would probably be surprised that twenty-five years later we had progressed from meeting in a motel to meeting in a gym.
• Being, for the most part baptist traditionalists, they would not been thrilled to see our use of screens for worship- back then only the charismatics used transparencies with overhead projectors
• I think they would be surprised that in addition to our support of the traditional missions-support system our members are involved in numerous hands-on, personal ministry efforts 
• I hope they would be pleased to hear a female Jamaican-born deacon lead in prayer and a teen-ager read scripture
• I'm not sure that they would have foreseen that the Pakistani brother and sister who worshiped with us would have been greeted by church members from Kenya, Columbia, Korea, Romania, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan, and Haiti  
• Hopefully, they would find comfort in our singing, prayers, concern for those who grieve, welcome to a new baby, preaching of the Good News, and commitment to future service

The song says, "may those who come behind us find us faithful." I am grateful for the faithfulness of those who came before us and pray that future generations who share in anniversary services will feel the same.

A Child's Prayer (at any age)

Watching the "wintry mix" fall outside my window I was taken to a phrase in a prayer we used to recite with the kids as they were growing-up:

Thank you Lord, for each new day you give to me,
for earth and sky and sand and sea.

For rainbows after springtime showers,
autumn leaves and summer flowers, 
winter snowscapes so serene,
harvest fields of gold and green.

Beauty shining all around,
lilac scent and robin sound.
Stars that twinkle high above,
and all the people that Iove.

Construction

I am watching, listening, sometimes feeling, even smelling the site work for our new facility this morning.  After weeks of rain it's been great to see progress again.

Our Building Committee continues diligently in their work.  The contractor is already pressing for decisions on paint, floor coverings, light fixtures, and bathroom accessories- and we don't even have a wall up, yet! These are the little things that will draw attention as people enter the new building.  This is what will be seen. We want all these small decisions to fit right, look right, feel right.

Yet, the most important work is being done now- moving dirt and preparing for the foundation.  At some point floors and walls and ceilings will draw attention upward and the dirt work will never be seen again.  But this un-seen work must be done first, and done well, or all that comes after will never be quite right.

I've stopped thinking about the building of a building now... I feel the need to give attention to the building of a life...

Reflections on Giving

In a Thanksgiving blog I reflected on my gratitude for Towne View being a thankful church. This I week I have been reminded of how giving is woven into the fabric of our congregation. In recent weeks we have:

• collected 108 shoe boxes of gifts to be distributed around the world through Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse
• in partnership with Prison Fellowship's Angel Tree shared Christmas gifts with 25 children from 12 families who have a parent incarcerated
• worked with Storehouse Ministries (Noonday Baptist Association) to distribute twelve Thanksgiving food baskets (w/turkeys) and six Christmas boxes (w/hams) to those in need in our community
• shared Christmas caroling with the residents of Laurel's Edge and Highland Court- senior living facilities in our neighborhood
• delivered a ream of paper to each of 34 classroom teachers at Chalker Elementary School
• given generously to typhoon relief in the Philippines through Baptist World Aid of the Baptist World Alliance and to support overseas mission work through the annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions

We have given in partnership with other ministries, parachurch groups, and agencies to make a tangible difference in the lives of people.  Our spirit of giving is a worthy reflection of the Gift we celebrate this season.

Nine days and counting

It's quiet on the construction site today. As I look out my window I see heavy equipment parked and almost five acres of Georgia clay turned into mud. Instead of tress crashing and dirt moving I am listening to the steady drip of water. Such things do not a happy preacher make!

The news headline reads "Nine Straight Days of Rain." I am not amused. My mind can't help but go back to the summer we broke ground on the previous building... and broke an extended drought in north Georgia.  I am not encouraged.   We have a tight schedule for the completion of our new facility. For the moment, I am not optimistic.

I know the soil needs replenishment and we all need the water supply renewed but I find myself looking up to heaven wanting to cry-out "why?" or "come on God, you know what we're trying to do here." Then I try to remind myself that "why not?" is just as good a question and that maybe I need to be open to what God is doing here.

This season we are reminded that the creator of the universe became Immanuel, "God with us." In sunshine and rain God is with us... loving us, working in us, and lovingly working through us.