Falling Into the Abyss

Friends,

I apologize for the long delay. I just realized that the last post was back in October. (That's not exactly true!) This is December and we are closing in on one of the busiest times of the calendar that anyone should be exposed to. Let me catch you up on some really big stuff that is going on right now in our lives of ministry.



1. A DAD&LAD TRIP -- Scott and I went to Erie PA on an overnight Father-n-Son adventure. We took in some lighthouses, shot some digital photography, ate some Chinese, played in the waterslides, ate some hot wings, played chess and ate Timmy Ho's Canadian Maple Donuts!! Oh yeah, we also had a great conversation about coming of age, becoming a young man, and following after God. We used Proverbs 3 to have a "my son" speech of our own. Scott was pretty freaked out by the whole serious conversation thing. But I tried to tone it down when I saw how spooked he got. It was a great weekend, except for being beaten in chess by a teenager!!! :)



2. A DRAMA -- Sue and I are the husband and wife in a family holiday drama called "Baggage Claim". It is an outreach drama with a great message. The family looks the stereotypical part of four people with it all under control. In fact, my character makes a speech to his son about the world respecting a man who has in all under control, who takes charge of his own life, etc. In the end, all of their internal dysfunction comes out and they leave their baggage in the capable hands of the baggage bellhop character. It is a modern day parable of Jesus Christ and his offer of rescue for today. Very good script, very grueling schedule -- very great results?? We are praying to that end.



3. A SEASON of ADVENT -- our church has included the advent candles/wreath in our worship. We light the candles each week and talk about what each one symbolizes. We use this as a time fo rthe kids to come up front and interact with me around the wreath. The problem is that it is all unscripted. And as Art Linkletter (and later Bill Cosby) said "kids say the darndest things". It has been a good time of focus for Christmas for me and for the kids. We are using the nativity poem and characters from Family Life Publishing called "What God Wants for Christmas". It is really neat to watch them open each box. I hope that they get the ending!



4. AN MP3 PLAYER -- I just bought a Creative Labs Zen Stone MP3 player and have been enjoying downlaoding sermons, books, music and other stuff from off of the web. For a guy that loves information, an MP3 player is a very cool toy. I just listened to four pastors on a Pastor to Pastor intervew series with HB London Jr. on the topic of Church Health. Great stuff!



Well, please keep blogging and reading and growing and ministering, even when this page falls silent. Be assured that I have not laid down or fallen off the face of the earth. I also have been blogging with some other sites as a contributor rather than a host. Why don't you drop me a note and tell me what you are doing?

• sites that you have visited in the past 24 hours
• books that you have been reading
• trips that you have taken, plan on taking for Christmas
• ministries that you are involved in
• etc.

I hope that you have not fallen into the abyss of busyness and that if you have that you are climbing out. I hope that you will drop me a note letting me know how you are doing,

Mike