Apostle David Johndrow - Fire And Grace

I don't know about you, but some days I go through the motions of Christianity... too many days in fact. I can be blatantly religious about my faith and worse, my experiences. But on occasion, God shows up in spite of my stupidity. If you have a minute, you might want to listen to this tune before you read on. It's really central to today's blather. He Reigns - Newsboys Last night I took the older girls to the 10th Anniversary Celebration of a church that I once attended. I actually had two tenures with them. I first met Pastor Mike when my own church's worship team helped them kick off their regular meetings at the local Baptist Church as they transitioned from a home-fellowship. I sat in on electric guitar that Saturday night in early 2000. I liked them and decided to stay on the worship team for about a year. When they moved from regular Saturday night services to Sunday morning services, I sadly had to step down. But I had built relationships that were meaningful an...

Yesterday I took my 21-year-old out to buy her first car. At this stage of the game I have arm wrestled some of the best car thieves in New England. I remember going to buy my first new car-- man they had me signing a contract so fast, I don't even remember what color the car was. Being a little melancholy, I got buyers remorse before I got home. Honestly, I had expected it to be a fun experience. I lost control of the exchange pretty fast, almost feeling guilty about not buying a car that I liked OK, but didn't really want. It took another year before I tried it again. Now that the economy is limping along, I thought they would be begging us to come in. And I was partially right. They offered me real coffee, with real half and half. They sat us down at a table in the middle of the show room-- no cubes and no desks in this place. My daughter is a typical kid and somewhat typical of a female car buyer. "I like the gray one," she says. I took my opportunity to put on th...

This morning I went to the Memorial Day parade in Holliston, MA; a little town not too far from Boston. Me and the girls, we parked the car at St. Mary's, arriving early enough to get a shady seat on the bench in front of Fisk's Variety Store. My wife's family and friends are usually there, and the kids like the flags and the small town excitement. In the distance we could hear the High School band and the crackle of police walkie-talkies. The excitement grew as the parade neared our vantage point across from the Superette. With blue lights flashing, Charlotte's uncle John rounded the corner onto Route 16 in his patrol car, clad in his Ray-Ban's and a proud smile, he blipped the siren signaling the last few pedestrians to get to the sidewalk. Behind him the rumble of a 30's something-or-other roadster, and the clickty-clack of a Ford Model-T succumbed to the applause of those of us lining the sidewalk. A round of cheers for the WWII vets, the Korean War, the Vie...

I was thinking of writing my own Memorial Day blog, but my brother wrote one that I liked a lot. For me, it's been a long time since I had to line up with a bunch of other naked men and bend over for the Army doctor at the New Haven Armed Forces Recruiting Center. 30 something years later I still know what a flagpole truck is. And believe me "give me 5" (50 or 100) has a whole new meaning when it's 112 degrees and 90% humidity. Today we remember what's been done for us, the sacrifice made by millions of Americans over the centuries. From the battles of Bunker Hill and Lexington (which are just a few short mile from my home) to the deserts of Iraq. I salute you. Memorial Day - Lee Johndrow My dad was a veteran of World War II. Like many he paid a price. (Even as I write this, today would have been his birthday.) When he died left behind 2 Purple Hearts. My Dad was proud to have served his country. He lost many friends. (One of his Purple Hearts was the result of l...

John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard movement, used to say "everyone gets to play." What he meant was that the leadership wasn't going to be doing all the ministry. And that is a good thing because, in most denominations, the pastoral and overseeing authorities were really separated from the laity. They were the paid "holy men," often doing all the praying, all the teaching and all the administration and counseling too. Bigger churches just had more paid holy men to carry out the so called ministry of the church. When I was doing missions in Brazil, I found it really difficult to just be a regular guy, trying to do what I saw the Father doing. Everyone wanted to address me with some sort of title -- out respect for sure -- but I wasn't ordained at the time. The separation between me and them was perceived. Sure, I studied the Bible in a formal school... but really, who gives a flying epistle? Paul the apostle was a very well educated Jew, but he didn't...

Division and disagreement in the church is nothing new, but it sure ain't God's fault. For awhile it seemed like the most popular church planting model was a resentment and coffee pot! As I discussed in the blog "The Great Divide ", there needs to be a way to reconcile the opposing views by inserting the will God over everything else. This is not an intellectual endeavor, but a spiritual one. However; division in the church is historical. 1 Corinthians 3:3 For you are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men? There are more divisions in church then there are denominations! It's still not God's fault. The central problem lies with human nature-- but hey, aren't we supposed to control that with the Spirit? In the US Army, AIT is an acronym for "advanced individual training"... but for the purpose of this blog, it means, "attitude, integrity and teaching." That is h...

I have been playing guitar for along time. I grew up in the rock-blues era of the late 60's and early 70's -- that is when I formed my musical DNA. When I was in music school, I learned lots of different stuff, but I learned the blues which a bunch of homegrown guitarists. In the movie Crossroads, there was great line. "You don't play the blues, you live it." It's funny how music can be such an expression of the emotions, yet so technical. I guess that my writing is a bit the same... maybe you identify with some of the emotion-- shaking your head, sometimes saying , "yeah, I feel like that" - and you are not too worried about my comma-sense. It is parallel to the difference between being legalistic or spiritual. One is the essence of God's Holy Spirit, and the other is simply head knowledge about God. As we battle to forces of life, God is building character, and that is something that you just gotta live. Happy Friday.