Mark LaGrone

Fall Time

This our view from the front door.  I love this time of year and the red tree really stands out in a distance.  It is a nice rainy day - perfect for relaxing and reading. If only the temp was a little cooler.

Bang for your Buck

As I was flipping through the channels the other day I came across a show entitled “Bang For Your Buck”.  The show was based on three couples spending more on a single renovation than I make in two years to have the renovation evaluated by a designer and a real-estate  person.  At the end of the show the winner is the one who came the closest to getting the most value for the money.

 

I had the privilege of taking some students to a theme park this summer.  As I was walking thru the park I noticed a group of people performing.  I stopped to watch and enjoy the show.  This was a group of 25 students from a church who were singing and doing a drama skit along with it.  They were very talented and you could tell they had put a lot of time into practicing.  However, no one outside of the group watched the performance.  As a matter of fact there were people walking in front of them oblivious to the fact that these young people singing.  At the end parents applauded and everyone dispersed to have a great time at the park.

 

This got me thinking about how we do things in the church.  As I mentioned earlier you could tell these students had put in a lot of time, but did they really get a lot of “Bang for their buck”?   I thought about the hours of practice, travel time, and expense with the hopes of sharing the gospel.  What standards could we have used to evaluate their work.  I thought about my own church and  the ministries I am responsible for.  Am I making the best choices?  Do I need to re-evaluate how effective I am? The real answer? I have my work cut out for me.  How about you as a Sunday School teacher? Are lives being changed? Are marriages and families being strengthened?

 

Let’s commit together to make sure we are getting the most “Bang for our buck” and not just to do things the easy way or just because we have always done them that way.

 

Unexpected Snow

I woke this morning to an unexpected snow fall of about 3-5 inches. Of course when you go to bed in Memphis and they tell you there is a slight chance of some flurries; this is what usually happens. This was a nice surprise. My alarm went off at the normal time and my family gets the day to sleep late. So I sat in the den this morning with snow outside, fire going, and a good cup of coffee.  All of this adds up to a relaxing morning devotional time.

There is something about a new snow fall that give you a calm feeling and yet at the same time everything is fresh.  The earth looks like it gets a "Do - over".  I enjoy looking at the snow before any cars come down the road and kids begin to play.  It is my time to just enjoy the small window of perfection.  I have the same feeling every morning at the beach.  I love the sand before anyone walks on it.

This morning it reminded me of how Jesus' blood on the cross " washed me whiter than snow".  Because of what He did on the cross my life has a "do-over". In fact every morning and every moment is a "do-over".  I know longer have to live a defeated empty life.  I constantly have a new white snow fall in my life.

Snow Days

Once again here in the big city of Memphis they told us to expect 1 to 2 inches of snow.  What did we get? Our usual - just barely covering the ground and yes the world for us does tend to stop.  Still it made for a relaxing day.

Today is my day off this week from work so I decided to work anyway and have put in about a half a day here at home working on some projects that I needed to do without interruptions. Sometimes snow days are good for this. Janice is working on projects downstairs and my daughter is enjoying a snow day off from school. BTW the school was officially open, but they told us to use our judgement; so I did. I went back to bed and let everyone else sleep in. I like these kind of snows where the ground looks good and I can still get out to go somewhere if I choose to. I hate the feeling of being trapped.

50?

Last week I turned 50 years of age.  It was actually a great week.  I had several people tell me they thought I was taking this “getting older “ thing way too easy.  The more I thought about it the more I enjoy where I am in life. 

 

To me 50 is the perfect age.  I am not too young as to be considered immature (although you would think differently if you stayed with me all day), I have some experience in my life that makes me valuable in some areas, and physically I am in “ok” shape.  I have come to grips that I love pizza way too much to ever have 6-pack abs.  Besides I hate making others feel bad J

 

It is also a great time to reflect.  I think God wires us at a certain age to stop are ask, “How do I want to finish in life?”  The last few weeks have left me asking that question more than ever before.  Would I change some things if I could do them over; sure we all feel that way. I am a very blessed man:  I have a great relationship with my wife and daughter, I am at a church where God is doing some neat things, and my friendships in life are getting deeper.  Yes, I have problems just like everyone else, but I do feel blessed.  However, I want to live strategically.  I do want the last part of this life to bear much fruit.  I will let you in on the journey as it progresses.

Recommitting

I attended the wedding of a young man that is on my Educational Team this past Saturday.  I never attend a wedding that somehow I do not go thru the ceremony and use that time to reflect on my marriage and recommit my vows to Janice.  We have a great marriage and enjoy spending time with each other, but sometimes with all of the busyness of life it is nice to stop, reflect, and recommit. 

This also got me to thinking about why Jesus had us to remember the ordinance of the "Lord's Supper".  Having these times built into our church life is crucial to help us in our busy lives.  Stopping to reflect and recommit is vital in our spiritual journey as well as our earthly relationships.

I am hoping that God gives you some spiritual pauses in your life for you to recommit to Him and to those around you.

The Pause That Refreshes

I woke up this morning to the sound of a slow rain coming down.  I absolutely love days like this.  Rain depresses some people, but for me it has a calming effect.  I even love just walking around in it.  My first instinct this morning was to grab a cup of coffee, good book, journal / pen and sit out on our screened in back porch.  Unfortunately I have a “to-do” list that is a mile long, calls to return, emails to answer, and meetings to attend. Still how many times do you get a cool rainy morning in July? Ahh – responsibility!!

 

So I decided to make a quick stop by my Starbucks just to make it up to myself.  I entered and normally there is some music playing that sends me out quicker than I came in, but today was different.  Smooth jazz – sax playing.  Well I had to get a scone and just sit for a minute in a comfy chair while that one song played.  The next song was a relaxing guitar; ok one more song.  It is interesting how a place can be peaceful and yet crowed at the same time.  As that song ended the rain quit and the sun came out.  Time to get back to the real world.  As I gathered my coffee and scone I thought about a poem.

 

Mr. Frost you had it right  - a moment of reflection “and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.”

What's up with the storms?

Having been in the ministry for about 24 years there are some things that I still do not understand.  Storms on Sunday mornings are one of those things. It is a constant struggle getting people to come to church and when a storm occurs it really keeps people at home.  Adrian Rogers had a saying when it rained on Sunday morning “ That’s not thunder – its 10,000 Baptists rolling over in their bed.”  There is a lot of truth in that statement.  You can always count on the senior adults coming no matter what and the younger people staying home no matter what.

 As a minister you know that on Sunday mornings this is where you come to do corporate worship, learn to operate as the body and study the Bible.  Naturally you want as many people here as possible to grow deeper in their walk.  So when the storms do come you find yourself asking God “ What’s up with the storms?”  My grandfather used to tell me; “John (why he called me John is for another post) God never works against Himself.”  That was pretty good sage advice.  You know that God is in control and does have the bigger picture.  Over the years I have learned to say to myself that God must have a special message that He only wants the core group to hear today. I am looking forward to the day when I can see the bigger picture and go “oh – now I get it”.

Christianity In Crisis

“Christianity In Crisis” by Hank Hanegraaff turned out to be different than I thought it was going to be.  I expected him to discuss different beliefs and doctrines.  What I did not expect, but I liked, was the way he took a several of the modern day TV preachers and exposed them and their false teaching and also giving background on where some of their beliefs came from.  That made reading the book really interesting.  In a culture where a lot of people get their theology from television and talk show hosts; this book is a much need response to some of their questions.  In reading this you find out how subtle the effort is for false doctrine.

 

Not only does Hank Hanegraaff expose the false doctrines, but he also spends time helping us to develop a healthy set of values and doctrines.  His viewpoints are very conservative, but if you know anything about him you would expect that.  This is one of those books where you have to read some, put it down, think about it, and then read some more. This is not a “quick read” book, but it is a book that you should read at some point.

 

My main complaint with the book has nothing to do with what was written, but instead with something more shallow.  I had a hard time reading the book due to it’s size.  I am the kind of person that always has something to read with me.  Due to the physical size of the book, it does not travel well.  I found myself wishing I had a Kindle 2 with this book loaded on it. A sad confession, but the truth nonetheless.

Journaling

In the last few years I have gotten into journaling some.  Actually I have a love affair with fountain pens and Clairefontaine journals and I look for any excuse to write.  I love the way fountain pens just seem to flow on the paper and the Clairefountaines are a splurge for me.  Ok – for most people an $8.00 expense is not really a splurge, but sometimes a splurge is the way something makes you feel and not just the cost involved.

 

I started with a prayer journal and writing down my thoughts that God was showing me as I was working thru my devotional.  I have enjoyed going back and seeing how God has answered prayers and given me direction.  I struggled initially when I would miss a day; guilt comes quickly in my life, but once you give yourself permission to journal when the mood hits you feel better about your schedule.  Journaling gives me a way to work thru some of my problems and frustrations.  Sometimes, just being able to write things out helps.

 

I currently have about three different journals going.  In addition to the prayer journal I have started one that list highlights of what is going on in my life plus I am trying to write down some of my favorite memories about family and places I have been.  I am hoping this will be fun for my family to read after I am gone and give insight to the grandparents they never got to meet.  I am starting another one for “My Best Advice and Things I Have Learned”.  This will be just random thoughts and advice that I hope to give to my daughter. She will leave the “nest” one day and there will be a thousand things I wish I could tell her.  Maybe this will give me a head start.