Ran across this article to which I replied, AMEN!  It has cross application to both child-rearing as well as to parish life and leadership:

A while back, I had a student with a serious attitude problem. Let’s call her “Sue.” On the first day of an art course in which I first encountered Sue, my antennae shot up. At the end of my opening presentation, when I asked for questions, Sue responded by launching a missile. Due to her internship obligations, she would be late for several classes. I reiterated my policy on lateness (it’s strict) and suggested it might be best for her to drop my course. To this Sue responded that she needed to take my course to graduate (translation: “Your course is the course that suits my schedule”).

See how it turned out.

Yes, that’s my boy.

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen’d grain;
When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love; – then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

Keats, 1818

Pondering Psalm 139
”Before I let you see your baby, I have to tell you that there’s something wrong with her”. I cannot even begin to imagine the sorrow of hearing such words. You see, I have four children of my own now; and, truly, the only thing I wished for them was health. I just wanted my babies to be healthy. They could be bald, look like an alien, have a cone head that never went away, but please Lord let them be healthy. Just imagine what it must have been like to have no idea that there was anything amiss, sitting in a hospital bed with open, waiting, empty arms…..”there’s something wrong with her”. How do you even begin to filter through the rush of emotions that accompany such a phrase? From utter joy to utter despair with a few spoken words.

The Elephant in the Room
From Voddie Baucham: This past week a firestorm erupted over the recent “Elephant Room 2.”  The controversy centers around the decision to invite Bishop T.D. Jakes to participate in the event.

The Distinguishing Marks of a True Work of the Spirit of God
Jonathan Edwards sought to promote vibrant Christian faith through teaching people what the “marks,” or signs, of godly living actually are. He did so not merely because he was really smart and liked categorizing things, but because he wanted Christians to experience the joy of true Christianity and then spread that joy to others. In short, he was a missional pastor before the vodcasts and fauxhawks.

You Don’t Generate Sympathy by Being Negative
They didn’t have time to listen to me whine.  That was a great lesson to learn in my early twenties. Work hard. Give it your best. Do great work.

The Power of Why
Over the years, I’ve learned from my kids that one of the most powerful words is, “Why.”

Spurgeon on Counting Numbers
I found these thoughts from Charles Spurgeon’s book on preaching evangelistically, The Soul Winner, to be particularly helpful and remarkably relevant to contemporary discussions. Spurgeon had the rare combination of being one of the most evangelistically successful, as well as doctrinally rich, preachers of his day. How we need more who can do both!

Happy 26th Anniversary, Wifey!

This very nice article appeared this past Saturday in the Akron Beacon Journal.

Once upon a time, I was Rector of St. Anne in the Fields, Madison, OH and Chief of Staff at St. Luke’s, Bath, OH.  I was blessed, and am thankful, to have served both parishes.

I was pleased to read of how the parishes have moved forward.  I’d heard a bit last week as I was in Atlanta (for an AAC Board meeting) with +Roger Ames (my old Rector and boss).  I was saddened to read of the ongoing vindictive nature of TEC; the buildings sit empty as the parishes were not permitted to purchase the buildings from the Diocese (per the Presiding Bishop’s directives).  Folks like Carla are representative of the hundreds of folks in the various communities who were well served by these parishes – now displaced by the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio.

Carla Long is overcome with sadness every time she sees the unoccupied church building in her East Buchtel Avenue neighborhood.

“It’s heartbreaking. That church has been a beacon of light in this neighborhood,” said Long, 46. “We always called it a hospital because it was a place where you could go for comfort and healing.”

Long is a recovering addict who found support at Holy Spirit Church when it was located at 825 E. Buchtel Ave. The congregation moved out of the building in July, after losing it in a court battle.

Read the rest.

Click here to view the embedded video.

H/T: Daron

Over at his blog Kendall Harmon had interesting stats for the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia.  Being a slow Saturday, I was curious to see the same stats for the Diocese of South Carolina.

According to the U.S.Census Bureau’s figures, Charleston, the see city of the diocese, has grown in population from 96,650 in 2000 to 120,083 in 2010. This represents a population growth of approximately 24.2% in this time frame.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of South Carolina went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 12,623 in 2000 to 11,994 in 2010. This represents a decline of 5% during this decade.  The ASA for the Diocese of South Carolina peaked in 2004 at 14,143 (a 15.2% decline over these past 6 years).

We introduced this FANTASTIC song this past Sunday:

Glad to have Rob aboard. In case you missed it this past Sunday, here’s his first sermon in the Ministry Center:

Click here to view the embedded video.