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This morning I am riding to Angola for a day long seminar with the residents who completed the Kairos weekend. Of the 40 something team members, about 10 of us have decided to go back. It’s not part of the original commitment. To go or not is a decision. There are lots of important things for me to do here and to decide to stay in town today would not necessarily have been a bad choice, just a different one. Because of the choice I made, my life will be different. Maybe just a tiny bit, but different. Life is a series of choices. Nothing very deep there, but we need to think about that occasionally. If we could look back on our lives we would see a complex of connecting forks in the road. At any place we could have gone left, instead of right, and our lives would have been different. When we consider, and fervently believe, that God has a plan for our lives, we must acknowledge that He is a wonderfully complex God. He certainly has a lot of options to consider. The blessing is that no matter how many lefts, that should have been rights, God […]

The inmates at Angola laughingly refer to their environment as Louisiana’s most exotic vacation spot. It is exotic. Exotic may mean “not native to the place where found.” What many found at Angola was was not native to Louisiana or, in fact, to this planet: love, peace and the salvation of life in Christ. Thanks for sending me to this exotic vacation resort, and for being on the mission with me.       Paul and Barnabas set the standard for the church’s mission work when they obeyed God’s call to go forth. The local body of believers—those left behind to share Christ with neighbors and friends—equipped the men for their journey. They did so for the same reasons that apply today: 1. The spiritual condition of mankind. Romans 1:21–32 describes this sinful world. There is sin and sinners at Angola; but there is sin everywhere.2. God’s spiritual provision. The Father responded to mankind’s plight with grace: He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to save the world. On the cross, Christ bore the sin of every person—living, no longer alive, and yet to be born. The offer of salvation is for all; God’s grace is blind to race, creed, and color (Romans […]

This weekend I had the privilege of participating in a Kairos weekend. It’s one of the greatest things I am involved in, at best, a few times a year. I wish I could do it more often. During that weekend, I had the privilege of holding a man’s hand when he gave his life to Christ. Sadly,  I have had that privilege far very few times in my life. I am commissioned by my Lord to have that privilege MUCH more often. It’s great to bring men hope and love. We have to make sure that in doing so we make it clear that Jesus is the only source of that hope and love. We had a Muslim participating in the weekend. At the end, he was obviously moved and changed by the love  he felt and the story of hope he heard. But He was just as hell bound at the end as He was in the beginning. He was still a Muslim.  At least one team member was concerned that we had,  somehow distinguished Muslims and Christians and ignored the “brotherhood” between each. Ignoring the existence or non-existence of any such brotherhood, praise God that we made a distinction. There is […]

It’s the first day of Kairos #53 at Angola. This isn’t my first dance. Been there. Done that. But here I am up at three in the morning, too excited to sleep. It reminds me of trips I used to take as a child. Couldn’t wait to get started. Why is that? I know I’ll regret the early morning. Day 1 is long, lot’s of sitting around and waiting. Rushing around to get business done so I can be gone for four days. Making sure my wife has everything she’ll need. Dealing with the last minute attacks, like discovering that my truck’s inspection sticker expired at the end of last month. One more thing to do before I can leave town. Wondering what work really needs to be done before next week and what can really wait. Realizing I will miss witnessing UL’s  chance to win a conference championship. What’s the big deal? If we were just visiting guys, many of whom never get a visitor,  that would be enough. If we were just bringing meals to guys who have to survive on food you wouldn’t feed your worst enemy, that would be enough. If we were bringing home-made […]

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 In the study of English “the” is known as a definite article. In one sense it is used to mark a noun as best known, most important, most satisfying. It excludes all other possibilities. In this statement Jesus is saying there is no other way, no other truth, no other life. That message is an offense in our pluralistic society. We are sorely tempted to substitute the definite “the” with the indefinite “an.” We want to be satisfied saying that Jesus is our way, our truth and our life, leaving you free to find your way, your truth and your life.  But He doesn’t permit that. Truth is truth. The truth is that the ways others are pursuing, the “truth” they are expounding, the life they are exalting are all false. That’s a hard truth but there are no small exceptions to Biblical Truth. A half-truth is a lie. Truth is objective not subjective. Truth is absolute and not a sliding scale. If we just smile and nod when others proclaim their “truth” we allow a lie to stand. […]

James 5:12 New King James Version (NKJV) 12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment. My brother Gary’s sermon continues to bear fruit. This morning I was thinking about his story about his Father’s promise to give him something, a promise that was never fulfilled. Many of us harbor bitterness and resentment. And much of that resentment is directed toward our fathers over a serious matter of broken promises. If we have been the victim of broken promises we need to recognize how that has affected us, forgive the promise breaker and move on. I can assure you the breaker of the promise has most likely long ago forgotten the incident. In fact, that’s probably why the promise was never kept. It usually isn’t intentional, we just forget. As parents a promise made in an off hand way which means little to us can be of tremendous importance to our child. We need to consider the problem from the other side. Do we have unfulfilled promises laying out there. The victim of our promise breaking may […]

For those of you who live under a rock somewhere, let me advise you that the LSU Tigers won the “Game of the Century” on Saturday night defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide. I couldn’t help notice all the folks in Tiger Gear as I  moved around on Sunday. I have to think these guys are not wearing the same clothes they wore to the game Saturday night. Much of the gear had the look of not having been worn in a while. I suspect the sale of Tiger Gear which has been rising steadily all season as the Tigers continued undefeated, will shoot up this morning after Saturday’s win.  It’s human nature, I suppose, to jump on bandwagons. I am sure as the years past 200,000 people will claim to have been at the “big game” all pulling for LSU. I overheard many conversations recounting how “we won” the big game.  Have you ever noticed that after a victory, “fans” will proclaim, “We won.” After a loss, the cry is “they lost.” Again, I guess it’s just human nature to want to claim credit when things are going well and to distance ourselves when things aren’t so good. This […]

Hebrews 10:25 New International Version (NIV) 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Do you ever feel discouraged? Are there times when it all doesn’t seem worth while. Does it seem like you are pushing a bolder uphill and you just hit a slippery spot.  It is interesting to me that when the author of Hebrews encourages Christians not to give up meeting together, the reason he gives is encouragement. It’s not worship or prayer, or listening to sermons. It’s not even sharing communion. It’s encouragement. We can pray on our own. We can worship on our own. We can turn on our television, radio or computer and receive great teaching. The one thing we can’t do on our own is to encourage or be encouraged. I attended two Kairos meetings this weekend: Friday night and Saturday morning. We had great music, some practical information, but, bottom line: we encouraged each other. As we get closer to our time of ministry, Satan gets nervous and becomes more active. Anyone who had ministered in any way for any length of time […]