THAT'S BETTER!

The cloud hanging over us these past weeks just lifted. The final word from our son Jonathan, after getting the results of tests on his lymph nodes, is that nothing cancerous was found.

The thorasic surgeon is now opting for a diagnosis of an auto-immune disease, sarcoidosis, which is far from pleasant but not life-threatening. Prolonged treatment with steroids is in Jonathan's immediate future.

Thanks to all who have prayed for him and Donna - and for us too!

FED UP

Remember that old - and wise - saying about "Don't bit the hand that feeds you"? There have been a lot of them around for the past week or so - hands feeding us, that is.

Rose Leone came to me a couple of years ago and said she thought it would be a great thing if the church could offer to provide meals for families in times of need. So in true Grace Church style, I threw it back on her and said, Great idea - you do it! And she did.

Made With Love has delivered hundreds of meals to folks in all kinds of circumstances and I have heard an amazing amount of stories of how blessed people have been by this practical ministry and the demonstration of love that it gives.

Of course I have never been on the receiving end of it - until Gill got home from hospital last week, that is. For over a week now, every day at dinner time, someone has come to the door with an outstanding meal to help ease the burden as she continues the slow process of recovery from her surgery.

We have been incredibly well fed, but the food itself is only part of the story, the care, love and support that are conveyed through the meals have been tremendously encouraging.

Most folks know I like good food and so it's a no-brainer this Friday, our Supercool Person Of The Week is the person who had the vision, put it into practice and keeps the meals rolling, Rose Leone!

Her commitment to caring and her selfless serving of others make her one outstanding lady.

IPOD

I have a bunch of CDs, a load of sermon series, podcasts from a number of churches, videocasts and several episodes of Commander In Chief on my Ipod now ...

... and I'm still only using 2.78GB of its 30GB memory.

Still a lot of scope. Just like there is in all of us and especially in Grace Church!

TIME FOR CHANGE

Okay, here's the deal. Yesterday I had lunch with a member of the Town Board to talk about our proposed building and the Town of Brookhaven's illegal position on church buildings in general.

It wasn't over-encouraging, but it did give me a some renewed direction. It seems that the new Town Board is overwhelmed with work and probably knows little or nothing about the fact that its predecessors (which includes some people still in office) took a lump out of the Constitution and decided to regulate worship for almost half a million people around us. While we were under the impression that the Town was pursuing necessary proceedures to right their own wrongs, the fact is there's a good chance nothing at all has been done yet. This Board member is going to get an answer on that for me.

My response to all this is that we need to stop looking at the UA movie theater as a temporary home and realize that there's a chance we're going to be there for quite a while.

So I want to go all out to personalize it, improve our equipment, facilities and appearance and upgrade everything we do and offer so that it is the best it can be. I want people to come into the theater and say "Wow". So instead of holding back until we can do all we want in a place of our own, I think we should look on Patchogue UA as the place of our own we have right now and give it all we've got.

Some day the Town of Brookhaven will sort itself out or maybe the Suffolk DA will do it for them. At some point they will either change their code or face us in Federal Court, but their ineptitude is a sideshow. Fighting them is necessary, but it is not the main event.

I want us to put 110% into the thing that really matters - sharing Christ in a way that is relevant to the 21st century. We may be renters, it may be temporary, but on Sunday mornings that movie theater is ours and it needs to be the most exciting thing for miles around.

THREE AMAZING WEEKENDS

I live for Sundays. It's the main door that folks use to become a part of Grace Church and more importantly, of the family of God. There's a build-up each week as I wait to see what God will do.

So I am really pumped about the next three weekends -

1. Next Sunday, April 2nd
It's the finale of our Mad Money series and we're going to end it with a bang. We're going to do something I have never done in almost 36 years of pastoring. It will stretch some people, annoy the heck out of others, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!

2. Palm Sunday, April 9th
This is our Celebration Sunday, which will have two main components. First of all we're going to be celebrating with eleven people who will be baptized during the morning service. Then we'll be remembering what Jesus has done for us by celebrating communion together. You will hardly believe some of the stories you'll hear from those who are going to be baptized. They really are living miracles.

3. Easter Sunday, April 16th
It's the church's Superbowl Sunday! We're gearing up for a great crowd this Easter and will be offering three simultaneous services. There's a special Easter Promiseland program for kids from Pre-K through 6th Grade, plus the long-awaited return of our alternative service, Altered. In our main venue we'll be kicking off a whole new series on parenting, You Must Be Kidding.

There's a crazy three weeks ahead. I love this stuff!

BIG MINDS AND BIG HEARTS

Following the conclusion of our Mad Money series (Sunday), we are offering a six weeks class on financial management that is stirring up a lot of interest. I'm glad about that because freedom from fiscal pressure is a rare commodity nowadays and my take on the Christian life is that Jesus planned for it to be a happy thing that would attract others to adopt it, not the pitiful existence so many seem content to put up with.

Here's my two cents - if it's broken, get it fixed. Life's too short to be tolerated substandard.

We're having the classes in the Church of The Nazarene in Patchogue, just a block over from World Outreach Church of God where we have offer our study course The Journey At Grace Church every three months. That in turn is a couple of miles west of Christian Assembly which will host our bi-monthly worship night 4HIM tomorrow.

I've met a whole bunch of small-minded, self-centered pastors in my day and was one myself at one time. Nowadays I try to keep a far bigger view of things and love that we have so many local pastors working for the overall picture of building God's kingdom and not just jealously protecting their own patch.

We may not have a building of our own, but we've never been stuck for a spot to do something - thanks to men with big minds and big hearts.

MAD MONEY SUNDAY

Now that I'm at my computer for a brief while, let me catch up. I love Grace Church! I don't know about anyone else, but I had a blast Sunday morning - no wonder I'm always waiting impatiently for Sunday to roll around.

I'm enjoying teaching this series on finance, but I must admit to the fact that I was really nervous before service this week. It wasn't because I was afraid I might upset some regulars - though I may well have done - it was because when I arrived at the theater (a lot later than usual) there were so many visitors around the place.

I don't know where they all came from, but there were a bunch of new faces all over and then I started to get paranoid. I didn't want first-time guests to think that I'm another charlatan who's only interested in their money. I was afraid they'd be totally put off. So I probably apologized more than I needed to while I was speaking, because it was pretty heavy stuff. Bottom line - God knows!

I did like the clips from The King Of Queens that I used. I thought they were hilarious. I've only ever watched one episode of the show before and that was while I was on a plane, but I might be tempted to check it out a bit more.

In case you weren't there, I did mention that next Sunday as I wrap up this series we're going to look at tithing very thoroughly. I also said that if that's likely to trouble you, feel free to take the morning off. Hey, last time I checked, the book said God loves cheerful givers!

24 HOUR PHARMACIES

It has been an interesting few days, which is why I haven't contributed anything to these pages in a while. It has taken a while to get Gill's medications balanced so that she doesn't have another day like Saturday when she threw up everything she tried to eat, or Sunday/Monday when she was climbing the walls with pain.

Three times over the weekend we have needed a pharmacy at a weird time of day - 6.30am, 8.30pm, 9.30pm and our local friendly, neighborhood drug store at the end of the street was no use at all.

It's real convenient to be able to go there for most things and we've got to know everyone who works there, most of whom come from Pakistan originally. I've had some great chats with them about the work our church is involved with in India, South Africa and the Domican Republic and we also took about the wonders of Asian food. They're great folks and provide a great service - during regular hours.

But when you're in a corner and need some extra help, it's good to know that any time of the day or night you can drive down to Selden and chat to a bleary-eyed pharmacist who you hope is compus mentus enough to fill your prescription correctly.

I'll take efficiency over convenience any day.

Makes me wonder how many people are sitting in churches that are convenient and friendly, but really just aren't cutting it!!!

MEDICAL UPDATES

I have no idea who reads or doesn't read this blog, though at least two people have told me that they have visited here at some point in time. Since both of those know my family, here's the latest medical report from the Blackmores.

#1 BIG NEWS
Jonathan had minor surgery today to remove some lymph nodes for lab work to be done to determine whether lymphoma has been the cause of his recent bad health. The surgeon said nothing is definite until the reports come back but to his eye there is no sign of anything cancerous! Now that folks, is good news! Watch this space for the final celebration.

#2 MORE GOOD NEWS
Gill has had a busy day with visits from Home Care and the physical therapist. Starting Sunday she will be getting therapy every day at home and in the meanwhile she has a machine that works her knee four hours a day. The physical therapist says Gill is able to bend her leg like some people can't do until two weeks after surgery. Not being one to sit around, she'll be pushing herself for sure.

So that's the update for the two of you about the two of them!

PASTORS' WIVES

Millions of years ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth, American Idol had not been thought of and Gill and I were just dating, we had a particularly emotional discussion as we walked together along the banks of the River Exe in my home town one sultry summer evening.

I was still in Bible School and was looking forward to graduating and searching for a church dumb enough to take me on as its pastor. We planned to marry later that year and would then embark on this new adventure together. But suddenly everything was apparently torpedoed with a single sentence, "I don't want to be a pastor's wife."

I had a pretty good idea of where she was coming from as we talked about the roles played by the spouses of pastors we knew. We had observed that -

1. Pastors' wives tend to come in at number 101, 201, 501, 1001, etc., in their husband's order of priorities, depending on the size of the church.

2. Pastors' wives are expected to be unpaid assistants to their husbands in all that they do.

3. Regardless of what other responsibilities they have, pastors' wives are expected to be at every single church function, organize women's events, counsel whoever, even substitute for their husbands. Of course if they lead worship, teach children's church and visit the seniors that is doing no more than what is expected of them.

4. Nowadays on Long Island, it seems automatic that if your husband is a pastor, you take the title too - Pastors John and Jane Doe! What nonsense! Marrying a pastor doesn't automatically make you an Ephesians 4 gift of a pastor and no one should try to squeeze a woman into that role. That's one reason why I meet so many unhappy pastors' wives - attempting to be what they are not and feeling a failure because they aren't Paula White.

We settled that issue on the banks of the Exe when I told Gill to forget about being a pastor's wife and just be my wife. She has been that for over 36 years and has also been the best wife any pastor could have.

By the way, she's my Supercool Person Of The Week too!

GILL'S HOME!

They threw her out of St.Charles early this afternoon!!

Seems like the surgery went particularly well and she shuffles around quite deftly with her walker. Of course swallowing controlled substances every four hours is what is really keeping her going.

Long road ahead, but she's on the way!

CHECK YOUR BRAKES

I had my car serviced a few weeks ago and thankfully despite having around 120,000 miles on the clock, it didn't need anything major. My friendly mechanic (who is part of our church) did warn me that next time he checks it over for me it will need brakes. I'm glad he picked up on that, because you really don't know how your brakes are until you need them.

When I'm driving along the Long Island Expressway, cruising at 70 and watching for cops, I'm not wondering how my brakes are doing. It's when some idiot cuts me off, the person in front of me slows down for no apparent reason or any of 1001 other unexpected events arise that I hit the pedal and am very relieved that there is something there.

Faith's a bit like that. When we're cruising through life, it's there and it's important, but we're not necessarily aware of it. It's when our path takes an unexpected twist and more is required of us than we had expected that faith really comes into its own.

Faith isn't a feeling or a persuasion, it doesn't exist in a vacuum. It is the heart's response to things God has said.

I've been thinking about some of the things that I am convinced about, based on what I have come to know of God ...

1. I am totally convinced of the goodness of God.

2. I believe that God has a unique plan for every person's life.

3. I believe that God looks after those who are his and that nothing can cause them harm.

4. I believe that God works everything in our lives for our ultimate and eternal good.

5. I believe that the God of heaven loves me immeasurably - and that takes more faith to grasp than most of us can muster, even on the best of days!

These truths mean more to us at some times than others - but they are always there.

UPDATE FROM ST.ELSEWHERE

Glad to say Gill is doing really well today. They seem to have the pain under control, the nausea has gone and she is back to keeping me organized. She is walking slowly with a walker and should be home tomorrow to continue what will be a lengthy recovery period.

Deep in the heart of Texas, Jonathan is feeling a little better as the steroids seem to be easing his breathing somewhat and another medication is alieviating his constant cough. His next investigative proceedure is on Friday.

That's it for now, the buzzer just sounded which means I need to take the laundry out of the dryer!!!

FOCUSED

To the casual observer, I might appear a little distracted today, but I don't think so.

Sure, my mind is all over the place, with phone calls from Texas updating me on the developments in Jonathan's pursuit of a firm diagnosis of his health problems and calls from/visits to Gill in the hospital on her first full post-op day.

The news from St.Charles is that the physical therapist has had Gill up and walking several times today already. She's experiencing quite a bit of pain, but hopefully they will get her pain medications stabilized soon to deal with that. When I was there earlier it looked like they had given her too much of some happy drug or other as she could hardly keep her eyes open. So I left her to sleep and will go back later.

Jonathan got a call from his thorasic surgeon at home last night (I guess they do things differently in Texas) and they arranged for him to have the surgery to remove and test some lymph nodes on Friday. Today he is doing tests the pulmanory doctor wants and then rushing over for pre-op stuff at another hospital.

So, am I distracted? Not at all - I'm focused. Focused on where my mind needs to be right now. Focused on the people and the issues that most need my attention. Whatever our ministry might be, it is always secondary to ministering to our families.

A lot of preachers won't tell you that. But then, I'm not a lot of preachers.

SURGERY A SUCCESS

The good news is that Gill's surgery went pretty much according to schedule. She did take a little longer than usual in the recovery room because they couldn't get her warm enough. But then, she is shivering when everyone else is sweating at the best of times.

Now she's on a ward in a room with a view and taking the first steps of the journey towards recovery. She's drowsy at the moment, so I've left her to sleep off some of the anesthetic for a while - I'll check in on her later.

Word is that she'll be home on Thursday.

Please pray with us that the recovery period goes well. As Gill says, in her own straightforward fashion, "I haven't got time for this!"

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

Gill's in surgery as we speak ...
But on a lighter note, I finally passed the 100lb weight loss mark today. Officially I'm down 101.8lb on what I was thirteen months ago. Only 29lb to go!!!

SIX MILLION DOLLAR WOMAN

It's almost thirty years since Steve Austin's amazing adventures as the bionic man appeared on our TV screens. Injured is a crash as a test pilot, he was rebuilt with cybernetic parts that gave him superhuman strength.

What was fantasy then is reality now. Tomorrow morning Gill goes into St. Charles Hospital for a replacement of the right knee that has served her well these several years, but is now apparently well past its best before date.

One of the tag lines for Austin was, "We have the technology, we can rebuild him" and that ability to rebuild is now widely available.

New knee, no pain, better quality of life - we're praying it all goes smoothly for our own Six Million Dollar Woman.

WHAT'S THE CATCH?

Just got back from an interesting and amusing small group meeting. We didn't actually do a Bible study this morning, instead we went out to practise what we've been learning about influencing others for Jesus.

No, we didn't have big Bibles, the plan of salvation memorized and the ambition to beat as many people into accepting Christ as we could in 60 minutes. None of us is any good at that kind of stuff.

We met up in the parking lot of the Home Depot on Sunrise Highway right across from the UA Movie Theater we use on Sundays and we all brought ... windshield washer fluid! And some invitations to the church.

We wandered around in the freezing wind, offering to top up people's washer fluid for them for free. We New Yorkers are a suspicious crowd. We don't trust strangers, free offers or politicians who came to office after Richard Nixon. You wouldn't believe how many people turned us down - if this was a typical sample of Long Island residents, 85% of the Island had their cars serviced yesterday, 10% just topped up their fluids before they left home and 5% really aren't interested thank you.

We did do some topping up, used up several gallons of washer fluid and gave out a load of invitations. Hopefully we made some friends too.

As I was pouring fluid into one guy's car he asked me, Why exactly are you doing this? I replied, Most people think churches preach too much and don't do anythign useful, so we're just trying to do something useful. I like that line - I'll use it again.

It was a good morning - out meeting real people.

But since we experienced so many rejections, the good news is that if you come early tomorrow we'll top up your car too! And you'd better not say no!

SUPERCOOL PERSON OF THE WEEK

Okay, I know Friday's almost over and thousands of people are growing weary with checking this website to discover who has won this week's award, but I had a problem today. It wasn't with identifying my choice of Supercool Person Of The Week, just with what to write about the winner.

So since it has been a pretty full day, I have been procrastinating. Now that work is over, dinner is long since done and there's nothing worth watching on the TV, it's time to bite the bullet.

I have spent quite a bit of time with this special person during this past week and he is someone I love hanging out with. He's fun, he's smart and he is passionate about developing church just like I am. His values are similar to mine too. He prioritises family, cares about people and learned a long time ago that it's not about him.

I guess there's a chance that he actually picked up a few of those things from me, but I won't take too much credit as some might blame his shortcomings on me too. My Supercool Person Of The Week is one of my favorite people in the world, my son Jonathan Blackmore.

We were with him in glorious Little Elm, Texas, for a few days this week as he continues his journey towards a diagnosis for some recent serious health problems. Even with the physical issues he's battlng, Jonathan's attitude continues to be positive and his faith is strong.

Letting your children go is one of the biggest challenges of parenting. But seeing them stand on their own feet, and then make decisions, adopt attitudes and develop a lifestyle that makes you proud, is priceless.

This week has had its challenges, but I've been privileged to have a couple of days with a real Supercool Person.

WE ARE NOT ALONE!

Here's a press release about a study on churches using movie theaters that was undertaken by Leadership Network and National Community Church in D.C. -

NEWS RELEASE
March 13, 2006

Rapid Rise in Churches that Worship in Movie Theaters
An estimated 250 churches in 36 states use local cinemas for worship services.

DALLAS, TX (March 13, 2006) -- A decade ago, newspaper readers might not have understood a headline like "Now Playing in a Theater Near You -- Church" or "Praise the Lord and Pass the Popcorn" or "God at the Box Office." Today, news and feature articles with titles like that are becoming increasingly common.

"We strongly suspect that at least 250 churches are currently meeting in theaters," says Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington D.C., whose website is, appropriately, http://www.theaterchurch.com/. Batterson's congregation rents two movie theater complexes each week for worship, one at historic Union Station and the other at Ballston Common Mall.

"We have confirmed that churches in at least 36 states, including D.C., use local cinemas for church services," says Warren Bird, Director of Research at Leadership Network, a Dallas-based non-profit that works with innovative churches across the country. "Locations cover the country, from Alaska and Hawaii to Florida and New Hampshire."

Use of movie theaters as church sites has gained so much popularity that National CineMedia (http://www.ncm.com/), a venture of AMC, Cinemark and Regal Entertainment Group, offers special packaging and pricing to churches through its CineMeetings & Events division. "Our theaters make an ideal, cost-effective place for churches to grow, and the unique theater environment, with its comfortable seating and high-tech AV equipment, is a big draw for newcomers," says Mike Schonberger, vice president, CineMeetings & Events. "In fact, 84% of our church clients report that attendance has increased since they started holding their services in a movie theater."

Others agree that interest is noticeably growing. "I think the use of theaters by churches has increased dramatically in the last 10 years," says Geoff Surratt, staff pastor of Seacoast, a multi-campus church based in Charleston, S.C., that currently uses three different movie theater locations for its weekly worship services. Surratt's book, The Multi-Site Church Revolution, will be released in May (Zondervan) and argues for taking church closer to where people live, such as at movie theaters.

For both new churches and established churches, there are benefits of meeting in a movie theater. According to Batterson, "There is a growing trend toward doing ministry in the marketplace. The church is getting out from behind its four church walls and meeting people where they're at." For Batterson, doing ministry in the middle of the marketplace is part of his church's spiritual DNA. "A movie theater is a non-threatening environment that allows us to reach people who are unchurched and dechurched," he says. "The movie screen is a huge asset as well. It's postmodern stained glass that allows us to share the story in moving pictures."

Geoff Surratt adds more reasons: "A movie theater gives a new church instant name recognition, an easy location to find and a clean, bright, modern building with no upfront investment in a facility."

Does worship in theaters have a long-term viability? "Absolutely," says Eric Hystad, who is exploring the idea of widespread movie theater usage for Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. Its first theater campus was launched in February 2006 in a suburb of Houston. "We see theater church services being held not just in Houston, but in other parts of Texas, across America and ultimately in other countries of the world," says Ed Young, Second Baptist’s senior pastor.

"Going to church at the local cinema is an easy culture shift because people already understand how a theater works," Seacoast’s Geoff Surratt says. "People do not get tired of attending movie theaters for movies; they won't get tired of attending a theater for church."

Interest in the idea of a "movie theater church campus" is so strong that National Community Church is holding an open discussion to explore the subject further.

Its half-day Theater Church Forum (www.buzzconference.com/buzz) is Thursday, May 4 in Washington D.C., and is designed as a networking time for churches that worship in movie theaters. The event is part of a larger conference on how churches can maximize their creativity and authenticity, drawing from three core convictions:

- The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet.
- The greatest message deserves the greatest marketing.
- The church is called to compete in the middle of the marketplace.

Leadership Network will be conducting a survey of all known churches that use movie theaters. The findings will be distributed at the Theater Church Forum.

"Movie theaters are totally where our culture lives," says Matt Keller of Next Level Church, Fort Myers, FL, which meets in a movie theater. "A theater will attract those who won't set foot into a church or those who have been hurt by the church," says Bill Lorman, whose New Life Church, Claymont, DE, meets in a theater.

"I pray that we put a church in every theater in America," says Trinity Jordan, pastor of Elevation Church in Layton, UT, which also meets in a movie theater.

MAD MONEY

I'm gearing up for the start of our new series this Sunday and am really looking forward to it. For the next three weeks I'll be covering one of the most important issues affecting Long Islanders - money.

Some people probably think there's little they can learn, but there are plenty of others who are coming to see that Oprah doesn't have the answer to everything, good as she may be. Maybe God does know a thing or two after all!

One thing that will be different for me this Sunday is that possibly for the first time in my years of ministry, I'm not at all apprehensive about approaching the subject of money. Hey, I'm a pastor and I'm meant to care for folks, so I'm going to bring some Biblical insight to one of the most damaging and painful issues people are trying to cope with. What's there to be nervous about?

I know I'll upset some people. Ah well!

I know I'll be misunderstood by some. What's new?

I know some lives will be permanently changed. That's sweet!

MADE IT

Got out before the worst of the snow and made it home for late afternoon. It was a long way to do the journey from Dallas, but the price was right!

On the way home from the airport we stopped by the printer's to pick up our Easter invitation cards. I want to go all-out and anticipate the biggest Easter we have had in our brief history. We always get a crowd, but it's the retention rate I'm going after this year.

Looking for a great follow-on the week and weeks after.

MIDWAY

Sitting here in Chicago's Midway airport and hoping that the forecast snow hold off long enough to allow us to get out on the 12.15 flight to McArthur. This must be one of the most difficult cities in the country to fly in and out off. I've talked to a few people lately who have been stuck here - one overnight last Saturday. The price is right, but getting stuck halfway at Midway is not in my travel plans for today.

Okay, here's the sermon part of today's ramblings ...

It's far too easy for us all to settle down in our personal lives and be content with the people we are, instead of looking to be constantly learning and growing. I read, I listen to sermons, I go to conferences, I talk to everyone I can, everything I can to maximize the potential God has placed within me. I don't want to be stuck midway.

In church life, God has called us to be creators of the future and not preservers of the past, that's why we have to keep pressing forward. We have an amazing group of people in Grace Church. It's like nothing seems to phase them. Things are constantly changing, there's always different stuff going on and yet they just get on board and keep moving ahead.

I heard a sermon years ago asking if we are settlers or pioneers. Grace is a church for pioneers and I'm proud to be a part of it.

The coffee's half decent here (over-priced Starbuicks!) and I've got a comfortable spot with a good internet connection. But it isn't where I'm headed - I don't want to get stuck midway! I want to reach my final destination.

DAYLIGHT

Jonathan's office is a great place to work - his home office that is, not his niche in the corproate headquarters of J.C.Penney. I'm using his space right now and really enjoying the one commodity missing from the basement offices I spend a lot of time in during a regular week - daylight!

It's bright here, with big windows and a geat view out over nothing but fields and trees. Back home I look at the railroad ties that shore up the window wells which are there in a vain attempt to access as much light as possible.

It's not great doing church in a theater where your feet stick to the floor either and the walls are so disgusting we don't even use the new house lights.

But they're not what it's all about. People are finding hope, faith is rising in the hearts of those who were hopeless. Lives are being changed - mine included.

For that I'd stay in a basement and slush through spilled coke for the rest of my life if it was necessary!

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS

Coming to the end of our first day here in Texas. The trip down here was a bit longer than expected as there were major delays in Chicago. I was stuck there for several hours last week too - seems the weather up there is constantly causing complications. I hear nothing has been the same since Michael Jordan left the Bulls - maybe it's time he made another comeback?

Jonathan is still in the dark about his health issues. While a couple of conditions have been ruled out, he now has to have a biopsy of his lymph nodes as the doctors try to discover exactly what it is that is going on.

A lot of people are praying and the continuing support and encouragement are appreciated.

MONDAY MORNING MUSINGS

Caffeinated Christianity
We ended the series yesterday with Frank Summers sharing a great message in an all-round excellent service. Good crowd too. For those who are going to miss the cappuccinos in the foyer, fear not - plans are afoot to make them a regular part of our Bagel Cafe Menu in the near future. Although the series is over, our invitations were not dated so we'll use the theme in some of our advertising for some time to come.

AWOL
Yep, I wasn't there for the service yesterday - though I was around for a couple of hours before it started. I took the Sunday to accept an invitation to preach at Integrity Christian Fellowship for Tony Balsamo. They have their public launch on Easter Sunday and Tony wanted me to speak to the substantial group of folks they have already and give them a team talk to help prep them for the big day. Enjoyed being there - planting is fun - planters are insane!

TEXAS
Leaving for Dallas shortly to spend a couple of days with Jonathan and Donna. It has been a tough couple of weeks for them, but by the time we get there they should have the final diagnosis and hopefully the plan for treating Jonathan's health issues. Did I mention we'll see the grandchildren too??? Back on Thursday afternoon.

LESAYA'S HOME
Chris, Lesaya and Savanna arrived back from South Africa yesterday. Seems like they've been gone for ever, but who can blame them for exchanging three weeks of Long Island winter for three weeks of South African summer? It's good to have them home!

GO FISH

Just got back from Week 4 of our Saturday morning small group and had a great time. They're a great bunch of people and it has been fun getting to know them better as we have worked through Andy Stanley's small group material Go Fish.

His main point today was that the church needs to partner with its members in helping to reach people who don't really know Jesus yet. He talked about being in another church years ago where he would have been embarassed to ask someone to come along to a service and how that should never be the case if the church is designed to welcome the unchurched. We chatted for some time about what are the positives at Grace in creating an environment where the unchurched would be comfortable and what the negatives are too.

Thankfully there wasn't too much on the negative side, but that was probably just because I was leading the group!

Several people commented on how the movie theater creates a point of interest for inviting friends to come and check us out. We talked about how renting there works out so well, but then one relatively new member of our church suggested that it isn't so much the building as the atmosphere inside it. He described the warmth he had felt on his first visit, the kindness, the acceptance.

Heartening words. Let's keep doing what we're doing - invest in others and invite them, along. Jesus said he's make us fishers of men, not keepers of aquariums!

OUR JON

Had a chat with our son Jonathan an hour or so ago. He continues to get tests to determine what is afflicting his lungs and should get the final report when he goes back to the pulmanory specialist on Monday afternoon.

Gill and I are leaving for Dallas on Monday for a couple of days so that we can spend some time with the grandchildren (Jonathan probably thinks we're going to see him!). Gill will then be slowed down for a while as she goes in for knee replacement surgery on the 20th.

This all sounds like far too much contact with the medical profession, but what a blessing that it is available to us when we need it.

ON TARGET

Here's an offering from last night's small group at the shooting range. Shows a marked improvement in my skills with a 9mm rifle over my first, faltering attempts a couple of weeks ago. That's a grouping of five shots and I'm impressed even if you're not!

So here's the moral I draw from an evening in the bowels of the earth at the basement range - it's hard to stay on target.

That's so true in church life too. There are a thousand things and hundreds of people too that can take you off course easily. That's the whole reasoning behind the concept of being a purpose-driven church. We discover our purposes and we allow them to drive the agenda - and nothing else.

So we're not people-driven, money-driven, building-driven or anything else, we're purpose-driven.

Our purposes are clearly defined - worshiping, connecting, growing, serving, going and we're doing all we can to stay on target!

SUPERCOOL PERSON OF THE WEEK
It's Friday, it's almost noon and all across America, people are waiting with as much impatience as they showed last Sunday night in Hollywood while Jack Nicholson opened the envelope to reveal the Oscar winner for best movie (thankfully not Brokeback Mountain!).

Who's our Supercool Peson of The Week?

Here's the story and then the name follows ...
When we were about to start Grace Church in the fall of 1998, I got a letter from a man I had known for a couple of years, offering to help in any way he could with the new church plant.
He's been with us from that day to this, still doing what he promised back then - serving wherever he could best fit in.

For the first five years he did a great job of looking after our ushering team and caring for our guests. But when we moved to the movie theater, it became clear that we needed someone trustworthy and consistent to oversee the security of such a large building, especially ensuring that our children's areas were safe. Now he walks the hallways and watches the doors every week so that we can worship unhindered.

He's the only person allowed to wear a tie at Grace Church and he's our Supercool Person of The Week - Mr. Security, Dick Blair.

The fact that Dick has brought me 7/11 coffee every Sunday for more than seven years has in no way influenced my decision in deciding this award!

GETTING ON THE SAME PAGE

Sitting here is sunny South Bend, Indiana, waiting for the cab that will take me to the airport and home again in time for tonight's small group - Guns 'n' Moses! It's actually dull, damp and chilly, but I'm staying right across from Notre Dame and thinking about better days when the sun does shine and tens of thousands of faithful football fans crowd into the stadium I can see on the other side of the street.

Had a good day here yesterday, hanging out with a good young pastor (most of them are young nowadays!) who has been through some tough times and had to face them pretty much alone. I didn't have a whole bunch of helpful suggestions, nor was I brimming over with solutions to his problems, but the fact that I came may have encouraged him and we have established a connection which I trust will be a support to him in the future. People are important and we need to care about them - Jesus does!

Here's a weird thing about Indiana. Did you know you can move around within the same state and be in different time zones? So we're on EST here in South Bend, but down the road with the pastor I have been visiting, they're on Central time. I can cope with the fact that flying into Chicago this morning I will arrive before I left (leaving South Bend 10.40, arriving Chicago 10.30) - but in the same state? Can't they just get on the same page? Wouldn't it make things a whole lot easier? It's not as if Indiana is enormous.

Kind of reminds me of some churches I know!!

LONGEVITY

I guess there are certain advantages to surviving a long time in ministry. Trust me, the word survive is not too strong, because the dropout rate of pastors leaving and heading for the real world is dramatic and continues to be that way.

This summer will mark 36 years of pastoring for me - and I love it! It is particularly encouraging to have made the transition from seeing my comments draw condescending smiles when I dared to offer an opinion in my early years, to the place where there are those who actually seek out my advice now that I have passed the half century mark.

It seems that the graying of my head has fooled a number of people into thinking that I actually know what I am talking about!!!

I love spending time with other pastors and being able to interact with them. If I can encourage them, help them, save them some pain or be there for them, what a worthwhile contribution to be able to make into their ministries and churches.

This is a week that I'll be giving some considerable time to sowing into the lives of some good men. I had breakfast today with a great pastor who is turning around what was a dying, traditional church in our area. And I'm having lunch with Tony Balsamo who launches Integrity Christian Fellowship in Yaphank on Easter Sunday. Then tomorrow morning at some ungodly hour I'm leaving for Indiana on a 24 hour trip to invest some time in a young pastor who is struggling over there, working out where to go with a pretty dead congregation that is threatening to sap the life out of him and his family.

Of course I don't have all the answers. The longer I live the less I know. But I do care - and if lasting 35+ years in ministry has taught me anything, it's that there aren't a whole lot of father-figures out there looking after those who are trying to lead God's people in building his kingdom.

I'm willing to be one!

INTERESTING WEEKEND

We had a fascinating 24 hours from Friday evening to Saturday evening. I took my own advice from part of yesterday morning's message and just crashed yesterday afternoon for a couple of hours. I was saying in our service that sometimes the first response to weariness needs to be to stop and take a breath. Anyway I'm not going there - if you missed the sermon, you missed it!!!

What had caused the fatigue was two different events -

1. We had continuing updates from our son, Jonathan, on Friday afternoon about a health issue he has been fighting. Having been treated unsuccesfully for pneumonia for several days, a catscan revealed that there is something else going on in his lungs which he needs further medical advice on. So like him and his family, we're waiting to find out the details and like 99% of the human race, at times our minds have to be brought back from dwelling on the worst case scenario.

2. The other issue was that on Saturday evening our friend from the past, Charles Graham, who was due to sing with us on Sunday morning, collapsed in a restaurant and we spent five hours in the ER with him. I was nervous as he appeared totally out of it and his blood pressure was 80 over 60, but he recovered, did a great job in our service and rested up yesterday ready for leaving today.

Interesting weekend indeed!

Now I know there are a bunch of people out there who would be freaking out at this point about the devil attacking and nonsense like that. Gladly I come from the school of thought (and this is Biblical whereas the other is not) that says the devil can't touch me because I belong to Jesus.

Whatever tough things come our way are there by divine permission and are permitted because they are part of his masterplan. So while we celebrate the fact that God protects us, we also know that everything works out for good for those who love him.

Please pray for Jonathan and his family. Pray for Charles too. And thank God that his ways are perfect and his hands are the best place to be in under heaven.

OLD FRIENDS

It's twenty years ago this year since Charles Graham sang for us in our church in Scotland. He was brilliant, but that was the first and last time I met him. Until last September when I walked out of a wedding reception in Scotland and bumped right into him.

He's a great guy with an outstanding voice and having re-connected, I invited him to bring his music to our church the next time he was in the north east.

So Sunday morning, straight from California, Charles will be teaming up with me again - both of us older and hopefully vaguely smarter!

CRISIS DAY YESTERDAY

We had a major crisis yesterday afternoon, which is about all you need on the kind of day when the temperature is dropping, the snow is falling and it's depressing enough already. No one could have seen it coming, but it hit around 3.17 and for almost five hours things were pretty tense as I waited to see how it would all pan out and indeed, whether it ever would.

Now I know that I give the appearance of being pretty level-headed with some of the unflappable Englishman left in me, but my nerves were almost shot by the time this was all over.

The internet went down!

Yep! One second it was there and the next it was gone. Dear old Optimum Online - faster than Verizon DSL, faster than dial-up - died on me. It didn't just slow down, it was deceased, not breathing, nixed, gone to the happy hunting ground in cyberspace where emails that were never delivered spin around endlessly for eternity.

It was a weird experience. One minute you're in touch with the world and the next you're alone in a basement office in Coram. One second you have access to all kinds of information and tools, then a micro-second later there's nothing.

The internet is a phenomenal resource and I felt totally handicapped without it. Which brings me to my Supercool Person Of The Week Award. No question in my mind, it's a no-brainer. He's my hero, a life-restorer.

My nomination for Supercool Person of The Week is the Cablevision Technician who spent almosty five hours up a pole across the street from us in freezing conditions, with snow swirling around him, just so that I could write this today. And so that I could watch Deal Or No Deal last night!

He could well be Superfrozen, but he has my undying gratitude.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY

I just read this list of misconceptions about Christianity, written by a friend of mine. I think they follow on well from what I wrote on Monday -

1. That hate is part of Christianity.

2. That elitism is a part of Christianity.

3. That arrogance is part of Christianity.

4. That superstition is a part of Christianity.

5. That whining is a part of Christianity.

6. That specific secular political affiliations are a part of Christianity.

7. That hypocrisy is a part of Christianity.

8. That irrelevance is a part of Christianity.

9. That dress codes and old music are a part of Christianity.

10. That Christianity is about church on Sunday morning.

"I'm sorry we've given you those impressions."