Billy Graham and The World's Oldest Man

Many of you might be surprised to know that Billy Graham actually is not the world’s oldest man…maybe the world’s oldest evangelist…wait no…Oral Roberts was born in January of 1918 and Graham in November of the same year. Crazy, what was it about 1918? Hopefully another inspired year of the last century will turn out to be 1986.

Anyways…My grandmother is a huge Billy Graham fan. Tonight, at her house, I noticed two articles from Graham hanging on her refrigerator door. Now I must confess that I did not read the articles however the very titles struck me in a unique way…Crazy how God does that.

Article 1: Only Christ Can Open the Doors to Heaven

No real news there. For those of us inside of Christian culture, the understanding of Jesus as the only way to an eternal heaven is no shocker. What is a shocker is how we consider this eternal heaven as something in the future. To be eternal is to be timeless. If something is out of time there can be no beginning nor ending. What’s crazy is that this is exactly what Christ has already invited us to experience. When we accept his life as our own, we also accept his history, which is eternal, having no beginning or end. The key then to mastering our little piece of heaven on earth is not our job, our accomplishments, our education, our spouse or leadership abilities but Christ. Only he can open the doors to heaven both today and tomorrow.

With that said…

Article 2: God Cares How We Use Our Time

This was like a slap in the face. I can be really lazy. In my current stage of life, I spend more time talking about and planning for what I’m going to do that I never really seem to do anything. This week I read a BBC article about the world’s oldest man, the UK’s Henry Allingham, 113. 113 years old…seriously? Here are a few of his stats: His life has touched 3 centuries, been ruled by 6 monarchs and has seen 5 generations past his own all in addition to being a WWI survivor.. I began to think about Mr. Allingham’s extraordinary life and wondered what I could accomplish in 113 years. I know it is a popular philosophy to live life like you are dying but what if you actually lived until you were 113. For some, this might allow for some extra years of college however what if someone spent 113 perfecting his or her craft. Think of the wealth of knowledge you could leave to well…five generations! Maybe, if only for a day, lets dream about what we could accomplish if we all had 113 years and perhaps even begin to strive for that goal.

Live long and prosper...

i'm alive part 2: a new beginning

I just reread my last post from 11.23.2009. Looking back it seems almost prophetic as exactly two months after the post, my wife Allison and I were in a terrible car accident that took the life of the young intoxicated driver that struck us. Although I was reminded of my life that January morning, I was also left feeling dead for many months to come. This pattern has continued until recently where I now find myself facing new possibilities, new inspirations, and even the chance at a new life. While I have failed to maintain several blogs, my mind finds itself flushed with words and I feel the need to allow them to overflow into this blog. Perhaps this will be what motivates me to finally begin that successful blog everyone is urging me to write. I also know that there is a chance that I will like a bottle-rocket launch in a stroke of brilliance only to come to a quick and abrupt stop. There is also a very good chance that I will wake up tomorrow having lost my inspiration in my dreams and wait another 6 months to acknowledge the blogging world. Regardless of the future, this is my part 2 and my chance of a new beginning. We'll call this one atlanta theologica.

I'm Alive

I'm Alive. Just thought I would let the blogging world know. Sometimes its good to remind yourself and others of this simple, over looked fact. What better truth to celebrate during a Thanksgiving holiday than the truth that each and everyone of us has life. Perhaps this is where things could turn spiritual and I could talk about my life in Christ however I will save that for another time...probably two months from now at my current pace. For now, I live, and that will have to be enough.

34 days

34 days. thats how long it has been since my last post. i must admit, i've been kinda jadded by the blogging world; especially the church blogging world. i'm not the kind of guy that sticks to a set schedule (obviously). for me, blogging is something that helps me clear my head, re-focus my thoughts and if i'm lucky, maybe have a positive effect on someones life. because i can't stick to a routine, blogging and the new religion of twitter just are not things that get me going. this weekend, i hung out with come of my cool friends who are very much a part of the first twitter church in the clogging community. they can keep a schedule. not only are they active in their post, they faithfully read the posts of others. so while i was playing with a friends iphone (b/c i'm a not a tech geek either and don't have my own) i noticed some of his twitter prophets. while reading the post of some of the pastors he reads, i almost busted at the seams with laughter. some of the things these guys say...or yell. later there was a conversation about a group of pastors yelling at another pastor beacuse of something he said, did, or didn't do. for a second, i wasn't sure if i was reading a pastor's blog or a script for mtv's "the hills."

anyways, i'm not attacking this new phenomenon, just saying that its not always for me and i quickly grow weary of it. maybe i'm too lazy, but for now lets just say i'm too busy. i will post when i post and that will have to be enough. if i wrote something daily, i would probably sound like spencer myself...

blur

we're back in atlanta which is bitter sweet. we love our home but miss our kids. two uncles died this week. one, my great uncle who was a father figure to my mom and another who i did not know well but my father did. another great uncle is very ill and is not far from the end. i might have to help get him back to florida this week. we are all very sad. the past few days have been a blur. more to come when i can get to it.

hit or miss

so i have been rather hit or miss with this blog over the summer. while i set out to write twice a week it seems that my plans have become every other week. whatever, nothings ritual and while my blog may not be at the top of anyone's roll, its what i have needed.

today is my last monday in here in muscle shoals, alabama. God has really worked in amazing ways this summer. i count it an honor to have been apart of what he has done through this ministry and look forward to great things ahead. with that said i am ready to come home to atlanta. i am ready to finish school, and i am ready to get back into my normal routine. while this summer has been a lot of work, it was also a God given break from our crazy fast-paced schedule we call our life. for this, i am thankful. while i am ready to come home, i woke up said this morning. last night i dreamed about our last day here and it was so hard to say goodbye. i hope that when the day comes we have the strength and the grace to depart with smiling faces and happy hearts.

RECAP:
last night we watched the last part of "hope for when life hurts the most" by louie giglio. the second part went over much better as the kids really grasped the message. i even worked in the the famous quote from the movie forest gump "
shit happens."

not quite sure what were going to do this wednesday night. we have watched nooma 1-5 and think about doing something different. i might show the bullhorn nooma...any ideas?

friday night is going to be awesome. local musician shane baker (www.myspace.com/shanebakermusic) and his band are coming for a back to school concert/worship event. were showing the francis chan "just stop and think" video which should be perfect for the night. we have encouraged kids to invite 10 people and to bring at least 1. please pray that this is a success and that lives are changed.

saturday night is our goodbye party...

sunday night is our last night is alabama. i am speaking on reaching for the stars and fulfilling all of your wildest dreams. we're also using a canvas for some artistis expression time. shane baker will be back to lead worship.

please pray for us as this is our last week and want to go out it a bang. pray that God uses us to rock this town for his glory. also, pray for our future after muscle shoals. if you know us and know our situation, you know what i mean.

by grace,

alex

sunday night emotional basketcase

so last night was awkward. everything from the gathering to the pool party afterward was weird. first, i made to mistake of changing my sunday night gathering plans right before the service started. we had planned to show the second part of louie giglio's message hope for when life hurts the most. for the most part, our kids have enjoyed this video series however many of our older students were out of town this week so when i saw that most of those there were in middle school, i changed the plan. this was a big mistake on my part and began the awkwardness. i decided to just have a time for sharing and field any questions the kids might have about christianity or following christ. for the most part, there was silence.

the night rebounded a little when two visitors came in 15min late. knowing that it was then too late to play hope(45min long) i decided to pop in francis chan's mini video "just stop and think." this is a 15min non-threatening presentation of the gospel that went over very well in the group. even our guest who I’m pretty sure were not believers were receptive and participated in the discussion to follow. while there was still a bit of silence in the overall post-viewing discussion, the night ended well.

after the gathering we went to a pool party at the chairman of the personnel committee's house. this started out great until the guy got a little weird. once he got me alone, he rather abruptly told me that our services would not be needed after august 10th and that the church has decided to "go in a different direction." now let me say this, august 10th was a date that i gave when allison and i accepted this position and i had not planned on staying past this date. it is kinda sad though to know that you do not even have that option. i mean, we fell in love with these kids and really feel like we built a little something while we have been here. it is hard to walk away from a project in the middle of its creation. it will be tough to watch someone else come in a change things back to the 1980's southern baptist way of doing youth ministry. i fear that this church will let its student fall through the cracks as they seek someone from the inside to lead the group until they hire a fulltime pastor.

allison and i both know that we are not a long time fit for this church, really, we've about hit our end as it is. but to watch how this church treats its next generation makes me sick. they don't want a leader to challenge them, they want a babysitter. i know every youth pastor says this about every youth group but i have never met such a great group of kids. the leadership in the group is amazing. they need mentors not entertainers. this group could change their town with the right encouragement and leadership.

please pray that allison and i are able to leave with grace. i know that a good leader knows when he is not in charge and keeps his mouth shut but its really hard for us. we love these kids and this town and believe this church could radically change both if they wanted to. pray for a revolution. pray that they don't go backwards. pray that we can trust the work we have done to God.

alex