"Wrap It In Maroon and White"...Thank You Jack

I woke up this morning and started my usual routine of sorting through early morning "tweets".  Immediately I found several posts referring to legendary broadcaster Jack Cristil announcing his immediate retirement at the end of Mississippi State's basketball game on Saturday.  Like most of Bulldog Nation, I was immediately stricken with a great sense of grief as I began to picture the future of Mississippi State sports without the voice of Cristil.  When legendary Georgia broadcaster Larry Munson announced his retirement, many of us in Bulldog Nation began to see the light at the end of the tunnel for our own beloved Cristil.  It was apparent from listening to him on the drive home or watching him on the weekly coach's show that his 85 years on this earth were beginning to show.  For many it was like watching a beloved family member age and knowing that your time with them was limited.  None of us wanted to face the reality of Bulldog life without Jack.

Everyone who has spent anytime as a member of Bulldog Nation has many fond memories of Jack.  I can remember going to football games with my dad and his friend Billy Jean Nation.  Billy Jean would bring a radio with him to the game so that he could listen to Cristil's play-by-play.  He would tell us some of the funny quotes that Jack would give.  Cristil was never shy in showing his love for the Dawgs and his opinion when a call didn't go State's way.  However, he was also regarded in the broadcasting world as one of the least-biased announcers in the SEC.  He was always good about giving praise and recognition to opponents when it was deserved.  (That was probably because he suffered through 58 years of Bulldog sports when most of it wasn't very good.)  All State fans have funny memories of hearing Cristil mispronouncing names of the opponents or interjecting his opinion on the bad calls or no-calls by referees.  Jack would give us the "Sonic Drive of the Game" that many times would include his disgust at MSU's inability to do anything worthwhile. 

I grew up in New Hope, Mississippi from 1968-1990.  During the 70's and 80's there were no super television contracts that broadcast every SEC football and basketball game.  Since TV was limited and MSU was usually not very good, I had the privilege of seeing Bulldog sports through the eyes and voice of Jack Cristil.  I remember and still treasure the 1980 call of MSU's win over #1 Alabama.  I love Cristil's call as Scott Westerfield's kicks went through the uprights against Kentucky and Ole Miss.  I remember Cristil's excitement as Wayne Madkin hit C.J. Sirmones in the 1999 Egg Bowl.  One of my favorite parts about going to MSU games was listening to the post-game show as they broadcast the highlight calls of the game.  Jack Cristil is MSU sports.

Through 42 years of being a passionate MSU fan, Jack Cristil has been the one constant.  Jim Ellis is a close second.  In my life as a MSU fan, we have had 7 different football coaches and 7 different basketball coaches.  Most of my 42 years have seen as many or more losses as wins.  One thing that kept me passionate and listening was hearing Jack Cristil say "Good afternoon from beautiful Scott Field at historic Davis Wade Stadium."  Like every other MSU fan I love to hear Jack's classic line at the end of a win - "Wrap It in Maroon and White!"  This beloved phrase has now become a tag-line for all State fans.  When the game is about over you can see fans turn to one another and say "Wrap It!"  I have to admit that as I drove in to work today and listened as the Rick and Bubba show played the clip of Jack announcing his retirement last night that a tear welled up in my eye.  The Saturday drive home will never be the same.

Bravo Jack Cristil.  Thanks for making me a more passionate MSU fan because of your love for the Dawgs.  Your 58 years of serving Bulldog football and 54 years of serving Bulldog basketball are an example to all of us of the power of longevity and excellence.  I echo many in the Bulldog Nation that will be praying for you as you face the immediate health challenges.  You will always have a special place in the heart of thousands of Bulldog fans.  I lift up my cowbell for you.

Some great sound clips of Jack's classic calls can be found here on Sixpackspeak.com' website.  Enjoy them.

On Being A Dad

The last few weeks I have been preaching on topics related to family and marriage.  I really enjoy the process of trying to equip God's people to be better parents and spouses.  Maybe it's because of my 12+ years in student ministry.  During that time, I had the opportunity to see some really great and godly parents who modeled Jesus for their kids.  I also saw a large dose of parents that were practically disengaged altogether from the spiritual discipling of their children. 

On January 20th, Alison and I welcomed our fourth son, Joshua Lee, into our home.  Needless to say, the last four weeks have been quite a ride.  Sleep is sporadic.  I've consumed an inordinate amount of coffee lately.  However, I know God has provided a tremendous blessing.  I can't think of a better word in the English language than "Dad".  I often forget the blessing of that name when it has been called out 2,678 times over the course of the day.  Oftentimes, it is accompanied by a complaint about one of the other "stooges" in the house.  Scripture says "Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth."  (Psalm 127:4)  God has placed within my charge four men who have the potential to change the world for the glory and gospel of Jesus Christ.  Right now, I would just like to get them to put their clothes IN the clothes basket or stop peeing on the side of the toilet.  It's hard to see gospel potential when you are staring at a yellow ooze on the floor.

I also feel privileged to be a Dad because for many years I didn't think it was going to happen.  In my 20's, I witnessed many of my friends fall in love and get married.  Life didn't seem to hold that in the cards for me.  My dating prospects after college were slim.  I did meet someone special while serving my first church.  We got engaged and planned on being married, but it didn't work out.  I spent several frustrating and disillusioned years pouring into serving the church.  I tried to fill the relational void by being the best youth pastor I could be.  Everyone said that one day I would find the right one, but by age 27, I had honestly begun to doubt completely.  I was ok if God wanted me to be single.  (but not really) 

I moved to the Birmingham area in the fall of 1996 and immediately was captured by a knock-out red-head who happened to be my boss' daughter.  We were married a year later.  I was 29.  Two years after that our first son Nathan was born.  I must admit that in Nathan's first couple of years, I was a pitiful father.  I had no idea what to do with a baby.  I didn't even like being around them.  18 months later, we had our first "surprise" child in Drew.  Having 2 children under the age of 2 was even more daunting.  However, my wife was patient with me and the Lord was gracious. 

In my ministry I have seen firsthand that we have a "dad crisis" in the church.  We have millions of children, especially sons, who are growing up with Dads who felt just as ill-equipped as I did.  Most of us want to be "better dads" than most in the culture.  The current culture has domesticated men some into being more active at home, helping with homework, teaching your son to throw a ball or catch fish.  However, I agree with Robert Lewis that in the areas that are most needed - the spiritual and social engagements of the home - most men are too passive.  We haven't been equipped in how to engage our children in spiritual conversations.  We still blindly think that quantity time is more important that quality time.  I am convinced that the church ministry models of the last 50 years have failed to adequately disciple and challenge men.  We have filled stadiums of men singing praise to God.  However, we haven't taught them how to walk with Christ and how to translate that walk everyday to their children - especially sons. 

Dads, your son needs you to teach him how to throw a baseball.  He also needs you to teach him how to pray to the Father.  Dads, you are the closest thing to the physical representation of Jesus Christ to your sons.  They already hold you as close to deity as any person on the earth.  We must learn to take great care of the arrows that God has entrusted to us.  We may only get one shot of sending them out into the great cosmic battle for God's glory.  We cannot haphazardly aim our arrows to the sky hoping it hits something.  We must take careful aim to insure that our arrows hit their intended target.  The scary truth is that my children and your children will most emulate the form of Christianity modeled by you - their dad.  They will in all likelihood learn from you, good or bad, their spiritual priorities. 

Dads, let's raise our children as spiritual champions.  Let's take up our spiritual sword of God's word and the grace of the Lord Jesus and not cower any longer to fulfilling our calling as spiritual leaders.  Let's be more concerned with their grasp of spiritual truth than we are with how far they hit the baseball.  And in the process, let's teach them to hit the baseball, and shoot the gun, and climb the trail, and cast the line, and all the other things that we have the honor of doing because we are the ones called - DAD.

Pray for these men: Missions to the glory of God

This afternoon at about 2:15 PM Central Time, four men from Sixth Street Baptist Church left on a journey that will take them to Guinea, West Africa in search of the Kakabe people.  This is the latest installment of a vision that began last summer when several of us starting conversing about the possibility of sending a team to West Africa.  These men are submitting to a radical obedience to Jesus Christ that has had a profound impact on them, their families, and our church.  We are also praying it has a profound gospel effect on the Kakabe people who have never been engaged at any time with the story of Jesus Christ. 

This team is (from left to right) Gary Hines, Myron West, Adam Long, and Eric Miller.  There is nothing overtly spectacular or different about them.  None of them have a seminary degree.  None of them are exceedingly great orators.  (Eric is our youth pastor and loves to preach to kids.)  As a matter of fact, three of them get very nervous about speaking in front of our church about anything.  They are not independently wealthy.  Twelve months ago none of them really had any idea that they would be traveling to a predominately Muslim country to travel into the African rainforest in an attempt to locate and engage of group of people who have never heard of the name Jesus.

These four guys are a testimony to our church that God wants to use all of us to expand his glory and his fame to every corner of our city and every continent on our planet.  They are beginning what we hope will be a partnership between Sixth Street and the International Mission Board of the SBC to send teams several times a year until the Kakabe people embrace the gospel, are discipled, and churches are planted.  It's hard to imagine how a church of 200 people in rural Alabama are going to accomplish this task.  We are in the midst of a city that is experiencing tremendous difficulty economically.  We are a church that is still trying to break out of the rut of mediocrity and apathy.  We are a church who, until the last 14 months, mostly did missions by giving money.  However, we believe that God will give us the Kakabe people for his glory.

These men have all left wives and young children to be obedient to God.  They have sold possessions in order to finance the trip.  They have prayed fervently and repeatedly over the last three months.  Now, they are about to step out on a plane and into the spiritual warfare of missions.  Here are some things we are committing to pray about as a church:

• That the team would be able to physically locate and establish contact with the Kakabe people group.
• That the team would find favor with the Kakabe tribal elders.
• For a safe flight to Conakry, Guinea and safe land travel to the Timbo and KanKalabe areas.
• For the physical and spiritual strength of the team members as they take the gospel to one of the darkest spiritual places on the planet.
• For the wives and children of the men as they deal with the pain of physical separation and limited communication.
• That God would remove any communication and language barriers.
• That God will bind any evil spirits and remove spiritual barriers that have blinded the Kakabe people to the gospel.
• That God will prepare the way by speaking to the Kakabe people in dreams and visions.
• That the team would be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and that His presence will flow through them.
• That the light of Christ will penetrate the darkness of West Africa.
• That God will break the hearts of the team as well as the entire church over the lostness of the Kakabe.

Till the Kakabe see the glory of Christ!

Happy Birthday Andrew Scott Haines

10 years ago today, our 2nd born son came into the world.  We've always called Drew our surprise child since the announcement of his arrival was a little bit of a shock.  When we found out we were pregnant, we still had a 8-month old in the house and weren't planning any more for a couple of years.  Drew has been full of surprises and excitement ever since. 

The first sign that life with Drew would not be dull came on the day of his birth.  We checked into the hospital the night before to prepare for his arrival.  As they began to prep Alison to give birth the next morning, it looked like it would be several hours before he arrived.  My mother was in town taking care of Nathan.  We decided that I should go home to get a shower and help my mom get Nathan to his Mother's Day Out program since she didn't know where to go.  On the way to the church to drop off Nathan, I got a call from my wife.  She said in a crying voice "Matt, Hurry!"  I immediately sped to the hospital with my mom in the car behind me wondering why we were going to the hospital instead of the church.  I ran up to the second floor of the hospital to be greeted by nurses putting a gown, hospital mask, hood, and booties on me.  I saw them wheeling my wife into the operating room.  The nurse explained to me that the baby's heart rate had dropped and it appeared that while he was moving, he collapsed on his cord.  They were rushing my wife for an emergency C-section!  A few moments later they came and got me and told me to come see my son.  I walked by my wife who was now under sedation and the doctors working on putting her back together.  That's when I first saw the face of Andrew.

As already stated, life with Drew is never dull.  For the first couple of years, Drew had acid reflux.  He would randomly be looking at you and then he would hiccup and spit up all his formula on you.  We always knew who the nursery workers were in Drew's class at church by the white stains on their shoulders.  We call Drew our carnivore because he loves meat.  I mean loves meat.  He recently ate a 16-ounce sirloin.  I could barely finish it.  He often walks through the house gnawing on a piece of steak or bacon left over.  Drew also loves pictures.  He loves to take pictures and he loves to have his picture taken.  At our Disney trip, he wanted his picture made separate with every character.  We had about 600 pictures and about 200 of them were of him or made by him.

Drew is many times the most headstrong of our kids.  We have had some historic battles of the will with him.  For a while, Drew was obsessive that his clothes always matched.  Battles would be fought each morning about whether his pants and shirt were acceptable.  He also was obsessive about his hair at one time and wouldn't let us cut it.  Eventually it looked like a frayed, industrial-size mop.  Drew once got in a argument with another kid about a video game and the kid hit him in the mouth with a controller.  This resulted in partially knocking his tooth loose.  Eventually, he hit the same tooth on the faucet in the tub so that it stuck out his mouth in a 90-degree angle.  Another evidence of Drew's strong will is that he always has some kind of verbal outburst whenever corrected.  I have told Drew often that what gets him in trouble is usually not his action, but his reaction to us whenever we corrected him. 

At the same time, Drew often shows us some of the most tender moments of love.  He will often come and lay his head on my shoulder.  Every night we have the same routine.  I tuck him in and say a prayer.  As I am walking out Drew will say "I love you" and I will answer "I love you, too."  Then he will say "Goodnight" and I will say "Goodnight."  Every night.  He never goes to sleep without that routine.  He will call me when I am out of town at bedtime because the routine is broken.  Drew has taught Alison and me a lot about patience and love without conditions.  I feel extremely blessed to be his dad.  I am overwhelmed to know that the next 10 years will go by as quick as the last 10.  There will be many more prayers and opportunities to see what God is going to do with Drew next.  All I can say is "Buckle Up".

Happy Birthday Drew!  I love you, I believe in you, and I am proud of you.

RESOLVED: To be a steward of God's resources

Several weeks ago I blogged that we have started a new sermon series at Sixth Street called "RESOLVED" in which we are looking at 4 resolutions that we as Christ-followers can make that will have a significant impact on our spiritual lives as well as our church and our families.  The second resolution that we looked at was resolving to be a steward of the resources that God has provided us.  We talked about the need to flip the lens by which we look at our money and possessions. 

The problem is that from an early age we have been programmed to look at our world from the lens of consumers and consumption.  We also see things through a scarcity mentality that says there is only so much available and we need to get all we can right now. We learn this as infants.  We learn there are only so many cookies so we better eat them now.  As we grow up, our desires get bigger.  We begin to measure our lives by our consumption and our value is measured by the size of our flat screen or the cost of our SUV.  We want the Super-Size meal and the 20" laptop.  To top it off, we see the things in other people's houses add to our discontent.  We also talked about the fact that the gravitational pull of our flesh is not towards godliness, but towards selfish fulfillment.

The answer to this is that we need to change from being consumers to being stewards.  We need to see our resources the way that God does.  We need to understand that all our resources have their beginning and belonging with God.  He has placed us as managers over them and made us accountable to him for our management.  This is why stewardship is such an important topic in the church.  Without a biblical understanding of stewardship, our resources will eventually become idols that rob us of truly worshiping God.

We saw that our lives are to be marked by four significant changes:

• They should be marked by contentment over consumption
• They should be marked by righteousness over resources.
• They should be marked by purity over possessions.
• They should be marked by generosity over greed.

We closed with the following resolution:
WHEREAS, life and everything that accompianies it is a gift from the Heavenly Father; and
WHEREAS, every resource in the life of an individual has its ultimate origin from the hand of Almighty God; and
WHEREAS, God has graciously provided from His sovereign hand every resource in the life of a believer including but not limited to financial resources, life and breath, the dawning of each day, and all the possessions accumulated in life; and
WHEREAS, the life and attitude of the Christian is to be marked by responsibility and thanksgiving to God Almighty; and
WHEREAS, the Christians is accountable to God for not only the accumulation of these resources, but also their management; be it now
RESOLVED, that as a Christian I will be a steward of God's resources; and
RESOLVED, that I will measure the value of my resources by my accountability to God and not by my personal consumption; and
RESOLVED, that whether I eat or whether I drink or whatever I do I will do it all to the glory of God; and
RESOLVED, that I will generously and gladly support the ministry of my local church and the kingdom of God as a first priority; and
RESOLVED, that I will live a life marked by contentment, responsibility, generosity, righteousness, and purity with the resources God has given me.

Welcome to the world Joshua Lee

Yesterday was a historic day in the Haines' household.  We were honored and excited about the birth of our fourth son - Joshua Lee Haines.  To God's glory, he is healthy and measures in at 8 lbs, 8 oz.  He was born at 7:56 am.  This was Alison's third c-section so his arrival was a little better scheduled.  We were surrounded by our family.  Josh had lots of arms to hold him throughout the day.  We were especially surprised by how excited and helpful Josh's oldest brother Nathan has been.  Nathan spent all day watching over him, changed a diaper, and held him a lot.  Drew and John David are also very excited that their little brother is here.

We believe that Josh is going to be a special baby in a lot of ways.  First of all, his announcement was certainly a surprise.  Alison and I had finally gotten into the routine of having all our kids in public school.  Our days were to be filled with baseball and legos and not diapers and poop.  Our house is usually very loud, but now that volume will be filled with the cries of an infant.  Alison and I talked the other day that beginning with my first-born until my third, John David, was finally potty-trained, we had over 8 years where we had diaper duties.  Our monthly budget had some freedom without the added $40/month expense for diapers.  Not so now.

We also find humor in the age difference now in the kids in the house.  Our other kids are 11, 10, and 6.  When this son graduates from high school, his dad will be 60 years old.  My friend Jason said yesterday that is classmates will say, "Why is your grandad always bringing you here?"  When Josh is my oldest son's age (11), Nathan will be graduated from college.  Our hopes for an empty nest with some personal time have been delayed for some time.  However, we also know and affirm that our first calling here as parents is not to get the kids out of the house ASAP, but to raise our sons as ambassadors of the gospel.  God has given us another chance to model the gospel through our words and actions. 

Joshua is also a reminder to us that our sovereign God gives us the gift of children.  While we do a lot with family planning, God is the one who provides for us.  Psalm 127 reads, "Children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward."  We know that the immediate future will be filled with sleep-deprived nights, diaper duties, and the constant question "Who missed the toilet when they were peeing?"  We also know that God has rewarded us with great opportunities.  There are great challenges every day to parenting 4 boys.  Their rooms are never clean.  They crunch chips all over the couch. 

Psalm 127 also reads, "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are the children of one's youth.  Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them."  God has given me another arrow in the arsenal of the gospel.  I am humbled that he considers me a warrior trustworthy enough for another arrow.  There were many days of my youth where I wondered if I would have a family or sons as my heritage.  God has provided to his glory!  One of my goals and challenges as a pastor and Christ-follower is to help men to understand the weight and privilege of their gospel responsibility as dads.  The epidemic of detached dads in the church has weakened our effectiveness.  I love throwing catch or shooting hoops with my boys.  However, my first responsibility is not to make sure they bat .400 or can throw a perfect spiral.  My first priority is not teaching them how to land a trophy buck.  My first priority is to nurture these arrows until they are ready to fight in the battle and then carefully aim and release them into the world as agents of the gospel.  It is a heavy task and one that almost every man feels inadequate at.  However, an arrow that misses its target and lies shattered on the battlefield has missed it's purpose.  I take pride in the fact that the heavenly Father has now handed me another arrow.  It will take some time to nurture Josh.  I have to remember these facts when I reach down for another diaper.  I have to constantly quote these verses when I am cleaning food off the floor.  But, I am grateful...

Slave by John MacArthur: A Book Review

I was excited to get my hands on John MacArthur's new book "Slave" to review.  Dr. MacArthur and his writings have had a profound effect on my Christian walk as well as my ministry.  I have been privileged to receive dozens of books from his ministry, Grace to You, that have shaped much of my theology and ministry practice.  This book quickly went into the top three that I have read by him and will effect me much like The Gospel According to Jesus did. 

The premise of the book is that for many centuries Bible translators have often translated the greek word "doulos" as servant or bond-servant instead of the more accurate translation "slave".  This has been primarily to the negative reaction in the western world to the atrocities that occurred in both the English and the American slave trades.  In the process of translating such, a major theological flaw has occurred.  We have created a system of Christianity that places a lot of sovereignty in the life of the believer.  We have looked at the relationship of Christ-follower and Jesus as a partnership.  "Jesus has a wonderful plan for your life", "Jesus is for you", and "Jesus wants to do abundant things in your life" are some of the popular notions in today's church.  They all miss the point that what Christ calls us too in the gospel is complete allegiance, total surrender, and abandonment of self in order to find the treasure of the gospel - Christ himself.  MacArthur does a masterful job of taking the reader back to understanding the Roman system of slavery against the more modern understandings of it.  He shows the reader that to accurately understand "doulos" we must look at the perspective of the culture in which the New Testament was written.  He explains that while slaves had no inherent rights, many of them also benefited greatly from benevolent masters who took care of them. 

While some might think on the surface that the ideas that MacArthur expounds sound restrictive, a closer examination shows that they are the pathway to true biblical freedom.  No longer do we need to be bound to a system where Jesus is our "friend" and we "try our best to be like him."  Instead, through complete submission to Christ, we discover greater intimacy with him, a pathway to obedience, and release from the systems of this world.  I would highly recommend every pastor, church leader, and most Christians to pick up a copy of Slave.  Find the freedom of slavery to Christ.

What if there's a bigger picture?

I love this video I just saw this week from Matthew West.  Great song, great message.

RESOLVED: To Be a Student of God's Word

I started a new sermon series at Sixth Street yesterday called "Resolved: Commitments that Count".  In this 4 week series we will be looking at 4 key resolutions that if we undertake them will have dramatic effects on our lives, families, and church in 2011.  I talked about how most of us have become disillusioned with making New Year's resolutions because we confuse resolutions with goals.  A goal is a preferred outcome.  However, if we don't make it, no big deal because it was a goal.  Resolutions require resolve.  "Resolve" is defined as "to come to a definite or earnest decision about; a determination to do something."  Resolve requires determination.  Determined to not be content any longer and determined to do whatever it takes to make necessary changes.  For instance, I may have a goal to lose weight and eat better.  However, when my doctor tells me that if I don't exercise and lose weight that I may have a heart-attack and leave my wife a widow and my kids fatherless, now I have determination.

With that in mind, as Christians we usually make a new year's goal to "read the Bible more."  However, the weakness of that statement is what usually leads to our failure. If you only read the Bible 10-12 times last year outside of attending a worship service or small group, then if you read it 20-25 times this year you would technically accomplish the goal, but still fall far short of your intention.  Instead, we should me a "resolution" to become a student of God's word.  That statement carries with it greater weight, accountability, and action.  When I phrase it in that manner, then I must make some hard changes in my life and time management to accomplish it.

We looked at Hebrews 4:12 and the Prosperous, Powerful, Piercing, Probing, and Productive word of God.  We saw that God uses Scripture to transform our desires, attitudes, thoughts, values, and priorities.  Here is the resolution I have adopted and gave our church as a challenge yesterday:

WHEREAS, the natural course of our personal human nature is to trust in our own wisdom in all matters of life; and
WHEREAS, the wisdom of the world is foolishness in the sight of the living God; and
WHEREAS, the life of the believer is to be one of deep devotion to God and personal transformation by the renewing of one's mind; and
WHEREAS, the Bible is the authoritative, life-giving, inspired, inerrant word of the living God; and
WHEREAS, the mind of the believer is transformed through devotion to and interaction with Scripture; be it now
RESOLVED, that as a follower of Jesus Christ that I will become a student of God's word; and
RESOLVED, that I will no longer be content with a shallow relationship with holy Scripture; and
RESOLVED, that I will intentionally and purposefully manage my time to create opportunities to regularly read and study; and
RESOLVED, that whenever I find something in my life that is incompatible with God's word that I am to change and not it.

I also gave some suggestions for Bible reading plans for 2011.  Here are some of them:
The ESV Bible Plan
The One Year Bible Chronological Plan - read the events of the Bible in the timeline as they happened.
Discipleship Journal plans - The 5x5x5 plan and the regular through the Bible plan.
Youversion.com

My 2011 Reading Plan

I love books. Sometimes I think I love collecting books more than I love reading books.  Usually Christmas is a time for my family to get me books that I really want but haven't broken down and bought yet.  Whenever I get the latest copy of Christian Book Distributors catalog my fingers begin to shake and my breathing gets erratic.  I find myself browsing Amazon.com several times a day doing random searches.  My wish list and shopping cart are full of books that I think would be neat to own, but I don't feel compelled to spend money on right now.  It's a sickness that usually is only reserved for those of us in ministry who spend our lives in the arena of words and ideas.  The end of the year is usually reserved to spend the last few hundreds of dollars of unclaimed business expense money on all kinds of commentaries and books that we saw in someone else's library. 

All that being said, I do try to be intentional about what I read.  I try to vary the offerings in areas covering ministry, leadership, preaching, biographies, sports, and popular fiction.  I will be doing a lot of doctoral work in the first three months of the year.  Much of my reading will be confined to research in the area of servant leadership.  However, here is a list of the books I plan to read this year. 

Must-Do's
Slave by John MacArthur
The Confession by John Grisham
Decision Points by George W. Bush
Generous Justice by Tim Keller
Text Driven Preaching by Danny Akin
Spiritual Warfare and Missions by Jerry Rankin and Ed Stetzer
The Grace of God by Andy Stanley
Mint Condition by Dave Jamieson
The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons
Beyond Belief by Josh Hamilton

Like-to's
The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns
Going Rogue: An American Life by Sarah Palin
For the Fame of God's Name by Sam Storms and Justin Taylor
Death by Meeting by Patrick Lencioni
Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges
The Millenials by Thom and Jess Rainer
Don't Call It a Comeback by Kevin DeYoung

Might-do's
The God Who Is There by D.A. Carson
Why I Am Not an Arminian by Robert Peterson and Michael Williams
Church + Home by Mark Holmen

I know there will be lots of books that will come out this year I do not know about and others that are already out that will cross my path sometime soon.  These will be added to the plan when possible.

Thoughts on new year and 2010 memories

2011 has arrived.  Seems like 2010 went by much faster than usual.  However, I think that is what everyone says when they get older to avoid the reality that time on this earth is getting shorter.  My Bulldogs gave me a great start to 2011 by putting a beat-down on the Michigan Wolverines in the Gator Bowl.  Michigan is actually my second favorite team so it was a bittersweet win, but still pretty sweet.  Like most of the MSU family, I am proud of the accomplishments of this team this year.  Going into the season most of my friends asked me what I thought the Dawgs would do.  I said I believed it was going to be much better than most thought.  I believed a 6-6 season was within reach, 7-5 even possible.  It's nice to have an offseason to be excited and ponder what awaits in September.

2011 also will begin with a new arrival soon in the Haines house.  We have a tentative date of January 20th to welcome son #4 - Joshua Lee Haines.  However, Alison wouldn't mind if Josh sped things up a bit.  I feel extremely blessed to have the opportunity to father 4 boys.  I deeply desire to be a good dad.  I think I do well some days, but have a lot of room to improve.  I feel the deep weight of modeling the Father in heaven and showing them the gospel each day. 

I usually post an end-of-the-year post on December 31.  However, things were a little hectic to give me ample time to reflect and write.  This past year was my first full year as pastor at Sixth Street.  We have seen some progress as a church, but it has been much slower than I would have liked.  I am blessed to serve the Lord amongst a body of great believers.  Many of my church members want to bless their pastor and do so in many ways.  We saw our church take some great steps in missions this year with people attending mission trips to Kentucky, Swaziland, Nigeria, and Dominican Republic.  We have seen several new families join this year. 

I also jumped back into my doctoral work this year.  I attended a workshop in September and subsequently spent 3 months doing little work on it.  However, I hope to have a proposal to turn in by mid-late January.  My postings may continue to be sporadic until I finish my writing and research.

2010 was a pretty good year for my family.  The boys made a couple of new friends in our new neighborhood this year.  They like occasionally walking around in the woods behind the house exploring trails and inventing games.  All three of them had a good year in school and are excellent students.  Nathan played baseball again this year, but had some early struggles in a new league with all new kids.  Their team didn't do very well, but Nathan improved throughout the year and finished as one of the leaders on the team.  John David played t-ball for the first time.  His team lost only 1 game all year.  He really seemed to like wearing the uniform and mostly the snacks afterwards.  He was a target for the ball sometimes and got knocked down a couple of times by line drives or by colliding with kids at the base.  There were some tears, but usually after a powerade he was all good.

In October we went with my brother's family to DisneyWorld for a week.  It was an awesome vacation! (Except that Mom was pregnant, couldn't ride anything, and had a hard time walking around)  Mom was a trooper though.  Disney is one of our favorite things.  The boys loved riding the coasters and eating the big meals.  It was special to spend time with my brother, sister-in-law and niece.  The boys love their cousin Marlee and had a great time walking around with her.  We also went to Orlando in June for the Southern Baptist Convention and an extended vacation.  We went to Wet-n-Wild one afternoon and took in a day at Universal Studios. 

Another thing I like to do at year end is reflect on all the people who left this world.  Each year has its own unique collection of deaths.  Here are some of this year's:
Sports
Sparky Anderson - My childhood was spent rooting for the Cincinnatti Reds and the Detroit Tigers.  One thing they had in common was Sparky.  He was the greatest manager I had the privilege of following.
George Steinbrenner - even as a lifelong Yankee hater, I regreted the Boss' passing. 
Nick Bell - defensive lineman from MS State who died of cancer.  Gator Bowl was for you Nick!
Bob Feller - legendary pitcher for Cleveland Indians
John Wooden - greatest basketball coach ever
Ernie Harwell - legendary voice of the Detroit Tigers
Others: Don Merideth, Merlin Olsen, Ron Santo, Bobby Thomson, Manute Bol, Jose Lima

Celebrities
Barbara Billingsley - June Cleaver, Mom of the Beav (watched this show a lot as a kid)
Dennis Hopper - great actor, especially in Hoosiers and Speed (Pop Quiz Jack)
Gary Coleman - What'cha talkin about Willis?
Leslie Neilsen - Airplane and Naked Gun movies
Captain Phil Harris from Deadliest Catch
Corey Haim - 80's teen movie star
Dixie Carter - great Southern actress
John Forsythe - Voice of Charlie from Charlie's Angels
Tom Bosley - Mr. Cunningham on Happy Days
Other Celebs: Peter Graves, Rue McClannahan, Tony Curtis, Blake Edwards, Fess Parker (Davy Crockett), Karl Malden,

Others of Note
Elizabeth Edwards - wife of former presidential candidate John Edwards
Robert Byrd - U.S. Senator
J.D. Salinger - author of Catcher in the Rye
Jimmy Dean - country singer and maker of great sausage
Ted Stephens - U.S. Senator

All in all, I feel blessed by all the Lord has done in 2010.  God is faithful and true.  His gospel is still the greatest story ever and his glory is still worth pursuing.  Hope you and yours have a wonderful year in 2011.

Best Commercial of 2010

This is the one commercial that always gets me and the family to stop and watch. Always funny when I see it.

Worship from the silent monks

I saw this yesterday on Kevin DeYoung's blog. This is creative and very funny - a reminder that everyone can praise the Lord, even if they have taken a vow of silence.

Why one "Mac" guy is very disappointed in Apple...

In this "politically correct" and "tolerant" society, it's not surprising but certainly is disappointing that Apple last week decided to pull the app for the Manhattan Declaration from it's store.  It's another sign in the continuing saga that holding to a gospel-centered, Christian worldview is viewed as "intolerant" and "bigoted" in today's society.  Our culture has shifted rapidly over the last 40 years away from centrally help objective standard.  This is another example of the radical depravity of sin that pervades not just every person, but ultimately can pervade society.  Our culture, while trying to exalt human dignity and value, exalts humanistic value above all else.  While cloaking itself as upholding the value of individuals, it has created a society where the free exchange of competing ideas is squashed.  As we continue to slide toward Gomorrah, Romans 1:18-32 continues to be a picture not just of our future, but of our present as well.  The gospel presented in Romans is not about being "anti-gay" but instead is summed up in phrase "who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth (18)."

We see that part of the judgment of God is that He gives them over to a "debased mind" that no longer has any ability to determine righteousness or unrighteousness.  This is the natural course of sin.  This is the passive judgment of God where He allows people (and a culture) to see and feel the full effects of their depravity.  This is why it is of paramount importance that we build our churches and ministry upon a strong foundation of the gospel.  This is why we must preach and teach the gospel to ourselves every day.  This is why we must take people away from the issue of homosexuality and back to Genesis 3 where we show them how "original sin" causes us to reject God's word and become our own idols. 

Bottom line, Apple is a "for-profit" company that is more afraid of the backlash and political implications of offending a minority than the implications of offending Christians.  Why?  Because as Christians we will meekly step aside like many times before.  In the meantime, I don't see Apple pulling off podcasts from it's Apple store that bash Christianity, openly call the church "anti-gay", or promote ideas that Christians would find offensive.  Why not?  They would want to promote free and open dialogue of course - except in the case of the Manhattan Declaration app.

Here is a great video done by Chuck Colson about the implications of this decision on our political culture.  There is much more here at stake than just "some Christians being offended."

Christmas According to Ipad

This was from North Point Community Church this past weekend.  What an extremely creative use of technology.  I wish I were this creative.


North Point's iBand from North Point Web on Vimeo.

MSU Dawgs - Egg Bowl Highlights

Another great video by Derek Cody highlighting the Bulldogs Egg Bowl victory.  It's been an awesome and memorable season so far.  Looking forward to the Gator Bowl (even though it matches up my two favorite teams in college football).  Go Dawgs!

Don't just get people "saved"...give them the gospel

Ok.  Time to get something off my chest.  The longer I am in ministry and the more I look at the state of the church in America, the more concerned I am about some of the tactics and methods we use to help people understand salvation and what it means.  I believe that there are several well-intentioned, but sometimes misleading things that we do in churches today that actually go against helping people to find a true personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Let me illustrate first from personal experience.  I have been a "Christian" (I prefer to say a disciple of Jesus) for about 20+ years.  However, I have been a Baptist for 42 years.  I spent my Sundays as a child growing up in an SBC church - attending Sunday School and VBS, going to "big worship", and hearing all the Bible stories.  My church heritage laid a spiritual foundation for me at an early age.  As a child, I deeply believed there was a God.  Not only that, I knew that he had "a wonderful plan for my life."  I knew that Jesus died on the cross to forgive me of my sin.  However, like most children, my young age prevented me from really understanding the true implications of the gospel facts that my church gave me.  I did know enough though to know that I wasn't the kind of person that God wanted me to be.  I knew that I did things that displeased him and I was ashamed of them. 

In seventh grade, an FCA group came to my school for an assembly.  They asked us to come back that night for a big gathering in the gym.  What 7th grader doesn't want to go hang out with friends and hear ex-jocks tell their stories?  Besides, I think there was free pizza. (isn't there always?  I don't think most churches can share the gospel with students without pizza.)  I heard athletes share about how they lived their lives in drugs and sports.  I heard them share about how they trusted Jesus to forgive them of their sins.  I heard them tell us that if we didn't trust Jesus as our Savior that we would spend eternity in hell.  (I knew I didn't want that.  My dad often referenced hell, but I don't think he understood it biblically either.)  Then some guy gave an altar call.  I watched as dozens of kids came down out of the gym bleachers to get "saved".  My friend Darren who was next to me said "Do you want to go down?" (Darren wasn't a Christian.  He was just a guy with a mullet who liked heavy metal music like me.)  I said "Yeah, do you."  We both went down and had some guy on a stage say "If you want to get saved, pray this prayer."  We did.  Then we were given some cards to fill out.  That was pretty much it.  The only problem was, nothing really changed.  I still liked heavy metal music, thought cursing was cool, and was tempted to look at dirty pictures of women.  However, I was "saved". 

Several years later, I was at a student night revival at my church.  I was a junior in high school.  I just had 5 pieces of pepperoni pizza (see, gospel and pizza).  I heard the revival speaker tell stories about kids who went out and got drunk and died and were spending eternity in hell.  He talked about how Jesus wanted me to get saved.  I knew that I was in need of something.  When the invitation was given, I went forward.  I was sent to a room with a counselor who shared the gospel with me and prayed with me.  However the doubts about my salvation remained for two more years until I fully surrendered to Christ at age 20.

The point of my story is that I wasn't ignorant about my need to get "saved".  I knew that Jesus died on the cross and that he rose again.  I knew he loved me.  Some would say I had a head knowledge of Christ, but not a heart knowledge.  I don't think that was the case.  I did want to love God.  I loved what I knew of him.  I meant it when I sang the youth choir songs.  What was missing was a continual planting in me of the gospel. 

Let me clarify a couple of things:  1.) I believe that everyone along my spiritual journey (SS teachers, youth ministers, evangelists) genuinely wanted me to know about the love of God and Christ's sacrifice on my behalf.  2.) I know that my capacity to have a saving knowledge of Christ, implications of my sin, etc. was limited along my journey by my age and personal knowledge and experience of sin.  3.) I don't think that someone must have a complete understanding about all the gospel facts in order to experience real salvation.  Jesus himself said we must come like little children.  Romans 10 says that what is needed is confession of Jesus as Lord and belief in his resurrection. 

Here's the point of all this.  I want to plead with my brothers in ministry to hold true to the gospel.  Sometimes in the simplicity of the gospel, we try to make it too simple.  In ministry we often judge success by spiritual identification and not spiritual transformation.  So, we give stories about hell, give powerful pleas to "accept Christ", get people down the aisle and into the baptistery, and consider ourselves success.  We use the scorecards of church attendance and baptisms instead of saved marriages and changed lives.  We need to help people see that they need the gospel as much to be saved as they do to become saved.  We need to remember our end goal is not getting people down the aisle.  We need to remember as Dallas Willard says that "our end goal is not to get people into Heaven, but to get Heaven into people."  This week, I had the privilege to talk with a 48-year old guy who is trusting the gospel for the first time.  He's been "saved" and "rededicated" several times.  He knew many facts about the gospel.  He just didn't know the gospel.  I explained that following Jesus meant the death of him.  I explained that in order to follow Jesus he had to give up everything he was for everything Christ is.  His eyes lit up.  For the first time, he was experiencing the gospel.  He went from spiritual jargon to spiritual reality.  It was a beautiful site.  The sad thing is that 28 years ago, this guy walked an aisle.  He was probably very emotional.  He was told how to be saved.  He prayed the prayer.  He was baptized.  However, by his own words he admitted that nothing changed.  He said it felt like the door was shut on him.  Frustrated, he decided that since heaven was secure then God wanted him to just do his own thing.  He lived 28 years with just enough facts about the gospel to reserve an eternity in hell.  I do not fault him.  I don't know who to fault.  I fault a system that takes a simple, yet beautiful message and boils it down to a simplistic jargon and recitation of facts.  We must do better. 

Brothers.  If we are going to get people saved, let's make sure that we make the gospel; it's facts and implications, the starting point.  Let's not be afraid to take some time and carefully explain it.  Let's be more afraid of false conversions than gospel rejection.  Let's not measure success by getting them down the aisle and instead measure it by their progression towards Christlikeness.  And, let's make sure that we understand and preach the gospel as larger than "getting saved." 

The Walk by Shaun Alexander - A Book Review

I recently was given a copy of a new book by former Alabama and NFL star running back Shaun Alexander called "The Walk: Clear Direction and Spiritual Power for Your Life."  I had the privilege of watching Shaun's career at the University of Alabama and his strong testimony of his faith while a youth pastor in the Birmingham area.  I also had him speak to my students in 2002.  He has always been a solid example for both young people and men of a devoted follower of Jesus Christ.

"The Walk" is a good read, especially in the generic "Christian Living" market.  This book is the author's attempt to try and explain a basic concept of discipleship and following Jesus.  Like the title suggests, Alexander utilizes the biblical illustration of "walking" from both the Old and New Testament to define how God intends the Christian life to be lived.  He has tried to write this book to be relevant to people on several places on the Christian journey.  In his words, he defines five stages of this pilgrimage - the Unbeliever, the Believer, the Example, the Teacher, and the Imparter.  Each of these stages shows the need for progressive sanctification.  He also identifies in each stage what he calls the "Trials, Traps, and Victories" of each stage.  This structure helps the reader to easily identify whatever stage he may be in and struggles he may be currently facing.  He also uses the example of Peter in each of the stages to show a biblical example of someone who progressed in his walk with Jesus. 

Don't read this book if you are looking for a theological dialogue on progressive sanctification.  There were some points where I felt like the theological foundations for the author's statements were a little shaky.  I felt at times that passages were used as a proof-text and weren't given careful enough exegesis.  This however is a common trend in most popular Christian living books.  Another concern was possibly an unintended implication that Alexander's athletic success was a result of his obedience to Jesus.  At points the reader might get a taste of a prosperity gospel that suggests that if you "give God all the glory" that God will bless you.  This is indicative of the "Prayer of Jabez" church culture that many times fails to see that sometimes God may bring prosperity and sometimes he may give you a cross.  At times I wish he would have dealt a little more fully with some of the tougher issues of being obedient when God doesn't come through like you suggested.

I don't believe that Alexander is attempting to declare a prosperity gospel - quite the opposite.  I think he has tried to write a very encouraging book to the vast majority of Christians that struggle with everyday obedience to Christ.  For this reason, I think the book is an encouraging read.  I believe that Shaun Alexander has done a great job of leveraging the gifts God has given him to glorify God.  This book is another attempt to do that.  I think many people will be helped and strengthened by reading it.  If you have a football fan in the family, especially in the Southeastern Conference, pick up a copy of this book for him/her.

Greatest Egg Bowl Ever!

In honor of tonight's game, here was one of the greatest moments in MSU Egg Bowl history.  My wife, brother, dad, and I were at the game.  It was an awesome moment! 

(The quality isn't great, but the energy translates nonetheless)

Things I Am Thankful For...

Sons That Love Me In Spite of My Flaws

Today, as I spend time with my family, I am especially grateful that my Heavenly Father has blessed me with the honor of bring an earthly father.  I didn't get married until I was 29 years old.  I wondered for many years whether it was part of God's plan that I would be married and have children.  God blessed me with the most beautiful redhead I have ever seen.  In our first year of marriage, we were excited to find out that we were pregnant.  We hoped for a boy and even named him "Noah".  However, Noah never made it into this world because of a miscarriage.  Through the pain and sorrow these questions still remained.

We welcomed Nathan Thomas Haines into this world in October 7, 1999.  From the beginning, Nathan has shown exceptional intelligence, a caring heart for people, and a desire to excel.  He has a very active imagination, usually starting sentences with the words "What if...?"  He has an artistic and creative mind.  He can usually be found drawing something or creating a new ship out of Legos.  He loves to play baseball and go places with his Dad - especially sporting events.

Andrew Scott Haines joined our family on February 2, 2001.  Drew has always marched to his own drumbeat from the beginning.  As a baby, Drew had a horrible case of reflux and would randomly spit-up on you.  He is by far our most emotional child, vacillating between emotions very quickly.  Drew also is an extremely intelligent child.  He usually brings home very good grades from school.  All of his teachers have remarked about his intelligence.  He also loves to read and sometimes likes to create his own stories.

John David Haines became son #3 on April 5, 2004.  He's always been the baby of the family.  He loves to be right in the middle of anything his big brothers are doing.  He is the most physical and touch oriented of our children.  His favorite thing to do is to "wrestle" with his dad.  (I love it too.)  He loves to snuggle at night with mom watching TV.  He's in the first grade and has shown a lot of the academic potential of his brothers. 

We are waiting on son #4, Joshua Lee Haines, to join us.  Anticipated arrival is January 20, 2011.  The announcement of his arrival was quite shocking to say the least.

As I was in the Dominican Republic last week, I had a lot of time to think about how blessed I am to be a dad and how much I take it for granted.  You can imagine that with three boys under 11 that our house is filled with energy and noise.  It can also be filled with a lot of drama -"Dad! They're bothering me!", "Dad! He hit me!", etc.  Many days the tyranny of the moment and the need to bring calm to the situation leads me to forget just how blessed I really am.  I have the unique opportunity to take three guys (soon to be four) and shape them into young men who love the Lord Jesus Christ.  I get to model the gospel in a real and tangible way to my sons.  I don't do a very good job of it.  I am afraid that many days they get an angry tyrant instead of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I sometimes sacrifice relationship for peace and quiet.  I think that sometimes I treat them as burdens rather than blessings.  However, most every day I have at least one moment where God uses them to show me just how blessed I really am.  I am thankful that while I am, like everyone else, an imperfect earthly father that I know (and prayerfully they do too) a Heavenly Father that treats us as sons and not slaves, gives us grace in our failures.

Last week in the DR, I was confronted with two stories about how fragile life is as a dad.  In one case we heard about a 14-year old kid who was fighting a very deadly form of cancer.  In another we heard a pastor tell about losing his 19-year old son in a car accident.  It was a not-so-gentle reprimand from my Heavenly Father about my attitude towards the boys he's blessed me with.  On this day, I am grateful that my sons look past my faults and still love me as dad.  I am blessed more than I deserve.

(Now I have to go. Someone's hitting someone.  Someone's told me for the ninth time they are bored.  Someone's asking when the turkey's going to be ready...)