Monday, February 14, 2011

Hayward

Well, it has almost been a year since posting on this. I have missed it some, it seems relaxing to post on here...just to get some thoughts out of my head. Also, it is good for me to go back and read some of my old postings. Just to see what was going on in my life and how things have changed. Like right now, I use punctuation and capitalization...like a grown up or something. The changes are much more profound than that, probably...but that is the easiest to notice right away.

Well, if I am posting on here, something significant must have happened. And it did. My close friend and guru of all things emergent church has passed away. Hayward Barnett was almost 85 years old, and he went home to be with the Lord last Sunday evening. Here is his obituary, which he wrote himself. And if you knew him, you can definitely tell that he wrote that himself! It's less of a recount of his life, to me anyway, and more like a, "hey, remember me this way...a gentleman". But I will remember Hayward differently, I will remember him as someone that developed a friendship with me b/c we had so much in common. I mean, he had no family, he was 84 years old and lived by himself in a small apartment, he lived his life out as modestly as possible, no children, never married, took care of his mother his whole life, was a staunch supporter of the southern baptist convention, hated to eat meals outside of his apartment, the list goes on and on with similarities between Hayward and I. lol What we had in common was a passion and a love for seeing things the way they could be...and according to Christ, the way they should be. Hayward kept me accountable to my rhetoric, he was always quick to remind me about the things that I had said I wanted to do. Especially, when he could tell that I was not doing them! Hayward loved the thought of the local church of Jesus Christ changing the world. He thought the Church ought to be more than being about business as usual. He thought the idea of salvation meant something more than just now you do the "right thing" and and go to church all the time and you won't go to hell when you die.

Hayward was progressive in his thoughts, he had a young heart! I loved that about him! He was not cranky and bitter about the cards he had been dealt, he decided, later in life that he was going to pursue Christ, even it meant being uncomfortable and trying something new! At 80-81 years of age, Hayward started listening to contemporary Christian music and attending non-traditional baptist churches. He participated in blogs and forum discussions online, he read modern day theologians and emergent church leaders books, he read everything he could get his hands on! A ton of it, HE DID NOT AGREE WITH, but he didn't dismiss it just because he didn't agree with it! He would consider that their point and agree to disagree and go on to the next topic on which they might agree on.

I will miss him! I will miss our long conversations about such topics. I will miss coffee in the afternoon with Hayward when many times we just sat quietly and watched traffic go by on hwy 65. I will miss his way, his modesty, his gentleman like attitude towards life, his sense of humor and the way he got cracked up about things that I would not have thought twice about. Most of all I will miss him, how close we had become over the past 3 or 4 years and who will fill that void in my life. (selfish, i know...but i don't care) He prayed for me and my family...all the time. He held my feet to the fire when he thought I might have been out of line. He helped to keep my vision in check when I thought it was too easy to just see dollar signs. He was my friend...and I will miss him. Thank you Hayward, for being such a part of my life over the past couple of years!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

two in one day....

if you are churched. attend church, raised in church, understand the christianese language that most of you know. watch this and it kind of explains some of the stuff that i have been contemplating.


it is 18 minutes or so...

well, it has been a while...

it has been a while... this post is going to be in segments. catching up, what's new, spiritual stuff...

catching up
there are a multitude of reasons why i haven't posted in a long time. 1) i am busy! 2) i am pretty focused and this has lost some interest to me. 3) i feel like i have not had anything new to say.
our company is busy! like crazy blessing for our business. i can not explain it, although i am more focused...i still can not explain random people calling US in order to buy chemicals. typically, we call and we call and we call on potential customers before we hear anything! these days, it seems like once a week, there is someone calling needing something from us.

what's new
the family is great! for eric, baseball is starting this weekend. for kinley, soccer starts this weekend. i can't wait to see my little girl's first shot at organized athletics!! we are still at james river and feel like it is where we are supposed to be for now. we are leading a life group (not through jra, but a combo of people) and it is going really well. it grew some what stale for a while, i took some time off from leading and now it is kind of a shared responsibility. it seems to be going better now. the potter's house ministry is going really well. i am coming up on an anniversary as a board member there. i enjoy being on the backside of ministry there. for me, i have always been a hands on, lead the front line type of guy. with potters, it is teaching me the back side of things. how to lead from behind the scenes. honestly, it doesn't feel natural at all, it is challenging for me. it almost feels ineffective at times, mostly because it is harder to measure the effectiveness. it takes more effort to see the effects...it takes connectedness, which takes time and effort...

spiritual stuff
i don't know where to start. i'm learning and being challenged. words like gospel and kingdom are challenging me. hayward (happy birthday by the way!) has introduced me to these topics and the lens he, and some others, are looking into. what are they? what do they mean? not confined by traditions...but defined by what the word of God says. it is challenging a lot that i though i knew.
i feel like God is growing in my life. He is trying to get my attention on some things. one of the things is, i don't know as much as i thought i did. hum, that is funny to look at...but it is true. all i know is skewed by where and how i learned it. it isn't until i strip all of that away and learn from the Truth, that i know anything??? make sense? either way, i'm looking forward to what He has in store.

that is about it for now. see ya in another couple of months. :-)

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

update and possible year end post...

well, 2009 has not been a good blogging year for me. i am not too concerned about that, but just stating the obvious. 2009 has been a good business year for us. 2009 has been a good year all in all, the kids are doing great, kim and i just got back from a great get-away to Cancun, i went snow skiing for the first time AND LOVED it!, i led a small group of business leaders/entrepreneurs through a challenging video study based on the Q conference i attended in April. i am finding my way into the role of board-member at the Potter's house in springfield and really enjoying it!, I could go on and on...

one thing real quick that has been bothering me, b/c i said i would respond a long time ago. the post about heaven and if Jesus were not there. without getting theological about it, i think that is the way i think some times. i think heaven could be boring, or i think heaven will be good because of the people i miss here. i take my eyes off of Jesus.

i think it is a great exercise question to re-focus me every once in a while. make sure my priorities are where they should be. and i need those...

ok, back to year end thoughts. i am not sure i will make a resolution to blog more in 2010. i do not know what resolutions i will make..but holy crap it looks funny typing 2-0-1-0. That is just a few days away! That sounds so, Buck Rogers ... if you don't know who that is, you should not be reading this. Google him, one of the best tv show's ever...or at least from a 10 year old's perspective growing up in the 80's.
anyway, 2010 has the potential to be a great year! not just for me, but for all of us. it holds that potential, i love the time of new years...i always read Ecclesiastes this time of year. It is good to put things into perspective. It is also helpful in establishing some goals. If you know what it is important, really important to you...it is easier to make the right goals or at least make goals that are focused in the right direction.

merry Christmas and happy new year to you!




Monday, November 30, 2009

quick post...

...a quick post.
-first, i know i have not posted my thoughts on the last post. i will, sooner or later...i will!

now, we decorated our Christmas tree yesterday. not to sound like a scrooge or anything...but, in the process of decorating. i realized and remembered, at the same time, i can't stand doing that! i get grumpy and short...not for sure why. i just do.

i love Christmas. i'm just not a detail guy. and when it comes to details, i get meticulous. i can not stop until i think it is just right...or at least what i think is just right. that leads to more problems...lol (husbands and wives know what i mean. :-) )

it's done, less than perfect. but it is ok...it is what it is. i love the holiday season, can't wait to get on with the rest of the year!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

tough...

WOULD YOU BE HAPPY IN HEAVEN IF CHRIST WERE NOT THERE?


The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—

is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the

friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and

all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beau-

ties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no

human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with

heaven, if Christ were not there?


God is the Gospel by John Piper


i am reading/listening to a book and this quote is from another book ... make sense?

i will try and un-pack some of my thoughts on this later, but i would love to hear yours.



Friday, October 30, 2009

mid-day friday post

i don't think that i have posted many mid-day posts, or at least it has been a long time.
this is my mid-day rant...i hate the preperation work. i hate sitting in the office trying to make sure that every thing is ready for the actual work that has to be done. i hate getting everything lined up, straightened out, double checked...i hate it all. your like...'dude, that's a lot of hate!' ...'yes it is!' , because that is how much i dis-like what i classify as "busy work".

i have a new account that is going on-line tomorrow. so, things have to be right and ready!

although i hate the prep work, it is absolutely necessary that it is done and done right. otherwise, when the "real work" happens...we have the potential to look like idiots. so, i procrastinate and i complain while i am doing the prep work.

i think this is my life most times. i am a big picture guy. get me at the front of the deal, center of the program and i am happy, comfortable and successful. or let me throw out 50 ideas of how things ought to be and cast a compelling vision. just don't ask me to dabble in the minutia of details. unfortunately or fortunately...depending on how you look at it, i am learning that true success happens because of the details. not in spite of them.

back to work! have a great halloween weekend!