Archive for January, 2009

Carolyn began her chemo yesterday at Baptist Hospital in Little Rock. The tenth floor hasn’t changed very much from our last go-round there. You walk into what used to be a dual-occupancy room, and there are three nice easy-chairs there. A nurse checks you in, orders your chemo meds from the pharmacy, and then you wait as she preps you (needles and tubes) for the procedure.

While there, you’ll visit with the other families receiving treatment. The other two who were there when we arrived were both from Cabot. There is a warm camaraderie with fellow chemo patients. The older fellow who was receiving his first chemo as well had a hard time sitting still that long and would take his chemo stand (it has wheels) down the hall, back and forth, on walks while it dripped.

The time varies depending on how quickly your meds arrive and how much you have to take. Caro has had a 4-hour bag before, but this regimen went rather quickly, taking only about an hour and fifteen minutes after it got started. The whole process was a little over four hours, but we can shave some of that off next time.

As she sat there being prepped, she had her blanket and pillow from home, a bag with books and magazines, her standard large mug of Diet Pepsi (or water), her iPhone and headphones, and an admiring husband. As the room crowded with other family members, I left my seat to make room for others and camped out in the lobby, reading and drifting off in intermittent sleep. (I awoke at one point with my goatee sopping from drool. Rather disconcerting.)

The long afternoon allowed much time for reflection. Most of it was spent worrying over finances, honestly. However, in my finer moments of surrendering those to the Lord, I was able to focus more clearly on my blessings – chief of which is my aforementioned hero. She may not have blue tights with a big red S across her chest (hmmmm…. Valentine’s Day idea….), but this little girl from Hobbs, New Mexico flies higher in my opinion than Supes ever could.

We will have been married 17 years this May. And she is more beautiful, lovely, and delightful to me than she has ever been. Our relationship has grown from being best friends during our courtship to lovers to being soul companions for life. No, we are not perfect. I’ve been wrong  two or three times in the past 17 years, or is it just 1-2? The truth is that even our most glaring imperfections are part and parcel of our mutual love for one another. 

Carolyn may not be faster than a locomotive, but because her faith and trust are absolutely fixed on the Father through faith in Jesus Christ, she is stronger than any army. I marvel at the Lord’s grace on display through her. I cannot brag on her without bragging on her (and our) God. For it is He that has created in her through faith such a wonder-work. I thank Him continually for a wife that fears and follows Him and who is able to rejoice and laugh even in hardship.

This is not to say that her every moment is spent skipping through spiritual tulips. No, there have been many moments of anguish, tears, and evaporated strength. She has fallen down many times. However, it is where she falls that makes all the difference. I say with great pride and gratitude that she is able, through loving grace, to direct her falls to the feet of her Savior.

It is there that she continually drinks of the cup of renewal, hope, and peace. I am an eyewitness to the miraculous time and again as I watch a loving God pour out needed provision into her life. And I stand amazed at the inner strength and levity that Carolyn displays constantly as she keeps on keeping on.

She is my hero. 

I tell folks all the time that the reason she has endured three, now four bouts with cancer is because God knows that I am a wimp. I wrap up in the fetal position when I get a sinus infection. Carolyn, however, presses on. I’ve witnessed the divine comfort cycle operate in and through her:

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” 2 Corinthians 1.3-5

Over the years she’s spoken and encouraged so many who are encountering cancer or overwhelming circumstances. Her life speaks a better a witness to those than any eloquent words I could ever write. 

She is my hero.

She has multiple laughs that are worth experiencing. One is a girlish giggle that is like drinking hot chocolate on a winter day. It warms you through and through. Another is a full rip-snorting cackle that will cause you to reach for the TV remote to turn the volume up if she’s on the phone and laughing. And she’s got another, throaty chuckle – a kind of “heh-heh-heh” that she will do in moments when she finds great, wicked humor in her husband’s self-caused pain or accident.

Her wisdom is remarkably self-restrained. Early in our marriage, we verbalized the quality of people that we most enjoy in each other and in our closest friends: real and honest. We both hate drama and game-playing. We would rather folks say what they mean and mean what they say. We deeply value genuine people and vulnerable transparency. Carolyn, however, is a master of loving self-restraint. I’ve discovered that it’s not that she doesn’t have an opinion on things. It’s that she practices wise choices about when to verbalize it (if ever). This may be her greatest challenge, because we’ve had hundreds of conversations where it’s plain she’s reached her limit of keeping quiet and is about to unleash her thoughts on an unsuspecting friend or relative. Just know that if it happens to you, she’s prayed, thought, deliberated and considered things from every side. And she’s right. Darnit.

She’s my hero.

I know she’ll be reading this at some point (she’s been in bed all day after yesterday) and when her eyes are skimming these words, she’ll be intensely embarrassed that I’ve once again put her life in front of others. She hates that. She detests being the center of attention. She’ll be nodding at this point, I guarantee you. However, her life, in my opinion, is worth extolling. It’s a gift to me and to everyone who will watch and take notes. Few people that I know have so much to communicate through a life of proving that she means what she believes. I just am blessed to be married to one.

And finally, let me do some Valentine’s Day preparation. She’s beautiful. I’m grateful to the Lord that I have a crush on my wife. I would pursue and woo her all over again. I may start today.

She’s my hero.

I attended the Arkansas Baptist Evangelism Conference today at First Baptist Sherwood. I came with the great expectation of visiting with and listening to an old friend from OBU days. Wes Hamilton, now the teaching pastor at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, Texas, did a fantastic job of communicating the desperate need to destroy the sacred-secular barrier by seeing all of life as sacred. 

However, I also heard two other dynamic teachers in Dr. Roy Fish and Dr. Robert Smith. Dr. Fish retired from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (my alma mater) as one of its most beloved and respected professors of evangelism. He has never failed to have a fresh word, and this afternoon was no different as he urged the gathered leaders to rely solely upon the power of the Holy Spirit in the work of evangelism. Dr. Smith is the professor of Christian Preaching at Beeson Divinity School. He too spoke with authority and passion as he communicated our great need to reach our children and young adults for Christ. I’ll try to blog my notes later this week.

Another powerful thing about gatherings such as these is the fellowship and renewed friendship that minister encounter together. I’ve blogged recently about the sweet spirit of camaraderie that pervades the hallways and restaurants around meetings such as these. Successes are recounted as well as failures, heartaches and praises shared. It’s hard to imagine a more misunderstood and underappreciated group of men and women than ministers. Listening to someone else’s problems does wonders for putting your own – and your peoples’ – into perspective.

The theme for this year in Arkansas Baptist life is “Reaching Generation Next Now,” and the Evangelism Conference sought to focus churches on the urgency of reaching their own children and youth. With study after study showing that 80% or more of churched youth drop out of church sometime around the age of 16, it becomes more imperative than ever not just to reach young people in their formative years but to impact homes holistically as never before.

I’m more convinced than ever that churches will not be able to effect and aid a spiritual transformation of the homes that compose their memberships by doing business as usual. Too many folks see the church as a drop-off center for ministry and even as a religious club with membership rights and privileges for us to effectively evangelize and disciple future generations. We must do more than reach youth. We must penetrate faulty and fatal worldly thinking in the homes of these same youth.

It will not be done by planning or strategy. I deeply respected all the guest speakers today for emphasizing our complete dependence on the Lord for the renovation of our hearts and our churches. The radical movement we seek must be engineered by God through His Spirit. As leaders who deeply desire to see people brought into our churches through regeneration and salvation, we must lead the church to a wholehearted, desperate dependence and reliance on God to do spiritual surgery on the church and our lost world.

As I continue to mull over the messages from today, I’d be interested in knowing what you think is required of God’s people to begin to authentically present the Gospel of Christ to our communities…

Sometime ago I wrote about Facebooksync for the Mac which will make sure your friends’ contact information and profile pics are synced with the Mac Address Book. It’s been very buggy of late, and in searching for a fix or solution, I stumbled across another app: AddressBook Sync which promises to do two things:

1. Sync your Facebook friends’ profile pics with the Mac Address Book.
2. Sync your Facebook friends’ birthdays.

It will not, unfortunately, sync contact information. Apparently, this is not allowed by Facebook at this time. (A crying shame, but I certainly understand).

After a quick download from the app’s site, I am happy to say it works flawlessly and quickly. You’ll need to give it permission to access your Facebook account, but after that, you’ll get a lovely window popup showing you the current profile pics and the ones that it will be updating. You’re also given the option of keeping whichever profile pics you have. This is very useful if you have a humiliating shot of a friend that you want to pop up on your iPhone every time they call for a good laugh. Ahem. Not that I would do that to anyone I know… (but if I’m chuckling when I answer your phone call, you know why now.)

For functionality, ease of use and general all-around helpfulness, I give this app an A. For the features I’d really like (contact information syncing) but which Facebook prevents, I guess we’ll have to wait.

Let me throw out this thought and then back it up:

What we do in times of grief says more about who we really are than what we do in times of peace.

In Matthew 14.14, we are told that “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and He had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Of course. It’s Jesus, right? 

However, context is king, and most assuredly so in this particular passage. A review at Matthew 13-14 reveals that Jesus had just experienced the death of a family member – a close cousin. And it was no natural death. It was a sudden and brutal murder in the form of decapitation. It occurred at the hands and by order of a religiously curious but overtly sinful ruler named Herod Antipas. 

Jesus’ grief over John the Baptist’s death was brief.

Before we consider that, however, it’s important to reflect on the significance of their relationship. Both John and Jesus’ birth were foretold and announced to their parents by angelic visitations. Both dads were more than disconcerted – Zacharias (John’s dad) was disbelieving and so was struck dumb until baby John was named. Joseph was more than a little suspicious of his betrothed sexual behavior and planned to break off the engagement until his visitation.

Both babes were assigned magnificent missions. John was to minister in the spirit of Elijah and “prepare the way of the Lord.” He was to be the last prophet before Jesus, preparing Israel for their long-awaited Messiah. Jesus claimed that his mission was prescribed from the messianic prophecy in Isaiah 61.1-3:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me 
to preach good news to the poor. 
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 
to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,  
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”

Jesus was baptized by His cousin in the Jordan, and thereafter, it appeared that John’s ministry ebbed while Jesus’ ministry exploded. John must have been rather confused, bordering on bitter, when he was sentenced to prison by the threatened king and his Messiah-cousin did nothing to free him. After all, if cousin Jesus was really who He claimed to be (and who John had announced), wouldn’t he at least fulfill the prophecy “to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,” in relation to a family member? As he looked at his own halted ministry within the confines of a prison, he questioned this turn of events. His grief was also brief.

When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” (Matthew 11.3-6)

Essentially, Jesus urged John not to lose faith. The proof is in the pudding, he was saying. And Jesus massive activity did not preclude John’s intense discomfort and disillusionment. I have to remind myself of that often. Just because life does not happen as I think it should (or as I believe God promised it should) does not believe the Father is not intensely active. I just must stop seeing my circumstances as the boundaries for God’s work. As in John’s case, Jesus’ work is on a much broader scale, for more ultimate good than I can ever imagine.

Sometimes we must sit captive while Jesus works elsewhere. Sometimes that captivity leads not to our escape but to a glorious, God-glorifying death. Even death by decapitation. At other times, our deliverance may be the result of another’s God-glorifying suffering and death – even death on a cross. 

Jesus later affirmed John’s ministry with the highest compliment he ever paid to any person: “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (Luke 7.28)

Which brings us back to Matthew 14.14… “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and He had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Remember the thought is:

What we do in times of grief says more about who we really are than what we do in times of peace.

Consider that Jesus had just learned of his cousin’s matyrdom. Scripture is very clear on connecting the news with Jesus’ intentions of “getting away.”

“John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.” Matthew 14.11-13

Jesus’ grief was brief. But what he did next was a stunning declaration of what was in His heart. Rather than rejecting the needs of others, Jesus ministered in his time of grief. He healed; he taught; he fed. He did so because as he looked upon the mass of those following Him, He “had compassion” on them. What a Savior! What a God!

The crowd was not an interruption to Him. They were His purpose. Deliberately, kindly, and purposefully, he stepped from the boat and began to heal. Dinner time would come in an astonishing way, but that’s another story.

If those of us who are attempting to follow Christ in our culture would model this kind of dying to self in order to minister to others, we may also find that grief has its place, and we, like Christ, may withdraw for  a time. Yet we too are called back to the masses to extend the message of Christ and the mission of Christ to the multitudes. Let our grief be brief. 

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. (1 Thessalonians 4.13-14)

As we look to Christ and depend on Him in our moments of sorrow, stress, loss and grief, we discover an abundance of mercy, hope, and help. All such times remind us of our helplessness and often collide with what we think “ought to” have happened. (Think of John in prison.) Yet, humble and loving trust expressed in Him in such moments will be a salve for our souls. And we will discover that prophecy is again fulfilled in our own lives as we experience “a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”

Yesterday, we received news that sent my invalid wife into ecstatic outbursts of “Ya’ll jump and down for me!” The surgical biopsy that was done on Friday revealed NO sign of lymphoma or Hodgkin’s. We are so very grateful and encouraged by this most recent evidence of God’s gracious activity on our behalf.

The standard line around our house since Saturday has been a quietly urged, through a pained-grin expression, “Don’t make me laugh.” Carolyn has been incredibly sore and in quite a bit of pain as she heals from the surgery. Unfortunately, our house is not one full of stoics. Rather, everyone in our house (perhaps with the exception of Carolyn) is a budding comedian. That has produced some gut-wrenching laughter from the rest of us and painful outbursts from Carolyn.

It was particularly awkward over the weekend when Sam found out the cat’s ears can be folded to the side of her head. She looks pretty funny like this, and he took great delight in folding them back in the presence of his mother and the protests of Adelyn. 

Carolyn’s mom has been with us since Friday, and she’s been non-stop the entire time. She was even up in the attic over the weekend, as she worked to clean out our clothes closets and bag everything up to take to Goodwill. Our back porch is literally covered with trash bags. We’re so grateful for her ministry to us during this time. I was a little concerned upon discovering that my closet alone had filled 4 trashbags. “You didn’t throw away my comfortable clothes, did you?” I asked despondently. She just grinned.

In addition, our friends and church family have brought by some wonderful meals that we’re deeply appreciative for. 

At this point, we are very grateful for some closure to this not-knowing stage of Carolyn’s health. The next step is to begin chemo treatments for the breast cancer. We’ll update you here when we find out what that will entail more specifically.

In the meantime, we’ve gotten pretty spoiled by your heartfelt and intentional intercession. Would you mind keeping us on your prayer lists for a while longer? We need continued healing, wisdom, provision, and constant grace. And we’d be overjoyed to have the privilege of lifting you up as well. Drop me an email or tweet if you are in need of intercession as well.

It’s been a while since I addressed the issue of whether churches should build more facilities or plant new churches. The trend in established churches is unfortunately, an unquestioned embrace that “bigger is better.” However, as I’ve said in previous entries in this series, it’s obviously not wrong to build or expand ministry facilities. What I’ve tried to advocate is a thoughtful, missional strategy for a growing church.

With that said, let’s look at the next reason why many churches choose building over planting:

• Desire for achievement, recognition, or status

While we see these selfish grasps for ambition more easily in individuals, they are just as apt to be present in a myopic organization. It’s the unspoken motivation of wanting other churches and ministries to “look how good we are…” What began as joyful response to God’s blessing in growth morphs into an unhealthy organizational self-love that devolves into self-promotion and neglect of assisting the development and extension of the kingdom of God in the world. Rather, it focuses only on what will make itself look good or earn other’s envy.

If church leaders aren’t zealous self-examiners, they may unintentionally begin using their church as a way to prop up their own ministerial resumes. Church growth becomes a means to earn the approval and respect of other churches and leaders. 

Because the church itself benefits from this growth and activity in obvious ways (new facilities, new ministries, a wide range of social activities, and a feeling of success), its members too fall prey to this type of thinking and become mindless advocates for the progress of their own church.

It doesn’t matter that sister churches in the area might be blessed from some of their abundant resources. They are unaware of the urgent needs of missionaries overseas. Strategic thinking about how Christ might desire them to minister and connect with His larger body is conspicuously absent. 

Money, time, and resources are invested and spent internally – and on projects endorsed or developed by that one church. If the idea doesn’t originate from within, it becomes unworthy of consideration or investment. It’s not that the church isn’t doing wonderful things, but in the long run, it is running a one-horse race to win achievement, recognition, and status.

One of the reasons that it’s exceedingly difficult for churches to consider starting a new church rather than building or expanding is due how exceedingly difficult it is to plant a new church. It will take resources, manpower, more prayer than ever before, the generosity of allowing current members to go with the new church plant, etc. 

Most of us pastors don’t thrill at the idea of “losing” key leaders. But that’s what beginning a new church often does. In joy and grace, we lovingly release some of our best and brightest to ensure the health and guidance of the new plant. Of course, there are other folks that we’d love to “send out” to a new church, but that would bless the mother church and curse the daughter church. ;)

We also don’t get charged up about allocating significant resources from already-tight budgets to another church plant. It doesn’t “benefit” the main church. But perhaps that’s another precise reason why church planting should be done. It’s selfless. It’s a recognition that if previous leaders hadn’t invested in us, our own church wouldn’t exist today.

In short, church planting may actually be one of the primary tools that we can use to kill the sinful selfish desire for achievement, recognition, or status.

This should be the last time Carolyn gets cut during this go-round. She has surgery today at Baptist Hospital in Little Rock. As I related in other posts, the doctor wasn’t satisfied with the negative results of the needle biopsies of lymph nodes in the groin area So they will be going in today to remove them.

This will be the second surgical attempt to do so. They were trying to avoid having to go deep.

It will most likely mean an overnight stay. However, the surgeon said she may be able to go home this evening.

What this means for us:
- The waiting game is almost over. Since November, we haven’t known exactly what we were dealing with or what she might be facing in terms of treatment. We will know early next week if Hodgkins or lymphoma is present with confidence.
- Chemo is ahead. A I related in my last post, they will be treating the breast cancer that way. If the results from today show lymphoma, there will be chemo for that as well.
- Living by faith and prayer is hard but deeply significant and surreal. We are overwhelmed by the support of friends, loved ones and complete strangers. Thank you.

At this point, we no longer ask for your prayers. You’ve spoiled us. Now we expect them. It is a glorious blessing to presume upon you in this way. Reality is though that we need more than prayers for health. Please pray for wisdom, financial provision, and our ability to testify to the Lord’s mercy in the middle of it all.

Living with uncertainty with Christ is better than being amply supplied and healthy without Him. I am reminded of David’s words, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the courts of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”

We had an appointment with the oncologist today. Dr. Larry Mendohlsohn has been Carolyn’s doctor since 1992 when she first started battling Hodgkin’s. He is an incredible, wise, Christ-follower who just happens to be one of the leading oncologists in this field. We’re grateful to be under his care.

However, as we met with him today, we realized that we had not exactly understood the situation. To review:

• A PET scan in early November revealed areas of activity, notably two areas in her groin, one in her breast, and today we found out that there was a small area on her spleen.
• She had a needle biopsy done on one of the groin areas to determine if it was lymphoma or Hodgkin’s. This biopsy was messed up by the lab, so we were back at square one.
• She had a lumpectomy to remove the tumor in her breast. It tested 70% noninvasive and 30% invasive. It was determined to be radiation-induced cancer, and we learned that she could not have anymore radiation since she’d reached her limit with her treatments in ’91-92.
• The doctors recommended a mastectomy, and without rehashing our decision NOT to proceed that way, she had another procedure a week ago to remove more tissue in her breast AND remove lymph nodes in the area around that to test and see if the breast cancer had spread. 
• In the meantime, she had another needle biopsy of the areas in her groin. These all came back negative. We took this for great news.
• She’s been very sore from the breast and node removal surgery. They installed a drain port for the lymph incision which was pretty uncomfortable. But the results on the tests all came back good. No sign of breast cancer in the lymph nodes.

At this point, we were elated. Except for a hurried trip to Little Rock Saturday morning, her recovery has been pretty smooth. The Saturday trip was due to the drain port causing a contact allergy that was extremely painful. 

Which brings us back to today. 

In our consultation with Dr. Mendelsohn, he was still not convinced that the nodes in the groin area were not problematic. It’s just a risk that we can’t take, he advised, and therefore recommended the necessary abdominal surgery (the node is deep) to remove it and test. 

In addition, he said that since we can’t treat the breast area with radiation, and even though all tests have come back negative, due to her age and history, he wants to treat her with chemotherapy for the breast cancer. 

If the node removed from the surgery comes back positive, she will also need to receive chemo for that as well, but he believes that he might be able to combine chemo treatments and treat both at the same time.

So that’s where we are tonight. Not where we want to be. But we’re still kicking. And relying on prayers. Thank you all so much!

I don’t think I’ve ever done this before. I’m posting the audio to a message I preached this morning at Journey. We’re using the month of January to teach through our vision statement: “To lead people into a love relationship with the Father.” Essentially, it’s my life message. If you could sum up everything I believe and teach about, it’s summed up in this one message. If you’re interested in other messages, you can go to Journey’s site and click on the Podcast tab.

Listen to \”A Love Relationship with the Father\”

Palm announced their new Palm Pre today, which is the first phone of theirs to run their new webOS. I’ve smirked at phones like the Samsung Instinct which announced in gaudy movie theater commercials that it was the iPhone killer. I’ve been amused at Crackberry Storm attempts to respond to the iPhone. And then there’s all kinds of other touchscreen phones on the market desperately attempting to respond to Apple’s success.

However, as a previous Palm Treo user, I must say the new Palm Pre looks mighty enticing. I doubt I would give up my iPhone for it like I gave up my Treo for the iPhone. However, if it came with Mac compatiblity (as smooth as previous Palm products) and a cheaper data plan than AT&T offers (they’re crooks) for the iPhone, the choice might become harder.

I’m just saying.

I made the call on the iPhone’s success. And I’m sticking my neck out and saying that the Palm Pre will turn a lot of heads and eventually gather more RIM customers than iPhone customers – initially. They may be breathing down Apple’s neck within two years – unless Apple makes the attempt to buy out Palm. We’ll see.

Shane tagged me on his blog for this meme.  I’m supposed to list seven random or weird facts about myself and then tag seven other people.  I did this meme a while back, but after reviewing it, I realized that I’d been a little out of sorts on that particular post. So… here goes:

1. I drove a pink Cadillac during the summer of my sophomore year in college.
2. I was so skinny in high school my “friends” started a “USA for Jeff” campaign.
3. I once played a saxophone duet with then-Governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton. On stage. With live television coverage…. Ok, that’s a complete lie, but I was struggling at #3.
4. Juices flowing again, I used to drink Isomil with my cereal well into my teen years since I was allergic to milk.
5. I think I’d like to run for political office one day.
6. My first wreck was a 4-car slide up on Rodney Parham Road just in front of Pulaski Academy in high school. Thin layer of ice on the ground. Chris Franzetti was in the car with me. We both said, “Uh-oh,” before we ran into the car in front of us, who’d run into the car in front of him. Then we were hit from behind.
7. I was chained to a railing in the courtyard of the freshman girl’s dorm at Ouachita during a serenade by my social club. I had mistakenly announced a crush on Michelle Utley. My “brothers” kindly arranged for her to come down and paint my face with makeup while I was locked up. On top of that, I never got a date with her.

Ok, for my seven folks: Shane (he’s down now but will soon be back up), AJ, Michael, TJ (his blog may be dead, but you can email him here and beg him to post again because he’s stinking funny when he does), another TJ, Richard, Andy, and the Vallances.

Carolyn’s birthday is December 24. That was the  day we received good news about her last needle biopsy. All the initial results from those came back negative for lymphoma or Hodgkin’s! That is truly a startling turn of events that we are ascribing to God’s gracious intervention through His people’s prayers. While Caro’s doctor may still ask her to have one of the nodes removed (a significant abdominal surgery), we are thanking the Lord at this point. Carolyn said she felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off her shoulders.

Last Friday, she had surgery again to remove more tissue around her breast from where they removed the first tumor. They injected her with dye that traced the lymph nodes connected to that area. They removed those and tested them for breast cancer to see if the invasive portions of the tumor had spread.

Today is my birthday. We got a call this evening while celebrating my birthday with family and old friends at Mimi’s Cafe in Little Rock. The results… again, negative. No sign of cancer in the removed nodes. Carolyn breathed a huge sigh of relief and says she can’t stop sighing.

Obviously, we’ll have some more consultations. She goes back next Monday morning to have the drain port removed. (We won’t go into that; it’s rather gross.) We are continuing to count on your and your church’s intercession for us. We thank you deeply for your participation in this hard journey with us.

I remarked to Caro the other night how different this time around is from the first bout with cancer in 1992. The outpouring of prayer and a sense of connectedness thanks to the blog world, Facebook, email and other forums has been astonishing. Literally, we’ve been aware of prayer and encouragement from all over the globe. Thank you.

And for those few of you who keep coming back to Notes waiting patiently for posts of church planting, tech, missional living, etc., please stay with me. I’ll get back to that in the near future.

I would prefer not to receive catcalls and ecstatic derision from this admission: I’m a geek.

I love computers (well, real computers… Macs). I love the intricacies of web design. I can sit in front of my iMac for waaaay too long checking out new Web 2.0 technologies, lifestream services, etc.

In recent weeks, several old and new friends banded together to create an informal and ad hoc group called TGOM. The post title says it all: Twitter Geeks of Monticello. It started simply. I sent out a tweet one day around 11 a.m., asking if any TGOM wanted to meet for lunch. What resulted was a raucous gathering of unashamed geeks. Well, one of them is a closet geek, but the rest of us carry our mice proudly.

We’ve had more lunches and tweet wars since then, even trying to help each other with Twittiquette. We randomly appointed officers for the group with BCMguy as president, me as Sergeant-at-Arms, seearkaj as Secretary, and journeyjerm as Vice President. I think we even let larryanna12 be Treasurer even though she’s not been able to be a part of the meetings yet. Others are vying for power presumably as I tweet.

In spite of our general banter, today I experienced a very practical and ministry-oriented side to TGOM. I’m confident that any of my tweet buddies could have helped, but one was johnny-on-the-spot. Here’s the situation:

Carolyn and I woke at 4 a.m. today to make it to Little Rock for a 6:00 a.m. surgical procedure. You can see the why’s of that here. However, suffice it to say that we were both bushed – her more than I, of course, upon our return home at noon. I dropped her off to sleep while I ran several errands, including picking up prescriptions at Wal-Mart. While I was there, I was supposed to get some Diet Pepsi for her. In all the hubbub of a crowded Wal-Mart (and Sam and I goofing off), I forgot.

When Carolyn awoke and got hungry enough to eat, she requested her Diet Pepsi. I slapped my forehead in frustation. Aaaah. I had just laid down to rest (see the earlier comment about 4 a.m.).  I was mustering up the energy to run to Wallyworld again when an idea stuck me… could it be…. TGOM to the rescue?

I hammered out a fast tweet: “Any TGOM folks at the store?”

Within a minute, I had several responses. arnievw and larryanna12 were apparently off-roading it in the Delta somewhere. shaneglass said his jeep was broke. BCMguy was rooting on Ole Miss at the Cotton Bowl. But seaarkaj said, “I’m at Wallyworld.”

A couple of private tweets and a few minutes later, and I had Diet Pepsi roadside delivery from a smiling friend.

That, folks, is one great way that Twitter can be extremely helpful and useful. I don’t care if I am a geek. Nyah, nyah. Live long and prosper.

At the beginning of 2008, I never dreamed…

• I would walk the streets of Krakow, Poland.
• See Auschwitz.
• Baptize Taylor James.
• Preach in a Polish Baptist church.
• Get published in a book for childrens charity.
• Attend the Arkansas Baptist State Convention voluntarily.
• I’d own a flat screen TV.
• Carolyn would be diagnosed with breast cancer.
• My family would receive sooo much love and prayer support.
• Journey would gain so many new families and friends.
• Journey would also lose a few more folks.
• I’d reconnect with Tim Smith at Exponential in Orlando.
• Olympics in China!?
• Attend another Passion event in Dallas with Carolyn – and have to stay in the hotel with the flu.
• Help develop an informal church planters network in Arkansas
• See Sam go to his first week-long kids camp – by himself
• Teach a seminar on using the internet for godly influence at Glorieta, NM
• Watch Adelyn place first in just about every race she swam in.
• See the UAM BCM building begin construction!
• Attend the last worship service for the BCM in their old building (built in 1954).
• Meet Ed Stetzer.
• Become a Twaddict.
• Get beat in the first round of the fantasy football playoffs.
• Shop unsuccessfully for a Kia Rondo.
• Get a moped stolen from me and have money provided to purchase a new one.
• Fall more in love with my wife than ever.
• Resurrect the old joke about seeing the fortune teller (don’t ask; you have to present to fall for it.)
• See gas go over $4 and under $1.50 in one year. That’s retarded.
• Be prayed for consistently and dramatically and intensely by so many folks from all over the world. (That’s a blog post forthcoming in and of itself.)
• Witness “The Catch” in Superbowl 2008.
• Have some strong aversion to words like bailout, change, and pork.
• See such radical change in national leadership and history made at the same time.
• Live in our house without power for five days due to a hurricane
• Watch Carolyn get her own iPhone and become one of those users she used to lash out at.
• Witness a near-worship service on one of the last shows of American Idol ’08.
• Get to play in foot-deep snow in the middle of March in Arkansas!
• Find a new home for Fancy the chihuahua, get a new dog… have a cat run over… and get a kitten for Christmas… whew. Pet Replacement Year.
• Learn so much about Christ, life and intimacy with God through hardship.
• Preach in Newark, Arkansas.
• See dozens of college students coming to our church.
• Marry one of my former students… (I was the officiating pastor… I’m not from Texas…)
• Admit that PCs are better than Macs… then I woke up in a cold sweat. What a nightmare.

What did you see happen that surprised you? Blog about it and leave a comment and a link!