Revisiting My NC Bucket List

In May of 2012 I wrote a blog post about how much I miss the great state of North Carolina, and included with it a Bucket List of things I wanted to do and people I wanted to see when I was finally able to return to my native land. As many of you know I was back in NC in August after my wife's father passed away, but didn't get a chance to check off too many of the items on the list. October 8-13 I will be driving up by myself with the intent of scratching as many of these itches as possible. As I was thinking about this last night it seemed like a good time to revisit my list and see what's changed. So here is my original NC Bucket List. The notes in red indicate changes in what can and needs to be done on this trip. So many people to see...still. Here we go:

1. Quaker Lake Camp-  There have been so many changes made to the old place since I last saw it in 2006 and I can't wait to see how it looks. My former youth Heather Beggs Varner still runs the place, and she is among the many people connected to camp that I would love to see again. Very high on that list are very old friends like Neal & Susie Thomas, Susan McBane Tuggle, Terry & Leigh Ann Venable, Jay Osborne, Laura Wheeler and Terri Johnson Harris. There are also literally hundreds of former campers and staff I would love to run into...  May just be a drive thru visit, but I do hope to go!
2. That Old Gang of Mine-  So many of the people I grew up with, and spent untold hours with in high school, college and beyond, are still in NC. Denise, Donna, Tammy & Chuck, Lisa & Dan, Beth & Bob, Carl & Diane, Mark & Liz, Mark & Martha, Alan, Tim and so many more are often in my thoughts and prayers. Now I just need them in the same room.  And I suppose Steve & Kathy could come from Ohio too- I hate to be a friend hog!  :)  I will make it so!!!
3. Ghassan's, Bojangles and Stamey's-  The best steak and cheese sandwich (that's right, you heard me Philadelphia!), the best spicy chicken biscuit and the some of the best barbecue (or "pulled pork" for those of you who don't speak the NC lingo) can all be found in Greensboro, and I intend to eat my way around the city upon my return! Did Bojangles in August; the other 2 are still high on my list!
4. Springfield Friends Meeting- We have been away way too long. I can't wait to get back to my "one particular harbor" and see so many people I love. Some of you I talk to regularly and can't wait to see. Others I miss so much. And of course there would be a great party and reunion at the Pizza Inn in High Point! The Pizza Inn party is happening Saturday the 11th at noon. Anyone and everyone are welcome!
5. The Reep Twins-  Two of my favorite Kissimmee youth, Teresa Reep Tysinger and Cyndi Reep Browning, now live with their families in NC.  I would love to visit them both, but I may have to hurry. I don't know how much longer both of them will be there...  Sadly I am indeed too late for this one. Cyndi now lives in Alabama and Teresa in Texas, so those are adventures still to come!
6. The Roller Derby Queen- One of my former minions at Springfield, Laurie Rees, is now involved in roller derby down in the Wilmington, NC area. This falls under the category of  "I did NOT see that coming!" Seeing Laurie flying around the ring doing damage ranks very high on the list of things I need to see...and soon!  I believe I am too late once again. Laurie may have "retired" from the rink. Dang it!
7. The Dean Dome-  There is nothing...NOTHING!...like UNC basketball.  I grew up loving players like Charlie Scott, George Karl, Bobby Jones and Dudley Bradley, and I still love my Heels today. I need to see another game in the greatest venue in college basketball, named after Dean Smith, one of the top 5 coaches ever. I am not even picky about who I see them play. As long as it's Dook... Wrong time of year. My dream was NOT to see UNC play football!
8. David Bills- He was the pastoral minister at New Garden Friends Meeting when I started attending in 1972. He still is (to the best of my knowledge). He (and many others at NGFM) had such an impact on my life, and I really want to take him to lunch and thank him. He can choose from Ghassan's, Bojangles or Stamey's...   :)  I would also love to see any of my now over the age of 40 former youth from my days as youth leader at New Garden. Just so many people to catch up with...  David finally retired so catching up with him will be much trickier. Would still LOVE to see some of those New Garden folks!
9. The Blue Ridge Mountains-  There are many lovely things about living in Florida.  But I do miss the mountains, especially in the autumn when the leaves change. I miss the cool breezes and the amazing scenery. I miss the picnics and hikes on the Blue Ridge Parkway. And even though we'd have to sneak across the Virginia state line to do it, I'd love to pay one more visit to the Levering's apple orchard. Oh yeah. I'm going  to be there in October. #WIN
10. Calabash-  Since Myrtle Beach is in South Carolina (and trust me, there is a HUGE difference!), I would want to head to my favorite little coastal village in NC, Calabash.  It is basically a town made up of seafood restaurants. It is the kind of good old fashioned, bad-for-you, fried and battered seafood that is hard to find in Florida. And with LOTS of hush puppies!!!  I may spend a week there, eating in a different place every night!  Checked this one off in August. Doesn't mean it can't happen again!

So there's my list- with a few revisions. NC, I will see you soon. And if you want to hang out, give me a shout (813-919-3755) and get on the schedule. We'll get something to eat.  :)

Because of Jesus,

Dance Like David

Recently I took one of those little online quizzes that help you determine things about yourself. You know the ones- What Decade Should You Have Been Born In? or Which Boy Band Best Reflects Your Life? Those things. This particular one was Which Biblical Character Are You Most Like?  Knowing the Bible pretty well and knowing myself very well, I took the test anticipating one of two outcomes. If the quiz leaned towards the New Testament, the answer would be Peter. I'm stubborn. rash when I shouldn't be and timid at the worst of times- but I do love Jesus. If the quiz skewed toward the Old Testament, there was no doubt in my mind the answer would be David. We share far too many things in common. He did some great things in the name of the LORD. He defeated Goliath, was named King of the nation of Israel, was a musician and was called "a man after God's own heart." He also screwed up in some big, big ways and found redemption and solace in God's love and in writing songs. His Psalms are often full of the joy of the LORD; on other occasions they cry out for forgiveness and mercy. The test agreed with me- David was the answer.

Marilyn and I went to church last night and our pastor is in the midst of a series on Psalm 23- so David was on my mind yet again. The stories of his life kept popping into my mind, and I once again felt a real kinship with the ups and downs of his joy and his agony. One of my favorite David moments was this one, found in 2 Samuel 6:14: "And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment." God had made him King, and he was so full of praise for his Heavenly Father that he just had to dance. And while scripture doesn't spell it out for us, he apparently danced with such vigor that he danced right out of that priestly garment. He was totally in the moment with God, praising God's name and not caring who saw or what they thought. And at least one witness found the display disturbing. The scripture continues in verses 20-22 (NIV):

When David returned home to bless his own family, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said in disgust, “How distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!”

David retorted to Michal, “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family! He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the Lord, so I celebrate before the Lord. Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes! 

And there it was, the question starring me down like a bear in the woods. When was the last time I was undignified before my LORD? As a youth pastor all those years. being foolish in God's name was second nature. But in the years since, there has been very little dancing. Very few undignified moments spent praising God. The love of God and the grace on Jesus still fill my heart on many occasions, but there are precious few times these days I actually shout for joy to the LORD. It's time to change that, to be so full of joy that I become undignified and look foolish. It's time to dance like David!

Now don't get me wrong- no one wants to see me dance and NO ONE needs to see me come out of my garments! As many of my oldest friends know I have a trick knee (my excuse and I'm sticking to it!) that has kept me off the dance floor since middle school. But my soul can dance- and it needs to be set free to disco the night away. Praising God should not be limited to sanitized moments in a sanctuary. We need to cut loose and let the world know that when we worship God, our hearts, minds, souls and bodies need to dance. And when we think we are looking foolish, we need to remember David's words and be willing to become even MORE undignified! Some will actually dance or give shouts of praise, while others of us will fall to our knees or lose ourselves in deep silence. But we will look strange to the world. Such foolishness...

If this little devo has hit home with you, that is wonderful. But it's actually just for me. My life is a testament to our ultimate humanity, to following Jesus and to falling flat on my face. But God never leaves us or forsakes us. We are always loved. And that should be enough to make me dance like David.

Because of Jesus, 

Farewell, Captain

"Take a good look. This is a baseball player."  -Billy Crystal

My love for baseball has been well documented on this blog over the years. And like every baseball lover, I was watching the other night to see what Derek Jeter would do for his final curtain call at Yankee Stadium. It seemed obvious something wonderful would happen; it has so often when the moment was big and Derek is involved. If you care at all, then you know what happened. He delivered a "walk off" game winning hit in his final at bat in Yankee Stadium, wrapping up his career with the same type of clutch performance we had seen so many times before. It was so perfect, so in character that upon seeing it all I could think of to tweet were 4 simple words and a hashtag: Of course he did. #FarewellCaptain

A couple of days before that hit the great Billy Crystal recorded a tribute to his friend The Captain. It is a brilliant and very personal summation of Derek's year and his career. All baseball fans feel like they know Jeter. Personally, I saw him play as a Class A minor league player for the Greensboro Hornets in 1993 and then several tims in Spring Training over the seasons here in Tampa. He makes his off-season home here. Rob Thomson, for many years now an instructor and coach for the Yankees, had a daughter in my youth group in the early 2000s who told me stories about her friend "Jeets." His individual accomplishments are impressive, but he was always about the team and always about winning. He is class personified, both as a human being and as an athlete. I leave you with Billy's tribute and these final thoughts. Derek Jeter is not the greatest baseball player who ever lived. He is not the greatest shortstop ever. He is not even the greatest Yankee of all time. But if you could somehow take all of those "greatest" players and put them all in a clubhouse as teammates, I have no doubt that they would unanimously elect Jeter as their captain. And that, my friends, is what #Re2pect is all about. Farewell, Captain. Baseball will miss you.

Quaker Lake & The Arkansas Guarantee

The Flash & I at work...

It's a Flashback Friday...

During my many years of working on the staff and volunteering at Quaker Lake Camp different areas of the campus came to mean different things to me. For instance, the pool was the pulse of the camp, the place where you could get a feel for the excitement level. The lodge was the nerve center (and the stomach!), the place to discover what was going on and get interesting (Tuna Cheesies!) grub. The Vespers Hill and the Campfire Circle were definitely the soul and spirit, the places where we took time to worship God. The softball field was where the action was, and where many a camp week ended in hugs and tears. (In a side note, the softball field, as every Quaker Laker knew, was the place to go if anything at camp caught on fire. This led to the weekly question, no matter the age of the campers, that drove Neal crazy- "Where do we go if the softball field is on fire?" You know, I still don't know the answer...) But for me, in my years at QLC, the heart of the place was the Craft Hut. Every day, no matter the weather, no matter the age group, class after class of campers came to the craft hut to make ceramics (beautiful and hideous!) and various other crafts. And day after day you could find me at the same place- the Leather Tables. 

The Leather Tables were a few old picnic tables just outside the Craft Hut. There we would sit and help campers use stamps to pound their names and designs into leather bracelets, key chains, sun visors and more. We would stain them in different shades of brown, green, blue and our favorite, Antique Oxblood! We would polish them with Carnuba (sp?) Cream, which we were delighted to discover contained whale sperm as one of its ingredients! The jokes were never ending. And we would put these trinkets together, pounding cheap little rivets with a wooden hammer, or, once you became a master (lol), with THE hammer. Most days at the Leather Tables were relaxed and lazy. We talked about life, told jokes, and listened to the great music coming from the stereo in the Craft Hut. We would put off actually assembling the leather pieces until the end of each week. And at the end of the class we would offer the campers The Arkansas Guarantee. (Why Arkansas? I was still reeling from a disastrous vacation there, and it just seemed like a place where a lot of things would break...) To the best of my memory, the guarantee was first offered by Alan Brown (The Asheboro Flash) and Bill Terrell when I was still a volunteer. But it was after I started working with Alan at the tables in 1978 that it became a regular event. The Arkansas Guarantee was a sure thing in an unsure world. It simply stated that "in the event that your Quaker Lake leather goods fall apart or otherwise break, you get to keep all the pieces!" It was a helpful promise, because almost every item ever assembled at the Leather Tables did indeed break. Knowing that this was going to happen, and that it was still OK, was somehow very comforting to the campers and staff who had toiled on these exquisite leather goods.

My life has not been much different than those leather wrist bands I used to hammer together. I know I am going to break things, because I always do. I know even the simple things can get complicated. But fortunately, life comes with its own Arkansas Guarantee. His name is Jesus. When life falls apart, when things break down, we can turn to Him, and he helps us keep all the pieces...and even better, put them back together! In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." I know Jesus was a carpenter by trade, but somehow I can see him hanging out at the Leather Tables, under the shade tree, offering the guarantee to any camper who needed it. And we all need it.

So next time you feel "broken," go to the One who was broken for you. There you will find rest for your weary soul...there you will be made whole. But if you find the softball field on fire, I guess you are on your own...

Because of Jesus,

The Vatican Rag

It's a Throwback Thursday, and today I am gonna' go WAAAAY back- all the way to 1965. The great Tom Lehrer recorded a live album called That Was the Year That Was, an album full of satirical songs about the big news stories of the day. As you see in the accompanying quote, Tom's music was a great inspiration for older artist like Ray Stevens and current heroes like Weird Al. Now before you get carried away with the old jokes, I was only 6 and don't remember any of his music from when it actually happened. I was in high school when Hank Semmler (the father of my friends Carl & Steve) introduced me to Tom's music. And I LOVED it. I memorized every song on the album, eventually bought the CD, and still have it on my iPod. Even as outdated as the actual news stories on which the songs are based are, many of the underlying principles behind the songs (while in many cases now considered politically incorrect) are still very relevant today. And most every song- no matter how many times I hear them- makes me laugh. But there is one song in particular that literally cracks me up every single time it plays- and that's the song I want to share with you today. It's called The Vatican Rag.

Let me begin by saying that this song does poke a little fun at the faith and practices of the Catholic Church in 1965, but that is not what makes it funny. I have Catholic friends for whom I have a great deal of love and respect, and they find the song hysterical too. In fact, if the entire Church wants to follow the lead of Pope Francis by actually believing the teachings of Jesus, then perhaps we would all be better off being Catholic in our own way! What makes this song so hysterical to me is not the Catholic part- he could just have easily have joked about Methodist or Lutheran rituals. The thing that makes me laugh is the way Tom lampoons the idea of our need to make church "relevant"  and to "sell the product." Remember, 1965 was before anyone had ever heard of things like seeker worship, contemporary Christian music or praise bands. The Catholic church was just beginning to allow languages other than Latin to be spoken in Mass. They were allowing new kinds of music, including some songs played on guitar. The humor here comes from Tom's suggestion that if the Church really wanted to connect with the world, then we needed to go all in and get serious about using popular music and embracing the culture in our worship. He then offers "a modest example." You can hear it below.

He may not have meant it to be, but the the song was pretty prophetic. In the years since we have indeed introduced modern music and practices into worship. Much of it is beautiful and very appropriate. Some of it has been just as silly as The Vatican Rag. The real question behind anything the Church does to be "relevant" is this: Do we do it to draw people closer to God, or do we do it to "sell the product?" In the nearly 50 years since this song was written, the answers have been decidedly mixed. But let's not over think this. Primarily this song is meant to be funny, And it is! I hope you enjoy it. And if you love it like I do, be sure to check out more of the album. I would especially recommend National Brotherhood Week, Pollution and Who's Next?  Hope you all have a great Thursday!

Ignoring the Warning Lights

I heard a story recently that seemed to be worth sharing. A friend of mine (we'll call him John, 'cause that's his name!) was driving across Tampa when a light came on in his car warning him that there was a problem with his brakes. He had major work done on the braking system less than a year earlier, so this little light really irritated him. The further he drove the more irritated he got. Finally, he folded up a piece of paper until it was just big enough to cover up the warning light, and he positioned it so he would no longer see the light. Feeling much better, he continued his journey. For the next 3 days he drove with that piece of paper covering the warning light. Then last Tuesday as he started out for a meeting, John stepped on the brake- and discovered that it no longer worked. He was able to avoid traffic and use the emergency brake to stop the car, so no one was hurt. But it really put the fear of God into John as he hopelessly swerved to a stop. His car now has new brakes.

Life comes with warning lights. If we have health problems our body will signal to us that we need to see a doctor. If we have weight problems our clothes cease to fit, indicating that we need to change the way we eat and exercise. If we offend our friends and neighbors the sudden lack of communication from them often serves as a warning light. We see these signals. We know what they mean. Yet we often choose to ignore the lights. We find our own little pieces of paper and cover them up..  

For Christ-followers it is no different with sin. When we are tempted and when we face sin in our everyday lives, we are aware of what is happening. The Holy Spirit (ever the Gentleman) gives us little nudges like our own Jiminy Cricket. Before we ever offend that person, say those words, look at those pictures or covet our neighbor's wife, we think about it. We feel the Holy Spirit flashing the warning light. And then we make a decision. Am I going to stop right now and repair this situation? Or am I going to cover up the warning light and proceed on my own?

Sin is very seldom about "the devil made me do it!" Certainly Satan provides us with a myriad of temptations, but in truth sin is more often a decision we make even as the Holy Spirit reminds us of whose we are. We choose to cover up the warning lights. My question for us today is this: What is it we are using to block out the warning lights in our lives? If we know and understand our own thinking, we might be quicker to heed the warnings. Maybe you minimize: "Look at how much worse HIS sin is than mine!" And we hide the light. You might feel entitled: "I work so hard for my church, what difference will this one little sin make?" And we hide the light. We may feel discouraged and full of self-pity: "I have already screwed up so badly- what difference will one more sin make?  Nobody really cares what I do..." And we hide the light. After a while we forget the light is even there and our lives spin completely out of control. I've been there. It's a very scary thing. Life is much better when we heed the warning lights. The abundant life comes when we listen to the gentle nudges and the swift kicks in the butt of the Holy Spirit.

But when we do ignore God and we do sin, we must remember that there is one Light that cannot be hidden. John 1 tells us that the Light (Jesus) came into the world and the darkness cannot overcome it. There is no sin we can commit that will block out Jesus. There is nothing we can do to separate ourselves from the grace of God. We will, on occasion, yield to temptation and choose to sin. We will have all sorts of excuses and reasons as to why we made those decisions. But in the end, the Great Mechanic- Jesus the Christ- is always there to repair our broken lives. He does great work that gets us back on the right path. And the best part? It's not cheap, but it's always free.  Jesus already paid for it.

Because of Jesus,

Random Ramblings: Football 2014

Baseball is my sport, and the very best time of the year- October! - is upon us! Playoff baseball will soon take over my TV viewing time. I do admit that I have been watching a lot of football over these first few weeks of the season, of both the college and professional varieties. Football has been a part of my life since I was about 6 years old- first as a fan, then playing in the yard with neighborhood kids and my dad, then as a player and later as a coach. I understand the game. And while I prefer Saturdays over Sundays during football season (see 7 Reasons College Football is Better than the NFL) I tend to watch it all. With all of the off the field news these days, it just felt like a good time to write about some on the field trends. So here are some very random ramblings from this season...so far!

• Many of my friends who are Florida State fans were quick to credit their team with "coming together in adversity" in their victory over Clemson the other night. To their credit, the Seminoles did keep fighting and never give up. But let's be real here. Clemson should have won that game by at least 2 touchdowns. They gave the game away. FSU did not "persevere and win." The Tigers LOST. I'm happy for the Seminoles, although losing that game might have been the ONLY way to to teach Jameis Winston a lesson.
• Through the first 3 weeks of the NFL season, Tom Brady has looked like a very, VERY average QB and the Patriots in general, although 2-1, look very beatable. These things make me very, VERY happy!
• I am no Alabama fan (Nick Saban is forever on my bad list) but Amari Cooper, the wide receiver for the Crimson Tide, looks like a man playing amongst toddlers on Saturdays. He should win the Heisman (Quarterbacks Only) Trophy, but he won't. If he is not one of the first 3 players taken in the next NFL draft there should be an investigation.
• The Jacksonville Jaguars are awful- perhaps the worst team in the NFL. Unless that the dubious distinction belongs to my Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Neither team will win many (if any!) games and both of their stadiums will feature thousands of empty seats this year. I don't know if anyone could save the teams, but everyone in Florida knows who could still fill the seats. #TebowTime  
• It is entirely possible that the SEC West is the most dominant collection of college football teams we have ever seen under one banner. Any of 4 teams- Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas A&M or Alabama- could win the national championship. Mississippi State just beat then 8th ranked LSU in Baton Rouge. Any of those 6 teams could go unbeaten in the Big 10 11 12 Whatever Conference. If one of them goes undefeated in that division they should get to skip the new playoff and play the winner in one final game for the championship. 
• My early Super Bowl picks- Philadelphia Eagles vs. Denver Broncos. Peyton gets his second ring.
• Will Muschamp has kept his job at Florida because he is supposed to be a defensive genius. This past Saturday proved he is not. He also keeps hiring offensive coordinators who are the wrong kind of offensive. Once again this year, another new coordinator, same boring offense. From a school that gave us the creativity of Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer, boring is unacceptable. And btw...I LOVE me some Steve Spurrier!!
• And finally...the Dallas Cowboys need to slow down. They're 2-1. If they win many more games early on they are going to have work hard the second half of the season to finish 8-8. And we know they will!

That's what I'm rambling about today. See you tomorrow!