Jason Britt at Calhoun FBC – There are a couple of reasons that I blog. Reaching a larger audience than I would be able to person is a big part of it. I’ve made blog friends in Canada, Israel and Australia and engaged many others in discussion and debate. Blogging also serves my need to record and catalogue things. Going through the archives and reading old posts gives me perspective of my own spiritual journey. I’m reaching that age where if I don’t write it down it didn’t happen, or in some cases will not happen.

Last Monday a group of pastors and association leaders met to have lunch and do some workshop stuff with Jason Britt of Bethlehem Church. Re-Tool is about recruiting volunteers and team building within a local church body. It was presented from an experience point of view; Jason said “I can’t tell you what to do but can tell you about what we did at Bethlehem.” Jason has worked with Bethlehem during a replant/revitalization phase of their history. The number of committees has been parsed down and the leadership is a group of elders. They still have deacons but the deacons do not have any executive powers. He shared a lot of personal testimony and gave advice and wisdom with a few examples of what not to do. For example, don’t come to someone you want to recruit and open with “I know you’re busy, but…” Of course they’re busy, we’re all busy, and you are giving them an out before you ask. Everyone in the church starts somewhere. There are teachers and church leaders today that started out serving coffee. That’s it, they served coffee. Bethlehem has a team of people that park cars. They had a young man not doing anything that everybody liked. That’s the person you want making a first impression when visitors or for that matter anybody arrives on your campus. The car guys arrive about 7:30, have breakfast together, pray together and then start parking cars around 8:30. Responsibilities must be delegated in any organization and Re-Tool is a workshop offering advice in how to do that well. It is part of the Pastor Wellness program of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

Charles Stanley has passed at the age of 90. The Founder of In Touch Ministries has pastored First Baptist Atlanta for nearly 50 years. I don’t know how well-known Dr. Stanley is nationwide but I live close enough to Atlanta that it’s been on all the local t.v. news. By the time I became a Georgia Baptist pastor, Dr. Stanley was scaling back some of his activities and transited to the role of pastor emeritus. I have met his successor, Dr. Anthony George, at some state meetings and such. He became an associate pastor in 2012 and senior associate pastor in 2017.

We almost lost Al Mohler this week as well. He had a cardiac event after a blood clot traveled to his right lung and made it almost impossible for him to breath. They have discovered genetic factors that make it more likely than usual for his body to develop such clots. Than can work on preventative treatments to keep that from happening again.

The National Day of Prayer will be May 4, 2023. It is always the first Thursday in May. I may have mentioned an event in Calhoun that I have been a part of in the past and a prayer breakfast in Rome that will feature Lee Strobel his year. Many churches and local communities will have events planned throughout the day, chances are if your church doesn’t have anything planned there is something in your area. Check the newspapers and radio stations (and their websites) where you live. There is also a National Prayer Gathering broadcast at 8 PM. Click here details. Of course you can pray anywhere at anytime so join us in prayer on May 4th.

Who invented the Everything Bagel? That’s kind of like asking who invented the Sloppy Joe or what is the origin of Brunswick stew? Some of these we can narrow down to a couple of likely candidates but there are so many myths and fables surrounding Brunswick stew we may never know. Maybe I invented Brunswick stew.

If you know what this is, you’re old. While I do know what it is I haven’t used one in over 20 years. This, boys and girls, is a bumper jack. There is nothing wrong with the design or implementation of this tool, which was used to lift a car for changing a tire, usually kept in the trunk with the full size spare. What changed was bumpers. Chrome plated bumpers were real metal that could support the weight of the car. New cars still have functional bumpers, you just can’t see them. The actual bumper is covered with either fiberglass or plastic that is matched to the color of the car’s finish and molded as part of the body design. So few people today actually change flat tires that some new cars don’t even come with a compact spare or any sort of jack at all.

There are four words hidden in the picture above. Exercise the brain a little then enjoy your weekend. Planting a garden is probably not out of the question.