September 16, 2008
Yep, this blog is getting some new digs at an easy-to-remember address. If you have this bookmarked, put in your reader, or otherwise referenced, here’s the new addy:
If you every checked that site before, it’s a whole new world and will be growing.
If you need some blog help I heartily recommend THEOBLOGGERS!
Thanks for reading…and I hope you’ll keep reading over at the NEW PLACE.
John
September 14, 2008
Stronger by Hillsong United
There is love that came for us
Humbled to a sinner’s cross you broke my shame and sinfuless you rose again victoriousFaithfulness none can deny through the storm and through the fire there is truth that sets me free Jesus Christ who lives in me
Chorus
You are stronger you are strongerSin is broken, You have saved me
It is written, Christ is risen
Jesus you are Lord of all
No beginning and no end You’re my hope and my defense you came to seek and save the lost you paid it all upon the cross
So let your name be lifted higher
Be lifted higher be lifted higher
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I’ve never thought of myself as a strong man. I think there could be slot for me on America’s Funniest Home Videos if anyone catches me doing free weights in the gym. Of course that would be impossible. You won’t find me in a gym unless it’s free donut day. (Is there a free donut day at the gym?) That could change one day, and maybe it should. Strong bodies are admired … as well as strong minds.
But as I walk the dark road I’m on, nothing is more apparent to me than my own weakness. I’m managing enough effort to get the basics covered. The slightest challenge throws me into confusion. The Enemy has been at work against me in ways I could not have predicted.
It’s still true that there are weak places in everyone’s heart. And while there are a number of people who cannot really identify with my exact journey, they know what it’s like to hurt. To be disappointed. To lose themselves in some unrelenting sin that lives in them.
What we have in common is our need for someone who’s stronger. Someone victorious over our greatest dread … the grave. Someone strong enough to never leave, even when it gets really hard. Someone who is not threatened by our weakness, who never has to back down from a challenge, and who is never caught by surprise. The sin-breaker, Jesus Christ, is our only hope.
So I want to lift up His name today. He is the light of a dark world. He is the healing balm on my painful path, He is the answer when I cannot even formulate the questions. On days when I feel strong, He is stronger. When I know I am weak, I can rely on His strength.
Safe only in His strong arms,
John
September 11, 2008
There have been many blog posts today about that September morning. So many great reflections … and memories of pain and tears.
On that September morning I was in Denver, Colorado taking a class. Like everyone, the report of the first plane hitting a tower was thought to be a fluke … no one told us it was a passenger jet … and we didn’t know that in a short time there would be another plane … then one in Pennsylvania … and the Pentagon. Like many Americans we gathered in a circle around a television set and when disbelief turned to grief, we turned to prayer. It was during that week when I made a new friend, John Alan Turner, who would remain a steady influence in my life over the following years. And even today.
September 11th. August 29th. May 21st. Dates of terror, dates of pain, dates of anguish. Terrorism, Hurricanes, and unexpected deaths … the dates may be different for you … but there are other dates. It appears that on a September day in 2008 there will be mass destruction along the Texas and Louisiana Coast, unless prayers for the weakening of Ike are answered.
We are left with nothing unless we can turn to the eternal timeless One … who exists outside of our reckoning of time and justice … transcending our human judgments about what should be … and answering with I AM.
Tomorrow, if all things continue, will be another September morning. What it brings to your life, I do not know. But I know Someone who is already there.
Whenever I see a plane flying overhead, it is no longer a moment of childish wonder and amazment, but a reminder of terror. Whenever I see video of a flooded home, with possessions ruined, I remember the day I walked into my flooded house. Whenever I see the tears of a grieving parent, I no longer feel sorry for them, but with them.
If, in my limited ability to discern, I can experience these feelings … is there any way to measure God’s heart for us as He looks at our hurting world?
Maranatha,
John
September 10, 2008
Before I address the subject, make sure you know about the 15th Annual Prayer Workshop in nearby Calhoun, LA.
Also, I have a new audio message up HERE.
In my estimation, one of the great bloggers in this online community is Jim Martin. Jim sets a high standard by blogging consistently, offering profound thoughts of his own and others, and by offering practical thoughts for daily discipleship. In a word, it appears to me that he tries harder than most bloggers (including me!). He posted a meme and then tagged me in it… in which I will happily participate for him. Some of the others he tagged have already written excellent responses. The rules are below, where I will tag five others. L.L. Barkat created this meme, “Five Ways Blogging Has Changed My Life.”
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The Five Ways Blogging Has Changed My Life
1. Blogging has helped me know the beauty of the universal faith community. There is a richness that comes from hearing about the lives of believers around the globe. To know the kinds of service in which they are involved, to hear their faith stories, to know their struggles … to watch as fellow bloggers rush to prayer and encouragement when someone is hurting … it is a beautiful testimony to the power of the faith community.
2. Blogging has helped me network with outstanding individuals of faith. That sounds like the same as #1, but is really an expansion. The resources available in the blogging community are enormous. Just look at the amount of time being put into placing information at our fingertips on the various blogs. The blog community offers a library of practical information that is also interactive, giving it a life not found on the bookshelf.
3. Blogging has put my life into a bigger fishbowl. Good or bad? Sometimes I don’t know. The minister’s life has been described as a ‘fishbowl’ … meaning that we can be on ‘display’ and sometimes held to higher standards than others. As much as I have posted about my life in the past five or six years, I have likely exposed some weaknesses … and hopefully revealed some strengths. In all, I say with a grin that I have an “e-life”. I recently mentioned the Compassionate Friends support group. Our local leader had a call from a friend in Oregon the next day. The Oregon friend said, “I hear you’re having lunch with John Dobbs”. Now the friend in Oregon doesn’t know me from Adam, but he did a websearch for Compassionate Friends and ended up on my blog. With over 500 hits on many days, I’m not sure who all is reading this … but friends and enemies alike can know what I’m up to. I guess that should be creepy to me, but it’s not!
4. Blogging has given expression to developmental ideology. I have received criticism in the past because of some things said on the blog, and it will likely happen again. I have a friend or two who say I express too much at times. But I think it’s a new day of freedom in the church where people do not have to be afraid because they’ve come to a different conclusion than what they previously thought. And along with that comes the freedom to revert back upon further consideration. As my faith develops and I express my thoughts about things, I’m sure they will lack depth at times. If I were to go back and read all of my posts I’m sure I would disagree with me on many things. But I’m a work in progress, as we all are … and sharing my thoughts along the way does not mean that I’m teaching systematic theology. More like rolling with the flow!
5. Blogging has chronicled the height and depth of my life experience. When I started my blog I had no idea that it would become a focus of attention after a storm named Katrina. Of course I’m not the only blogger who chronicled their adventures following Katrina, but I know that many of my current readers started following my posts during that time. I had no idea that I would ever post something as dreadful as the death of our son, nor try to express our feelings about that loss. I’ve published some things I thought were funny as well. I think I’d like my grandchildren to have access to my blog posts over the years … and maybe their children as well. It’s not exactly a dusty diary found in a trunk in the attic … but it is a chronicle of the day to day life.
I can’t really tell you why I enjoy blogging so much. That remains a mystery to me. But I do know that I am always thrilled to read a comment or to know that something I said was meaningful to someone else on the journey. I like to encourage new bloggers as well.
As such, I’ll leave you with the address of a new blogger who deserves some good blog attention: Houston Bass is 16 years old and writing some pretty profound things for someone his age. I want to encourage him to keep writing!
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Here are the rules (L.L. Barkat)
1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. link back to the person who tagged you
3. link back to this parent post (I’m not so much interested in generating links, but rather in tracking the meme so I can perhaps do a summary post later on that looks at patterns and interesting discoveries.)
4. tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. post these rules— or just have fun breaking them
Here are my five TAGS:
Thanks for reading!
John
September 6, 2008
Abba Father,
…You are so far beyond us in holiness
…Your Authority and Your perfect-in-every-way-ness
…In many ways You are in another place and another time, You are fully other.
And yet You are ever-present in real and tangible ways; in silent and mysterious ways.
As we recognize and acknowledge who You are, we submit our lives to You.
…We invite You to reign in our lives.
…We invite Your will to control our self-seeking hearts.
…We invite You to so fully cultivate the Kingdom in our hearts that we are now as we will be one day, when we traverse into new realities in eternity.
We admit our dependence on You for daily survival.
…It is Your gift that we have food to eat, sustenance for the day.
…It is Your gift that we are forgiven, grace for each day.
…It is Your gift that empowers us to forgive others, setting them free from our unrighteous judgments - and even the judgments that may be correct.
Father we need your power against our enemy. We have no power to defeat him. Our own hearts betray us. Please oversee our steps and lead us from his evil ways.
As we give ourselves to you, Father, we proclaim your reign, we live in your strength and ability and will. We praise You not only now, but always.
Amen. (?)
~John Dobbs
September 4, 2008
Greetings Friends … thanks for stopping by.
Today began with a trip for Maggy and I to Vicksburg to see my mom and dad. As I noted in a previous post, mom and dad evacuated to Vicksburg under a mandatory evacuation from the New Orleans area. After boarding up their windows, driving a very stressful 9 hour drive in the middle of the night, my dad was admitted to the ER with pneumonia. He was doing better today but still very weak. Please keep them both in your prayers. Thankfully my mother’s sisters and cousins and their families are there and can be a part of the support system to help them.
Food distribution continued today at Forsythe church of Christ, and will go through tomorrow. Several of our members are involved in helping with that outreach.
Here’s an interesting video on prayer that has a lesson for us. Thanks Trey Morgan for pointing it out.
Thanks for reading,
John
September 3, 2008
Our local grocery insists on having a worker bring your basket to your car after checking out. After unloading they take the cart back. This annoys me greatly for a lot of reasons.
Recently I bought some groceries and me and my companion headed to the van. Which I couldn’t find. Now this us embarrasing enough when you are by yourself. So I cooly put my hand in my pocket and started pressing the LOCK button - which makes the horn honk. Of wasn’t working. I finally had to admit to the young man that I couldn’t find the van. It was three rows over.
So as we got close I pushed the remote button that opens the back hatch. About half way up a man walked around the van and had to jump to keep it from opening up on his head!
As I was on my way to the apartment, I turned a corner and heard a noise. I knew in my heart what of was. Yup. The box of can drinks was nestled comfortably on top of our bread.
My Charlie Brown life.
Thanks for reading.
John
September 3, 2008
I realize one of the dangers of my last post is to leave the impression that Gustav was nothing more than an afternoon thunderstorm. The comments that readers left were fantastic. Thanks for participating in the discussion. The consequences of Gustav are still being felt. Thousands are without electricity, evacuees are not all home yet, and there is more rain to come to flooded / saturated areas. Trees are down, homes are damaged, and there is recovery yet ahead. Those on the Southeast coast have their eyes on Hannah, in the South we are watching Ike.
Yesterday Northeast Louisiana Food Bank distribution continued at Forsythe Avenue Church of Christ. Ken and Pam Dorsey, assisted by several folks from Forsythe, have done a great job of making this happen. I’m not sure how many evacuees have been by, but it’s a pretty good number. They will be present today again. The Christian Chronicle ran some information about the work, which was kind of them.
Regular readers may remember a month or so ago I wrote a little post about Aunt Bea’s Kitchen and had a picture of Frank, Bea, and Tiffany. Several locals decided to eat a meal there based on that post, and that was encouraging. However, I guess we came along and it was too little too late. Aunt Bea’s closed a few weeks ago. Frank had a knee surgery last month. His surgeon was one of our members, Dr. Sol Graves. Yesterday he saw Dr. Graves and had his stitches removed and the conversation turned to me … and the loss of our son John Robert.
As I was leaving the church building yesterday afternoon the tropical storm winds and rain were really starting to pick up. I locked the door and turned around to see a white SUV pulling underneath the carport near me. The window rolled down and it was Frank. After a minute of small talk, he informed me that he had just heard about our son and had to come over and see me. Frank was grateful that I tried to help his buisness and brought them some joy while we were hurting so badly. He indicated that many people did not know what that kind of hurt felt like - but he did. He passed through the window a picture of a handsome young man … his son … who died 20 years ago at age 15.
Now Frank is a talker, and he told me all about the accidental and unexpected death of his son. This was followed months later by the loss of his mother. He talked to me about leaning on God and how a man couldn’t make it through that without God propping him up. Then Frank sang a song to me. I think the lyrics went something like ‘if a man can’t make it through the storm, God is not his captain‘, but I can’t be sure at this point. I don’t know if I can tell you what an electric moment that was. With the wind howling, the rain blowing around, and this brother who has been through the nightmare of losing a child singing a song of faith to me. I felt that God’s Spirit was so alive in that moment.
I showed him pictures of John Robert and then we had to say goodbye. But I really believe that encounter is one that I will remember in days to come. I think it will be one of those flashes of memory that shows up from time to time unexpectedly. Though their restaurant is closed, they fed my soul yesterday afternoon while I was standing in the storm.
Please pray for my mom and dad. After evacuating to Vicksburg, Mississippi, he had to be taken to the ER and put in the hospital with pneumonia. Any hospital stay is unhappy, but to be out of town and in the hospital is even worse. This is a terribly stressful time for both of them.
Tonight I’ll be speaking at White’s Ferry Road in their series in which they have had ministers from the area speak for the past few months. I’m looking forward to that very much.
Thanks for reading,
John
August 31, 2008
Tonight several churches in Ouachita Parish gathered together to sing out praises to our great God! I counted representatives from at least eight local congregations who assembled at the Neville High School auditorium in Monroe to sing, pray, hear Scripture read, and encourage one another. Men from various congregations led each of the activities.
One highlight of the evening, for me, was when all of the elders present were called to the front and Keith Roberts led a prayer for all of the elders in our parish, whether present or not. Keith serves as minister and elder at Calhoun Church of Christ. It was also great to see my old friend Larry West, whom I haven’t seen in a long time.
But by far the greatest element of the night was over 550 voices blending together in a beautiful harmonic symphony of praise. I think everyone agreed that we will want to do this again sometime. Alan Robertson commented that maybe next time we would bring together 1,000 believers. I hope so!
I met several people who read this blog…thanks!
We didn’t have a theme for the night. Of course there were many prayers for the evacuees and victims of Gustav. There were prayers for the storm to dissipate … joining Christians across the country in prayer for the same thing. I titled this post ‘Victory in Jesus‘ because I think anytime eight congregations can join together in worship and fellowship, it is a victory. It is an act of beauty in the eyes of God… the One whom we live to please.
Below are some links I’ve compiled for Gustav response. Your links, information is welcome in the comments.
Thanks for reading,
John
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Helpful Links for Hurricane Gustav Response
Red Cross Seeks Volunteers, Donations
Weather Underground’s Tropical Weather
Dr. Jeff Master’s Tropical Weather Blog
Volunteer to Staff United Way’s 2-1-1 call service
United Way’s Website of Links For Helping Others
Office of Governor Bobby Jindal
DISASTER RESPONSE ORGANIZATIONS
Whites Ferry Road Gustav Response
Church of Christ Disaster Relief
Churches of Christ Disaster Response Team
Convoy of Hope deploys to help Gustav victims.
Lutheran Social Services prepares to go into action.
Salvation Army prepares for Gustav.
More info from readers is welcomed.
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