Picture of the week...

One of our ladies made this neat Ginger bread "church" house. It is Spring Meadows. Notice the one close up below.

Look how Pennie did our "logo". There was also a HUGE church mouse. And in front of the building there was this goofy looking character that was more "smile" than anything else. She said that was me. Thanks Pennie - it was really, REALLY neat.

Brother Collins...that is all.

A good and great man has died. I was privileged to serve as Brother Willard Collins minister for about a decade. How do you describe such a man?

The "man with the voice" - even till his last few months his voice was as powerful and clear as in his prime. He was the man who loved the church. He loved the Lord's church so passionately and only wanted the very best for it. He was an encourager "par-excellence"!

He encouraged ever good thing. He seemed to always believe the best and at times when it became miserably obvious that something was amiss his heart would appear to break at confronting it. He encouraged me at every turn. I used to call him Granny White's ambassador. He traveled, widely, all over our brotherhood - teaching, preaching, recruiting, fundraising. And often people who visited Nashville for the first time would visit GW simply because they'd heard Brother Collins talk about what a great place it is. I remember visiting a couple who had visited us one Monday night, they lived miles from our building. I couldn't understand why they had driven all that way. They told us that night that they had moved to Nashville area from Colorado and couldn't wait to visit Granny White because Brother Collins had held a meeting there and talked about it. He loved the local church, on one occasion he told me: “It is impossible to preach the gospel without preaching about the church purchased by the blood of Christ…In advancing Christianity the action is to be in the local congregation…If the church moves, local congregations must lead in the march”

Here was this guy whose knowledge and abilities with the Word were tops in our fellowship and every week he'd encourage me in my work. When I moved to GW he was already a hero of mine, getting to know him up close and personal that respect did not diminish - he was the real thing. He blessed my life. When he said, "Brother Dale, the church needed that sermon, and I needed that sermon..." - I took special note ---I mean, what would you do?

He was a man who was simple. His words made me want to be better and do more while making me feel like I was a hero already. It was quite humbling. Brother Collins had a deep, deep knowledge of the text but he always chose to teach in ways that children could and would grasp! His grad degree was from Vanderbilt nonetheless, yet he used simple illustrations and words - are you listening? Our children at GW loved him. I remember one time their teacher was to be away and we asked who they wanted to teach their class - they wanted 80+ year old Willard Collins.

You never knew where he was going when he started - but he always landed the lesson with grace touched with a surprise that made you glad you'd listened. I will never forget the Wednesday night lesson on "the neon sign" - it was a classic on how to promote the church!

He moved people with his love and beliefs. He believed, passionately in the Lord and His plan of salvation and preached it with such vigor that people responded. Someone once told me his success was in that he began delivering the invitation the minute he stepped into the pulpit and didn't stop till the invitation song was over. It is no wonder he filled auditoriums where ever he went. From a very young man (he, Brother Batsell Barrett Baxter and Brother Ira North years ago would have lunch together every Monday and compare notes...and challenge each other to grow the congregations they worked with. Imagine being at one of those lunchs). The many area wide meetings he held led to the growth of the Kingdom.

His memory was unimpeachable: he would always ask about my mom and dad, my inlaws and people who they were associated with by name. How many such names must have resided in that database of his mind?

It was Brother Collins who envisioned the "We Believe" seminars as he truly believed that if Granny White, right next door to David Lipscomb University would speak out clearly on some of the matters troubling the church, people would take notice.

I could go on and on with story after story of this great man of God and his life - I've not even mentioned his tremendous sense of humor.

He will be missed - I will miss him - as will thousands of faithful Christians. I pray that as people consider his life they will consider his commitment to the Lord, His church and His Word; his optimism and his dedication to God's People everywhere. There is much concern in some quarters for the future, we could do with a dose of the simple, committed faith of Brother Willard Collins.

Here's the exhalted pad for the slab...

Looking from the pad back toward Duplex Road (north)...

Run The Ball, Vince

I’m not a huge fan of the Tennessee Titans. When I was living in Nashville I averaged going to about 3 games a year but have never had to buy a ticket. I like NFL football but no one team could really be called “my team” – I’ve pulled for the Dolphins (I remember that back in 3^rd grade when they had Tony Nathan and Dwight Stephenson both from Alabama), I pulled for the Steelers in the days when they rivaled the Cowboys so fiercely (I’m not sure if it was because my brother pulled for the Cowboys and I wanted to take a different team or if it was because I thought Bradshaw was the only real man who was playing football – he could have played defense for the Steel Curtain!). I pulled for the Broncos in the “Orange Crush” (in football, I’ve always loved defense). I’ve pulled for the Packers for tradition and the Seahawks for newness (as well as for Shawn Alexander). And, don’t tell anybody else but I’ve pulled for the Colts because of Peyton Manning – in spite of the UT thing, he’s just fun to watch.

And now we have Vince Young, Vince “National Championship, 6’5”, 233 pound, VY, NFL Rookie of the Year, Cover of Madden ’08, Pro-Bowl in his first year” Young! Following a 467 yard performance in the ’05 national championship game Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott said "Vince Young is the greatest quarterback to ever play college football.” USC coach Pete Carroll said "that was the best performance I've seen by one guy." Young finished his senior season with 3,036 yards passing and 1,050 yards rushing. His first year in the NFL he had an unbelievable six game winning streak at one point as a rookie starter. Young, on top of the world.

VY has unreal scrambling skills. He is magic on 3^rd and long or in any 4^th quarter game that is even close! A thrill to watch – power and finesse and cunning all combined to make greatness. Perfect coverage can’t exist, because the defensive back has to keep one eye on the strong possibility that Young may take off on a run. He is a dual-threat quarterback with the possibility of recreating the role – a proto-type of QB’s to come.

Sometime along the way someone got in his head, “to be a great quarterback: they whispered in what must have sounded like a shout to him, “you have to be a great passer.” Early this season Young mimicked the naysayer by saying he wanted to be remembered as a great passer. And the result – disaster! Young has been awful this season. A young group of receivers no longer has the luxury of a running QB that gave them a cushion. The natural flow has been replaced by a reluctance, the result few yards rushing and a lot of incompletes and intercepts. Young is not using his talent.

I feel bad for Young (with his millions, I suspect he’ll be OK) but that’s just football.

I feel bad for Young but I understand. I had not been preaching long when I learned that many, if not most people, wish their preacher were someone else. They wish he was a previous preacher or a preacher they’ve heard on a lectureship, or seen on TV, or encountered in a meeting or revival. They wish he visited like Brother X or prayed like Brother Y or had the passion of Brother Z (and just in case you wonder there are 23 other letters we could ascribe a wish to). And, yes, Vince, I often found myself wishing I had the knowledge and scholarship of Brother A, or the zeal and recall of Brother B or the skill and soundness of Brother C. And sometimes I’ve tried to be them – always to the detriment of the abilities God gave me.

I feel bad for Young but I feel worse for the congregation that misses it’s most obvious opportunity for ministry, that can’t spot what it’s skills are and that wastes the talents God has placed there. That’s one of the real keys to church growth: identify what are your skills – friendliness, teaching, singing, families, supporting youth – and capitalize on them.

I feel bad for Young but (and here is why I’m writing) I feel worse for the Christian who has stopped using her strength: The saint that has allowed their gift to be benched, and their abilities to be sidelined. Friend, the church needs YOU and God has a plan and a place for you. He gave you what He gave you to use for Him – to return it to the Giver. And, when you do, you’ll find a satisfaction like none other. When you try to be what you are not you short-circuit His grand scheme for you. Get in the game – run the ball (both you and Vince)!

There - I've said it now...

If you follow this blog (you've not had much to follow lately - but thanks to Jason at TCS I'm up and running again), you know that we are in a building program at Spring Meadows Church of Christ ... it's an exercise in patience.

We have a sign out in front of the building we meet in now (ex hardware store, bar and grocery store) that proclaims "Temporary Location". That little building is Spring Meadow's third temporary location. It has been a blessing. Could any of you imagine trying to squeeze 250 folks into the "barber shop"? but it too is pretty much full now - we can get a few more folks in it but at 250 we have to put chairs out and parking becomes a real issue to. But it's the whole temporary location thing that is bugging me. Every time I say it, it bugs me.

The implication is that when we get to the Duplex Road property it will be a permanent location. It won't be. When we move into the "gym" it to will be temporary. And then when we eventually build and move into the auditorium, won't it too really be temporary.

Frankly for the Christian, isn't it all temporary here anyway? One of our major problems is that we begin to believe that anything physical, like a building, is permanent.

"...we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18).

I like the old song: "this world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue..."

So, if you will, please pray for us as we prepare to move into our next temporary location.

Hmmmmm, I hope that made sense.... :)