Clearing the Air

Okay, so I have had a few people from VCC asking about recent posts on my blog. They didn't leave comments, but they have lovingly questioned me, out of concern. Let me clear the air:

I believe that God called me to ministry at VCC. That call is as clear today as it was in May of 2000. Nothing has changed in that regard. Have I been less than happy with the way some things have gone lately? Yes. Am I over it? Pretty much. I still have my bad days just like anyone else, but I still believe that God called me to ministry at VCC.

There are lots of changes taking place these days, and change always brings with it, discomfort. I am praying that God helps me as I move out of my comfort zone, and that He will clearly show me what He wants, so that I can line up my will with His. I am looking forward to getting back into a teaching situation with pre-schoolers in December. I am looking forward to working out the children's and youth Christmas program. I am looking forward to taking the teens to FCYC in December, to Impact Weekend at Florida Christian College in February, to Middle School Believe Conference in March, and to gearing up for summer camp at Lake Aurora and CIY Summer Conference. I look forward to rolling on the floor with the pre-school children on Sunday mornings, and banging my head with teens at Christian Concerts.

So, I hope this helps folks understand that while I have had my stormy times, I am at peace with where I am, and why I am here. God is good.

What a Weekend

What do you get when you combine a memorial service for a dear sister in Christ who has passed on, a state ministers' association luncheon at Florida Christian College, the Florida Christian Convention in Kissimmee, and having the college president preach at your church, with a chance to meet your oldest son's girlfriend's parents for the first time? Our weekend from Friday, Sept. 16 through Sunday Sept. 18th!

I led in some songs for the memorial service on Friday morning to honor Nancy Dodson, a dear sister in Christ who has gone to be with the Lord. I miss her a lot, but I am so glad she is at rest following a battle with Lukemia. Peggy and I had to leave the service a little bit early so we could get to Florida Christian College for the state minister's assocation meeting/luncheon. Ric Huxford, the minister of outreach at Swiss Cove Christian Church in Jacksonville, spoke and sang to the ministers and their wives. It was a great luncheon...very encouraging, and very needed. We saw Abi at the lunch, and she wanted to introduce us to her parents, but first we spent some time speaking with one of the newer professors at FCC, Dr. Les Hardin. Les was the youth minister at Gateway Church of Christ in St. Albans, WV, many moons ago, and we did a NYLC trip to Joplin together one year. It was so wild seeing him and realizing that Elliott's Greek Professor is a YM bud from years ago!

We then did have the opportunity to be formally introduced to Dave and Jan Pardue, and felt an immediate connection that goes beyond the fact that our children are dating one another. Dave is the preacher at the Christian Church In The Wildwood and we immeidately knew that we had great friends in Christ as we spoke with Dave and Jan. We had plans for lunch together on Saturday, but as we made dinner plans with Elliott (can you say "Welcome to Moe's?"), we wound up brining the Pardues into those plans. Abi could not go with us, because of duties she had with the Florida Christian Convention, but the meal was wonderful, and we won't even talk about the desert at Coldstone Creamery afterwards.

Finally, it was time for the convention to begin. The song service Friday night was the crowd favorite of the weekend, a stirring rendition of hymns, led by Eli Reyes and the Southside Christian Church praise team. FCC President Harold Armstrong gave a stirring message on the history of the Christian Church in the state of Florida. Friday night after the first session of the covnention, Peggy and I went over to Elliott's apartment, where we had a great visit with Elliott, Tyler and Andrew. Nice gift idea planted in my head, there, Andrew! We left the apartment close to midnight and headed to our motel room to crash for a couple of hours before the Saturday sessions of the convention got underway.

Saturday's morning schedule included a panel discussion on evangelism and outreach issues that was very good. We also got to see lots of folks from around the state we know and love, and then the morning worship session (my personal favorite) included contemporary songs and a message about where the church is today by Paul Williams. This was by far my favorite session of the convention (not that the others were bad). Then, it was the planned lunch with the Pardues and the Blounts...the six of us, heading to Sonny's for some bar-b-que. Another great visit, then the kids were off again quickly because of their commitments to the convention and to Mid-Lakes Christian Church (more on that in a minute). We headed back to the convention site, and hooked up with the Collins family from VCC, hanging out with them for the afternoon worship service. The song service was a little more post modern in flavor, not a crowd favorite, but I am glad it was done. Dave Ferguson's message on the emerging church was delivered via video as an emergency had come up precluding his ability to travel to Florida. As things ended shortly after 3 o'clock that afternoon, convention president Aaron Chambers had folks in the crowd place their hands on the ministers and spouses in the crowd and pray for them. Made me cry. Dirty dog!

Peggy and I had planned to go to Mid-Lakes Christian Church because Elliott is now leading the contemporary worship service there on Saturday nights. Since we were only 50 miles away, it made sense for us to head up to see Elliott in action. Abi wanted to go, and we offered to take her up with us, since we would come right back by the college on our way home. Abi's parents then decided they would go, as did Abi's brother, sister-in-law, neice and nephew, so we had a big crew of Elliott supporters heading to the church Saturday evening. Now, the Pardues have been family friends with the preacher at the Mid-Lakes Christian Church and his family for many years, so it was like a family homecoming. Good times for sure. Elliott's breaking of a guitar string during worship wouldn't have been all that funny except that the guitar wasn't Elliott's. He had to borrow one since he had left his guitar locked in a music practice room at the college. Oh how funny!

The most disappointing aspect of the weekend? Our attempted trip to Taco John's. I say the attempted trip because the placed was closed by 9 o'clock on a SATURDAY NIGHT! Major disappointment as I was looking forward to some famous green sauce on some burrito. Had to settle for a hamburger joint instead. Enjoyed the extra visit with Elliott and Abi, but the lack of Taco John's was a true bummer. Then, we dropped Elliott back off, headed for Kissimmee with Abi, dropped her at the college, and headed for Vero Beach, arriving home at 12:30am!

After what was not nearly enough sleep, it was time to get things ready for the two Sunday morning worship services, and the Bible Class I teach. Harold Armstrong preached, and it was wonderful. Both services went very well. Emily drove home from church, a first for her. Much more excitement is involved in that story, but it is a family story only. Sorry. After what was much too short of a nap, it was time to get ready for youth groups, which was very well attended, then Emily and I ended the weekend with the viewing of the 1931 movie, "Dracula" with Bela Lugosi. Props to Lil Bro Ed for the Netflix hookup making this movie viewing possible!
I had sweet dreams as I headed for la-la land that night.

Wow, this is a long post. Hope it thrills you to read it. It was a great weekend, and this sorry attempt to describe it doesn't come close to doing it justice.

Hold Me Jesus

My second favorite songwritier of all time, Rich Mullins, (Elliott Blount is my favorite, okay?) wrote:
"Hold me Jesus, cause I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory, won't You be my Prince of Peace?"

Even with the latest Switchfoot and Audio Adrenaline CD's having just come out, and all the time I have spent listening to them to do reviews for a newsletter to which I contribute, this old Rich Mullins tune is stuck in my head today. It is so comforting.

There has been a pretty big whirlwind blowing around in my life these days, thus the relative few updates on this blog. What it all boils down to (doesn't it always) is: submit to God's Will. God has planted me in this place at this time, for HIS purpose. I was in the whining mode, trying to get God to make things fall into place the way I thought they should. I am such a doofus. I should have realized that a lack of response to a written proposal means that the "powers at be" aren't interested. I should have realized that the taking away of one of my personal favorite ministry areas so I could "concentrate" on other ministry areas was a way of showing me where things were going for me here. I finally wised up when I realized that my back is not being covered by those in the position to do so if I am to deal with the "adults" in our congregation on a regular basis. Should've known.


"Hold me Jesus, cause I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory, won't You be my Prince of Peace?"

I Passed!

Well, I didn't hear from the doc yesterday, and got in much trouble with my Bride for not having checked in on my stress test. Guess I was too stressed to remember.

Anyway, I got a call this morning after I ran back by the house. I had been at the hospital for Ruby Shaffer's surgery (which went wonderfully well), and a visit with Elaine Waldschmidt at Atlantic Rehab. So, the call from Dr. Fischman's office confirmed that I do indeed have a heart. There has been some doubt lately. Not only that, but my heart is apparently normal. "No heart problems," was the word. If they only knew...

Stress Tested

Well, now I am just awaiting the results...did I pass, Doc, did I pass? I'll have to wait until Monday to know for sure. I took the resting part of my stress test yesterday, and took a nap while resting (Sleep being my favorite spiritual discipline). This morning, after getting sandpapered down - yess, the actually use some type of sandpaper on you before hooking the sensor patches to your chest, sides and stomach, can you say "tender"? -poked in the hand for the IV, then I got to hit the treadmill until my heart rate got to 150 beats per minute, then they injected me with the radioactive juice, and had me walk for at least one more minute to get the juice to my heart. I breathed like I was excercising, but it really was not a big deal. Then, I got to eat my snack (peanutbutter and crackers), drink some water, and wait until it was time for me to let the big ole heart imaging camera map my heart. I had that part yesterday, too, so they can compare the resting shots with the "stressed" shots. All in all, I was out in about two hours. It will hurt more to pull the tape off my hand - can you say "hairs"? - than even getting the needle put in or going through the treadmill excercise.

Emily has had a migraine trying to get to her this morning, so I will check on her, get ready for work, and go at it.

Did I pass, doc, did I pass?

Emily Drives

Lesson number five: parking spaces & backing up in the rain. Several A plus parking grades.

Driving Miss Emily

In the midst of many national, regional and personal crises, yesterday was a wonderful break from the ordinary. You see, my Chick-A-Boo got her drivers' permit yesterday, and we went for her first driving lesson. She was petrified at first, more than a little intimidated by driving that "big ole van." She warmed up to it quite nicely though, and our hour's worth of her first driving experience was truly wonderful. It was so cool to watch her glow with excitement as she got the hang of the twisting, turning course through the church parking lot. I am so proud of her!

As much as I know it thrilled her, it thrilled me even more. I look forward to many more driving lessons with Emily, starting with another one today, if I get my act together and get everything done early enough this afternoon for us to have the lesson. Guess that means this post has come to an end.

Oh wait, one more bit of FANTASTIC NEWS: Ian received a postcard of encouragement from his English teacher with grades of a 96 and 100 on two recent tests/essays! YAY Ian!!!! Thursday was the best day I've had in many weeks!

Housekeeping

I have just added a security step to keep spam postings from appearing on this blog. I would still love to hear from the two or three of your readers of my blog, so please post a comment. I promise the extra security step you will have to take is painless. It will just keep me from having to delete spam comments (which amazingly enough has alreay happened here).

May God bless your day. I promise to catch up again soon. Things are fine, just busy, busy, busy! I preach this Sunday (which is also my physical birthday), so it is a pretty hectic week, but a good one.

Potty Prayer

I am currently reading the book “God Is Closer Than You Think” by John Ortberg. He is one of my favorite contemporary writers. In chapter 4, Ortberg is discussing the subject of “the Greatest Moments Of Your Life” or to put it Blountly: realizing God’s presence in the everyday happenings of your life. He discusses God’s presence in the act of eating your food each day starting on page 76, but page 77 includes a parenthetical paragraph that is my favorite paragraph of all times…read this, please.

(If you think trying to turn eating into a spiritual experience is a little far-fetched, consider that for the ancient Hebrews, the other end of the digestive process was a gift of God as well. They actually had a prayer to be said after going to the bathroom: “Blessed art Thou, O God, who has made the openings in my body.”)

Now THAT is great!

Decent Report

I know, don't faint. Two blog posts in one day (like anyone is actually reading them - ha!). Went to the dermatologist today and had three "skin tags" taken off my neck. One of them had gone nuclear on me in the past three weeks, growing big time, changing color, etc. It is now off to the lab for a biopsy. I also got the Mr Freeze spray on my left forearm for what may be a pre-cancerous spot. Nothing to worry about, just taking care of business.

Now that you know more about my current medical state than you could have possibly been interested in, I will close this post.

Blow Me Down...NOT!

Well, looks like Tropical Storm/Hurricane Katrina will stay far enough south of us soas to have very little serious impact on Indian River County. We will get some much needed rain, but winds are not supposed to be anything above about 35 miles per hour. Just a blustery day or two. As we enter the peak of Hurricane Season, anxiety levels are on the rise. This time last year, we had just experirenced the first of what were four named systems that impacted our weather in Vero Beach. In September of 2004, we took two direct hits from major hurricanes. So, people here are a little nervous.

I am not. It is totally in God's hands, and I am okay with that. The storms of life come and go. Jesus stays the same. There are plenty of storms blowing up in and around my life these days, but as I continue to read from the Bible each day I am to be strong and courageous. I am to realize that God is in control. Part of today's Scripture reading:
1 Cor. 16:13-14
[13] Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. [14] Do everything in love.

Part of yesterday's Scripture reading:

Job 12:13-25

[13] "To God belong wisdom and power;

counsel and understanding are his.

[14] What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;

the man he imprisons cannot be released.

[15] If he holds back the waters, there is drought;

if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

[16] To him belong strength and victory;

both deceived and deceiver are his.

[17] He leads counselors away stripped

and makes fools of judges.

[18] He takes off the shackles put on by kings

and ties a loincloth around their waist.

[19] He leads priests away stripped

and overthrows men long established.

[20] He silences the lips of trusted advisers

and takes away the discernment of elders.

[21] He pours contempt on nobles

and disarms the mighty.

[22] He reveals the deep things of darkness

and brings deep shadows into the light.

[23] He makes nations great, and destroys them;

he enlarges nations, and disperses them.

[24] He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;

he sends them wandering through a trackless waste.

[25] They grope in darkness with no light;

he makes them stagger like drunkards.

It is so good to let God be in control. It is so good to be reminded to be strong and courageous, be on your guard, stand firm in your faith and to do everything in love. I really needed to hear those messages from God these days!

The Longest Week

This is the start of what could be one of the longest weeks of my life. Danny Dye preaches his last sermon here this coming Sunday. I preach the first post-Danny Dye era sermon the following Sunday (on my birthday), yee-haw! I'm working on a good UK basketball analogy to open the message. I figure I might as well break 'em in good! Anyway, it will be tough around the office this week and next as Danny transitions out, but I know that God has the best in store for the Dyes, and I will trust that He will have the best in store for VCC and the Blounts, too.

Immersing Turtle

August 14, 2005 the new birth of Bryant "Turtle" Smith takes place!

I had the privilege of immersing Turtle into Christ following our second worship service! Yes, the day is Peggy's physical birthday, but now it is also Turtle's spiritual birthday! What a great way to celebrate that day!

Then and Now

August 8, 1981.

Today.

Peggy gets better looking every day. I get...well, I'm here, too.

Anniversary Card

If I had bought a card, this would be the one!

Peggy and I spent our Anniversary evening doing what has become our traditional Anniversary date: going to a local establishment with greetings cards and looking through the Anniversary Cards together. We pick out one card each from all that we look at and say, "If I had bought a card, this would be the one!" We laugh at the silly ones, get misty-eyed over the sentimental ones, and just enjoy that time together. It is free. It costs us nothing. We spend that time together just celebrating our precious time together.

This year, because we are celebrating #24, we went to a special place for dinner: Taco Bell. Yeah, that's what fit in our budget, but that's a whole other story that I don't want to go into right now. Then, it was home to watch some preseason NFL, with the Hall of Fame Bowl featuring the Dolphins and the Bears, as well as watching our beloved Reds beat up on the Cubs in Monday night baseball. What a perfect night. What a perfect wife!

Happy Anniversary Baby

Got you on my mind.

I am so blessed to be married to you, Peggy. I thought I loved you 24 years ago today when I said "I do," but I didn't have a clue what love was back then. I think I have a little better understanding of it today. I love you. More than words can express. I pray that my actions speak volumes about my love for you. Thanks for putting up with me all these years!
Your Lumpy

Post Mortem

We did the post mortem on the 2005 CIY trip this evening at the fabulous estate of the Huntsbergers. With more pizza than we could eat, and lots of godies to boot, we enjoyed viewing the unedited video from the trip to Lee University.

Good times fer sure. Amos and Lydia Smith came down from Daytona for this evening's festivities, and they are spending the night at our house. Good times, mixed with a little intrigue. If you don't know what I mean by that, and you are really that intested, you'll hafta e-mail me and ask me in private. Let's just say that it is time to move on...at least that is what I keep telling my eldest.

Peggy starts school tomorrow (the kids don't start back until August 12th). Elliott is here for the weekend, will go back to Florida Christian College for the week, and then be back next weekend and next week. I am really looking forward to spening time with him.

That sick feeling...

...in the pit of your stomach. Yeah, that describes my day today. Having survived Peggy's medical deals this week, including the redo of her oral surgery, today was the worst day of the week. See, I innocently checked my online bank statement only to find that our auto insurance company had taken out three times the normal amount of money from our auto pay this month! The reason? They added our two non-drivers in our house to our policy while we were on vacation! Needless to say, this was not budgeted, thus causing a MAJOR problem with our checking account. After frustrating conversations with two different people with the insurance company, we have Ian and Emily off of our policy and the company will credit the overcharge in our next two monthly payments (but they won't put the overcharge back in the checking account). So, I had to scramble to get my paycheck signed early and got it deposited today to stop any further damage (as in overdraft city, baby!). As of this writing, I have spoken with the bank, explained the situation and have been assured that no further pentalties will be incurred. Sweet.

As for Peggy's redo of her oral surgery...things went well. She was much more groggy this time with the sedation, it took over an hour and a half to wake her up enough after the surgery for me to be able to take her home. She promptly went to bed and slept for seven more hours without moving. At 10:00 PM, she appeared in the doorway of our bedroom, and asked me what time it was. The conversation proceded like this:
Scott - "It's 10 o'clock, honey"
Peggy (with panicked look on her face) - "But, weren't we supposed to be at the dentists' office at NINE O'CLOCK?"
Scott (holding back the laughter, but not holding it back too much) - "Peggy it is 10 o'clock AT NIGHT. You've already been to the dentists' office today, check the inside of your mouth."

Lost the whole day thanks to the modern miracle of zanax as prescribed to her by the dentist. How could you possibly use that drug recreationally? We are told that kids do, but man, that seems too unreal to me! Anyway, Peggy is back to "normal" today, having taken the kids shopping for school clothes, etc. All this before I found out about the big money problem, thus again necessitating my scrambling action.

Ah well, I am ready to go home for the evening, and go to bed early. I am exhausted. Frustrated. Down right TO'd.

The Breakfast Club

robes
Originally uploaded by blountman.

Emily went to breakfast at CIY one morning wearing her robe...she had been fighting a migraine, but when her robe-mate found her, she was all smiles. Pretty cool stuff that goes on in the dining hall during CIY Summer Conference!

More CIY pictures are now found on my flickr site, so click on the flickr button found on the right side of this page, eh?

This Is Me

thisisme
Originally uploaded by blountman.

The title of the 2005 Christ In Youth Summer Conference Theme. It was an intensive look at Jesus with daily subthemes including: "I Am Grace," "I Am Love," "I Am Life," "I Am Here" and "I Am The Way."

As previously noted, we took 27 students and adults (23 students, 4 adults) for a week that included whitewater rafting, hiking through the mountains, and fantastic worship and teaching times each day. More pictures from the trip will soon be posted on my flickr site, so be sure to visit there often as well.

I had the opportunity to really put into practice the art of Grace during the week, and I didn't always extend it very graciously. Gotta keep working on that. Otherwise, it was a good week, and our students from VCC really seemed to get a lot out of it. It was a tough week, with some seriously deep issues to be dealt with. Time will tell how seriously the students (and the adults) were impacted.

Of course by the time we got back late Saturday, and I drug myself out of my bed Sunday morning for church, it was time for our congregational meeting/vote concerning the sale of the property. The sale was approved by aobut a 92% vote.

I have yet to have my meeting with the Elders concerning the transition that will have to take place with Danny retirement. That could happen tonight. Meanwhile, I will trust that God knows what He is doing, because frankly, I don't. I do trust in Him completely, and I am humbled that He wants to use me in any way whatsoever to advance His Kingdom.

More to come, I know you are tingling with anticipation!