Statement on the Nativity Controversy.

1. Our county officials have followed our constitutional protections and legal precedent in affirming that the displays put up by Keep Athens Beautiful meet the standards of protected, secular speech and therefore are not a governmental support of religion. There has never been any realistic threat of removing the nativity from the courthouse lawn. Many people are spreading fear and misinformation and that must stop. Instead, we need to thank our elected officials for upholding the law. The County Judge, County Attorney and the County Commissioners are to be thanked for a job well done.

2. These constitutional protections were put into place because Baptist and other minority groups were persecuted, harassed, taxed, beaten, exiled and put to death for their beliefs. At the founding of our country we were a minority. The law protected our ability to teach that people should come to faith in Christ and be baptized as believers. We had to do this in the face of the opposition of the “majority.” Majority rule can be a terrible thing, that is why we have the Constitution and the legal system, to protect the rights of all people. We should not stand up because we have the majority and can intimidate others, but we should stand up because we believe every citizen has the right to freely express their opinion. We will need to defend our elected officials when they allow free speech to appear on the courthouse lawn especially, if it is a message with which we do not agree. The Freedom from Religion group says an Athens resident is ready to put up a sign reading, “At this season of the winter solstice, may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

3. In the days to come, unless revival breaks out in America, we will be in a minority position. Now is the time to affirm our freedoms. This will take grown-up mature people, individuals not threatened by messages with which they do not agree. Let the minority opinions come to the courthouse. Let people see the stark contrast between our hope, love and service in our community and judge for themselves which way brings life. We will need to affirm the rights of all people, so we will not lose our rights to speak the truth.

4. If you attend the rally, do so with peace in your heart and answers on your lips. I will be out of town with FBC Athens’ ski trip on Saturday, so let me coach you now. I am concerned that the media will turn this into a circus. I am concerned that people will be approached by the media and say things like, “this is our city and we should get to do what we want” or “they can just leave our city” or “this is a Christian Nation and others are not welcome” or some angry response.

5. Ready answers:

a.  We do not gather to intimidate, but to celebrate what we believe.

b.  We gather because we have the right to gather and proclaim in love what we believe. We celebrate our American freedom and encourage others to use their rights also.

c.  We did not gather because the nativity is threatened, but to tell people that we are followers of Christ.

d. Let everyone come and tell what they believe, we believe that the love of Jesus and the life of Jesus will touch more people’s lives than any other message.

6. The churches are trying to organize to put people on the lawn for a living nativity. Our day is Monday, Dec. 19. We need people to volunteer from 7am to 7pm. We will hand out bibles, tracts, cider and good will.

Be wise and gentle,

Something Stinks

We had several friends over for lunch last Sunday. With everyone scattering for Thanksgiving we wanted to hang out and enjoy the beautiful day. When I gto changed from church several of the kids asked if we could go outside and play in the backyard.
It was beautiful and sunny and the leaves were rustling so I was excited. The problem when we rush out the door is what to do first. Is it the bench swing were several can glide together? Is it the trampoline that I have to guard because of the tear at the side? Is it the zip line where I hold kids as they slide along? Is it the individual swings where I hear, “Push me!” over and over again? Or is it the fort which requires constant vigilance and a regular cleaning of the slide?
We headed for the bench swing. Several kids piled on, but one made a sharp left turn and then looking with a wistful smile stared at the fort. Since I’m a fort guy myself we headed to the corner of the yard. I was looking at the bottom of the slide realizing that I was going to have to get some 409 and a sponge before any kids could slide down and did not look up until the last second when I saw something move.
My brain processed the information slowly. There was a cage. Yes, we’ve been hunting an armadillo who is loving to dig in the yard. There was something in the cage, but it had too much fur to be an armadillo. There was a lot of white. Maybe the pesky cat had gotten in the cage. No, the pesky cat is orange. Then I saw its body. Someone has lost their weasel. Then it raised its head. From the deep place in my soul where courage collapses I recognized the skunk.
I turned and ran, but didn’t knock down any kids. I told everyone to head to the house. One child was still on the bench swing and needed help to get off. I thought about sacrifice them for the greater good, but knew their mom was in the house, so I swooped her up and ran to the door.
From behind the glass we peered out and nothing happened. After a few minutes the adults wanted to see the skunk. We slowly made our way around the bushes and inched closer. With each movement in the cage we backed up quickly. Someone threw a stick, which was not funny, but very funny. We danced away in a flash. What do you do with a skunk in a cage? An armadillo is easy. A skunk is a problem. Phone calls were made. A plan was hatched. The skunk was dispatched. It left its wafting calling card. The odor remained for several days. Some problems are easy to deal with, some problems leave a big stink, but it is better to deal with the problem and get it done quickly than let it linger. Say, “I was wrong,” “I am sorry,” “I need help.” or whatever just don’t let it build up and spray on everyone else.
Smelling the drift, Kyle

What can we do?

Six years ago I stepped out of a bus and into Bantu. It was a life
changing day. The President of Ethiopia was waiting with the National
media to present land for a school to Buckner. That started a process
we have been obediently saying ‘Yes’ to since that time.

The first thing we did was form a team. We call it the E*Team. It’s a
group of mostly East Texas churches interested in Ethiopia.

Next through our partnership with Buckner we helped drill a well,
build a school, sent medical teams, optical teams, health teaching
teams, pastor/church recruitment teams, economic teams, and last month
a team that went to the refugee camps on the border.

I’m sitting in the Addis airport about to return from helping to
launch the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. It has been a breathtaking
week. We helped install a new video projector donated by our church
making International Evangelical Chuech Addis one of the premier
conference sites in the town of six million. We met with the incredible team of IEC and formed an international team that solved a number of cultural and logistic nightmare with laughter and grace. We picked Bill Hybels up from the airport and got him to the conference. He remarked that it was the best run first conference in which he had participated. I was proud for both churches. We had 560 attend when expecting 300! We met people from all over Africa who loved the conference.

We made a clear commitment to return next year and extended the conference into Amharic for 2 extra days. We will begin the planning on Monday and recruitment starts now if your interested.

Who knew that a small East Texas church could accomplish so much? God did. I’m proud of our church, it’s faith and it’s vision. I can’t wait to share more with you on Sunday.

Kyle

Home!

Bags exploded, stuff everywhere, headed to bed.

Landed in Dallas

After 13 long, productive days and a 40 hour return journey we just got to hate at DFW. God did great.

Two steps till home

We are waiting at Charlotte airport for a flight getting to DFW at 8:00. Then Steve Akin will drive us home. Can’t wait for a shower. 38 hours ago I was in the Olduvai gorge. Strange small world.

Halie Gabreselassie

Finished Already

Day two was amazing.

The day started with the world record holder in the Marathon Haile Gebrselassie. He gave a brief but inspiring word on leadership. He said you cannot lead others unless you can lead yourself. It was powerful. In the introduction we saw a video of him winning the marathon in Berlin. People rose and clapped when he came to the stage. He is the most famous athlete in Ethiopia. Wow!

John Ortbergs talk on the leader’s greatest fear was like a laser to our hearts. So many selfish leaders in the world.

The interview with Catherine Rohr was filled with such passion that people left so enthusiastic it was hard to believe it was not a live presentation. Several people wanted to talk about PEP and I was able to tell them about its current success, new leader, and hope for the future.

After lunch Andrew Rugasira from Good African Coffee talked about “Trade not Aid.” The room was electric. He was speaking the truth and they affirmed it repeatedly with clapping, gasping and smiling.

The final talk about burn-out was so well received. In the midst of the huge need in Ethiopia it is clear that people are exhausted from struggling.

Our team has done such an amazing job.

Sheri Basore. Frequently Sheri is the center of information and organization. She handles it with such poise. I watched here solve problems and help people.

Doug Curran. He did every job with dignity. I saw him dong the smallest jobs with a smile. He also did great developing relationships with people. The fact that a Doctor would come and serve made a deep impression of people.

Sandy Curran. Every job we asked her to do she said yes. We filmed many parts of the Summit and Sandy was the perfect person for the job. I can’t imagine what we would have done without her.

Dorothy Grymonprez. Since taking on the task of being my assistant Dorothy has become an extension of my ministry. She was so often ahead of me and preparing materials for the group. She sees details and makes sure everything is taken care of. He partnering with the staff of IEC was evident. She also sang from the main stage.

Cindy Henderson. My best friend and fantastic colleague was also a great team member. So many times I would ask her to take care of a task and never think of it again because I knew she would handle it completely.

Eddie Hilburn. Pastor of FBC Kilgore, Eddie is one of my best friends in ministry. He helped so often in taking the lead in different projects. A huge part of the success of our registration process was his training of the volunteers.

Steven Patterson-led worship at all the sessions, worked to put together all the elements of worship, practiced with the band, and inspired the whole group. I was so proud of him leading in such a diverse group with such confidence.

Chris Stapper – ran the AV systems with such attention to detail, with such high quality that people were amazed by the quality. He and Steven helped install the equipment on our arrival. The video projector we donated to them was perfect. It is bright and clear and will help all year round.

I can’t think of a better group, more committed to service and reflecting the love of Jesus.

Final touches tonight

We finished setting up the room after a long day of work. It looks beautiful. We are completely sold out and have had to turn people away. Next year we will plan for 800-900.

In 10 minutes we go to the airport to pick up Bill Hybles. We need to get him to his hotel for rest so pray that he makes it from plane to us ASAP.

Great Group

Amazing to see 560 people gathered from all over Africa.