A Salute To Jacksonville's Finest...

...even though I did get a ticket today!

Yep, I was speeding. There is no hiding that fact. And the police officer was just doing his job. He was not rude. He was not condescending. Just did what he was supposed to do.

The funny thing is I had 3 co-workers in the car with me and we were just going to grab lunch.

I, like you I'm sure, have heard many people tell stories about how they were caught and given a ticket unjustly. A part of being a man of integrity is admitting what you did and paying the fine.

So...my name is David Lawson and I speed. I promise to work on this but cannot say I will never speed again.

The Christian Leader

1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 give us a list of characteristics that elders, or leaders and overseers of the church, should exhibit. While discussing this list with some friends (the high school seniors I am teaching on Sundays), I was challenged with what it meant to be 'blameless'.

Titus 1:6 says, "An elder must be blameless..." 1 Timothy 3:2 says, "Now the overseer must be above reproach,..."

The words blameless and above reproach are words that should describe one's character. A quick word study on the two words revealed much to me.

Anenkletos - from an which means no or not and enkaleo which means to accuse in court. This is what the NIV translates as blameless and means, basically, that the elder should be free from any legal charge. He should not be living or acting in a way that would give reason for someone to bring charges upon him.

Anepilemptos - from an which means no or not and epilambanomai which means to seize. This word is a typical Greek word-picture that describes one who is not guilty of anything which another could seize upon as the basis of an accusation.

Paul uses these two legal terms to describe ones character. The Josephson School of Ethics defines character as "who you are when no one else is around."

While ultimately this could be an issue regarding sin in one's life, Paul is not saying that a Christian leader must be one who will never sin. Rather, this is someone who deals openly and honestly with sin in their life. This is a person who does not have a lifestyle that would cause others to stumble. This is a person who has a distinct calling by God and must always intentionally seek out the moral high ground...even when they are all alone.

There, unfortunately, are numerous examples of elders and church leaders who have chosen to act differently in private than in public. These individuals chose to live a life where others could find blame and reasons to bring accusation.

Fortunately, however, there are many more examples of individuals who live blameless and above reproach. I am proud to serve on staff with such people at Christ's Church.

These two passages have much more to say about the requirements of an elder and I would recommend you read them. 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-9

A Great Day Of Flag Football!

Yesterday was an exciting day of flag football!

We have 16 adult teams and 16 youth teams playing in our league this season. God provided a beautiful day and all 4 of our fields had great games. Particularly exciting were the 1-3 grade games. This is the first season we have had teams that young. The adults were a bit jealous by the crowds that came out to see the kids play!

Days like yesterday cannot be done without a lot of help from volunteers. One Friday Jordan Stancil came out to help me line the fields. When I showed up to Mandarin High School for the games at 7am, I was met in the parking lot by Billy Thompson who helped unload everything and finish preparing the fields. Bob Pan and Lindsey Marks for sticking late and helping clean everything up.

With 16 youth teams we need at least 16 coaches. God has provided us with some great men to help coach.

The biggest helper at the fields was my wife. Carrie is the only volunteer who didn't play or coach. She was there before the first game and left with me after the last game. Having her there taking care of the shirts/registrations freed me up to referee and tend to other details I needed to take care of.

Thanks to all of you for helping make it an exciting and excellent day of flag football

My First Online Article Published

I just realized today that an article I submitted last month has been posted on Campus Crosswalk. It is a site designed to help college students live for Christ on there college campus.

Click here to check out my article.

Let me know what you think about it. This is pretty exciting for me.

God takes care of everything...

As I was working on the e-sports page we send out each week about our church sports program, I calculated the number of people who are participating in sports at our church this week.

The number amazes me. Over 600 people will participate this week alone in Christ's Church sports!

What amazes me even more is how God has provided all of the volunteers, equipment, time, and everything else that is needed to run a program with that many participants.

I had lunch today with a great guy who is going to coach our women's softball team. This time last week I was praying for God to send someone to take on this role.

God is truly amazing. Sometimes we let the little things slip by without telling hiim 'thanks!. This is my way of doing just that.

Thanks, God!!

An Experience I Will Never Forget!

As I left a lunch meeting at Bono's today, I pulled on to Philips Hwy and quickly realized I was going the wrong direction...at least I thought I was.

I forgot I needed to go pick-up some softballs from Sports Authority. Since I was going the other way, however, I decided to go to Dick's Sporting Goods to get them even though it was a little out of the way.

As I entered the store I noticed there were a lot of staff at the door. One guy had a radio he was talking on, but I didn't think much of it. As I stood in front of their softball options I heard a women walking towards me crying and yelling the name 'Katie'. I asked her if she was OK and she shared she had lost her daughter.

She quickly walked off sobbing and yelling out her daughter's name. At that point I realized why the staff were guarding all the exits. That is protocol for stores when a child is missing. They don't let anyone with kids leave. I could not help but join in the hunt for Katie. The Jacksonville Sheriffs office showed up a minute or two later to join the search.

As I stood there I was amazed at the what was going on. For one thing, some people just continued to shop...almost like all the yelling for this young girl was annoying them. I also watched the young store manager try to calm down this frantic mother.

As the manager walked away and this mom was standing there all alone sobbing I knew God wanted me to go pray with her. I almost didn't, but I knew God really wanted me to.

I approached her and shared I was a minister at a local church and asked if I could pray with her. She said 'please'. I simply asked God to give her strength to stay focused, to protect her daughter, and to guide us to her.

After praying I shared that I would keep looking for Katie. I turned and walked down the aisle. About 20 feet later I noticed something brown between a wall and the t-shirts that were hung on it. I kept walking....then I thought it could have been the girls hair. I went back and there she was.

As I pulled the t-shirts back (there were shorts hung below the shirts that went to the ground so she was very well hidden) I noticed she was crying as well. Tears were flowing down her face and she looked panicked. I motioned for the mom to come over and she literally fell to the ground on her side when she saw Katie. I pulled the girl out from the clothes and placed her on her mom's lap.

It was an incredible moment as people began to come over, yet God was not through working on me. I stood for a moment waiting to get the 'pat on the back' from people and then God told me that was wrong. It was almost like he said, 'just go get the softballs you came for and leave...it's not about you.'

That is what I did. I went to the car and thought back over the last 30 minutes, actually shed a tear, prayed, and called Carrie to share the experience with her.

All along, God knew where I needed to go. I thought I was going the wrong direction...little did I know God had other plans for me this afternoon.

Funny Tithing Videos

These videos are a take off the Sonic commercials. One of the guys is a friend of mine from back in the day. He is now a children's pastor at a Nazarene church in Kansas. They are pretty funny and were used for a sermon series their church did.

Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnZ4GmBzsMo

Daytona 500 - 2007

I never said much about it here, but my wife and I were able to attend the Busch series race on the Saturday before the Daytona 500. We were guests of the #27 Kimberly Clark Kleenex car driven by Ward Burton. My wife's cousin works for Kimberly Clark and gets us the "hook up" with tickets to races. It has been a great experience and something we can do together.

This year was cool because along with touring pit road we were able to tour the garage area right after the Nextel cup guys finished their practice for the Daytona 500.

Here we are sitting on the wall of pit road in the #27 car's pit box. The starting line is right behind me.

VALUE In Relationships

We were blessed to have Bob and John Russell at our church this last weekend. On Saturday they each spoke at our men's conference.

John said something that realy stuck out to me. We must have VALUE in our relationships...and that is not easy for men.

By that he meant we must have:

V ulnerability
A ccountability
L aughter
U nderstanding
E nergy

If we put these things into our relationships, they will continue to grow.

Athletes In Action

Athletes In Action is a great organization for connecting athletes with opportunities to share their faith through sports.

Check out this article about several Jacksonville Jaguars players taking a trip this week with AIA.

Our desire at Christ's Church is to put our "athletes in action" by providing opportunities to serve locally and around the world on mission trips.

I am proud that our sports program (above and beyond the general church giving) has raised almost $3000 already this year to sponsor a soccer ministry at a church in Tegucigalpa, Honduras! This actually pays the salary of the full time minister for the youth and sports there. It is amazing that his salary for the year isn't much more than $3000.

Here is a picture of some of the kids I met who attend that church in Honduras when I was there last September. This trip changed my life!

More Wisdom, Please

James 1:5 says "If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to you."

I have read that many, many times.

I have prayed for wisdom many, many times. At least I thought I prayed for wisdom....

Instead, I have realized that I was praying for information and not wisdom. I came to that conclusion by studying more of the book of James.

Read James 3:17, "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy."

Wait! How does that type of wisdom help me get the answers I want from God?

In the "information age" of today we want cold, hard facts. And we expect them now!

This definition of wisdom, however, is not about facts, but about living. It carries on with the theme James starts in chapter 1 about the importance of "doing." It describes how we as Christians should live everyday.

As I attempt to grasp and live out this new understanding of wisdom in my life, I pray that you will stop to think about it also. If it sounds too difficult to live out, then go back to chapter one and remember "ask God, who gives to all generously...and it (wisdom) will be given to you."